Return to Transcripts main page
Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trio Of Big Revelations On Michael Cohen's Final Day Of Testimony; Democrats Divided Over Anti-Semitism Resolution; GOP Sen. Martha McSally Reveals She Was Raped; "Jeopardy!" Host Alex Trebek Reveals Cancer Diagnosis. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired March 07, 2019 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX TREBEK, HOST, "JEOPARDY!": I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Alex Trebek diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, but the "JEOPARDY!" host says he's not going anywhere anytime soon.
Ken Jennings, who won more than $2.5 million --
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right.
BRIGGS: -- in "JEOPARDY!", I think, put it best in this tweet. He said, "I've said this before, but Alex Trebek is, in a way, the last Cronkite -- authoritative, reassuring T.V. voice you hear every night, almost to the point of ritual."
Christine, you can almost close your eyes --
ROMANS: Yes.
BRIGGS: -- and just listen to Trebek's voice and trust it.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is 30 minutes past the hour.
Let's begin here with after 30 hours over four days of testimony, Michael Cohen's testimony to Congress is over for now. Three major revelations emerging from the final day behind closed doors.
First, sources tell CNN President Trump's former lawyer and fixer provided documents to the House Intel Committee. They show edits made to the false statement Cohen made before Congress in 2017.
BRIGGS: 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 Cohen's credibility.
CNN's Manu Raju with more from Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and Dave.
Now, Michael Cohen delivering a second day of testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, and a big question that 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 that Trump Tower Moscow project. He also acknowledged in that public testimony one of Trump's attorneys edited that statement.
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER PERSONAL ATTORNEY TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: There were changes made -- additions. Jay Sekulow, for one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were there changes about the timing -- the question of --
REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D-MD), CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM: The gentleman's time has expired. You may answer that question.
COHEN: There were -- there were several changes that were made, including how we were going to handle that message, which was --
CUMMINGS: Mr. Cohen, were you finished?
COHEN: Yes. 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 a 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 know that there were some edits to try to further explain exactly what Cohen meant in that public arena -- Christine and Dave.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Manu Raju. Thank you for that.
According to "The New York Times," at least some of the edits in Michael Cohen's testimony appear 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 that false line in his 2017 testimony to Congress. That means it was not a change made by President Trump's lawyers.
BRIGGS: Revelation number three, "The Washington Post" reports Cohen told the House Intel Committee he personally discussed the subject of a pardon with Trump lawyers Jay Sekulow and Rudy Giuliani. That doesn't mean he asked for one but did discuss one.
Sekulow denies that. Giuliani tells CNN he's been asked about pardons by attorneys but would not comment specifically.
ROMANS: Cohen testified last week he has never asked for a pardon. But now, his attorney, Lanny Davis, tells "The Wall Street Journal" after Cohen was raided by the FBI last year, he directed his attorney at the time to quote "explore possibilities of a pardon, at one point, with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, as well as other lawyers advising President Trump."
BRIGGS: All right, let's bring in "Washington Post" White House correspondent Toluse Olorunnipa this morning. Good to see you, sir.
ROMANS: Good morning.
BRIGGS: I can't help but think of the aforementioned Alex Trebek, who we can just close our eyes and just -- we trusted that these were going to be the facts. But with this Trump and Cohen and Lanny Davis and Rudy Giuliani thing, it's just lying upon lying. Everyone is lying here. We can just trust that no one is telling the truth.
So it comes down to documents. It comes down to actual evidence.
What, to you, is the biggest takeaway from the last 24 hours?
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE WASHINGTON POST: I think the biggest takeaway is that Republicans are going to seize on the idea that Michael Cohen maybe misled Congress and definitely, in their words, they believe that he did.
While Democrats are going to seize on the fact that the president was talking about pardons with a convicted felon who was about to testify against him. That is a test case-type of obstruction of justice in the eyes of several Democrats who are already putting out several requests for documents to build a case of obstruction of justice and many other cases against the president.
So this latest revelation is going to give Democrats more fire to call on the president to prove that he did not commit obstruction of justice. And the Republicans are going to use this to further undermine the credibility of Michael Cohen. So you're going to have both sides sort of sticking to their talking points, sticking to their messages.
[05:35:09] And as you said, there's been so much deception it's hard to know who to believe. But it's clear that this new revelation -- this new development is going to give both sides some ammunition and they're both going to use it.
ROMANS: Let's talk about the Democrats for a minute on another subject -- this division within the party over what's turned out to be kind of a divisive subject of this resolution against anti-Semitism and freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and how to handle her comments within the party. It's showing a real generational divide, isn't it -- how they're handling this?
What is Nancy Pelosi thinking right here, trying to contain this drama?
OLORUNNIPA: Yes, the older establishment Democrats are seeing the U.S.-Israel relationship the way it's always been seen, which is that ironclad commitment to Israel and support for Israel is a bipartisan issue.
But some of the younger, more progressive members are saying that they feel that they should have the freedom to question the relationship with Israel and to call Israel to task for some of the things that have happened over there and for the fact that there hasn't been a peace deal.
And I think you're starting to see that division really open up. And I think several older Democrats thought they'd be able to put out this resolution and get this thing behind them, but now they're seeing this huge division.
You're seeing several top 2020 candidates come to the defense of Rep. Omar. Several -- there's racial as well involved. So this is a huge split in the Democratic Party at a time when they want to be focused on their agenda.
They want to be passing legislation to really call President Trump to task and they want to be focused not only on investigating Trump but also passing a progressive agenda.
And this is not something that they wanted to be doing early in their new majority, focusing on all of these divisions along religious, racial, and generational lines.
BRIGGS: Well, Toluse, how indicative of it is the split within the entire party, even with issues like the Green New Deal and Medicare for All? Here they are -- they won back the majority in the House and they can't really decide are they going to go with the Pelosi strategy that helped them win the House and moderates focused on health care and preexisting conditions. Or are they going to allow this left flank -- this progressive wing -- the younger Democrats Christine talked about really take control?
Is this indicative of the entire Democratic debate?
OLORUNNIPA: Yes. There's a huge split within the party and they're trying to get control of it.
A couple of my colleagues reported out from a meeting that happened yesterday -- a behind closed door meeting of Democrats -- and there was a big -- there was a big fight, basically.
There were several Democrats who were concerned that there was so much tweeting by some of the newer Democrats who are using social media to really build their platform and go around the traditional process and they are getting a lot of attention.
They're getting a lot of focus on their -- on their agenda items and they're pulling the party to the left. And there are some, including the House speaker, who do not want to be pulled too far to the left because they know that they have to protect some of their more moderate members.
They were able to win the majority, in part, because several moderate members were able to defeat Republicans in districts that Trump won.
So there is this huge debate playing out over policy within the party and it doesn't look like it's going to be solved anytime soon because the progressives are not shutting up at all. They're deciding that --
ROMANS: Yes.
OLORUNNIPA: -- they have the social media and the ability --
BRIGGS: Yes.
OLORUNNIPA: -- to have a big platform. And the moderates are hoping that they can tamp down some of that fire on the left as well.
BRIGGS: They probably can't settle any of it until they coalesce around --
ROMANS: Yes.
BRIGGS: -- one leader, one voice, one Democratic nominee in 2020 and who that will be. It will be fascinating to watch.
Toluse Olorunnipa from "The Washington Post". Thank you, sir.
ROMANS: And in the meantime, you'll have the White House really casting all of it as socialism.
BRIGGS: Yes.
ROMANS: And look what's happening to the Democratic Party. You can't afford --
BRIGGS: They're loving this debate.
ROMANS: You can't afford to have a left-wing Democrat -- yes.
BRIGGS: They're loving this debate.
ROMANS: Absolutely.
All right, 38 minutes past the hour. Democrats say they're not going to hold any of their primary debates on Fox News. The Democratic National Committee citing a reporter in the "New Yorker" about the mutually helpful relationship between Fox and Trump.
The story includes new details -- new details about Fox News catching and killing the Stormy Daniels story before the election and candidate Trump being tipped off about debate questions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM PEREZ, CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: You see that at the highest levels of Fox News, they have infiltrated the news side. Now, it's a dog bites man story that Sean Hannity and some of the high-ups at Fox News are colluding and collaborating all the time. But this isn't about the other side -- the Lou Dobbs, the Sean Hannity side. This is about -- and this "New Yorker" report was about interference at the highest levels of Fox News in the news side.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: The network saying it hopes the DNC will reconsider.
The president weighing in with a tweet. "Democrats just blocked Fox News from holding a debate. Good, then I think I'll do the same thing with the fake news networks and the radical left Democrats in the general election debates!"
Worth noting, the president could not, on his own, prevent outlets from hosting a general election debate. Those are set up by the Commission on Presidential Debates, jointly sponsored by the Republican and Democratic parties.
[05:40:04] ROMANS: All right.
Freshman Sen. 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 the rape because she blamed herself and she did not trust the system.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARTHA MCSALLY (R), ARIZONA: I was preyed upon and then 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 some 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. I felt the system was raping me all over again.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: Almost -- this number is staggering. Almost 6,800 sexual assaults were reported in the U.S. military just during the last fiscal year. That's according to the Pentagon. That's a 10 percent increase from the previous year.
BRIGGS: Longtime "JEOPARDY!" host Alex Trebek revealing he's been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. The disease, on average, has a 5-year survival rate of nine percent.
The 78-year-old Trebek, who has hosted "JEOPARDY!" since 1984, is defiant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TREBEK: 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 will, indeed.
Fellow game show host Pat Sajak one of 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 are, too. We wish him the best.
All right, 42 minutes past the hour.
Facebook planning a big shift with the focus on privacy amid a series of scandals. The upside and the downside, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:46:36] ROMANS: All right.
President Trump's entire trade policy is predicated on the belief -- his belief that trade deficits represent failure.
New numbers show the U.S. trade deficit, last year, was the worst in a decade -- $621 billion. The overall deficit in goods. This is a number the president has railed against. It was the worst in America's 243-year history -- $891 billion.
The deficit with China also the worst on record.
In his two years in office, the trade deficit has swelled by well over $100 billion.
Now, no comment yet from White House officials on the soaring trade deficit but it's getting a lot of attention because this president has waged a trade war, in part, because he believes those trade deficit numbers are the best way to measure America's success or failure on the global trading stage, and those numbers are getting a lot worse.
BRIGGS: I couldn't help but think of Janet Yellen being asked recently if she thought Trump has a grasp of economic policy. She said no, I do not.
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.
Zuckerberg's post, short on specifics, 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 numerous 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 for Facebook to fulfill another core mission of detecting misinformation by bad actors.
BRIGGS: President Trump's pick to be U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia claims he will hold the Saudis accountable for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
Retired Gen. John Abizaid calling the journalist's death a senseless killing in his confirmation hearing on Wednesday. But when pressed about how he plans to do that, here's what Abizaid told lawmakers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SAUDI ARABIA: Senator, ambassadors don't hold countries accountable. Countries hold countries accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Abizaid says he believes it's critical to make sure the Saudis know what we stand for. He says he will make sure those ideals are conveyed clearly.
ROMANS: U.S. intelligence officials are no longer required to publicly report civilian deaths in air strikes against terrorist targets when they occur outside areas of hostile -- active hostilities. That's because President Trump just signed an executive order revoking the Obama-era requirement. It's not clear whether the new policy will result in less transparency about U.S. counterterrorism strikes.
The most recent government report from January 2017 says the U.S. government conducted 54 strikes outside of Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan in 2016, resulting in one civilian death.
BRIGGS: All right, who is Tim Apple? We'll answer that question when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:54:10] BRIGGS: Revenge from beyond the grave.
A gardener, 59-year-old Bernard Graumann, was found dead from unknown causes at his home Friday. That same day, a 64-year-old doctor was killed by an explosion from a booby trap outside his practice. Two days later, a mother and daughter were injured when a log exploded in a wood-burning stove.
ROMANS: Police have now linked both cases to Graumann, who apparently had a bad relationship with the victims. Police also warned members of the public who may have previously have fallen out with Graumann to be on guard.
BRIGGS: A dean at Rider University resigning over the decision not to consider Chick-fil-A for a non-campus eatery. The New Jersey school announced in November it would not let Chick-fil-A open on campus because of the chain's opposition to LGBTQ rights.
[05:55:00] But, 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.
The University says they respect her choice but the Chick-fil-A decision was quote "in no way a judgment on religious values."
ROMANS: R. Kelly is 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.
He was indicted last month on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. He angrily defended himself in an interview with CBS, which released more footage yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
R. KELLY, SINGER ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ABUSE: I didn't do this stuff. This is not me. I'm fighting for my (bleep) life. You all killing me with this (bleep).
I gave you all 30 years of my (bleep) career.
GAYLE KING, ANCHOR, "CBS THIS MORNING": Robert?
KELLY: Thirty years of my career and you all trying to kill me. You're killing me, man. You all just don't want to believe the truth. You don't want to
believe it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Gayle King just a model of professionalism there.
BRIGGS: She didn't blink.
ROMANS: No. Really well done there.
R. Kelly's next court date is March 22nd.
All right, let's get a check on "CNN Business" this Thursday morning.
Trade concerns kind of dogging global markets here. On Wall Street, futures are leaning a little bit lower here after those record- breaking trade deficit numbers.
Stocks closed lower Wednesday. Investors looking for movement on U.S.-China trade negotiations. The Dow fell 133 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq down slightly as well.
The February jobs report is the next big event. That's due tomorrow morning. Investors looking to see if the jobs market remains strong.
The economy added 304,000 jobs in January. That was the 100th straight month of gains.
On the trade front, Huawei is suing the U.S. government, fighting back against accusations its technology poses a global security threat. New this morning, Huawei said it has filed a lawsuit in Texas challenging the National Defense Authorization Act.
BRIGGS: Signed by President Trump in August, the law bans federal agencies from buying its products. Huawei's deputy chairman accused Congress of acting as judge, jury, and executioner by imposing the ban.
Quote, "This ban not only is unlawful but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming U.S. consumers."
ROMANS: U.S. government officials weren't immediately available to comment on that one.
All right, tariffs causing a bit of a hangover for the maker of Jack Daniels. Brown-Forman, which sells whiskey and other liquors, said sales grew three percent in the three months ending in January, but that missed expectations.
Tariffs on American spirits had a one percent drag on its sales and cost it $125 million last year. Tariffs, the company said, a substantial burden on the business. Shares fell five percent on the news.
BRIGGS: All right, we've all made mistakes in public speaking. The president, probably more than most, and his latest slip did not escape the attention of James Corden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES CORDEN, HOST, CBS "THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN": During a meeting of President Trump's business advisers, Donald Trump referred to Apple CEO Tim Cook as -- well, see for yourself.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You've really put a big investment in our country and we appreciate it very much, Tim Apple.
(LAUGHTER)
CORDEN: I think I'm done. I think that's it. I think I'm out. I mean, that's it.
I don't -- he called Tim Cook Tim Apple. And I guarantee you this means that Trump calls himself Donald President.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Tim Apple has a ring to it.
BRIGGS: Yes, Tim Apple, you bet.
ROMANS: Tim Apple, Tim Cook.
BRIGGS: Tim Apple did not blink.
ROMANS: No, he did not.
BRIGGS: Did not even flinch.
ROMANS: He did not. I think they all prepare before those meetings and try to --
BRIGGS: Yes.
ROMANS: -- keep real stone-faced.
BRIGGS: Yes.
ROMANS: Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Early Start. Here's "NEW DAY" right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: He has provided additional documents and the members found it an enormously productive session.
COHEN: There were several changes made, including the message of the length of time that the Trump Tower Moscow project remained alive.
REP. MARK MEADOWS (R), NORTH CAROLINA: Everything that Mr. Cohen says, you have to look through the prism of is he telling us the truth. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There will be a vote. And there's no place in this world for anti-Semitism.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to make sure that we don't allow Republicans and others to divide us as a caucus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is legitimating anti-Semitism in America. But at the same time, I'm afraid that the Democrats are giving up the moral high ground.
(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 Thursday, March seventh, 6:00 here in New York.
And I do feel we need to disclose that it was empanada morning here. If we don't tell them they're going to find out eventually.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And you know what happens on empanada morning? It's a real high at first and then you crash.
END
