Transcripts For CNNW Early Start With John Berman And Christ

CNNW Early Start With John Berman And Christine Romans March 21, 2017

Im christine romans. It is tuesday, march 21st. President trump back in washington this morning after one of his trademark Campaign Style rallies in kentucky. He talked about health care and tax reform and other topics. Did not touch on the extraordinary testimony by the fbi director james comey. This despite tweeting all day long about the capitol hill hearing. A hearing that features fireworks, but not smoking gun connecting russia to the Trump Campaign. The fbi director confirmed for the first time there is an fbi investigation into whether trump allies colluded with russia with the election meddling. Comey told senators the investigation started in late july and they had come to the clear conclusion of the russian interference driven by Vladimir Putins disdain for hillary clinton. They wanted to hurt our democracy. Hurt her. Help him. Putin hated secretary clinton so much, the flip side, he had a clear preference running. As the summer went on and the polls appeared to show secretary clinton was going to win, the russians gave up and focused on trying to undermine her. The republicans focused during their part of the hearing of leaks that led to the resignation of michael flynn. Press Secretary Sean Spicer asked later of russian officials who flynn talked to. Spicer raised question who knew it was flynn on the other end of the conversations and why did they leak . Why was a name that should have been protected by law put out in the public demain . What else do we need to know . Who was behind that unmasking . There is a way to go. We are in the first chapter of the process. The other big news from the hearing, the fbi directors confirmation there is no evidence to back trumps claim that trump tower was wiretapped and president obama ordered it. Even so, donald trump standing by the allegation. Mr. Comey saying mr. Trump will not apologize adding to questioquestio questions remain and surveillance may or may not have taken place. And how is the kremlin reacting after mondays explosive testimony by the fbi director . Lets go live to moscow and get the latest from frederik pleitgen. Fred, we were glued to the hearing all day long. You had two top enforcement officials painting russia as an adversary out to harm u. S. Interests around the world. Reporter christine, we were glued to the hearings as well. It seems as the kremlin and russian opfficials are going ou of their way to not comment. We managed to get in touch with Vladimir Putins spokesperson as the hearing was going on. We said what do you think. He said quote we saw no reason to comment on the hearings. The same for the other top level russian officials who are active on twitter and media. We are hearing little from official sources. One source that is commenting so far is russian state owned tv russia today which was substantially mentioned as being propaganda arm of the kremlin. They said they believe the hearings were like a 1970s soap opera which is repetitive and flat. At the same time, you are looking to see how it ends. Critical reaction that came from moscow. By and large, you could see the kremlin and other entities in the russian government dont want to talk about this topic at all. They stand by what they have been saying all the time. They said they believe this is politically motivated and their country is being demonized. A 1970s soap opera, dave. Extraordinary political times. As the anchors of early start we play a limited role in the program. That seems to be on par with the argument used by White House Press secretary he sesean spice. Listen to spicer making these comments at the same time the House Committee investigating whether or not Trump Campaign aides colluded with russia. Paul manafort played a limited role for a limited amount of time. I believe paul was brought on in june and by the middle of august, he was no longer with the campaign. For the stretch of the general election, he was not involved. To be clear, manafort was hired in march of 2016 to lead the delegate operation for the campaign. He was promoted in may to Campaign Chairman and chief strategist. Manafort resigned among Power Centers in the Trump Campaign. In a statement, manafort did not reference his role in the campaign, but denies any ties to or contact with the russian government. He was the stabilizing force behind the campaign if you remember. Wildly fluctuating. He moderated and stabilized things. I remember some called him the grown up in the room. Able to unify the campaign. Limited role. Breaking overnight. Against mounting odds, republicans reveal significant changes to the plan for repealing and replacing obamacare. With the vote planned for thursday, House Republican leaders rolled out amendments to the American Health care act. Changes include work requirements and block grants for medicaid and more money to ensure older americans. You remember the age tax that the aarp has been fighting against. More details in a moment. Republican leaders making the changes to apiece both gop conservatives and moderates. It may not be enough. The ultra conservative Freedom Caucus announced it still has enough votes to broke the bill. The president is expected to ratchet up the pressure on resistant lawmakers when he speak was lawmakers on capitol hill at 9 00. That is where we have cnns phil mattingly. Reporter dave and christine, the president has been called the closer by speaker wall line. He is able to put that to the test this morning. They need his help to try to close the deal. Releasing a managers an mentim. In the hopes of drawing the moderates and the conservatives wary about the tax. The big question is will those things and final push from President Trump be enough to close the deal . Bottom line . They need 216 votes. They are planning to have the final vote in the house on thursday. They are short right now. If you talk to aides, they know there is work to do. With the changes as incorporated with the president s help behind closed doors, the closer, if you will, they get this across the finish line. One key issue is as this moves forward, besides what the president himself has to say, on those changes and what will happen next. You are hearing alliance on what the senate will do to make the package more palatable. We will see. Dave and christine. The clock is ticking. Lets talk about the changes. The Republican Leaders are making to get the bill through the house. They include giving states the option of taking medicaid money as a block grant. I states could require able bodied medicaid recipients to work. States would be barred from expanding the medicaid role. The obamacare taxes would be repealed this year instead of next. 75 billion set aside to increase the Health Insurance tax credits for the consumers in the 50s and 60s. The aarp says they will hold lawmakers accountable if they raise costs. Will it satisfy the aarp . Stand by. Republican leaders face a steep climb getting through the house. Speaker ryan is playing the long game with an eye to pass the senate. We have to make sure every change we make conforms to the senate rules to make sure it cannot get filibustered. All these changes added, were doing to make sure they are done in a way they cannot get filibustered. We feel good. After a frenzy of political horse trading, conservative lawmakers say no more changes. Conservative senators hoping to make changes emerge from the white house meeting monday afternoon disappoint ondisappoi. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson is a no show at the gathering of nato northeforeign ministers next month. He will meet with the chinese president here in the u. S. Tillerson is attending meetings in russia next month. Democrats among others raising questions about the administrations Foreign Policy commitments with russia and china appearing to trump fellow nato members. The secret service under fire. Jason chaffetz calling the white house jumper pathetic and alarming. He went undetected for 16 minutes. After reviewing video, he told reporters quote, every redundancy in the system failed. James comey not on the onthe on the hot seat. A preview of day two of Neil Gorsuchs confirmation hearings next. Guess what . You could apply for a Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan whenever you want. No enrollment window. No waiting to apply. That means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Medicare doesnt cover everything. And like all standardized Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesnt pay. So dont wait. Call now to request your free decision guide. It could help you find the aarp Medicare Supplement plan that works for you. These types of plans have no networks, so you get to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. Rates are competitive, and theyre the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. Remember these plans let you apply all year round. So call today. Because nows the perfect time to learn more. Go long. Sweet, sweet st. Thomas nice. So nice, so nice. St. Croix full of pure vibes. So nice, so nice. St. John a real paradise. So nice, so nice. Proud to be from the Virgin Islands. And the whole place nice. To experience your Virgin Islands nice, go to visitusvi. Com. President Trumps Supreme Court pick neil gorsuch getting set for a grueling day on the hot seat. Day two of confirmation hearings begin in hours. Tension on day one as democrats making it clear they believe the vacant Supreme Court seat was stolen from them. Neil gorsuch doing his best to keep this out of the process. We say these are politicians in robes. If i thought that were true, id hang up the robe. Each member of the Senate Committee gets 30 minutes to grill judge gorsuch today. We get more this morning from cnns Sunlen Serfaty on capitol hill. Reporter good morning, dave and christine. Today is day two of Neil Gorsuchs confirmation hearings. Very likely we will see a lot more fireworks coming from the committee today. On monday, members of the committee, especially democrats, really signaling they are gearing up for a fight here. They will grill neil gorsuch. Not only about his judicial philosophy, but they clearly are intending to make this confirmation as much about donald trump as they can. You will have your hands full with this president. He will keep you busy. It is incumbent to demonstrate he or she will serve as a check of balance on the presidency. Reporter this is anticipated for a few days. The chairman of the committee senator grassley expects to vote in the next couple weeks. If confirmed through committee, he will go to a full senate vote. Dave and christine. Sunlen serfaty, thank you. Some passengers flying into the u. S. Will be required to check almost all of their electronic devices. U. S. Officials tell us the ban will cover nonstop flights into the u. S. No specific airlines or airports yet. Flights from the middle east and africa. Devices larger than a cell phone checked. A state Department Official says embassies have been notifying countries and airlines. Officials say the directive is to ensure security measures. It will cover a limited period. If a passenger transferred through a second city, the threat would be negated according to officials. The ban on the electronics is related to al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. They are actively trying to build bombs with little to no metal detection. Officials say information from a recent special forces raid in yemen contributed to that move. Remember that recent raid in yemen . Where we lost a navy s. E. A. L. A terrifying story. Still more information. New concerns of north korea after pyongyangs test of the rocket eveninngine that could bd in an intercontinental Ballistic Missile. Live in beijing next. This is one gorgeous truck. Special edition. Oh, did i say theres only one special edition . Because, actually theres five. Ooohh aaaahh uh hooooly mackerel. Wow. Nice. Strength and style. Its truck month. Get 0 financing for 60 months plus find your tag and get 5500 on select Chevy Silverado pickups when you finance with gm financial. Find new roads at your local chevy dealer. North korea, ill tell you what, whats happening there is disgraceful and not smart. Not smart at all. President trump talking tough on north korea during the rally in kentucky. This comes as we learned the rock rocket evngine could be used ina Ballistic Missile capable of hitting the u. S. We have correspondent will ripley with more. Will, what is the reaction here . Reporter you know, dave, not a lot of specific reaction to President Trumps remarks. What they do show is north korea is really top of mind for the Trump Administration right now. We know there is supposed to be a briefing with Rex Tillerson and President Trump as they come up with the strategy that they present to the chinese president xi jinping who is expected to make a visit to the United States next month. All of this on the heels of the test of the rocket engine. The sources at the pentagon are saying that evenings ingine cou placed on a Ballistic Missile. We know that is north koreas end game. We know based on satellite images, they made rapid progress in producing materials used to make Nuclear Weapons. Plutonium and uranium. The Nuclear Facility has doubled recently. That is alarming with the people with the Atomic Energy agency. The general says he doesnt believe diplomacy will work here. Beijing wants to stop military exercises. China holds the cards. They have economic leverage with north korea. There are a lot of things to discuss. Clearly the problem continues to grow and it is being felt in the region. Especially in japan and south korea. Right in the bullseye for the powerful and sophisticated weapons of north korea. Will, thank you. President trump spent much of monday tweeting about a house intelligence hearing where the fbi director said his campaign is investigated for possible ties to russia. So why did trump go con with co quiet in kentucky . Plan whenever you want. No enrollment window. No waiting to apply. That means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Medicare doesnt cover everything. And like all standardized Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesnt pay. So dont wait. Call now to request your free decision guide. It could help you find the aarp Medicare Supplement plan that works for you. These types of plans have no networks, so you get to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. Rates are competitive, and theyre the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. Remember these plans let you apply all year round. So call today. Because nows the perfect time to learn more. Go long. Thats how i feel about blueemu pain relief spray. Odorless and fastacting. It soothes all my muscle aches and pains. And its convenient for those hard to reach places. And if youre like me, youll love blueemu super strength cream. Its made with real emu oil, its non greasy, its a deep penetrating formula that works itself down into your joints. Take it from me. It works fast and you wont stink. Blueemu, it works for me itll work for you. You can continue to look for something, but continue to look for something that doesnt exist. The white house not backing down on questions of the coordination of the Trump Campaign and russia which came hours after a familiar sight. Fbi director weighing in on the 2016. And Republican Leaders making changes to the health care plan. Trying to apease lawmakers on the fence. Is this enough to pass the Health Care Bill . Welcome back to early start. Im christine romans. Im dave briggs. What a day. The president tweeting. Being fact checked in realtime by the fbi director. President trump back in washington after one of his trademark Campaign Style rallies in kentucky. He talked about health care, tax reform, College Basketball and Colin Kaepernick. He did not touch on mondays extraordinary testimony by fbi director james comey. This despite tweeting all day long about the dramatic capitol hill hearing. A hearing that featured fireworks and no smoking gun connecting russia to the campaign. The fbi director confirmed an fbi investigation into the trump allies colluded with russia in the election meddling. Comey told senators the probe started in late july and by a month after the election, the Intelligence Community came to a conclusi conclus

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