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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Matt Whitaker to Testify to Congress; Jeff Bezos Claims He was Blackmailed; Democrats' Resolution Lays Out "Green New Deal". Aired 4- 4:30a ET

Aired February 08, 2019 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[04:00:18] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The acting AG faces Congress today. Matthew Whitaker will field questions about the Russia probe which he won't oversee very much longer.

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: A tantalizing story of nude selfies, politics and extortion. Jeff Bezos says he was the targeted of a plot by the "National Enquirer's" parent company.

ROMANS: The Supreme Court puts over restrictive Louisiana abortion law on hold at least for now.

BRIGGS: And finally some optimism on a deal to fund border security. A key negotiator says he thinks the president would sign a deal.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to EARLY START on an extraordinary Friday. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: It is extraordinary. It is Friday. That's the good news. I'm Christine Romans. February 8th, 4:00 a.m. in the East.

Let's begin here with the acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker. He has decided he will testify today before the House Judiciary Committee. The announcement came after days of contentious wrangling as Whitaker threatened not to show up unless the committee promised not to subpoena him. The faceoff a prime example of Democrats asserting their new control of the House for oversight of the Trump administration.

BRIGGS: Democrats vowing to press Whitaker on two subjects today. First his decision not to recuse himself from overseeing Robert Mueller's Russia investigation despite his past criticism of the probe, and second, his conversations with the president about the Russia investigation.

The president recently told the "Daily Caller" there have been no such conversations. Yesterday the president was asked whether he thought Whitaker should testify.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He is an outstanding person. I would say if he did testify, he'd do very well. He's an outstanding person. Very, very fine man. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: This may be Whitaker's only congressional testimony as the head of the Justice Department. William Barr is on track to be confirmed as permanent attorney general next week.

ROMANS: President Trump is furious about the House Intelligence Committee hiring former White House National Security aides to help the panel's oversight of the administration. A committee aide declined to say whether the new hires had worked for President Trump's national Security Council, but the move seems to have enraged the president. In tweets yesterday he called it unlimited presidential harassment and said Republicans never did this to President Obama.

Fact check, Republicans spent years in the Obama administration investigating Benghazi among many other things . Schiff, for his part, said his committee has a long tradition of hiring out of the intelligence community.

BRIGGS: The world's richest man says he was the target of an extortion attempt. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of the "Washington Post," he alleged blackmailers, the parent company of the "National Enquirer," AMI. Its links to the president and its role on the political climate are no secret.

Bezos published the shocking details in a blog post on Medium, writing, "I was made an offer I couldn't refuse, or at least that's what the top people at the 'National Enquirer' thought. I'm glad they thought that because it emboldened them to put it all in writing."

ROMANS: This is just so -- just such an amazing story. Now Bezos quotes entire e-mails sent to him by AMI, to his representatives. AMI is the same company former Trump-fixer Michael Cohen admitted giving money for hush payments to women who claimed they had affairs with Mr. Trump. Now Bezos' blog also makes a cryptic reference to actions AMI has taken on behalf of Saudi Arabia.

Really this is just a remarkable tabloid story here.

Senior media reporter Oliver Darcy has more.

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: It doesn't get much more explosive than this. In a tell-all blog post published Thursday afternoon, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos accused the "National Enquirer" of, in his words, "extortion and blackmail."

This all goes back to when the "Enquirer" published a story revealing that Jeff Bezos had been having an affair. In that story were text messages the "National Enquirer" obtained between Bezos and his mistress. Bezos has since launched an investigation into how those messages were leaked and whether politics may have been a motivating force.

The "National Enquirer" CEO is, of course, David Pecker, a longtime friend of Donald Trump's. And because Bezos owns the "Washington Post" which covers Trump critically at times, the president is no fan of Bezos. Bezos says he's being blackmailed now for investigating whether there were any politics at play.

According to one of the e-mails Bezos released, the "National Enquirer's" chief content officer, Dylan Howard, threatened that if he did not drop his investigation, the magazine might publish more revealing photos of him among other things. In another e-mail, a lawyer for the "National Enquirer's" parent company suggested an agreement in which Bezos or his spokesperson would say they have no evidence politics was at play. Bezos said he would not capitulate to extortion and blackmail.

[04:05:04] He chose instead to publish all the messages online, and they are quite extraordinary. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out moving forward. We reached out, of course, to the "National Enquirer" but they have not responded to our request for comment -- Christine, Dave.

BRIGGS: All right. Oliver Darcy there.

If you haven't read this Medium post, please do. We have a copy here, we'll tweet it out at EARLY START.

The Supreme Court taking a big step on the hottest of hot-button issues, the justices blocking a restrictive Louisiana abortion law from taking effect at least for now. The decision split 5-4 with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the court's four liberals.

The 2014 law would require doctors at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. Opponents of the law argue it unduly burdens women's access to abortion. The ruling came hours after the National Prayer Breakfast where the president made some pro- life remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We must build a culture that cherishes the dignity and sanctity of innocent human life. All children born and unborn are made in the holy image of God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The high court is likely to rule eventually on the merits of the Louisiana law which has never been enforced. The court found a nearly identical Texas law unconstitutional in 2016. The topic thrust back into the national conversation last week when Virginia Governor Ralph Northam seemed to suggest a late-term abortion could happen after birth.

BRIGGS: The political turmoil in Virginia now a bipartisan issue. The Republican state Senate majority leader, Tommy Norment, was the managing editor of the VMI College yearbook in 1968 which featured a variety of racist photos. In a statement Thursday, he called the use of blackface abhorrent. He also says in 1968 was the year of imperative transition at VMI and he is not surprised there are people who want to engulf Republican leaders in the current troubles facing Democratic officials. ROMANS: Meantime, Democrats nationwide struggling with how to respond

to sexual assault allegations against Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax. Many have called for an investigation but stopped short of demanding his resignation. Democratic senators and presidential hopefuls including Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, they've all taken a more wait-and-see approach. Vanessa Tyson claims Fairfax sexually assaulted her at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Fairfax denies it.

BRIGGS: Good news on border security talks as the threat of another government shutdown looms in just seven days. A senior White House official telling CNN, quote, "We're in a good place even though there are sticking points that could prevent a deal." Right now the White House is hoping a deal will be struck by Sunday. Now remember, lawmakers need time to review the agreement.

ROMANS: A big cloud at this point, the president, no one knows what he will sign. But Republican Senator Richard Shelby who's part of the negotiation team met with the president and said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R-AL), CHAIRMAN, SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: If we can work within some of the parameters that we've talked about today, which we'll keep to ourselves right now, I think he would sign it. And I think he's, from my perspective, been quite reasonable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Sources tell CNN there is a consensus a final agreement will need increases in funding for technology, personnel and border barriers.

BRIGGS: Today is the deadline for the White House to respond to Congress on the murder of "Washington Post" journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The administration expected to double down on defending the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee pushing for President Trump to determine whether the crown prince, also known as MBS, violated Khashoggi's human rights. A source says the White House will likely reiterate there is no smoking gun.

The "New York Times" also reporting that U.S. intelligence intercepts show MBS told aides he would use a bullet on Khashoggi a year before the journalist was killed.

ROMANS: All right. Trouble on U.S.-China trade sent stocks into retreat. Investors not happy with Larry Kudlow, the director of the White House's National Economic Council, suggested the U.S. and China are not close to a new trade pack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KUDLOW, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR: The president has indicated that he's optimistic with respect to a potential China trade deal. But, but, but, but, we've got, you know, a pretty sizeable distance to go here, to quote a colleague of mine, we have miles to go before we sleep. That was a joke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The Dow fell 221 points after those comments. The S&P 500 fell close to about 1 percent. The Nasdaq closed down 1.2 percent.

[04:10:03] We'll take a look at U.S. futures right now. They're down slightly this morning. U.S. officials said President Trump is unlikely to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before the March 1st deadline. U.S. Trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, they're going to travel to Beijing for another round, a third round now of trade talks.

The president has threatened to jack up existing tariffs on Chinese goods if these two sides cannot reach a permanent truce in this trade war.

BRIGGS: Washington heavyweights are remembering former congressman John Dingell. Dingell's wife says he died peacefully at his home in Dearborn, Michigan, yesterday after battling cancel. Dingle was the longest serving member of Congress in U.S. history. He served in the House of Representatives where a remarkable 59 years and 22 days, from 1955 to 2015.

Dingell, a Democrat whose district was home to the Ford Motor Company, was a strong supporter of the auto industry, but also stressed environmental issues for many years. He was 92.

ROMANS: I wish his family well. What a career of public service.

All right. Ten minutes past the hour. A 10-year plan to address climate change and much more, the goals are big, so is the cost.

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[04:15:19] ROMANS: Climate change front and center in the new Congress. Democrats in the House and Senate introducing a joints resolution Thursday laying out the main elements of their plan to address the climate crisis. Expect this to be a major issue on the 2020 campaign trail.

BRIGGS: Yes. Major indeed. Four Democratic candidates, Senators Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, all support it. But many centrist Democrats are wary of taking on so much. Even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had some concerns.

Before the measure was introduced, she told Politico, quote, "The green dream or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is." She later walked that back saying she welcomes it and any other climate change proposals.

CNN's Miguel Marquez has more on what's in this plan.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Dave, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the freshman Democrat, is introducing the first piece of legislation that she herself has sponsored. It's a resolution which means it's nonbinding, called the Green New Deal. It calls for a 10-year national mobilization. The goal, in one short decade to bring greenhouse gas emissions to zero, meet 100 percent of energy needs by renewable sources, overhaul transportation systems, creative millions of high paying jobs, bring equality in health care and equal justice for underserved minority and impoverished communities.

Now this new deal goes beyond climate change. Way beyond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D), NEW YORK: And so we're here to say that small incremental policy solutions are not enough. They can be part of a solution, but they are not the solution unto itself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Ocasio-Cortez was surrounded by veteran lawmakers from both the House and the Senate to introduce this legislation. Ed Markey, the senator from Massachusetts, is introducing a similar measure in the Senate. The resolution views climate change as an existential threat to the entire world, warning that what we see now in terms of wild weather, fires and rising seas is just the beginning if radical change isn't embraced immediately.

The resolution is only 14 pages long, but there are some estimates out there that it could cost trillions of dollars. Members of the House and Senate are now talking about legislation to put some or all the goals of the Green New Deal into effect, and as they say, the devil is in the details -- Dave, Christine.

BRIGGS: Thank you, Miguel.

And there are no he details, but you can guarantee this is a central issue and perhaps a gift to Republicans in 2020. They will run on it. How will Democrats defend it will be the question.

ROMANS: All right, 17 past the hour. Apple has fixed that bug that let people eavesdrop on video calls. And it turns out that wasn't the only problem.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:22:24] ROMANS: Apple fixed that Facetime bug that let people eavesdrop on unanswered video calls. Software updates were rolled out to fix the glitch nine days after videos of the bug were widely shared on social media. The tech company says it will compensate 14-year-old Grant Thompson and his family for flagging the problem. Yes, a 14- year-old found it.

Meantime, Apple found another security issue, another one, while investigating the Facetime bug. The company did not specify what it was but says the new updates will fix that mysterious issue, too.

BRIGGS: What a mess.

The New York City Police Department demanding Google stop allowing users to post DUI check point data on its live traffic and navigation app Waze. Authorities say Google is encouraging reckless driving. Waze advertises the feature on its Web site, saying, get alerted before you approach police. A spokesperson for the app says it promotes road safety since it highlights police presence. The NYPD says it will pursue all legal remedies to prevent the irresponsible and dangerous information from being posted.

ROMANS: A veterinarian sentenced to six years for using puppies to smuggle heroin. I can barely look at those pictures. This is so awful. Andres Lopez Elorez was convicted of surgically implanting drugs into the stomachs of those animals between 2004 and 2005. Authorities say Elorez leased a farm in Colombia where he secretly raised the dogs and implanted bags of liquid heroin into nine puppies, to then send them to the U.S. Three of the puppies died of a virus contracted after the surgery. Elorez who worked on behalf of Colombian drug traffickers is a fugitive until he was arrested in Spain in 2015.

BRIGGS: Hacienda Health, a Phoenix, Arizona, health care facility where a severely disabled woman was sexually assaulted and later gave birth is shutting down. Hacienda's board of directors voted last week to close. They are now working with state agencies on a transition plan for its 37 patients. Earlier this week Nathan Sutherland, the former Hacienda nurse, pleaded not guilty of sexually assaulting the woman. The 36-year-old Sutherland is being held on $500,000 bail.

ROMANS: Schools in and around Seattle will close early today. There is a threat of a winter storm in the Pacific northwest. Forecasters expect four to six inches of snow. Schools in Minneapolis and Saint Paul are also closed because of severe weather. Not as cold as last week but minus 35-degree windshield expected.

Speaking of extreme cold, this is what a frozen cat looks like. Pluffy here was found by her owners in Montana, buried in the snow. Oh my goodness. She was brought to an animal clinic unresponsive but after many she recovered which means she has eight lives left.

BRIGGS: Well said.

[04:25:03] Baseball is mourning the loss of one of the all-time greats, Frank Robinson. The Hall of Famer played for 21 seasons was the only would to win most valuable player award in both the National and American Leagues. The great Hank Harris says as a player Robinson did things that people said could never be done. He says baseball will miss a tremendous human being.

Frank Robinson was also a pioneer, becoming the first black manager in the majors in 1975 with the Cleveland Indians. One of four teams he managed. Robinson died Thursday at his home in L.A. He was 83.

ROMANS: All right. 25 minutes past the hour. Democrats flexed their muscles in Congress again today. The acting AG facing questions about his time overseeing the Russia probe. BRIGGS: And an explosive allegation by Jeff Bezos. The world's

richest man says the "National Enquirer's" parent company tried to extort him over the political coverage from the "Washington Post."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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