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EARLY START

Green Book Wins Best Picture Oscar; Congress Returns To Jam- Packed Calendar As Cohen's Public Testimony Clashes With Trump-Kim Summit; President Trump Heads To Asia Today Ahead of U.S-North Korea Summit; Vice President Mike Pence To Meet With Venezuela Opposition Leader After Violent Weekend. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 25, 2019 - 05:30   ET

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


[05:30:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: We'll get you caught up on all the wins and the drama, next.

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JULIA ROBERTS, ACTRESS: And the Oscar goes to "Green Book".

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DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: The big prize goes to "Green Book" but that's not all that surprised Hollywood on the biggest night. We'll have the highlights for you.

ROMANS: Congress back in session and ready for a very important week with Trump's personal lawyer headed to the Hill three times. House Democrats trying to stop the president's national emergency.

[05:35:02] BRIGGS: Plus, President Trump heading to Asia today ahead of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Can the president convince Kim to denuclearize?

ROMANS: President Trump proposing a new summit with China's president at Mar-a-Lago, delaying tariffs set to slam that country. Can the White House buy time to reach a new trade deal?

BRIGGS: Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Nice to have you back in the chair this week.

BRIGGS: Good to be here.

ROMANS: Thirty-five minutes past the hour. This is the moment Hollywood waited all night to see.

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ROBERTS: And the Oscar goes to "Green Book".

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ROMANS: "Green Book" won the night's top prize and also took home an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. It's a film about a white man who drives a black jazz musician through the Deep South in the early 1960s.

BRIGGS: "Roma" was one of the top contenders for Best Picture with a big push from Netflix. But the film did not go home empty-handed, taking home three Academy Awards with Alfonso Cuaron winning his second Oscar for Best Director, along with the Best Cinematography award.

Cuaron used his speech for that award to draw attention to the plight of domestic workers, much like the lead character in his film.

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ALFONSO CUARON, DIRECTOR, ROMA: As artists, our job is to look where others don't. This responsibility becomes much more important in times when we are being encouraged to look away.

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ROMANS: Spike Lee won his first Oscar ever for Best Adapted Screenplay for his film " BlacKkKlansman". He thanked his grandmother for helping pay for school and then he turned his attention to politics.

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SPIKE LEE, DIRECTOR, BLACKKKLANSMAN: The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let's all mobilize. Let's all be on the right side of history and make the moral choice between love versus hate.

Let's do the right thing. You know I had to get that in there.

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BRIGGS: Do the right thing, of course, a reference to Spike Lee's 1989 film of the same name which earned him his first Oscar nomination nearly three decades ago.

In the category of acting, Mahershala Ali won Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Green Book," becoming only the second African American to win two acting awards, the first being Denzel Washington.

Rami Malek won Best Actor for playing Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody". Regina King won Best Supporting Actress for her role in "If Beale Street Could Talk". And a very surprised Olivia Coleman won Best Actress for playing Queen Anne in "The Favourite".

And the one moment everyone's buzzing about this morning --

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LADY GAGA, SINGER-SONGWRITER; BRADLEY COOPER, ACTOR: Singing "Shallow".

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BRIGGS: -- that very intimate duet between Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. They performed the Oscar-winning song "Shallow" from "A Star is Born".

And, Christine Romans, some thought it was a little too close. I thought it was just another spectacular performance by the duo.

ROMANS: They are good performers because they looked to me like they're madly in love.

BRIGGS: Bravo, I say.

ROMANS: But I'm not an actress so I wouldn't know.

BRIGGS: Now to other drama, that one playing out in Washington.

Congress returns today to a packed calendar and things could get interesting this week because the president's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen testifies before three committees. On Wednesday, his testimony will be public.

Also on the docket, the first attempt by House Democrats to block President Trump's border wall national emergency, along with threats to subpoena special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian collusion, if it even comes out this week.

CNN's Sarah Westwood at the White House with more.

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SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN REPORTER: Christine and Dave, Congress is returning today for a blockbuster week on Capitol Hill, starting with the president's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen who will be testifying this week before three difference congressional committees.

On Wednesday, he'll be testifying publicly before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the same day that President Trump is slated to sit down face-to-face with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un.

On Tuesday, House Democrats will move forward with a vote to block the president's national emergency declaration, a vote that is expected to pass the House overwhelmingly.

The Mueller probe is also nearing completion although we don't expect to see Mueller hand over his final report to the Justice Department this week. That could be coming in the days ahead.

Now, Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff said he's prepared to subpoena the Trump administration if that Mueller report is not made public.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: We will obviously subpoena the report. We will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress. We will take it to court if necessary.

And in the end, I think the Department understands they're going to have to make this public. I think Barr will ultimately understand that as well.

WESTWOOD: Now, all of this could create quite the split-screen for President Trump as he tries to conduct diplomacy overseas -- Christine and Dave.

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[05:40:06] ROMANS: Absolutely.

All right, Sarah. Thank you for that.

The president flies to Asia today for his second face-to-face summit with Kim Jong Un. The meeting will take place at the same time Michael Cohen testifies in public on Capitol Hill.

Let's go live to Hanoi -- we're already there. CNN's Will Ripley is there. The president on his way there today, Will.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he is, Christine, and they have a lot to talk about, don't they? If Singapore was about symbolism, then Hanoi needs to be about results.

And we are getting a hint from South Korea's Blue House that one of the things that may be announced here later this week, perhaps an agreement between the U.S. and North Korea to formally end the Korean War. That would certainly be a significant and historic step towards normalizing diplomatic ties between the U.S. and North Korea, which is one condition that the North Koreans have given to help them, in their words, build trust with the United States -- build confidence if you will.

And perhaps, the U.S. could then convince them to start getting rid of their nuclear weapons which, of course, is the ultimate goal that has not happened in any capacity since Singapore, even though U.S. intelligence has indicated that North Korea hasn't tested anything yet. Their capacity remains pretty much unchanged. And, in fact, some in the United States question whether Kim is actually prepared to ever completely denuclearize.

Now, speaking of Kim Jong Un, he's expected to stay here at the Melia hotel behind me. His security detail has already arrived.

The Vietnamese Army is posted here and they are conducting mining sweeps at this hour and guests have been told to expect a head of state. So we'll be watching this situation to see if Kim Jong Un's motorcade rolls in after his train arrives at the China-Vietnam border.

And, you know, there certainly is a lot at stake. Hanoi, a very symbolic location because -- especially if the United States and North Korea announce an agreement to formally end the Korean War. Of course, it was in this city that was devastated by the Vietnam War that has essentially rebuilt itself in a matter of just a few decades, an example of the economic growth that is possible if ties with the United States are normalized and trade is opened up. That's certainly the message that President Trump is going to be trying --

ROMANS: Yes.

RIPLEY: -- to hit home when he meets with Kim Jong Un here in Hanoi -- Christine.

ROMANS: It's certainly a business model to use as an example.

Thank you so much, Will Ripley. We know we'll be talking to you a lot in the coming days. So glad you're there. Thanks, Will.

Let's bring in CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer. He's a historian and professor at Princeton University and co-author of the fantastic book "Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974."

BRIGGS: Good morning.

ROMANS: Good morning.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, CO-AUTHOR, "FAULT LINES: A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1974": Good morning.

ROMANS: So after the first summit last summer, this is what the president declared after the trip. He said that he -- as he landed, he said, "There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea."

This is what he tweeted. "The meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future."

And then yesterday, the Secretary of State was on with Jake Tapper on "STATE OF THE UNION" and here's what he said about whether North Korea has moved toward denuclearizing in the months since that meeting.

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JAKE TAPPER, ANCHOR, CNN "STATE OF THE UNION": Do you think North Korea remains a nuclear threat?

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes.

TAPPER: But the president said he doesn't.

POMPEO: That's not what he said. I mean, I know -- I know precisely what he said.

TAPPER: He tweeted it that there was no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.

POMPEO: Right. What he said is that the -- what he said was that the efforts that had been made in Singapore -- this commitment that Chairman Kim made have substantially taken down the risk to the American people. It's the mission of the Secretary of State and the President of the United States to keep the American people secure. We're aiming to achieve that.

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ROMANS: Let me go back to that first tweet. "There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea." That's what the president says.

What can he gain from this -- materially gain in terms of denuclearization from the North Koreans this week?

ZELIZER: Well, he needs some kind of assurance of verification. I mean, that's -- this is something you can actually look at, something you can set into place. So far, we don't have any kind of progress from the first summit.

So the question is does President Trump go in here and does he come out with some kind of tangible progress or is it more rhetoric about the key aim of U.S. foreign policy, which is denuclearization?

Obviously, there are other big items. Like ending the war would be big, like forging better economic ties, but that's the number one priority.

BRIGGS: Both the process and the timing are of utmost importance here. Look at the process the president went through or lack thereof with pulling the troops out of Syria. There was no process.

The timing this time around is just as he's meeting with Kim Jong Un, Michael Cohen is on Capitol Hill. He has two private meetings and one public testimony on Capitol Hill.

How could that impact the negotiations we see in North Korea? What could we see the president give away?

You mentioned, of course, ending the Korean War. Could it be troops, and how could this impact it?

ZELIZER: Well, the fear is that he gets into a bad agreement to make big news and hopefully, in his mind, distract the public from what Michael Cohen is saying or what else is going on in the investigation.

And you could end up with a historic turning point where North Korea gets a lot of what it's looking for --

ROMANS: Yes.

ZELIZER: -- international standing, new kind of diplomatic stature because the president's worried about an investigation, without denuclearization. So that's what a lot of national security experts are worried about.

[05:45:06] And because the president doesn't have, really, a grand strategy. ROMANS: Right.

ZELIZER: It's not clever, it's often sloppy. That's always a risk.

ROMANS: It's interesting the president is also negotiating with the Chinese at the same time and he's praising the Chinese for their help with North Korea.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: And then he doesn't raise tariffs. You know, he punts on that tariff deadline. He's -- you know, this is three-dimensional chess, really, when you're talking about China and North Korea and all this.

ZELIZER: But, China's leverage is greater in some ways because the president can't withstand an unstable economy here --

ROMANS: Right.

ZELIZER: -- in the United States. So that keeps driving him away from his threats.

ROMANS: Right.

ZELIZER: Whereas, North Korea -- it's a really different dynamic.

And, North Korea has to change internally. The markets won't work there if the North Korean government remains the same. Vietnam changed dramatically since the 1960s. So those are other reforms that have to be on the table.

BRIGGS: Also happening this week, on Tuesday, a huge House vote to block President Trump's national emergency on the southern border.

And today, 58 former senior national security officials writing to show support for blocking that national emergency. Anyone from Madeleine Albright, Jim Clapper, Susan Rice, Chuck Hagel, a former Republican, Eliot Cohen, just to mention a few. And in this letter they say, "Under no plausible assessment of the evidence is there a national emergency today" -- and it goes on.

It will pass the House. What does it mean if Republicans don't stand up and join Democrats in blocking this national emergency in the Senate?

ZELIZER: Well, on principle, they are going to go on record as supporting what the president has done going against national security advisers -- going against many figures in the Republican Party who rhetorically say this is a bad idea.

But the vote is what matters and I think by the end of the week the Republicans are going to go down or within a couple of weeks as standing by the side of the president on this. And then, the precedent is set. You can't reverse that vote. But that is what we've seen from congressional Republicans. BRIGGS: In 18 days the Senate will have to vote on it and all indications are they will punt.

ZELIZER: And he can veto if for some reason if Senate Republicans change their tune.

BRIGGS: Yes, and he says he will veto if Senate Republicans stand up.

ROMANS: What a week, what a week.

All right, Julian Zelizer. Nice to see you.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

ROMANS: Thank you, sir.

BRIGGS: Good to see you.

ROMANS: Vice President Mike Pence headed to Colombia today where he will meet Venezuela's opposition leader after a weekend of violence. A preview of their agenda, next.

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[05:51:30] ROMANS: Let's get a check on "CNN Business" this morning.

Global stock markets are higher after the president announced a delay in a major tariff hike to give the U.S. and China more time to reach a trade deal. Around the world, you can see a good mood in markets. Shanghai stocks up almost six percent. European markets all opened higher here.

And the good mood is extending to Wall Street. Dow futures -- look like you could have a Dow at the opening bell above 26,000. For the week, last week, the Dow and the Nasdaq extended their winning streaks, now nine weeks higher in a row. The S&P 500 also up for the week.

This week, investors finally will get a look at fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP). It was delayed because of the government shutdown. Analysts lowered their forecast following December's surprisingly weak retail sales.

The Atlanta Fed GDPNow model predicts just 1 1/2 percent growth for the quarter. Other big banks are looking for growth in the two percent range. Of course, the president has promised four percent growth.

If you thought Samsung's foldable phone was pricey, meet Huawei's foldable 5G-enabled phone, the MateX. Now, the cheapest version is $2,600, including taxes.

Huawei debuted it on the eve of the Mobile World Congress. That's a huge gathering of the mobile industry in Barcelona.

The MateX will compete with Samsung's Galaxy Fold priced at $1,960 before taxes. Huawei made no secret of the fact it's comparing itself to Samsung. At one point during that Huawei launch, the two products were compared side-by-side on a jumbo screen.

One thing Huawei didn't mention at the event were the recent U.S. accusations over security.

Samsung said it expects to launch the Galaxy Fold April 26th. Huawei has not released a launch date yet.

If you're willing to spend, what, a quarter of a million dollars for a quick trip to space, the option is now closer to reality. VSS Unity, Virgin Galactic's rocket-powered plane, climbed to a record altitude of nearly 56 miles during a test flight on Friday, the second time the plane has reached space.

The Unity's back-to-back test flight successes means Virgin Galactic could be on track to begin flying tourists to space this year. It's not clear how many more test runs Galactic is going to fly before it's comfortable putting paying customers and Richard Branson on board. Virginia Galactic has said it still has a ways to go in testing the many factors that can affect a flight.

BRIGGS: Vice President Mike Pence heading to Bogota, Colombia today. He's scheduled to meet with Venezuela's self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido after a violent weekend of clashes in the country that left at least five people dead.

CNN's Isa Soares is live for us inside Caracas, Venezuela with the latest. Isa, good morning.

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dave, Christine, after a weekend marred by violence on both sides of the Venezuela border -- 295 -- 85 people injured and five people dead -- I think it's fair to say the opposition leader Juan Guaido will be looking to the (INAUDIBLE) and in particular, to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence for moral support and for some action in regards to putting pressure on Nicolas Maduro.

We know that Vice President Mike Pence is already on his way to Bogota, Colombia where he will meet with the president of Colombia, Ivan Duque before. And then afterwards will be having a meeting -- his first meeting, I should say, with the leader opposition Juan Guaido.

We expect the vice president to really voice resolute support for Juan Guaido, as well as saying that the United States is undeterred in its support for Guaido. But also, undeterred when it comes to trying to put more aid -- bring more U.S. aid into Venezuela.

[05:55:08] This, despite the fact in the last 24 hours or so two trucks have made its way in from the Brazil-Venezuela border have been forced to turn around.

In terms of what else we could hear from the vice president, a senior U.S. administration official telling CNN that the vice president will offer some concrete steps and clear actions. What those will look like, we do not know. Bear in mind the United States has already put sanctions on plenty of individuals, including the cash cow of the Maduro regime and that is PDVSA, the oil company.

In terms of whether there'll be any kind of dialogue between the United States and the government of Nicolas Maduro, we know from the U.S. government that the time for talking is over, says a U.S. administration official. The only thing the U.S. is prepared to talk to Nicolas Maduro about is the timing, as well as the nature of his departure -- Christine, Dave.

BRIGGS: A critical day there.

Isa Soares live for us in Caracas. Thank you.

We'll be right back.

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