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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Jussie Smollett Faces Illinois Judge; Brexit Uncertainty Continues With Five Weeks to Go. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired February 22, 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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[04:00:18] EDDIE JOHNSON, SUPERINTENDENT, CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: Why would anyone, especially an African-American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations?
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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: The police chief is angry, the judge calls it vile. Meantime Jussie Smollett is back on the set of "Empire." What he told the cast and crew after being charged with faking a hate crime.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Get ready for the split scene of a lifetime. Michael Cohen on Capitol Hill preparing to testify while the president meets with Kim Jong-un.
SANCHEZ: Plus another Trump cabinet member in hot water. Why a decade-old plea deal could be trouble for Alex Acosta.
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MARK HARRIS (R), NORTH CAROLINA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: I believe a new election should be called.
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ROMANS: A remarkable about-face in North Carolina. A congressional candidate who thought he won is calling for a new election. Why? And will he even run? That has been such a saga.
Good morning, and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez, in for Dave Briggs. It is great to be with you, Christine. Thankful that you are watching. It is Friday, February 22nd, 4:00 a.m. on the East Coast, and we start with Jussie Smollett.
He is apologizing, but not for the crime that he's charged with. Cameras swarmed the "Empire" star as he exited court yesterday, accused of staging a supposed hate crime against himself. After posting a $100,000 bond, Smollett's first order of business was a meeting with the "Empire" cast and crew. A person who attended that meeting tells CNN that everyone expected him to come clean, to bare his soul and ask for forgiveness. ROMANS: The source says he did apologize for any embarrassment he
caused them. Then to the shock and dismay of at least some people there, Smollett defiantly proclaimed his innocence, blaming the legal system and the media. But Chicago Police painting a very different, very unflattering picture.
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JOHNSON: Jussie Smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career. I'm left hanging my head and asking why. Why would anyone, especially an African-American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations?
This publicity stunt was a scar that Chicago didn't earn and certainly didn't deserve. I only hope that the truth about what happened receives the same amount of attention that the hoax did.
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ROMANS: A remarkable press conference in Chicago there, folks. Prosecutors and even the judge struck the same outraged tone.
CNN's Nick Watt has more from Chicago.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine and Boris, this was just a bond hearing, but it was an extraordinary bond hearing. The state laid out in intricate detail their case against Jussie Smollett. The state says he orchestrated the entire thing, he hired the two brothers, he told them to attack him. He told them to buy a rope, to make a noose, to put it around his neck. He told them to buy red caps which in the end they didn't wear those red caps that would have looked like the "Make America Great Again" caps.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE : There was a change in the plan in that bleach was going to be used instead of gasoline during the simulated attack. Smollett then drove the brothers home and provided them with a $3500 personal check.
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WATT: He also took them to the scene of where the attack was going to take place. He pointed out a security camera, prosecutors tell us, told them that will capture this attack. And actually when he first spoke to police, Smollett drew their attention to that camera. Turns out the camera was actually facing the other way and did not capture the attack.
Now the judge had some very, very harsh words for Jussie Smollett. He said, listen, of course there is a presumption of innocence until proven guilty, but if this is true, this case is, quote, "utterly outrageous." And he spoke particularly about that noose that Smollett allegedly asked these brothers to put around his neck and of that noose he said that symbol conjures up such an evil in this country. Now Smollett's lawyers were in court. The legal team released a
statement which reads in part that, "Today we witnessed an organized law enforcement spectacle." The police superintendent of Chicago was very angry. He said that police officers here are pissed off.
Now motive? That police superintendent said that allegedly Jussie Smollett was upset that he wasn't getting paid enough for appearing on the show "Empire," that's why he sent a letter to himself, a threatening letter at the studio, that's why he orchestrated this attack.
Christine and Boris, back to you.
SANCHEZ: Nick, thank you for that.
A federal judge says that Roger Stone crossed the line but that he can stay out of prison as long as he keeps his mouth shut.
[04:05:02] Judge Amy Berman Jackson dramatically tightening the gag order on the Trump confidante. She ruled that Stone may not speak, tweet, post or otherwise comment in any way publicly about the investigation, the case or any of the participants, period.
Her order came in response to Stone posting this picture on Instagram. We blurred out his face but if you look in the upper hand corner it looks like there are crosshairs next to her head. Stone tried to explain those away as a Celtic symbol. Judge Jackson was not impressed.
ROMANS: She said Roger Stone fully understands the power of words and the power of symbols. There's nothing ambiguous about crosshairs. Stone did apologize again saying, "This is just a stupid lack of judgment. I regret it." Judge Jackson he replied thank but the apology rings hollow and she added, "I want to be clear, today I gave you a second chance, but this is not baseball. There will not be a third chance."
SANCHEZ: Michael Cohen is in Washington preparing for a high stakes week ahead. President Trump's former fixer spent several hours on Thursday inside the Senate Intelligence Committee secure spaces. That's unusual for a witness the panel has already interviewed as part of its Russia probe. Next week Cohen will be interviewed by the Senate Intel Committee behind closed doors on Tuesday. On Wednesday he goes public before the House Oversight Committee and in Thursday back behind closed doors to talk to the House Intelligence Committee.
ROMANS: One big question hanging over Cohen's appearance is what he can say and what he will say. In public, he is not expected to testify about the ongoing Russia investigation. But questions could come up around the edges like the failed Trump Tower Moscow project or the BuzzFeed article, claiming Trump told Cohen to lie to Congress, something the special counsel's office explicitly denied.
SANCHEZ: And whatever happens, it will make for a very interesting split screen. Some of Cohen's testimony overlaps with the president's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. And on a related note, an IRS analyst has just been charged with leaking confidential reports about Michael Cohen's bank records, those records reveal that Cohen sought to profit from his close relationship with the president.
ROMANS: All right. Another Trump cabinet secretary in trouble. This time it is Labor Secretary Alex Acosta. He was the federal prosecutor in Florida 11 years ago when the Justice Department reached a plea deal with Jeffrey Epstein. He is a Palm Beach billionaire accused of sexually abusing as many as 36 underage girls. Thursday a federal judge in South Florida ruled Acosta and the Justice Department broke the law by not discussing the plea with victims as required.
SANCHEZ: And in November the "Miami Herald" reported that Acosta gave Epstein the deal of a lifetime. No trial, just 13 months in prison. The plea agreement effectively shut down an ongoing FBI investigation and it granted immunity to any potential co-conspirators.
Earlier this month Republican Senator Ben Sasse said the Justice Department told him it opened an investigation and to have the DOJ handle the case. Acosta now said he welcomes the review.
ROMANS: All right. The North Carolina Board of Elections voted unanimously to order new elections in the state's Ninth Congressional District. Republican candidate Mark Harris was under scrutiny for hiring a political operative accused of election fraud. The board investigated claims Leslie McCrae Dowless ran an illegal scheme to collect, fill out and forge mail-in ballots.
Harris said his campaign was not aware of any of that. But a day after his son John testified, that he had warned his father about Dowless. The candidate said he now favors a revote.
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HARRIS: Knowing what I know now and hearing what I've heard, it is very concerning and I would have obviously never gotten into this. Through the testimony I have listened to over the past three days, I believe a new election should be called.
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SANCHEZ: This is a dramatic reversal from Harris' earlier position that the elections board should certify the results that had him winning. Harris did not commit to running in the new election, though. He said he's struggling with memory recall and confusion because of two recent strokes.
ROMANS: All right. The father of the Alabama woman who joined ISIS is suing the Trump administration over her U.S. citizenship and fighting for her to be allowed back into this country. Hoda Muthana is from Hoover, Alabama. At 19 years old, she traveled to Syria and married an ISIS fighter. Now five years later, Muthana says she regrets what she did and wants to return to the United States with her young child. But President Trump tweeted this week that he won't allow it. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterating the president's message in an interview Thursday.
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MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: She is a terrorist. She's not a U.S. citizen. She ought not return to this country.
CRAIG MELVIN, ANCHOR, NBC "TODAY SHOW": Is that because she was the daughter of a diplomat and she was born here? Is that --
POMPEO: That's right.
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SANCHEZ: So to clarify that, children that are born in the United States to active diplomats do not get birthright citizenship since diplomats are still until the jurisdiction of their home countries. A family representative, though, says that Hoda Muthana was born a month after her father was discharged from his position. The government, though, says that he still had diplomatic immunity and that would mean no birthright citizenship for her. If she is allowed to return, Muthana is prepared and willing to surrender to any charges.
[04:10:030] ROMANS: To be clear, she left this country. She married three ISIS fighters, widowed twice, has a small child, but she very vocally on social media, with other young women, denounced her American citizenship.
SANCHEZ: Right.
ROMANS: I think she burned her passport on camera.
SANCHEZ: She burned her passport. Yes.
ROMANS: And renounced everything that is America to fight against it.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
ROMANS: So that's the background there.
The White House says some 200 U.S. troops will remain in Syria after the planned withdrawal of American forces in the spring. Officials say the troops will help with logistics, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and calling in air strikes. They hope to encourage coalition countries such as France and the U.K. to keep their troops in Syria.
In December, President Trump ordered staff to execute a full and rapid withdrawal of U.S. military from Syria declaring ISIS defeated. That statement has been contradicted by his National Security officials.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Not a lot of lawmakers happy about that including South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham who has been fighting for some kind of presence in Syria.
Moving on, there may have been a time where you were mad with your lawyer, but you probably didn't do this. A convict slugging his lawyer in open court. Now he could face even more trouble.
ROMANS: Oh my goodness.
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[04:15:16] ROMANS: It's Friday, 15 minutes after the hour. You probably had a better day yesterday than Nike did. Nike's reputation took a hit after Duke basketball sensation Zion Williamson tore through his sneaker during a game. Nike stock closed down about 1 percent Thursday.
Here's what happened. Within the first minute of Duke's matchup against their rival North Carolina, Williamson slipped when his foot blew right through the shoe. I mean, the sole ripped loose from heel to toe. Williamson left the game with a knee injury.
Now Nike exclusively supplies Duke's basketball team with uniform, shoes, and gear. It released a statement wishing Williamson a speedy recovery adding this, "The quality and performance of our products is of utmost importance. This is an isolated occurrence but we're working to identify the issue."
Endorsement deals with star athletes including LeBron James and Serena Williams and sponsorships with these top college teams, this is a key part of Nike's growth strategy. Last year Nike spent nearly a third of its sales on marketing and endorsement contracts.
SANCHEZ: Caught on video, a conservative activist being attacked on the U.C. Berkeley campus. It's not exactly clear what happened before this encounter recorded by a bystander on Tuesday. But that guy getting punched is Hayden Williams. He's not a student. He's a field representative for the Leadership Institute. The group helps to train conservative leaders.
Campus police say the suspect left the area before officers arrived. They are still investigating the incident. Williams tells CNN that he is OK. Now the campus conservative group that invited Williams, Turning Points USA, says the assault shows the hate and anger that student activists encounter on a daily basis.
ROMANS: All right. Day two of a teacher strike in Oakland, California. They hit the picket lines Thursday. The teachers want smaller class sizes, more support for students and a 12 percent pay raise. The union says teachers cannot afford the soaring cost of living near Silicon Valley. And the district lost nearly 20 percent of its teachers each year as a result. The problem is, teachers are demanding more money from a school district that is already broke. Officials say there's barely enough money to take care of its low- income students. Three quarters of them qualify for free or reduced lunch.
SANCHEZ: Look, if you just found out you're spending the next half century in prison, you'd probably be upset, too. Ohio attorney Aaron Brockler learned that the hard way. His client David Chislton, attacked him after receiving a 47-year sentence.
Look at this video of the melee in court. Brockler got punched in the face. He was bitten when he was on the floor. He tells the "Washington Post" they were hoping for less than 20 years. But when the judge said 47, Chislton snapped. Brockler suffered an injured hip, a broken nose and a concussion. Chislton's 47-year sentence was for assaulting his girlfriend and setting fire to an apartment building back in 2017.
You can imagine he's likely to see a felonious assault charge added to that. Brockler says he is a former client at this point.
ROMANS: A SpaceX Falcon IX rocket streaming into the night sky at Cape Canaveral. It's carrying an Indonesian communications satellite and orbit. The pay load also includes a small Israeli spacecraft that will attempt the first privately funded, non-superpower moon landing in April. If Israel's $100 million moon mission is successful, it will join an exclusive club. It will become just the fourth country alongside the U.S., the Soviet Union/Russia, and China to pull off a powered landing on the moon.
SANCHEZ: Firefighters in Florida heating things up for an elderly woman with a microwave. The High Springs crew responded to a life alarm alert at her apartment, which had gone off accidentally. They did spot a problem while they were there. The woman who gets some frozen food from the Meals on Wheels program didn't have a working microwave, so the firefighters made a quick trip to the store. They got her a new one. They also installed it and cooked her dinner. Nice.
ROMANS: My hero.
SANCHEZ: Warm and fuzzy story for the weekend for you.
ROMANS: How great.
SANCHEZ: The U.K. exit from the European Union is just five weeks away. But the most likely option for a deal could be no deal. We go live to London next.
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[04:23:36] ROMANS: Just five weeks to go until the Brexit deadline. Politicians are increasingly concerned about reaching an orderly deal for the U.K. to leave the European Union. The concern is not limited to the British government.
CNN's Phil Black live in London with the very latest. And from this side of the pond, Phil, it looks like it is just a lot of bad choices over there.
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a lot of people here would agree with you, Christine. At the moment, March 29 is Brexit day deal or no deal and as you say, there is currently no deal in place to ensure that this breakup happens in a smooth orderly way. No deal in place to ensure the E.U. and the U.K. can continue cooperating across a range of really important issues, that they can continue trading and doing business and sending goods smoothly across each other's borders. It is widely accepted that the economic consequences of a no deal
scenario would be devastating in the short term at least for both parties. Now whose fault is that? Well, a deal has been negotiated, but the British government and the E.U. spent two years working on it, but it was rejected by the British parliament. And so at this crunch point, you are hearing open frustration expressed by very senior E.U. officials. Take a look.
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JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: We are not there because in the British parliament there is, every time they are voting, a majority against something. If a no-deal would happen, and I can't exclude this, this will have terrible economic and social consequences both in Britain and on the continent.
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[04:25:07] BLACK: Now both sides are still talking. The British government is trying to find a compromise with the E.U. on those parts of the negotiated agreement which the British parliament really doesn't like. But at this late stage, with the clock ticking, senior E.U. and British officials and politicians increasingly believe that this no deal scenario looks more and more likely by the day -- Christine.
ROMANS: You talk about the economic and social consequences, what are they? Is it, you know, rotting chicken at the borders? Is it trucks that complaint cross? Is it the lack of drugs and food and medicine? I mean, what is the worst case scenario?
BLACK: All of what you have just been described is often referred to in that worst case scenario. There's a lot of concern about being able to move things smoothly across the border both in and out, stuff that Britain really needs and relies upon. The impact upon business. Well, that would be pretty extreme because a lot of supply chains cross your E.U. borders frequently.
ROMANS: Sure.
BLACK: The impact upon business, upon life, upon hospitals being able to function. These sorts of things. All of this is in significant doubt if they are not able to come up with an agreement in the next few weeks.
ROMANS: All right. Phil Black, it is so important. Thank you, sir, for following up for us from London. Thanks.
SANCHEZ: Jussie Smollett back on the set of "Empire." What he told the cast and crew after being accused of faking a hate crime.
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