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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

President Trump Denies Trying To Tamper With Michael Cohen Probe; Roger Stone Ordered To Appear At Hearing After Posting Inflammatory Instagram Photo; Winter Storm Targets Half The Country; Burberry Apologizes For Hoodie Design. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 20, 2019 - 05:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:30:16] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Did you ask Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to change the leadership of the investigation into your former personal attorney Michael Cohen?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, not at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: After a pause, a denial from the president. But, "The New York Times" reports he tried to get a supporter put in charge of the Michael Cohen investigation.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, could Roger Stone end up in jail as he awaits trial? A judge summoning him back to court after a controversial Instagram post about her.

ROMANS: Rain, sleet, ice, snow. Half the country is in for some wicked weather. And then, round two is right behind.

SANCHEZ: And this -- suicide is not fashion. Anger at fashion giant Burberry. The company is pulling a hoodie that had a noose around the neck. Burberry still working that one out.

ROMANS: I don't know. I don't know. I think if you're fancy, it's Burberry.

SANCHEZ: Burberry.

ROMANS: I think if you're you or me, it's Burberry.

SANCHEZ: Burberry, yes.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Boris Sanchez in for Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is 31 minutes past the hour.

Let's begin with this, this morning. President Trump facing more obstruction of justice questions in the wake of a wide-ranging "New York Times" report. The "Times" says the president pushed to have a federal prosecutor

appointed during his administration, quote, "to oversee the Michael Cohen investigation." Mr. Trump had, by that point, already been implicated in the Cohen probe.

SANCHEZ: Yes, but the "Times" reports that late last year, he still called then-Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to ask if the U.S. attorney in Manhattan could supervise it.

The report is raising concerns about obstruction of justice, even in places that usually downplay them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEPARD SMITH, ANCHOR, FOX NEWS "SHEPARD SMITH REPORTING": The phone call would be evidence of what?

JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO, FOX NEWS SENIOR JUDICIAL ANALYST: Corrupt intent. That is an effort to use the levers of power of the government for a corrupt purpose.

SMITH: Would that be obstruction?

NAPOLITANO: Yes. Well, it would be attempted obstruction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: It's unclear what Whitaker did in response to the president's call. There's no evidence he took action. The Justice Department says Whitaker made no commitments but does not flatly deny the investigation was discussed.

Trump, however, making a blanket denial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Did you ask Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to change the leadership of the investigation into your former personal attorney Michael Cohen?

TRUMP: No, not all. I don't know who gave you that. That's more fake news. A lot of -- there's a lot of fake -- there's a lot of fake news out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: More now from senior White House correspondent Pamela Brown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Christine and Boris.

President Trump is denying that he ever made that ask of former A.G. Matt Whitaker to have the U.S. attorney Geoffrey Berman unrecuse and oversee the Cohen probe. Now, this denial is in response to "The New York Times" reporting that he, in fact, did make that ask because he viewed Berman as an ally.

And sources tell me and my colleague, Laura Jarrett, that Trump was upset about the Cohen probe and how it implicated him in the payments to two women during the election -- you'll recall that -- and that he did fume to Whitaker about it over the phone. And, the president thought Whitaker should do a better job of controlling the investigators in the probe that he oversaw as acting attorney general.

During recent congressional testimony, Whitaker would only say he won't discuss conversations with the president when asked if he spoke to him about the SDNY investigation.

REP. VAL DEMINGS (D), FLORIDA: I want to know whether you talked to President Trump at all about the Southern District of New York's case involving Michael Cohen.

MATTHEW WHITAKER, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Congresswoman, as I've mentioned several times today, I am not going to discuss my private conversations with the President of the United States.

BROWN: In contrast, he told the committee he never spoke about the Mueller probe to President Trump.

WHITAKER: At no time has the White House asked for nor have I provided any promises or commitments concerning the special counsel's investigation or any other investigation.

BROWN: But this latest reporting about Trump fits into a pattern where he believes officials in DOJ roles should show loyalty to him and do his bidding. As you'll recall, the president was furious that Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe and he never got over it -- Boris and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Pamela at the White House. Thank you for that.

Let's bring in "CNN POLITICS" digital director Zach Wolf, live in Washington where it's going to snow later today, Zach.

SANCHEZ: We're sorry to tell you.

ROMANS: So we're sure glad you're up early so you can get out of there about noon.

Look, this "New York Times" reporting is exhaustive. It's four bylines, almost 5,000 words inside Trump's angry war on the inquiries that surround him.

And it really shows the president is being pressed on both sides. On the one side, firing James Comey -- being investigated for obstruction, potentially, by Robert Mueller. And then on the other side, by the SDNY. Installing a loyalist -- trying to install a loyalist to oversee the investigation of Cohen.

This is a battle on two fronts for this president. ZACHARY WOLF, DIGITAL DIRECTOR, CNN POLITICS: Right, and it's not like Matt Whitaker -- he didn't make this request that the "Times" reports early in his administration. It sort of suggests that he should know -- he should know at this point -- even if he started from zero, he should know he shouldn't be doing this kind of thing.

[05:35:13] And yet, he continues to do, I think is what you kind of take away. He has zero regard that the president painted in this report -- has zero regard, essentially, for the levers of justice and for this remove that he's supposed to have from them and doesn't really seem to mind about the whole idea of an obstruction probe. I mean, presumably, his lawyers have explained this thing -- this type of thing to him, at this point.

SANCHEZ: Well, people who defend the president -- his allies say that it's partly his style as a CEO to have his hands on everything and that --

ROMANS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- to some regard he doesn't really know what he can and can't do as president. We'll table that discussion.

But, Zach, I did want to ask you about another aspect of this article because it gets into how Republicans have sort of molded this strategy to defend the president, specifically the House Freedom Caucus with Devin Nunes and Matt Gates.

What do you see in that reporting that indicates to you that we may get from Republicans moving forward -- let's say after the Mueller report is published?

WOLF: Well, I think they have a lot less leverage now that they don't control the House. They sort of have lost control of the investigation arm. They're sort of playing second fiddle, essentially, to Democrats now. So their role is probably less important, although they have -- they have really -- they helped him out, essentially, by diverting while they did control.

SANCHEZ: Now, we have to ask you about former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe. He had a conversation with Anderson Cooper last night that raised some eyebrows. Listen to one of his statements.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, FBI: I think it's possible. I think that's why we started our investigation. And I'm really anxious to see where Dir. Mueller concludes that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Now, the question from Anderson there was whether he believed that President Trump may have been a Russian asset or may still be a Russian asset. The answer, it's possible.

ROMANS: Wow. SANCHEZ: Republicans and people who defend the president say that Andrew McCabe has no credibility, that he's trying to sell a book, that he's a liar and a leaker, similar to what we've heard them say about James Comey.

Do you think he still has credibility at this point? Do you believe what he's saying?

WOLF: You know, he is selling a book right now. He does probably need more money since they fired him just before his retirement date sort of as a -- as a -- as a --

ROMANS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Farewell gift (ph).

WOLF: -- stick in the -- in the gut, which why would you like somebody who did that to you? You would not. So you've got to take those things into account.

At the same time, this is not somebody who's ever been thought of as a partisan hack so you have to take him, I think, at his word. Sort of balance those two elements together.

He wasn't the one coming out and saying I think President Trump is a Russian asset, so that's important to realize. But, you know -- wow, I think, is the right way to respond to that.

ROMANS: Yes.

Zach, I know you've been writing about Elizabeth Warren's ambitious health care proposal and how that would work. You've been looking at some of the policies in the 2020 field.

And then, we hear that Bernie Sanders is going to run. Look, he talked to CBS yesterday and something really caught our attention about the way he views Howard Schultz and a potential bid there -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN DICKERSON, HOST, "CBS THIS MORNING": Howard Schultz has now said he would not run as an Independent if the Democrats nominate a moderate.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oh, isn't that nice.

Why is Howard Schultz on every television station in this country? Why are you quoting Howard Schultz? Because he's a billionaire.

DICKERSON: If you're worried about Donald Trump, the Democratic Party -- to win voters in various parts of the country -- needs to pick somebody who is not so radical. That's also what his theory --

SANDERS: Well, I think his deeper theory is hey, I'm a billionaire. Leave me alone and let me make as much money as I can without paying my fair share of taxes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Ooh, tax the rich, hate the rich.

This is what a spokesperson for Howard Schultz says. "He already has had such a profound impact on the Democratic Party that many presidential candidates hold up his self-described socialist views as their standard."

I don't think he meant socialist in a good way there, Zach.

WOLF: No, that was not a compliment. Bernie Sanders is not technically a member of the Democratic Party -- running as a Democrat. Howard Schultz, a longtime Democrat, left the party. So you can kind of see where things are going there.

Sanders, he did not win the nomination for -- in 2016.

ROMANS: Yes.

WOLF: He did yank the party to the left.

ROMANS: Yes.

WOLF: All of the people now running -- or not all of them. Most of the Democrats running for president have sort of clumped in his direction to sort of rekindle that fire -- that excitement that he had amongst the faithful -- the Democratic faithful a couple of years ago.

Is there enough room for Sanders to do that himself, again? I think that -- were the people part of a movement or were they part of the Bernie Sanders club? I think that really remains to be seen.

[05:40:02] He has a lot of fans out there among Democrats, but it's a much more crowded field now.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Well, what we heard from Sanders there on Schultz may also be a preview of what he eventually says about President Trump.

Zachary Wolf, we have to leave it there. Thank you so much. Get warm before --

ROMANS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- it gets too cold.

WOLF: Thanks.

ROMANS: Yes, wear your boots today in Washington, D.C. for a lot of reasons. All right.

New overnight, hackers thought to be linked to Russia's military, targeting two American think tanks in Europe.

Microsoft revealing Fancy Bear, the same group that allegedly hacked the DNC back in 2016 -- Fancy Bear tried to infiltrate the Aspen Institute and the German Marshall Fund of the United States between September and December last year. The company is not saying whether the hackers were successful.

SANCHEZ: Roger Stone has been ordered to appear at a court hearing tomorrow after an Instagram post that seemed to threaten the judge overseeing his case. It featured this picture of Judge Amy Berman Jackson that we're blurring out. And if you look at the upper-left- hand corner, those appear to be crosshairs, even though Roger Stone has denied that that's what they are.

The post could jeopardize the lenient gag order she imposed, as well as his bail.

Stone, whose motto is to never apologize -- it's one of his famous rules -- apologized officially to the court. He told CNN a volunteer made the initial post and it was in no way a threat to the judge.

Well, you heard us mention this just a moment ago. Half the country is in for ugly weather today.

Two systems merging into one, forming a powerful winter storm. It's packing a mixture of snow, sleet, and freezing rain like you see in these live pictures from Des Moines. Christine, your old stomping grounds there.

ROMANS: I know. My sister's a teacher in Des Moines, so be careful today.

SANCHEZ: Yes, you've got to be hearty to live there.

More than 150 million people from the Plains in the Midwest to mid- Atlantic and Northeast are under some kind of weather advisory right now.

Washington D.C. and Baltimore are expected to take the brunt of the storm. Federal offices in the nation's capital are closed today.

ROMANS: A live look at St. Paul, Minnesota. All Minnesota public schools are closed today. Schools also closed in Philadelphia.

About 1,000 flights already canceled today, most of them in and around Washington, Chicago, and Philly.

And another storm system is moving into California. It's expected to follow the exact same pattern for another round of punishment this weekend.

Here's meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Boris and Christine, yes, about 130 million people underneath these alerts, advisories, and warnings. And notice a multi-storm set-up here over the next couple of days. One coming in in the next 24 hours and then another coming in going in towards late this weekend and early next week.

So where it's not heavy rainfall, it is a wintry mix or heavy snowfall across parts of the Midwest. And also, the Intermountain West and parts of the Northwest, as well.

And notice the current storm heavier -- it brings in heavy rainfall across portions of the south. And once you work your way, say, north of St. Louis into parts of the Great Lakes, it becomes all snow.

And all of this pushes on in towards the east as we go in through later on tonight and into early tomorrow morning, leaving behind about four to six inches of snowfall across that region.

But again, plenty of flooding threat in place as well from Nashville down towards Birmingham -- even northern portions of Mississippi and eastern areas of Arkansas where as much as four to six inches of rainfall could come down in the next two days.

And again, as this system moves on, we do have another one right on its heels and temps just struggle to warm up across the south. Atlanta, only 49; Charlotte, 41 degrees. And up in the Midwest, looking into the middle 30s.

While this system exits, another one follows a similar track going in towards this upcoming weekend.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Thanks, but no thanks, Pedram.

Southwest Airlines struggling with an operational emergency. An unusually high number of planes have been taken out of service because of mechanical issues. Hundreds of flights were canceled since last week because of it.

On Tuesday, more than 40 Southwest planes had issues. That's more than double the average number. The airline says there's no common theme to the mechanical problems but an all hands on deck order implemented last week has now been extended for all Southwest mechanics.

ROMANS: All right. A big bounce for Walmart. Why sales were up so much at the holidays and what it means for the battle with Amazon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:48:14] ROMANS: Justice Clarence Thomas pushing for the Supreme Court to reconsider one of the foundations of American libel law.

He says the high court wrongly decided the landmark 1964 case New York Times versus Sullivan. That ruling interpreted the First Amendment to make it hard for celebrities and public officials to win defamation suits.

But, Thomas now writes the higher standard is not found in the Constitution. He says libel law should be left to state courts. No other justices joined his opinion.

SANCHEZ: Attorneys for a Kentucky high school student at the center of a viral video controversy are suing "The Washington Post". They're seeking $250 million in damages for this 16-year-old, Nicholas Sandmann.

The teenager was in Washington last month for the annual March for Life rally when he found himself face-to-face with Omaha tribe member Nathan Phillips. The video initially touched off accusations that Sandmann was a bigot.

ROMANS: Another video later provided a more complete picture. The lawsuit claims the "Post" wrongfully targeted and bullied Nicholas because he was a white student wearing a red "Make America Great Again" cap.

The newspaper says it is planning to mount a vigorous defense.

SANCHEZ: Teachers in West Virginia are set to strike for a second day in a row, even after the House of Delegates shelved an education bill that prompted them to walk off their jobs. You see the teachers cheering there when they found out the news.

The Republican-led House voted to table the bill. It would create charter schools and education savings accounts to help pay for private schools.

The head of the teachers' union says they're still striking because they can't trust State Senate leadership. They want to make sure the bill is really dead.

Republican Senate President Mitch Carmichael says champions of the status quo won.

ROMANS: Heart attacks are on the rise among young women and researchers are trying to figure out why.

[05:50:01] A study published in the journal "Circulation" found heart attack-related hospital admissions among women age 35 to 54 have been climbing since 1995 from 21 percent to 31 percent. For young men, heart attacks crept up only three points. Research looks at data from North Carolina, Maryland, Mississippi, and Minneapolis.

Each year, about 790,000 Americans have a heart attack, most of them linked to heart disease -- the leading cause of death in the U.S.

SANCHEZ: New York City Police body cam footage is not private and it can be released to the public. A New York Appeals Court rejected an argument by the police union that footage should be classified as a personnel record. The court says the purpose of body cams is transparency, accountability, and public trust-building.

NYPD commissioner James O'Neill agreed with the court, saying that footage shows how skilled, brave, and dedicated officers are.

We still have more news ahead. Stay with us. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:55:23] ROMANS: Retail stale -- retail sales, rather, may have stalled at the end of the year, but Walmart had a blowout holiday quarter, a sign it can hold its own against its biggest competition, Amazon.

Sales grew 4.2 percent over the holiday stretch. But look at this -- a 43 percent rise in digital sales. Walmart said its online sales got a boost from rolling out grocery pickup to stores across the country. More than 10 percent of Walmart shoppers used curbside pickup for their groceries in January.

Walmart's recent moves to improve stores, expand online, and increase wages for its employees -- it looks like it's working. It also stocked up on toys, hoping to gain customers during the first holiday season without Toys R Us.

A low unemployment, rising wages, and a drop in gas prices also boosted sales.

Walmart's stock closed up more than two percent for the year. The stock is up about 9 1/2 percent.

Walmart's strong results came after a troubling report from the Commerce Department last week. Now, that found core retail sales fell in December, the most in nearly two decades.

Global markets are higher. Stock markets around the world up as investors are cautiously optimistic about the ongoing U.S.-China trade talks.

On Wall Street, you've got futures kind of undecided, I would say. That's barely moving so we'll look from some direction to come later this morning.

Stocks closed nearly higher on Tuesday after the president hinted he is flexible on that March first deadline with China. The Dow finished mostly unchanged. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both up slightly.

Investors are preparing for the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's January meeting. That comes at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time today. The central bank has kept interest rates steady this year, suggesting it could be done with rate hikes.

New York wants to make sure Airbnb is not breaking short-term rental laws in the city. New York City has subpoenaed Airbnb for data on 20,000 listings in the area. They include requests for details about hosts, including their addresses, the volume of bookings, and the amount of money they earned.

In 2016, New York made it illegal for people to list entire apartments on Airbnb and similar sites for periods of less than 30 days. The law is aimed at cracking down on people turning their homes into hotels and taking potential rental housing off the market while denying the city tax revenue. All right. Virgin Galactic could be getting closer to launching customers into space this year. You on board?

SANCHEZ: I am, all the way.

ROMANS: A rocket-powered plane, the VSS Unity, is scheduled for its highest and fastest test flight in California this morning.

Virginia Galactic made history in December, remember, when VSS Unity climbed to more than 50 miles above earth. That is the line the U.S. government considers the edge of space.

More test flights are planned in the coming months to fine-tune the vehicle before passengers can come on board.

The founder, Richard Branson, has said commercial flights could begin in July and he plans to be the first passenger on board.

SANCHEZ: I know you're going to contribute to my GoFundMe to buy a ticket on that flight. It looks amazing.

ROMANS: I'd contribute ten bucks to --

SANCHEZ: Oh, Christine, thank you so much.

A big faux pas by fashion giant Burberry to tell you about. It's apologizing for clothing a runway model in a hoodie with a noose around the neck at the London Fashion Show this week.

Criticism came from one of their own models, Liz Kennedy, and it led to some online backlash. Kennedy wrote in an Instagram post, quote, "Suicide is not fashion."

The CEO of Burberry says the design was inspired by the marine theme that ran throughout the collection, but it was insensitive and we made a mistake. Burberry has removed the item from its collection.

ROMANS: Look at this. You're looking at a firefall, a national phenomenon at Yosemite National Park.

It's sort of a magic trick by nature that creates the illusion of lava flowing off a cliff. It only comes to life when the setting sun hits the waterfall at just the right angle. It draws hundreds of visitors every night.

Now, the firefall will end this weekend as the sun changes position in the sky. It's very cool.

SANCHEZ: It's beautiful.

ROMANS: The Northern Lights, firefall -- all that stuff is just so cool.

SANCHEZ: Nice to have that balance --

ROMANS: Yes. SANCHEZ: -- where you see something beautiful from Mother Nature right before you get pounded with snow --

ROMANS: Oh, yes, yes, yes.

SANCHEZ: -- and the nastiness that's coming later.

ROMANS: Oh, yes. Everyone be careful today on your commute.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez in for Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The President of the United States tried to influence an investigation that involved himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president denies it. We're living in the world of maybes and sources.

DICKERSON: Do you still believe the president could be a Russian asset?

MCCABE: It's possible. I'm really anxious to see where Dir. Mueller concludes.

SANDERS: We would look for somebody who can take the progressive banner and help us to rally the American people.

TRUMP: I think he missed his time, but I wish Bernie well.

JOSEPH BIDEN (D), FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's time to restore America's soul and remind ourselves we are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, February 20th, 6:00 here in New York.

I see that you're now prepared. You have your papers all arranged.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I think I'm ready.

CAMEROTA: I think so.

BERMAN: I think I'm ready, let's go. Hi --

CAMEROTA: Hi.

BERMAN: -- as Bernie Sanders likes to say.

CAMEROTA: As Bernie Sanders would say -- hi.