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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

U.S. Troops Killed in Afghanistan; Mueller Has Washington on Edge; White House Officials Using Personal Apps for Government Business; Mississippi "Heartbeat" Bill; Auburn Edges New Mexico State in Thriller. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired March 22, 2019 - 05:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight: two U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan as efforts to ramp up to bring the 17-year war to a close.

[05:00:02] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Do family tours and staff departures mean the special counsel is done? New indications the Mueller report could go to the attorney general at any time.

ROMANS: Jared Kushner using an encrypted WhatsApp to communicate with foreign leaders. Why his attorney says it's not a problem.

BRIGGS: And for the second time in a year, Mississippi trying to ban abortions before some women even know they're pregnant.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: It is Friday.

BRIGGS: It is.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It's March 22. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

The sad news breaking overnight. Two U.S. service members killed while conducting an operation in Afghanistan. Information is still coming in at this hour.

Our national security reporter Ryan Browne is joining us live from Washington.

Good morning, Ryan. What do we know about this terrible news this morning?

RYAN BROWNE, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Christine, we don't know much yet. I spoke to one of the members of the coalition there in Kabul and they said that the incident is under investigation. We're being told two U.S. service members were killed during operation. There were no additional details at this time.

This is the third and fourth U.S. death in Afghanistan in 2019. And it really underscores that despite talks between the U.S. government and the Taliban that have shown some progress, that fighting between the Afghan government backed by the U.S. and Taliban continues. Very violent.

The Afghans just celebrating their new year and sometimes you see an increase in attacks against government forces, against coalition troops. That could be connected to this. We do not know. We're still looking to find out more information about these two deaths.

But again, even these talks which the U.S. hopes might bring an end to this war have proven contentious. It has led to hot rhetoric between the U.S. and officials in Afghanistan who feel like they are being left out as the U.S. seeks to continue these talks with the Taliban. Taliban did not want to talk with the Afghan government. And it has been a real contentious issue with some Afghan officials being very critical of the United States and the lead U.S. negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad.

So, again, a very complex issue right now. The U.S. still there some 14,000 troops, mostly there in advisory roles. They traditionally did not see combat but it is still dangerous for those U.S. personnel that are there.

ROMANS: Yes, absolutely. Ryan Browne, OK, come back to us when you get any new information there from Pentagon this morning. Thanks, Ryan.

BRIGGS: Also breaking moments ago, North Korea pulling out of the joint liaison office it opened last year with South Korea. The statement from the South said Seoul was notified that the North was pulling out with instructions from the superior authority, meaning presumably Kim Jong-un. The move comes after the U.S. slapped two Chinese firms with sanctions for doing business with Pyongyang. It is the first move from the White House against North Korea since the second summit between Kim Jong-un and President Trump ended in Hanoi with no agreement.

Robert Mueller and the White House and the world on edge this morning. The special counsel appears to be close to delivering his final Russia report and we are in full TMZ phase of this following Robert Mueller everywhere with cameras. Beltway insiders and the president's lawyers are on alert and here is why.

ROMANS: Like a celebrity with a baseball cap.

BRIGGS: He's a celebrity. We'll get the paparazzi shots.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz pointing out that members of Mueller's team are bringing family members to the office for visits and some are carrying out boxes. The top prosecutor leaving for another assignment, plus the special counsel's grand jury has not been seen in two months now.

ROMANS: When Mueller does file his report, it could take weeks for most Americans to find out what he learned. The special counsel is required to hand over his report to Attorney General Bill Barr. The justice department would then share portions with the White House. CNN reported this week the White House wants to review it before lawmakers do to claim executive privilege where it wants. BRIGGS: The White House legal team working on the Russia probe is

already preparing responses to whatever becomes public based on several potential scenarios. Sources tell CNN there appears to be a sense of relief within the White House that they managed to navigate the entire Mueller episode without the president ever sitting down for a face-to-face interview.

ROMANS: An encrypted personal messaging app being used to conduct foreign affairs. In a letter, the House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings alleges Jared Kushner has been using WhatsApp to communicate with foreign leaders.

According to Cummings; Kushner's attorney insists his client is complying with the Presidential Records Act because he takes screen shots of the WhatsApp messages and sends them to the White House account or to the National Security Council.

BRIGGS: Not clear whether Kushner communicated classified information. Cummings also claims former Deputy National Security Adviser K.T. McFarland and Steve Bannon received e-mails on their personal accounts about the transfer of, quote, sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia.

[05:05:06] These new revelations come as President Trump continues to attack Hillary Clinton for using a private email server as secretary of state.

ROMANS: All right. Boeing paying a heavy price for two deadly crashes involving its 737 MAX 8. The Indonesian carrier Garuda says it wants to cancel an order for 49 of those jets. The company stock down almost 12 percent since the most recent disaster in Ethiopia. That's $27 billion in market cap.

In the face of the huge crisis in his company, a new filing reveals Boeing's CEO Dennis Muilenburg, he made $23.5 million last year, that was a raise of 27 percent. And now, "The New York Times" reports the pilots of both doomed jet liners lacked two notable safety features that could have helped them. Boeing only offered those features as extras. You had to pay for those.

CNN's Tom Foreman has more on these safety features and what the company is doing now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Christine. Hey, Dave.

The heat around Boeing is just getting hotter. These were considered add-ons by Boeing, according to this "New York Times" article, and they would tell you that -- the pilots inside the plane, it would tell them that if these sensors on the front of the plane were reading that the plane was heading more up or if it was heading more down or if they disagreed with each other. Readouts in the plane and also a warning light, these are two separate systems.

Boeing now says they're going to make one of these things no longer something that they charge for, no longer an add-on, but a standard part of the plane. But this is really ratcheting up the tension around Boeing because people are saying if these are safety measures, to make this plane safer, why weren't they free all along? Why weren't they considered a standard part of the plane?

One of the answers is these types of add-ons are a big market for companies like Boeing out there. Nonetheless, this will make the investigations of Boeing which we know now from the FBI, Justice Department, just go even more energetic at this point.

What are they looking at in all of this? Any sign that Boeing was taking steps that effectively by omission or commission allowed a dangerous circumstance to come into play, a dangerous circumstance which has taken hundreds of lives -- Dave, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: Important reporting there from Tom.

All right. President Trump overturning five decades of policy in one single tweet announcing, it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. That single declaration handing Benjamin Netanyahu a significant foreign policy victory just weeks before Israelis head to the polls.

Let's go live to the Golan Heights and bring in CNN's Oren Liebermann.

Oren, are these two things related?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dave, this is incredibly convenient timing for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And by all appearances is the Trump administration and Donald Trump himself openly campaigning for Netanyahu to win as he seeks a fifth term in a tough re-election campaign here. And it's not just the tweet. It is the fact that it happened while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was here right before a presser with Netanyahu.

Earlier in the day, Pompeo has actually visited the western wall in the old city of Jerusalem with Netanyahu. And that is essentially unheard of.

When Trump was there is a couple weeks ago, he went on his own. Vice President Mike Pence also went on his own. And that is out of respect for the sensitivity of the holy site and its position between Israelis and Palestinians.

Well, not anymore. Pompeo went with Netanyahu and that leans credence to the argument that the Trump administration is basically lobbying for Netanyahu to win the campaign. Even though Pompeo didn't mention the election, Netanyahu didn't mention the election and Trump in an interview with Fox News tried to say he barely knew about the election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS HOST: It is not about Netanyahu's re- election?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I wouldn't even know about that. I wouldn't even know about that. I have no idea. I hear he is doing okay. I don't know if he is doing great, but about I hear he is doing okay. But I would imagine the other side whoever is against him is also in favor of what I just did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: All Israelis -- all Israelis basically agree with the statement from President Donald Trump and his recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights despite the fact that for more than half a century now, this has been considered occupied territory, that Israel captured from Syria in 1967.

The question now, Dave, does Trump have anymore tricks up his sleeve for Netanyahu before the election? Netanyahu is in Washington, D.C. He'll meet with Trump in a couple of days and we will certainly find out.

BRIGGS: And just to be clear, President Trump is featured prominently in the reelection campaign for Netanyahu and Trump says I wouldn't even know about that.

Oren, thank you.

ROMANS: All right. Another "we're sorry" from Facebook, this time from its handling of passwords of hundreds of millions of users. Facebook said it didn't properly mask the passwords, stored them in an internal database that staff had access to.

A Facebook vice president said the passwords were never visible to anyone outside Facebook and there is no evidence anyone abused the passwords.

[05:10:05] Still, it has been a year of constant issues for this company. Cybersecurity concerns, regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. and even more so in Europe and a lengthy outage last week. At the same time, misinformation about vaccines appears on Facebook and Instagram, appears to flourish actually weeks after the sites said they would minimize the content.

Earlier this month, Facebook he said it would reduce the rankings of pages that spread misinformation about vaccines by not including them in recommendations or predictions when users type a search. But two weeks later, it's still an issue. A CNN Business review showed Facebook continued to recommend content, false content in the search bar that linked vaccinations with autism, a fake conspiracy theory.

Now, a spokesperson for Instagram and Facebook called the effort to curb the misinformation a long term commitment.

At some point, there is going to be regulatory snap back against this company. I mean, on so many fronts, it grows and has so much influence but has so little control over what's happening.

BRIGGS: Almost a year ago, they rolled out that we're sorry ad. Almost exactly one year ago. Just rerack it.

All right. Ahead, 25 states at risk of serious flooding this spring. Some of them already saturated. Farmers are getting desperate after this latest blow. We're on the ground in Iowa, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:15:35] ROMANS: All right. Historic flooding in the Midwest is not only changing the physical landscape, it's threatening to end a way of life. Government forecasters say widespread flooding, it will persist through May. Twenty-five states are at risk of serious flooding, including states already under water.

Now, coming off two years of bad weather, crippling tariffs and banks withholding loans, farmers are beginning to wonder if they will ever recover.

Vanessa Yurkevich reports from Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine and David.

This is just some of the flooded farmland here in Percival, Iowa. And we are standing 6 1/2 miles from where the Missouri river line should be according to the Department of Agriculture, about 100,000 acres of farmland are flooded here in the state of Iowa. And many of the farmers in this area can't even get to their farms to assess the damage.

And some don't think that they will be able to plant a crop this year. We spoke to some of them.

DUSTIN SHELDON, IOWA FARMER: There is a lot of pain and uncertainty of your future, what you're going to have to go back to, the amount of money that it will take to even possibly try to put your life back together as far as your family goes.

JEFF JORGENSON, IOWA FARMER: I need to be able to farm this ground, I need to be able to do my job, I need to be able to do what I do. I work hard at it and to not be able to have that even just one piece of the pie. It is going to be detrimental. It's real tough to see.

YURKEVICH: And according to the American Farm Bureau, farm bankruptcies were up almost 20 percent in 2018. That's the highest level in about ten years.

And, Christine and Dave, it's not over yet. Farmers here are expecting more flooding as record snowfall in the north is expected to melt and head down the river this way -- Christine, Dave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: Wow. Vanessa, thank you.

Tyson Foods recalling over 69,000 pounds of chicken strip products. They could contain pieces of metal. The frozen ready-to-eat chicken strips were produced on November 30th, 2018.

There are three varieties involved, 25 ounce bags of buffalo style chicken strips and chicken breast strip fritters with rib meat and buffalo sauce. Twenty-pound cases of Buffalo style chicken strips may also be contaminated. All have a best if used by date of November 30th, 2019.

You can get more information at CNN.com.

ROMANS: Several Indiana teachers complaining that they were shot with plastic pellets during an active shooter drill. The pellets caused wells and bleeding. The training took place at an elementary school back in January. The union says no one in education takes these drills lightly, but the risks of harming someone far outweighs whatever added realism one is trying to convey here. Police say they were using an air soft gun in the training but recently stopped doing that.

BRIGGS: Mississippi is now the latest state to try to ban abortions before some women even realize they are pregnant. Governor Phil Bryant signing a bill barring the procedure once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, that is as early as six weeks into pregnancy. The only exceptions are for a woman's life or serious risk of impairment. Abortion rights groups have already promised a court fight.

ROMANS: A Wisconsin judge putting on hold laws passed late last year during a lame duck session of the state legislature. The laws passed by Republicans were designed to limit the power of incoming Democratic Governor Tony Evers. In one of his final acts in office, then Governor Scott Walker signed a legislation to weaken the state's executive branch and reduce the number of early voting days. Governor Evers held his restored authority as a ruling for the people of Wisconsin.

Republican legislative leaders plan to appeal the ruling.

That was a fascinating episode, wasn't it, where it was like this is what elections are for.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: But then the old leadership can't change the rules.

BRIGGS: All right. Ahead, Ja rules. He projected to be a top three pick in the NBA draft. Murray State's Ja Morant dropped jaws with the way he drives, dunks, dishes.

Andy Scholes with the highlights in the "Bleacher Report".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:24:22] BRIGGS: All right. How is your bracket doing this morning? No earth shattering upsets on day one. Auburn surviving a scare against New Mexico State.

Andy Scholes has more in the "Bleacher Report". I guess we don't consider 5/12 upsets that dramatic anymore, huh, my

friend?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they're not, Dave. And, unfortunately, for me, I had New Mexico State as my Cinderella. Turns out that is not a very good pick.

BRIGGS: They should have won that game.

SCHOLES: You're right, they should have won that game. I mean, they had so many chances to beat Auburn. And I'll show you right here, in the closing seconds, down by two.

And for some reason, A.J. Harris had a wide open lay-up, decided to pass in out, kicked it out for three.

[05:25:07] And Terrell Brown (ph) misses it, but he got fouled. Brown a great free-throw shooter. Only has to make two of three to tie it. Misses two of three.

But Auburn knocked it out of bounds. So one last chance for the Aggies. And Queen wide open and he air balled.

Auburn escapes this one. Charles Barkley was watching from the studio, you could see he was pretty pumped about it. Tigers are going to face Kansas now in round two.

Two seed Michigan State losing at half time to Bradley. So tensions were high. Izzo ripped into the freshman and he's like what did I do? And the heated exchange continued during the huddle. Spartans were able to win this one, 76-65. After the game, Izzo didn't apologize for getting after Henry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM IZZO, MICHIGAN STATE COACH: This is one and done time, you know. The my bads are out the window. If they are high bads because that team played better or that guy played better, if it is high bad because I decided to jog back instead of sprint back, then it is your bad and you're going to hear about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. The biggest upset from day one belonged to Murray State. They beat five seed Marquette.

Now, if you haven't seen Murray State's Ja Morant play yet, he is special. Morant throwing down a monster dunk in the second half of this game. Morant, he has amazing form, 17 points, 16 assists, 11 rebounds. Murray State wins in a blowout, 83-64.

Morant projected to go right behind Zion Williamson in June's NBA draft. So check him out if you get a chance.

West region's top seed Gonzaga had no problem beating Fairleigh Dickinson, 87-49. But really cool moment at this end. Knights senior Nadi Beciri, he's been injured since November, but he got in this game right there, as you can see, he got the bucket and a foul, and shared that cool hug with his coach, Greg Herenda. A pretty cool way to end your college career. Good for him to be able to get back into the game.

The action continues today at 12:15 eastern with Iowa and Cincinnati. Three one seeds in action later today. Zion Williamson making his tournament debut. That's 7:10 Eastern on CBS.

And, Dave, you know, if you haven't watched Zion Williamson much of this year, here is your chance. He is like Ja Morant, something special, something you got to see.

BRIGGS: And hat to Fletcher McGee of , all-time NCAA three point record with 505.

Andy Scholes, thank you.

Romans, what's coming up?

ROMANS: All right. Breaking news overnight, folks. Two U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan, another devastating blow as the U.S. struggles to close out its longest war.

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END