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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Don McGahn Expected to Defy Congressional Subpoena; Judge Rules Firm Must Hand Over Trump Financials; Trump Targets Biden; Flash Floods Threaten Millions from Texas to Missouri; Lawsuit: Boeing Spent Decades Concealing Flaws. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired May 21, 2019 - 04:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:47] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Former White House counsel Don McGahn plans to defy a subpoena today but could a separate ruling change the course of stone walling from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Biden deserted you. He was born here but he left you, folks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The president sets his sights squarely on Joe Biden as internal polling shows the president lagging in states he has to win.

BRIGGS: Major flooding in the Midwest, evacuations and water rescues in Oklahoma, a day after a string of tornadoes hit the region.

ROMANS: And did Boeing spend decades concealing design flaws in its planes. A new lawsuit claims it did.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Christine Romans.

Good morning.

BRIGGS: Good morning.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Dave Briggs, 4:31 Eastern Time on a Tuesday.

In a standoff between the executive and legislative branches of the government, it's the judicial branch that may have delivered the most consequential blow on Monday. A federal judge ruling President Trump's long time accounting firm Mazars must turn over his financial records. Not just a win for Democrats, a sweeping judgment backing Congress's right to hold a president accountable. Democrats will no doubt wrap themselves in the ruling as the White House keeps trying to limit their oversight.

ROMANS: The latest example of stonewalling, former White House counsel Don McGahn. He is expected to defy a subpoena to face the House Judiciary Committee today. Now, McGahn did waive privilege to speak to Robert Mueller's team. But the White House argues the McGahn is now exempt because he's a former presidential adviser. And now, McGahn's lawyer say with contradictory orders from Congress and the White House, he owes it to his former client not to attend.

BRIGGS: Democrats want to hear from the former White House counsel because the Mueller report says McGahn refused President Trump's ordered to fire the special counsel. Now, Democrats are weighing their next move for McGahn and the president. Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler warning there will be serious consequences if McGahn does not show up today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): The first thing we're going to do is hold -- we're going to have to hold McGahn in contempt. The recalcitrance of the president and his lawless behavior is making it more and more difficult to ignore all alternatives, including impeachment, and we'll have to consider that and all other alternatives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Trump has personally announced the White House will fight all congressional subpoenas, but he's distancing himself from the move to block McGahn's testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And the attorneys say that they're not doing that for me, they're doing that for the office of the president. So, we're talking about the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Nadler is warning McGahn the Judiciary Committee will use all enforcement mechanisms at its disposal to compel his testimony.

BRIGGS: All this putting the spotlight on Democrats' disagreements about impeachment. At a meeting Monday night, Congressman Steve Cohen asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi why she doesn't support impeachment. She told him one thing will lead to the other, but the party clearly not on the same page.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DAVID CICILLINE, (D-RI): We have a responsibility at some point to open an inquiry if this kind of obstruction and interference and stonewalling of the entire investigation continues.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): You can't go from zero to 60 because why would we open an impeachment inquiry if we are winning in the court system as it relates to conducting our constitutionally-anchored oversight responsibility?

(END VIDEO CLIP) BRIGGS: House Democrats continue the debate over impeachment behind closed doors in several meetings. Our "Washington Post" colleague Rachael Bade reports House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler privately made the case for impeachment to Speaker Pelosi and she still said no.

ROMANS: All right. Explosive allegations from Michael Cohen. The president's long time fixer who's now serving a three-year prison sentence for lying to Congress told lawmakers the president's attorney, Jay Sekulow, helped coordinate his false testimony to Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow Project.

CNN's Evan Perez has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Newly released transcripts show that Michael Cohen told lawmakers that President Trump's current lawyer helped coordinate his false testimony to Congress and that the White House dangled the possibility of pardons in hopes of shutting down the Russia investigation.

[04:35:03] Initially, Cohen told Congress the discussions about the project ended in January of 2016 when in fact, those discussions continued for months, including during the election campaign. Cohen's latest testimony is that Jay Sekulow, one of the president's lawyers, knew that the January 2016 date was false.

Now, Cohen makes a lot of explosive allegations in these hundreds of pages of testimony, but he doesn't offer much in the way of proof to back up those allegations. So, it's Cohen's word against those he's accusing -- Dave, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: All right. Evan, thank you.

Jay Sekulow's attorney responding that this committee or any committee would rely on the word of Michael Cohen defies logic. Well- established law and common sense, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff says he's considering whether to subpoena Trump lawyers who have rejected his committee's request for documents.

ROMANS: A Republican Congressman Justin Amash holding firm on his decision that President Trump engaged in impeachable conduct. In a tweet, the Michigan lawmaker pushed back against arguments that an underlying crime would be necessary to impeach the president for obstruction.

Here's what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's been against Trump from the beginning. He's been a loser for a long time. Rarely votes for Republicans, and, you know, personally, I think he's not much. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Despite the president's harsh words, Amash is not flinching.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Sir, what about President Trump calling you a loser?

REP. JUSTIN AMASH (R-MI): OK.

REPORTER: How do you feel having a primary opponent announced the (INAUDIBLE) of running after your speech about impeachment?

AMASH: Yes, it's not serious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Amash, and President Trump have been at odds in the past. The Michigan congressman was the first Republican to express support for an investigation into the 2016 election and Russian interference.

BRIGGS: President Trump's 2020 strategy is starting to take shape. He just wrapped up his fourth rally in 22 days and noticed the four states. Pennsylvania last night, along with Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida. Most experts believe Mr. Trump has to hold all four to win a second term.

Sources tell CNN the president is growing increasingly frustrated by the amount of air time the Democratic contenders have been getting. Last night, he honed in on the favorite, former vice president and Pennsylvania native, Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Biden deserted you. He's not from Pennsylvania. I guess he was born here but he left you, folks.

This guy talks about I know Scranton and I know -- well, I know the places better. He left you for another state and he didn't take care of you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: CNN has learned the Trump campaign conducted a poll of key battleground states last month and that poll confirmed cracks in the president's Rust Belt support, especially in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Biden kicked off his campaign in Pennsylvania on Saturday. That should tell you how critical the state is to both campaigns.

Take a look at a recent Quinnipiac poll. Right now, Pennsylvania voters favor Biden over Trump by 11 points.

All right. Potentially life-threatening tornadoes ripping through parts of the south central U.S. overnight, a total of 14 twisters confirmed in Central Oklahoma and Western Texas. The winds so intense they ripped the room off this home in Perry, Oklahoma.

That sound, hail smashing into the windows of a business in Wyandot, Oklahoma.

BRIGGS: Early damage reports suggest the worst has been avoided. More than 4 million people are still in harm's way from Texas to Missouri, and now, there's the threat of flash floods. Water rescues already underway. Schools in Stillwater, Oklahoma, are closed today.

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is live for us this morning. We might learn more when the sun comes up, right?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. You know, Dave, it could have been far worse. We had a risk as high as we have seen in a couple of years time across this region of the U.S. So, the activity certainly had everything going for it, as far as being able to get the storms to fire up.

But, unfortunately, cloud cover into the afternoon and evening hours, really limiting the area of concern fortunately that occurring. But you take a look, as you work your way towards Tuesday, the energy shifts toward the east, 16 million people in the areas highlighted in yellow and orange. St. Louis, Springfield, Little Rock, in line for damaging storms, potentially for tornadoes across the region.

So, this is an enhanced risk, on Monday, we had a high risk issued which on average occurs once or twice every year and really signals the potential there for a long track and strong to violent tornadoes but not much of that materialized across the region because of the cloud cover that was in place across the area. But the storm reports bringing the tornado count up to 19 in the last couple of hours. But over 100 reports of wind and hail damage, some as large as grapefruit side in diameter.

So, incredible instability to prompt the severe weather, and notice the thunderstorms into the early morning hours, but we're beginning to see that diminish.

[04:40:03] In fact, in a 24-hour period, nearly 20,000 lightning strikes across this region of the United States, and again, that energy shifts a little farther towards the east. With it, whether we see severe weather materialized or not, that remains to be seen. What will occur is tremendous rainfall on top of already saturated soil. So, the concern is you look at gauges, a lot of these areas, every single one of these circles and squares, indicative of minor, moderate, to major flooding across the region and rainfall on top of that is not going to help out the situation.

ROMANS: Wow. All right. Pedram, thank you so much for that this morning. It's going to be a busy day ahead for you.

All right. Two people have been killed in a floatplane crash in southeast Alaska. Taquan Airlines was the operator. One of its beaver floatplanes was involved in a collision with another aircraft just last week, killing six people. That crash and this one now under investigation by the NTSB. In Monday's crash, though, a pilot and a passenger were the only ones on board.

BRIGGS: A new lawsuit claims Boeing concealed design flaws in its planes for decades, the suit was filed by the former inspector general of the transportation department on behalf of one of the victims of the Ethiopian crash in March. The legal action draws parallels between Boeing's responses between two recent deadly 737 MAX crashes and two crashes involving older 737 models in 1991 and 1994.

The suit argues in both cases, Boeing withheld information, rejected calls to ground the aircraft, and emphasized pilot actions over design issues. A Boeing spokesperson would only say the company is fully cooperating with investigators.

ROMANS: All right. A firefighter saved this woman's daughter, what this woman did to return the favor.

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[04:46:00] ROMANS: All right. Ford is cutting 7,000 jobs worldwide. This affects salaried staff will begin to be notified of cuts starting today. The job cuts will be completed by the end of August. About 2,400 of the job cuts are in North America, 1,500 will be eliminated through a volunteer buy out. Ford aims to save 600 million bucks a year.

You know, Ford has been struggling. The president's tariffs on aluminum have added a billion dollars in costs a year for Ford. But it's not just the trade landscape. But the car business is changing faster than ever before.

Last year, Ford committed to spending $11 billion to restructure its business hoping to boost sales overseas and focus more on electric and self-driving technology. It has teamed up with Volkswagen to develop new products. It announced a $500 million investment in Rivian, which plans to debut an electric truck next year.

BRIGGS: After weeks of escalation and inflammatory comments, including a threat to Iran, President Trump is trying a different tone.

Here's Fred Pleitgen in Tehran with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Yet another message coming out of the White House. This time, President Trump is apparently trying to tone things down a little bit, saying that he simply wants the Iranians to call, and they will call when they're ready. He also seem at this point in time, there's no indication of any escalation happening in the Persian Gulf, at least from the Iranian side.

Now, of course, all of this happened only about a day after President Trump tweeted that if Iran wants to fight, that that would mean the end of Iran. Of course, that didn't go down very well at all here in Tehran. I actually spoke to a senior Iranian diplomat yesterday who told me that if President Trump thinks through threats and tweets, he could change Iran's behavior. That certainly is not going to work.

That same official and that same interview then later called President Trump, quote, a crazy president. Now, of course, the Iranians have remained fairly consistent on the messaging they're putting out. They say they don't want an escalation with the United States. They also say that if one happens, that there would certainly be a response from them, and they continue to say, and that's important that they are not going to negotiate with the Trump administration until at least some of the sanctions against the Iranians are at least somewhat eased -- guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGG: Fred Pleitgen there in Tehran, thanks.

Embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro proposing new elections for the national assembly as a way to resolve the country's political crisis. A legislative body is currently controlled by the opposition and its leader Juan Guaido. Maduro did not specify a date for the elections. This is the third time he has proposed it.

The announcement coming after an intense weekend of mediation in Caracas. The negotiations included diplomats from the European Union proposing a new round of general elections.

ROMANS: All right. The possible meat trend is making its way to Little Caesar's. CNN Business has the details about its newest menu option. We have to try the Impossible Meat.

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[04:53:21] ROMANS: For the fifth time since December, a young migrant has died in government custody. Sixteen-year-old Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez was from Guatemala. Customs and Border Protection say he was apprehended near Hidalgo Texas May 13. He was transferred to a Border Patrol station on Sunday and was found unresponsive Monday. The cause of death is unknown. Before December, no child had died in CVP custody in more than a decade.

BRIGGS: Wow.

Another horse has died at Santa Anita racetrack, the second in a matter of days, and the 25th fatality at the track since December. Officials say a thorough bred named Spectacular Music suffered a rare pelvic injury while running his first career race. The horse was euthanized Monday. It comes days after another 3-year-old suffered a fatal accident while training. Santa Anita put in new protocols in march, suspending racing and training for a short time.

ROMANS: All right. DressBarn, the popular women's retail chain is going out of business. The company announcing plans to close all of its nearly 650 stores, and employ some 6,800 people. The CFO says in a statement, the company plans to begin a wind down of its retail operations. For now, the stores will remain open as well as the DressBarn website for customers to shop online.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARLI, SESAME STREET MUPPET: I am safe.

MUPPETS: You are safe.

KARLI: I am strong.

MUPPET: You are strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: That's "Sesame Street's" newest puppet Karli with her for now parents. She debuted on the children's show Monday to highlight the unique love of foster families. Critics will say Karli's story line will highlight the importance of stability and a sense of belongings. They also want foster parents and providers to hear and see what they do matters.

ROMANS: All right. The numbers are in for the series finale of "Game of Thrones," and they're big.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIT HARRINGTON, ACTOR, HBO, "GAME OF THRONES": You are my queen, now and always.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: And that was even halfway through the episode. A whole bunch of stuff happened after that. That was Jon Snow killing his queen.

Sorry, guys, you got 24 hours before you have to catch up. It was a pivotal moment in "The Thrones" finale. It's a pivotal moment in "The Thrones" finale, a total of 19.3 million watched the biggest same day audience ever for the show.

According to HBO, season eight of "Game of Thrones" has averaged 44 million viewers per episode when you include delayed viewing, which is, of course, what we do.

BRIGGS: I thought it was terrific.

ROMANS: I thought it was a little ponderous.

BRIGGS: I thought the dragon melting the iron throne was the highlight myself.

ROMANS: Really? I think killing Daenerys was the highlight.

All right. While you're sleeping, the late-night crowd weighing on the end of "The Game of Thrones".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JAMES CORDEN, HOST, CBS "THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN": "The Game of Thrones" is over. People everywhere are just now realizing that most of their friendships were built entirely on sharing a single HBO password.

So, now, if you want to watch dozens of odd characters scheme for power, you'll need to start following the 2020 Democratic race.

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, NBC "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON": This is real -- this is real. Here's the scene right there.

Can we zoom in? See it? Yes.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

FALLON: First, a coffee cup, now water. At this point, the iron throne should just have cup holders. Just put them right there, don't worry about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: I think (INAUDIBLE) that props all over the desk, because, boy, would we get caught.

A Minnesota woman paying it forward by donating a kidney to a volunteer firefighter who helped save her daughter's life. Becca Bundy first met Bill Cox in August 2016 when her daughter was having a seizure. He got there before an ambulance arrived and thanks to him, Becca's daughter survived.

The paramedic again in 2018 when Becca went to a benefit for a friend. She immediately recognized bill who was wearing a shirt saying he was in kidney failure and in desperate need of a kidney. Luckily, Becca was a match and was able to donate after surgery. Bill is doing just fine and is back being a volunteer firefighter.

ROMANS: Good for her.

BRIGGS: Bravo.

ROMANS: All right. Let's get a check on CNN Business this morning. Global markets are mixed. Tokyo down, Shanghai up a little bit, and European markets have opened slightly higher here.

Look at U.S. stock index futures, they are up just a little bit. Stocks close lower, way down by the U.S. blacklist on Huawei, and fears about what that's going to do for the tech sector. The Dow fell 84 points, the S&P 500 just shy of 5 percent, but look at the Nasdaq. That was the pain was, 1 1/2 percent there.

Apple was the biggest loser on the Dow, falling 3 percent after Wall Street analysts argued investors should be more concerned that tariffs on goods produced in China will make iPhones more expensive.

ROMANS: Sneaker brands have a message for President Trump: the proposed tariffs and shows from China will be catastrophic for American consumers. In a letter to the president, Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, Foot Lockers and others say tariffs will also threaten the very economic viability of companies in our industry. The Trump administration has begun the formal process of 25 percent tariffs on the remaining goods coming from China that aren't taxed. Things like clothing and tennis shoes and iPhones.

The trade industry group for the shoe industry estimates the president's tariffs on shoes would add $7 billion in costs for American consumers, $7 billion.

Little Caesar's is jumping on the meatless train, testing out the Impossible Supreme pizza, in Florida, New Mexico, and Washington. The new menu item is topped with meatless sausage made by Impossible Foods. The plant based sausage is the first for Impossible and was designed to appeal to Little Caesar's customers, plan to test for about four weeks in the three markets before deciding whether to roll it out more broadly. So many people are bullish about this Impossible Brands and this meatless meat.

BRIGGS: I hear the burger is fantastic. Sausage is a little more difficult because of the flavor

ROMANS: I think it's all about texture and flavor.

BRIGGS: We'll try it.

ROMANS: It's science. Plant-based science.

BRIGGS: We're hungry. Get us here one.

All right. EARLY START continues right now.

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BRIGGS: Former White House counsel Don McGahn plans to defy a subpoena today, but could a separate ruling change how the White House stone walls Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Biden deserted you. He was born here but he left you, folks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The president sets his sight squarely on Joe Biden in Pennsylvania. The state now is the top priority for both parties in 2020.

BRIGGS: Major flooding in the Midwest. Evacuations and water rescues in Oklahoma, a day after a string of tornadoes hit the region.

END