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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Virginia Wins NCAA Men's Championship; President Trump's Homeland Security Purge; Israelis Choose Their Prime Minister. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired April 09, 2019 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:31:05] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Virginia captures its first-ever men's basketball title in an overtime thriller.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And, Democrats plan to grill the attorney general Bill Barr about the Mueller report in a Capitol Hill hearing just hours from now.
BRIGGS: Israelis voting right now as longtime 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)
ROMANS: A new Democratic candidate just joined the 2020 race for the White House. That brings it to a whopping 18 --
BRIGGS: Man.
ROMANS: -- in the crowded Democratic field. A healthy Democratic field if you listen to Democratic
BRIGGS: We'll see, indeed.
ROMANS: -- if you listen to Democratic strategists.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: Soon to be headed over 20, it looks like. I'm Dave Briggs, 5:31 Eastern time.
We're guessing you didn't see this game because it tipped off at 9:20. That's where we start this morning.
From national embarrassment to national champions. The Virginia Cavaliers putting the final touches on a remarkable turnaround beating Texas Tech 85-77 in overtime last night to win their first-ever NCAA title. Now, it was one year ago Virginia became the only number one seed ever to lose to a 16-seed in the first round. They were smoked by UMBC.
But they exorcized those demons last night in Minneapolis, thanks in large part to DeAndre Hunter who scored a game-high 27 points and drained that critical 3-pointer with just under 13 seconds left to send it into overtime. And it was Hunter's three with just over two minutes left in overtime that put Virginia ahead for good.
Hunter missed last year's tournament entirely with a broken wrist, making this title that much sweeter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEANDRE HUNTER, GUARD, VIRGINIA CAVALIERS, NCAA CHAMPION: The joy is in the competition, like I said. This a great win for our program and a great win for our coach. We worked for this all season and all that work just paid off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: And they are still partying in Charlottesville and all over Virginia, frankly. The team returns home late this afternoon and an official celebration will take place at Scott Stadium Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
Congrats to Tony Bennett, the head coach of the Cavs.
ROMANS: All right.
Attorney General Bill Barr faces lawmakers this morning for the first time since issuing his 4-page summary of the 300-plus-page Mueller report. We're already hearing from House Democrats who plan to grill Barr about it.
House Appropriations chairwoman Nita Lowey previewed her opening statement last night. "Your four-page summary seems to cherry pick from the report to draw the most favorable conclusion possible for the president."
To draw their own conclusions, Democrats want the full Mueller report as soon as possible. Expect questions this morning about any redactions Barr plans to make.
Senior congressional reporter Manu Raju has more on that.
(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 topline 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.
[05:35:03] 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 so much for that.
President Trump appears to be overseeing a systematic purge at the Department of Homeland Security. One day after DHS Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen was forced out, Randolph "Tex" Alles has been told he is being removed as director of the Secret Service.
The announcement catching officials at the agency off guard. Many of them found 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)
ROMANS: Now, the White House says the president has picked career Secret Service official James M. Murray to replace Alles.
BRIGGS: New behind-the-scenes details about Kirstjen Nielsen's downfall and the many times she would not break the law to further the president's hardline immigration policies.
Senior administration officials 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 under heavy criticism.
Multiple sources say the president wanted families separated, even if they were asylum seekers, at a legal port of entry -- legal port of entry. Nielsen tried to explain that court rulings banned reinstating the policy. Other White House staffers said it would be an unmitigated P.R. disaster.
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley blamed the need for the proposal on Congress and on migrants themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOGAN GIDLEY, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The separation of families -- now, 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)
ROMANS: 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 where that happened said that Nielsen told Trump that closing the port would be a bad, even a dangerous idea. She said it would stop legal trade and legal travel and migrants would just go between ports.
Two witnesses say the president responded, "I don't care." Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney seems to have been able to talk the president out of closing the port.
BRIGGS: And just last Friday, the president visited Calexico, California where he told border agents simply not let migrants in no matter what a judge might say. After the president left, the agents asked their bosses what they should do. The supervisors said they had to follow the law, not the president's orders.
ROMANS: Yes, those supervisors found themselves in a position where they didn't want their border agents to be legally liable --
BRIGGS: Yes.
ROMANS: -- if something were to happen.
BRIGGS: Remarkable reporting there.
ROMANS: Let's bring in "CNN POLITICS" digital director Zach Wolf. He is live in Washington. Good morning, Zach.
BRIGGS: Good morning.
ROMANS: And some of the background on all of this -- you know, the twists and turns of the past couple of weeks for Kirstjen Nielsen have been just fascinating. But at the end, you look at a Department of Homeland Security that is being kind of emptied out here right down the line. You've got a couple of people expected to be fired or asked to let go. You've got the Homeland Security secretary gone. The U.S. Secret Service director, Tex Alles, is going to be asked to leave.
My question for you is what is the impact of all these vacancies when you have a crisis at the border?
ZACHARY WOLF, DIGITAL DIRECTOR, CNN POLITICS: Yes, and I'm just trying to imagine what a tougher immigration policy is going to look like.
I mean, it's not like Kirstjen Nielsen has been not defending the president's policies in a very tough way. I think not being tough is not the word I would use to describe her. She was sort of the face of the family separation policy --
ROMANS: That's right.
WOLF: -- and all this stuff.
So who is going to be the person who's going to be even tougher than she is or any of these other -- these other Trump appointees? He's basically purging his own staff here.
It's a remarkable thing I think we're seeing and it's -- I've never -- you know, if you try to think back it's hard to find something that even sort of feels --
BRIGGS: Yes.
WOLF: -- like this. It feels like a big thing.
BRIGGS: Well, you asked who could be tougher. The man who is at least suggesting he would be tougher when it comes to immigration is Kris Kobach, the Secretary of State -- former Secretary of State of Kansas -- and he did his audition last night on Fox T.V. Here's what he said how he would do things differently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRIS KOBACH (R), FORMER KANSAS SECRETARY OF STATE: The leadership at that agency for the past two years, ever since the president took office, has been unwilling to execute many of the president's plans. So there has been deliberate foot-dragging and I think that's why you're seeing the White House take the necessary steps to clean house at DHS.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:40:00] BRIGGS: Kobach, of course, the guy who led that voter fraud panel that's now disbanded because they were chasing ghosts, essentially -- the president's misinformed opinions about voter fraud.
But what is Kobach suggesting when he says that "unwilling to execute many of the president's plans?" What -- to your point, what could have Kirstjen Nielsen have done and could that guy get through Senate confirmation?
WOLF: Well, it seems from the reporting -- like the implication is that he -- you know, to take the next necessary steps might essentially be ignoring the law, which is kind of a frightening thing.
If you have one secretary of Homeland Security who won't execute certain things, who won't do certain things regarding asylum and other stuff because they don't think the law supports it, and you find somebody else who does, that's kind of a disturbing precedent I think to set. It suggests that you don't feel like there -- you know, there's one standard for lawyers --
ROMANS: Right.
WOLF: -- who are just going to go around it or ignore it, which is really frightening.
BRIGGS: Yes. There has been no suggestion of how to fix asylum laws or any --
ROMANS: Right.
BRIGGS: -- legislative proposal that Congress can work with, so that would be a good start.
ROMANS: And in the meantime, you're watching Washington where you're wondering how the president governs of if he's learning more about governing now two years into this.
You've got all these acting Trump administration leaders and the president says he likes that because that gives him more flexibility, but you don't have these permanent heads of so many of these positions in his cabinet. You have only three women in this cabinet now that Kirstjen Nielsen is gone.
And I wonder -- it's interesting. Can you draw a line from the lack of women on the cabinet and the lack of women in the top ranks of the Trump administration to all the women who are candidates on the Democratic field? It's a real interesting two sides of the coin, isn't it?
WOLF: Yes, it really is. Especially, you know, Democrats have tried to make their platform appeal to women for a long time in the last couple of elections, in particular. So I think there's certainly something there and that's going to definitely continue as we head into 2020 with all these candidates.
BRIGGS: Those women running -- Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand, and of course, Tulsi Gabbard -- a packed field.
Eric Swalwell joined that field last night on the "Colbert Primary," some are calling it.
Let's talk about this massive field now that Swalwell has joined, making it 18. Who, if anyone, does that favor having so many people in, Zach?
WOLF: Well, so many people in but not the guy who's on top of these admittedly very early polls. Joe Biden, you would think, has the best name recognition. He's not in the race yet. If he chooses to come in he would immediately take up a lot of the oxygen.
I think that having such a big field probably helps people who have more name recognition.
ROMANS: Yes.
WOLF: It's going to be hard to bust out -- to get noticed, I think, in a field this large. Even in the small state of -- you know, you could -- you could take a road trip around Iowa in a month and probably run into three or four of these people as they drive around.
ROMANS: Yes.
WOLF: So just being a person who gets some buzz is going to be really hard for somebody that most people --
BRIGGS: Yes.
WOLF: -- have never heard of.
ROMANS: In the first quarter of 2007, Barack Obama, who was just coming onto the scene, raised $23.5 million. So when we look at these fundraising numbers, I just keep thinking back --
BRIGGS: Bernie Sanders is the only one close.
ROMANS: About $12 million, so about half of that. So it just kind of shows you --
BRIGGS: Yes.
ROMANS: I don't know. I'm not drawing any conclusions here, I'm just saying comparatively speaking that's an interesting stat.
Zach, nice to see you.
WOLF: Nice to see you.
ROMANS: Thanks for dropping by --
WOLF: Thanks.
ROMANS: -- on a Tuesday morning at 5:00 a.m.
All right. Israelis are heading to the polls right now with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing the stiffest challenge of his political life. We go live to Jerusalem, next.
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[05:47:52] BRIGGS: It's election day in Israel and in a matter of hours, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will learn whether he's won the fight of his political life. Netanyahu, who is seeking reelection to a fifth term, faces multiple corruption investigations and a formidable opponent in former general Benny Gantz.
Joining us live from Jerusalem is Michael Holmes. Michael, what are you seeing this morning?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, there's been a steady trickling behind us here at this polling station here in Jerusalem, Dave. Not been a flood, but that will come later.
It's a public holiday. The weather's nice. People are having a slow start to their day but there is still plenty of time for them to vote. The numbers will increase as the day goes on.
Where we are is a fairly conservative area. People have been telling us their voting Likud, which is Benjamin Netanyahu's party.
Quite interestingly, though, a lot of people are saying that they're not voting for Benjamin Netanyahu. Those corruption allegations that you mentioned have tarnished him somewhat. Some people also just think enough is enough in terms of how long he's been in office. But plenty of support for him here.
If you went down to Tel Aviv, for example, Benny Gantz and his Blue and White party would be the ones probably people would be saying they're voting more for.
It's always about head-to-head here in terms of who's going to get the option to form a new government -- pull together a coalition -- and they've got to do that.
There's more than 40 parties in this election. Probably only 10 to maybe 14 of them will pass the threshold of 3.25 percent of the vote in order to get seats in the Knesset. And it's from there that Netanyahu or Benny Gantz are going to have to draw allies and try to get to the magical number of 61 seats.
They'll be exit polls coming out just after the polls close at 10:00 p.m. local. That will be our first indication of how this has gone -- Dave.
BRIGGS: OK, Michael, we'll be watching all day. Thank you, sir.
ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on "CNN Business" this morning.
Global markets are mixed right now.
New this morning, signs the U.S. is hardening its trade stance against Europe, threatening tariffs on $11 billion in European goods in retaliation for subsidies to European aircraft maker AirBus. Now, the tariffs would hit products ranging from large commercial aircraft and parts to wine, cheese, and frozen fish.
[05:50:03] On Wall Street right now, futures are down just a little bit -- almost directionless, I would call that. U.S. stocks closed mostly higher on Monday, shaking off early losses.
Boeing dragged down the Dow. Boeing fell four percent on news it would slow 737 MAX production.
The S&P 500, though, up for the eighth day in a row. This is the longest winning streak since October 2017. The Nasdaq also up. Both within spitting distance of record highs.
A bubbling crude. Oil hits a 5-month high, jumping more than two percent to close above $64.00 a barrel for the first time since Halloween. Oil has surged more than 50 percent from its Christmas Eve lows. Now, a surge in violence in OPEC member Libya deepened concerns about diminished oil supplies.
The rally in oil prices has been driven primarily by OPEC's aggressive supply cuts. U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and sanctions on Iran have trimmed crude supply and that also drives up prices.
OK, the "Avengers" have one more shot at taking down Thanos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH BROLIN, ACTOR, "AVENGERS: ENDGAME": Back to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: And it looks like AMC Theatres will be packed to see this happen. AMC's stock soared almost nine percent Monday after an analyst upgraded it to a buy on strong advanced ticket sales of "Avengers: Endgame."
Fandango said the movie broke a single-day record for presales in six hours. It's even more impressive because both the AMC and the Fandango sites crashed for several hours when the tickets first went on sale.
"Avengers: Endgame" comes out April 24th.
How is Tony Stark going to get out from -- going to get back from space. That's my question.
BRIGGS: I know. No more trailers. I don't want to have any more spoilers in my head. I cannot wait for that movie.
Ahead, Whoopi Goldberg steps in to play peacemaker on "THE VIEW."
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[05:56:17] BRIGGS: Baltimore Orioles' Chris Davis is in the second year of a 7-year, $161 million deal, but the team's highest-paid player can't buy a hit. He is now zero for this last 49. That is a new Major League record for consecutive at-bats by a position player without a hit. Davis' hitless streak dates back to last season, September 14th.
You hear the boos but I don't think there were enough fans there. ROMANS: Things got heated on "THE VIEW" as liberal Joy Behar and conservative Meghan McCain went at it. The two needed Whoopi Goldberg to step in while talking about immigration and the crisis at the southern border.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGHAN MCCAIN, HOST, ABC "THE VIEW": This is a hardline issue for people who live in border states. Many friends of mine -- this is the number one and only issue. And if we sit here and act like there isn't a crisis, that it's just -- it's crazy people living in border states that think that there's a crisis, that would be a winning ticket for Trump going forward.
JOY BEHAR, HOST, ABC "THE VIEW: But like -- but like I just said -- like I just said, this guy who's coming in wants to help those countries. That's the way to solve the problem. Keep them there, happy or whatever -- solve it. Give them a house, give them food, help them, help their children.
MCCAIN: Give a Nicaraguan a house?
BEHAR: Stop the crime -- stop the crime rates. I'm talking about helping.
MCCAIN: Well, we've had a bunch of liberal guests who do not want to send in aid at all.
BEHAR: Hold on. I listened to you. Let me just finish.
MCCAIN: Yes, but part of your job is to listen to me.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, HOST, ABC "THE VIEW": OK, so here's the deal.
MCCAIN: I'm just saying.
GOLDBERG: Here's what -- here's what's not going to happen today. We're not going to do this.
Everybody gets a conversation piece and everybody gets to say their piece, and we don't need to comment if we don't like what we're hearing. Just let folks talk. So finish what you're saying.
BEHAR: I forgot what it was now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: We here do listen to one another. Do you have anything else to add? I'm just --
ROMANS: Talk to the hand.
BRIGGS: OK, good, all right.
While you were sleeping, the late-night shows squeezed in some laughs from the president's move to force out DHS Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SETH MEYERS, HOST, NBC "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": Nielsen stepping down is like in "Jurassic Park" movies where a little dinosaur runs by and you're like oh, that's cute. And then you look back and there's a T. rex chasing you. You're like, oh, that's why it was running.
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, CBS, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": One person who is not feeling like a champion right now is secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, seen here as happy as she'll ever be again because last night, Nielsen resigned as Trump's Homeland Security secretary. I believe she's leaving to spend more time separating her family.
Get ready for secretary of Homeland Security, Pennywise. And, of course, she will be taking his place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: You -- I've got to -- I've got to say some of the -- I mean, that was pretty cruel.
BRIGGS: Yes, look --
ROMANS: But that's been a pressure cooker for her the last couple of months.
BRIGGS: -- when you're unable to get the president to follow the law --
ROMANS: Right.
BRIGGS: -- maybe some relief sets in for Nielsen this morning.
ROMANS: That's it for us this morning. Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans. Have a great rest of your day.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Here's "NEW DAY."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A full-scale purge. The president has fired the Secret Service director.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president is removing people because they refuse to violate the law.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's been undermined. It's not surprising loyalty would become verification.
RAJU: All eyes on Bill Barr as he comes to Capitol Hill. Democratic members plan to ask about the Mueller report.
CARTWRIGHT: What's on everybody's mind is how much is he going to redact? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barr can duck. He'll say we're still evaluating.
ANNOUNCER, NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: He gets the shot at the end of regulation. Virginia with the all-time turnaround title.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The show is starting. Welcome to our viewers --
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Just a few wardrobe adjustments and we're ready.
BERMAN: Welcome, everyone -- to our viewers in the United States and all around the world.
END
