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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
U.S. Wanted Julian Assange Extradited Over Computer Intrusion; Trump Seizes on Campaign Spying Claim; Pete Buttigieg Gains Ground in Two New Polls. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired April 12, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:20] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Sources tell CNN President Trump wanted to release detained migrants into sanctuary cities in hopes of hurting Democrats.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Assange facing extradition to the U.S. where more charges could await the WikiLeaks founder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D-IN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If he wanted to clear this up, he could come out today and say he's changed his mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg taking on the vice president of the United States and surging in two new 2020 presidential polls.
BRIGGS: And a Minnesota state trooper blown over by the driving winds of a blizzard that dropped up to two feet of snow in some places. Looks like the ice played a bit of a role there.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: It's Friday.
BRIGGS: Happy Friday, folks.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: We made it.
ROMANS: It is April 12th, Friday. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.
Let's begin here with CNN confirming last night the Trump administration pushed the Department of Homeland Security to release detained migrants into so-called sanctuary cities. Sources tell us the aim was partly to retaliate against Democrats who oppose the president's plan for a border wall.
The president personally pushed then Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to follow through on that plan. Sources say she resisted. An analysis by DHS lawyers concluding the plan would be illegal. That ultimately killed it. A DHS official confirmed there was such a proposal, telling CNN, quote, "These are human beings, not game pieces."
BRIGGS: Meantime, Vice President Pence while touring the border in Arizona spoke with CNN. He said the Trump administration has no plans to return to separating families as a way to deter illegal immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The president made it very clear this week we're not rethinking bringing back family separation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Pence's comments contradict multiple sources who tell us the president was considering more extreme measures to enforce a zero tolerance immigration policies. Among the proposals the president considered to deter migrants, once again separating children from their parents at our border.
ROMANS: All right. Julian Assange sits in a British prison this morning. Police in London yesterday dragged the WikiLeaks founder out of the Ecuadorian embassy where he's been living under asylum for seven years. He has been charged with jumping bail and now awaits extradition requested by the U.S.
For more on the events leading to that arrest and everything that's happened since, we go live to London and CNN's Isa Soares.
Certainly we're learning more about the machinations behind that arrest and what's he's saying.
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very much so. Good morning to you, Christine. After more than 2,487 days, in fact, being holed up inside the Ecuadorian embassy behind me, Julian Assange has gone from one confined space to another. This one in a prison, waiting -- a police station, waiting to find out his fate, and his fate will be sealed in three weeks from now, on May 2nd.
As you clearly outlined, one, he's been found guilty on one charge, that's skipping bail, where he could get as many as 12 months in prison. But this one is one charge and this is one charge against him according to DOJ and that is conspiring in 2010 with Chelsea Manning to steal military secrets. The DOJ going on to say in fact that he -- conspiring to assist in many ways, assist Manning in trying to crack a code in Pentagon computers that then led to one of the biggest leaks of government secrets.
And this is what he'll be finding out in three weeks from now. Of course what we know is that authorities will be looking -- authorities waiting for the prosecutors in 65 days. They've got a 65-day period to get the papers across to them. And they'll be looking at several factors, the judge, whether this is politically motivated, whether he's in good health and also whether he could potentially face the death penalty.
These are all the elements that the judge will be looking at before making a decision, before extraditing him. If he is extradited, he could face as many as five years for that charge with the DOJ telling CNN that more charges are forthcoming.
ROMANS: Yes.
SOARES: Meanwhile, WikiLeaks telling CNN, Christine, that this is politically motivated and therefore persecution -- Christine, Dave.
ROMANS: All right. It's expected. All right. Thank you so much for that, Isa Soares.
BRIGGS: All right. So what about the president's relationship with WikiLeaks? Well, during the campaign, the president routinely applauded WikiLeaks for its role in dumping stolen documents from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign.
[04:05:06] Here's what he said then.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks.
This WikiLeaks stuff is unbelievable. It tells you the inner heart. You got to read it. It's been amazing what's coming out on WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks is fascinating. This WikiLeaks is like a treasure-trove.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Fast-forward now to yesterday, the president suddenly seeming to forget that love for Julian Assange's organization. Here's what he told reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It's not my thing. I know nothing really about him. It's not my deal in life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. Hillary Clinton also reacting to Assange's arrest. Here's what she said at an event in New York City Thursday night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He has to answer for what he has done, at least as it's been charged. I do think it's a little ironic that he may be the only foreigner that this administration would welcome to the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRIGGS: President Trump seizing on the attorney general's claim, meanwhile, his presidential campaign was spied on and carrying it much further. Refresher, here's what AG Bill Barr told a congressional committee on Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal. I think spying did occur. I think spying did occur.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Barr later said he was not claiming there was improper surveillance only that he was concerned about it, but on Thursday President Trump seemed to blow right past that distinction eagerly embracing the spying claim.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think what he said was absolutely true, that there was absolutely spying into my campaign. I'll go a step further, in my opinion, it was illegal spying, unprecedented spying and something that should never be allowed to happen in our country again, and I think his answer was actually a very accurate one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Meantime former FBI director James Comey said at a cyber security conference he was baffled by Barr's word.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: I really don't know what he's talking about when he talks about spying on the campaign. It's concerning because the FBI and the Department of Justice conduct court-ordered electronic surveillance. I have never thought of that as spying and the reason I mentioned I don't know what he means by that is if the attorney general has come to the belief that that should be called spying, wow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Comey said that Barr's reference to spying will make it harder to presume he is standing up for truth and facts.
ROMANS: All right. Seven minutes past the hour. Eye-popping numbers for the Treasury Department. The U.S. budget deficit is 15 percent higher than a year ago. It grew -- look at that, it grows $146.9 billion in March alone. It is now $691 billion for the fiscal year. That's roughly $100 billion more than where it was at this point in 2018.
The deficit is ballooned if the government spent more than the military, veterans affairs and interest on the debt. President Trump's 2017 tax cuts mean the Treasury is taking in less money. The White House view is that huge corporate tax cuts would super charge economic growth enough to reign in the deficit. That has not happened. The Treasury is projecting the deficit will surge over $1 trillion by the end of the fiscal year in September.
The Congressional Budget Office was slightly more optimistic. Estimated deficit would stay just below $1 trillion until 2022. An aging American population will drive up Medicare and Social Security spending sharply in coming years. For the decade, interest payments on the national debt will be larger than discretionary spending.
BRIGGS: The city of Chicago is suing actor Jussie Smollett in an effort to recoup $130,000 for the investigation of what police say was a staged hate crime attack. The civil suit comes after the actor refused to pay the bill to cover the cost of police overtime. The suit says more than two dozen police officers and detectives spent more than 1800 overtime hours working on the Smollett case.
The city officer wants Smollett to pay $1,000 for each false statement he made to police and to cover attorney's fees and other legal costs. No comment from Smollett's attorney on the suit.
ROMANS: More legal trouble for attorney Michael Avenatti. He has been indicted on 36 counts of embezzlement and fraud. Federal prosecutors alleged Avenatti stole millions of dollars from clients including one, a paraplegic from whom Avenatti withheld a settlement payment of $4 million.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK HANNA, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA: As it turns out, within months after receiving the settlement proceeds in early 2015, Mr. Avenatti had drained the entire $4 million payment from his trust account using significant portions of these funds to finance his coffee business, his auto racing enterprise, and his own personal lifestyle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[04:10:10] ROMANS: Avenatti says he intends to plead not guilty to new federal charges. Just last month he was named in a scheme to extort as much as $25 million from Nike.
BRIGGS: Bad dude. All right. The blizzard that struck from the Rockies to the plains has not turned deadly. The latest next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRIGGS: Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signing a so-called Heartbeat Bill into law, banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. In many cases, that's as early as six weeks before many women even know they're pregnant. Courts have consistently struck down all such laws most recently in Iowa in January. DeWine acknowledging the same fate awaits this law, but he says he hopes the U.S. Supreme Court uses the case to overturn "Roe v. Wade."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) [04:15:02] GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): The purpose of this bill is really to have a vehicle for the United States Supreme Court so that should it be ready to do so it could revisit some of those prior rulings. The United States Supreme Court will ultimately make a decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: A previous Ohio heartbeat bill was vetoed just last December by former Governor John Kasich on his way out of office. Kasich is now a CNN contributor.
ROMANS: Two new polls revealing Democratic hopeful Pete Buttigieg is gaining ground in some early voting states. A Monmouth University poll of likely Iowa caucus-goers finds support for the South Bend mayor 9 percent, and he registers 11 percent in a new -- in the poll of New Hampshire voters.
Joe Biden, who is yet to formally enter the race, and Senator Bernie Sanders stand at the top of the pack. Analysts say this shows the best evidence yet that Buttigieg has managed to emerge from the crowded field. Buttigieg who is married to a man is set to appear on "Ellen" later today where he once again is talking about his state's former governor, Vice President Mike Pence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUTTIGIEG: I'm not critical of his faith. I'm critical of bad policies. I don't have a problem with religion. I'm religious, too. I have a problem with religion being used as a justification to harm people, and especially in the LGBTQ community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Pence is not taking Buttigieg's comments lying down. He says the mayor should know better than to criticize him and his faith. He says Buttigieg is just calling him out in a bit for attention.
BRIGGS: Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren rolling out a plan to make sure big corporations don't pay zero in taxes. The new tax would hit America's 1200 most profitable companies, including Amazon. The online retailer earned a record $10 billion last year but it paid no federal income tax because of deductions it can carry forward from its money losing earlier years. Warren blames relentless lobbying for all the corporate loopholes. Under Warren's plan, corporations would pay an additional 7 percent tax on earnings above $100 million. For Amazon that would have been about $700 million last year.
ROMANS: That monster spring snowstorm has knocked out power for tens of thousands as it hovers over the northern plains and upper Midwest. Parts of South Dakota and Minnesota could see as much as 30 inches of snow before the storm shifts north to Canada. Schools are closed today in Minneapolis. Fargo, North Dakota, has closed all nonessential city offices due to the blizzard like conditions.
In Denver a pickup truck driver was killed Wednesday when police say he lost control of the truck and slammed into a snowplow.
BRIGGS: A Minnesota strait trooper got a sense of treacherous conditions created by the storm as he responded to a jack knife tractor trailer passing wind gusts literally knocking the trooper to the ground. How does he --
(LAUGHTER)
BRIGGS: Sorry, I'm laughing with him, I hope.
ROMANS: Ice skating.
BRIGGS: It was a little icy there. The state patrol says he was not injured but say the video is a reminder of the treacherous conditions caused by this snowstorm.
The blizzard conditions will slowly wind down across the Midwest, but they're just in time for some possible severe weather in the south.
Here's meteorologist Derek Van Dam.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Great Friday morning, Dave and Christine.
Although our winter storm is starting to die down, we're still feeling the effects of our brutal blizzard across the northern plains, and some of the heftier snowfall and stronger winds stretches into the Great Lakes as well.
You can see the watches and warnings still in effect. Breezy conditions wrapping in behind the storm system and a cold front marching eastward that will eventually bring showers to the East Coast later tonight and into the day on Saturday.
Double-check your flight plans out of Chicago all the way to Minneapolis. Winds in excess of 30 to 40 miles per hour as the system starts to wind down and move further north. By this evening we'll have a few showers move into the New York City region. It will pick up in intensity later tonight and into the early morning hours of Saturday.
But I want to start focusing on the southern states. We have the potential for severe storms today across central portions of Texas, but it really fires up into Louisiana and parts of Arkansas for the day tomorrow. That's where the Storm Prediction Center has a moderate risk of severe weather.
Sixty-three today in the Big Apple. Back to you.
ROMANS: All right. We'll take that. Thank you so much, sir.
Heartbreaking failure for Israel's ambitious plans to land on the moon. Hear what went wrong in the final minutes next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:23:55] ROMANS: The stars aligned for the late Nipsey Hussle.
The legendary Stevie Wonder among those paying tribute to the slain rapper at a memorial Thursday. Thousands of people filled the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the service. Snoop Dogg was there to remember his good friend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SNOOP DOGG, NIPSEY HUSSLE'S FRIEND: We ended up connecting. We ended up making music. We ended up making a brotherhood. We ended up creating a bond. We created something that was special.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: After the service, fans lined the streets as a funeral procession made its way by Nipsey's childhood home and by other places of significance to him.
All right. An Israeli spacecraft fails in its attempt to pull off the first privately-funded moon landing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have the main engine back on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, but it's not -- no, no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: After some momentary confusion at mission control, it became clear that the spacecraft did not stick the landing, crashing on the lunar surface after engine trouble.
[04:25:01] Israel had hoped to become the fourth nation to land a spacecraft on the moon.
It's not only Alexa who's that's listening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alexa, how many tablespoons are in 3/4 cup?
ALEXA, AMAZON ECHO SMART SPEAKER: 3/4 cup is 12 tablespoons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: An Amazon employee may also be on the line when you speak into an Amazon echo smart speaker. Bloomberg reports the company employs a global team that transcribes the voice commands captured after the wake word is detected. It then feeds them back into the software and help Alexa's grasp of human speech so it can respond more effectively. Amazon tells CNN it does hire people to listen to what customers say to Alexa but says it takes the security and privacy of its customers seriously.
All right. Sources say President Trump wanted to punish Democrats who opposed his border wall. Wait until you hear how. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRIGGS: Sources tell CNN President Trump wanted to release detained migrants into sanctuary cities in hopes of hurting Democrats.
[14:30:00]
