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Netanyahu to be Indicted; Wintry Mix Causes Trouble for Commuters; Questions after Cohen Testimony; Harper Agrees to Record Deal; Internet Takes on Trump's Grades. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 01, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:33:20] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Major political drama in Israel. The fate of the long-time prime minister hangs in the balance. The attorney general there announced plans to indict Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges. Netanyahu claims he's the victim of a political witch hunt. Sound familiar? This comes just weeks before a closely contested election there.

Our Oren Liebermann live in Jerusalem with the very latest.

Oren.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, and that's been one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's biggest complaints here, apart from the political witch hunt accusation. He says just five weeks before the election, this is an attempt to change his right-wing government for what he calls a weak leftist government.

So what was this bombshell announcement? Israel's attorney general, a Netanyahu appointee in fact, saying he intends to indict the prime minister on charges of corruption and two smaller cases of breach of trust and in a larger case on charges of bribery and breach of trust, perhaps dealing a major blow to the prime minister as he seeks that fifth term in office, which would make him the longest serving prime minister in Israel's history.

Netanyahu fired back almost immediately, calling it politically motivated, saying this was an attempt by his opposition to topple him because he couldn't beat them at the polls. He used some language very similar to Trump, and that's exactly who came to his defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know about his difficulty, but you're telling me something that, you know, people have been hearing about, but I don't know about that. I can say this, that he's done a great job as prime minister. He's tough. He's smart. He's strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: Netanyahu is entitled to a hearing, but that likely won't be until at the earliest summer. So that's months after the election. The legal process will be slow, it will be drawn out. But, John and Alisyn, there are now all about the political process. Netanyahu was leading. It looked like he had a pretty good chance, perhaps even a great chance to win the upcoming election and put together a government. Now we're waiting to see the election polls, how much of a blow has this announcement, this intent to indict the prime minister dealt to him right before the elections here?

[06:35:17] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Oren Liebermann, thank you very much for all of that reporting.

So President Trump, of course, is facing growing legal jeopardy after Michael Cohen's explosive testimony, but what will Democrats do about it?

BERMAN: And a new CNN original series looks at the Bush family. "The Bush Years," narrated by Ed Harris, premieres Sunday at 9:00 p.m. on CNN. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I would like to introduce you to my family. The fact is, I'd be nothing without them.

Our four sons, our daughter, Doro, my own Barbara Bush.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I think it's hard to imagine any family that have been more significant to American politics.

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I can hear you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Bush family, going back generations, believe in public service and helping their fellow man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People referred to the Bush family as a dynasty. That's what it is and that's what it was.

GEORGE W. BUSH: I'm running for president of the United States. There's no turning back. And I intend to be the next president of the United States.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH: He's my boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The Bush Years," Sunday at 9:00, on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:43] CAMEROTA: Snow and a wintry mix already causing trouble for commuters in the northeast.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has our forecast.

Yes, it was snowing on my commute in, Chad. CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A little slick out there in some spots

all the way from D.C. to Philadelphia, not quite to Boston yet, but this is not the storm we're worried about. It comes in tonight. This is the storm down here where it's raining that will move into New York, Philadelphia, D.C., all the way into Boston and all of Connecticut and Long Island and make snow tonight. That's 3:00 a.m. tonight. Be home by then because this snow will be coming down.

It still snows all night long. But really only for New York City between two and four. You get north of New York City, we're -- now we're talk four to eight. And these dark spots, yes, that's almost eight inches of snow. But another round of snow comes in on Sunday night and by Monday that eight inches has now turned into 12 in some spots around Hartsfield and all the way into -- all the areas around Connecticut are going to see between eight and 12.

You talk about the cold air, it doesn't really get there until somewhere in the ballpark of Wednesday. So D.C., New York, you're still in the 30s, 40s, and even 50s by the weekend. But then all of a sudden next week we're back into winter.

Spring -- meteorological spring, John, this is supposed to start today. I don't see it.

BERMAN: No. No. No one told us about this, Chad. No one ran this by us to make sure it was OK.

MYERS: That's right.

BERMAN: All right, Chad, appreciate it.

So, this morning, a growing number of House Democrats say they have seen evidence that Donald Trump has committed crimes, including while in office. The question now then is, what are they going to do about it? And that's clearly a tough question for the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Would that be an impeachable offense?

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: Well, I'm not going into that. I'm not going into that.

Impeachment is a divisive issue in our country, and let us see what the facts are, what the law is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, joining me now, Ross Garber, and CNN legal analyst, and an impeachment expert. And Paul Rosenzweig, he's a former senior counsel to Ken Starr when he was the independent counsel.

And, Ross, I want to start with you. What's the difference between what is a crime and what is impeachable?

ROSS GARBER, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. So, it's a good question.

So there are crimes and there are -- there are lots and lots and lots of crimes. In fact, I don't think anybody's ever been able to count the number of even just federal crimes. So lots of crimes.

An impeachable offense under the Constitution is treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. And what that's traditionally meant is something that is incredibly serious affecting the person's office that sort of jeopardizes their ability to continue to serve. And it's such a high standard, we've actually never removed a president of the United States. It's a very, very high standard.

BERMAN: You know, Gerald Ford, in 1970, and, by the way, this wasn't about Richard Nixon, it was about a Supreme Court justice --

GARBER: Yes. Yes, yes.

BERMAN: Gerald Ford said an impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history. That was his take in 1970.

Paul, to you. Of the things that are now out there and of the issues where we have now seen the evidence, what are the instances where you think there are, perhaps, impeachable crimes?

PAUL ROSENZWEIG, FORMER SENIOR COUNSEL TO KEN STARR: Well, I would say not impeachable crimes, but impeachable activities. There are some activities the president's engaged in that are also possibly criminal conduct. For example, the violations of the tax laws that seem to have been at the heart of some of Mr. Cohen's testimony.

But I think far more important for Congress to look at are those activities that aren't crimes but that are abuses of presidential authority. For example, trying to direct the acting attorney general to shut down an investigation of his own conduct, potentially the story that we've just heard in the last couple of days about ordering the government to give a security clearance to someone who is -- who the government believed was a security risk, i.e. his son-in-law. There are a host of issues like that that involve President Trump's use of presidential authority in a way that abuses the trust of the office that are probably much more significant than the crimes that Mueller and the Southern District are investigating.

BERMAN: Ross, you think there are a few separate buckets, three separate buckets that Congress ought to look at here. What are they?

GARBER: Yes. Well, I think there are a few kind of different separate buckets.

[06:45:03] And, first, let me say with respect to what Paul just said, I think -- I think those generally aren't considered the kinds of impeachable offensives that, you know, that we consider to be -- to have merit.

But in terms of the buckets, I mean the first one are -- is obstruction related issues. I think that's probably the most dangerous for President Trump. A second are those related to Russia. And I think third are those related to his business dealings. And that's probably the least dangerous to President Trump, because those largely relate to conduct pre-office. Normally in an impeachment we're talking about very serious misconduct, high-crimes and misdemeanors while in office.

BERMAN: I will say that in Paul's defense, if the Whitaker thing, you know, if the president told Matt Whitaker to replace the person in charges of SDNY, he did it while he was in office, and that would fall within that obstruction bucket, correct, Paul?

ROSENZWEIG: Well, I -- I agree. Also, I'm going to gently disagree with Ross. The misuse of presidential authority is precisely what the founders thought was the ground for impeachment. George Mason objected to the pardon power on the ground that it was too broad, to which James Madison said, that's OK, we'll impeach anybody who abuses the pardon power.

The impeachment clause itself, it isn't for just minor, political disagreements. I certainly agree about that. But when we think a president has overstepped the bounds of presidential authority in a way that transgresses the rule of law, destroys the checks and balances, attacks the free press, for example, that is, I think, a suitable ground for impeachment and actually a superior one in some ways.

BERMAN: First, two questions quickly, Paul. Do you think we're there?

ROSENZWEIG: I think we're close. I certainly think that it would not be outrageous for the House of Representatives to impeach. I certainly think that President Trump has engaged in conduct that is comparable to if not more significant than Clinton's or Nixon's, and they were both impeached.

BERMAN: So the second follow-up to that is, do you think there is a political stigma, too much of a stigma, attached to the notion of the impeachment process? Not removal from office, remember, because the impeachment process is actually different than the ultimate consequence of that. But do you think there's too much of a stigma around the impeachment process?

ROSENZWEIG: I actually think it's a salutatory process. I think that the right thing to do right now is exactly what the Congress has started doing, which is examining the issues for itself, not relying on Robert Mueller, and deciding for itself whether or not the president has transgressed.

BERMAN: And, Ross, are there powers that an official impeachment process would give Congress that they don't have now? And also, what are the risks? I mean I'm talking to two lawyers here and impeachment is inherently a political process.

GARBER: Yes.

BERMAN: So the risks, Ross, are political here, but what are the biggest risks you see for Democrats? GARBER: Yes. And let me say this, I mean, you can't sort of

disentangle impeachment from removal. They're all part of the same process. And one the big risks for Democrats is that it ties things up in Congress. It becomes the sole focus, as soon as you start doing it. It also invites attention on the functioning of Congress. I mean once the impeachment process started with respect to President Clinton, there was a lot of focus on the Congress. And I think if you were to ask, you know, then Speaker Gingrich if he'd do it all over again, he'd probably say no because he lost a lot through that. And so that's another danger.

And the third is that it won't be successful. You can potentially impeach the president, but he's not going to get removed in the Senate, you know, particularly not for what we're talking about right now. You know, we're going into an election cycle in 2020 and it's one of the reasons why impeachments are so rare. We've never removed a president. We rely on the ballot box and people's votes to decide who the president is.

BERMAN: All right, Ross Garber, Paul Rosenzweig , this is an important discussion, especially as you hear more Democrats coming out and say they see crimes here. So thanks for having it this morning. Appreciate it.

ROSENZWEIG: Thanks for having me.

GARBER: Sure.

BERMAN: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: John, let me bring you up to speed on sports.

BERMAN: OK.

CAMEROTA: Prize free agent Bryce Harper breaks the bank with his new contract, OK? The "Bleacher Report" has it all, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:53:37] BERMAN: OK, boy, big baseball news. The year's biggest free agent prize, Bryce Harper, agreeing to a record deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Andy Scholes has more in the "Bleacher Report."

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, John.

What are you going to be doing in 13 years? Well, whatever it is, Bryce Harper is still going to be playing for the Phillies. According to reports, he's heading to Philly on the richest contract in U.S. sports history. A 13-year deal worth $330 million. Harper spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Washington Nationals. He's one of the most coveted free agents ever because of his age. Harper, only 26 years old. But 13 years is a long time. The contract reportedly also has no opt-out clauses in it as well. So think about this, when Harper reaches the end of this deal with the Phillies, the players he's going to be playing with, about 10 years old right now.

And here's how the deal stacks up against the other riches in baseball. He's on top to Carlos Stanton's monster deal, not the second richest ever. Manny Machado and Nolan Arenado, they follow. Three out of four of these deals were signed this off-season.

All right, this next story is going to warm your heart. A mom dying of cancer promised her son that she would do anything she could so that he could meet his idol, Montreal Canadian Goalie Carey Price. And at a recent practice, 11-year-old Anderson Whitehead's (ph) dream came true.

(VIDEO CLIP)

[06:55:08] SCHOLES: Anderson was just overcome with emotion when meeting Price, who gave him a big hug. Anderson's mom, Laura McKay (ph), unfortunately passed away from cancer before she was able to make this happen. But with the help of some friends, they were able to arrange it. And Price giving Anderson two signed sticks, a signed puck, a signed jersey. But, more importantly, that big hug.

And I'll tell you what, Alisyn, definitely a moment Anderson's never going to forget. And that right there is what sports is all about.

CAMEROTA: Thanks a lot, Andy. You did -- you said warm your heart, you didn't say we're going to need tissues. That was really intense.

SCHOLES: Sorry. Yes, that was a tough one.

BERMAN: Look, I think the mother was there in that hug, in that moment, Andy. And I also have to say again, great for Carey Price. I mean, you know, players don't have to do that.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BERMAN: He really stepped up there.

CAMEROTA: That was beautiful.

SCHOLES: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Andy, thank you.

SCHOLES: All right, have a good one.

CAMEROTA: You too.

CAMEROTA: Among the revelations from Michael Cohen's testimony this week was the admission that he tried at all costs to keep the president's college and law school grades a secret.

Jeanie Moos says that deserves an "f."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Why would a guy with such a high IQ --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know I have an IQ better than all of them.

I guarantee you, my IQ --

Is much higher than any of these people.

MOOS: Lower himself to this?

MICHAEL COHEN, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S FORMER ATTORNEY: When I say con man, I'm talking about a man who declares himself brilliant.

TRUMP: I know words. I have the best words.

COHEN: But directed me to threaten his high school, his colleges, and the college board to never release his grades or SAT scores.

MOOS: The president's former fixer produced a letter to Fordham University. It warned of substantial fines, penalties and even the potential loss of government aid. If Trump's grades were released, the criminality will lead to jail time.

TREVOR NOAH, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH": Like, I swear to God, if you tell anyone I got a g minus in math, I will destroy you.

MOOS: Is making threats any way to treat schools you brag about?

TRUMP: I went to an ivy league college.

The Wharton --

Wharton --

Wharton School of Finance, the number one business school.

MOOS: Knowing President Trump wanted to hide his academic record made critics salivate.

I kind of want to see Trump's SATs more than his taxes.

Someone else borrowed the president's own words.

TRUMP: Russia, if you're listening.

MOOS: Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find Trump's SAT scores that are missing.

MOOS (on camera): But Donald Trump definitely deserves an "a" in irony, or maybe it's hypocrisy --

MOOS (voice over): Earned for badgering Obama to release his academic records.

TRUMP: If Barack Obama opens up and gives his college records --

MOOS: And passport records. Trump vowed to give a check to charity.

TRUMP: For $5 million.

MOOS: Obama, who graduated with honors from Harvard Law, didn't bite. Trump continued to boast about attending Wharton.

TRUMP: You've got to be very smart to get into that school. Very smart.

MOOS: So smart you don't want anyone to know your grades.

Jeanie Moos, CNN.

TRUMP: Because I have a very good brain.

MOOS: New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: It's hard to put a finer point on it.

BERMAN: No.

On that note, here's more "Late Night Laughs."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON": After hours of negotiating, Trump just couldn't get -- couldn't get Kim to make a deal. So between Kim Jong-un and Nancy Pelosi, we found Trump's biggest weakness, pant suits. And that's --

SETH MEYERS, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": Kim Jong-un told reporters that the sight of him and Trump sitting side by side must look like, quote, a fantasy movie. Actually, it looked more like a couple of dads waiting to pick up your kids after a fantasy movie.

TREVOR NOAH, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH": You know something must have gone wrong when these two turned down lunch. Wow! Although I bet, after they left the room, Kim Jong-un came back and he was like, ah, can I get this lunch to go, please? There's a lot of hungry people in my country and I want to eat this in front of them, yes.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Kim will not give up his nuclear program. Trump comes home tiny empty hand. The president, though, he held a -- he had a press conference in the middle of the night last night.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was a very productive two days, but sometimes you have to walk.

KIMMEL: That's right, sometimes you have to walk. And that's pretty much all he did is walk. There was a time when Donald Trump wasn't even able to walk in Vietnam

because of his terrible bone spurs, but thank God those are all gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was good stuff.

I predict that the president had some other food on Air Force One. So the missing of lunch wasn't that big of a negotiating (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: The flight was -- the flight was catered?

CAMEROTA: Yes, I think so.

BERMAN: Thank goodness for that.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

Thanks to our international viewers for watching. For you, CNN "TALK" is next. For our U.S. viewers, new reports about Jared Kushner's top secret security clearance. NEW DAY continues right now.

[07:00:02] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Kelly believed he was ordered by President Trump to make sure Jared got a clearance despite the concerns.

END