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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Virginia Wins National Championship in Overtime Thriller; Attorney General Barr to Testify to Congress; Can Netanyahu Hold On?; Rep. Swalwell Announces 2020 Presidential Bid. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired April 09, 2019 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: So, I've got a lot of managing of my consumption of television and movies.

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: EARLY START continues right now.

(MUSIC)

ROMANS: Virginia captures its first ever men's basketball title in an overtime thriller.

BRIGGS: Democrats plan to grill Attorney General Bill Barr about the Mueller report and a Capitol Hill hearing just hours from now.

ROMANS: Israelis are voting right now as long time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reign hangs in the balance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm ready to solve these problems. I'm running for president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: A new Democratic candidate just joined the 2020 race for the White House, and, boy, is it a crowded field. It looks like we will at some point next couple of weeks be over 20, which is a record.

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

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is Tuesday, April 9th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

Texas Tech and Virginia playing a thriller last night in the men's championship. For the first time in their history, Virginia is the national champion.

Andy Scholes was at the game in Minneapolis, and has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys. This was one of the greatest championship games we have ever seen. It was emotional swing after emotional swing, and in the end, Virginia getting redemption.

You know, last year, they were the joke of the tournament becoming the first team ever to lose to a 16 seed. That loss now a distant memory. This game a nail biter at the end.

Forty-five seconds left, Virginia up by one. Jarrett Culver going to get the lay up to go. That put Texas Tech up by one. The Red Raiders up by 3 with 15 seconds left. That's when Cavaliers star De'Andre Hunter knocking down the clutch three to tie this up for the 8th time in championship game history, we would go to overtime, and in the extra period, Hunter, again, hitting a big three for Virginia. They would take the lead and never give it back.

Hunter scoring a career high of 27 points in the game. Cavaliers win 85-77. Incredible turn around for the school. Kyle Guy named the tournament's most outstanding player, caught up with him on the court as he helped cut down the nets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: What's the feeling like going from the joke of the tournament to the champions?

KYLE GUY, FINAL FOUR MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER: It's a fight through that humiliation and embarrassment that we felt for the ultimate redemption story. It feels great and I'm so excited for this team, for my family and for Charlottesville, University of Virginia.

DE'ANDRE HUNTER, VIRGINIA GUARD: We lost in the first round last year to a 16 seed but we just won the national championship, I don't feel like as much people can say now.

GUY: We have been in their shoes, the way they are feeling, the different types of ways. To be the first to do something in history on the bad side, and the next year come back on the good side of history means everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And the students in Charlottesville flooding the streets to celebrate. Virginia, they are the champions for the very first time in school history, and I'll tell you what, the way this team used that embarrassment of last year's loss to a 16 seed and used it as motivation, as opposed to running for it, very impressive as they went through this tournament, guys, and they had to win three nail biters to get here to this point, so hats off to them for an incredible run.

And you have to feel for those kids, Texas Tech, they played their hearts out. It was one incredible game here in Minneapolis.

BRIGGS: Yes, you know, we talked about defense wins championships. These are two of the best defenses in the country. It was a high powered entertaining offensive game in the end, wasn't it, Andy?

SCHOLES: Yes, you know, early on, everyone was joking, Dave, because after the first time out, I believe it was 4-2. Everyone was like, oh, my goodness, first team to 20 might win this game. Then the office flood gates opened and it was a very entertaining game. Many clutch moments, the emotion from the students I was sitting right behind was unbelievable, and you know, all we could hope for was a great game like that, and that's what we got.

BRIGGS: Got to be happy for Tony Bennett to congrats the Cavs' head coach.

All right. Andy Scholes, appreciate it my friend. Let's turn from March Madness to Mueller madness.

Attorney General Bill Barr facing lawmakers this morning for the first time since issuing his four-page summary of the 300-plus page Mueller report. We're already hearing House Democrats who plan to grill Barr about it.

House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey previewed her opening statement last night. Quote: Your four page summary seems to cherry pick from the report to favor the president. To draw their own conclusions, Democrats want the full Mueller report as soon as possible. Expect lots of questions this morning about any redactions Barr plans to make.

[05:05:03] Senior congressional reporter Manu Raju with more from Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and Dave.

Bill Barr coming before the House Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees his budget to talk about the president's request for funding for the Justice Department. But even though Bill Barr's opening statement does not mention the Mueller report, that is going to be the focus of today's hearing. Democrats, in particular, plan to push Bill Barr over the 4-page letter he sent outlining the top line conclusions of the Mueller investigation. Also, they want to understand why he did not charge the president with obstruction of justice, with his decision-making behind that, as well as how he's handling the effort to redact information from the Mueller report before it becomes public.

I had a chance to talk to one congressman who plans to do the questioning at today's hearing and he said redactions are going to be a key line of questioning.

REP. MATT CARTWRIGHT (D-PA): How much is he going to redact? And I hope that he takes a very sparing approach to his redactions because he knows that everybody's going to want to know what's behind the black ink.

RAJU: This is the start of two days of testimony for Bill Barr. He will also come before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees his budget on Wednesday. Today will be a first sense of how Barr plans to handle the Mueller

report and we'll see if he sheds any light on his thinking -- Christine and Dave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Manu. Thank you for that.

The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee is calling on Robert Mueller to testify. But it's not clear whether the special counsel will oblige.

Georgia Republican Doug Collins writing a letter, asking Chairman Jerry Nadler to invite Mueller to testify later this month. He says if you seek both transparency and for the American public to learn the full contours of the special counsel's investigation, public testimony from special counsel Mueller himself is undoubtedly the best way to accomplish his goal. Nadler agrees. The chairman tweeting his committee must receive the special counsel's full report and hear from Attorney General Barr about that report on May 2nd. Nadler says he looks forward to hearing from Mueller at the appropriate time.

BRIGGS: President Trump appears to be overseeing a systemic purge at the Department of Homeland Security one day after DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was out, Randolph "Tex" Alles has been told he's being removed as director of the Secret Service. The announcement catching many off guard, with many of them finding out their boss was leaving by watching CNN. It was especially surprising since the president said this just last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I could not be happier with the Secret Service. Secret Service has done a fantastic job from day one. I'm very happy with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The White House says the president has picked career Secret Service official James M. Murray to replace Alles.

ROMANS: New behind-the-scenes details about Kirstjen Nielsen's downfall, many times she would not break the law to further the president's hard line immigration policies. Now, senior administration official is telling CNN that over the last few months, the president has been pushing Nielsen to enforce a stricter version of zero tolerance and family separations. That's the same policy Trump himself rolled back, you'll recall, under heavy criticism.

Multiple sources say the president wanted families separated even if they were asylum seekers at legal ports of entry. Now, Nielsen tried to explain the court rulings ban reinstating that policy. Other White House staffers said it would be an unmitigated PR disaster.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley deflected responsibility for the proposal, to Congress and to migrants themselves. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOGAN GIDLEY, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The separation of families -- you know, the president has said before he does not look that. It's a horrible practice. But, Congress has a way to fix that so that it will not be a magnet for people to come here and use children to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: About two weeks ago, the president ordered Nielsen to shut down the port of El Paso, Texas. The next day, a person present at the Oval Office meeting says Nielsen told Trump closing the port would be a bad, even dangerous idea. She said it would end legal trade and travel while migrants would just go between ports. Two witnesses say the president responded, "I don't care". Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney seemed to talk the president out of closing the port.

ROMANS: And just last Friday, the president visited Calexico, California, where he told border agents to not let migrants in. Don't let them in no matter what a judge might say. After the president left, the agents then asked their bosses, what are we supposed to do? The supervisor said that the border agents had to follow the law, not the president's orders.

BRIGGS: Remarkable.

Eric Swalwell has become the 18th Democrat running for president.

[05:10:00] The California congressman making his big announcement on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert". Swalwell says he's been thinking about entering the race for months. He says too many Americans feel like they are just running in place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SWALWELL: I see a country in quicksand, unable to solve problems and threats from abroad, unable to make life better for people here at home. Nothing gets done. And none of that is going to change until we get a leader who is willing to go big on the issues we take on, be bold in the solutions we offer and do good in the way that we govern. I'm ready to solve these problems. I'm running for president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Swalwell plans to hit the road with a frantic week of campaigning, hosting a town hall in Sunrise, Florida, today, with a focus on combating gun violence, and travels to Iowa Thursday, South Carolina on Friday, and his home district in California Sunday where he'll lay out what he calls his vision for the East Bay, and America.

ROMANS: A programming note. Be sure to watch Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in a live presidential town hall, moderated by Erin Burnett. That's tonight at 10:00 Eastern, only on CNN. The latest on Operation Varsity Blues now. Actress Felicity Huffman

and 12 parents will plead guilty to bribery and fraud charges in the college admission scandals. Federal prosecutors allege Huffman paid $15,000 to a fake charity to facilitate cheating for her daughters on the SATs. The admissions scheme help students get into elite universities like Yale, Stanford, USC and UCLA.

Huffman acknowledging her guilty and apologizing in a statement Monday saying, I am ashamed of the pain I have caused by daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community. My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her.

Prosecutors say they will recommend incarceration for Huffman at the low end of the sentencing range.

Also, Stanford University has expelled a student linked to a $500,000 donation from the charity at the heart of the college admissions scam. A half million dollars was apparently a gift for the Stanford sailing program.

ROMANS: All right. All eyes are still on Boeing. Investors will start to find out what the 737 MAX crisis means for Boeing's bottom line. Now, Boeing will report the number of planes it delivered during the quarter today. It didn't deliver any of the best selling 737 MAX planes in the last two weeks of the quarter. It halted the deliveries after the planes were grounded around the world following the Ethiopian airlines crash last month.

Boeing's stock is down 11 percent since then. That shaves about $27 billion from its market cap. The stock closed down 4 percent Monday after announcing a plan to cut back production on all 737s from 52 a month to 42. Investors want to see if Boeing forecasts the cost of the grounding and the halt of those deliveries.

Today's report is an early look at the financial costs of the 737 problem. Boeing scheduled to report first quarter results April 24th. One analyst reports the disruption could last six to nine months and could take the company until 2021 to catch up on deliveries.

BRIGGS: All right. Ahead, Israelis are headed to the polls right now with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing the stiffest challenge of his political life. We are live in Jerusalem next.

ROMANS: And more questions about ride share safety. What police say an Uber driver was caught doing on a doorbell camera.

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[05:18:01] BRIGGS: It is election day in Israel. In a matter of hours, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will learn whether he has won the fight of his political life. Netanyahu seeking reelection for a fifth term faces multiple corruption investigations and a formidable opponent in former General Benny Gantz.

Joining us live from Jerusalem this morning, CNN's Michael Holmes. Michael, good morning.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Dave.

Yes, it is a little under ten hours left for Israelis to get out and cast their votes. It's been a little slow moving at this particular polling station, but it's a beautiful day. It's a public holiday. People are going to get a late start, I think.

What we're hearing from people as they come in. We're in a fairly conservative area. They are saying they are voting for some of the right wing parties. Some saying we don't want to vote for Benjamin Netanyahu, but we will vote for Likud, which, of course, at the end day means pretty much the same thing.

If you went to Tel Aviv or somewhere like that, you're going to find more people leaning toward Benny Gantz and the Blue and White Party. The last polls were Friday, they are way out of date when it comes to Israeli politics but they showed Gantz with a few seats lead head-to- head against Benjamin Netanyahu but as you know well in this country, it is all about the coalition building.

When those polls close and the votes start to be counted, the horse trading beginnings, and it's a matter of who can pull anywhere from 10 to 14 of the smaller parties to form a coalition and have the magic number of 61 seats in which to govern. According to the last polls, Netanyahu has a slight edge when it comes to coalition building but this is Israel. Ten percent of voters were undecided up until today. Who knows?

Back to you, Dave.

BRIGGS: We'll be watching all day. Michael Holmes, live for us in Jerusalem, thank you, sir.

On the eve of that Israeli election, the Trump administration announcing it is formally designating Iran's guard as a foreign terrorist organization. The U.S. move welcomed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

[05:20:01] He tweeted his thanks to President Trump, and appeared to take some credit to the decision saying it came in response to his request.

BRIGGS: An Uber driver in northern California under arrest after police say he tried to break into the home of passengers he just took to the airport. Authorities say 38-year-old Jackie Gordon Wilson was caught on a ring home surveillance camera burglarizing and ransacking a home in San Mateo. The homeowners shared the video online, and neighbors identified him as the Uber driver who tried to break into their house after taking them to the San Francisco airport. Uber says it's cooperating with the investigation.

ROMANS: All right. Is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi trolling new Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? We'll let you be the judge, next.

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[05:25:11] ROMANS: All right. Quite a surprise Monday for a Florida family. Wow, this is what they found. A huge 9 foot alligator, resting on the bottom of Mike and Senta Evans backyard pool in Palm Beach gardens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENTA EVANS, FOUND ALLIGATOR IN BACKYARD POOL: I was like, Mike, there's a gator in the pool!

MIKE EVANS, FOUND ALLIGATOR IN BACKYARD POOL: A chopper came out here with gear to get a 6 foot alligator down, and said that thing is 9 feet, and went back and got bigger gear. It's kind of nuts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The family lives in the edge of the Everglades. The trapper told them the gator may have come in under a chain link fence in the backyard. He also said it's the beginning of alligator mating season, and gators may be venturing out more looking for love in all the wrong places.

So, good luck lounging care free by that backyard pool.

BRIGGS: Looking for love in your pool.

OK. Nancy Pelosi trolling New York Congresswoman Alexander Ocasio- Cortez. Well, in an interview with "USA Today", the House speaker was asked about governing a caucus that is challenged at every turn by recently elected progressives like AOC.

Pelosi responded, quote: While there are people who have a large number of Twitter followers, what's important is that we have large numbers of votes on the floor of the House. Ocasio-Cortez does have 3.9 Twitter followers. No one else in the house comes close. Will she respond on Twitter this morning? You can count on it.

ROMANS: All right. Twenty-six minutes past the hour, those brackets you filled out at the office, this morning, we know the team you should have picked. That's next.

BRIGGS: And just hours from now, Democrats plan to hammer the attorney general about the Mueller report, and how much of it we'll get to see. Your top stories after this.

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