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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Robert Mueller Said The Trump Campaign Did Not Conspire With The Russians; House Democrats Want Answers Why AG Barr Concluded After Reading Mueller's Report And Are Gearing Up For A Fight; The Special Council Investigation Started With Russia But Widened Significantly, Even If There Was Not Collusion Offshoot To Mueller Probe Are Just Gaining Steam. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired March 25, 2019 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This was an illegal takedown that failed.

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: No collusion. No clear answer on obstruction. Robert Mueller said the Trump campaign did not conspire with the Russians, but leaves one major question unanswered, victory for the president and his team. Welcome our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. Thanks for joining us very early for EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday, March 25, 2019, it is 3:00 am in the east. Who would have guessed President Trump and Robert Mueller would end up the same page. The main takeaways from the Special Counsel's investigation have now been made public in a letter from Attorney General Bill Barr to Congress.

Of the top headline, as the president has been saying from the start, no collusion.

BRIGGS: The attorney general quoted Mueller saying, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its selection interference activities, that means no one will face charges for conspiring with the Russians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It was a complete and total exoneration. It's a shame that our country had to go through this. To be honest, it's a shame that your president has had to go through this. This was an illegal takedown that failed, and hopefully somebody is going to be looking at the other side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: On the obstruction of justice question, the Special Counsel decided not to render a judgment. Here's Barr, the Attorney General, again, quoting Mueller. While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.

Mueller left the ultimate decision out of obstruction to the attorney general, who was appointed by this president. Remember, a year ago the Attorney General Barr wrote a memo saying, he considered the obstruction investigation, quote, "fatally misconceived."

BRIGGS: In the letter Barr cleared the president of obstruction and leaned heavily on Mueller's findings about collusion to do so. He writes, "The absence of such evidence bears upon the president's intent with respect to obstruction." In other words, since there was no collusion with Russia, there could not be obstruction for firing FBI Director James Comey, even the president did say this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Regardless of recommendation I was going to fire Comey, knowing there was no good time to do it. And in fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story. It's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost and election that they should have won."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Now Comey himself tweeted this pensive picture and the words, "So many questions."

ROMANS: All right, the highly charged, bitterly (ph) divided reaction in Congress to Barr's summation of the Mueller report, Democrats denouncing the process and gearing up for a fight with Republicans doing the victory dance.

Sarah Westwood live from Washington with what comes next. Sarah?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well good morning Christine, and House Democrats are prepared to call Attorney General Barr to testify in the weeks ahead to explain why he concluded after reading Mueller's report that the president did not commit obstruction, even though Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his report, obviously, did not draw any conclusions one way or another when it comes to obstruction.

Democratic House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said in a statement, it is unacceptable that after Special Counsel Mueller spend 22 months meticulously uncovering the evidence, Attorney General Barr made a decision not to charge the president in under 48 hours.

Now, even as Democrats were skeptical of that of Barr's letter, Republicans were ready to take a victory lap after Attorney General Barr revealed that Special Counsel Mueller concluded that one of the main parts of the investigation, Russian collusion that did not occur between the president, did not occur with the president's campaign.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican ally of the president was with President Trump in Mar-a-logo and West Palm Beach over the weekend, he wrote in a tweet, good day for the rule of law, great day for President Trump and his team. No collusion and no obstruction. The cloud hanging over President Trump has been removed by this report. Now Doug Collings, that's a ranking Republican on the House Judiciary

Committee, has said that Democrats should drop their congressional investigations into President Trump.

But, of course, the Judiciary Chairman Nadler and other Democratic lead committees in the House have already issued 81 requests for information or testimony from people associated with President Trump for lines of inquiry that go far beyond Russia.

They intend to continue looking into those issue and Nadler speaking both before and after the Barr letter came out, did not seem ready to abandon those investigations. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JERRY NADLER (D), New York: President Trump is wrong. This report does not amount to a so-called total exoneration. The Attorney General's comments, making clear that Congress must step to get the truth and provide full transparency to the American people.

[03:05:00]

Obviously we know there was -- we know there was some collusion.

There have been obstructions of justice, whether they're clearly -- whether they're a criminal obstruction is another question. What Congress has to do is look at a broader picture. We are in charge -- we have the responsibility of vindicate -- of protecting the rule of law, of looking at obstructions of justice, at looking at abuses of power and corruption.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: Now, President Trump has already begun effectively his victory lap on the Mueller report, claiming it vindicates him with no collusion, no obstruction, even though Mueller didn't draw conclusion on that front.

A White House advisor tells CNN that they are fears that the president could say something that could cause more trouble for himself, he could overreach as he promotes the results of this investigation. He has a rally this week in Grand Rapids, Michigan, so Christine and Dave, we will stay tuned to what the president will have to say about the end of the Mueller probe at that time.

ROMANS: Absolutely. All right, Sarah, in Washington, we'll talk to you again very soon. Thank you.

BRIGGS: It is not clear whether the American people will actually see the Mueller report. That decision is up to the Attorney General Bill Barr. The process to determine what can be released already underway at the DOJ.

The review includes material subject to what is called Federal Rule Six. It essentially says, the Justice Department won't release damaging information about people if they are not charged with crime. But, we've already seen at least one notable exception.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the hailing of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right, CNN has reported, the White House lawyers want to scour the Mueller report before it goes to Congress to exert executive privilege where they consider it necessary. Remember, President Trump was never interviewed in person by Mueller's team. His lawyers submitted written answers covering the time up until the election, which would not be covered by privileged. Barr insists he favors transparency with caution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL: My goal will be to provide as much transparency as I can, consistent with the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The House recently voted 420 to zero to publically release the report, and just last week President Trump said he had no objections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does the American public have a right to see the Mueller report?

TRUMP: I don't mind. I mean, frankly, I told the House, if you want let them see it. Let it come out, let people see it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Democrats are prepared to fight to get the entire report released.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NADLER: You should not then hide the evidence because that converts it into a cover-up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

NADLER: Congress needs that evidence and the American people need that evidence and that information to make judgments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: As James Comey noted, there are so many lingering questions. Chief among them, why so much smoke if there was no fire. Court filings established senior Trump associates were eager to accept help from the Russians. Prosecutors zeroed on one of Trump's -- on Trump's one-time campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his extensive connections to Russians, including one associate with ties to Russian intelligence.

BRIGGS: Manafort passed Trump campaign poling data to that associate while he was overseeing the campaign. Prosecutors said that move was at the heart of their investigation. It's revelation even forced the president's lawyer to narrow the scope of that no collusion claim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULLIANI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ATTORNEY: I never said there was no collusion between the campaign or between people in the campaign.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes you have.

GIULLIANI: I have no idea of -- I have not. I said the President of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Nor has the smoke cleared around Roger Stone. Mueller claims Stone was coordinated with Trump campaign officials at the same time he talked to WikiLeaks about the release of e-mails stolen from the Democrats. There's still no official word which campaign officials were coordinating with Stone.

Although Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, tried to clear that up last month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL COHEN, TRUMP'S FORMER ATTORNEY: Mr. Stone told Mr. Trump that he had just gotten off the phone with Julian Assange and that Mr. Assange told Mr. Stone that within a couple of days there would be a massive dump of e-mails that would damage Hillary Clinton's campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Now, even thought the president may be absolved by Mueller, investigations spawned by Mueller's probe brought down several members of Trump's inner circle.

[03:10:00]

BRIGGS: Among 37 criminal defendants charged by Mueller, there have been seven who've pleaded guilty including Manafort as (ph) Deputy Rick Gates, former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, and Cohen, a long time fixer and personal lawyer.

ROMANS: Cohen implicated the President in a hush money case spawned by the Mueller probe, a guilty plea that made the President all but an unindicted co-conspirator.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP LAWYER: And for the record, individual number one is President Donald J. Trump.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: As many Trump supporters point out, many of these Trump confidants only pleaded guilty to lying to protect Trump. Meantime, the Presidents own lies to protect his image go unpunished.

BRIGGS: And legal trouble still lurks for the President and his inner circle potentially, other investigations picking up momentum among a targets (ph) the Trump inaugural committee, the Trump organization, and the President is also being investigated for alleged insurance fraud.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, POLITICIAN: Did the President ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?

COHEN: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: The special council investigation started with Russia but widened significantly, even if there was not collusion offshoot to Mueller probe are just gaining steam.

ROMANS: It's important to keep in mind that what Mueller did uncover, this special council charged twelve Russian military offers -- officers in a sophisticated Kremlin hacking operation against Democrats. And 13 members of a Russian troll farm -- internet troll farm accused of trying to manipulate American voters on social media. Russia attacked Americas democracy and remains a threat.

BRIGGS: And President's non-stop witch hunt rhetoric may have made him the prime focus, but Russian interference is the core issue. It was ambitious, brazen, and it is -- most importantly -- ongoing, even if President Trump won't stand up to Vladimir Putin, he entire intelligence apparatus agrees Moscow is not slowing down it's interference campaign. You could argue the Russians got the bargain of a lifetime. They got the chaos and division they sowed, and they're not done, they'll be back. What are we doing to protect our current system?

ROMANS: Yes, in this four page summary from Barr the Attorney General, front and center here, Russian interference to the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections -- a big reminder that is still a problem.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: All right twelve minutes past the hour, for the second time in a week the Parkland community is in mourning, two students commit suicide a year after the massacre -- the shooting massacre that left classmates struggling to cope. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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BRIGGS: For the second time in a week a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student has died of an apparent suicide. The student has not been identified and it's unclear whether there was a direct connection to last years massacre at the school, the Parkland community was already mourning the loss of Sydney Aiello. She lived through the school shooting but suffered from survivors guilt and was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

ROMANS: CNN's Kaylee Hartung spoke with Ryan Petty, his son survived last year's tragedy but his daughter did not.

RYAN PETTY, AMERICAN SCHOOL SAFETY ACTIVIST: There have been a number of resources including options for counseling, but unfortunately sometimes there's stigmas associated with getting help for mental -- for mental illness, for depression and for anxiety, for the trauma that they they've all suffered. And so, unfortunately some students are not availing themselves of those opportunities and some parents are not understanding that the risks of anxiety and depression.

ROMANS: If you or someone you know might be at risk of suicide, you can call the National Suicide prevention lifeline, 1-800-273-8255.

BRIGGS: Meanwhile, sit in learning (ph) pilots from the three American carriers that fly Boeing 737 Max planes tested software upgrades and a simulator this weekend. The change is intended to decrease the chances of triggering the system believed to of played a role in Lion Air crash back in October.

The FAA has said there are similarities between that accident and the crash in Ethiopia earlier this month. The updated software uses input from two sensors on the nose of the plane rather than one. Boeing says in a statement quote " It's part of our ongoing effort to share more details about our plan for supporting the safe return of the 737 Max to commercial service."

ROMANS: Boeing is a serious problem on Wall Street, the aircraft manufacture has shed more than $40 billion dollars in value since the fatal Ethiopian airline crash on March 10th. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in a public letter last week, safety is top concern and ensuring safe and reliable travel on our airplanes is an enduring value and our absolute commitment to everyone.

At the same time, the worlds largest airline said it plans to cancel flights well into April because of the 737 Max grounding. That's American Airlines and American Airlines said Sunday it's canceling about 90 flights a day through April 24th. Before Sunday's announcement it had only canceled flights though March 28th. Other carriers are not canceling nearly that far out. Southwest Airlines is only canceling five days out at this point.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIGGS: Wow, the Viking Sky cruise ship is now docked in western Norway after a harrowing day at sea that included engine failure. Rescue teams airlifting 479 people from the vessel as it drifted in stormy seas on Saturday with 1,300 passengers and crew on board. You can see water rushing into areas of the ship where passengers were waiting to be evacuated.

JAN TEBRUEGEN, WITNESS: Furniture would slide across the room, and slide back and with it came people and glass. It was a very dangerous situation frankly.

BETH CLARK, WITNESS: The guy came down from the helicopter, one of the Coast Guards, snapped my belt and said hold it and shot me up about 100 feet in the air and onto the helicopter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: Twenty people suffered injuries; Viking has canceled the ships next voyage to Scandinavia and the Kiel, now which had been scheduled to depart on Wednesday.

ROMANS: A rap icon, Dr. Dre, throwing some first class shade at families caught up in the college admissions scandal, he posted a picture on Instagram Sunday with is daughter celebrating her acceptance to the University of Southern California, he wrote the caption my daughter got accepted into USC all on her own, no jail time.

[03:20:00]

ROMANS: Point out, that just a few years ago Dre and a fellow rap producer made a $70 million donation to the University. Dre has since deleted his post there. Dozens of parents are facing Federal charges for allegedly cheating to get their children accepted to prestigious schools, including USC.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jones is on him, Taylor driving, drives it in, banks it up. No. (Inaudible) and Jones survives.

BRIGGS: It was that close. Duke the top overall seat in the NCAA tournament advancing to the Sweet 16, but barely. The Blue Devils escaped with a 77-76 thrilling win over the University of Central Florida. Freshman sensation, Zion Williamson, led the way with 32 points, a terrific effort by UCF, outplayed Duke the entire second half.

Tennessee also moving on. The Volunteers defeated Iowa 83-77 in overtime, after blowing a 25 point lead in the first half. North Carolina and Virginia both number one seats, punching their tickets as well Sunday to the Sweet 16, they're all 4-1's, 4-2's and 4-3's moving and my voice just about going as you can tell.

ROMANS: I couldn't have tried harder to pick a terrible bracket this year.

BRIGGS: You blew it pretty well. ROMANS: I blew it from the beginning. I mean it's ...

BRIGGS: I'll carry the torch from here.

ROMANS: ... actually really -- it takes a lot of talent to blow a bracket the way I did.

BRIGGS: I'm leading the way thought. I'm not presenting an Early Start, okay.

ROMANS: Twenty-one minutes past the hour, another rocket attack on Central Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu will now cut his trip to the U.S. short. We're live at the sight of that attack.

[03:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Welcome back. Breaking overnight, a rocket fired from Gaza hit a house in Central Israel, setting it on fire and injuring seven people. It comes the same day Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet with President Trump at the White House.

We want to bring CNN's Oren Liebermann, he is live at the scene of that rocket attack in Central Israel. Oren?

OREN LEIBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, we're in the town of Mishmeret, it's a small village north of Tel Aviv and you can easily see the damage to the home here behind me. This is where the rocket landed. It tore apart the home itself. Again, you can see the damage and it sent shrapnel all throughout the area. In fact, we're standing right in front of a car that was basically torn apart by shrapnel.

Meanwhile, we know from Magen David Adom, Israel's Emergency Responders, that seven people were injured inside this home, including two women who were moderately injured as well as two young toddlers who were inside this home.

As for Israel's response, first, Israel closed the border crossings into Gaza after the assessment, this was a very powerful rocket. The most powerful rocket fired from Gaza since the end of the 2014 war.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington where he was set to meet President Donald Trump and then to address the APAC Conference. He has announced that he is cutting his visit short. He will still meet Trump and then return immediately.

He's already had a consultation with the security heads and he has said that Israel will respond with force to this rocket attack from Gaza. That leads to the bigger question of, who fired this rocket and why? First, the power of the rocket itself is exceptional. Again, this is the farthest a rocket has been fired into Israel in five years essentially, since the 2014 war.

Second, the rocket was fired roughly five in the morning, so essentially at first light in the morning, which is in and of itself very unusual. Normally rockets are fired over night. On top of that, there doesn't appear to be any obvious reason that a rocket was fired at this point.

There was one fired two weeks ago, Christine, the Israeli assessment was that that was fired accidently by low-level Hamas operatives. It will certainly be a very interesting day to watch here, as well as perhaps a force response from Israel.

ROMANS: Okay, Oren Liebermann, keep us posted. Thank you.

BRIGGS: All right, ahead, from cries of a witch hunt to this.

Well, the president claiming total victory on Sunday and for good reason. His campaign was cleared of collusion, but Robert Mueller did not rule out obstruction of justice. The latest for you ahead on EARLY START.

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