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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Will Meet Rosenstein in Washington Thursday; Kavanaugh & Blasey Ford to Testify before Lawmakers Thursday; Trump Signals Plans to Meet Kim Jong-Un Again over Denuclearization; Russia to Send Advanced Missiles to Syria. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired September 25, 2018 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[04:00:13] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Twin crises for the White House. The president reaffirms support for his Supreme Court pick as the nation sees if he will fire the man in charge of the Russia probe.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Moscow is sending advanced missiles to the Assad regime. Why now? How it could heighten risks of an air war over Syria.
BRIGGS: And Bill Cosby will be sentenced today. Prosecutors lobbed for up to 10 years for drugging and assaulting a woman in 2004.
ROMANS: A remarkable rescue. A teen is found alive in a floating fishing tarp after seven weeks at sea.
Good morning. Welcome to "EARLY START." I'm Christine romans.
BRIGGS: Hi, there. I'm Dave Briggs. Good morning, everyone. Tuesday, September 25th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the east.
In about six hours, the president addresses the U.N. General Assembly.
But we start with what is happening in Washington. If Monday was any version of a fire drill, expect Thursday to be hotter. President Trump will be face-to-face with Rod Rosenstein, who right now is still deputy attorney general following a very chaotic day on the capitol.
That meeting happening as Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford both testify on Capitol Hill about her sexual assault allegations against the Supreme Court nominee.
ROMANS: So first. on Rosenstein, a senior official tells us the deputy attorney general overestimated how angry the president would be. Rosenstein expected fury after the "New York Times" reported he suggested secretly recording the president and discussed using the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.
BRIGGS: Rosenstein offered his resignation to Chief of Staff John Kelly Friday, which led to multiple discussions with top officials through yesterday. For now, the future of the man in charge of the Russia investigation remains very much up in the air.
Senior White House correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, with the latest.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, President Trump waking up in New York for the second day of the United Nation's General Assembly. He certainly is going to be on the world stage addressing world leaders. But it is trouble and controversy back in the White House that are overshadowing his entire meeting here.
The question, of course, is he going to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Rod Rosenstein went to the White House yesterday expecting to be fired or prepared to resign. Neither happened. The president said he wants to meet with him on Thursday when he gets back to Washington.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, I'm meeting with Rod Rosenstein on Thursday when I get back from all of these meetings. We'll be meeting at the White House. We'll be determining what's going on. We want to have transparency. We want to have openness. I look forward to meeting with Rod at that time.
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ZELENY: So the president talking about transparency and talking about openness. What does that mean? We are not certain. Is he going to fire Rod Rosenstein? We don't know. Is he going to resign? We don't know that either.
One thing is clear, the president is furious about the Russia investigation and blames Rod Rosenstein for all of it. Certainly, there are questions of loyalty here as well.
Dave and Christine?
ROMANS: Jeff Zeleny for us. Thanks, Jeff.
Trump attorney, Jay Sekulow, calling for a time-out in the Russia investigation if Rosenstein leaves his post. He says the replacement should conduct a review of the Mueller probe that is thoroughly complete.
As for who may succeed Rosenstein, the next in line at the Justice Department is solicitor general, Noel Francisco, a conservative lawyer who worked in the Bush White House. There are questions about whether he would need a waiver to address potential conflicts of interest. Francisco was a partner at the law firm Jones and Day, which represents the Trump campaign in the Mueller probe.
BRIGGS: President Trump's standing by his Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh, telling FOX News the president called him on Monday to express support. The judge remaining defiant in the face of sexual assault allegations that threaten his confirmation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BRETT KAVANAUGH, U.S. SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I'm not going to let false accusations drive us out of this process. We're looking for a fair process where I can be heard and defend my integrity and my life- long record, my life-long record of promoting dignity and equality for women, starting with the women who knew me when I was 14 years old. I'm not going anywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: The "Washington Post" reports that President Trump called Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, on Saturday demanding he call a vote on the Kavanaugh nomination.
ROMANS: One White House official telling CNN the president has been pushing for a more-offense oriented approach defending his nominee, especially after a second accuser surfaced in the "New Yorker" magazine. The administration views the allegation by Debby Ramirez as a chance to be more aggressive since that story was thinly sourced. We are already seeing signs of that from Republican Senator Orrin Hatch who calls Ramirez's allegations phony. He is pointing a finger at the Democrats.
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[04:05:09] SEN. ORRIN HATCH, (R), UTAH: It is amazing to me that these allegations come out of nowhere at the last minute and that they weren't brought up earlier in the process. It is not untypical for our friends on the other side to pull that kind of crap.
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ROMANS: More from CNN's Phil Mattingly on Capitol Hill.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, there may be new allegations but there's almost no shift in posture from Senate Republicans. If anything, Republicans have gotten more aggressive in their desire to move forward with the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination. Several Republican Senators, top Republican aides saying to me, one in particular saying, they are more angry than worried about the nomination, believing the allegations are related to a, quote, unquote, "Democratic smear campaign." The Democrats, on the other side of things, saying this is more of a reason to have an expanded FBI background check and hold off Thursday's scheduled hearing with Christine Blasey Ford, the initial accuser. This is a testimony with enormous stakes for the Supreme Court nomination and stakes for how the Senate deals with allegations like this. Stakes for the whole country given the moment they're in.
What will happen after the hearing? Well, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made no bones about it. He said explicitly on the Senate floor Brett Kavanaugh will get a vote no matter what happens on Thursday. Will they have the votes? That is still an open question.
Christine and Dave?
BRIGGS: Phil, thank you. Christine Blasey Ford, in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman Chuck Grassley, says she is frightened, but that fear will not hold her back from testifying. After a meeting in Mitch McConnell's office late Monday, some Republicans indicated to CNN a final committee vote is possible this week on the Kavanaugh nomination. No firm date has been set.
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BRIGGS: A number of swing votes feeling the pressure of protesters gathered Monday in the hallway leading to Susan Collins' office. Collins says she will not make up her mind on Kavanaugh until after the hearing on Thursday.
ROMANS: I think 128 arrests across Capitol Hill yesterday. Also a lot of other places. Not just that scene. We are talking about the fire drill yesterday on Capitol Hill. In a variety of locations, one after the other. You had --
BRIGGS: That's been consistent throughout.
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BRIGGS: Wait for Thursday. We will see more.
ROMANS: Lost in the noise in Washington is the president's appearance at the United Nations. He addresses the General Assembly at 10:15 eastern time this morning.
The focus yesterday, Mr. Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. President Trump signaling plans to meet with Kim Jong-Un again and he is addressing efforts to denuclearization the Korean peninsula.
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TRUMP: I see tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of Chairman Kim for making a deal. I think that is something that is very good. We are in no rush. There's no hurry.
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ROMANS: Let's get the latest from CNN's Will Ripley, live from Hong Kong this morning.
When the president made announcement that a second Trump/Kim meeting is likely, immediately, you heard people saying, what has Kim done to earn it? We repatriated some American soldiers, but has enough been done?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, we have been talking about this, the fact that the North Koreans have been pushing for a second summit for weeks now. It was believed it was likely that President Trump would accept because of the things we heard President Moon Jae-in tell President Trump in New York yesterday. He heaped praise on him. He said that Chairman Kim believes that only President Trump is the one who bring about a resolution and a solution to this crisis. In other words, the fact that the lower-level negotiations have yielded nothing in terms of denuclearization. Yes, North Korea is dismantling a nuclear testing facility and they dismantled their nuclear test site, they are saying they might dismantle their nuclear reactor if there are steps taken by the United States, which have not been taken yet. Other than that, North Korea has a full arsenal. They have not taken any of the traditional steps for denuclearization. But because they are telling President Trump that he is the one who will close the deal, that is enough for the president to be ready to sit down in the near future with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un. That may be against some of the advice he has received. But remember, he went into Singapore against the advice of many, and he did it anyway. It looks like it will happen again -- Christine?
ROMANS: The president announcing a trade deal with South Korea. So a lot happening on the Korean peninsula.
Will, thank you so much.
BRIGGS: Coming up, the FBI joining the search for a boy with autism missing in North Carolina.
[04:09:42] ROMANS: The search zone now expanding.
And a popular brand of nuts recalled over a possible E. coli concernment.
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BRIGGS: It's 4:13 eastern time. Russia now further aligning itself with Syria. In the next two weeks, the Kremlin says it will arm the Assad regime with sophisticated air defense systems, a move that could heighten the risk of the air war over Syria. Last week, you may remember, the Syrians accidentally shot down a Russian military plane killing 15 troops. The Kremlin blaming Israel for the incident.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen joining us live from Moscow with the latest on all of this.
Fred, good morning.
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave. A major development in the skies over Syria. That new advanced missile, the S-300, has a range of about 170 miles. It means the Syrians could essentially target Israeli planes while almost still in the skies over Israel. Of course, also a major concern for the U.S. Air Force, not just in its regular operations over Syria, but also in case they would have to strike the Assad government once again. Russians, of course, very angry. They say the Israelis were at fault for that plane being brought down. They say the Israeli F-16 essentially used a Russian plane as cover and that that Russian plane was hit by that missile. The U.S. evaluating. The Russians moving that new anti-air system into the area. The Americans, according to our Barbara Starr, say that they believe its equipment can stay out of the range of this new radar system. But at the same time, you have national security adviser, John Bolton, saying he believes all this would be a big mistake. He is urging the Russians to reconsider.
[04:15:23] BRIGGS: Bolton also said that was a significant escalation by Moscow. Sounds like a situation that could get worse.
Fred, thank you.
ROMANS: The president signing a revised trade agreement with South Korea in the first major trade deal he has finalized since taking office. Along with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Trump signed the deal on the sidelines of the U.N. Monday. The president hailed it as a historic milestone in trade.
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TRUMP: It was a long time coming and it's a basic redoing of the agreement that was done before, which was a very unfair agreement for the United States.
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ROMANS: We've heard him complain about this, many times. This revised deal will open up South Korean and U.S. exports, particularly cars and medicine and ag products. This pact with South Korea comes as other trade talks are breaking down with China. A senior Chinese official says the U.S. is, quote, "putting knife to its neck," making it hard to continue trade negotiations and trying to cancel talks in Washington this week, just as a fresh volley of tariffs hit both sides, including $200 billion on Chinese goods. A vice chairman of commerce, just moments ago, saying the United States is putting a gun to China's head. You see the metaphors there that the Chinese officials are using.
Meanwhile, NAFTA talks appear unsolved. The White House is pushing Canada to rewrite the deal by October 30th for Ottawa to agree to a framework. This was set last month between U.S. and Mexico, but high- level talks broke down last week.
BRIGGS: But the markets remain unfazed?
ROMANS: The markets remain unfazed and that is what has been so interesting.
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ROMANS: And I will say, that gives the White House more breathing space to try to be very tough with China as long as markets are not falling apart.
BRIGGS: OK.
Ahead, nearly a week after a fire that gutted his apartment complex, a 74-year-old man found alive. Why did no one realize he was missing?
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[04:21:37] ROMANS: Bill Cosby is set to be sentenced today for drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in 2004. The disgraced comedian was convicted on three charges. The judge now merging them into one for sentencing purposes because they stem from the same event. That means Cosby faces a maximum 10 years in prison instead of 30. Prosecutors are asking the judge for a five to 10-year sentence, arguing the 81-year-old has shown no remorse. Cosby's lawyers want house arrest.
BRIGGS: It's been 11 days since Hurricane Florence hit the Carolinas, but the worst of the flooding in parts of South Carolina still to come. In Georgetown County, water levels are expected to crest Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Thousands of residents now being urged to evacuate. At least 10 feet of flooding is expected. Several roadways are likely to be cut off and two shelters have opened.
ROMANS: Teams from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are working to fortify vulnerable dams along Highway 17 near the Waccamaw River east of Georgetown. Businesses are boarding up and distributing sandbags. Three additional storm-related fatalities in North Carolina. The overall death toll from Florence now stands at 47.
BRIGGS: The Dallas Police Department has fired Amber Guyger. She was the officer charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of 26- year-old Botham Jean. Jean was killed inside his apartment. Officer Guyger claiming she thought she had entered her own apartment. Jean's mother says she is relieved by the news of the officer's firing. But family lawyers say they want Guyger indicted on a murder charge.
ROMANS: And authorities in North Carolina expanding their search for 6-year-old Maddox Scott Rich who went missing on Saturday. Police say the boy has autism and is nonverbal. Maddox was last seen at Rankin Lake Park in Gastonia, North Carolina, near Charlotte. His parents say they lost sight of him when he ran off. Police extended the search on the ground and in the air to two miles outside the park using trained dogs to cover parts of the terrain. The FBI is assisting in the search.
BRIGGS: A variety of Mauna Loa macadamia nut products have been recalled because of possible E. coli contamination. Health inspectors found E. coli in the well water and distribution system at the company's facility in Hawaii. The effected products were made there between September 6th and 21st. No illnesses related to the water have been reported so far.
ROMANS: A 74-year-old man found alive and well in a senior apartment complex in Washington, D.C., five days after that complex caught fire. Washington's mayor says no one knew the man was missing. He was found by crews that were trying to determine if fire marshals could safely enter the building. Some of the doors had swelled because of the heat. Workers had to use crowbars to pry the door open right after the fire. Emergency responders said they rescued more than 100 residents. It was thought everyone had been accounted for. The man was taken to the hospital and is expected to be OK. Amazing.
BRIGGS: Remarkable.
The amazing story of a real-life "Life of Pi." An Indonesian teenager plucked from the sea after drifting for 49 days in a floating fish trap. The 19-year-old was working on a remote fishing trap of the coast of Indonesia. He told CNN Indonesia that, in mid-July, strong waves caused the trap's anchor rope to break. The platform drifted all the way to the waters of Guam, more than 1,500 miles away. He says many ships passed right by him until he was able to attract the attention of the passing cargo ship, which hauled him aboard. He was treated on the ship and examined by the Japanese Coast Guard and has now returned home to Indonesia.
[04:25:21] ROMANS: That is remarkable. It is just remarkable how --
BRIGGS: Survival skills.
ROMANS: Yes. I mean, amazing.
BRIGGS: Tremendous.
ROMANS: Good luck to him.
Even by Washington standards, this is a wild week. And it is Tuesday. The president's Supreme Court nominee takes to television to defend himself.
And after a frantic Monday, will Rod Rosenstein keep his job as deputy attorney general? He'll find out from the president soon.
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[04:30:10] BRIGGS: Twin crises for the White House.
