Return to Transcripts main page
Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
FAA Won't Ground Boeing MAX 8; State Department Pulling Personnel from Venezuela; Pelosi Against Impeachment; More Damaging Audio of Tucker Carlson. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired March 12, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:18] JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Boeing 737 MAX 8 can keep flying, but more airlines and countries are halting the flights following another crash.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, the state department may pull all personnel out of Venezuela. The secretary of state says their presence is a constrained on U.S. policy.
DEAN: The House speaker believes the president is unfit for office but doesn't want him impeached yet. But Democrats disagree.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER CARLSON, HOST, FOX NEWS, "TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT": Iraq is a crappy place filled with a bunch of, you know, semi-literate primitive monkeys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: And more disgusting audio of Tucker Carlson resurfacing. Will Fox News stay behind him?
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.
DEAN: Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean. It's Tuesday, March 12th. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8 can stay in the air despite growing calls to keep it on the ground. The Federal Aviation Administration declining to ground it following two recent crashes. Investigators have not determined whether the same problem caused Sunday's crash of an Ethiopian airlines plane and Lion Air jet of the same type last October.
BRIGGS: Boeing confirmed last night it will deploy a software upgrade for the MAX 8. That has been in the works since the Lion Air crash. The announcement came a few hours after the FAA said it is mandating design changes to the aircraft's flight control systems. After the Lion Air crash last year, Boeing CEO stood by the MAX 8.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DENNIS MUILENBURG, PRESIDENT, CHAIRMAN, AND CEO, THE BOEING COMPANY: What's very important is that the 737 MAX is safe. We're very confident in that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Overnight, several airlines and entire countries temporarily suspended operation of the 737 MAX 8. Singapore, Air Mexico and Aerolineas Argentinas joining Indonesia and all of China. U.S. based carriers sticking with the Boeing model. American Airlines flies 24, Southwest flies 34. And they will continue to do so.
BRIGGS: Experts' opinions on whether to fly the 737 MAX 8 are mixed. Former NTSB chief Jim Hall says Boeing should, quote, do the responsible thing and ground the plane until the cause is determined and any problems are addressed.
CNN's Farai Sevenzo is live in Nairobi, Kenya, at the airport, where the doomed flight was supposed to land.
Farai, good morning.
FARAI SEVENZO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Dave.
Look, the whole question about the 737 MAX 8 is plaguing everybody in this part of the world. And what about Americans, what have they heard, what have they read? Here's what some are saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People were nervous. Reading -- a lot of reading on the paper and also on the Internet. I don't think we have the option to change our mind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard about the crash in Ethiopia but I had no clue that there was another crash within four months or so. I would prefer that they take a caution approach.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I read it in the newspaper yesterday so we're fully aware. And we have flown on that plane prior and never had a problem. When your time is up, your time is up. There's nothing you can do about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEVENZO: And, of course, we started to get news as well about the very first Americans that have been identified from this. We have brothers, Mel and Bennett Riffel, and as well as a doctor, a second year medical resident at East Tennessee State University.
But then there was also an incredible story of survival by shear luck, a young Greek man by the name of Antonis Mavropoulus shared something on Facebook which he called my lucky day. And this is because he arrived at the airport and was too late to get on to that plane. And, of course, he was trying to get on board and he says when I arrived, boarding was closed and I watched the last passengers get in and, of course, that meant that he wasn't on the doomed Flight 302.
And these stories are all coming out now of who survived. Remember 35 nations were affected. So many citizens from around the world, Dave.
BRIGGS: You're right about that, the entire world was impacted by this crash.
Farai Sevenzo live for us in Nairobi, 11:00 a.m. there -- thank you, Farai.
A check on CNN business now, the tragic Ethiopian airlines crash on Sunday raising doubts on Wall Street about Boeing. Boeing stock closed down 5 percent on Monday in the aftermath of the second deadly crash of its best selling 737 MAX 8, in five months now. Even with Monday's loss, Boeing stock is up 23 percent this year making it the top gainer in the Dow.
Spirit Aerosystems which makes the MAX 8 fuselage closed down under 4 percent. Sharp selloff reflected the serious crisis facing Boeing. Almost three quarters of Boeing's deliveries last year were 737 planes and Boeing plans to build 59 new Max 8s each month in 2019.
Several airlines have grounded the jet raising the pressure on Boeing. The 737 MAX is Boeing's most important plane and China is Boeing's most important market which makes China's decision to ground all MAX 8s operated by its airlines so significant. Boeing's future depends on the succession of the MAX 8. Boeing has 4,700 unfilled orders for 737s which makes up 80 percent of their backlog.
DEAN: Breaking overnight, the State Department pulling all remaining diplomatic personnel out of the U.S. embassy in Caracas, Venezuela. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the decision reflects the deteriorating situation in Venezuela and he says the presence of U.S. diplomatic staff at the embassy has become a constraint on U.S. policy.
In January, the State Department ordered all non-emergency employees to leave.
BRIGGS: Venezuela's national assembly has now officially approved a state of emergency at the request of self declared interim President Juan Guaido. Much of the country has been without power since last week. The state of emergency allows the assembly to seek international cooperation or foreign intervention. Guaido tells CNN's Patrick Oppmann, this could include U.S. military intervention. The White House says all options are on the table.
DEAN: Nancy Pelosi is in no hurry to impeach President Trump. The House speaker believes he is unfit for office, but in an interview with the "Washington Post" magazine, Pelosi says, quote, impeachment is so divisive to the country, and unless there is something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don't think that we should go down path because it divides the country and he is just not worth it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: They wanted me to impeach President Bush for the Iraq War. I didn't believe in it then and I don't believe in it now. It divides the country -- unless there's some conclusive evidence that takes us that place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: But a number of Pelosi's Democratic colleagues don't see it that way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN YARMUTH (D), KENTUCKY: Impeachment means nothing if you don't use the power and begin the process. So, to me, it's not a question of whether, it's a question of when.
REP. BRAD SHERMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: You don't impeach Trump for him. You impeach Trump for the Constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Pelosi clearly faces a challenge getting everyone in her party on the same page. But House Intel Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has her back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Well, I'm going to wait to see what Bob Mueller produces. But I think the speaker is absolutely right that if the evidence isn't sufficient to win bipartisan support for this, putting the country through a failed impeachment is not a good idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: The House Judiciary Committee has launched a sweeping investigation, sending letters to 81 people and entities with ties to the president including the White House, the Justice Department, senior campaign officials, Trump Organization officials and the president's sons. They are looking for evidence of possible corruption, obstruction of justice and abuses of power.
DEAN: New York senator and presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand is defending her handling of sexual harassment allegations in her Senate office. A female staffer working in Gillibrand's Senate office accused a senior aide, Abbas Malik, of sexual harassment in 2018. The woman resigned in protest over the way that she says Gillibrand and her top advisers handled her accusations, but the senator is standing by her process.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will always look to improve my processes with my new chief of staff, with her experience. We will look it see how we can improve. But this investigation was thorough and professional, and allegations were taken seriously from the very first day.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRIGGS: Malik was not fired until last week on an unrelated matter. He has yet to comment. Gillibrand has been a leading voice in Congress on combating sexual misconduct and is a focus of her presidential campaign.
DEAN: Facebook is reversing course and restoring ads placed by Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign, those ads called for the break up of Facebook, Amazon and Google, claiming the three tech giants have, quote, bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit and tilted the playing field in their favor.
A Facebook spokesperson says the ads were originally removed because of a policy against using the company's logo. Senator Warren responded with a tweet saying: Thanks for restoring my post, but I want a social media marketplace that isn't dominated by a single censor.
BRIGGS: For the second time in two days, clips resurfaced of Fox News host Tucker Carlson making offensive remarks. Media Matters for f America published clips of the Fox News host using racist and homophobic language on a radio program between 2006 and 2011.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
[04:10:08] CARLSON: Iraq is a crappy place filled with a bunch of, you know, semiliterate primitive monkeys.
I just have zero sympathy for them or their culture, a culture where people don't use toilet paper or forks.
THE LOVE SPONGE: Obama would kick your ass playing basketball.
CARLSON: Yes, of course he would. Basketball? Come on.
THE LOVE SPONGE: He's black -- say it. He's a real brother. Hey, do you think -- do you think the --
CARLSON: I don't know how black he is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Carlson has not yet commented on the latest round of clips, but they were released a day after audio surfaced of him making misogynist comments and expressing disturbing views on child rape, rape shield laws and underage marriage. After that, he said this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: The great American outrage machine is a remarkable thing. It's a bewildering moment, especially when the quotes in question are more than a decade old. There's really not that much you can do to respond. It's pointless to try to explain how the words were spoken in jest or taken out of context, or in any case bear no resemblance to what you actually think.
(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: Again, Fox News has not commented on the second batch even after it distanced itself from host Jeanine Pirro's remarks about Ilhan Omar, suggesting Omar's decision to wear a hijab could mean she's against the Constitution.
BRIGGS: Wow, the #firetuckercarlson did rather well on Twitter yesterday. Shocking.
Ahead, a U.S. warns a critical ally it could lose access to U.S. intelligence if it partners with a Chinese tech giant accused of stealing trade secrets.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:15:45] BRIGGS: Four-fifteen Eastern Time.
The Trump administration warning Germany against using the Chinese tech giant Huawei to help build the country's advanced communication networks. Administration officials claim Huawei stole trade secrets and violated Iran sanctions. Now, they are threatening to limit intelligence sharing with Germany and other countries that use Huawei.
CNN's Sherisse Pham who visited Huawei headquarters last week live in Hong Kong for us with more -- Sherisse.
SHERISSE PHAM, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Good morning, Dave. This is really the U.S. taking things up a notch here. As far as we know, this letter to the German government is the first time that the U.S. has issued such an explicit warning to a U.S. ally saying, look, it is either us or Huawei. If you choose who you way, you will be limiting your access to U.S. intelligence.
And, of course, all of this happening against the broader backdrop of a standoff between China and the United States over who controls the technologies of the future and guess what, 5G is one of those technologies. And Huawei is a leader when it comes to 5G equipment.
So the Trump administration has really been leaning and pressuring allies to ban or limit or restrict the use of Huawei in their 5G networks. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying just last weekend that countries need to consider carefully using Huawei because Huawei poses a national security risk, and if countries choose to use Huawei, they need to consider the risks carefully.
So again, not naming names there, but definitely a broader warning to allies like Germany and the U.K. and Canada, all of whom are considering using Huawei in the building of their 5G networks, David.
BRIGGS: Further impacting an already strained relationship between the U.S. and Germany.
Sherisse, thank you.
DEAN: North Korea appealing to the United Nations Security Council to review all sanctions and resolutions. Pyongyang claims it was unable to host a World Health Organization meeting because sanctions banned the shipment of computers and electronic devices into the country. North Korea's permanent representative to the U.N. accusing the body of action against humanity.
Meantime, the U.S. special representative for North Korea says the Trump administration will not accept a phased denuclearization by Pyongyang, even though says the U.S. and North Korea remain closely engaged despite the collapse of the Hanoi summit.
BRIGGS: All right. Coming up, you got to see this. Players and fans mixing it up in the NBA.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
BRIGGS: What got Russell Westbrook, one of the premiere players in the NBA, so fired up? And a brawl on the court as well. Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:23:02] BRIGGS: Seventy million dollars worth of cocaine seized in a drug bust at the port of Newark, New Jersey. That is 3,200 pounds. The largest cocaine seizure at the Newark port and 25 years and the second largest ever. The cocaine was found in a shipping container that entered the U.S. from Buenaventura, Colombia, last month. Officials aren't sure whether the drugs were supposed to stay in the U.S. or continue on to Europe. No arrests have yet been made.
DEAN: 2019 is on track to be the worst year for measles in the U.S. in nearly three decades. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 228 individual cases of measles in 12 states since January 1st. That is 22 more cases than reported last week.
New Hampshire now joining the list of affected states. The number of new measles cases in January and February already surpasses the annual totals of all but three years this century. The disease had been eliminated in the U.S. 19 years ago but endemic in many other countries which is what triggered the current outbreaks.
BRIGGS: It appears that Drake has dropped a song featuring Michael Jackson from his set list for his tour in the U.K. which kicked off Monday.
The song "Don't Matter to Me" features Drake singing alongside Jackson vocals from a 1983 recording session. It was a staple in his U.S. tour. This follows the controversy over the explosive documentary "Leaving Neverland" that detailed Jackson's repeated sexual abuse of two boys.
It was fight night both on and off the court in the NBA. In this corner, the Raptor Serge Ibaka versus Marquese Chriss. Ibaka goes to the ground fighting for position, and then got up and fighting for position again, shoving Chris from behind and they started throwing punches. Both were ejected.
Meantime, Oklahoma City star Russell Westbrook mixing it up with fans during a game in Utah.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
[05:25:15] BRIGGS: Westbrook later said it started when the fans told him to, quote, get down on your knees like you're used to. He says that was disrespectful and racist. Westbrook also had issues with the Utah fans when the Thunder and Jazz met in playoffs last season.
The relationship between NBA players and their fans is unique because they sit court side and they can hear everything they say. Behave better, fans. There needs to be a code of conduct.
DEAN: People always think, oh, they're not listening to me or I can say whatever I want.
BRIGGS: Tough to shut them out.
DEAN: More airlines and countries halting flights of a new Boeing model following another crash, but the FAA says the 737 MAX 8 can keep flying.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
