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Jussie Smollett Faces Felony Charges for Alleged Attack; Coast Guard Lieutenant Arrested on Terror Charges; Catholic Church Holds First Vatican Summit on Child Sex Abuse; Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired February 21, 2019 - 04:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:00:17] JUSSIE SMOLLETT, ACTOR, "EMPIRE": Who the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) could make something like this up?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Chicago Police say you did. Jussie Smollett accused of staging a racially motivated attack.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, a domestic terrorist on active military duty, a Coast Guard officer with a political and media hit list had 15 guns and 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

ROMANS: The Mueller report could be in the attorney general's hands by next week. What Bill Barr does with it, well, that's the big question.

SANCHEZ: And 3,000 teachers walk off the job today in Oakland. What they're demanding for themselves, and 36,000 students who still have class today.

Good morning, and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Boris Sanchez in for Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: Nice to have you here today. Big, busy news day.

I'm Christine Romans. It's Thursday, February 21st. It's 4:00 a.m. exactly in the East, and here we go.

That hashtag #justiceforjussie has an entirely different meaning this morning. "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett facing a felony charge for allegedly filing a false police report claiming two men attacked him last month. Chicago Police tells CNN they hope Smollett will turn himself in overnight. Right now they don't know where he is.

SANCHEZ: And a class four felony, the kind Smollett is charged with, carries a prison sentence of one to three years. The actor himself has passionately insisted that he didn't stage any attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SMOLLETT: Who the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) could make something like this up or add something to it, or whatever it may be. I can't even -- I'm an advocate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Assuming he's in custody, a bail hearing for Smollett would be expected later today.

CNN's Nick Watt is outside Chicago Police headquarters. He has more.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Boris and Christine, Jussie Smollett has gone from victim to suspect, and he now faces a felony charge, a class four felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.

The "Empire" actor, of course, claimed he was attacked in the early hours of January 29th, on a cold, frigid morning here in Chicago, by two men who threw racial and homophobic epithets at him, hung a noose around his neck, and poured an unknown chemical on him.

Now two men were arrested last week. They were questioned by police then they were released on Friday night. Smollett's lawyers released a statement to us last night and they say that, "Like any other citizen Mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information both true and false has been repeatedly leaked."

This story is far from over. In fact, the fallout from this story is really only just beginning -- Christine and Boris.

SANCHEZ: Nick Watt, thank you.

A spokesperson for 20th Century Fox, the company that produces "Empire," said the studio has no comment at this time.

ROMANS: All right. A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant under arrest this morning as a suspected domestic terrorist. Authorities say 49-year- old Christopher Paul Hasson of Silver Spring, Maryland, is a white supremacist who had a hit list that included several high-profile Democrats, among them presidential candidates.

Prosecutors filing a draft e-mail in which they say Hasson wrote, "I am dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth."

Ryan Browne at the White House -- at the Pentagon, rather, with more.

RYAN BROWNE, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and Boris.

The Department of Justice charging an active duty Coast Guard officer with gun and drug charges, and for being an alleged domestic terrorist who was plotting attacks on senior Democratic officials and senior members of the media, both from MSNBC and CNN.

Now he's also charged with adhering to a manifesto of a Norwegian terrorist, Anders Breivik, who in 2011 killed some 77 people in a series of domestic terror attacks.

Now as part of that manifesto, he is being charged with using drugs as part of an effort to bolster his ability to carry out these attacks.

Now some 15 weapons and 1,000 rounds of ammunition were discovered in his home, according to the official charge documents provided by the Department of Justice.

And again, he was posted here in Washington, D.C. at the Coast Guard headquarters. It remains unclear how someone could have such high- level access with all these links to domestic terrorist groups, white supremacists organizations, and in possession of so many weapons and so much ammunition.

Back to you.

SANCHEZ: Ryan, thank you.

The completion of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation could be announced as early as next week. Sources familiar with Justice Department plans tell us that soon after that, Attorney General Bill Barr will submit a confidential summary to Congress. But that does not mean we'll get to see Mueller's report quickly or potentially ever.

[04:05:04] ROMANS: Right now the scope and contours of what the attorney general will send to Capitol Hill are unclear. Barr was noncommittal at his confirmation hearing last month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BARR, THEN-ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: I am going to try to get the information out there consistent with these regulations. And to the extent I have discretion I will exercise that discretion to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The special counsel regulations instruct Mueller to submit a confidential report to the attorney general, but those regulations don't require that it be shared with Congress or the public. Yesterday the president said he's leaving the entire matter up to Barr.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAITLIN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Should the Mueller report be released while you're abroad next week?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That'll be totally up to the new attorney general. That'll be totally up to him. The new attorney -- the new attorney general, yes.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Now I guess from what I understand that will be totally up to the attorney general.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Of course, depending on what is or is not released, months of wrangling between Congress and the Justice Department may follow.

The precise timing of Barr's announcement is subject to change. CNN is told that Justice officials don't want to interfere with White House diplomatic efforts. Recall that late next week President Trump is set to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. But on the other hand, don't forget that 12 Russians were indicted last year while the president met with Queen Elizabeth. That was just days before his Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin.

ROMANS: All right. While Trump is overseas next week, former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen will testify in public. He is scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee February 27th. He will be questioned about President Trump's finances, his business practices, but not the Russia investigation. Cohen's first scheduled appearance was canceled due to threats against his family.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and on Wednesday, he tweeted this out, quote, "Looking forward to the American people hearing my story in my voice. #truth." The next day, he'll testify privately to the House Intelligence Committee.

Cohen had been scheduled to report to prison on March 6th, but a federal judge agreed to delay the start of his prison term for two back, moving it back to May. Cohen was sentenced to three years after pleading guilty to charges that included campaign finance violations related to payments that he arranged to women who claimed they had affairs with Donald Trump.

ROMANS: All right. The White House seems determined to prove climate change does not threaten national security. According to the "Washington Post" the Trump administration is assembling a panel to scrutinize intelligence findings that have repeatedly concluded global warming does pose a national security threat.

Heading up the proposed Presidential Commission on Climate Security, William Happer. Now he is on the National Security Council and he believes carbon emissions linked to climate change should be viewed as an asset, rather than a pollutant. And that's not all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM HAPPER, TRUMP NOMINEE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE PANEL: The demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler. Carbon dioxide is actually a benefit to the world, and so were the Jews.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Quite a comparison there. The White House is not commenting on the "Washington Post" report.

Just a few weeks ago, the director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, delivered a worldwide threat assessment that identified climate change as a significant security risk. CNN has since learned that White House officials are discussing replacements for Coats. They're concerned that President Trump may be prepared to fire him.

ROMANS: Much of the eastern U.S. cleaning up this morning after a big winter storm rolled through.

Thunder snow caught on a doorbell camera in Cumberland, Maryland, yesterday. Major flooding in Giles County, Tennessee. That's just south of Pulaski. And the front stalled over the south bringing on some high water. And that flooding threat won't abate with another winter storm taking shape out west.

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Boris and Christine, good morning, guys.

Yes, the northeast here watching the snow showers around Boston, a wintry mix just south of town, and go to the north there, it's all about the snow. And of course it was a winter wonderland across Central Park as well in the past 24 or so hours. But you cross over into the airports it was an entirely different story. Major disruptions as far as cancellations and delays across portions of the country.

And a lot of this activity now going to begin to improve quickly, at least for the northeast. In fact, by 11:00 a.m., noon, much of the showers exit the picture. And then you draw the attention back down toward the south because the southern fringe of all of this, that's where the frontal boundary has stalled and that's where not only thunderstorms are prevalent this morning.

As much as 1,000 strikes since midnight across portions of the south. But extensive flood watches and warnings and a lot of river flooding taking place in northern Alabama and northern Mississippi and western Tennessee. And frankly, with that front that's really not moving much, notice the rainfall amounts are going to be significant. Four to six inches around Memphis. Two to three inches around Nashville over the next 24 or so hours.

And then back towards the west, another system right on its heels here is bringing in additional rainfall and additional storms going in towards this weekend for much of the country -- guys.

ROMANS: All right. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Big one-two punch headed our way.

ROMANS: Yes.

[04:10:01] SANCHEZ: Duke sensation Zion Williamson down and out. Literally. The freshman actually tore his own shoe off when he was hurt. Duke fans and Knicks fans now holding their breath. We'll tell you how it happened next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: The son of North Carolina Republican congressional candidate, Mark Harris, says he warned his father about a political operative's shady and perhaps illegal tactics to secure votes. John Harris' testimony before the state elections board undercuts claims by his father and his father's campaign strategist that they were not aware of any possible red flags. Harris says he repeatedly warned his father about Leslie McCrae Dowless. Dowless now at the center of an election fraud investigation in North Carolina's Ninth Congressional District.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN HARRIS, ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY IN NORTH CAROLINA: I had no reason to believe at any point that my father actually knew, or my mother or anyone else affiliated with the campaign, actually knew that McCrae and his folks were doing the things that have been described today. I had no reason to believe that at all. I believe that Mr. Dowless told them he wasn't doing any of this and they believed him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:15:08] SANCHEZ: Things got really dramatic in court. At one point during his testimony, John Harris' voice cracked and his father, you can see there, was weeping. The younger Harris did not tell his parents he was going to testify at the hearing.

ROMANS: Schools in Oakland, California, will be open today but some 3,000 teachers will not be showing up to work. They are set to go on strike this morning demanding smaller classes and more support for 36,000 students. They also want a 12 percent pay raise to offset the high cost of living. The district has offered 7 percent.

In West Virginia, teachers and school service personnel will return to work this morning ending a two-day strike. It comes after state lawmakers killed a controversial education bill that would have moved public money to private education.

SANCHEZ: It took more than four decades, but the accused killer of an 11-year-old girl in California is finally in custody. Seventy-two- year-old James Alan Neal arrested this week in Colorado Springs. He allegedly strangled 11-year-old Linda Ann O'Keefe in July of 1973 after the girl's mother told her to walk home from school.

ROMANS: Investigators honed in on Neal using DNA collected from Linda's body shortly after her death and an online genealogy Web site. Last July, Newport Beach Police released Linda's story on Twitter, essentially live tweeting the girl's last day from her perspective to raise awareness in the cold case. Both of O'Keefe's parents have since died, but she was survived by two sisters.

SANCHEZ: A big scare last night for Duke baseball fans. Freshman sensation Zion Williamson was forced to leave last night's game against North Carolina with a knee injury. Watch what happens there just 36 seconds after the opening tip. Coach Mike Krzyzewski called it a mild knee sprain. Now on the plane -- on the play, I should say, you can see that

Williamson slipped when his foot bloat right through his shoe with the sole ripping loose from heel to toe.

Now Barack Obama was sitting along the baseline near the Duke bench. The former president shouted encouragement to Williamson as he left the court.

The Blue Devils looked lost without their star. The Tar Heels scoring 32 of their first 34 points in the paint before they cruised to the 88-72 victory.

Now Coach K says that Williamson's knee is stable and that a timetable for his return will likely be determined later today.

ROMANS: Wow, right through the shoe.

SANCHEZ: Supposed to be one of the blockbuster games of the season. $3,000 for some of the cheapest seats and 36 seconds in, that happens.

ROMANS: Wow. Unbelievable.

All right. 200 leaders from the Catholic Church gathering at the Vatican this morning. The first conference of its kind to confront the sex abuse scandals rocking the church. We're live in Rome.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:22:06] ROMANS: All right. Patience they say is a virtue and it looks like the Federal Reserve thinks so, too. Especially amidst of a global slowdown in economic growth. That means keeping interest rates on hold after four rate hikes last year. The Fed has taken a more dovish tone on interest rates recently. In January the Central Bank agreed to keep the interest rates steady.

In an exclusive interview with Richard Quest, vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, Richard Clarida, said policymakers are taking a wait- and-see approach before making their next move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD CLARIDA, VICE CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: Richard, we think policy right now is in a very good place and that's appropriate because the U.S. economy is in a very good place. We can afford to be patient and we can afford to let the data come in and tell us a little bit about where the global economy is going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The Fed vice chair also pushed back against suggestions that President Trump's repeated attacks affected policy making.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARIDA: Our job is to use our tools to achieve maximum employment, price stability, that is the only thing that motivates me and my colleagues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The Central Bank has penciled in two rate hikes in 2019.

SANCHEZ: A troubling new report reveals that NATO forces could be manipulated by bogus social media accounts. Troop positions, names, and phone numbers were all easily accessed from fake Facebook and Instagram accounts during an unidentified NATO military exercise.

Researchers say the experiment shows that at the current level of information security, an adversary is able to collect a significant amount of personal data on soldiers, which could then potentially be used to target messages with precision and successfully influence those troops.

ROMANS: That is a troubling report.

All right. A first for the Catholic Church, some 200 church leaders from around the world are gathering at the Vatican to confront the scourge of clergy who sexually abuse children. And already Pope Francis had some very strong words.

We are live in Rome where we have our CNN's Rosa Flores.

Bring us up to speed, Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, this is long overdue and Pope Francis setting the tone with his opening remarks saying that they need to be concrete in what they do during this four-day summit.

Here is what he said, quote, "Listen to the cry of the small who are asking for justice. The holy people of God are looking at us and expect of us not a simple condemnation, but concrete and effective measures to put in place."

And then he gave bishops some homework. He said, look, I compiled the list of guidelines based on the information that I got from you, the bishops from around the world, so that you can take a look at these guidelines.

Now I know for a fact that survivors are looking for concrete decision-making during this unprecedented meeting. They are asking, for example, for zero tolerance and not just for abusers, but zero tolerance for those who cover up abuse. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:25:07] PETER ISELY, FOUNDING MEMBER, ENDING CLERGY ABUSE: Now we made our demands because we think that's the demands of not just survivors, but people everywhere, for zero tolerance. That we end this summit and this universal church law that the Pope writes it into universal church law.

Zero tolerance for the cover-up of sex crimes. They could do it right now. They've got the evidence on many bishops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: It's been a tumultuous year for the Catholic Church filled with high-profile resignations, the defrocking of the very high profile and important former cardinal Theodore McCarrick in the United States and of course that explosive Pennsylvania grand jury report which revealed 300 predator priests had abused more than 1,000 children in that state.

And Christine and Boris, as you know, in the United States, we have seen multiple law enforcement investigations not just at the state, but local and federal levels. So it's really a reckoning for the church at this time -- Christine.

ROMANS: Yes. One hopes there are concrete results. Long overdue, you're absolutely right.

Rosa Flores, in Rome for us, thank you.

SANCHEZ: Well, the victim is now the suspect. Jussie Smollett is facing charges. Police say he planned a racially motivated attack on himself.

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