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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Allegedly Ordered Security Clearance for Jared Kushner; Trump and North Korea Disagree on Summit Differences; Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu to be Charged in Graft Scandals. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired March 01, 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] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: New controversy surrounds the president's son-in-law. How did Jared Kushner land a top secret security clearance?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: The president says he had to walk away. Now North Korea is pushing back on the sticking points.
KOSIK: Democrats in Congress are not done with Michael Cohen yet. They think his dramatic testimony left a number of new leads to follow.
BRIGGS: This man just signed the richest sports contract in North American history. Bryce Harper is headed to Philly.
Good morning, everyone. And welcome to EARLY START. Congratulations, Philly fans. I'm Dave Briggs.
KOSIK: And no doubt he's planning his next vacation.
BRIGGS: Some huge money until he's 39 years old, that contract draft.
KOSIK: It's amazing. It's amazing.
All right. I'm Alison Kosik. Good morning, it's Friday, March 1st. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East.
And the "New York Times" reports President Trump personally ordered a top secret security clearance for his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner. The "Times" says the president's command to then chief of staff John Kelly came last May. That was a day after the White House Counsel's Office urged him not to grant Kushner the clearance.
Here's the president just a few months before that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: So that will be up to General Kelly. General Kelly respects Jared a lot and General Kelly will make that call. I won't make that call. I will let the general who is right here make that call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: The "Times" says the directive prompted two internal memos, one from Kelly on being ordered to grant the clearance. Here's what the president told the "Times" about a month ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAGGIE HABERMAN, NEW YORK TIMES WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Did you tell General Kelly or anyone else in the White House to overrule security officials, the career veterans --
TRUMP: No, I don't think I have the authority to do that. I'm not sure I do.
HABERMAN: You do have the authority to do it.
TRUMP: But I wouldn't -- I wouldn't do it.
HABERMAN: You never --
TRUMP: Jared is a good -- I was never involved with his security. I know that he -- you know, just from reading I know that there was issues back and forth about security for numerous people actually. But I don't want to get involved in that stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: The president's daughter, Kushner's wife, was asked about it on ABC just last month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVANKA TRUMP, ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT: The president had no involvement pertaining to my clearance or my husband's clearance. There are literally close to a million people in the federal government who are in the pipeline to get their permanent clearance and are on temporary status.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So no special treatment?
I. TRUMP: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: A spokesman for Kushner's lawyer disputes the report saying this, "In 2018 White House and security clearance officials affirmed that Mr. Kushner's security clearance was handled in the regular process with no pressure from anyone. That was conveyed to the media at the time and new stories if accurate do not change what was affirmed at the time." BRIGGS: Meanwhile President Trump and the North Korean government now
disagree about what caused that abrupt end to the Hanoi summit. According to Kim Jong-un's Foreign minister, North Korea was willing to permanently dismantle its uranium and plutonium production facilities at the Yongbyon nuclear site if the U.S. was willing to partially lift sanctions. Apparently that is not what the president heard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Basically they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety and we couldn't do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: So let's go live to Hanoi and bring in CNN's Ivan Watson.
Ivan, good to see you, my friend. Now even no reason to trust the North Koreans first off, but even if that was the offer, still would represent a bad deal from the U.S. perspective, would it not?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and clearly they were not able to bridge the gap. We're in this funny position where both governments are expressing affection for each other, promising to keep talking, while also expressing disappointment at failing to reach a deal.
The North Koreans gave a very unusual press appearance, their foreign minister, around midnight here in Hanoi during which he said that the North Koreans had offered to dismantle their Yongbyon nuclear plant in exchange for lifting five out of 11 sets of sanctions. And they said that was pretty much the best offer they could put on the table given the current levels of confidence between these two governments.
[04:05:00] In return a senior State Department official briefing journalist said yes, the North Koreans wanted sanctions lifted excluding the ones that stopped the export of weapons to North Korea. But went on to say that the North Koreans were not willing to dismantle other sites that also developed weapons of mass destruction and that the Trump administration could not go that far, allowing in billions of dollars worth of trade that would indirectly help fund ongoing programs for weapons of mass destruction. So no deal signed.
There was a vice foreign minister who also spoke to journalists from North Korea here in Hanoi and she was telegraphing impatience on the part Kim Jong-un saying this, "The U.S. missed an opportunity, a one- time opportunity in a thousand years."
I doubt in that strict authoritarian system that this vice foreign minister was freelancing. That was a message that Pyongyang wanted to send -- Dave.
BRIGGS: Ivan Watson live for us in Hanoi this morning.
Most agree the president made the right decision to walk away. However, the president once again under fire from Democrats and Republicans for taking the word of a brutal dictator over his own intelligence agencies.
The president says when he met with Kim Jong-un in Hanoi he discussed the injuries suffered by American student Otto Warmbier while in North Korean custody. Injuries that proved fatal.
Here's how the president characterized the discussion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I don't believe that he would have allowed that to happen. Just wasn't to his advantage to allow that to happen. He felt very badly. But he knew the case very well, but he knew it later. He tells me that he didn't know about it and I will take him at his word.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Nikki Haley, however, the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., disputing that on Twitter. She says, quote, "Americans know the cruelty that was placed on Otto Warmbier by the North Korean regime. Our hearts are with the Warmbier family for their strength and courage. We will never forget Otto."
And this from Republican Senator Mitt Romney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R) UTAH: I think there is no question but that the government of North Korea has been responsible for a whole host of human rights abuses and atrocities. I've never heard somebody who did something wrong jump up and say, yes, I did it, I did it. Internationally they typically find blame someone else. So let's follow our intelligence community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Romney calls President Trump's effort to bring North Korea into the circle of responsible nations a, quote, "tall task."
KOSIK: Michael Cohen returning to Capitol Hill on March 6th to finish closed-door testimony to the House Intelligence Committee. Intel Chairman Adam Schiff announcing Cohen will come back next Wednesday after Trump's former lawyer and fixer finished part one of his testimony yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Be able to shed light on a lot of issues that are very core to our investigation and we were able to drill down in great detail. None of the questions we had for him went unanswered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Schiff's announcement coming after Cohen's blockbuster appearance before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday. Under pointed questioning from Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cohen claimed President Trump inflated and deflated his assets to suit his business needs, something that could amount to financial fraud.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D), NEW YORK: To your knowledge did the president ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP LAWYER AND FIXER: Yes.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Who else knows that the president did this?
COHEN: Allen Weisselberg, Ron Lieberman, Matthew Calamari.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: And where would the committee find more information on this? Do you think we need to review his financial statements and his tax returns in order to compare them?
COHEN: Yes, and you'd find it at the Trump Org.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: A little background for you here, Allen Weisselberg is the Trump Organization's CFO. He is among the Trump associates the Intel Committee says it plans to question.
BRIGGS: Cohen may also be facing a perjury problem. Two of the president's closest allies on the House Oversight Committee have referred Cohen to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution. They claim to have evidence Cohen committed perjury and knowingly made false statements to lawmakers. Among the areas of Cohen's public testimony they want the Justice Department to investigate, this claim.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: I was extremely proud to be personal attorney to the president of the United States of America. I did not want to go to the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Congressman Jim Jordan, who you saw there, and Congressman Mark Meadows point to court filings from federal prosecutors in Manhattan. The documents state that Cohen privately told friends and colleagues including seized text messages that he expected to be given a prominent role and a title in the new administration.
[04:10:03] Cohen will soon start serving a prison sentence for previously lying to Congress.
KOSIK: President Trump's chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow has some thoughts on how the Green New Deal would affect the economy.
I want you to listen now to what he said yesterday at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: The Green New Deal would literally destroy the economy. Literally.
(APPLAUSE)
KUDLOW: It would knock out energy, transportation, airlines, jobs, businesses. We'd probably lose 10 percent to 15 percent of our GDP. It's remarkable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Kudlow slammed the progressive proposal recently introduced by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey. The package of legislation is aimed at addressing climate change and economic inequality. The Green New Deal proposes providing all people of the United States with high quality health care, affordable safe and adequate housing, economic security and access to clean water, clean air, healthy and affordable food and nature.
The Green New Deal has been heavily criticized by many on the right. Kudlow called universal health care an ending private insurance crazy ideas citing high costs. After Kudlow's remarks, Senator Markey tweeted this, "Climate change is literally destroying the planet. According to the Trump administration's national climate assessment, with no action climate change will result in 10 percent GDP loss by 2090. A green new deal addresses this climate reality not right-wing misinformation."
BRIGGS: Northern California expected to get a break from torrential rain today, but devastating floods likely to ravage the state for the next couple of days. Governor Gavin Newsome declaring states of emergency in five counties like here in Sonoma County. The Russian River crested above 45 feet Wednesday night submerging this entire neighborhood in Guerneville.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forty-six feet, it's crazy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Things were just as bad in Forestville. Fire crews rushed to save this woman stranded in her car. The Army National Guard in the area clearing roads and helping people get back on their feet.
Let's hope those rivers begin to slow.
KOSIK: California not used to all that rain.
BRIGGS: Gosh. Just so much devastation in that state the last couple of years.
KOSIK: Yes. OK. A potential blow to Benjamin Netanyahu's re- election bid. The Israeli prime minister facing indictment on corruption charges. A live report coming up from Jerusalem next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:16:43] BRIGGS: 4:16 Eastern Time. In a serious blow to Benjamin Netanyahu's chances for re-election in April after Israel's attorney general announces the prime minister will be indicted. Accusations of bribery and breach of trust stemming from three separate investigations.
Netanyahu says the impending charges are political while his main challenger is calling on him to resign.
CNN's Oren Liebermann joining us live from Jerusalem with the latest.
Hi, Oren.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Dave. And that has been one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's biggest complaints that it's 5 1/2 weeks away until Israeli elections and Netanyahu is in a very tough fight against his main challenger and because of that Netanyahu says these are politically motivated, persecution driven by the media and the left to try to pressure the attorney general to issue an indictment at any cost against the prime minister.
So what was this big announcement? The attorney general, a Netanyahu appointee, announced he intends to indict the prime minister on charges of bribery and breach of trust in the largest charges and in two separate cases, additional charges of breach of trust.
It comes again at this critical time right before the elections here. His main challenger, his former chief of staff, Benny Ganst, has called on him to resign saying, "If it's found that you are innocent, you can re-enter politics."
Crucially now what we want to see is exit polls, how has this affected public opinion. It looks like the polls that normally come out on Friday are delayed because the announcement was made so late last night. But I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that he's may be some of the most closely watched election polls in years here -- Dave.
BRIGGS: Had he been leading up to this, did it look like a runaway win for Netanyahu ahead of these charges?
LIEBERMANN: Runaway win is probably too strong, but it did look like he was holding on to the support of all of those right-wing parties that he needed. Crucially now they too will be looking at whether it's a good idea to keep supporting him or to look at other options.
BRIGGS: Great stuff. Oren Liebermann live for us this morning, thank you, sir.
KOSIK: Former Vice President Joe Biden may have felt a bit blindsided by criticism from the left after he called his successor Mike Pence a decent guy. Biden's comment came at a foreign policy forum while discussing the reaction of world leaders to Pence at a conference earlier this month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: It was followed on by a guy is a decent guy. Our vice-president who stood before this group of allies and leaders and said I'm here on behalf of President Trump. And there was dead silence. Dead silence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: OK. So then actress and activist Cynthia Nixon who is a lesbian called out Biden for praising Pence. She tweeted this, "You've just called America's most anti-LGBT elected leader a decent guy. Please consider how this falls on the ears of our community."
Biden was quick to respond saying this, "You're right, Cynthia. I was making a point in a foreign policy context that under normal circumstances a vice president wouldn't be given a silent reaction on the world stage, but there is nothing decent about being anti-LGBTQ rights and that includes the vice president."
BRIGGS: It will be an interesting 2020.
(LAUGHTER)
BRIGGS: Senator Lindsey Graham elaborating on his budding bromance with President Trump.
[04:20:01] The South Carolina Republican, once a fierce Trump foe, admits the president can be a handful. Listen to him describe how their relationship blossomed over time in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: So President Trump and I did not start off --
(LAUGHTER)
GRAHAM: -- well.
(LAUGHTER)
GRAHAM: I remember meeting him after he got elected and he said, hey, Lindsey, I don't have your phone number and I said there is a reason for that.
(LAUGHTER)
GRAHAM: So I've given him my phone number and trust me, he uses it. And I couldn't be more proud of the fact that he talks to me and asks my opinion. And we've got a lot in common now. I like him and he likes him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER) BRIGGS: "I like him and he likes him." Senator Graham went on to say he thinks President Trump is doing a hell of a job and the best is yet to come. But just a little more context here. I remember Lindsey Graham saying he was a kook unfit for office during the campaign.
KOSIK: I guess --
BRIGGS: It's been a stunning transformation.
KOSIK: Yes. I guess there is a right to just change your mind. You know?
BRIGGS: Political expediency.
KOSIK: Yes. Bryce Harper off the market after signing the largest contract in baseball history. The all-star outfielder's new home, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:25:46] BRIGGS: Bryce Harper officially off the market. The free agent outfielder has reportedly agreed to a 13-year $330 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. The contract the richest in baseball in North American sports history comes just after Manny Machado signed a 10-year $300 million deal with the Padres.
The 26-year-old Harper had reportedly turned down a $300 million offer to stay with the Washington Nationals before he finally defected to the Division rival Phillies.
KOSIK: Three people have dominated the news over the past few days. President Trump, Kim Jong-un and Michael Cohen. So here now, we've got some rapid fire for you, some of the big stories that flew under the radar while they stole the headlines.
BRIGGS: Trump senior adviser Jared Kushner met with Saudi Arabia's crown prince. Their first face-to-face since October's murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
KOSIK: India and Pakistan came to the brink of an all-out war. The two nuclear-armed neighbors fought their first aerial combat in almost 50 years.
BRIGGS: The House approved Congress' first major gun control bill in nearly 25 years. It would require federal background checks for all firearm sales and transfers.
KOSIK: Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal wing of the Supreme Court again. He helped block the death penalty for a murderer with dementia who can't remember the crime.
BRIGGS: A grand jury indicted the political operative at the center of North Carolina's ballot fraud scandal. Republican Mark Harris says he won't run on a free vote for that House seat.
KOSIK: Joe Biden hemmed and hot about running for president again until a woman in the audience couldn't take it anymore.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: But you know --
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my god, just say yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
BRIGGS: Oh, and Lady Gaga answered those Oscar night rumors of a love affair with co-star Bradley Cooper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LADY GAGA, MUSICIAN: Yes, people saw love, and guess what, that's what we wanted you to see. When you're singing love songs, that's what you want people to feel. The social media quite frankly is the toilet of the Internet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: I loved it.
BRIGGS: That we can all agree on, but the rumors, they will not die.
KOSIK: It's funny how we continue to talk about this.
BRIGGS: Yes.
KOSIK: At least online as well.
The "New York Times" reports President Trump personally ordered a top secret security clearance for his son-in-law Jared Kushner even though he was urged not to do it. Details ahead on EARLY START.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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