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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Attorney General Barr Says Trump Campaign Was Spied On; Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir Steps Down; WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Arrested. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired April 11, 2019 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: -- house arrest.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: A suspect now in custody in connection with fires at historically black churches in Louisiana.
ROMANS: Six U.S. states under blizzard warnings. A severe spring storm hammering the Rockies all the way to the Plains. Oh, and the --
BRIGGS: Wow.
ROMANS: -- picture this morning of the commute not pretty.
BRIGGS: What a mess.
ROMANS: It is a travel nightmare.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans, everybody.
BRIGGS: Yes, check your flight. I'm Dave Briggs, 5:30 Eastern time.
You know, the president toured Mt. Vernon, George Washington's estate, and remarked that he was surprised he didn't put his name on it. You've got to put your name on stuff for people to remember it.
ROMANS: That's why no one remembers George Washington.
BRIGGS: That's right.
We start, though, in Washington, D.C. this morning. Attorney General Bill Barr dropping a bombshell at a Senate hearing yesterday, telling lawmakers that he thinks the Trump campaign was spied on and he will be looking into it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal -- it's a big deal.
SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): You're not suggesting, though, that spying occurred?
BARR: I don't -- well, I guess you could -- I think that spying did occur. Yes, I think spying did occur. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Barr provided no evidence for that claim. A source familiar with his thinking later telling us he meant spying in the classic sense of intel collection. The source said Barr now wants to find out whether there was a proper basis for any surveillance.
CNN's Sara Murray has more from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Dave.
Bill Barr, the attorney general, was back in front of lawmakers yesterday with a very surprising claim. He hinted that maybe the FBI and maybe intelligence agencies were spying on the Trump campaign during 2016, but he didn't offer any evidence to back it up. And, in fact, later on, he clarified his remarks, saying this.
BARR: I am not saying that improper surveillance occurred. I'm saying that I am concerned about it and looking into it -- that's all.
MURRAY: Barr also shared with lawmakers that he is looking into how this initial investigation into the Trump campaign began in 2016. That's certainly something that will be very pleasing to President Trump.
What may not be so pleasing, though, Barr also told lawmakers he's not going to look at the Mueller report and sanitize it so there's nothing that makes the president look bad. He said he's only going to do that about private individuals, not people who are holding public office.
And, of course, he faced plenty of criticism over his summary of the Mueller report -- over his decision to clear the president of obstruction of justice. He said that Mueller didn't actually instruct him to do that. He also didn't instruct Barr to leave this up to Congress.
And he said he still doesn't know how special counsel Robert Mueller feels about his decision to clear the president of wrongdoing when it comes to obstruction of justice.
Back to you guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Sara. Thank you for that.
Congressional Democrats furious over Barr's assertion and his use of that hot-button word "spying."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK WARNER (R-VA): I'm amazed that the attorney general would make that kind of statement. I think it is, in many ways, disrespectful to the men and women who work in the Justice Department. And it shows, I think, either a lack of understanding or willful ignorance of what goes into a counterintelligence investigation.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): How very, very dismaying and disappointing that the chief law enforcement officer of our country is going off the rails yesterday and today. He is the attorney general of the United States of America, not the attorney general of Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Republicans strongly defending Barr. Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan saying how impressed he was with the attorney general, adding "God bless him."
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell took Barr's side on Fox News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Obviously, the question of whether you trust Bill Barr or not, he was confirmed unanimously as attorney general way back in Bush 41. He's an honorable man. He's not over there trying to cover anything up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: All right, let's bring in "Daily Beast" Washington bureau chief Jackie Kucinich, a CNN political analyst. Good to see you this morning.
ROMANS: Good morning.
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE DAILY BEAST: Good morning, guys.
BRIGGS: Happy Masters Thursday.
Let's talk about Bill Barr on the Hill yesterday and those words, "Yes, I think spying did occur." What's the impact on an already divided Washington, D.C.?
KUCINICH: I mean, I think we saw it right now. The term "spying" really alarmed Democrats and it seemed to be a play to the audience of one we hear so much about because later in that hearing, as Sara Murray mentioned, he kind of dialed back the language.
And then there was reporting this morning that he didn't -- he didn't -- he just used the term and he equated it to the same thing --
ROMANS: Right.
KUCINICH: -- as unauthorized surveillance.
So it's kind of too cute by half because obviously, the word "spying" is quite loaded --
BRIGGS: Yes. [05:35:00] KUCINICH: -- and it nods to some conspiracy theories that the president and his allies have been pushing out there forever.
Also, note this is the same week that the president's been throwing the word "treason" around.
ROMANS: Right.
KUCINICH: So it really does have some disturbing connotations that he's just putting that out there.
BRIGGS: Yes. The president -- I just want to pick up on what you just said there about treason, as the president said. "What the Democrats are doing on the border is treasonous."
KUCINICH: Right.
BRIGGS: What are they doing on the border and what is the president doing in terms of legislation or fixes to our asylum laws to fix that?
KUCINICH: Well, it's a really good question.
There isn't any movement on immigration that is productive on the Hill right now. There's really a lot of -- there has been a lot of rhetoric.
There's been a lot of things the president has said. He's going to close the border, he's not going to close the border. He's said --
ROMANS: Right.
KUCINICH: -- all sorts of things.
He's been all over the place on this and right now, it seems like we're bidding -- we're careening toward 2020 and immigration, once again, is becoming more of a hot-button issue and a talking point than something that's actually -- you know, people are willing to fix.
ROMANS: It's also a reminder that the president had the House and the Senate for two years. I mean, if they wanted to --
BRIGGS: Right.
ROMANS: If they wanted to fix little things about Obamacare they could have. If they wanted to change some laws at the border they could have, but didn't. So to say that it's Democrats that are the problem right now --
BRIGGS: Well, not surprising.
ROMANS: -- raises all those questions.
KUCINICH: Well, and to your point, Christine, it's because they couldn't. It's because they couldn't.
ROMANS: Yes. KUCINICH: That Republicans weren't all on the same page --
ROMANS: Right.
KUCINICH: -- on either of those issues. And on that side of the aisle there was no willingness to bend --
ROMANS: Right.
KUCINICH: -- particularly from the hardliners. And as far as I can see that hasn't changed.
ROMANS: Let's talk about Bernie Sanders yesterday. The Independent senator from Vermont who is running for president in 2020 using the Senate as a launching pad for Medicare for All.
Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people are increasingly clear. They want a health care system that guarantees health care to all Americans as a right. They want a health care system which will lower health care costs and save them money.
In other words, the American people want and we are going to deliver a Medicare for All single-payer system. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: How much it would cost, who would pay, what it would mean for your -- I mean, all of that would have to be worked out, but it adds a new wrinkle here.
Long-term care provisions, which is something that Democrats -- I mean, this was a Sen. Teddy Kennedy dream. He always wanted long-term care provisions in whatever kind of health care we had in this country, and it was stripped out of Obamacare.
Mitch McConnell, on Fox News, almost giddy at the prospect of Medicare for All being a debate in 2020 because he says it shows how America would be socialists.
BRIGGS: And because it abolishes the private health care industry --
ROMANS: Because it would -- because it would --
BRIGGS: -- that 180 million Americans have their coverage through.
ROMANS: And a lot of people -- look, when you do polling and say what do you think about Medicare for All, people say they like it. And then you say but what if you took away your health care through your company, and they don't like it.
Talk to us a little bit about health care as the new third rail of politics.
KUCINICH: (Audio gap) issues.
Medicare for All has really been -- you've seen Democratic leaders kind of scramble to diminish this idea -- to not talk about it because the fact of the matter is it wouldn't be able to get through the House and Senate because you would need senators and members of Congress from more Republican areas to sign onto this.
And right now, you're not seeing that because you're right, Christine. Once the details start getting filled in, once the cost starts getting played into, once --
ROMANS: Yes.
KUCINICH: -- taxes start coming into this, this would raise taxes. Bernie Sanders, I think, said it would be paid for by mostly business.
In any case, this is quite complicated. It would be a wholesale revamp of the throwing out, in a lot of ways, of the current health care system, which is precisely why when Trump started talking about health care again, Republicans were like shh.
BRIGGS: Right.
KUCINICH: Democrats are exploding themselves on this -- stop it.
BRIGGS: Right. They love this issue because Warren, Booker, and Harris all support it.
KUCINICH: Yes.
BRIGGS: The question is, does Joe Biden? We haven't heard him get in or weigh in on Medicare for All.
I do want to mention to Christine's point, Mitch McConnell also said yesterday he thinks they should fix the current system. That's the first I've heard --
ROMANS: Yes, me, too.
KUCINICH: Can he wait?
BRIGGS: -- any whisper of that from Republicans, so we'll get some more on that in the coming days.
Jackie, great to see you. Thank you.
KUCINICH: Thanks, guys.
ROMANS: All right, 39 minutes past the hour.
Breaking news. In just the last few minutes, word that the president of Sudan has stepped down after three decades in power. Multiple sources telling us that President Omar al-Bashir has resigned and is under house arrest. Thousands of protesters are camped outside the military headquarters in Khartoum as the world awaits official word from state media.
[05:40:00] We are very fortunate to have senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir here tracking the latest developments. You've just returned, actually. You were there reporting recently.
And this groundswell in the streets against him -- tell us what it was like and what's driving this.
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This sense that enough is enough in spite of how repressive and how oppressive the regime became in its last days.
One of the stories we were doing was trying to get under the skin of this infrastructure of torture that they have put in place. People decided -- very young people decided that they had had enough.
And it's important to say that this is still not quite yet resolved.
ROMANS: OK.
ELBAGIR: I was just on the phone with contacts on the ground at that sit-in site. I could hear gunfire in the background.
There is a sense that the army is attempting to try and quell whatever pushback is there from Bashir loyalists. That there are reports that some of those loyalists are currently being arrested and rounded up.
But the reason they have not yet gone to state media with a statement is that they are not fully yet in control even though the president has stepped down.
BRIGGS: And is under house arrest.
But give our viewers a sense of who President al-Bashir is and the type of terror he's inflicted.
ELBAGIR: He is one of the worst rulers that the African continent has seen. He is an indicted war criminal. It's something like three counts of crimes against humanity and two of war crimes against him. He utilized rape as a weapon of war.
And yet, he is also someone that the West -- that the U.S. and Europe reached an accommodation with. The European Union gave him hundreds of millions of dollars to help stem the tide of illegal migration to Europe. The White House -- the FBI signed a corporation deal with him on counterterror as recently as November.
So this is something that will actually be leading to some dismay. They had found a way to work with him on key issues and now there is uncertainty.
ROMANS: Will there be -- I mean, those people in the streets, they would love someday to vote in an election -- to have democracy in that country. We're a long way from that at this point. ELBAGIR: It is the hope, but at the moment it is not -- it is not a hope that is yet clear, but it's definitely what people want.
BRIGGS: Could this be 'be careful what you wish for' in terms of what we saw with Arab Spring. They're not sure what the military leadership would mean for the people of Sudan.
ELBAGIR: What's been so extraordinary is that even though they're very young, most of them say nothing could be worse than this. We'll take freedom.
BRIGGS: Absolutely.
ROMANS: We know that in Algeria -- tell us about the moment here. It feels a little bit to me -- and maybe I'm making too much of it -- but 2011 --
ELBAGIR: No.
ROMANS: -- the Arab Spring where people -- young people who have never really known freedoms and human rights and a free press have come together to demand better from their government.
ELBAGIR: Absolutely. In spite of the fact that they have no freedom of expression, no freedom of assembly, they have found a way to imagine a better world. And there is a real sense that perhaps we are seeing a North African Spring.
You have Bouteflika in Algeria forced down by peaceful protest and now, Sudan. And these were the two of the kind of the big beasts of Africa that have been felled in rapid succession.
I got off the phone with my mother and she was -- she was crying. It is -- it is an extraordinary moment for people.
ROMANS: It must be amazing to be -- to cover things all around the world and then to have something so monumental happening in your own country.
ELBAGIR: I just want to go home.
ROMANS: That's amazing.
ELBAGIR: I want to go home.
ROMANS: All right. Nima Elbagir, thank you for that.
BRIGGS: I hope you get there. Thank you.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
ROMANS: All right, our breaking news.
We are just getting word London's Metropolitan Police announcing that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested. Officials say the 47-year-old Assange, a native of Australia, was arrested at the Embassy of Ecuador where he has spent years under asylum. They say he will go before a judge as soon as possible.
Again, London police are telling us that Julian Assange has been arrested at the embassy -- the Ecuadorian embassy there.
BRIGGS: We will continue to follow this story and updated it as we get more information here.
It is an extraordinary breaking news day here at CNN because, of course, we turn to Israel now where Benjamin Netanyahu is gearing up for a record fifth term as prime minister of Israel.
With over 97 percent of the vote counted, a bloc led by Netanyahu's Likud Party poised to secure 65 seats in the 120 seats. That's 10 more than the center-left bloc led by Benny Gantz's Blue and White Party.
Michael Holmes live for us from Jerusalem with the latest. Good morning, sir.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Dave.
Yes, I can confirm the last votes have been counted now. They were ballots from soldiers and diplomats living overseas, prisoners, and so on. That has now been completed.
It was significant, though -- that batch -- because it was 250,000 votes and they have the ability to lift one of the right-wing parties currently under the threshold for seats above the threshold. That would add another partner to the Netanyahu coalition and give his bloc a couple more seats -- not that he needs them. He is well ahead.
Now, what's going to happen next Dave is the president -- he starts calling in delegations from each party, asking them who they think should be given the chance to form a coalition. Likely, that is going to be Netanyahu, of course.
[05:45:03] That could take a week or so and then Netanyahu has 28 days to get the coalition together. If it all goes smoothly and there are no hiccups, a new government likely to be sworn in next month.
Of course, Benjamin Netanyahu facing some legal issues as well. He has -- the attorney general here is considering indicting him on some corruption charges, bribery, and influence, and stuff like that. So it's going to be interesting to see if halfway through the year the sitting prime minister might be indicted, Dave.
BRIGGS: It sure is. A lot to continue to follow there. Michael, thank you.
Ahead, winter is refusing to let go in the Plains and the Midwest. Over two feet of snow expected in some areas. Is this another bomb cyclone? We'll answer that question, ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:50:41] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news. ROMANS: Our breaking news this morning. London's Metropolitan Police Force says WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested.
Official say Assange, a native of Australia, was arrested at the Embassy of Ecuador where he has spent years under asylum. Police officials say officers were invited into that embassy after Ecuador withdrew Assange's asylum.
He has been charged with failing to surrender to court. They say he will go before a judge as soon as possible.
We'll have more on this story in "NEW DAY" coming up in just a few minutes.
BRIGGS: A suspect in custody in connection with fires at three historically black churches in Louisiana over a span of 10 days.
Two law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the investigation telling CNN the suspect is a 21-year-old male from St. Landry Parish. CNN has the name of the subject but is not reporting it until it is announced by authorities, and we expect to get that information at a press conference scheduled for this morning.
ROMANS: All right. Spring in the Midwest and Plains has suddenly turned winter white. Blizzard warnings are now up in six states hit hard by a severe storm. Many are calling it another bomb cyclone. Whatever it is, it's awful and the morning commute is already really treacherous.
Meteorologist Derek Van Dam live at the CNN weather center with the latest. I mean, we know that it can be -- it can be chaotic in the Midwest in April, but this really takes the cake.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I don't think people in Minneapolis or Sioux Falls or Rapid City care what you call it this morning, it's just plain brutal -- plain nasty out there.
We have blizzard warnings in effect for much of South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, into northeastern sections of Colorado. This storm has a lot of energy around it as well, so much so that we've had thunder snow around the Sioux Falls region.
This is going to be impacting many of the interstates and highways across the area, slowing your commute down to almost a standstill with an additional foot to a foot and a half of snow possible across parts of South Dakota and just outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul region.
And by the way, this evening keep an eye to the sky if you're located in Chicago. We have the warm sector of the storm bringing the potential for severe weather. Isolated tornadoes are a potential with this system, with another storm system just waiting in its wings.
And by the way, Christine, look at these wind gusts. Over 100 miles per hour in Pueblo, Colorado.
ROMANS: Wow, that is something. All right, be careful. And check your flights.
VAN DAM: Yes --
ROMANS: Thank you so much for that, Derek.
VAN DAM: -- for sure.
ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on "CNN Business" this Thursday morning.
Global stock markets mixed here as leaders in the E.U. agree to extend the Brexit deadline to the end of October.
Take a look at U.S. futures right now -- sort of directionless -- barely moving here. The markets closed up a little bit on Wednesday. The Dow up just six points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also ended just slightly higher.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent meeting show the central bank acknowledged there's a threat of global growth slowdown and they don't expect an interest rate hike this year.
Cutting the cable cord is becoming more expensive. The price of YouTube T.V. subscription going up $10.00 to $49.99 a month. YouTube said it was raising those prices to bring customers the best service possible.
Providers of live T.V. bundles have been increasing prices as the services add more channels. And the streaming media world is getting crowded.
Netflix, Hulu, Amazon all have streaming services. Apple recently announced a move into the space. Disney is expected to reveal more about its upcoming Disney Plus service at an investor event later today.
BRIGGS: OK. Just again, updating that breaking news. Julian Assange arrested in London. We're working on more information for you.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:58:12] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
BRIGGS: Major breaking news -- it is, this morning. London's Metropolitan Police Force says WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested.
Officials say Assange, a native of Australia, was arrested at the Embassy of Ecuador where he's spent seven years under asylum. Police officials say officers were invited into the embassy after Ecuador withdrew its asylum.
He's been charged with failing to surrender to court. They say he'll go before a judge as soon as possible. ROMANS: Yes, failure to surrender to charges in Sweden of sexual assault. He went to Ecuador --
BRIGGS: Sex assault and rape allegations.
ROMANS: He went to -- he went to the Ecuadorian embassy, got the asylum, and now the ambassador there has revoked his asylum, and the Metropolitan Police were invited into the embassy and he is now in police custody.
BRIGGS: Of course, Assange published those leaks from Chelsea Manning about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And even as recently as the 2016 election, released the stolen e-mails from Hillary Clinton and the DNC.
So that name has never gone away despite the fact he's remained in that embassy for seven years.
ROMANS: And the U.K. Home secretary thanking Ecuador for the Assange arrest, saying that he is rightly facing justice in the U.K. They would like to thank Ecuador for its cooperation and the Metropolitan Police for its professionalism. No one is above the law.
But seven years hold up in that embassy -- seven long years there trying to avoid this warrant. And now, he is in police custody.
BRIGGS: Failing to surrender to the court. Massive breaking news for the man behind WikiLeaks who published those 2010 leaks about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Published those leaks that were believed to be stolen by Russia regarding Hillary Clinton, John Podesta, the DNC, and so forth.
ROMANS: A hero to some, a villain to others.
BRIGGS: Complicated.
ROMANS: He is a high-profile figure there who has escaped the law, at least, for some time here.
END
