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Secretary of State Pompeo Was On Trump's Phone Call with Ukraine President; Rudy Giuliani Will "Consider" Ukraine Subpoena; Hong Kong Deploy Teargas; California Passes Allowing College Athletes to be Paid. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired October 01, 2019 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: But let's begin with the latest on the whistleblower scandal. CNN has confirmed now that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on that July 25th call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
[05:00:04]
The story was first reported by "The Wall Street Journal."
The State Department has not responded to CNN's request for a comment about this.
But here's what Pompeo told ABC News last week about the call.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC HOST: What do you know about those conversations?
MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: So you just gave me a report about a I.C. whistleblower complaint, none of which I've seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: We now know he was listening to the call that she's asking about, the conversation she's asking about. Pompeo has not publicly addressed the call with the new Ukrainian leader or the State Department's role in Rudy Giuliani's dealings with Ukraine.
Here's what Pompeo said late last week at the U.N.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POMPEO: To the best of my knowledge and from what I've seen so far, each of the actions that were undertaken by State Department officials was entirely appropriate and consistent with the objective that we've had certainly since this new government has come into office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The chairmen of three House committees have subpoenaed Pompeo over his failure to produce documents related to Ukraine. BRIGGS: President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, saying he
will think about responding to a House subpoena for documents in the impeachment inquiry. Giuliani tweeting, he believes the three Democratic chairmen of House committees who issued the subpoenas, quote, have prejudged this case.
He writes: It raises significant issues concerning legitimacy and constitutional and legal issues. Subpoena will be given appropriate consideration.
He was just as noncommittal on fox news.
Giuliani just as noncommittal on Fox News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, PERSONAL ATTORNEY TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: Oh, I don't know, I'm weighing the alternatives. I'm -- I'll kind of like go through it. I'll get all my evidence together. I'll get my charts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Giuliani was repeatedly mentioned by Trump in his call with the Ukrainian president. He was to be president of Ukraine's primary contact in Trump's push to have Ukraine investigate Joe Biden and his son.
ROMANS: The intelligence community watchdog debunking a GOP conspiracy theory about the whistleblower complaints. President Trump tweeting last night: Who changed the longstanding whistleblower rules just before submittal of the fake whistleblower report? Drain the swamp.
Other Republicans pushing the claim, this talking point that the new rules allow secondhand or hearsay information which they claim the Ukraine complaint relies on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I can't believe we're talking about impeaching the president based on an accusation based on hearsay. Why did they change the rules about a whistleblower -- you can use hearsay when you used to could not -- just weeks before the complaint?
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): He had no firsthand knowledge. He heard something from someone who may have heard something from someone.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": No, no -- his sources were firsthand sources. You know as well as I do that you do not need to have firsthand knowledge to be a whistleblower. And even if --
JORDAN: Well, you don't now because they changed the form. You used to and they changed the form.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: But the intelligence inspector general says none of that is true. In a statement issued yesterday, Michael Atkinson wrote this: The complainant had official and authorized access including direct knowledge. The statement says the whistleblower had more than secondhand assertions and the I.G. found other information supported the complainant's allegations.
Meantime, President Trump made clear he still wants to know the whistleblower's identity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Mr. President, do you now know who the whistleblower is, sir?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, we're trying to find out about a whistleblower, when you have a whistleblower that reports things that were incorrect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The identity of a whistleblower is protected by law. And the White House I will remind everyone released the rough transcript of the call which clearly shows the president asking --
BRIGGS: If they are attacking the process, not the validity of that.
All right. If the House eventually votes to impeach President Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says his hands will be tied and a Senate impeachment trial will be the next step.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): It's a Senate rule related to impeachment that would take 67 votes to change. So I would have no choice but to take it up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: McConnell's comment raises the possibility of a Senate impeachment trial just as the Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses are set to begin in early 2020.
ROMANS: A new CNN poll shows Americans about evenly split over impeachment and support growing among Republicans and independents. Overall, just about half, 47 percent, say President Trump should be impeached and removed from office, 45 percent oppose impeachment. Among independents, support for impeachment and removal has jumped 11 points since May to 46 percent. It has risen 8 points among Republicans now at 14 percent.
BRIGGS: Next, a tale of two cities on China's national day. A military parade in Beijing, protests in Hong kong. The stunning split-screen with a live report from Hong Kong, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [05:09:23]
BRIGGS: The president of Ukraine says his country is willing to open an investigation into the so-far unproven claims against Joe Biden and his son. But Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine won't take orders to do so from anybody.
For the latest on the reaction on the whistleblower scandal in Ukraine, let's bring in Matthew Chance live from Kiev.
Matthew, good morning.
Trying to stay neutral are Ukraine officials. Difficult to do, though.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, trying to walk a very delicate and narrow diplomatic line.
But, you know, Vladimir Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He sort of offered this idea of opening this investigation that has been called for from President Trump in a July 5th phone call.
[05:10:06]
But he says he's not doing that because of any pressure. He's doing it purely to work out whether any Ukrainian laws were broken. Remember, Zelensky was elected on anti-corruption platform. This fits in to his kind of promise to the Ukrainian people about looking at corruption cases.
He has said, though, that he will not release the Ukrainian transcript of the July 25th phone call. There's some pressure to do that, to see if a comparison can be made to the White House transcript was absolutely corrupt. He's not doing that. And so, again, he's doing everything he can to make sure he doesn't further get sucked into this American political crisis, Dave.
BRIGGS: Matthew Chance live for us in Kiev. Just past noon there. Thank you.
ROMANS: All right. I want to go to Hong Kong right now where protests are heating up at the moment. This just as China celebrates 70 years of communist rule, with pomp and circumstance in the mainland. Military might on full display on national play. More than 100,000 participants there, all well-choreographed.
And then split-screen Hong Kong remains engulfed in protests. Will Ripley live on the ground in Hong Kong with the latest developments.
I'm guessing what you are seeing behind you is not on split-screen in China. This is what we see as an outsider, uncensored. Hong Kong, clearly, these protests are heating up, as China is trying to show unity and military might and discipline on the mainland.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, yes, and Chinese censors have been blocking out CNN on the mainland, every time that come up live from Hong Kong.
But I need to show you, Christine, because we have a large plume of smoke coming up from the United Center here in Admiralty. And see, it looks like a fire engine or a water cannon. It's the water cannon. They are trying to clear out the protesters from just in front of the United Center, with the water canon.
That's blue, dyed water that is mixed in -- people are running very quickly here, trying to stay out of the way. Mixed in with chemicals that are designed to sting and burn.
I also want to show you -- I think I've just lost IFB here. Pardon me as I try to reconnect here. I'm going to redial my earpiece. There's another smoke plume as we run with the people here. You can see, huge rounds of teargas.
I've got put my -- I've got to put my mask on. Excuse me, guys.
(INAUDIBLE)
ROMANS: So, Will Ripley is adjusting his teargas. He has to redial in because he got disconnected to us. We can hear him but he can hear us.
RIPLEY: Can you hear me? Yes. OK. What we saw was teargas fired. I have my gas mask on.
What you see the police line right there. Riot police just down this way. Now, decisively clearing out this area in Admiralty.
You can see, the protesters all ran to the east, towards causeway bay, which is where all this kickoff earlier. You have the police moving through. You saw them using the water cannon and you saw them fire probably dozens of rounds of teargas in our direction.
Now, I can feel my skin stinging, because the teargas sticks to any moisture. It's designed to make you uncomfortable if you get it in your eyes or your mouth.
This is what Carrie Lam will be coming home to, when she returns from the celebrations in Beijing in the coming hours. Hong Kong's chief executive not in the city here. She was in the stands listening to Chinese President Xi Jinping talk about nationality and celebration, while in a city that she runs, in the middle of the crisis, that she arguably is one of the main factors, main contributing factors, by introducing an extradition bill.
You have this. You have protesters setting fires, building barricades and clashing with police. Exactly the kind of images that the central government of Beijing does not want the world to see, especially on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
BRIGGS: Well, if you can hear me. You talked about four demands those protesters still have. We didn't see what precipitated that teargas or the water cannons. Was there any violence from the protesters?
ROMANS: I'm not sure -- Will can't hear us. He's trying to dial in his IFB again here.
We're going to come back and look at these pictures. I just think the split-screen is so fascinating what you're seeing, in mainland China, where they're trying to project power and might and unity. And you're seeing in Hong Kong, where people are demanding independence from communist rule, or elements of communist rule.
We'll come back to the pictures in just a moment. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:14:51]
BRIGGS: California is trying to change the game in college athletics, signing into law the Fair Pay to Play Act.
Andy Scholes has that story in "The Bleacher Report."
Good morning, my friend.
[05:20:00]
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good morning, Dave.
So, this new law doesn't mean athletes will be paid by their schools in California, but it does mean for the first time, they will be allowed to profit from their name, image and the likeness.
And California Governor Gavin Newsom signing the Fair Pay to Play Act into law on LeBron James' HBO show "The Shop." Now, this new law which goes into effect in 2023 will allow athletes to hire agents, sign shoe deals and profit off of autographs and jersey sales.
Now, LeBron we all know didn't go to college, but had he gone to Ohio State, he says he would have been taken advantage of under the current rules.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEBRON JAMES, LOS ANGELES LAKERS FORWARD: I would have been one of the kids if I went off to Ohio State or went to any of the big-time colleges, where pretty much, that 23 jersey would have got sold all over the place, without my name on the back, coming from me and my mom. We didn't have anything. We wouldn't be able to benefit at all from it.
DRAYMOND GREEN, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS FORWARD: Someone needs to force this dictatorship to change, because that's exactly what it is. It's no -- it's no different than any other country that's run by dictators. The NCAA is a dictatorship.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SCHOLES: And Draymond Green will be on NEW DAY at 8:00 hour to discuss the new law.
The NCAA responded in a statement saying it's considering its next step, adding, unfortunately, this new law is already creating confusion for current and future student-athletes, coaches, administrators and campuses and not just in California.
All right. Steelers hosting the Bengals last night on "Monday Night Football," a battle of winless teams. And it took a while to get going, but Mason Rudolph and the Steelers would eventually run away with this one. Rudolph, throwing two touchdowns. He gets his first win as a starter, as the Steelers win over the Bengals, 27-3.
Steelers haven't lost a home game on "Monday Night Football" since 1991. How about that?
SCHOLES: Former CNNer Hines Ward was on hand at the game. He along with some other Steelers legends were honored at halftime as the team inducted them into their Hall of Honor.
All right. The NFL, meanwhile, has suspended Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict for the remainder of the season without pay for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Colts tight end Jack Doyle. Burfict was injected in the second quarter of the Raiders win for that hit.
Now, this is the longest suspension for a play on the field in history. Burfict was suspended in both 2016 and 2017, for hits -- illegal hits on the field. He's expected to appeal his suspension.
All right. Baseball's postseason gets under way later today in the nation's capital. Max Scherzer is going to be on the mound for the Nationals as they host the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League wild card game. First pitch will be 8:00 Eastern on our sister network, TBS.
And, Dave, you know, one of the best times of the sports calendar. You've got baseball postseason, football, basketball getting going, everything is on the television for you to watch.
BRIGGS: Don't leave out hockey, right around a couple of days too.
SCHOLES: Oh, yes.
BRIGGS: Andy Scholes, thank you, my friend.
ROMANS: Productivity down.
BRIGGS: Down the train. But we have to go to bed. So, we miss all that.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, guys.
Twenty-two minutes past the hour. CNN confirms the secretary of state was listening in on the Trump Ukraine phone call. The latest, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:27:53]
ROMANS: We're now learning Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also on the Trump Ukraine phone call.
BRIGGS: Rudy Giuliani gives his first response to a House subpoena in the Trump impeachment inquiry.
ROMANS: Seventy years of communist rule in China, marked by a parade in Beijing, and protests, right now, in Hong Kong. A split screen you won't see in China, but you will see here.
BRIGGS: No, you will not.
ROMANS: Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. We'll check in with Will Ripley there who was amidst the chaos in Hong Kong, 5:28 Eastern Time.
We begin in the nation's capital with the latest on the whistleblower scandal. CNN has confirmed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on the July 25th call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the story first reported by "The Wall Street Journal".
The State Department has not responded to CNN's request for a comment.
But here's what Pompeo told ABC News last week about that call.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC HOST: What do you know about those conversations?
MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: So you just gave me a report about a I.C. whistleblower complaint, none of which I've seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Pompeo has not publicly addressed the call with the new Ukrainian leader or the State Department's role in Rudy Giuliani's dealings with Ukraine.
Here's what Pompeo said last week, late last week at the U.N.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POMPEO: To the best of my knowledge and from what I've seen so far, each of the actions that were undertaken by State Department officials was entirely appropriate and consistent with the objective that we've had certainly since this new government has come into office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: The chairmen of three House committees have subpoenaed Pompeo over his failure to produce documents related to Ukraine. BRIGGS: President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani saying
he'll think about responding to a House subpoena for documents in the impeachment inquiry. Giuliani tweeting he believes the three Democratic chairmen of House committees who issued the subpoenas have prejudged this case. He writes: It raises significant issues concerning legitimacy and constitutional and legal issues. The subpoena will be given appropriate consideration.
Giuliani just as noncommittal on Fox News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, PERSONAL ATTORNEY TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: Oh, I don't know, I'm weighing the alternatives. I'm -- I'll kind of like go through it. I'll get all my evidence together. I'll get my charts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
END
