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EARLY START

President Destroyed Notes from Putin Meeting. Does President Work for Russia? Government Shutdown Drags On. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired January 14, 2019 - 05:30   ET

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


[05:00:00]

DAVE BRIGGS, EARLY START HOST: A weekend full of stunning headlines. Was the president acting against American interests? Did he destroy notes from talks with Valdimir Putin? How is the president responding?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have the vacation, but they don't have to use their vacation days. In some sense, they're better off.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, EARLY START HOST: Better off, no paycheck, no problem says this economic advisor to the president. The pain is growing for people coping with the government shutdown. We'll show you how.

BRIGGS: Women in more than a dozen states will not see cuts to birth control coverage thanks to a ruling from a federal judge.

ROMANS: And the field of 2020 Democrats expands by two, one of them already facing harsh pullback for (ph) uncovered from the past. So everything's on tape. Welcome back to Early Start. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dae Briggs. Happy Monday, everybody. 5:32 Eastern Time, Day 24 of this government shutdown. The real world effects just ahead, but we start with a trio of huge stories about the president breaking over the weekend. Two of them new revelations connected to the Russia investigation.

The Washington Post reporting the president went to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with Russian President Valdimir Putin. Among the unusual steps he took, confiscating his own interpreter's notes after a 2017 meeting with Putin in Germany.

That report following another Russia-related shocker in The New York Times that law enforcement officials were so concerned by the firing of then FBI Director James Comey they began investigating whether the President of the United States was working on behalf of Russia. President Trump was asked about that report on Fox News. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

HARRIS KIMBRELY FAULKNER, FOX NEWS HOST: Are you now or have you ever worked for Russia, Mr. President?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES: I think it's the most insulting thing I've ever been asked. I think it's the most insulting article I've ever had written, and if you read the article you see that they found absolutely nothing.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ROMANS: Also this weekend, The Wall Street Journal reporting President Trump's National Security Council asked the Pentagon for military options to strike Iran. That request came last year after militants aligned with Tehran fired mortars into Baghdad's diplomatic quarter. That's where the U.S. embassy is. Unclear if the president knew about the request.

And then last night, the president tweeting these sharp words for Turkey threatening to devastate its economy if it attacks Kurds in Syria, but the president also seemed to give cover to Turkey at the same time if it does attack the Kurds, of course, who are allies of the U.S. I want to bring in Senior International Correspondent, Frederik Pleitgen, to digest all of this live in Moscow. Let's start here, the fact that the President of the United States was actually asked if he's a Russian agent, possibly working on behalf of Russia, concealing his discussions with Putin. That is the reporting. Any reaction from Moscow yet.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well look, this was all over, Christine, Russian media. The entire weekend, state-run media, they really reveled in all of this, especially the sort of perceived political chaos that we've been seeing in Washington, also some of the rebuttals the President Trump - the angry rebuttals that President Trump put out there via Twitter and then that interview which we were seeing the segment of now.

The one agency that we haven't heard from yet here in Russia has been the Kremlin so far. It's usually around this time the Kremlin has a conference call with journalists where they talk about a wide array of issues and you can actually ask them questions about a wide array of issues. That has not started so far yet, but we are obviously going to update our viewers if and when that conference call does start.

But as far as those revelations are concerned, the Russians, of course, always kept saying that they have their side of what happened in those meetings.

[05:35:00]

Here in Russian, no one really asks for detailed records or asks for the notes from interpreters because obviously that's something that you don't have that kind of accountability that you, for instance, would in the United States. But certainly there are some things that appear to be quite troubling about that with U.S. officials saying that there aren't no detailed accounts, even confidential ones of at least meetings between Vladimir Putin and President Trump in five different locations. There are apparently some who want to subpoena the interpreter notes from that infamous meeting in Helsinki where, of course, you have that two-hour, one-on-one meeting between these two presidents where afterwards President Trump seemed to side against his own intelligence services with Vladimir Putin. So a lot of people, obviously, like to take a look at that, guys

BRIGGS: Yes, another investigative front for House Democrats. Meanwhile on Turkey, the president warns them not to go after the Kurds, an ally the U.S. will leave behind as it leaves Syria, but then he suggests otherwise. You've reported from Damascus. What do you make of this?

PLEITGHEN: Well, it seems almost as if the president is trying to have it both ways there. He's made absolutely clear that he wants to pull out of Syria and then has now said that that pullout has apparently already begun, but at the same time, obviously, pretty much everybody in the international community is saying, "look, you're leaving the Kurds behind." The Kurds have obviously been very important force for the United States as ground troops to fight against ISIS, but the Turks don't like them. They have a lot of beef with the Kurds, and there are a lot of people who believe and who fear that Turkey could move into that part of Syria and that there could be a massacre against the Kurds on the part of the Turks. So the president apparently taking quite a hard line saying that Turkey would be devastated economically but then seemingly also leaving that back door open saying, "look, the Kurds also can't provoke the Turks." So if something does happen there, that's always a fallback the Turks could possibly use, guys.

BRIGGS: We are full played for (ph) Fred Pleitghen this morning. Good stuff, sir. Thank you. All right -

ROMANS: Wow.

BRIGGS: - joining us now from Princeton University, Professor and Historian Julian Zelizer, author of the new book "Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974", a CNN Political Analyst.

ROMANS: Hi Julian.

BRIGGS: Good to see you, sir.

JULIAN ZELIZER, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND HISTORIAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi there. Nice to be here.

BRIGGS: Let's start with this big reporting over the weekend related to Russia specifically, and I want to start with The Washington Post reporting that the president, five encounters with Vladimir Putin, no notes have been shared and some were taken from an interpreter. Let's also keep in mind one of those meetings had only a Russian interpreter. One meeting the president had with Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office had only Russian state media. It is hard to put all of this in perspective especially when you go back to July of 2016 when the president asked Russia to find those 30,000 emails, a couple of weeks ago repeats Kremlin talking points about Russia history as related to Afghanistan. We don't have time to get it all in. We've only got 20 minutes left in the program, but Ron Johnson, Republican Senator said to Jake Tapper what does he make all of this? "Well, the president is unorthodox," he says. What do you make of these repeated stories one after the other when you put it all together?

ZELIZER: Unorthodox is one way to put it. Troubling is another way to put it, and to have a president not keep a record of these very important meetings with the leader of a country that is under investigation for interfering in the election for human rights violations is not normal. Even when Reagan and Gorbachev met in the 1980s to bring an end to the Cold War, we have transcripts of what happened. So this is not normal, presidential, business politics, and I think we have to understand that, and there are going to be more questions asked by the House Democrats I'm sure.

ROMANS: Yes. Analysis from Peter Baker in The New York Times this morning really sums it up. "So it's come to this. The President of the United States was asked over the weekend whether he is a Russian agent and he refused to directly answer." That where we are in America in 2018. We're also the longest government shutdown in history. And I want you to listen to what one of the president's chief economic advisors said about this, which I think is the messaging that we've been seeing from Trump surrogates that it's not a big deal. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

KEVIN HASSET, CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR: Huge share of government workers were going to take vacation days, say, between Christmas and New Years. And then we have a shutdown. And so, they can't go to work. And so, then they have the vacation but they don't have to use their vacation days. And then they come back and then they get their back pay. Then they're in - some sense, they're better off.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ROMANS: What do you make of that line of questioning because, you know, this is about national security and it's about a border wall at its core here. And we also have reporting that you've got front line border patrol agents who are now being moved into jobs - desk jobs doing the work that furloughed border patrol officials have been doing.

ZELIZER: Look, it's troubling because it reflects a kind of callus attitude about what's going on not only with government workers, but with the government itself and all of the country. We all depend on this government, and that's why there's a lot of concern here in Washington that this is happening.

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This is now the longest shutdown that we've had and there's no sign of progress. The normal rules of the game aren't working and it's unclear if there's any sense of urgency in the White House to get the government up and running. This should be a priority.

Everyone should be working on this 24 hours a day until the government is open again, but it's not clear that's happening and that interview is a reflection that maybe this isn't even a priority right now in the White House. BRIGGS: Just to mention quickly, the polling, 55 percent blame Donald

Trump for this shutdown, 32 percent believe it is the fault of Democrats in Congress. But, let's move on towards a Republican in Congress, Steve King, who has made a career out of despicable statements, racist statement and another one, of course, last week.

ROMANS: And he keeps getting reelected in Iowa by the way.

BRIGGS: And continues to get reelected. Here's his past controversial comments, racist statements and finally some cracks in the coalition. Some Republicans beginning to stand up against it. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), MINORITY LEADER: That language has no place in America. That is not the America I know and it's most definitely not the party of Lincoln.

MARGARET BRENNAN, CNN FACE THE NATION HOST: Should he be punished for it?

MCCARTHY: I have a schedule meeting with him on Monday and I will tell you this, I've watched from the other side that they do not take action when their members say something like this, action will be taken.

STEVE SCALISE (R), LOUISIANA: There is no place for hate, for bigotry, or anybody who supports that ideology. It's evil ideology, we all ought to stand up against it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Face the Nation also tweeted out that McCarthy told them, action will be taken today. That could mean removing him from committees. What do Republicans need to do though regarding Steve King?

Senator Scott wrote in "The Washington Post" that, people say we're racist because we don't draw the line with people like Steve King. And what about the silence of the president on this? Twenty-six tweets over the weekend, not a word about Steve King.

ZELIZER: Yes, it's unacceptable. The Republicans have waited too long to anything and they can certainly withdraw all the privileges that come from being in the Party. Committee assignments, campaign assistance, all benefits and there should be no tolerance in the GOP or among Democrats for anyone who supports white nationalism and he is the poster boy for this.

And so, I think it's time that the Republicans take action. The president should say something, he should exhibit presidential leadership and say, there's no room for this in the Republican Party. We'll see what he does, but this isn't gray, this is a very clear issue where the GOP needs to take a stand. ROMANS: Iowa voters have reelected him again and again. We'll see,

he had his first real challenge from a Democrat last time around. We'll see if they try to primary Republican, a strong Republican against him in that district. That districts very pro-business, they're concerned about labor shortages and the president's immigration stand on that too, so we'll see. It's a little complicated.

Thanks. Julian Zelizer, nice to see you.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

BRIGGS: Thank you.

ROMANS: All right, women in 13 states and Washington, D.C. will not see any cuts to their birth control coverage. A Federal judge in California blocking the White House plan to weaken the contraception mandate under Obamacare. The new regulations were supposed to take effect today, but the judge ruled those state could face potentially dyer public health and fiscal consequences.

BRIGGS: Right now, Cordon, (ph) Pennsylvania considering a similar request to block the Administration's proposed guidelines. Those rules would allow for profit and non-profit employers to get exemptions based on religious beliefs.

ROMANS: Two more Democrats declaring their intention to run for president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIAN CASTRO (D), CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT: I am a candidate for President of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Julian Castro, the former HUD Secretary and mayor of San Antonio has long been viewed as a rising star in the Democrat Party and he admits, he will be looking up at some better known Democrats, possibly including another rising star, Texas Democrat, Beto O'Rourke.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TULSI GABBARD (D), CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT: I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: That's Hawaii Congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard announcing a bid for the White House. She is an Iraq War veteran who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. But, an issue has already come up. CNN's Kay Fow (ph) discovering Gabbard touted her work for her father's anti-gay organization in the early 2000s, promoting controversial conversation therapy.

In a statement to CNN the Congresswoman says, she regrets the positions she took in the past. She'll also have to explain a meeting with President al-Assad of Syria and denying al-Assad's explanation that he wasn't connected to chemical weapons attacks of his own people. She'll have a lot of explaining to do early on in her entry.

ROMANS: All right, 44 minutes past the hour. Facing another big vote, British Prime Minister, Theresa May, taking her Brexit message to the masses, including in Parliament. We're going to go live to 10 Downing Street.

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BRIGGS: All right, 5:49 Eastern time. For the second time in as many months, British Prime Minister Theresa May under pressure to get her Brexit deal passed through Parliament.

A vote scheduled for tomorrow has May making last ditch appeals for support. CNN's Hadas Gold live outside London's 10 Downing Street. Good morning Hadas, we are in day 24 of our government shutdown, you are 74 days away there from a Brexit without an agreement. Whose government is a bigger mess this morning?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, definitely some similarities across the Atlantic here. We are more than 24 hours away from that vote in Parliament on Tuesday evening and Theresa May is making some of her last ditch attempts to get enough members of Parliament to vote for the deal that she negotiated with the European Union.

This is two years in the making, this is make or break for Theresa May. This has been months of negotiation. The numbers don't seem to be in her favor, but she is still trying to convince enough members of Parliament. She's making a speech in the next few minutes in a pro- Brexit stronghold town Stoke-on-Trent.

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GOLD: And later she will be making a speech in the House of Commons later this afternoon, and what she's going to tell the members of Parliament is essentially if you don't vote for my deal, you risk no Brexit at all. Not just no deal, but no Brexit. She's trying to scare enough members of Parliament to vote for her deal even if they are not huge fans. But the numbers don't seem to be in her favor. She needs 320 members of Parliament to vote for her deal. The latest estimates from the various newspapers here say that she might lose anywhere from 100 to 200 votes, Dave.

BRIGGS: A rocky road ahead. 10:50 a.m. there in London. Hadas, thank you.

ROMANS: All right, Cadillac wants to sell an electric SUV cheaper than Tesla's Model X. Bloomberg reports GM will start building this vehicle by 2021, price on par with similar gasoline powered model which usually start around $50,000 and get more expensive with add- ons. Tesla's Model X often sells for more than $100,000. And this surprise announcement - Tesla will stop taking new orders for the cheapest Model S and Model X. CEO Elon Musk tweeted Tesla would no longer take orders for the 75D versions of the new cars starting Monday at noon, Pacific Time. Musk gave no reason. A Tesla spokesperson wouldn't comment to CNN Business. Cadillac's president said GM is using Tesla's vehicles as the Detroit based automaker develops its own electric versions.

Do you have too much stuff? Have you tried the konmari method? On New Years Day, Netflix released the series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. It's a minimalist home life improvement show based on the popular book which stars the Japanese organization expert, Marie Kondo.

Now, has it actually inspired people to tidy up and donate? Anecdotally, yes. We asked Goodwill's Public Relations and Multimedia manager who said that, you know, activity is often strong in January because people have New Years Resolutions to get organized, but this Netflix thing just hit right at the same time. Now, Netflix doesn't share viewing data, so it's hard to tell exactly how many people have watched this series, but the streaming service pointed CNN to this stat.

On December 31, Kondo had 710,000 followers on Instagram. Today she has 1.3 million followers, and do you know what the - so the philosophy is -

BRIGGS: I don't know it.

ROMANS: - you take your stuff like your jeans, your shits, all of the - we have too much - Americans have too much stuff. It's ridiculous. You touch it. If it sparks joy, you keep it. You fold it in a beautiful like little package -

BRIGGS: Right.

ROMANS: - and then you can see all of your stuff in your drawers. And if it doesn't spark joy -

BRIGGS: Joy - spark joy.

ROMANS: - that what she says, you say thank you the item and you get rid of it.

BRIGGS: OK. I'm going to have like two shirts left.

ROMANS: You spark joy, so you're safe. Dave's safe (ph).

BRIGGS: OK. I'm going to have yoga pants and two t-shirts left. We'll be right back.

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

[05:55:00

ROMANS: All right, a winter storm that left seven people dead in the Midwest, hit the Washington, D.C., area Sunday with up to a foot of snow in some areas. Federal offices in the city closed today. D.C.'s Metro bus system resumes this morning under a severe snow plan.

BRIGGS: At Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport, a plane slid on the snow right off the runway. No injuries thankfully. When it's not inconvenience, snow can be fun. In Noblesville, Indiana, police went to a call about kids sledding down a dangerous hill. Police determined it wasn't dangerous after all, had to take a couple runs just to be sure. Well played.

ROMANS: More than 32,000 teachers and staff in Los Angeles set to strike this morning. Union teachers have been working under an expired contract since July of 2017. They're demanding pay raises, smaller class sizes and more school nurses. L.A. has the nation's second largest school district, more than 600,000 students.

Now, the district says elementary, middle and high schools will be open. About 400 substitutes and 2,000 credentialed district staff will fill in.

BRIGGS: All right, we're down to four teams left in the battle for the Super Bowl. Let's start in the NFC, the New Orleans Saints overcoming a 14-0 deficit to beat the defending champion Eagles 20-14, it was 11 play -- 11 minutes, excuse me, 18 play drive that capped this game. Michael Thomas, the touchdown there to win it. Nick Foles tried to drive the Eagles to the winning score, but Alshon Jeffery right between the hands. The pass was picked off.

To the AFC, the Patriots will play their eighth straight conference championship game, that is incredible. After smoking the Chargers 41- 28, it was not that close. Tom Brady threw for 343 in the game. Sony Michel, three touchdowns. On Sunday, the Saints host the Rams, the Chiefs host the Patriots, the winners meet in the Super Bowl in Atlanta February 3.

ROMANS: The Eagles beat my Bears so I'm not too sad about the Eagles.

BRIGGS: You've checked out.

ROMANS: I've checked out.

BRIGGS: Should be a great championship weekend.

ROMANS: All right, thanks for joining us, I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs, here's New Day, we'll see you tomorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has become a pawn of the Russians. Mueller is looking at whether the obstruction itself has furthered Putin's aims.

TRUMP: I'm not keeping anything under wraps, I couldn't care less.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The notion that President Trump is a threat to America national security is absolutely ludicrous.

TRUMP: If they don't come to their senses I'll do a national emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to go to court and the wall won't get built.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: History will look back and say, this was the inept negotiation. He boxed himself in a corner.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's time to stop using us as pawns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is New Day with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is New Day, it's Monday, January 14, 6:00 o'clock in New York. What a weekend and now we have more.

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