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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Did Attorney General William Barr Go Easy On President Trump?; House Democrats Seek President Trump's Tax Returns; Ethiopia Says Pilots Followed Boeing Instructions; Teen Tells Kentucky Police He Is Timmothy Pitzen. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired April 04, 2019 - 05:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:31:13] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Pilots did everything they were supposed to do repeatedly, but could not keep that plane in the air. Officials in Ethiopia with sobering revelations in the second of two Boeing crashes.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Oversight or overkill? Democrats are now requesting six years of the president's tax returns.

BRIGGS: Is there more to the Mueller report than meets Bill Barr's eye? Some of the investigators say their findings were more damaging than the A.G. let on.

ROMANS: And is this teenager found in Kentucky the same boy who vanished in Illinois nearly eight years ago? His father never gave up hope that they'd find him.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. The latest on that story in just a moment. Five thirty-one Eastern time. It's almost Friday.

We start, though, in the nation's capital. Did the Attorney General go easy on President Trump when he summarized the Mueller report?

"The New York Times" reporting some of the special counsel's investigators have been complaining to associates that Bill Barr did not fully convey how damaging their findings were on the president. The "Times" quotes government officials and others saying investigators are concerned Barr was able to shape the public's initial views before any version of the report comes out.

Those interviewed by the "Times" declined to fully explain what they believe was held back. It's also unclear how widespread frustration is on Mueller's team.

ROMANS: Barr wrote in his 4-page summary to Congress last month, Mueller did not establish anyone connected to the Trump campaign conspired with Russia. Barr also quotes Mueller saying he did not have sufficient evidence to prove obstruction of justice but did not exonerate the president, either. Now, the "Times" reports the lack of a firm decision frustrated the Attorney General and his team. Barr said last week a redacted version of Mueller's report will be released to Congress and the public by mid-April, if not sooner.

BRIGGS: The House Judiciary Committee voting along party lines to authorize a subpoena that would compel Attorney General Bill Barr to release the full and unredacted Mueller report.

Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler indicating he will give Barr time to change his mind about releasing only a redacted version, but Nadler says a subpoena will be served if Barr does not voluntarily comply. Nadler making it clear there is no room for compromise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are you willing to negotiate any middle ground in terms of redactions --

REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY), CHAIRMAN, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: No.

RAJU: -- of the Mueller -- you're not?

NADLER: No. The committee must see everything. Not willing to let the attorney general -- who, after all, is a political appointee of the president -- make that -- substitute his judgment for ours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: One senior White House official calls Nadler's subpoena threat ridiculous, insisting it is not oversight, it's overreach.

ROMANS: All right. Joining us from Washington this morning, Elaina Plott, White House correspondent for "The Atlantic" and CNN political analyst. Good morning.

BRIGGS: Good morning.

ROMANS: Nice to see you.

ELAINA PLOTT, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE ATLANTIC: Hi, good morning.

ROMANS: All right. So, 22 months of a cone of silence, really, around the Mueller probe and this "New York Times" reporting this morning that some of these investigators are telling associates they're frustrated with the characterization of the Attorney General of this report. This will be the first sort of word we've had from inside the vault.

PLOTT: Exactly, and that's why I think a lot of people in Washington especially were shocked by "The New York Times" report. Not only that, but by the fact that "The Washington Post" was able to match the "Time's" reporting so quickly with their own sources close to investigators on Mueller's team. Look, at this point, House Republicans, especially, are going to have a tough question to answer. They've sidestepped calls to release the full report unredacted. And if public opinion builds to the point that more of these reports come out and the public, too, wants to see that full report, Republicans are in a tough position and this issue won't go away as quickly as Trump wanted it to.

[07:35:00] BRIGGS: And even with that, the investigations of this president will not stop. The Ways and Means Committee and Richard Neal requesting the president's tax returns 2013 to 2018, including the president's businesses.

Now, existing law does state that the Treasury secretary -- that would be Steven Mnuchin in this case -- shall turn over relevant records.

What are they looking for and will they get to see these taxes?

PLOTT: It's unclear whether they will actually get to see the president's taxes. I think there is a bit of complicated latticework when it comes to demanding a sitting president's tax returns, and I know that the White House Counsel's Office is prepared to mount whatever defense possible to make sure it doesn't happen.

But look, this even more than the Mueller report, I would argue, is a much more potent issue for Democrats on the campaign trail going into 2020.

Donald Trump is someone who promised transparency -- to do things like an outsider. To not kowtow to special interests and be up front -- be a straight talker. And here he is unwilling to show Americans just six years of his financial records.

So, Democrats could have a potentially lethal weapon on him going into the election.

BRIGGS: So could he, though, by saying look, all Democrats want to do is investigate me. They don't want to legislate.

The president did say that he's under audit. He has said that since early 2016.

PLOTT: Yes.

BRIGGS: A 3-year -- an ongoing audit, reportedly.

ROMANS: And the IRS Treasury Department has said that there's nothing in the law that precludes someone under audit from revealing their --

BRIGGS: Right.

ROMANS: -- taxes, as well.

Let's talk about the former vice president, Joe Biden, out with a video sort of straight-to-camera, from the heart, talking about how he gets it. He gets it that there's a new age here and all. He's trying to connect with people. He will respect their personal space. Is this enough to put this behind him?

PLOTT: At the moment, no because I think you're -- I even had a source last night reach out to me saying that more allegations are on the way with papers across the country. And I think that it's the kind of thing where Lucy Flores, in a way, opened the floodgates to this conversation about Joe Biden. And I --

ROMANS: I want to interrupt you for a second because when we say allegations we're talking about shoulder rubs and --

BRIGGS: Eskimo kisses.

ROMANS: -- nose kisses and we're not talking about like the 15 sexual assault allegations against the sitting President of the United States. We're talking -- we're talking about close talking.

PLOTT: I think it's a perfect point to make because it also brings to light how we really have no vocabulary in this country at this point to address the gray areas wrought by the #MeToo movement.

And so, if the quote-unquote resistance eats Joe Biden before he has a chance to answer to this for these, as you put it, allegations, it really will bring to light tough questions about how we talk about the #MeToo movement --

ROMANS: Yes.

PLOTT: -- and what is acceptable and what is simply worthy of forgiveness.

BRIGGS: And were these perceptions of Joe Biden kind of baked in with the polling that we've seen.

I want to close with some big news. CNN is reporting Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, is prepared to jump in officially April 14th in South Bend with a rally a week from Sunday. So that --

ROMANS: That's just breaking now.

BRIGGS: -- just breaking this morning.

Elaina Plott, good to see you. Thank you.

PLOTT: Good to see you both.

ROMANS: I'm sorry that I touched you.

BRIGGS: That's OK. I don't mind.

Breaking news this morning. Ethiopian officials have just finished a news conference releasing their preliminary report on the deadly crash of a Boeing 737 MAX passenger jet last month.

Melissa Bell tracking the latest live from Paris. Melissa, good morning. MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave.

Essentially, what we've heard from Ethiopian authorities this morning is an exoneration of the pilots who were flying that doomed Ethiopian Airlines flight that killed 157 when it -- people when it crashed just a few minutes after landing (sic).

This is what Ethiopia's transport minister had to say a short while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAGMAWIT MOGES, ETHIOPIAN MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: The crew performed all the procedures repeatedly provided by the manufacturer but was not able to control the aircraft.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: Essentially, Dave, as that plane took off it was doomed. There was nothing that the pilots could do to address it.

And what we're also hearing from those preliminary findings in that press conference this morning is that just as the Lion Air flight from a few months, and we've found from the preliminary findings -- the preliminary report into that that a similar thing had happened. The nose of the aircraft was repeatedly pushed down even as the pilots repeatedly tried to pull it up.

So much more pressure, therefore, this morning on Boeing and questions about how this particular automated flight system could have been left in place and the Boeings not grounded after that first crash back in October in Indonesia, Dave.

BRIGGS: Three hundred forty-six people killed in the two crashes.

Melissa Bell live in Paris, thank you.

[05:40:00] Also this morning, an Illinois boy missing almost eight years has apparently turned up alive in Kentucky.

A teenager identifying himself as Timmothy Pitzen telling police he just escaped from his kidnappers by fleeing a Red Roof Inn where they'd been staying. Authorities say it appears the young man kept running until he ran across a bridge into Kentucky. The teenager has not been positively identified.

CNN spoke to a woman who saw him outside her home and took these photos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHARON HALL, RESIDENT, NEWPORT, KENTUCKY, WITNESS WHO SAW MISSING BOY: A boy was leaning against one of my neighbor's cars that -- we've been having some crimes here -- with crime here. So I called her to tell her but -- you know, hey, let's look out here. I took the pictures in case he did something and, you know, ran off. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: This case has confounded law enforcement for years.

Timothy was six years old when he went missing in May 2011. His mother took him out of his Aurora, Illinois school citing a family emergency. She then took him on a 3-day road trip with stops at zoos and water parks, and the Wisconsin Dells.

She was then later found dead in a Rockford, Illinois motel and a suicide note was found saying Timmothy was safe with people who would love and care for him. The note added, quote, "You'll never find him."

His father told "People" magazine a few years after that that he never gave up hope that they would find his son alive. Hopefully, there's a reunion in the works here.

BRIGGS: Soon -- all right.

ROMANS: All right. A man beats a woman. It's all caught on video. So why was she the one facing charges?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:46:00] ROMANS: Let's get a check on "CNN Business" this morning.

Two years ago, Boeing's CEO boasted about how quickly it was able to bring the 737 MAX to market. Dennis Muilenburg praised the Federal Aviation Administration's streamlined certification process, attributing it to the pro-business philosophy of the new Trump administration.

But after two deadly crashes, Boeing faces a serious crisis. The 737 has been the company's best-selling product for decades and Boeing is an important company that contributes to American economic growth. It sells more than half of its products internationally and that boosts trade.

Its stock carries some serious weight on the Dow. Since the Ethiopian air crash, Boeing's stock is down close to nine percent, shaving $20 billion from its market cap.

But, JPMorgan's chief economist says if Boeing were forced to halt product it would reduce U.S. GDP by 0.15 percent. For now, issues with the aircraft probably won't affect GDP because production continues. Boeing will report first-quarter deliveries and orders next week.

And as it works to reestablish trust, Muilenburg joined a test flight of the 737 MAX yesterday -- right there in the cockpit. Testing on the plane's software update continues. Boeing plans to submit it to the FAA in the coming weeks.

All right. Global stock markets mixed as investors wait for any developments in U.S.-China trade talks. On Wall Street, you've got futures slightly lower here. U.S. markets posted some gains on Wednesday.

The Dow closed up 39 points. The S&P 500 closed up slightly. The Nasdaq up for the fifth day in a row. Computer chip stocks helped spur that rally.

All three major averages now are trading less than three percent from their all-time highs, continuing a recovery from last year's decline.

Labor Sec. Alexander Acosta grilled by lawmakers at a House hearing over a plea deal with billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The deal for Epstein was negotiated in 2008 when Acosta was a U.S. attorney in Florida. He pleaded guilty in state court to felony prostitution and served 13 months of an 18-month sentence.

BRIGGS: On Wednesday, Acosta was asked whether he could still lead the Labor Department, which is responsible for combatting child labor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KATHERINE CLARK (D-MA), MEMBER, HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: How, as Secretary of Labor, can you tell this panel and the American people that you can responsibly oversee this budget and the Department of Labor, including human trafficking?

ALEXANDER ACOSTA, SECRETARY OF LABOR: (Silence).

CLARK: Is there no answer?

ACOSTA: Is that a question?

CLARK: That was a question.

ACOSTA: So, as I was saying, the Department of Justice, for the past 12 years, has defended the actions of the office in this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: A federal judge in Florida recently ruled the Department of Justice broke the law by failing to confer with Jeffrey Epstein's victims about that 2008 plea deal.

Floodwaters are receding in Nebraska, finally revealing the true scope of the devastation. Aerial footage shot by the Nebraska State Patrol showing wide paths of damage and debris. The Spencer Dam destroyed, the highway 281 bridge washed out.

The state estimates $1.3 billion in infrastructure, livestock, and crop losses. Farmers have more crops in storage than ever before, especially after lost sales from the Trump administration's trade war with China.

Severe weather across the South today affecting up to five million people. Here's meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Dave and Christine.

It's a busy weather day for the nation's midsection. Rain stretching from Chicago all the way to New Orleans. A frontal boundary system setting the stage for active weather.

In fact, the potential for severe storms exists today across parts of Arkansas, basically all of Louisiana, and western sections of Mississippi. Slight risk -- damaging winds, hail, maybe an isolated tornado. Keep an eye to the sky.

Look at the storms evolve over the next 12 hours. They continue to press eastward -- Jackson -- and just west of the Atlanta region. Lots of precipitation associated with this as well, especially over the next few days. So the potential for flooding does exist throughout that region.

[05:50:07] We have mild conditions returning to the East Coast after a brief cold snap into New York City. Fifty-eight today for the Big Apple, 46 for Chicago, 74 for Atlanta. We cool off in New York City for Friday but look at Saturday and Sunday -- right back into the 60s.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Derek.

BRIGGS: That's good.

ROMANS: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:55:03] ROMANS: A Denver man facing hate crime charges after police say he spray-painted swastikas on a church that used to be a synagogue. Officers said they were called to the scene and they found 29-year-old Frank Maya drawing on trash cans inside. The church says Maya sometimes came for a hot meal as part of its daily ministry.

BRIGGS: A high-stakes weekend of racing will go on as scheduled at Santa Anita Park. That includes Saturday's Santa Anita Derby, a West Coast stepping stone for the Kentucky Derby.

This comes after a 24-day suspension of racing at the track following the deaths of 22 horses. Another horse had to be euthanized Sunday, just two days after the track reopened.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein has called for the suspension of all racing at Santa Anita until the deaths are investigated.

ROMANS: The Dallas D.A. declining to prosecute a woman who was hospitalized after this violent parking dispute caught on video. Police charged L'Daijohnique Lee after she admitted damaging the car of the man who beat her. A warning -- you could find this video disturbing. It shows a man holding a gun, slaps the cell phone out of the woman's hands. She then punches him. He responds by repeatedly punching her in the face and head.

BRIGGS: Civil rights groups protested the Dallas P.D.'s decision to charge Lee who they say is the victim.

The man identified as 30-year-old Austin Shuffield faces four misdemeanor charges in the attack. Dallas police also referred a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon to a grand jury.

ROMANS: All right, it's not just what people eat that's killing them. It's what they aren't eating. A 27-year global diet study published Wednesday cites the lack of healthy foods in our diets, along with high levels of salt.

In 2017, one in five deaths worldwide -- one in five -- that's about 11 million people -- occurred because of too much sodium and a lack of whole grains, fruit, nuts, and seeds. The large study size means these findings are relevant to everyone, no matter where you live.

BRIGGS: Bonding with your baby at work might sound good unless you're the person one desk over listening to a crying baby all day long. California lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow state workers to bring their infants to work.

The bill would apply to babies between the age of six weeks and six months or until the infant is crawling. The infants must also get medical clearance.

In the past, a similar bill did not advance, but the state's new governor, Gavin Newsom, has shown an interest in parent-friendly initiatives.

The measure was introduced back in February. It was scheduled for a vote yesterday but was delayed.

ROMANS: All right, remember this claim from the president Tuesday?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If you have a windmill anywhere near your house, congratulations -- your house just went down 75 percent in value. And they say the noise causes cancer. You tell me that one, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: It didn't -- it did not go over well. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a supporter of wind energy, called the claim idiotic.

Stephen Colbert had the same sentiments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: It's like a graveyard for birds. If you love birds you'd never want to walk under a windmill because it's a very sad, sad sight. It's like a cemetery. We put a little -- we put a little statue for the poor birds.

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, CBS "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": Yes, yes, it's true. Donald Trump grieves for the birds.

Here he is attending a wake for a beloved chicken. The funeral was open bucket. It was -- rest in 12-piece.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: And for the record, wind energy doesn't cause cancer.

BRIGGS: This just in.

ROMANS: Yes.

BRIGGS: Breaking news from Christine Romans.

ROMANS: All right, thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Here's "NEW DAY."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK MAZZETTI, WASHINGTON INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Barr put out this bare-bones letter and what we've heard is there is a lot more that is damning for Trump.

RUDY GIULIANI, ATTORNEY FOR PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They can put out every part of it. It's about as big an exoneration as I've ever seen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's going to be a push for detail. Until that's out there, there'll be no satisfaction.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The House Ways and Means Chairman sent a letter requesting Trump's tax returns.

TRUMP: We're under audit. I would not be inclined to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He faces the prospect of being shown to not be worth what he says he's worth. He's in big trouble here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: No, I'm not ready yet.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I can see that.

BERMAN: No.

CAMEROTA: Yes, you are. BERMAN: OK.

CAMEROTA: You are ready because the show is beginning. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Thursday, April fourth, 6:00 here in New York.

We do have breaking news. Overnight, "The New York Times" reveals the Mueller report.

END