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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Democrats Cast Wide Net In New Trump Probes; NSA Ending Bulk Collection Program?; Pain And Cleanup In Alabama After Tornadoes; Patient In London May Be Second Ever Cured Of HIV. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 05, 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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[05:30:37] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JERROLD NADLER (D-NY), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Our goal is to hold the administration accountable.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No collusion. It's a hoax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Corruption, obstruction, hush money, collusion, and more. House Democrats want to hear from the president's allies, both public and private.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: An NSA program that collects domestic phone records winding down. Why the White House may outright end this much-scrutinized practice.

BRIGGS: Cleanup just beginning after those tornadoes in Alabama. The Lee County community supporting families of 23 people killed that includes three children.

ROMANS: And big medical news overnight. A patient in London may be the second person to be cured of HIV.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs.

Here's all the names -- all the names on Democrats' list. It is lengthy.

Is it oversight? Is it overreach? That's the question. House Democrats' investigation or investigations of the president only just beginning, and that's where we begin.

The House Judiciary Committee sending out a stack of far-reaching document requests seeking information from the president's sons, his business associates, his political confidants. The Democrats' probe will look into possible corruption, obstruction, hush money paid to women, alleged Russian collusion, and more. The investigation's wide scope may bolster that Republican claim that House Democrats are trying to cripple the president's reelection effort. But, Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler says his committee is just seeking to uphold its oversight responsibilities.

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NADLER: Our goal is to hold the administration accountable for the obstruction of justice, the abuse of power, and the corruption. We have to find out what's been going on and we have to lay out a case to the American people and reveal it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The president was then asked about the investigations at the White House yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Mr. President, are you going to cooperate with Mr. Nadler?

TRUMP: I cooperate all the time with everybody. And you know the beautiful thing? No collusion. It's all a hoax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The scope of the panel's document requests even broader than expected.

More now from Manu Raju on Capitol Hill.

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MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and Dave.

Now, the House Judiciary Committee moving forward with an aggressive investigation into all aspects of the president's political life, his business life, and even his personal life, looking into whether or not the president misused his office, whether or not the president obstructed justice, whether or not the president committed any crimes.

These requests to 81 individuals connected to the Trump Org. include the president's two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. They include people very high up in the Trump Organization, including Allen Weisselberg who's a CFO of the Trump Organization.

It also includes entities like the White House, the Justice Department -- like the FBI, asking for a number of documents, including questions about whether the president dangled any pardons towards Michael Cohen, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort to prevent them from cooperating with the government.

Two weeks is only the time that the Judiciary Committee is asking these people and these entities to respond by. If they do not get the responses, expect the fight to intensify -- subpoenas, possibly public hearings.

The question now is whether or not the administration will comply with these requests or whether we'll see a protracted fight between the White House and Capitol Hill -- Christine and Dave.

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ROMANS: All right, Manu Raju, thank you for that.

Disgraceful, abusive, and shameful -- just some of the ways the White House describes this investigation.

Press Sec. Sarah Sanders accusing Chairman Nadler and Democrats of embarking on a quote "fishing expedition because they are terrified that their two-year false narrative of Russia collusion is crumbling." Sanders claims, "The Democrats are not after the truth, they are after the president."

We should note one name not on the Democrats' list is Ivanka Trump, but CNN has learned the list of 81 is just a starting point. More requests on more topics are expected in the future.

BRIGGS: All right, let's bring in "Washington Post" congressional reporter Karoun Demirjian, a CNN political analyst. Good morning to you.

ROMANS: Good morning, Karoun.

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Good morning.

BRIGGS: Boy, 81 names on this list. Is this oversight or is it overreach?

DEMIRJIAN: Well, I think that that's the -- that the spin that the White House is trying to put on it is the latter. I think it's a very, very wide net that they are casting.

It's interesting to juxtapose what the House Judiciary Committee did yesterday with what the Foreign Affairs Oversight and Intelligence Committees did, which is they released a document request for a very narrow set of things related to the conversations and interactions Trump has had with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

[05:35:00] The Judiciary is casting such a broad net that it basically is trying to cover almost every aspect of this investigation. The only part of it that I didn't see mentioned, really, was those things involving the Deutsche Bank loan.

ROMANS: Right.

DEMIRJIAN: And we don't know if that may be coming in the next tranches that they've promised to release as well.

Look, if they are going to be targeting 81 -- and counting -- people and entities and asking for these documents, we can't assume that everybody's going to be completely compliant and chop these up. We're looking at legal fights on multiple fronts.

We're looking at Judiciary basically saying this is everything we could look at. And remember, they're the committee that can raise the specter of impeachment if they want to, which they say. They're not there yet.

But as much as there's going to be overlap with other panels looking at similar issues, this is kind of saying this is what we're keeping our eye on and what we might consider to be worse that in the end, if that's what it comes to. If we find anything here.

BRIGGS: To that point about not seeking impeachment, here's Jerry Nadler last night with Erin Burnett.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NADLER: This is not a pre-impeachment hearing. Our goal is not to decide whether there's impeachment. It may come to that if the facts show that, and it may not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: "And it may not."

Is there a risk -- you cover Congress. Is there a risk or a concern among Democrats there? The president says his numbers are up -- his poll numbers are up over the past week or so, right?

BRIGGS: Up three points in the last month.

ROMANS: Yes. I mean, they're up a little bit here.

Is there a risk that this plays into the president's narrative that he is being besieged by out of control Democrats?

DEMIRJIAN: Yes -- completely, there's a risk of that. And there was a risk of that even before his poll numbers were ticking up.

I mean, look, in the past, if you've got a really ironclad case, like in the case of Nixon, you start impeachment hearings and the president resigns.

You do -- in the Clinton case, he thinks he can win, it actually blows back and looks bad for the Republicans in the end.

So, you know, the Democrats have a fairly cohesive coalition but not completely. And if they put some people in a bad spot where they're trying to take a vote that's just going to define their entire political careers and impeachment -- especially these newer Democrats who are coming from the purple areas where they displaced incumbent Republicans in the last election -- that's going to be problematic.

So you don't want to define this issue as the impeachment issue too early on, otherwise people kind of forget to look at the substance. And even if it doesn't get to the point of impeachment, Democrats want to be able to have this -- whatever they find -- whatever they unearth as a campaigning tool against the president in 2020.

They just don't know where they are yet and if you define it as impeachment now, you've got to keep that narrative going for the next 18 months or more, and that's --

BRIGGS: Yes.

DEMIRJIAN: -- pretty difficult to do in any environment.

BRIGGS: Well, the difficult dichotomy for Democrats is they really won the House with moderate --

ROMANS: Yes.

BRIGGS: -- Democrats, not with these extreme far-left candidates. But yet, the focus from the right is all on either AOC or Ilhan Omar, whose latest remarks are perceived as anti-Semitic. Jewish groups calling for her to be removed from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

How should Democrats handle that far-left part of the House?

DEMIRJIAN: I'm not going to give prescriptions but it's interesting to see what -- the leaders are in a little bit of a predicament.

I mean, look, in some ways things have gone well. Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez had a really good showing last week at the Michael Cohen hearing where she asked some of the most --

BRIGGS: Yes.

DEMIRJIAN: -- substantive questions that you heard being asked on that panel, and far more so than many of the senior members.

But, the Democratic Party does not seem to be able to decide how to deal with the fact that they've got an outspoken critic of the status quo of U.S.-Israel policy in Ilhan Omar. And she's not backing down and she's got support from some of her other compatriots in the freshman class.

And, you know, this is what you get. When you get a more diverse caucus you get a more diverse spectrum of opinions as well.

ROMANS: Yes.

DEMERJIAN: And you are going to have that on various issues, whether it's foreign policy or economic policy or depending on where all these people have come from.

And so, the Democratic Party is going to have to figure out how to keep cohesion without basically silencing dissent. Otherwise, they're going to have the same sort of rumbling in the ranks that kind of plagued the GOP and the Freedom Caucus.

We're not at that stage yet with the Democrats but clearly, they have to decide how to actually do this. And if every time Ilhan Omar -- just to use that as an example for the

so present (ph) -- if every time she says something that is critical of Israel of a past resolution, it's going to get into a pattern that's going to be --

ROMANS: Yes.

DEMIRJIAN: -- very awkward for the party. And I don't think they have an answer yet of how to tackle this -- these questions on a broader scale.

ROMANS: And it's the party that's also got to find a candidate to compete against Donald Trump in two years.

DEMIRJIAN: That, too.

ROMANS: And will that candidate be right down the middle trying to find a middle lane, like John Hickenlooper?

BRIGGS: Right.

ROMANS: I just lost an earring.

DEMIRJIAN: I mean --

ROMANS: Or is it going to be -- is it going to be someone who is getting all the energy on the -- on the campaign trail, like Bernie Sanders?

BRIGGS: Like Bernie Sanders.

DEMIRJIAN: Right, and at this juncture most of the people you've seen put their hand up to actually make that bid have been from the more progressive wing of the party.

BRIGGS: Right.

DEMIRJIAN: It doesn't mean that's how it's going to go. We haven't seen what Joe Biden is going to do, et cetera. But you've got more people out there right now siding with the left part of the Democratic Party than you have had in the past.

[05:40:03] BRIGGS: Fascinating times --

ROMANS: Karoun Demirjian --

BRIGGS: -- and an interesting couple of years ahead.

ROMANS: -- thank you for getting up early for us. Thank you.

DEMIRJIAN: Of course.

BRIGGS: All right.

Breaking overnight, the National Security Agency abandoned a much- scrutinized surveillance program. It relied on bulk data collected from domestic phone records. Last year, the NSA revealed there were technical problems that led to unauthorized collection of some phone records.

According to a Republican congressional source, the Trump administration might not reauthorize the program at the end of the year.

The surveillance was originally implemented under the Obama administration to replace an earlier program that was disclosed in leaks by Edward Snowden.

ROMANS: Residents of eastern Alabama hurting and holding on tight to each other this morning after the deadliest tornado to hit the United States in six years. The death toll, 23, with 10 people still in the hospital.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed an expedited major disaster declaration request asking the president for immediate assistance.

Three of the victims were children ages six, nine, and 10.

BRIGGS: The youngest victim identified as Armando Hernandez. Fourth- grader Taylor Thornton also killed.

CNN spoke to Opelika, Alabama resident Jessica Chandler. The twister missed her by minutes. She took her two kids to the store to get baby formula.

Her boyfriend was inside when the tornado hit their mobile home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA CHANDLER, OPELIKA, ALABAMA RESIDENT: He has a fractured leg, his ribs are broken, he has puncture wounds, cuts, bruises. He's really sore. I mean, he got out of the hospital last night and we're thankful he's alive.

The front porch was like a patio. He seen that fly up and he said he had just enough time to dive to the couch, which the couch is about a foot away from the screen door, and he just held onto the couch for dear life.

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BRIGGS: The situation remains desperate this morning in Lee County, Alabama. Drew Griffin is there.

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DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, they will start another search today, but there has been good news overnight in that the missing persons list has been reconciled. They no longer believe they have double-digit numbers of people missing. That means that the death toll looks like it's going to hold, although the coroner said it is possible they might find more victims in the debris as they continue to meticulously go through it. But again, this was a devastating tornado that came through here -- 170 miles an hour -- and just like in so many places across this county, just picked up this mobile home and threw it into the trees. The people here now having to deal with trying to rebuild their lives, basically from scratch -- Christine, Dave.

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BRIGGS: All right, Drew, thanks.

For more information on how you can help the victims of the Alabama tornadoes go to cnn.com/impact.

ROMANS: All right, breaking medical news overnight.

A patient in London might be the second HIV patient ever cured outright. According to a case study published in the journal "Nature," the so-called London patient was being treated for cancer, not HIV, but is now in sustained remission from both diseases.

This case comes more than 10 years after a Berlin patient was cured using similar stem cell transplants.

Doctors say the method used in both cases is not appropriate for general use but does offer hope for new treatment strategies. Nearly one million people die each from HIV-related causes.

BRIGGS: Ahead, iconic "90210" heartthrob Luke Perry being remembered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUKE PERRY, ACTOR: Hi, girls.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Hear how one of his co-stars is remembering the iconic actor, ahead.

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[05:48:27] ROMANS: All right.

Your leading indicator this morning in business, an unnecessary freak- out over a swoon in stocks yesterday. The Dow closed down less than one percent. But perspective here. The S&P 500 is still up more than 11 percent so far this year.

And markets now mostly higher around the world, except for Tokyo. You can see Paris and Frankfurt have just turned slightly lower, but that's almost directionless.

Big news from the Chinese government slashing business taxes as a way to battle its slowing economy. China's official growth forecast is now six to 6 1/2 percent. That's down from last year's 6.6 percent growth. Already, the weakest annual growth in three decades. Looking at Wall Street futures right now, they are slightly higher, still searching for direction and more details on where China and the U.S. stand in their trade talks. The Dow fell 207 points after being up as much as 130 points at the beginning of the day. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also fell just slightly.

All right, could Purdue Pharma file for bankruptcy? Reuters reports the OxyContin maker is exploring the option as a way to contain liability from the thousands of lawsuits that allege it knowingly contributed to the deadly opioid crisis sweeping the nation.

Now, filing for Chapter 11 would halt the lawsuits and allow Purdue to negotiate legal claims with plaintiffs under the supervision of a bankruptcy judge.

Purdue Pharma would not comment on its financial or legal strategy but said this. Quote, "We have ample liquidity and remain committed to meeting our obligations to the patients who benefit from our medicines, our suppliers, and other business partners."

[05:50:00] ROMANS: All right.

Amazon's grocery plans go way beyond Whole Foods. It's been two years since it bought Whole Foods and now Amazon plans to open dozens of its own grocery stores in major U.S. cities. Now, the stores will offer different, cheaper products than Whole Foods, including beauty and health items.

According to TJI Research, Amazon has nearly 140 of its own brands in food, and health, and beauty, and household essentials. Amazon's new grocery chain would offer mainstream brands to win a broader range of shoppers.

BRIGGS: Fans and friends remembering actor Luke Perry this morning. He died Monday, a few days after a massive stroke. He was just 52. Perry leaves behind two children and a fiance.

Perry rose to fame in the 1990s megahit series "BEVERLY HILLS 90210," playing the bad boy heartthrob Dylan McKay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUKE PERRY, ACTOR: I'm saying that that was then and some people do change, Kelly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The show was wildly popular, taking on topics like teen sexuality before many others.

Here's Perry in a 1991 "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT" interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERRY: You must remember what makes the show so good. The show is good -- and I'll say that. Yes, I'm on a good show.

The show is good because it's an ensemble piece. Everybody works and everybody brings something to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Perry's "90210" co-star Shannon Doherty telling "People" magazine, "I am in shock, heartbroken. Devastated by the loss of my friend. I have so many memories with Luke that make me smile and that are forever imprinted on my heart and mind."

BRIGGS: Perry had been starring as the father of Archie Andrews in the CW teen drama "RIVERDALE." Production on "RIVERDALE" has temporarily halted due to his death.

Perry's final film role is in Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood," due out in July.

ROMANS: There's nobody in Gen X who doesn't know that show and that actor -- really, kind of like the face of a generation.

BRIGGS: It really is our generation, the "90210."

We'll be right back.

[05:55:47] ROMANS: CNN has learned U.S. intelligence on at least one secret North Korean nuclear plant may have been a factor in President Trump's decision to walk away from North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

Sources say during summit talks, Kim offered to dismantle the main site of his nuclear program called Yongbyon in exchange for sanctions relief. But, Trump apparently wanted more.

BRIGGS: Experts says North Korea has at least one secret nuclear plant named Kyungsung. The Kim regime has never acknowledged that site but Trump apparently said it, too, must be shut down.

Today, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will get a closed-door briefing by U.S. special representative for North Korea, Steven Biegen, about the summit.

Breaking moments ago, count Jeff Merkley out. The Oregon senator says he will not run for president next year. He had been considering a White House run but also had to weigh whether to seek reelection to the Senate next year.

ROMANS: All right. New elections have been scheduled in North Carolina's Ninth Congressional District. Primaries will take place May 14th. The general will be September 10th. A run-off could delay that but it does mean the people of the Ninth District will go a year without representation.

BRIGGS: The decision followed ballot tampering allegations against a campaign operative hired by Republican Mark Harris. Harris has said he will not run the new election because of his health.

The operative at the center of the fraud allegations, Leslie McCrae Dowless, has been indicted on seven felony counts.

A South Carolina resident has finally come forward to claim that $1.5 billion lottery prize. The winner wants to remain anonymous. It's the largest single winner Mega Millions jackpot.

The drawing was back in October. The winner opted to take the cash option --

ROMANS: Smart.

BRIGGS: -- of a one-time payment of nearly $878 million.

The win is also a boon for South Carolina. The state will collect a cool $61 million in income taxes. I understand they'd already spent that money so it's a good thing.

ROMANS: Yes.

While you were sleeping, Jimmy Kimmel shared his take on the president's flag hug at CPAC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, ABC, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!": The reason he's a flag hugger is because that happens to be one of his most lucrative money moves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now you can own a piece of history -- a flag embraced by the President of the United States. Your fully-fondled flag comes with a certificate of authenticity as well as your own pole to proudly display your flag and even hug it yourself. Three cheers for the red, white, and you.

Gaze proudly upon the orange stain left by the president's bronzed face. Feel authentic chicken grease stains from his large masculine fingers.

Get your MAGA FLAGA for only three easy installments of your Social Security check. Call now and receive a square of toilet paper from the back of the president's shoe absolutely free.

Not available in stores. Made in China. No hablo Espanol.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: I haven't looked at my --

BRIGGS: MAGA FLAGA.

ROMANS: I have looked at my flag etiquette manual in a long time, but I don't think you're actually supposed to be touching a flag, are you? You're supposed to fly it --

BRIGGS: I don't believe so unless you're folding it.

ROMANS: -- reverently. BRIGGS: Remember the flag pin controversy --

ROMANS: That's right.

BRIGGS: -- way back when?

ROMANS: Oh, my.

BRIGGS: Boy, those were different times.

ROMANS: FLAGA MAGA. There it is, just --

All right, everybody. With that, thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Here's "NEW DAY."

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NADLER: Our goal is to hold the administration accountable. Our goal is to vindicate the rule of law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've given all this information to the special counsel. It's really harassment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Each one will be able to offer us facts and evidence to put the puzzle together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tornadoes ravaged parts of our great state. We lost children, mothers, fathers, neighbors, and friends.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son was on top of me. He said, "Mom, I don't want to die."

CHANDLER: But he just held onto the couch for dear life.

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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: OK, here we go. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Tuesday, March fifth, 6:00 here in New York.

New this morning, so this is what it means to have congressional oversight. And overnight, we learned the White House doesn't like it -- doesn't like it one bit.

House Democrats launched a sweeping investigation into the president's orbit, looking at allegations of corruption, obstruction of justice, abuse of power. Requests are in to 81 individuals and entities, including the president's sons.

END