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EARLY START

Unsealed Filing Shows WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Might Be Charged; 631 People Unaccounted For As Death Toll Climbs To 66 In California Wildfires; Snowstorm Slams Eastern U.S., Killing Eight And Knocking Out Power; North Korea Deports Detained U.S. Citizen; U.S. Sanctions 17 Saudis In Jamal Khashoggi Murder. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired November 16, 2018 - 05:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:30:35] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Are charges on the way for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and could they upend the Russia probe?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A hand recount starts this morning in Florida's razor-thin Senate race but Democrats looking for gains are left with little reason for hope.

BRIGGS: And an astonishing 631 people are missing in the deadly Camp Fire in California. We'll have the latest.

ROMANS: And parts of the northeast crippled by the first major snow of the season. Expect a messy Friday morning commute, folks.

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

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Thirty-one minutes past the hour.

Some tell us their commute which is usually 45 minutes to an hour was eight hours -- eight hours to get home. And the front of the "New York Post" tells a pretty good story -- "Snow Joke."

ROMANS: That's the --

BRIGGS: That is a mess, my friend.

ROMANS: That's the Port Authority. They closed the second and third floors. They wouldn't let people up to where the buses were leaving.

And at one point, they finally said find another way to go home. Can you imagine? And this was --

BRIGGS: Find a bar and wait that out.

ROMANS: Right, exactly. And this was forecast, by the way.

BRIGGS: Happy Friday, everybody.

We start with some big news overnight. References to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and an unsealed court filing suggests he might be criminally charged. The developments could have significant implications for the Mueller investigation.

Assange has made a name for himself leaking government secrets, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

ROMANS: Federal prosecutors in Virginia included references to him, apparently by accident, in a filing unsealed last week. While arguing to keep a seemingly unrelated case sealed they wrote, "No other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged."

Joining us now live from London, "CNN POLITICS" media and business reporter Hadas Gold.

This is really remarkable. I mean, was it an accident? What was that?

HADAS GOLD, CNN REPORTER, EUROPEAN POLITICS, MEDIA AND BUSINESS: Right, Christine.

I mean, it's so incredible, this story, not only because of how we are learning about these possible charges but also because all of the strings that this is bringing together -- Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, those initial leaks of diplomat cables all the way up to the 2016 elections and possible Russian interference.

As you noted, this all came to light due to unrelated, it seems, court filings that were made in August -- in August and only unsealed last week. And it actually took a professor from George Washington University who loves to look through these court filings to realize what was going on. And then, reporters started picking up on it.

And it seems as though this was some sort of inadvertent addition to the Assange case in here.

Now, the spokesperson for the Eastern District of Virginia said that was inadvertent and they wouldn't comment further on charges. But we are seeing reports that there have been charges made against Julian Assange. We don't know what those may be.

But you have to keep in mind that U.S. authorities have been looking at Assange since 2010 for his leaks of those confidential diplomatic cables and all the other things that WikiLeaks has done in the year since.

But, Julian Assange has been hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy here in London since 2012 and he's been claiming asylum. And until recently, the Ecuadorian officials were supportive of him, but in the last few weeks, few months, we've seen that sort of shift. And actually, the Ecuadorian president even called Julian Assange "a stone in their shoe."

And, Julian Assange has claimed that the Ecuadorian officials are trying to push him out by doing things like restricting his Internet access, telling him he needs to honestly clean up after himself a little bit better. He won't be as welcomed there. So the question is not only has he been charged officially and what those charges may be. But then, charging him and getting him to the United States for a trial is a totally different issue here because first, he has to get out of the embassy some way and then he's probably going to fight extradition from the United Kingdom to the United States.

But this will be a huge development in this not only because of how long U.S. authorities have been looking after Julian Assange but also because of the connection to Robert Mueller's investigation. And we know that Mueller has been looking into conversations between Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, and people like Roger Stone over those leaks of John Podesta's hacked e-mails and how WikiLeaks got those and how they became the platform for those leaked e-mails.

So if we see these charges they could really combine what has honestly been almost eight years of information and of a case possibly being built against Julian Assange.

ROMANS: Yes. Julian Assange holed up in that embassy for six years hiding from rape charges and extradition to Sweden, trying to outrun the statute of limitations on those. A really complicated character and a complicated story.

Hadas, thank you so much for that.

So, let's bring in CNN White House reporter Sarah Westwood, live in Washington.

How does this potential upend the Mueller investigation and the Mueller storyline today?

[05:35:06] SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Julian Assange really sits at the nexus between the Russian meddling efforts in the Trump campaign. To the extent that there's been talk about alleged collusion, it's really had to with whether members of the Trump campaign were in contact with Assange or members of Assange's team leading up to the publication of those stolen e-mails from John Podesta.

And so far, all we've really seen from the Mueller investigation, in terms of indictments, they've had to do with Russian information campaign during the 2016 election. Their exploitation of Facebook, for example. Their use of divisive political ads to try to spread division during the campaign.

We haven't seen a lot of activity from Mueller when it comes to criminal charges related to those hacked e-mails, and that's something that obviously might be the final focus of the Mueller probe and something that we might look for in the coming weeks.

BRIGGS: Leading up to all of this, Sarah, was two blissful months of silence from the president on the Mueller probe, but it was interrupted with a bang and a truly Trumpian Twitter storm that started with this. The president talking about the inner workings of the Mueller probe, which we had not heard. Talking about gone absolutely nuts, screaming and shouting at people, horribly threatening them.

Then he shifts from angry to inaccurate, talking about how Mueller worked for Obama for eight years -- it was four. He is a registered Republican appointed by President Bush.

And he really sticks the landing there in all caps with the witch hunt reference.

What happened that interrupted that 2-month silence, at least on Twitter, and will there be a serious attempt by this Republican Senate to control the president and prevent him from firing Bob Mueller?

WESTWOOD: Well, our colleague, Pamela Brown, reports that the president met several times this week with his legal team to go over potential written answers to written questions from the special counsel's office. So we know that the president has been spending time focused on and discussing the Mueller probe.

But we didn't see a lot of activity from the special counsel's office in the lead-up to the midterm elections. And there was this widespread expectation that after the elections were over Robert Mueller would sort of pick back up where he left off in terms of activity that could trigger the attention of the public and the media.

The president has been going after Mueller, though, for months now and the Senate, so far, has seemed unwilling to act. And they are going to have something of an expanded majority, though perhaps smaller than they initially thought. But they are going to have more of a padding in the Senate come January and it's hard to see an even more Republican Congress take steps to protect Mueller that they haven't in the past.

BRIGGS: Yes. Jeff Flake's going to need some more friends if there's any serious attempt there.

ROMANS: Still counting votes -- still recounting votes. Still calling races and the balance of power shifts a little bit bluer overnight. Look at that, we now have 30 what -- 33 seats.

BRIGGS: That's right.

ROMANS: And there are six -- seven --

BRIGGS: It could be 40 pick-ups.

ROMANS: Yes, seven up in the air at the moment and six of those seats are leaning Democrat. The blue wave gets a little bit bluer or a little bit bigger every day.

WESTWOOD: That's right. And I think the ongoing Florida recount, too, sort of adds to this sense among Republicans that the midterms just won't end for them. It's not ending cleaning. Some Republicans who even maybe looked like they might pull out a victory on election night like, for instance, Congressman Jeff Denham of California or Congressman Tom MacArthur in New Jersey -- they have, in the past days, had to concede to their Democratic opponent. So a lot of these races that Republicans had held out hopes they might win, they're falling the way of the Democrats who are expanding their majorities every day.

So, on Election Day, when the president made these pronunciations about the blue wave not being nearly as large as expected and having half of the losses in the House --

ROMANS: Right.

WESTWOOD: -- that President Obama had -- that was true on election night.

BRIGGS: Yes.

WESTWOOD: That diagnosis, though, no longer holding up as these races come in.

BRIGGS: They did well, Republicans, in the Senate.

And it looks like Gov. Scott is going to hold on. Barring a miracle -- the biggest upset or flip in recount history -- he's going to hold which makes it odd that Republicans continue to talk about stealing and election and fraud --

ROMANS: Right.

BRIGGS: -- allegations.

And a federal judge actually weighed in on the Florida recount yesterday, saying, "We have been the laughing stock of the world, election after election. Yet we still chose not to fix it."

So on the left, you've got Democrats trying to prolong a race that they just frankly cannot win. And, Republicans calling about stealing and fraud. What really is happening there?

WESTWOOD: Right. I think it's so contentious because the margin is so small in that Senate race. And in the gubernatorial contest, Congressman DeSantis has a bigger lead over Andrew Gillum even though Andrew Gillum --

BRIGGS: Yes.

WESTWOOD: -- unconceded in that race.

But it's very contentious because I think both sides -- you see them spreading some doubts about the integrity of the election system.

[05:40:00] The Democrats, for example, are accusing Republicans of trying to suppress votes. There's been racial undertones in both -- in both races when it comes to the minority vote and accusations of that being suppressed.

And then on the Republican side, of course, you have these allegations, totally unsubstantiated, of voter fraud of Democrats trying to plant votes or discover votes.

And, the president has been only feeding that. He was fixated on the Florida recount as he was flying to Paris over the weekend, for example. He tweeted about it a half dozen times on his airplane.

So clearly, this is something that is getting both sides fired up and it's, again, prolonging this sense that for Republicans, the midterms just won't end and they're not ending well for Republicans.

BRIGGS: We should mention also, Sarah, in Georgia, Stacey Abrams wants to force a run-off in December. That also looks unlikely but still continues.

Thanks for joining us. Have a great weekend.

ROMANS: Thanks, Sarah.

BRIGGS: All right.

Some alarming news from California. Six hundred thirty-one people still unaccounted for in the Camp Fire in the Sierra Foothills. So far, at least 63 people are known to have died in the Camp Fire.

ROMANS: Officials say the fire has burned more than 140,000 acres and is 40 percent contained. Evacuation orders and warnings are being reduced or lifted in some areas affected by the Camp Fire.

Our Scott McLean visited a Walmart parking in Chico, California. It's serving as a makeshift camp for 20,000 displaced people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What do you miss most?

ELI KINGERI, CALIFORNIA CAMP FIRE VICTIM: Just being in the bed.

MCLEAN: You just miss your bed? It's warm.

KINGERI: Being under a ceiling and actually having a real bathroom.

MCLEAN: Yes. That's nice, isn't it? You seem like you're being pretty strong, though.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You OK?

KINGERI: It's just hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Heavy smoke has been drifting into the Bay Area. The air quality a growing concern in San Francisco. It was by far the worst since the fires broke out, forcing several school districts to close today.

The total death toll in the California wildfires now stands at 66, including a new death from the Woolsey Fire in Southern California.

President Trump is scheduled to travel to California tomorrow.

ROMANS: One silver lining overnight. Nick Maes thought the fires cost him the engagement ring he had planned to give to his girlfriend. He broke open -- look at it -- he broke open a safe that contained the mangled ring amid the debris -- debris, rather. Maes plans on popping the question in the next few weeks.

I can't just -- I can't take my eyes off of those pictures -- that that's what's left of the house.

BRIGGS: If you clean that up a little bit you're all good.

OK, breaking overnight, North Korea deports a U.S. citizen detained last month, and Kim Jong Un supervises tests of a new weapon. We'll have the latest during a live report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:47:42] BRIGGS: Six inches of snow brought New York City and surrounding areas to a standstill. This is what you were staring at for hours on the George Washington Bridge. Commutes extended by hours. Some took eight hours to get home when it was usually a 45- minute commute.

Here's the tweet from a Harlem congressman. It captures what millions were dealing with. Just absolute gridlock everywhere.

More of the same as you head south. This is Union County, Pennsylvania. Lines of traffic for miles.

ROMANS: The death toll for the snowstorm now stands at eight -- one person killed in Maryland. Ohio and Indiana, slick roads. Five other deaths reported in Mississippi and Alabama.

Thousands of flights delayed and canceled, the majority in New York.

About 315,000 customers are without power in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania.

Winter storm advisories remain in effect for much of New England.

Breaking overnight, North Korea deporting a U.S. citizen who was detained last month after illegally entering the country. This, according to the nation's state-run media.

CNN's Alexandra Field live in Hong Kong -- Alex.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was announced, Christine, by state media. They didn't say when they deported the U.S. citizen, just that he had come into the country a month ago, crossing illegally over the border with China. They say he admitted to the illegal entry and that they have now

deported him over the border. They aren't saying exactly where.

We are still waiting to hear from U.S. officials about the conditions of the detainment and the conditions of this release which have caught many by surprise.

Also catching many by surprise, more news from North Korea state news that North Korea had conducted a test of a weapons system. They described it as a tactical weapons system that was for the defense of the country. But there was much pomp and circumstance because Kim Jong Un oversaw it and it was broadcast by state news there.

We haven't seen Kim Jong Un oversee a test since last November when the country took a very provocative step launching and testing an intercontinental ballistic missile. That test raising a lot of alarm.

This test being characterized in a very different way. A source tells CNN that the South Korean government used this as a long-range artillery test -- a possible multi-rocket launcher. But, according to this source, the South Korean government does not see this as a provocative military action.

As for U.S. officials, they've made clear over the last day that they believe that North Korea can and will fulfill the commitments made at Singapore and that they continue to work together on further engagement. Of course, we know they're working toward a second summit between Kim Jong Un and President Trump -- Christine.

[05:50:05] ROMANS: All right, Alex, in Hong Kong. Thank you for that.

BRIGGS: The Trump administration imposing sanctions on 17 Saudi officials over their roles in the killing of "Washington Post" journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It came just hours after Saudi prosecutors said they'll seek the death penalty for five people charged in his death.

For the latest, let's go live to Jomana Karadsheh, live in Istanbul. Jomana, where are we headed here?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first, Dave, just to give you an idea of where we are, we are at a (INAUDIBLE) mosque in Istanbul. This is where Islamic absentee funeral prayers are taking place for Jamal Khashoggi.

His friends say they have given up hope that his body, after more than 40 days, will ever be found and that they will be able to give him a proper burial. So they are having Islamic absentee prayers.

We know from his family that they called for the same thing to take place in Saudi Arabia today, including in Madinah, the place where Khashoggi wanted to be buried.

And as you mentioned there, this is coming at the same time as we've heard this action from the United States -- these sanctions on 17 Saudi officials they say who were involved in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. According to the Treasury -- Secretary of State, this is happening at the same time as the United States continues to work to ascertain the facts around his killing.

The Saudis coming out with their latest when it comes to the investigation, saying that they are charged -- they've charged 11 individuals and that five -- they are seeking the death penalty for five of them. But again, insisting -- saying that the crown prince was not involved in the killing of Khashoggi.

The Turkish government here saying what they're hearing from Saudi Arabia is unsatisfactory and they believe that the time has come for an international investigation, Dave.

BRIGGS: Far from resolution there. Jomana, thank you.

ROMANS: All right, it is Friday and that time in the morning to look at business.

Markets around the world -- stock markets mostly higher. The Nikkei down a little bit, but Shanghai and the Hang Seng both higher.

European markets start the day positive. The DAX, Paris, and the CAC Quarante all higher here.

On Wall Street, futures, though are lower. We're watching this carefully.

The Dow, though, yesterday, jumped 209 points, snapping a 4-day losing streak. The S&P 500 also breaking its 5-day losing streak. And the Nasdaq closed higher as well.

Apple -- for those Apple investors who have been freaking out over the past weeks, the Apple shares were up 2.5 percent. Morgan Stanley said that recent sell-off was due to supplier concerns and it was overdone. So watch Apple today to see if that bounces back.

Fifty-two minutes past the hour.

Just weeks after the Pittsburgh massacre, another scare for the Jewish community. What one man did at a performance of "Fiddler on the Roof." That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:56:41] BRIGGS: V.A. officials admit thousands of student veterans are not getting their monthly housing and education payments on time. Top brass at the department blame the delays on the V.A.'s antiquated information and technology system.

The payments were part of the Forever G.I. Bill that President Trump signed into law last year to expand education benefits for veterans.

At a veteran's event Thursday, the president cited the expansion as a point of success in his efforts to modernize the V.A. ROMANS: Seven women have filed a federal lawsuit claiming three former Dartmouth professors plied female students with alcohol and then raped them. The suit alleges tenured psychology professors Todd Heatherton, William Kelley, and Paul Whalen treated women as sex objects.

The women are suing Dartmouth's trustees for $70 million in damages.

Now, Kelley and Whalen did not respond to CNN's request for comment, but Heatherton categorically denied the allegations.

Dartmouth says, quote, "Sexual misconduct and harassment have no place at the school."

BRIGGS: The Food and Drug Administration enacting new measures against flavored nicotine products. There's been a major spike in vaping -- almost 80 percent among high school students since last year.

The FDA set to impose sale restrictions on flavored e-cigarettes, except for mint and menthol flavors. The plan would also limit sales to brick and mortar outlets that keep people under 18 away from vaping products.

ROMANS: Shock in a Baltimore theater as man yells "Heil, Hitler" during a performance of the classic Jewish musical "Fiddler on the Roof." It happened Wednesday night.

An audience member tells CNN several people ran towards the exits. The man was hustled out by security.

The outburst comes in the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre that killed 11 worshipers.

BRIGGS: A painting by British artist David Hockey sold for a whopping $90.3 million at a Christie's auction Thursday. The price easily breaks the record for a living artist. The piece is called "Portrait of an Artist" and is considered one of the 81-year-old Hockey's premier works.

The 1972 painting has been long held by a private collector. The new buyer not immediately revealed.

ROMANS: I love -- I do love that painting.

BRIGGS: It's lovely.

ROMANS: But --

BRIGGS: Ninety million dollars lovely? I'm not sure anything is.

ROMANS: I don't have that kind of cash.

BRIGGS: No.

ROMANS: Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans. BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" is right now? Have a great weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: WikiLeaks -- I love WikiLeaks.

ROMANS: And an unsealed court filing raising questions about Julian Assange's fate.

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It's time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is -- a non-state hostile intelligence service.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're going to manually recount all the votes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Broward County, they submitted the results two minutes late.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The odds that Nelson can make up this strike me as close to zero.

(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 Friday, November 16th, 6:00 here in New York.

And we do begin with breaking news.

Possible charges against a key figure at the center of the Russia investigation. Is the Justice Department filing charges against WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange? The reason we pose it as a question is because this came to light in a strange way, in a filing unsealed in an unrelated case.

Prosecutors for the Eastern District of Virginia included what appears to be an inadvertent reference to charges against Assange. A DOJ spokesman later said the court filing was made in error and declined to comment whether there are existing charges against Julian Assange.

U.S. prosecutors --