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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Judge Voids Manafort Plea Agreement; Compromise Border Bill Finalized; Round 3 Of U.S.-China Trade Talks; Pence Expected To Call Out Iran; U.S. And Poland Host Middle East Conference; Former U.S. Intel Officer Charged With Spying; Identity Of Bezos Lewd Photo Leaker Confirmed; Ford Recalls More Than 1 Million F-150 Trucks; Combative Exchange At Venezuela Hearing; Wife Of Trump Aide Pushes False Claims; One Year Ago, 17 Killed In Parkland Massacre; 3 Injured After Severe Turbulence On Delta Flight; Ravens Agree To Trade Flacco To Broncos. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired February 14, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[04:00:23] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Federal judge says Paul Manafort lied and broke his plea deal. He could go to jail for life.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Lawmakers prepare to vote on the border deal today. Will the President sign it before another shutdown?
ROMANS: High-stakes trade talks underway in Beijing. Will the President extend a key tariff truce to help cut a deal with china?
BRIGGS: Plus, a former Air Force Intelligence officer accused of spilling U.S. secrets and spying for Iraq.
ROMANS: Wow.
BRIGGS: Good morning and welcome to "Early Start." I'm Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: Nice to see you this morning of Thursday.
BRIGGS: Good to see you. Happy Valentine's Day.
ROMANS: Yes. Oh, that's right.
BRIGGS: Yes, don't forget
ROMANS: Are the kids' back packs full of all -- I'm going to make sure I got --
(CROSSTALK)
BRIGGS: The valentines.
ROMANS: Yes, exactly. I'm Christine. Life has changed. It's not an intimate dinner for two.
BRIGGS: No.
ROMANS: It's like, the kids have their valentine's ready, Thursday, February 14th. I better get those flowers --
(CROSSTALK)
BRIGGS: There are no flowers. There are kids' valentines.
ROMANS: 4:00 a.m. in the East. That's right. OK, let's begin with Paul Manafort's plea deal now voided a federal judge ruling the former Trump campaign chairman intentionally lied to the FBI, the Special Counsel, and the grand jury making multiple false statements about several material matters, including his interactions to the long-time Russian associate, Konstantin Kilimnik, mourn out this morning from CNN's Evan Perez.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, a judge here in Washington voided Paul Manafort's plea deal with federal prosecutors. Judge Amy Berman Jackson said that there's enough evidence to show that Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, intentionally lied in three instances during the time that he was supposed to be cooperating with investigators from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office.
Manafort's attorney have disputed that he intentionally made false statement saying he simply didn't remember certain details. Prosecutors had accused Manafort of five specific lies. He pleaded guilty last year to financial crimes and had agreed to cooperate with the Mueller investigation.
The judge issued an order saying that Manafort lied in three of those topics and the lies were "material to the investigation." Two of those lies, the judge said, had to do with Manafort's former business associate, Konstantin Kilimnik.
Prosecutors alleged Kilimnik as an operative with Russian intelligence and they say that Manafort shared sensitive pulling data with Kilimnik during a meeting last year at the Cigar Bar in New York.
Now, we don't know exactly what else happened at that meeting but prosecutor say that it was important enough that Manafort lied about it and that those who attended even left by separate exits perhaps to avoid detection. The judge has yet to decide how long Manafort will spend in prison and whether he gets any time for admitting to his crimes. Christine and Dave?
BRIGGS: Evan, thanks. If all goes according to plan, a bipartisan border security bill could be on the President's desk by tonight. According to two sources who have spoken to him, he plans to sign it.
The 1,159 page spending package has officially been released. The Senate is expected to take it up and pass it today. The legislation then goes back to the House with final passage expected tonight. From there, the measure goes straight to the White House.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, we haven't gotten it yet. We'll be getting it. We'll be looking for landmines because you could have that, you know. It's been known to happen before to people.
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BRIGGS: President continues to claim his wall is already being built even though the funding bill headed his way just calls for 55 miles of new steel fencing.
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TRUMP: We're building as we speak in the most desperately needed areas and it's a big wall. It's a strong wall. It's a wall that people aren't going through very easy. They're going to have to be in extremely good shape to get over this one. They would be able to climb Mt. Everest a lot easier, I think.
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BRIGGS: You think? The conservative House Freedom Caucus is so unhappy with the compromise border bill. Its members introduced a short-term solution to keep the government funded for another week. They hope to buy time and negotiate a better agreement.
ROMANS: Critical trade talks between the U.S. and China underway in Beijing. This is the third round of recent negotiations between the two countries. If a deal is not reach by March 1st, U.S. tariffs sent $200 billion worth of Chinese imports skyrocket from 10 percent to 25 percent. If enough progress is made, President Trump said he might let that deadline slide, just how long is unclear.
Let's go live to Beijing and bring in CNN's Matt Rivers. And there are those who said, you know, the President blinking on that hard March 1st deadline this week was definitely newsworthy.
[04:05:01] Maybe that was the President showing weakness, although if he really is serious about getting real reform in China, everyone from the beginning has said it takes more than the 90 days that they've been talking so far.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine. And it's worth noting here that March 1st, that deadline that was put in a place, it wasn't by congressional mandate, it's not a law, this is a relatively arbitrary deadline that can easily be moved and it appears that it might be, it all comes down to this week.
We've had lower level negotiations going on here in Beijing actually since Monday, but it's today and tomorrow really with the senior level delegates. You've got Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, you got U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer talking to their Chinese counter parts here both today and tomorrow and it all comes down to these two days. Will enough progress be made that when those representatives go back to the President he feels confident enough to say, "OK, we will move that deadline."
Now, moving the deadline accomplishes a couple of thing here. One, of course, it alleviates the pressure of those looming tariffs, but the other thing it does is it gives time for Xi Jinping, the President of China, to meet with Donald Trump.
Trump has said previously that he won't into (ph) trade deal unless he meets with President Xi. There was a thought that that might happen before March 1st, but that's not going to happen primarily because of that other summit that's coming up between Donald Trump and Kim Jong- un on February 27th and 28th.
So the earliest these two leaders of China and the U.S. could meet, about mid-March more than likely, so by sliding that deadline it gives negotiators more time, it gives time for those two leaders to meet. And that's, you know, what you would need, I think, if you are going to get to a deal.
But, don't let anyone tell you they know this is -- how this is going to play out here. We've seen stops and starts for the better part of 18 months now. So, yes, there's progress being made so far, but tomorrow, who knows, Christine.
ROMANS: And, you know, remember Matt, I think it's important to remind our viewers that what the United States is asking for, some of the concessions the United States is asking for, the Chinese haven't even admitted that they do those things, that bad behavior, right? So, they're almost talking past each other on some of these issues.
RIVERS: Yes, that's absolutely right. I mean, there's a ton of space, I think, between the United States and China on a lot of things. I mean, the United States is making a big ask to the Chinese here to make structural changes to the economy, to basically take the state out of the economy, but this is a communist country.
Removing the state from the economy is just about impossible, so there's a ton of issues. Yes, both sides have said that they're making progress. Steve Mnuchin here to reporter said so far so good. But you also had Larry Kudlow last week saying that both sides remain far apart.
So whether a deal can actually be done to address the kind of things that President Trump has said, the structural economic changes, that remains to be seen.
ROMANS: Yes, you can't favor your own industries over, you know, your foreign competitors or foreign investors and that is exactly how the business model works there. All right, nice to see you. Thank so much. Matt Rivers, keep us post in any progress.
Investors encouraged by hopes of the U.S.-China trade deal or at least the idea of punting for a couple of months on that deadline for March 1st. Wall Street Futures are pointing higher right now. The Dow climbed 118 points. That's a two-month high, guys, two month high. Wednesday, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq closed higher as well.
As these trade talks continue, new data show China has posted a surprise jump in exports. This caught a lot of people by surprise. Exports of Chinese goods rose 9.1 percent January. This is data from the General Administration of Customs there. Now, that reverses 4.4 percent decline in December. Now, many economists expected exports to shrink again, but they didn't, a surprise rise. The slowdown in Chinese economy has concerned businesses and investors around the world and it could worse if Beijing and Washington failed to reach a trade deal.
Several companies, including Apple and Caterpillar, blame weakness in Chinese economy for disappointing earnings recently. Now, some think that that surprise rise in exports could be ahead of the Lunar New Year and also ahead of that deadline, that maybe they were rushing orders ahead of that deadline when there would be higher tariffs on those goods.
BRIGGS: And a safe bet we're pushing this back now according to the Bloomberg report by that.
ROMANS: It sounds like that's direction will be in (ph).
BRIGGS: OK. All right, Mike Pence about to call out Iran. The Vice President in Poland, where representative from over 50 nations are taking part of the conference on the Middle East. Pence is expected to call on European allies to join the U.S. and forge a new nuclear deal with the Iranians. Atika Shubert lives from Warsaw with the latest. Atika, good morning.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave. Well, the conference is well underway. We're expecting that speech from the Vice President in about two hours. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the opening remarks here and he urged delegates to put away the speech and rhetoric really get down to frank discussions.
He also met with Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, earlier this morning where, you know, he made clear that the only way there would be progress in this is to curb what he called the malign influence of Iran in the region.
Now, ostensibly, this is a conference about many issues across the Middle East, Syria, Yemen, Israeli, Palestinian peace process, but really the focus is on Iran and that's why were looking forward to hearing from Vice President Mike Ponce later today, Dave.
[04:10:11] BRIGGS: Atika Shubert, live for us in Warsaw this morning, thank you.
ROMANS: All right, a former Air Force Intelligence officer has been charged with spying for Iran. An indictment unsealed yesterday charges 39-year-old Monica Witt with revealing a highly classified intelligence collection program and risking the lives of U.S. assets in Iran.
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JOHN DEMERS, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Monica Witt provided the Iranian government with the identities of employees in the U.S. intelligence community who were operating covertly.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: The Justice Department says Witt also helped Iran use fishing e-mails and fake Facebook accounts trying to penetrate U.S. intelligence computer networks. In 2013, Witt defected to Iran beyond the reach of U.S law enforcement.
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DEMERS: We would hope that someday she might travel outside of Iran and we would be able to effect arrest and render her back to the United States to stand justice
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ROMANS: Indictment says little about what drove Witt to spy, but it claim she consider approaching Russia as well.
BRIGGS: Wow. Two sources have now confirmed to CNN explicit photos and text from Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos to his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, were leaked to the "Enquirer" by Sanchez's brother, Michael.
Michael Sanchez, a Hollywood talent agent declined to respond to CNN on the record, but he has previously denied to "The Washington Post" that he was the leaker. Last week, Bezos alleged in a median (ph) post that the "Enquirer" had tried to blackmail him. The post included the e-mail showing the tabloid offer to set on a load photos and text if Bezos would say he doesn't believe the "Enquirers" coverage of him was politically motivated.
ROMANS: All right, if you own a Ford pickup trucks, some Ford tough news. The company is recalling more than 1 million of its F-150 trucks due to a transmission issue. Ford warns some models from 2001 to 2013 could downshift to first gear without a warning. That can cause drivers to suddenly lose control of their vehicles. And there have been accidents, at least five accidents stemming from this issue reported.
BRIGGS: All right, ahead, fireworks at a Capitol Hill hearing. A brand new Democrat in Congress gets into a testy back and forth with the Trump diplomat.
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REP. ILHAN OMAR (D), MINNESOTA: That was not a question. On February 8th --
ELLIOT ABRAMS, U.S. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO VENEZUELA: It is not right members of this committee can attack a witness who is not permitted to reply.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was not a question.
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[04:16:23] BRIGGS: 4:16 Eastern Time. A contentious exchange at a House hearing on Venezuela as Venezuela Congresswoman Ilhan Omar attacking the credibility of the Trump administration's new special envoy to Venezuela, Elliott Abrams. Omar started grilling by pointing to Abrams guilty plea for misleading Congress in the Iran-Contra affair.
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OMAR: I failed to understand why members of this committee or the American people should find any testimony that you give today to be truthful.
ABRAMS: If I could respond to that --
OMAR: It wasn't a question. On Feb --
ABRAMS: It was an attack.
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OMAR: That was not a question.
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BRIGGS: Omar asked about Abrams 1982 testimonies (INAUDIBLE) to downplay a massacre in El Salvador by U.S.-backed forces. She asked if Abrams would support on rebels today trying to overthrow Venezuela as Maduro government even if those rebels committed war crimes.
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ABRAMS: I don't think this entire line of questioning is meant to be real questions and so I will not reply.
OMAR: Whether you -- your watch, a genocide will take place --
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BRIGGS: Omar pressed again asking if U.S. interests include protecting human rights and preventing genocide. Abrams replied, "That is always the position of the United States."
ROMANS: All right, the wife of White House communications chief and former of Fox News executive, Bill Shine, is pushing false anti- vaccination claims on Twitter. In a series of tweets, Darla Shine claimed without evidence that childhood diseases such as measles keep you healthy and fight cancer.
She lamented the fact her children had received the MMR vaccine, which guards against measles, mumps and rubella, and said that people of her generation, the baby boomers, are healthier now because they had measles as children. Her comments come as measles outbreak sweeps across the country disproportionately affecting those who were not vaccinated against the disease.
BRIGGS: President Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom sparring over California scaled back high-speed rail project. Trump saying he wanted the project's federal funds back after Newsom announced the revised plan on his state of -- state's speech.
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GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: The current project as planned would cost too much and respectfully take too long. There's been too little oversight and not enough transparency. Right now, there is simply isn't a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from, you know, San Francisco to L.A.
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BRIGGS: Trump falsely tweeted the project was canceled and claimed the state owed the federal government $3.5 billion. Newsom shout back that the rail is still being built and added, "This is California's money, allocated by Congress for this project. We're not giving it back."
ROMANS: It was one year ago today that a former student unleashed a hail of gunfire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Fourteen students and three adults died in that massacre. Now, a year later, survivors vowed to keep pushing for gun control.
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DAVID HOGG, PARKLAND MASSACRE SURVIVOR: I plan to make sure that our generation is the last generation that has to live with the constant scourge of gun violence no matter whether it's 17 people that are killed at our high school or one person that's shot and killed on their way to school because we have to end gun violence in every zip code, in every single part of the United States.
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ROMANS: The President marking the anniversary at a law enforcement conference in Washington. He listed his administration's efforts in the wake of Parkland and advocated for stronger school security.
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TRUMP: We cannot imagine the sorrow and suffering that Parkland families have endured. Our entire nation mourns for the victims and their loved ones and we pledge our unwavering resolve to work with the leaders in this room to secure our nation's schools and everywhere else.
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[04:20:19] ROMANS: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis petitioning the state supreme court to convene a grand jury. He wants an investigation of the Broward County School District's response to that attack and its handling of school safety issues.
BRIGGS: Back in Washington, a moment of silence on the House floor led by Congressman Ted Deutch who represents the Parkland area. Deutch also co-sponsoring the Democratic gun control measure that would ban high capacity magazines. The activism and legislative efforts seemed to have had an effect at least on the state and local levels.
A year-end report from the Giffords Law Center to prevent gun violence shows 67 new gun laws were enacted in 26 states and the District of Columbia. But for grieving families and friends, changed cannot come fast enough. According to the non-profit gun violence news site, the trace, nearly 1,200 American children has been killed by firearms in the year since Parkland.
ROMANS: Twelve hundred, 1,200 school-aged children killed by gun violence since Parkland, remarkable. We'll be right back.
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[04:25:56] ROMANS: Two passengers and one flight attendant taken to the hospital after a delta connection flight bound for Seattle hit severe turbulence. This, right there, is what it looked like inside of the plane. One of the passengers said the aircraft did a nose dive twice. Here's audio from the flight moments after it happened.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 5763 turn right at papa. And do you know if there was any damage to the aircraft?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Round papa and we are not sure, we don't believe so.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Compass 5763, do you know how many people on board are injured?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were never able to get an actual count. We know there are a couple possible more serious injuries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The plane forced to make an emergency landing in Nevada. Customers boarded an alternate flight to Seattle later in the day.
The Denver Broncos have a new quarterback, picking up former Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco from Baltimore Ravens. The deal will not become official until the new league year begins on March 13th. The Ravens are expected to get a mid-range draft pick in return. The trade means Baltimore is officially committing to Lamar Jackson as its quarterback.
BRIGGS: Disney releasing the first trailer for "Frozen 2," the long awaited sequel to the 2013 mega hit. The original cast is back for "Frozen 2" led by Kristen Bell and the royal sister, the wickedly talented Idina Menzel. The original "Frozen" made more than a billion dollars at the box office. It's the highest grossing animated film of all time. "Frozen 2" will hit theatres on November 22nd.
ROMANS: Oh, that's going to be great.
BRIGGS: The games all back.
ROMANS: Yes, pre-holiday smash there --
(CROSSTALK)
BRIGGS: I can't wait.
ROMANS: OK. No more plea deal for Paul Manafort. A federal judge says Trump's former campaign chair lied, lied to Mueller investigators about his contacts with the Russians. The story, next.
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