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Cohen Shares New Documents with House Intel; Democrats Won't Debate on Fox; McSally Reveals She Was Raped While Serving in Military; Alex Trebek Cancer Diagnosis; LeBron Passes Jordan for 4th in Career Scoring. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired March 07, 2019 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:00:00] SEN. MARTHA MCSALLY (R), ARIZONA: I felt the system was raping me all over again.
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DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: A stunning admission from Senator Martha McSally, the first American woman to fly in combat, says she was raped while serving this country.
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ALEX TREBEK, GAME SHOW HOST: I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease.
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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Alex Trebek diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. But the "Jeopardy" host says he is not going anywhere soon. Certainly wish him well.
BRIGGS: We sure do.
ROMANS: We'll have more on that diagnosis ahead.
Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. It is Thursday, March 7th, 5:00 a.m. in the East.
We start in the nation's capital where after 30 hours over four day, Michael Cohen's testimony to Congress is over for now. Three major revelations emerging from the final day of testimony behind closed doors. First, sources tell CNN, President Trump's former lawyer and fixer provided documents to the House Intelligence Committee, which show edits made to the false statement Cohen made before Congress in 2017.
ROMANS: Cohen handed over the new documents to help explain his public testimony last week. He told lawmakers one of Mr. Trump's lawyers had a hand in editing that false statement. These and other revelations could give ammunition to Republicans attacking his credibility.
CNN's Manu Raju has more from Capitol Hill.
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MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Dave.
Now, Michael Cohen delivering a second day of testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, and the big question Democrats had going into the hearing was whether the president's attorneys were involved in editing that false statement that he delivered to Congress back in 2017. Back then in a classified setting, he lied and later acknowledged lying to the committee about the Trump Organization's pursuit of the Trump Tower Moscow project.
He also acknowledged in that public testimony, that Trump's attorneys edited that statement.
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER PERSONAL ATTORNEY FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: There were changes made, additions. Jay Sekulow for one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were there changes about the timing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentleman's time has expired. You may answer that question.
COHEN: There were several changes made, including how we were going to handle that message. Which was --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you finished?
COHEN: Yes. So, the message, of course, being the length of time that the Trump Tower Moscow project stayed and remained alive.
RAJU: That was a subject of discussion in the long day of testimony behind closed doors. Cohen provided documents to that committee showing edits that were made by Trump's attorneys. Now, the question is what were those edits. We don't know all the specifics quite yet, but we do that there were some edits to try to further explain exactly what Cohen meant in that public arena -- Christine and Dave.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRIGGS: All right. Manu, thanks.
According to "The New York Times", at least some of the edits in Michael Cohen's testimony appeared to play down Ivanka Trump's knowledge about the Trump Tower Moscow project. And two sources tell CNN White House lawyers had no indication Cohen's original testimony was even wrong. The second big reveal Wednesday, CNN has learned Cohen himself authored the false line in his 2017 testimony to Congress. That means it was not a change made by President Trump's lawyers.
ROMANS: Revelation number three. The "Washington Post" reports Cohen told the House Intel Committee he personally discussed the subject of a pardon with Jay Sekulow and Rudy Giuliani. Now, that doesn't mean that he asked for one, but did discuss one. Sekulow denies that. Giuliani tells CNN he has been asked about pardons by attorneys but would not comment specifically here.
But now, Cohen's attorney Lanny Davis seeming to contradict the "Washington Post" and his own client. Remember when Michael Cohen said this last week --
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COHEN: I have never asked for nor would I accept a pardon from President Trump.
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BRIGGS: Lanny Davis now tells the "Wall Street Journal" after Cohen was raided by the FBI last year, he directed his attorney at the time to explore the possibilities of a pardon at one point with Rudy Giuliani as well as other lawyers advising President Trump. CNN asked Davis to square that with Cohen's testimony, he claims Cohen was referring to the time after his joint defense agreement with President Trump's attorneys collapsed.
So, what's next for Cohen? The president's former lawyer begins a three year prison term on May 6th.
ROMANS: All right. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort will be sentenced today in Virginia federal court. Manafort was found guilty of defrauding banks and the government, found guilty of failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars he earned as a political consultant in Ukraine. Prosecutors have asked for up to 25 years in prison, potentially a life sentence for the 69-year-old, and tens of millions in financial penalties. The case against Manafort was the first brought to trial by special counsel Robert Mueller.
BRIGGS: Democrats are divided over controversial remarks made by freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and that is testing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's ability to unify her party. Democratic sources tell CNN that the debate surrounding Representative Omar is, quote, messy, and tense, with tempers flaring.
[05:05:05] Party leaders signaling it is now unclear whether a resolution condemning anti-Semitism even comes to the floor for a vote next week.
ROMANS: Many members expressing sympathy for Omar. Others remain offended by her suggestion that Jewish money is the reason for Israel's widespread support in Congress.
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REP. ILHAN OMAR (D), MINNESOTA: I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.
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ROMANS: This morning, there is still no agreement within the Democratic Party on the final language for the resolution.
Democrats say they will not hold any of their primary debates on Fox News. The Democratic National Committee citing a report in the "New Yorker" about the mutually helpful relationship between Fox and the Trump. The story includes new details about Fox News catching and killing the Stormy Daniels story before the election and candidate Trump being tipped off about debate questions.
BRIGGS: Democratic Party Chairman Tom Perez says Fox News is, quote, not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate. The network saying it hopes the DNC will reconsider.
President Trump weighing in the tweet: Democrats just blocked Fox News from holding a debate. Good. I think I'll do the same thing with the fake news networks and the radical left Democrats in general election debates.
Worth noting the president on his own cannot prevent outlets from hosting a general election debates, those are set up by the Commission on Presidential Debates, jointly sponsored by the Republican and Democratic Parties.
ROMANS: Freshman Senator Martha McSally revealing she was raped while serving in the Air Force. The Arizona Republican speaking at a Senate hearing Wednesday on sexual assault in the military. McSally, the first American woman to fly in combat says she did not report it because she blamed herself and did not trust the system.
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MCSALLY: I was preyed upon and raped by a superior officer. I stayed silent for many years but later in my career as the military grappled with scandals and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let people know I too was a survivor. I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences were handled, I almost separated from the air force at 18 years over my despair. Like many victims, I felt the system was raping me all over again.
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BRIGGS: A brave admission. Almost 6,800 sexual assaults were reported in the U.S. military during the last fiscal year according to the Pentagon. That is a 10 percent increase from the previous year. In January, Joni Ernst, the highest ranking woman in Republican Senate leadership, an army combat veteran, said she was a survivor of mental and physical abuse by her former husband. Ernst also she said she was raped in college.
ROMANS: President Trump's entire trade policy is predicated on his belief that trade deficits represent failure. Look at this, new numbers show the trade deficit last year was the worst in a decade. $621 billion. Overall deficit in goods was the worst in America's 243-year history, $891 billion, the deficit with China also the worst on record.
The president detests trade deficit. He very simplistically sees them as a loss of money from the U.S. to its trading partners.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The trade deficit very dear to my heart because we've been ripped off by the world.
Sixty billion dollars.
Sixty-nine billion dollars to $100 billion a year.
A number beyond anything what anybody would understand.
The days of the United States being taken advantage of are over.
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ROMANS: Well, in his two years in office, the trade deficit has swelled by well over $100 million. He has called himself tariff man, but those tariffs brought retaliatory tariffs that made U.S. exports more expensive.
And also a strong U.S. economy means there was more debate. Also, tax cuts in this country also made more imports into the United States. No comments yet from White House officials on that swelling trade deficits.
The numbers coming in after the Treasury Department said the budget deficit soared to $310 billion in the first four months of the year, up 77 percent.
BRIGGS: Wow.
Mark Zuckerberg laying out his plans to transform Facebook and his number one priority, privacy. The founder and CEO posting a long essay to his account saying the company's focus will shift to encrypted content, that means data will be scrambled so outsiders and even Facebook can't read it and content would disappear after a short period of time.
[05:10:00] Zuckerberg's post, short on specific, says: People should be comfortable being themselves and should not have to worry about what they share coming back to hurt them later. So, we won't keep messages or stories around for longer than necessary to deliver the service or longer than people want it.
ROMANS: The strategy shift shows how the embattled company is facing an uncertain future, marked by distrust after several privacy scandals. It could cause upheaval in Facebook's business model of mining your information to show you relevant ads. Encryption will also make it harder of Facebook to fulfill a core mission of detecting misinformation by bad actors.
BRIGGS: Long time "Jeopardy" host revealing that he has been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. The disease, on average, has a five-year survival rate of 9 percent, but the 78-year-old Trebek is defiant.
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ALEX TREBEK, HOST, "JEOPARDY!": I'm going to fight this and I'm going to keep working. And with the love and support of my family and friends and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease. Truth told, I have to because under the terms of my contract, I have to host "Jeopardy!" for three more years. So help me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: We hope he serves every bit of that contract.
Trebek has been host of "Jeopardy!" since 1984. Fellow game show host Pat Sajak, one of the many expressing support for Trebek. "The Wheel of Fortune" host says there is no one I know who is stronger and more determined. And I would never bet against him. We and the entire country are pulling for you, Alex.
ROMANS: We sure are. Best of luck to him.
All right. Eleven minutes past the hour.
A college professor quits her job over Chick-fil-A.
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[05:16:04] BRIGGS: R. Kelly in trouble again. Detroit police now looking into criminal sexual conduct allegations from 2001 involving a 13-year-old. They received information about the alleged victim from authorities in Chicago. The R&B singer jailed last night for failing to pay $161,000 in child support.
Kelly's supporters were working to get him released by next week. He was indicted last month on ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. He angrily defended himself in an interview with CBS's Gayle King which releases more footage.
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R. KELLY, R&B SINGER: This is not me. I'm fighting for my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) life. Y'all killing me with this. (EXPLETIVES DELETED)
GAYLE KING, CBS HOST: Robert --
KELLY: Y'all trying to kill me. You're killing me, man. Y'all just don't want to believe the truth. You don't want to believe it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: R. Kelly's next court date is March 22nd.
ROMANS: A dean at Rider University resigning over the decision not to consider Chick-fil-A for an on-campus eatery. The New Jersey school announced in November that it won't Chick-fil-A open on campus because of the chain's opposition to LGBTQ rights.
Cynthia Newman, Rider's dean of business administration, sees it another way. She says it was a judgmental statement about Chick-fil- A's values that reflect the Christian faith.
So, Newman resigned as dean. She will remain on the faculty in a different role. The university says it respects her choice but that the Chick-fil-A decision was in no way a judgment on religious beliefs.
BRIGGS: All right. A major career milestone for LeBron James. Andy Scholes has this story in the "Bleacher Report", next.
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[05:22:19] BRIGGS: LeBron James reaching another career milestone passing the GOAT Michael Jordan for fourth on the all-time scoring list.
Andy Scholes has the story in "Bleacher Report".
Andy, minus the playoff, but he keeps on going.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: That is for sure, Dave. LeBron has always said that he grew up idolizing Michael Jordan. MJ is the reason he wears number 23. And LeBron writing thank you to Jordan on his shoes for last night's game.
He entered the match-up with the Nuggets 12 points shy of Jordan for fourth on the all-time scoring list. In the second quarter, LeBron gets the basket plus the foul. And with that, he passed mj to stand alone in fourth place.
LeBron emotional there on the bench. After the game he said this is right up there with winning a championship and that he would not be where he is right now without Jordan.
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LEBRON JAMES, NBA'S 4TH ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER: You guys have no idea what MJ did for me and my friends growing up. Just in the sense of, you know, some days where you just don't feel like you're going to make to the next day where I grew up because of everything that was going on. Like I wrote on my shoes tonight like you saw, I thank MJ more than he would ever know.
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SCHOLES: And next up on the scoring list for LeBron will be Kobe Bryant who he should pass next season. If he stays healthy, LeBron would likely catch Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to be the top scorer in NBA history before his career is over. And the kids at LeBron's I Promise school back in his hometown Akron,
Ohio, are cheering him on. They posted this congrats video to social media.
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IPROMISE SCHOOL STUDENTS: Congratulations for being in fourth on the NBA scoreboard.
Congratulations for passing Michael Jordan.
We love you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: All right. The Chicago Bears may be trolling their fans right now. The team signing a new kicker named Chris Blewitt. A kicker named Blewitt. This, of course, comes after the Bears season ended when Cody Parkey missed a potential game winner against the Eagles in the playoffs.
And, Dave, as you can imagine, social media had a field day with this, many joking that this will make headline writer jobs just way too easy there in Chicago if they lose on a field goal by Blewitt.
BRIGGS: You got to, I mean, you go in kicking as a profession, I think you would have changed that name at some point.
SCHOLES: Chris Clutch, you know?
BRIGGS: Christine Romans is rooting for Blewitt.
ROMANS: I am.
BRIGGS: The Bears fan in her.
[05:25:01] Andy Scholes, thank you, my friend.
Romans?
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Dave.
Twenty-four, or 25 minutes past the hour.
Michael Cohen gives new documents to the House Intelligence Committee, but did he ask for a pardon despite claiming otherwise under oath?
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ROMANS: New documents from Michael Cohen now in the hands of the House Intelligence Committee. Who authored his testimony and did he ask for a pardon despite claiming otherwise?
BRIGGS: Democrats will not debate on Fox News ahead of the 2020 election. The DNC says the network cannot be neutral over a recent report that painted Fox as a propaganda tool for the White House. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCSALLY: I felt the system was raping me all over again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: A stunning admission from Senator Martha McSally. The first American woman to fly in combat says she was raped while serving this country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TREBEK: I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Alex Trebek diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer.
END
