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EARLY START

Senator Franken, Representative Franks Resign; New Questions About Trump Tower Meeting; New Wildfires in Southern California. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 8, 2017 - 04:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:00:13] SEN. AL FRANKEN (D), MINNESOTA: I am announcing that in the coming weeks, I will be resigning as a member of the United States Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Day of reckoning on Capitol Hill. Congress facing three resignations in one week after a wave of sexual harassment allegations.

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Previously undisclosed e-mails now show multiple attempts to follow-up after that June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, raising new questions about what was really discussed.

ROMANS: New wildfires erupting across southern California. Officials are now racing against time to battle six, count them, six wildfires. And the pictures are just unbelievable.

BRIGGS: And the winds are their enemy in California.

ROMANS: All right. Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. It is Friday, December 8th. We'll check in, in California shortly. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East.

We start with another day of reckoning in sexual harassment. Democratic Senator Al Franken announcing he will step down in the next few weeks. He faces accusations by several women who say he groped or forcibly kissed them or both.

Franken struck a defiant tone in a speech in the Senate floor Thursday, suggesting he is paying a price for not denying the claims earlier and more forcefully.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: I also think it gave some people the false impression that I was admitting to doing things that in fact I haven't done. Some of the allegations against me are simply not true. Others, I remember very differently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Franken did not apologize in that speech and he also complained about the unfairness of being forced out while President Trump keeps his job and Roy Moore keeps running for Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Minnesota's Democratic Governor Mark Dayton will appoint a temporary replacement for Franken until a special election next November.

Dozens of Democrats have called on Franken to resign including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

BRIGGS: Just a few hours later, Arizona Republican Congressman Trent Franks announced he is resigning at the end of January. The statement came after the House Ethics Committee said it would investigate sexual harassment claims against Franks.

In statement, Franks admitted he discussed fertility issues with two female staffers. Quote: I have recently learned that the Ethics Committee is reviewing an inquiry regarding my discussion of surrogacy with two previous female subordinates, making each feel uncomfortable. I deeply regret that my discussion of this option and the process in the workplace caused distress.

ROMANS: OK. But the day wasn't over. Last night, the House Ethics panel announced progress in the investigation of Republican Congressman Blake Fahrenthold. The lawyer for Lauren Green, a former staffer, who says Farenthold sexually harassed her, said she has agreed to sit for an interview with an ethics committee, and now, one of Farenthold's Republican colleagues, Congresswoman Mia Love of Utah, is calling on him to resign.

And all of this just days after Michigan Congressman John Conyers resigned from his seat following a series of sexual harassment allegations by former staffers.

BRIGGS: With Capitol Hill reeling from allegations and resignations, President Trump heads to Pensacola, Florida, tonight, for a campaign rally and that's just 25 miles from the Alabama border, where Roy Moore is vying for the Senate seat under a cloud of sexual misconduct allegations.

The president is standing by his endorsement of Moore. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders sticking to her script.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, I've addressed this in depth. We think the allegations are troubling and that, ultimately, this is something that the people of Alabama should decide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The Republican National Committee is still supporting Roy Moore, cutting two checks for his campaign totaling $170,000.

ROMANS: But Colorado Senator Cory Gardner, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, wants no part of the Alabama Senate candidate, telling "The Weekly Standard", Roy Moore will never have the support of senatorial committee.

We will never endorse him. We won't support him. I won't let that happen. Nothing will change.

The election to choose between Roy Moore and Doug Jones takes place on Tuesday.

BRIGGS: Now to a CNN exclusive, previously undisclosed e-mails showing follow-ups to the Trump Tower meeting between top Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer offering dirt on Hillary Clinton. This is the first indication of any follow-through after the meeting, raising some new questions about congressional investigations.

[04:05:06] CNN's Jessica Schneider with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, CNN is learning about follow-up e-mails after that June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between members of Trump's inner circle and Russians, who Donald Trump believed was offering dirt on Hillary Clinton.

So, one of the e-mails was to senior Trump aide Dan Scavino. He's the president's social media director. So, British publicist Rob Goldstone who set up the meeting, he encouraged Scavino to get then- candidate Donald Trump to create a page on the Russian social networking site called VK. In the emails, Goldstone said that, quote, Don and Paul were on board with the idea. That was a reference to then-Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, also Donald Trump

A source tells us Goldstone had also mentioned the idea that social media post at the end of the Trump Tower meeting as everyone was leaving and that Goldstone continued to push the proposal in e-mails in the following weeks.

Now, CNN has done a search of VK pages. We could not find any indication the campaign ever set a page up.

Then, there was a second e-mail that was dated June 14th, 2016. That was five days after the Trump Tower meeting n that e-mail, Goldstone forwarded a CNN story on Russia's hacking of DNC e-mails. It was forwarded to his client, a Russian pop star Emin Agalarov. Also to Ike Kaveladze who also attended the meeting and he described the news of the hacks as, quote, eerily weird, given that they had what they had at the Trump Tower meeting five days earlier.

We reached out to some attorneys and Scott Balber, the attorney for Ike Kaveladze, he confirms that his client received the e-mail but he said it was odd because hacking, he says was never discussed at the meeting. But the point is these new e-mails, they are raising new questions for investigators about what exactly was discussed inside the Trump Tower meeting, and how much these e-mails kept coming in after the meeting itself -- Christine and Dave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Jessica Schneider. Thank you, Jessica.

The head of the FBI defending the bureau on Capitol. Director Christopher Wray making his first public appearance since President Trump blasted the agency, tweeting Sunday: After years of Comey with the phony and dishonest Clinton investigation and more, manning the FBI, its reputation in tatters, worst in history, but fear not, we will bring it back to greatness.

BRIGGS: Here is Wray's response to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: The FBI that I see is tens of thousands of brave men and women who are working as hard as they can to keep people they will never know safe from harm. The agents, analysts and staff of the FBI are big boys and girls. We understand that we will take criticism from all corners and we're accustomed to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Wray went on to tell the House Judiciary Committee there is no finer institution than the FBI.

ROMANS: All right. The House and Senate narrowly averting a government shutdown this weekend, voting for a short term spending bill to keep the federal government running for another two weeks. The votes came shortly after President Trump met with top Democratic and Republican leaders at the White House to resolve key policy differences.

BRIGGS: A new deadline for a long term spending bill, December 22nd, yes, the Friday before Christmas. That's when government agency's authority to spend money runs out again. One key issue is whether to protect DREAMers, undocumented immigrants brought into the country as children. And that could be a deal breaker for Republicans. While some Democrats in the House have threatened to vote against any spending package that does not include DACA protection.

President Trump's approval rating singing to an all-time low. According to the latest Pew Research Center poll, just 32 percent of Americans now approve of his job performance. That matches the lowest number in any approval poll since Mr. Trump took office. And when asked whether improper contact between senior Trump officials and Russia definitely or probably occurred during the campaign, Americans say yes by a nearly 2-1 margin, 59 to 30 percent.

ROMANS: All right. House and Senate Republicans still hammering out the details between the tax bills, but most Americans think the GOP plan helps the wealthy on Wall Street, not the middle class. From a new CBS poll, 76 percent say the tax plan helps large corporations, while 69 percent say wealthy Americans fare best. Both bills promised big corporate tax cuts that add to the deficit, with no guarantee it will add jobs or raise wages.

So, less than a third polled think the final bill will help the middle class. Big middle tax cuts were a core promise of the plan, but it probably won't come to pass. Under the Senate bill, most middle class Americans pay more by the year 2027.

And that's not the only tax pledge that has been broken here. Remember the promises of a simpler tax code. Experts say both versions are incredibly complex.

[04:10:00] Remember the promise the bill would pay for itself. The Senate plan cost $1.4 trillions over the decade.

Now, Republicans say economic growth will cover that costs. But Congress itself estimates the bill only creates $408 billion in growth, leaving about a trillion in deficits.

Still, a lot of concern about people -- middle class -- every middle class people who live in those high tax states who deduct a lot of state and local taxes still trying to work that out. Teachers concerned about their write-offs, large institutions, grad students, all of these important sectors of .

BRIGGS: Those numbers show you that it gets worse the longer it goes on, 2018, when there's a midterm election. They won't necessarily feel that. They put off the pain a couple of elections.

ROMANS: True. There's also this argument from Republicans who say, look, we're going to fix that. Don't think of these as expiring. We won't really let them expire. But there's no guarantee.

BRIGGS: There's no guarantee. But there is a guarantee that the corporate tax rates will stay.

ROMANS: That's right.

BRIGGS: All right. Ahead, firefighters in Southern California now battling six wildfires and more than 200,000 people have been told to evacuate as officials say the fight may last for weeks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:19] ROMANS: All right. Six wildfires totaling 140,000 acres now raging out of control in Southern California. The winds are intense, the conditions are dry. All of that sparking new fires in San Diego and Riverside Counties. We're talking nearly 200,000 people are evacuating here.

The largest fires north of Ventura County, it's all but encircling the town of Ojai, and moving into Santa Barbara. The smoke plume from the fames extending over 1,000 miles into the Pacific, look at these pictures. The distance from New York to Miami.

More now from CNN's Sara Sidner in Ventura.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, you are looking at the largest of six fires that had been burning here in California now. This is the Thomas Fire. It is in Ventura County.

And we are between Ojai and Carpentaria. I want to give you a look at what is happening. We're standing at a farm, we're standing on the home owner's balcony here, and you are seeing just there, just at the ridge line there, fire. They have been watching this very closely. It is burning.

Then you will see helicopters come in and sort of drop water on that fire. But it keeps popping up. This is the problem that firefighters have been having.

We're talking about nearly 100,000 acres for one fire alone. There is a lot of property damage that has happened over the course of the past few days, about 300 structures have burned in all these different fires.

I want to give you an idea just behind me where we are seeing those air drops yet again that is happening even in this dense smoke. Incredible work by fire crews who have been trying to keep these flames from getting to places like where we are farms. But, still, a very dangerous, very active fire situation, including as we drove here on the 101, both north and southbound, the fire going so heavy and going so ferociously, it jumped the freeway, putting cars in danger. They were swerving around the fire.

People still are being told, the evacuations are in place, and they need to be careful and pay attention because this fire is nowhere near over yet -- Dave, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: Sara Sidner there in California. Thanks.

A breakthrough meanwhile in the Brexit talks. After a week of negotiations, the U.K. and European Union declaring a preliminary deal has been reached. British Prime Minister Theresa May rushing to Brussels to announce the agreement with the E.U. President Jean Claude Juncker. Both sides agreeing sufficient agreement has been reached on the Irish border. Financial settlements and E.U. citizens' rights. The future of trade between the U.K. and E.U. now on the table.

ROMANS: That has been a thorny and sticky divorce.

BRIGGS: Yes, it's going to be ugly.

ROMANS: Yes.

All right. More protests expected today in Israel following yesterday's tense -- very tense demonstrations where dozens were injured. We'll go live to Jerusalem, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:22:37] ROMANS: All right. Welcome back.

President Trump is heading south, kicking off a three-day trip today with two stops that are already making headlines. Trump holds that rally in Pensacola, Florida, tonight. And tomorrow, he takes part in the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson.

There will be two empty seats at the ceremony, civil rights icon, Georgia Congressman John Lewis, and Mississippi Congressman Benny Thompson. They will be no shows. In a statement, they say President Trump's attendance and his hurtful policies are an insult to the people portrayed in this civil rights museum, the struggles represented in this museum exemplified the truth of what really happened in Mississippi.

BRIGGS: Former South Carolina police officer, Michael Slager, sentenced to 20 years in federal prison Thursday for the fatal shooting of Michael Scott in 2015. The judge ruled the death of the unarmed black motorist to be second murder after Slager pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights violation. Slager, who is white, shot Scott five times in the back after he was pulled over for a broken tail light.

The incident as you can see caught on tape. Slager state murder trial ended in a mistrial last year. It's one of the few cases in which a police officer has been prosecuted for an on-duty shooting.

BRIGGS: All right. Democratic Senator Al Franken and Republican Congressman Trent Franks both resigned from Congress amid sexual harassment allegations. We'll have the latest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:28:20] FRANKEN: I am announcing that in the coming weeks, I will be resigning as a member of the United States Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: A day of reckoning on Capitol Hill. Congress facing three resignations in one week after a wave of sexual harassment allegations.

ROMANS: Previously undisclosed e-mails now show multiple attempts to follow up after that June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, raising new questions about what was discussed that day.

BRIGGS: And new wildfires erupting across Southern California as officials are now racing against time to battle six wildfires, more than 20 million people picked up their phone to text yesterday saying they're in extreme fire danger.

Terrifying situation. We'll check in there shortly.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is 29 minutes past the hour.

Let's begin in Washington with politics. Democratic Senator Al Franken announcing he will step down in the next few weeks. He faces accusations by several women who say he groped or forcibly kissed them or both. Franken struck a defiant tone in his speech from the Senate floor Thursday, suggesting he is paying a price for not denying the claims earlier and more forcefully.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: I also think it gave some people the false impression that I was admitting to doing things that in fact I haven't done. Some of the allegations against me are simply not true. Others, I remember very differently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Franken did not apologize in his speech and he also complained about the unfairness of being forced out while President Trump keeps his job and Roy Moore keeps running for Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)