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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Leaves North Korea Summit With No Deal; Michael Cohen Testifies in Public; Israeli's Benjamin Netanyahu to be Indicted; Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired February 28, 2019 - 04:30   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

[04:30:56] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to a breaking news day on EARLY START, everyone. I'm Dave Briggs.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is 30 minutes past the hour.

The high stakes nuclear summit between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un cut short overnight. The White House saying no deal, no deal was reached. The two leaders cancelled a planned working lunch and there was no formal agreement. President Trump talked to reporters just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We thought and I thought and Secretary Pompeo felt that it wasn't a good thing to be signing anything. Quite a guy and quite a character. And I think our relationship is very strong. But at this time we had some options and at this time we decided not to do any of the options. And we'll see where that goes. But it was a very interesting two days. And I think actually it was a very productive two days. But sometimes you have to walk. And this was just one of those times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Straight out of "Art of the Deal" once again.

Standing by live in Hanoi, CNN's chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour and chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto.

ROMANS: Hey, guys.

BRIGGS: Good afternoon to both of you. 4:31 p.m. there in Hanoi. Sanctions relief at the heart of why the U.S. walked away. Here is the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The sanctions lifted in their entirety. And we couldn't do that. They were willing to de-nuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we couldn't give up all of the sanctions for that. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Christiane, one could argue that the world is a safer place as a result of these two summits, but could have all of this work? Should it all have been done ahead of a first summit?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Dave, it's really interesting. This has been an unusual interaction between the leaders of these two countries. We've spoken about how in the past and in previous negotiations between different countries it's usually sort of working groups that work their way up. They've got all the, you know, T's crossed and I's dotted and then the leaders come and they sign the papers to great flourish and fanfare.

This was opposite. Maybe it was necessary to break down this wall of distrust, to have some sort of personal relationship. And I think most people believe that a foundation has been laid. But after the first summit in Singapore, not to come away with anything here, that is not terribly hopeful or helpful and it does beg the question that others did ask before this, will Kim Jong-un allow this to become a working group, working level process? Will Donald Trump want to keep meeting with Kim Jong-un? And if so, you know, what are the pitfalls of that.

And we've seen that there are pitfalls. This needs to be highly prepared, highly technical. These negotiations are very, very technical. But if it did flounder on Kim Jong-un asking for the entirety of sanctions to be lifted which is in itself an extra ordinary thought, it means that he has not read the situation very carefully at all and he overestimated what he could get out of the United States.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's a good point because there was -- there was a lot of reporting leading up to this and concern within his own administration that the president would over-concede.

ROMANS: Yes.

SCIUTTO: And the president walked away. He said it was a friendly walkaway, but let's be frank, Christine and Dave, we are in the spin zone now.

ROMANS: Yes.

SCIUTTO: And in the final analysis they could not complete all the agreed upon steps even at the summit, right? Because there was meant to be a working lunch, that was canceled last minute of course. There was meant to be a signing ceremony of something, even something -- you know, the low-hanging fruit of concessions or agreements here.

AMANPOUR: Liaison offices.

SCIUTTO: A liaison office, which in the last 24 hours had been discussed as a genuine possibility but could not get even to that point. And that -- that's a disappointment. ROMANS: I think the picture of that table, that lunch table all set

so beautifully and empty really speaks volumes because they had these photo-ops, you know, for the last day or two and the it just stopped. I mean the progress just stopped. The South Koreans are now saying that they was progress, made no deal, but progress made. So that is the spin you're hearing.

[04:35:04] You're right, Jim. And Jim, here's what the president said about how friendly his relationship -- it was a friendly walkaway. The president trying to cast this on the friendliest of light. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think it was very good, very friendly. This wasn't a walkaway like you get up and walk out. No, this was very friendly. We shook hands. We -- you know, there is a warmth that we have. And I hope that stays. I think it will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: You know, last year he said the two of them fell in love, Jim. So I'm wondering, can you give the president credit that at least this is the personal relationship between the two allows more talking in the future?

SCIUTTO: Listen, the fact that they are talking is better than shooting at each other, right? And there was genuine danger of that a little more than a year ago. You remember the president's comments.

ROMANS: Yes.

SCIUTTO: So there were real concerns about a military escalation. But you've had two summits now. You know, the process cannot survive based on just the discussion of how good your relationship is. That relationship has to deliver results. And this is the second time it was not able to do that. And that is -- that's a problem. Doesn't mean that they won't get there, but you saw both the president and the secretary of State say we wish in effect that we had gotten further and were not able to get that distance. And that -- and you saw it in the president's voice as well. Clearly disappointed with that.

AMANPOUR: I think the only thing that we can come out of feeling a little bit hopeful is that status quo remains and that is that the president says Kim Jong-un has promised to him that he will maintain his moratorium on the missile and nuclear testing.

SCIUTTO: Right.

ROMANS: Also in the subject of the joint exercises in the Korean Peninsula, Jim, where do we stand on that? Because the president has said again at this trip that, you know, it's expensive, we don't get paid back for that. That's something that (INAUDIBLE) the North Koreans love.

SCIUTTO: I'm sure South Koreans, but also ears in the Pentagon perked up to the president's comments because he did not cancel them but the president certainly did not describe them as important, but what he did is emphasize the cost of them, saying at one point that they cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Not clear where he gets that figure but again emphasizing the cost. Taking a shot in effect at the South Korean allies saying I wish that they would pony up more for these.

Those exercises are meant to begin later this -- you know, very soon.

AMANPOUR: Soon, yes.

SCIUTTO: Very, very soon. Will they continue? At the last summit, you'll remember he surprised even his South Korean allies by delaying -- canceling those military exercises. What happens with those? Because we know how North Korea views them. North Korea views them as practice in effect for a U.S./South Korean invasion.

ROMANS: All right.

BRIGGS: There were reportedly fears within the administration that the president would give away too much. Perhaps there is relief that he did not.

Christiane Amanpour, Jim Sciutto, thank you both.

ROMANS: Thanks, guys.

BRIGGS: We know you'll be back at the top of "NEW DAY" in about 20 minutes.

This news cycle back here of course has been about Michael Cohen. And that is where we go next. The president also talking on the camera for the first time about Michael Cohen's stunning Capitol Hill testimony. Hear what he said and the implications next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:42:32] ROMANS: All right. Breaking overnight at his news conference before leaving his Hanoi summit with Kim Jong-un, President Trump made his first on-camera remarks about Michael Cohen's congressional testimony yesterday. That's where Cohen accused this president of committing crimes while in office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I tried to watch as much as I could. I wasn't able to watch too much because I've been a little bit busy. But I think having a fake hearing like that and having it in the middle of this very important summit is really a terrible thing.

He lied a lot, but it was very interesting because he didn't lie about one thing. He said no collusion with the Russian hoax. And I said, I wonder why he didn't just lie about that too like he did about everything else. I mean, he lied about so many different things and I was actually impressed that he didn't say well, I think there was collusion for this reason or that. He didn't say that. He said no collusion. And I was a little impressed by that frankly. He could have gone all out. He only went about 95 percent instead of 100 percent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Michael Cohen's third appearance this week before a congressional committee starts at 9:30 this morning. President Trump's former lawyer and fixer testifies behind closed doors to the House Intelligence Committee. He's already appeared before the Senate Intel Committee. And yesterday Cohen testified in public for 7 1/2 hours to the House Oversight Committee. It was his first public testimony since pleading guilty to lying to Congress back in November 2017.

His answers included a host of revelations and clues, giving investigators leads to follow for months to come. Most explosive his claim Mr. Trump violated campaign finance laws after taking office, reimbursing Cohen for a $130,000 hush payment to Stormy Daniels, a claim backed up with physical evidence, a personal check signed by the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL COHEN, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S FORMER ATTORNEY: Mr. Trump wrote from his personal bank account after he became president to reimburse me for the hush money payments I made to cover up his affair with an adult film star and to prevent damage to his campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you believe that the president committed a crime while in office?

REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D), HOUSE OVERSIGHT CHAIRMAN: Based on what -- looking at the text and listening to Mr. Cohen, it appears that he did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:45:03] ROMANS: Michael Cohen also implied President Trump has committed other crimes, crimes we apparently don't already know about. Crimes under investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. Cohen told the panel he last spoke to Mr. Trump a couple of months after the FBI executed search warrants on his home, hotel room and office. But he said he couldn't say anymore about that interaction because it was the subject of a criminal investigation. Then there was this follow- up question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D), ILLINOIS: Is there any other wrongdoing or illegal act that you are aware of regarding Donald Trump that we haven't yet discussed today?

COHEN: Yes, and again, those are part of the investigation that is currently being looked at by the Southern District of New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Cohen also claiming the president did know ahead of time about Roger Stone's efforts to communicate with WikiLeaks. He describes being in a room with the president in 2016 when Stone interrupted them with a phone call. He says the president put the call on speaker phone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: It was a short conversation and he said, Mr. Trump, I just want to let you know that I just got off the phone with Julian Assange and in a couple of days there's going to be a massive dump of e-mails that is going to severely hurt the Clinton campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: That drew this response from WikiLeaks, quote, "Publisher Julian Assange has never had a telephone call with Roger Stone. WikiLeaks publicly teased its pending publications on Hillary Clinton and published over 30,000 of her e-mails on March 16th, 2016."

ROMANS: All right. Let's bring in CNN's Marshall Cohen and former federal prosecutor Elie Honig, a CNN legal analyst.

Gentlemen, good morning. What a day glued to the television, no question.

Elie Honig, what yesterday stood out to you as the most legally damaging for this president?

ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. So the clearest shot at the president if you were looking to make out a crime is on the campaign finance violations. You now have testimony directly from Michael Cohen, directly implicating the president. You have various false statements that have been made out there which goes to what we call consciousness of guilt meaning there is no reason to falsely deny something unless you're trying to hide the underlying thing.

And we have signed checks. And there's not a heck of a lot that anyone can do about the signed checks. And I've heard all the attacks on Michael Cohen, he's a liar, he's a liar. What I've not heard is any kind of innocent explanation or even questioning as to how could that check somehow not be part of a reimbursement for this hush money scheme. So I think that that's the clearest shot.

Whether that particular crime carries the heaviest political hit for the president I think is a separate question.

BRIGGS: Now as to the collusion, it's incredible, Marshall, that Michael Cohen went in there in front of Congress, called the president of the United States a racist, conman, cheat, who committed crimes as president, knew about conversations between Roger Stone and WikiLeaks, knew about the Trump Tower meeting with Russians promising dirt on Hillary Clinton, and the president heard two words -- no collusion.

ROMANS: No collusion.

BRIGGS: What did we learn about the Russia probe? MARSHALL COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As you pointed out, we learned a

few things that moved the ball forward. Of course if Michael Cohen is being honest with his testimony. You mentioned the Trump Tower meeting and whether or not the president then the candidate Trump knew about it at the time.

Keep in mind, Donald Trump Jr., his son, testified behind closed doors two years ago, no, I did not tell my father. Now we have Michael Cohen testifying that he believes he heard Donald Trump Jr. telling his father or talking to his father about that meeting. So there seems to be a conflict there that warrants a little bit of additional investigation.

And as you mentioned on WikiLeaks, the possibility that Roger Stone had more communications with candidate Trump about WikiLeaks than we previously knew about, sort of getting to the possibility that Trump knew a little bit more about what was going on before those really damaging e-mail dumps came out during the Democratic convention.

ROMANS: You know, Elie, I think one thing we learned yesterday as well, very clearly from Michael Cohen, that there are other investigations on multiple fronts. We know that Manhattan prosecutors are looking into this.

What did you learn about these other investigations from this testimony yesterday?

HONIG: That jumped out at me, Christine. I think that's maybe the biggest takeaway if we're asking the question, what's coming next? What's down the road? We're going to clearly see a lot more from Congress, many more hearings, and I think some fairly obvious follow- up. But the fact that Cohen said straight up that the Southern District continues to investigate this and I continue to work directly with them. That's big news.

The other thing that we learned that we had suspected and I think discussed on air at some point is that Michael Cohen is hoping to get further sentencing relief. And it goes to what his incentives and motives are going forward. He was asked yesterday and he confirmed that he is hoping to get what we call Rule 35 relief.

ROMANS: Yes.

[04:50:02] HONIG: And that's just simply a federal rule that says that after you've been sentenced, if a prosecutor will go into court for a person and say, judge, we'd like him to be resentenced to less time. So you have to get a prosecutor on board. And that -- I've done it a handful of time. It's not super common, but I probably did it five, 10 times in my career where you have a situation where someone has already plead guilty, already been sentenced, and then continues to give you additional cooperation. And I think that yesterday's testimony will become part of his eventual Rule 35 application.

And look, he's heavily incentivized. Nothing motivates like self- interests and nothing is quite as scary as the prospect of three years behind bars. So he aims to -- his interest heavily is in coming clean now.

BRIGGS: And an interesting interaction he had with Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez appeared to reveal what one of those investigations might be regarding, tax fraud. A lot of questions still to come.

Marshall Cohen, Elie Honig, thanks so much for being here, gentlemen.

ROMANS: All right. There may be more trouble ahead for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president just talked about it. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:55:30] BRIGGS: There is more breaking news overnight. We're expecting a statement from Israel's attorney general on his intent to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a decision that could impact the upcoming elections. Already the prime minister has launched an offensive against the potential bribery charge.

Let's go live to Jerusalem and bring in Oren Liebermann. Oren, what are you learning?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dave, bribery is the most serious charge that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could potentially face and he's begun his offensive against that charge in one of the cases . He called it ridiculous. He's proclaimed his innocence this entire time. And in a statement last night he said soon this entire house of cards will collapse.

It's up to the attorney general now in a statement we're expecting perhaps sometime this afternoon to announce which charges he is pursuing against the prime minister. Remember police have said they have enough evidence to indict the prime minister on fraud, bribery and breach of trust in three separate cases. So ongoing corruption investigation against Netanyahu,

Netanyahu got a show of support from President Donald Trump in Vietnam who said he doesn't know the specific details of these investigations but he stands by Netanyahu. Here's what Trump said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I just think he has been a great prime minister. And I don't know about his difficulty, but you're telling me something that, you know, people have been hearing about, but I don't know about that. I can say this, that he's done a great job as prime minister. He is tough, he is smart, he is strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: Of course all of this happens as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks a fifth term in office. Those elections less than six weeks away at this point. Netanyahu's party has gone to the high court and said look, the attorney general can't publicize this now, it will affect the election. So that's their argument to try to get this delayed as long as possible because, Dave, it could be a major blow to the prime minister as he seeks another term in office.

BRIGGS: Major news coming about. New in Jerusalem.

Oren Liebermann, thank you.

ROMANS: All right. A critical picture this morning of how the economy is doing. How it ended 2018. The government finally releases fourth quarter GDP. The picture looks increasingly gloomy. The Atlanta Fed forecast is just 1.8 percent growth. Look at the New York Fed, 2.3 percent. That's lower than the 4.2 and 3.4 over the previous two quarters.

Now the government shutdown delayed this report. Until the holidays we knew the U.S. economy appeared strong and there was really good job creation, but large sectors of the economy including housing and manufacturing declined during the end of the year. Most economists and forecasts expect growth to slow down further toward the end of 2019 as the economy maxes out available workers and the effects of last year's tax cuts and government spending wear off.

This is of course a number that the president has said, 4 percent growth. He's -- but a big cheerleader for strong growth.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: He could be disappointed by this number when it comes out at 8:30 this morning.

BRIGGS: You'll be back in "NEW DAY" with that.

ROMANS: I will. I will. Thanks for joining us this morning for a short EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: Short but sweet, friend. I'm Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" is right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to a special early edition of NEW DAY.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

CAMEROTA: I'm glad to see you here. I'm glad to see me here right now because it is early.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: It's Thursday, February 28th, 5:00 here in New York and we do begin with breaking news for you.

President Trump is heading back to the U.S. empty-handed. Nuclear talks with Kim Jong-un have abruptly ended with no agreement. The president and his top diplomat insist that real progress was made, but Mr. Trump says talks broke down when North Korea insisted that all sanctions be lifted.

President Trump says, quote, "Sometimes you have to walk away from the negotiating table," and so he did.

BERMAN: So for the first time we also heard the president's response to Michael Cohen's explosive testimony on Capitol Hill. We learned the president did watch much of it even from Hanoi. He called Michael Cohen a liar and complained that the Democrat held the hearing at all given that the summit was taking place.

In hours of dramatic testimony, Cohen described the president's role in illegal hush money payoffs to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and said he knew of more. Cohen knew of more illegal activity involving the president now under investigation not by Robert Mueller, but by federal prosecutors in New York.

We have a lot going on this morning. We want to begin with CNN's Michelle Kosinski live in Hanoi.

And Michelle, I got to say there's breaking news and truly unexpected surprising breaking news, and this was a surprise to hear that this whole process had broken down.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT: It was. And this ends up being proof that President Trump's insistence on a top- down approach to this extremely complicated decades-long problem.