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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Legal Trouble Still Lurks For The President And His Inner Circle; The Special Counsel Charging 12 Russian Military Officers And 13 Members Of A Russian Troll Farm; Another Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Student Has Died Of An Apparent Suicide; Three American Carriers That Fly Boeing 737 Max Planes Tested Software Upgrades In A Simulator This Weekend. Aired 3:30-4a ET

Aired March 25, 2019 - 03:30   ET

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


[03:30:00]

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

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, HOST, CNN NEWS: No collusion, no clear answer on obstruction, Robert Mueller says the Trump campaign did not conspire with the Russians but leaves one major question unanswered. Welcome back to "Early Start" this morning.

I'm Christine Romans, bright and early this Monday morning, post- Mueller report.

DAVID BRIGGS, HOST, CNN NEWS: A lot early, all right, 3:31 Eastern time, 12:31 Pacific. Welcome to all of you here in the U.S. and around the world. We start with these four historic (inaudible).

The takeaways from the Special Counsel's investigation have been made public in this letter from Attorney General Bill Barr to Congress, and the top headline as the President has been saying from the start, no collusion.

ROMANS: 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 election interference activities.

That means no one will face charges for conspiring with the Russians even in that infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting organized to obtain dirt on Hilary Clinton.

(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's going to be looking at the other side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: On the obstruction of justice question, the Special Counsel decided not to render a judgment. Here's Barr 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 on obstruction up to the attorney general, who was appointed by the president. Now remember, a year ago Barr wrote a memo saying he considered the obstruction investigation, quote, "fatally misconceived".

ROMANS: Now in the letter to Congress, 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 be no obstruction for firing FBI Director James Comey. And remember, the president at the time said this.

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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 an election that they should have won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

So James Comey, he tweeted this pensive picture and the words "so many questions".

BRIGGS: A highly charged, bitterly 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 their own victory dance.

Sarah Westwood, live from Washington with what comes next. Sarah, good morning.

SARAH WESTWOOD, REPORTER, CNN NEWS: Good morning Dave and Christine, and yes, House Democrats gearing up for a fight to see the Mueller report and potentially to hear from Attorney General Barr in person.

House Democratic Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler saying the Democrats want Barr to testify about why he did not conclude that the president obstructed justice based on Mueller's report. And in a joint statement from the Democratic chairman of the House

judiciary, intelligence and oversight committees, the Democrats wrote it is unacceptable that after Special Counsel Mueller spent 22 months meticulously uncovering the evidence, Attorney General Barr made a decision not to charge the president in under 48 hours.

[03:35:00]

But just as Democrats are skeptical of that decision, Republicans are emboldened by Mueller's apparent conclusion that the president did not conclude with Russians nor did anyone on his campaign.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a top ally of the president was with Trump in Florida over the weekend and he tweeted yesterday 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 Collins, he's the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee said because of Mueller's findings, Democrats should drop their other inquiries into the president's behavior.

Democrats have already requested documents or testimony from 81 people and entities connected to President Trump. Nadler says they still intend to use the power of the subpoena to compel any witnesses who don't want to give up documents to hand over the information that's been requested.

And even after Barr released his letter to Congress yesterday, Nadler did not seen ready to let the issue of collusion go. Take a listen.

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REP. JERRY NADLER (D), N.Y.: President Trump is wrong, this report does not amount to a so-called total exoneration. The attorney general's comments make it clear that Congress must step in to get the truth and provide full transparency to the American people.

Obviously we know there was - we know there was some collusion. There have been obstructions of justice whether they're - clearly whether they're - criminal obstruction's another question.

What Congress has to do is look at a broader picture, we are in charge - we have the responsibility of - of protecting the rule of law, of looking at obstructions of justice and looking at abuses of power, at corruption.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Now a White House adviser tells CNN that there are concerns that the president could overreach in the victory lap that he's already begun taking on the Mueller report that he'll say something that could cause even more trouble for him with the public.

The president has a rally Thursday in (inaudible) to what else the president might have to say about the end of the Russia investigation, Christina, Dave.

BRIGGS: Right, he will certainly war on the media, call for continued investigations, you might even get a lock her up chant. This fight is far from over on both sides of the aisle. Sarah Westwood, thanks.

ROMANS: And it's not clear when or whether the American people will even get to see this report, the Mueller report. That decision is up to the Attorney General Bill Barr. His review includes material subject to what is called Federal Rule 6, it essentially says the Justice Department won't release damaging information about people if they are not charged with a crime.

But we've already seen at least one notable exception.

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

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BRIGGS: CNN has reported White House lawyers want to scour the Mueller report before it goes to Congress to exert executive privilege where they consider it necessary. President Trump was never interviewed in person by Mueller's team, his lawyers only submitted written answers covering the time up until the election, which would not be covered by privilege.

ROMANS: Now Barr during his confirmation hearing says he favors transparency with question.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

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NADLER: You should not then hide the evidence, because that converts it into a cover up. Congress needs that evidence and the American people need that evidence and that information to make judgments.

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Now even though the president may be absolved by Mueller, investigations spawned by Mueller's probe brought down several members of his inner circle, among 37 criminal defendants charged by Mueller. There have been seven who have pleaded guilty, including Manafort, his deputy Rick Gates, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Cohen, his long time fixer and personal lawyer.

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

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

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As many Trump supporters point out, many of these Trump confidants only pleaded guilty to lying to protect Trump. Mean time, the president's own lies to protect his image go unpunished.

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ROMANS: Legal trouble still lurks for the president and his inner circle. Other investigations are picking up momentum. Among the targets, the Trump inaugural committee, the Trump Organization. The president's also being investigated for alleged insurance fraud.

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REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D), N.Y.: Did the president ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?

COHEN: Yes.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ROMANS: The special counsel investigation started with Russia but widened significantly. Even if there was no collusion, offshoots of the Mueller probe are just gaining steam.

BRIGGS: It is important to keep in mind what Mueller did uncover. The special counsel charging 12 Russian military officers in a sophisticated Kremlin hacking operation against democrats, and 13 members of a Russian troll farm accused of trying to manipulate American voters on social media. Russia attacked our democracy and remains a threat.

ROMANS: The president's witch hunt rhetoric may have made him the prime focus, but Russian interference is the core issue here. It was ambitious, and brazen, and it is ongoing even if President Trump won't stand up to Vladimir Putin at least in public. His entire intelligence apparatus agrees Moscow is not slowing down its interference campaign.

BRIGGS: And that hopefully will be the focus of the federal government, how do we prevent this from happening again? Ahead, imagine this on your cruise ship. Passengers finally back safely at shore after nearly a day with engine failure at sea.

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ROMANS: 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. It is unclear whether there was a direct connection to last year's massacre at the school. The Parkland community, of course, already mourning the passing of Sydney Aiello. She lived through the school shooting but suffered from survivor's guilt, and she was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.

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

RYAN PETTY: 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'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 -

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

ROMANS: All right, CNN has learned pilots from the three American carriers that fly Boeing 737 MAX planes tested software upgrades in a simulator this weekend. The changes are intended to decrease the chances of triggering the system believed to have played a role in the 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 update software uses input from two sensors on the nose of the plane rather than one. Boeing says in 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.

BRIGGS: That was a scene aboard a Viking Sky cruise ship which is now docked in Western Norway after a harrowing day at sea that included engine failure and 25-foot waves. Rescue teams air lifting 479 people from the vessel as it drifted in stormy seas on Saturday with 1,300 passengers and crew on board. You can see in here the water rushing into areas of the ship where passengers were waiting to be evacuated.

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

BETH CLARK, AMERICAN PASSENGER: 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 VIDEOCLIP)

BRIGGS: 20 people suffering injuries. Viking has cancelled the ship's next voyage to Scandinavia and the Kiel Canal which had been scheduled to depart on Wednesday.

ROMANS: All right, Nebraska's historic flooding is hurting ranchers and farmers. Look at this. Emergency shipments of hay are being driven it, dropped out of airplanes to safe surviving livestock from starving. Farmers in parts of Nebraska and Iowa say they had too little time to escape flood waters. They abandoned livestock. They abandoned harvest. I mean, they've got whole farms that have become lakes frankly. South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation also struggling for basics for almost two weeks - two weeks, extreme weather and bad roads have left some people stranded with limited food and water. Emergency rations are only able to reach parts of the backcountry by horse, boat, and helicopter.

BRIGGS: A major recall of avocadoes grown in California and sold in six states, the products were sold in bulk by the Henry Avocado Corporation to stores in Arizona, California, Florida, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. Every shipment since late January is subject to this recall. They are being recalled due to possible listeria contamination. Listeria bacteria is a particular concern for pregnant women and the elderly.

ROMANS: With iPhone sales sputtering, Apple look at to reinvent itself by entering the television and news industry. Apple expected to unveil its new services business this afternoon at a news conference hosted by the CEO Tim Cook. CNN has learned it will involve TV shows, movies, music, and a new subscription service with partnership with The Wall Street Journal. Apple is spending more than a billion dollars on its new line up of shows which feature A-list stars from Hollywood. How they are streamed, a timeline for the release, and possible bundle offerings all expected to be revealed in a matter of hours.

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Big news there from Apple today.

BRIGGS: Yikes. Gronk calling it a career. The Patriot's larger than life tight end announcing on Instagram he's retiring from football at age 29. He says, "thank you for everyone accepting who I am and the dedication I've put into my work to be the best player I could be, but now it's time to move forward." His decision not a huge shocker given the injuries he's dealt with. Considered by many to be the best tight end in NFL history in his nine-year career all with the Patriots. Gronk has won three Super Bowls, was a Pro Bowl player for five years, 79 touch downs. His quarterback, Tom Brady, calling it an honor and a privilege to play with Gronk and saying, "the NFL was a better place with you in. He was a treat to watch on and off the field."

ROMANS: All right, 50 minutes past the hour, the caliphate is gone, but the ideology remains. We go live to Syria with what to expect now that ISIS has finally been driven from its last stronghold.

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ROMANS: All right, the so-called ISIS caliphate is history. The terror group losing its final stronghold in Syria. A coalition of U.S.-backed Syrian forces declaring a 100 percent territorial defeat. CNN's Ben Wedeman has been in Syria for weeks now covering this bloody struggle.

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Trying to make sure we have his connection there. Now that the caliphate has been crushed, they're still concerned about the ideology and whether there will still need to be a U.S. presence in the region and what kind of presence there will be. We're going to get back to Ben Wedeman in just a moment when we secure his connection.

All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this morning. Global stocks are lower amid recession fears. You can Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong all bouncing up a little bit here, but the U.S. Futures are slightly lower.

BRIGGS: The Dow dropped 460 points Friday on fears of an economic slow down. The S&P 500 closed down 1.9 percent, the NASDAQ dropping 2.5 percent, the worst performance for all three major averages since January 3.

ROMANS: Stocks finished the week lower. You can see the Dow down 1.6 percent, the NASDAQ and the S&P all down as well, but some perspective here. This has been a strong quarter, a strong start to the year. Stocks are still up this year. The Dow is up 9.2 percent. The - that's for the week there. The - for the year, the S&P 500, the NASDAQ are each up about 12 percent and 15 percent.

All right, what could the Mueller report mean for Wall Street this morning? Futures are pointing lower here. There had been some optimism that the probe was taking a big uncertainty from the president away, but that lasted for about 15 seconds because there is still concern here about the global economy, a slow down in the global economy, and last week the bond market, there was this big recession indicator that flashed in the bond market on Friday and that really spooked investors, so we'll see how things shape up when trading opens in several hours.

Jordan Peele's new horror film terrified audiences and shattered expectations at the box office this weekend.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a family in our driveway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's probably the neighbors.

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ROMANS: Us, the director's second film made an estimated $70 million in North America, more than tripling it's production budget of $20 million. The film has made $87 million worldwide. It's not the second biggest opening weekend of the year behind Disney and Marvel Studios Captain Marvel.

BRIGGS: OK, the potential for severe weather shifting to the deep south today. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has more.

(WEATHER)

BRIGGS: Pedram, thanks. More than 130 people have been killed and 55 injured in an attack on a rural village in Mali. The casualties include women and children. David McKenzie following the latest live from Johannesburg. David, good morning.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave. Yes, this is what one U.N. diplomat calls an unspeakable act. Look at this video here from Central Mali in the immediate aftermath of this attack by ethnic militia. They came in early Saturday morning killing at least 134 people according to the U.N., including mothers, women, and children. Just a horrific attack. Here's what the U.N. Secretary General said through a spokesman that they condemn this act and call on Malian authorities to swiftly investigate it and bring the perpetrators to justice. You know, in the wake of this attack, the President of Mali disbanding a so-called defense group - self defense group working in part to try and stop Al-Qaeda and ISIS-linked militia in that region. This is a complicated story, but human rights watch says that these attacks - these interethnic attacks have been increasingly rapidly in the last few months and that they are being exploited by ISIS-linked terrorists in that region. You know, as ISIS loses its territory in the Middle East, the future battleground might be there in West Africa where the U.S. has significant boots on the ground. Dave -

BRIGGS: David McKenzie live for us in Johannesburg. Thank you. Early Start continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

TRUMP: This was an illegal takedown.

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