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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Signs North Korea Is Building New Missiles; Giuliani Not Sure Collusion Is A Crime; Paul Manafort Trial Begins Today; Deadly Carr Fire Spreads In Northern California. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired July 31, 2018 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:30:29] LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: New revelations overnight that North Korea could be building new missiles; the work picking up in the weeks after the Singapore summit. We're live in Seoul.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Paul Manafort's trial on financial crimes begins today with a lot riding on the special counsel's case against the president's one-time campaign chief.
JARRETT: And the Carr fire in California now chewing up over 100,000 acres. Nineteen people remain missing in what is now one of the most destructive fires in history.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I am Laura Jarrett.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs.
One-hundred-degree temperatures there in Redding, California for the next five days. We'll have an update for you straight ahead.
But we start with politics and world affairs (ph) new signs this morning that North Korea could be building more missiles. "The Washington Post" reporting satellite images and other evidence show that work is underway on the new intercontinental ballistic missiles in the suburb of Pyongyang.
If true, news about these liquid-fueled ICBMs would be a serious blow to President Trump's diplomatic efforts with dictator Kim Jong Un.
For the latest, let's turn to CNN's Paula Hancocks live in Seoul.
About six weeks ago, you remember the president tweeting that there's no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea. What about these claims, Paula?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dave, even then it was thought among North Korean observers that that tweet was premature and clearly, it looks more and more like that now as "The Washington Post" report is saying that one, potentially two, liquid- fuel ICBMs are currently being built in North Korea.
Now, one U.S. official tells CNN that this report is consistent with what is publicly known. That Kim Jong Un has not agreed to fully denuclearize in that Singapore summit with the U.S. President Donald Trump. He only agreed to work towards denuclearization.
Also, we understand from this U.S. official that Washington is not too worried about these liquid-fuel ICBMs for the very reason that they take so long to put together. That the U.S. intelligence agencies would have advanced warning.
But clearly the big challenge at this point -- according to the U.S. official -- for the Trump administration is to find out exactly what the North Koreans have -- what is within their nuclear missile program.
Ahead of Kim Jong Un giving any kind of inventory and potentially saying that he would give that up, there have been warnings from many observers and experts saying that they are likely to try and hide some of their facilities.
Are there secret facilities? Will they admit to all the warheads and arsenal that they have?
And clearly, this is an issue that previous U.S. administrations trying to deal with North Korea have come up against. And now, this is an issue for the Trump administration as well -- Dave.
BRIGGS: Yes. Curious to see how the president tweets about this in the days ahead.
Paula Hancocks live for us in Seoul. Thank you.
JARRETT: A White House official now confirming what is plainly obvious. The president's press team is not coordinating with Rudy Giuliani concerning his comments on behalf of Mr. Trump's legal team.
That was apparent Monday when Giuliani went on to make a series of bizarre claims on CNN's "NEW DAY" show, including the fact that he's not sure collusion with Russia is even a crime.
Now, for context, the criminal code does not use the word collusion -- that is true -- but it's also generally understood that as a broad term that could include more specific crimes like conspiracy.
BRIGGS: Giuliani also suggested before the infamous Trump Tower meeting with the Russians in 2016, several Trump aides met for a pre- meeting to discuss strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, ATTORNEY TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Lanny Davis has said that there was a meeting two days before the meeting took place with Donald Jr., Jared, Manafort, and two others -- Gates and one more person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Important to note Rick Gates, the right-hand man to Paul Manafort, cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. After repeated requests for clarity, Giuliani later said the meeting never even happened and insisted the description came from questions by reporters.
Speaking overnight to the "Daily Beast," Giuliani appeared to blame the confusion on "The New York Times" reporters who Giuliani suggests compelled him to proactively spin a potential damaging story.
Got that?
JARRETT: No.
BRIGGS: Not so much.
JARRETT: No.
Let's bring in Phil Wegmann, commentary writer for the "Washington Examiner." Phil, good morning.
[05:35:03] What is going on with Rudy Giuliani right now? The confusion is everywhere. He was all over the place yesterday.
I want to let you listen to just a little bit of what the folks over at Fox News had to say. Chris Stirewalt, a Fox News politics editor, had this to say -- and then we'll come back and talk about it in a little bit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS STIREWALT, DIGITAL POLITICS EDITOR, FOX NEWS: It became apparent, to Brit's point, that as Giuliani was listening he said egads. Oh, I made a mess. I better go.
So, line one, go for a longtime viewer, first-time caller. Rudy, from New York, what do you have to say today?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No dittos.
STIREWALT: No dittos today, Rudy.
And I also tend to agree with Mr. Hume on this, which is I do not think this is strategic chaos. I think this is just plain chaos.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: So Phil, is Chris right about this? Is this just chaos?
PHILIP WEGMANN, COMMENTARY WRITER, THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER: I mean, it certainly seems it fit in the brand of this administration when it comes to crisis communications.
Giuliani is out in front of the cameras and it's clear that he's not coordinating with Sarah Huckabee Sanders or anyone else in the White House. This is creating more problems than it's fixing.
And I think the main takeaway that we saw though -- the main significant policy takeaway that we saw was that the president's lawyer agrees with the president. Basically, he said that it's no longer that Trump did not collude with the Russians, it's that even if Trump did collude with the Russians it's no longer a crime.
That's obviously something that the president has been saying since December -- something that he's been able to get away with putting out there.
But the difference here is now that Giuliani is saying or sort of codifying that sentiment, which is a very scary thing to say to the rest of the world especially when you have all of these foreign powers who might be interested in running a similar play -- I don't know, in 2018 or 2020.
BRIGGS: Well, my takeaway was this tap on the head and then hitting the table didn't exactly come up with the right strategy for Rudy.
But let's talk about strategy from the president which appears to be shutdown politics. President Trump reiterated that claim alongside the prime minister of Italy, saying that if he doesn't get that big, beautiful wall he is prepared to do a shutdown -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After many, many years of talk within the United States, I would have no problem doing a shutdown. It's time we had proper border security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: When Republican leadership was asked about this they collectively said nah. John Thune said, "I hope it's a negotiating tactic."
I recognize the look in Republican leadership. It's one my kids give me when I make a completely hollow threat.
What do you make of the reaction from Republicans based on that threat of a shutdown?
WEGMANN: Well look, on one hand, it's obviously understandable. President Trump, from the very beginning, has said that he wants the border wall. That's been his main brand and Republicans haven't delivered on that.
On the other hand, President Trump is in some really interesting territory right now because what he is in danger of doing is implying to his base -- hey, look, those Republican majorities in the House and the Senate, they can't even give me a border wall as it is so why show up to vote for these guys, anyway? That's the danger here.
And look, President Trump, he has tax cuts. He's going to have a second Supreme Court justice.
It's just a headscratcher as to why he would bring up the shutdown threat rather than talk about actual accomplishments. JARRETT: So, does President Trump care if Republicans lose the House in November?
You know, there's an interesting editorial in "The Wall Street Journal" that kind of has a provocative take on this and suggests that he might be OK with a Nancy Pelosi.
It goes on to say "Mr. Trump might not welcome a Democratic House, but he also might not fear it as long as Republicans keep the Senate."
What's your take on all of this? Does he care?
WEGMANN: Well, President Trump has had a hard enough life as it is when Republicans are in control of the House. He's not going to enjoy life when there are all sorts of talks about impeachment. When you have people in the House probing into his personal business.
But yes, look, Trump has always been more transactional than ideological. He might be able to survive if Democrats take over the House. It's going to be a completely different ballgame if they do.
But look, let's not kid ourselves. Life is a lot more comfortable for him so long as that there's a Republican who's banging the gavel.
BRIGGS: Well, arguably, the most influential donors on the right, the Koch brothers, are not making matters any easier for the president. They are prepared --
WEGMANN: That's right.
BRIGGS: -- to spend $400 million the next two years but they're not giving it all to Republicans -- not backing a Republican who's running against Heidi Heitkamp in that Senate race.
How significant is that break based on the fact that they essentially say Republicans have forgotten conservative financial principles?
WEGMANN: Well, this is huge on two fronts.
[05:40:00] First, it shows that the Koch brothers are more interested in principle to wins than with Trump tribalism, and they're going to back candidates who are in support of free trade and who are in support of a welcoming immigration policy.
But I think what this really does is this takes the wind out of the sails from a lot of people on the left who want to make the Koch brothers these political boogeymen. These guys -- it's clear at this point -- are most interested in specific policy areas than partisan wins and that's why we're seeing a lot of ruffles being -- a lot of feathers being ruffled on the right with this announcement.
JARRETT: Yes, that's a great point.
BRIGGS: And there are still conservatives concerned about massive deficits.
Philip Wegmann from the "Washington Examiner." Good to see you, my friend. Thank you.
JARRETT: Thanks, Phil.
WEGMANN: Thanks, guys.
JARRETT: Well, jury selection begins this morning in the federal trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for alleged financial crimes. It's the first public test for special counsel Robert Mueller and his prosecutors.
We get more from CNN's Evan Perez for us in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Dave and Laura, Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, is going on trial today in Alexandria, Virginia on federal tax and bank fraud charges.
Now, this is the first trial to come from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation but don't expect this 3-week trial to be about Russia or collusion or even about President Trump.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys have said that they plan to stick closely to the issues in the charges which have to do with the government's accusations that Manafort used secret foreign bank accounts to hide millions of dollars that he earned working for the Ukrainian government and that he failed to disclose that money in his tax filings with the IRS.
Now, Manafort has pleaded not guilty to these charges.
In the hours before jury selection begins, the two sides are still squaring off over what evidence jurors will be allowed to see. Manafort's lawyers asked the judge to block the government from showing some 50 pieces of evidence, including e-mails and photos that they say are irrelevant and prejudicial.
Mueller's prosecutors responded Monday that the evidence is important to show how Manafort earned $60 million working as a political consultant for the Ukrainian government.
Manafort also faces another federal trial later this year on separate charges in Washington, D.C. -- Dave, Laura.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRIGGS: All right, Evan Perez. Thank you, my friend.
Those of you going out to get your morning coffee -- Dunkin' Donuts, they're going gluten-free. We'll tell you about the chain's first gluten-free product, ahead.
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[05:46:46] JARRETT: Progress is slow but it is being made as crews battle the Carr fire raging in Northern California. The monster blaze has consumed more than 103,000 acres and right now, it's 23 percent contained.
At least six people have died; 19 are still missing. More than 1,100 structures have burned, making it the seventh-most destructive fire in California's history.
One little girl doing what she can to help out. Chelsey Lutz recorded this video of her 2-year-old daughter Gracie handing out burritos to firefighters.
We get more from CNN's Nick Watt for us in Redding, California.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Dave and Laura, firefighters fighting this fire have described it as chaotic and unpredictable. So they talk about how much of it is contained but at any moment a gust of wind, an ember can create a problem.
Remember, this fire started more than a week ago and it was under control for a few days until the weather conditions turned. Temperatures soared, humidity dropped, and this fire using fuel -- dead vegetation from California's 4-year drought -- just spread through this area.
And it's interesting to note that of the top 12 biggest fires in California, seven of them have taken place since 2015.
And the personal cost here has been huge. Six people have been killed -- two firefighters.
What will happen next with this fire? Well, the forecast is for 100- degree temperatures for the rest of the week and no rain in that forecast, and that could make this fire tricky to get ahold of.
Back to you guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRIGGS: It could, indeed. Thank you, Nick.
It's been a rocky year for Tyson Foods and the ongoing trade war is not helping. Tyson lowered its profit forecast for the year nearly 12 percent yesterday. Its uncertainty about tariffs have sent chicken and pork prices lower.
The Foods' company stock fell six percent and is down 26 percent for the year.
Also not helping the business is a huge oversupply of frozen meat. American meat producers are storing a record 2.5 billion pounds of beef, chicken, pork, and turkey. That's according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
It's looking like a good day for stocks. Global markets mostly higher and so are U.S. futures. This comes after the Nasdaq closed more than one percent lower yesterday, marking the first time the Nasdaq had three consecutive declines of one percent or more in nearly three years.
The index was pushed lower by falling technology stocks -- the so- called FAANG stocks. Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google parent Alphabet all started the week in the red after two members of the much-hyped group spooked investors by growing slower than expected.
Another stock suffering this week, Helios and Matheson, the parent company of MoviePass. Shares of the movie subscription service plunging 60 percent Monday amid new reports that customers were having problems with the app.
The stock fell as low as 78 cents a share Monday raising new concerns that it could eventually be delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange.
MoviePass struggled with customer issues this weekend. Some users reported problems checking in and others couldn't get tickets for "Mission: Impossible -- Fallout" -- the weekend's biggest movie opening.
[05:50:06] And some good news for gluten-free customers out there. Dunkin' Donuts has an option for you.
The company introducing its first-ever gluten-free bakery product, the fudge brownie, now available in all of Dunkin's 8,500 U.S. stores.
Gluten-free food has soared in popularity and is projected to rake in $2 billion in sales by 2020, a 20 percent increase from 2015. That's according to food industry research company Packaged Facts.
They will also offer some chicken tenders and ham and cheese roll-ups. But, gluten-free sufferers like me --
JARRETT: I know you are so hyped for this.
BRIGGS: I'm ready for a brownie breakfast right now in about 10 minutes.
JARRETT: Exactly.
LeBron James taking on the president's attitude towards athletes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEBRON JAMES, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: He's trying to divide our sport. But at the end of the day, sport is the reason why we all come together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: What else LeBron tells us about the National Anthem protest, up next.
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[05:55:27] BRIGGS: In case you missed it, Rudy Giuliani's media blitz got a few people confused, including the late-night hosts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN COLBERT, CBS HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": Tweets weren't the only way Trump fought back. He also unleashed Trump attorney and man watching them open the Ark of the Covenant, Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani also unveiled what's sure to be an airtight defense for his client.
GIULIANI: They're not be colluding about Russians, which I don't even know if that's a crime -- colluding about Russians.
COLBERT: I don't even know if that's a crime? You're his lawyer. You're supposed to know what the law is.
That's like your doctor going I don't even know if that's a disease, bleeding from your eyeballs. I don't know.
GIULIANI: The president's credibility is not an issue.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST, "CUOMO PRIME TIME": You don't think the president has a similar credibility problem?
GIULIANI: He does not.
SETH MEYERS, NBC HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": Yes, yes -- no, he does -- he does. He's a liar whose lawyer is lying about his lying lawyer's lies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: So much material there.
BRIGGS: Always, every day, Rudy's providing it.
JARRETT: Absolutely.
Well, CBS CEO Les Moonves will remain in his job while the network investigates sexual misconduct allegations. The company's board of directors is lining up an outside law firm now to investigate claims made by six different women in a "New Yorker" magazine story.
The board says no other action was taken at Monday's meeting and it postponed the annual stockholder meeting that was scheduled for August 10th.
Moonves says he was promoted -- he promoted a culture of respect and opportunity for all employees but admitting there were times, decades ago, when he may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances.
BRIGGS: Twenty-one states trying to stop the release of plans for building 3D printable guns. They've written to the Trump administration asking it to withdraw from the settlement with the plan's designer.
Under the settlement, people are not supposed to be able to legally download plans for 3D printed guns until Wednesday, but because the designs have already been posted online, by Sunday more than 1,000 people already had downloaded plans to print an AR-15-style semiautomatic assault rifle.
JARRETT: Scary, there.
Well kids, listen up. No more snow days in one South Carolina school district.
Officials in Anderson County School District Five announcing that when roads are too treacherous to travel, teachers will send assignments to their kids on their school-supplied Chromebooks.
The superintendent tells "The Washington Post" only a small percentage of students attended the snow make-up days tacked on to the end of the school year.
Worth nothing, South Carolina has very little snowfall each year.
BRIGGS: Yes, 12 inches at the highest part of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
LeBron James believes President Trump is using sports to sow division in the country. LeBron speaking to CNN's Don Lemon after the opening of his I Promise Elementary School for at-risk kids in his native Akron, Ohio Monday.
He pointed to a number of instances where he says the president has taken advantage of displays of dissent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES: Kaepernick, who protested something he believed in and he did it in the most calm fashion. You look at a lot of NFL players, they're still kneeling and things. That makes you look at stuff. You look at Marshawn Lynch.
You look at all these instances and why he's trying to divide our sport. But at the end of the day, sport is the reason why we all come together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: We can agree on that.
LeBron says his voice has to be about more than sports.
We'll see what happens though, Laura. Football Thursday night and the NFL has a freeze on whatever their policy is, so it should be interesting --
JARRETT: What's going to happen, yes.
BRIGGS: -- if we have another confrontation. You know, the president is eager for a culture war.
JARRETT: Absolutely.
Well, thanks so much for joining us. I'm Laura Jarrett.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" starts right now. We'll see you tomorrow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIULIANI: I don't even know if that's a crime -- colluding about Russia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Collusion's not a crime? Federal elections violations is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something major would always go before Trump -- always.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a problem for Don, Jr. because he has testified that he did not tell his father about the meeting.
TRUMP: I'm ready to meet anytime they want to. I think it's an appropriate thing to do.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: He slams the Obama-Iran deal but he's adopting the Barack Obama position that he's willing to sit down with some of these folks without preconditions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's yet another example of chaotic foreign policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, July 31st -- and how did that happen?
DAVID GREGORY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
CAMEROTA: It's 6:00 here in New York.
John Berman is off. David Gregory joins me. Great to have you.
GREGORY: Good morning.
I think Rudy Giuliani may still be talking to you.
