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EARLY START

North and South Korea Strike a Deal; Trump Tours Florence Devastated Carolinas; Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 20, 2018 - 04:00   ET

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


[04:00:01] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Senators set a deadline for Christine Blasey Ford to decide if she will testify against Judge Kavanaugh.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Very hard for me to imagine that anything happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: In North Carolina, President Trump continues to stand behind his Supreme Court nominee.

ROMANS: And the president promises help for the Carolinas. One of the worst flooding could be yet to come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAUREN HAYDEN, WENT ON DATE WITH GRANT ROBICHEAUX: I saw that news article, I started balling, and I just felt like what an idiot. Like how could I fall for that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: More women come forward with stories about a reality TV doctor accused of disturbing sex crimes.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Thursday, September 20th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.

A showdown under way this morning between Senate Republicans and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who says Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens. Senate Judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley setting a deadline of 10:00 a.m. Friday for a decision from Ford on whether she will testify to the committee next Monday.

But Ford's lawyer, Lisa Banks, says in a statement to CNN that Grassley's rush to a hearing is unnecessary and contrary to the committee discovering the truth. Banks says her client continues to believe that a full nonpartisan investigation of this matter is needed. BRIGGS: But Grassley is resisting calls from Ford and Banks for an

FBI probe. He says he's focused on encouraging her to come and testify.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Doing everything that we can to make Dr. Ford comfortable with coming before committee either in an open session or closed session or a public or a private interview. That is four ways she can choose to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Grassley followed up with a letter to Ford explaining why the Senate, not the FBI, is the right body to investigate her allegations. He writes, quote, "The FBI does not make a credibility assessment of any information it receives with respect to a nominee. The Constitution assigned the Senate and only the Senate with the task of advising and consenting for the nomination if the circumstances merit," end quote.

Sources tell CNN if Ford chooses not to speak to the committee, the Monday hearing would likely be canceled and the panel could move forward with the vote by midweek.

ROMANS: President Trump says he really wants to hear Christine Blasey Ford testify about her claim his nominee for the Supreme Court sexually assaulted her. On his way to see hurricane devastation in the Carolinas the president told reporters the Senate should give Ford all the time she needs to tell her story. And he opened the doors to the possibility he could change his mind about Brett Kavanaugh.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'd really want to see her. I really would want to see what she has to say. If she shows up, that would be wonderful. If she doesn't show up, that would be unfortunate. If she shows up and makes a credible showing, that'll be very interesting. We'll have to make a decision but I can only this, he is such an outstanding man. Very hard for me to imagine that anything happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The president emphasized Kavanaugh has already been repeatedly investigated by the FBI for previous jobs and downplayed the prospect of an additional probe.

BRIGGS: Attorney General Jeff Sessions tightening his control of immigration courts with two quiet moves this week. In one decision, Sessions made it more difficult for immigration judges to show leniency towards undocumented immigrants. In another, he signaled he may decide to keep asylum seekers in detention while they await their hearings.

Sessions' move come as the president is saying repeatedly he is not happy with Sessions for his lack of action on immigration among other things.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm disappointed in the attorney general for numerous reasons. But we have an attorney general. I'm disappointed in the attorney general for many reasons. And you understand that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Trump also attacked Sessions in an interview with "Hill TV" saying, "I don't have an attorney general. I'm not happy at the border. I'm not happy with numerous things."

ROMANS: All right. The Trump administration has a second effort to locate immigrant children released from U.S. custody again found that nearly 1500 children could not be located. 1500 children could not be located. Similar effort late last year came up with an almost identical number. Officials say the children are not necessarily lost. It may be as simple as no one picking up the phone when Health and Human Services calls. The new figures were released by a bipartisan group of senators working on a bill that would make the government responsible for children even after they are released.

[04:05:03] BRIGGS: President Trump optimistic about a possible solution to the North Korean nuclear threat Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're making tremendous progress with respect to North Korea. Prior to becoming president, it looked like we were going to war with North Korea, and now we have a lot of progress. In the meantime, we're talking. It's very calm. He's calm. I'm calm. So we'll see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: President speaking just hours after the North and South hammered out a deal announcing Pyongyang would close a key missile test facility and potentially destroy a key nuclear complex if the U.S. agrees to, quote, "corresponding measures."

CNN's Paula Hancocks live in Seoul with the very latest.

Paula, good morning.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Dave. Well, certainly at this point it looks as though the U.S. response to this summit has been positive. Especially the fact that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has invited his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho to meet with him on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. So simply they seem happy with has come out from this.

They are asking that questions in the air, though, the U.S. secretary of State saying that North Korea had agreed to U.S. and IAEA inspectors. So nuclear inspectors in the country. Now according to the declaration, there was no such agreement for nuclear inspectors, just at one missile site. And certainly there is that confusion as to whether that is both sides. The U.S. and North Korea. Hearing the same thing and interpreting it in different ways or whether that has actually been agreed.

But certainly from the South Korean president Moon Jae-in's point of view he will see this summit as a success. Three days worth. Clearly he has built up more of a rapport with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. But he's also signed this quite significant military pact which has some very wide ranging measures along the DMZ to try and demilitarize part of that area, removing land mines, jointly excavating the area for more remains of the Korean War as well -- Dave.

BRIGGS: Some baby steps but nothing yet concrete towards denuclearization.

Paula Hancocks, live for us. Thank you.

President Trump's attorney claims NBC edited Lester Holt's interview with Mr. Trump last year. But Mr. Trump said he was thinking of the Russia investigation when he fired James Comey as FBI director. Now here's the president telling that to Lester Holt in May of 2017.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I was going to fire Comey knowing there was no good time to do it. And in fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Special Counsel Bob Mueller's team has been looking into whether Trump's move against Comey amounted to obstruction of justice in the Russia investigation. But last night, Trump's attorney Jay Sekulow argued that the network edited the interview. He said there was a longer version where the president said he realized that firing Comey might not shorten the Russia probe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY SEKULOW, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ATTORNEY: We think the entire transcript without question supports that the president realized it when he fired James Comey it might actually extend this investigation. And he said that on the tape.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Sekulow did not offer any proof that NBC edited the interview. CNN has reached out to the network for comment.

ROMANS: All right. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn set to be sentenced on December 18th. Flynn pleaded guilty last December to one charge of lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador. The retired lieutenant general agreed to cooperate with Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. The setting of a sentencing date suggests the special counsel's need for Flynn's cooperation is coming to an end.

BRIGGS: New York Congressman Chris Collins has returned to actively campaigning for his re-election this morning while under indictment on federal insider trading charges. The Buffalo Area Republican tweeting Wednesday that, quote, "The stakes are too high to allow the radical left to take control of the seat in Congress."

Last month, Collins suspended his campaign while the GOP looked for a way to replace him as a candidate. In the end Collins' lawyer concluded there was no clear path to putting a substitute on the ballot. Collins was one of President Trump's earliest supporters in the 2016 campaign. He's called the securities and wire fraud charges against him, quote, "meritless."

ROMANS: All right. America's trade war with China may have killed a potential 1 million U.S. jobs. That is according to Chinese tech billionaire Jack Ma. Ma runs China's biggest e-commerce company Alibaba. Last year he pledged to create one million U.S. jobs. That followed a high profile meeting with then President-elect Donald Trump. But now Ma says his plan is off. He told China's official news agency, "The promise was made on the premise of friendly U.S.- China partnership and rational trade relations. That premise no longer exists today. So our promise cannot be fulfilled."

Alibaba confirmed Ma's comments. Ma has long expressed fears over a trade war between the U.S. and China calling it a mess that could last two decades.

[04:10:06] His latest comments follow a fresh round of tit-for-tat tariffs. But analysts have long doubted Ma's million-job pledge in the first place.

His latest comments follow a fresh round of tit-for-tat tariffs. But analysts have long doubted Ma's million-job pledge in the first place. Alibaba didn't plan on investing or building factories in the U.S. Instead Ma wanted to help American small business and farmers sell their products in China.

You know, so much concern about this trade war and what it's going to look like and how long it's going to last, is it a year, is it 10 years, is a new norm in China-U.S. relations? And you have stocks very close to record highs here in the U.S. again so --

BRIGGS: Where do you see it playing out?

ROMANS: You know, I think there's a lot of -- excuse me, a lot of headline risk. But I'm very surprised that investors are betting that there will be of a compromise.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: And the U.S. has more to gain and China has more to lose.

BRIGGS: Some leverage perhaps on the side of the president.

OK. Prosecutors say he was like a wolf in sheep's clothing. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, a wolf can wear scrubs or doctors clothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: More on this reality TV doctor who may have preyed upon women all over the country.

ROMANS: And Mark Cuban gets emotional over the conduct that occurred on his watch with the Dallas Mavericks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:13] BRIGGS: President Trump got a firsthand look at the devastation and flooding from Florence Wednesday. His six-hour visit came with the death toll from the hurricane turned tropical depression now at least 36. Rivers are still rising, some of them swollen and expected to crest as early as today, creating a fresh round of flooding.

Touring the region, President Trump met with first responders and evacuated residents assuring them America stands ready to help.

Nick Watt has more from one of the hardest hit areas, Wilmington, North Carolina.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, well, the sun has been shining here in Wilmington, North Carolina, but the outlook is still pretty bleak. Now the governor here said that we are a state that is hurting.

The state is going to hurt for quite some time and here is why. I mean, they still have thousands of people in shelters. Hundreds of roads closed. And the long-term impact is also just beginning to be calculated. The Carolinas rely heavily on tourism and agriculture. Fields have been inundated. And also three million chickens killed, 5,000 hogs dead. And as the president said today, you know, the people of South Carolina, for them, the worst may still be to come.

One of the last trips, spots on his trip here Wednesday was Conway in South Carolina where officials say that they don't think the river is going to peak and really cause some damage until Friday. Other rivers may not peak until next week. And one of the officials down there in North Myrtle Beach texted me and said, you know, we are slowly becoming an island. Now the president's message on his trip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Washington is with you. Trump is with you. We are all with you 100 percent. And we'll get through it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: So that was the message from the president's trip. There were two messages really. One is for South Carolina, the worst could still be to come. The second was whatever happens, the federal government will do whatever it can to help you -- Christine and Dave.

BRIGGS: All right. Nick Watt, thank you.

Officials in California say six new people have been identified who may have been drugged and raped by a California surgeon. Grant Robicheaux and his girlfriend Cherissa Riley. The Orange County D.A.'s office says two of the cases appeared to have occurred outside the state. One woman who went on a Tinder date with Robicheaux appeared on one episode of a Bravo reality show says while she wasn't drugged or raped, the suspect did make unwanted sexual advances toward her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAYDEN: He took me to his Jacuzzi where he kept trying to rip off my top and I kept trying to just put it back on. I kept trying to, like, escape and he kept, like, pulling out my clothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: She says she did not report the incident to police. Meantime, the DA's office said it has received more than 30 calls with more coming in. Robicheaux and Riley are set to be arraigned October 25th.

The owner of the company that makes 3-D printed guns has been charged with sexual assault on a child. Boston Policy say Cody Wilson had sex with a 16-year-old girl he met on an adult dating site. They say the 30-year-old paid $500 to have sex with the girl last August. Officials say his last known location was in Taiwan and his return flight date has passed. CNN has reached out to Wilson for comment but he has not responded. Wilson is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the government over making instructions for 3-D guns accessible online.

ROMANS: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is donating $10 million to women's advocacy groups after an independent probe found numerous instances of sexual harassment and other workplace misconduct among NBA team employees over more than 20 years. That included forcible touching and kissing of women employees by a former team president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CUBAN, DALLAS MAVERICKS OWNER: First, just an apology to the women involved. This is not something that just is one incident and then it's over. It stays with people. It stays with families. And I'm just sorry I didn't see it. I'm just sorry I didn't recognize it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The NBA said the investigation found no evidence Cuban was aware of the former team president's misconduct. The probe launched following a "Sports Illustrated" article in February.

BRIGGS: All right. Ahead it's a great gig if you can get it. Coming up, the band set to take the stage for the Super Bowl halftime show. ROMANS: And how did this happen? A spelling mistake. Oh boy. That

just couldn't go unnoticed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:24:06] ROMANS: All right. Maroon 5 is gearing up to headline next year's Super Bowl halftime show. At ;east that's what two sources tell the "New York Times." In a statement, the NFL says it is continuing to work out plans. Doesn't have a statement to make at this time. It's true the band's front man Adam Levine following the footsteps of other chart-topping artists including Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars. Super Bowl LIII takes place February 3rd in Atlanta.

BRIGGS: All right. Check out this 12-foot gator had nothing on the great granny from Texas. Turns out Judy Cochran had been hunting this 580-pound monster for three years and managed to kill it with a single shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDY COCHRAN, KILLED 12-FOOT GATOR: One shot in the head and he just went under. Typically they'll do what they call a death roll and just roll over and over and over. Well, this one didn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: You go, Granny. Judy says she is not bragging about the harvest. She said she went after the gator after she believes it ate one of her miniature horses.

[04:25:08] ROMANS: Wow. Here's a big-time a reminder that spelling counts. Take a look. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific painted its name as "Cathay Paciic" on the side of the jet. Eagle-Eye Travelers spotted the missing F and immediately contacted the airline. Cathay Pacific said it was a genuine yet costly mistake. Even joked about it on Twitter, saying, "Oops, this special delivery won't last long. She is going back to the shop."

It is a reminder that copy editors matter. Everyone needs a good copy editor especially if you are a huge airline.

(LAUGHTER)

BRIGGS: Yes. And we can appreciate mistakes do happens indeed.

All right. Ahead, Senate Republicans with a message for Christine Blasey Ford. Make up your mind. Do it soon. The latest on Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation drama next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)