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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
New York Times: President Trump Ordered Security Clearance For Jared Kushner; President Trump And North Korea Disagree On Summit Differences; Michael Cohen Returns To Capitol Hill March 6 For More Questioning; 2020 Democratic Field Shaping Up. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired March 01, 2019 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:30:39] DAVE BRIGGS, 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.
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ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: The president says he had to walk away. Now, North Korea's pushing back on the sticking points.
BRIGGS: Democrats in Congress are not done with Michael Cohen. They want him back. They think dramatic testimony left a number of new leads to follow.
Welcome back to EARLY START on a Friday, everybody. I'm Dave Briggs.
KOSIK: Good morning, I'm Alison Kosik. It's 30 minutes past the hour.
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, a day after the White House Counsel's Office urged him not to grant Kushner the clearance. 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, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Did you tell Gen. Kelly or anyone else in the White House to overrule security officials -- the career veterans? D. 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.
D. TRUMP: But I wouldn't -- I wouldn't do it.
HABER: OK. You never --
D. TRUMP: Jared's a good -- I was -- I was never involved with the security. I know that he -- you know, just from reading, I know that there was issues back and forth --
HABERMAN: Yes.
D. TRUMP: -- about security for numerous people, actually. But I don't want to get involved in that stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: "The Washington Post" says the president's daughter, Kushner's wife, pressured the president about Kushner's clearance.
She was asked about the clearance controversy on ABC just last month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVANKA TRUMP, ADVISER TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: 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.
ABBY HUNTSMAN, CO-HOST, ABC "THE VIEW": 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: President Trump and the North Korean government now disagree about what caused the abrupt end to the Hanoi summit.
Kim Jong Un's foreign minister says 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's not what the president heard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
D. TRUMP: Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety and we couldn't do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: All right, let's go live to Hanoi and bring in CNN's Will Ripley.
Will, no reason to trust the North Koreans, but even if that was the deal -- even if they were right, that's still a bad deal by American standards.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think one thing that everybody can agree on, Dave, this was a dud of a summit here in Hanoi because both sides walk away empty-handed and there's been absolutely no progress on moving the ball forward on denuclearization.
Yes, the North Koreans say they wanted five of 11 sanctions lifted in exchange for permanently dismantling their Yongbyon nuclear site. Obviously, they have other secret sites -- we know that, President Trump knows that. But this would have been a first step and it would have -- they could have negotiated down the number of sanctions, perhaps.
But it seems that President Trump just wasn't having it. He didn't feel it was a deal for and so he walked away and he's actually scoring some political points there in the U.S. for doing so.
Kim Jong Un is scoring some points with Vladimir Putin, who had called the United States' position inflexible. I would imagine the North Koreans were pretty inflexible, too.
One thing that I can guarantee you, Dave, mortified the North Koreans more than anything was when President Trump decided to cancel the lunch at the last minute after they had already set the table -- the food was practically out. Snubbing Kim Jong Un is about the biggest cardinal sin in North Korea and they're certainly not going to forget that slight, Dave.
BRIGGS: No. Kim Jong Un doesn't miss many meals, does he?
Will Ripley live for us in Hanoi. Thank you, sir.
[05:35:00] We'll stick with the summit. The president under fire for taking the word of a brutal dictator, once again, 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 that discussion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) D. TRUMP: I don't believe that he would have allowed that to happen. It 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: Here's the reaction from Republican Sen. Mitt Romney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R), UTAH: I think there's no question 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 try and blame someone else. So let's follow our Intelligence Community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: It took far fewer words for influential conservative Ben Shapiro to express his opinion -- "F***ing pathetic."
Joining us here this morning, "New Yorker" Web site executive editor David Rohde, a CNN global affairs analyst. Great to see you here, sir.
KOSIK: Good morning.
DAVID ROHDE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORKER WEB SITE: Good morning -- thank you.
BRIGGS: Let's stick with this Hanoi summit. Our colleague at "The Washington Post" -- CNN also, Josh Rogin says, "Trump got played by Kim Jong Un. His approach has failed. Pyongyang is happily reaping the rewards."
Much has been written about the Reagan style of personal diplomacy --
ROHDE: Yes.
BRIGGS: -- but how goes the Trump personal diplomacy?
ROHDE: It failed. I think this was the biggest major test for his administration. He sort of tried rattling sabers, threatening them -- you know, mocking Kim Jong Un -- but then he was gone to play him in these summits. And I agree with Josh Rogin -- you know, Trump got played.
And I want to say the statement on Otto Warmbier -- I was held captive by the Taliban many years ago.
It's simply outrageous. If you look at that video, Otto is terrified. This government knows exactly what it's doing with him. Otto Warmbier was being shown on North Korean T.V.
Kim Jong Un is responsible for his death, period.
BRIGGS: So why, then?
ROHDE: I'm sorry.
BRIGGS: Why does the president take his word for it? Why did he take Putin's word for it over the Intel Community? Why did he take MBS's word over the Intel Community? What is it telling you?
KOSIK: Does he want a deal that bad?
ROHDE: He wants a deal that badly. He's used to falsehoods, frankly.
And then what's interesting here is that the American Intelligence Community continues to push back against the president.
They predicted that North Korea did not want to give up its nuclear weapons. That was in the last major hearing by all the intelligence chiefs. Trump mocked them. He said oh, they all need to go back to school.
Who was right? The Intelligence Community. And they're right about Otto Warmbier, as well.
And I hear this from officials in the Intelligence Community. They are not going to lie for this president. They are not going to back down from their intelligence assessments.
BRIGGS: Wow.
KOSIK: OK, let's switch gears about this "New York Times" report about the president personally ordering this top secret security clearance for his son-in-law.
You know, just what is your reaction, first of all? And we'll get to the nepotism in a minute, but what's your reaction to this?
ROHDE: Again, it's the Intelligence Community. I'm writing a book on Trump and the CIA and the FBI.
And those are the two agencies -- the CIA and the FBI were raising concerns about Jared Kushner's business dealings and did that make him open to influence from Gulf money or Saudi Arabia, and even China.
And, you know, again, the president appears to have made yet another false statement. His daughter did, as well.
KOSIK: Right.
ROHDE: "The New Yorker" ran a story earlier this year with "ProPublica" about how the children -- Ivanka, in particular -- would exaggerate sales in buildings -- you know, that they had sold many more units to drive up prices. So this isn't a new thing. Again, I want to be fair but these are -- you know, it seems clearly false statements.
KOSIK: But this isn't just a lie, though. This could put the country in jeopardy, couldn't it?
ROHDE: Yes, and it's not easy for the FBI or the CIA to defy the President of the United States about his son-in-law and potentially, his daughter, and so this was a very serious matter. And these career officials, I think, stood up to the president and he just pushed on ahead and forced them -- forced this security clearance forward.
BRIGGS: This is a major story and we -- some people get numb to all the scandals. But, I mean, this is just a stunning story. It's his son-in-law against the word of the CIA. And in perspective, the president wants to take away the CIA clearance of John Brennan.
ROHDE: Yes, but I would --
BRIGGS: So what's this indicative of?
ROHDE: Well, it's indicative of how divided we are because I think his supporters -- you know, half the country or, you know -- will believe him. He will call it the deep state, he will mock the CIA and the FBI, and it's a sign of how divided we are.
I do think this week takes a toll. It's a pattern of Trump failing to deliver on diplomacy, Trump making false statements, Trump risking national security. He's got to start delivering because this theme of lies and corruption and nepotism will hurt him in 2020. It's going to be a close race no matter what.
But --
BRIGGS: No question.
ROHDE: -- a very bad week for the president.
BRIGGS: He's at 89 percent with the Republican Party --
ROHDE: Yes.
BRIGGS: -- so it's not going easy to --
ROHDE: Michael Cohen's lying, the CIA is lying, the FBI is lying. So -- but let's -- you know, those people are out there and we should be speaking to them as well and respecting their views. But we are so divided as a country right now.
[05:40:03] KOSIK: David Rohde, thanks so much.
BRIGGS: David Rohde, great to have you, my friend. Have a good weekend.
ROHDE: Thanks.
KOSIK: All right. Joe Biden backtracking a bit after saying something good about Mike Pence. Details, next.
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BRIGGS: Michael Cohen returning to Capitol Hill March sixth 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.
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REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE: He was 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)
BRIGGS: Since it was secret testimony we don't know exactly what was said, of course. But, Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, appeared last night on MSNBC and offered this explanation for Cohen's return.
[05:45:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANNY DAVIS, ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL COHEN: Today, new information was developed that really could be game-changing. And, Chairman Schiff and everybody in the room who wasn't a partisan Republican praised him for his honesty and forthrightness. And the development of this new information is the reason that he's coming back next Wednesday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Davis saying his client's new information was not about Russia collusion but about lying and obstruction.
Schiff's announcement coming after Cohen's blockbuster appearance before the House Oversight Committee, 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-NY), MEMBER, HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM: To your knowledge, did the president ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?
MICHAEL COHEN, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S FORMER PERSONAL ATTORNEY: Yes.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Who else knows that the president did this?
COHEN: Allen Weisselberg, Ron Lieberman, and 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)
BRIGGS: Allen Weisselberg is the Trump Org CFO. He is among the Trump associates the Intel Committee says it plans to question.
KOSIK: Cohen may also be facing a perjury problem. Two of President Trump'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 -- listen.
(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)
KOSIK: Now, CNN has repeatedly reported to the contrary that Cohen eagerly pursued and expected to get a job in the White House.
Congressman Jim Jordan, who you saw there, and Congressman Mark Meadows point to court filings from federal prosecutors in Manhattan. The documents state Cohen privately told friends and colleagues, including in seized text messages, that he expected to be given a prominent role and title in the new administration.
Cohen will begin serving a prison sentence for previously lying to Congress.
BRIGGS: Former Vice President Joe Biden criticized 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 (D), FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Who was followed on by a guy who 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. There was dead silence -- dead silence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Actress and activist Cynthia Nixon, a lesbian, called out Biden for praising Pence. She tweeted, quote, "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, "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."
It tells you a lot about 2020.
KOSIK: That you have to -- have to hate, right?
BRIGGS: Yes.
KOSIK: All right, joining us now is CNN political reporter Rebecca Buck, live in Washington for us. Good morning. Thanks for joining us --
BRIGGS: Good morning.
KOSIK: -- at this early hour.
REBECCA BUCK, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning.
KOSIK: You know, the Democratic field for president, of course, growing more and more crowded.
BUCK: That's right.
KOSIK: What is it? We're up to 10 now and another 15 expected in addition. Are we seeing the Democratic Party kind of cannibalize itself so early -- so early in the cycle?
BUCK: I mean, we're not seeing that yet. For now, most of these candidates are focused on their own messaging, not attacking each other -- really singing Kumbaya and coming together as a party. But the question is, how long is that sustainable in such a crowded and competitive field?
I would predict by the time we get to the first debates in June and July of this year, it is going to be a much different story. We could see these Democrats starting to go after each other and it will be game time -- game on.
But, you know, the question is it's not necessarily a bad thing. A crowded primary process is complicated, it could get very competitive, but that would lead us to believe that the strongest candidate emerges from this process. And so I don't think you're going to see any of the Democrats holding back.
BRIGGS: They're going to have enough to fight about given the prospect of impeachment, given the Green New Deal, Medicare for All.
[05:50:00] But that incident we just talked about, how indicative of what's ahead -- is it that Joe Biden had the audacity to call someone a decent guy and gets hit for it -- does that tell you just where the energy is in the party? BUCK: No question about it. And it also shows us what could be a very difficult challenge for Joe Biden in this Democratic field, in this political climate.
You know, one of the big questions is is there an appetite among Democrats -- Democratic voters in the base -- Democratic activists -- for a candidate like Joe Biden who is, in so many respects, an old- school politician who enjoys working across the aisle and prides himself on his ability to cut deals with Republicans?
But this is a moment when Democrats are very angry at Republicans -- very angry at the administration, in particular, and don't necessarily want to hear a message of comity and cooperation from their Democratic candidate.
So it's a major question with Joe Biden, in particular. Can he bridge that divide in the party and come across as a consensus builder in such an angry political environment?
BRIGGS: Just yes or no, do you think he's running?
BUCK: You know, right now, I do believe he is. He made some comments this week saying that his family is behind him and urging him to run. And that was one of the big questions -- would his family support a bid for president?
And we know that Joe Biden does want to be president. He has run in the past and considered running in the past. So we'll see. He hasn't made a final decision but it looks like he's moving in that direction.
KOSIK: OK, a very quick question on Michael Cohen. He's coming back for March sixth. I want to roll to this bite from MSNBC -- Lanny Davis, his attorney -- listen.
BUCK: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS: He gives people the signal using codes -- what he wants -- and then it's carried along. And by the time it reached the final draft, the absolute lie that everybody knew was a lie, including Mr. Trump, is that he did nothing after the Iowa caucuses because that's when the campaign began.
And that's for sure -- everybody knew it was a lie. And he was in the Oval Office and spoke to Mr. Trump and he was given a good job, even though people knew it was untrue.
Today, new information was developed that really could be game- changing. And, Chairman Schiff and everybody in the room who wasn't a partisan Republican praised him for his honesty and forthrightness. And the development of this new information is the reason that he's coming back next Wednesday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: OK, what do you think they're looking for?
BUCK: You know, there are so many threads that need to be tied up when it comes to what Michael Cohen has said about the president -- what he said in this open hearing that we saw this week and what he would have said in these closed hearings as well.
But it's clear that Democrats, in spite of the credibility questions around Michael Cohen, are really valuing what he has to say and the information he has to offer or else they wouldn't be asking him back to this -- to this follow-up hearing.
KOSIK: And we will all be certainly watching.
Rebecca Buck, thanks so much.
BUCK: Thank you.
KOSIK: OK, a cheaper version of the Tesla Model 3 finally available, but it comes at a cost. "CNN Business" is next.
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[05:57:43] KOSIK: OK, let's get a check on "CNN Business" this morning.
Global markets are mostly higher as trading kicks off the month of March. The Nikkei closed up and we are also seeing European markets in the green as well. Here in the U.S., we are seeing those green arrows again before we begin the day of Friday for trade.
Even after the economy posted solid growth for the fourth quarter of 2018, U.S. markets closed lower on Thursday. All the major indices in the red despite the good news.
But all the major averages still finished February on a positive note. The Dow increased close to four percent. The S&P 500 finished up three percent, and the Nasdaq ended higher -- more than three percent.
Tesla has been promising a pared-down version of its Model 3 for more than a year. Tesla announced Thursday the cheaper version is finally available. It's going to cost customers $35,000.
But, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla wants to close stores and lay off workers in order to make it financially sustainable to produce the cheaper car. The cheapest Model 3 on sale before the announcement was $42,900. Tesla did decline to say how many of its stores will close or how many jobs will be affected.
And, of course, Elon Musk was very quick to take to Twitter to kind of --
BRIGGS: I'm just checking it now.
KOSIK: -- let everybody know what was -- what was coming. And the SEC, I'm sure, did not like that one bit.
BRIGGS: He needs to stay off of it altogether.
KOSIK: Thanks for joining us. I'm Alison Kosik. Enjoy your weekend.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Here's "NEW DAY".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jared Kushner's background check has been a problem. The president ordered John Kelly to give one.
I. TRUMP: The president had no involvement pertaining to my husband's clearance.
CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: There's no way to defend "The New York Times" story. Those are things that should be very disturbing to people.
DAVIS: New information was developed that really could be game- changing and he's coming back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was new material that took me a little bit by surprise, enough so that one day of testimony was not enough.
D. TRUMP: He lied so much and yet, he said when it came to collusion, he said no collusion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Friday --
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: You say that with a lot of excitement.
BERMAN: I think the louder I say it the more convincing I am they'll actually believe it. It's Friday, March first, 6:00 here in New York.
New this morning, blood is thicker than intelligence.
END
