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EARLY START

U.S. Troops Depart Bagram Air Base After Nearly 20 Years; Should Trump be Concerned After Weisselberg Charges?; New Docs: Despite Major Damage, Repairs Were Halted at Condo. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired July 2, 2021 - 05:00   ET

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


[05:00:28]

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, U.S. troops pull out of Bagram, a major milestone in the withdrawal from America's longest war. CNN is live in Kabul.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Grand larceny, tax fraud, and other charges against Donald Trump's longtime money man.

JARRETT: And the U.S. Supreme Court leaves Democrats with a bigger hill to climb to stop making new laws that make it harder to vote.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.

ROMANS: Good morning, everyone. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: So glad you're back.

ROMANS: I know.

It's Friday. Friday, July 2nd. Happy Friday, everybody. It is 5:00 a.m. exactly here in New York.

And breaking overnight, the last troops have left Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, ending the American presence at the compound once, of course, the center of military power in Afghanistan.

JARRETT: CNN's Anna Coren is leave for us in Kabul, Afghanistan, this morning.

Anna, leaving this air force base, this is just a hugely significant moment, as the U.S. nears complete pullout soon.

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, look, I mean, the U.S. and coalition forces are now out of country. When they boarded those aircraft carriers and flew out of here, two overnight, one at 6:30 a.m. this morning, they had troops and equipment onboard. There is nowhere else for those U.S. forces to go, other than back to the United States. So, you will have your troops home by the Fourth of July.

We also got confirmation that they have handed back Bagram Air Base to the Afghan national security forces. They are now in charge, as of today.

But, you know, this really does symbolize the very end of America's 20-year war here in Afghanistan. Yes, they are going to leave, perhaps up to 1,000 U.S. troops in country to protect the U.S. embassy, as well as to secure the international airport, until Turkish forces get into place.

But as far as America's physical footprint here on the ground, you know, training, assisting, advising Afghan soldiers, that has now ended. The only support will be financial and then, of course, air support, those air strikes, which probably will be conducted from an aircraft carrier, positioned in the Persian Gulf, until America shores up a base somewhere in the region.

But Afghans are on their own. And they know that. I spoke to Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. He is the head of peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. And he said if it was up to Afghans, America would never have left. That now isn't the sometime, because of the insurgency, because of the offensive being launched by the Taliban, that this is the reality.

This is what Afghanistan has to live with. They have to step up and do this on their own. I spoke to Dr. Abdullah, in an exclusive interview yesterday. Let's have a listen to some of his concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Dr. Abdullah, how can you guarantee that Afghanistan will not be a safe haven for terrorists in the future?

ADBULLAH ABDULLAH, AFGHAN HIGH COUNCIL FOR NATIONAL RECONCILIATION: I don't think there is a guarantee. And a Taliban have failed their promise that they will de-link with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. We don't have many signs of that. So, that's the danger, for us, as well as for the region and beyond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Dr. Abdullah says that the Taliban has been gaining momentum these past weeks and months, that their speed on the battle field has really caught people by surprise, and that they will be dark days ahead.

ROMANS: Anna, CNN's national security team has new reporting this morning about concerns inside the White House, about what happens post-withdrawal. Tell us more.

COREN: Look, we know that President Biden, he was the one who called the September 11 deadline. He has been against the Afghan war, even when he was vice president, to Obama. So this is very consistent with his beliefs.

We also know, however that the military (VIDEO GAP) presence here in Afghanistan, that they didn't want to be exposed. We know that Pakistan and Imran Khan has said that you cannot have a base here, like you have in the past. [05:05:05]

Obviously, Stans bordering Afghanistan are closely aligned with Russia, then you have Iran.

So, as far as friendly neighbors for America to place themselves, for intelligence gathering, for that critical air support that Afghan and national security forces are going to need at certain stages, it's just going to make it so much more difficult. As you heard from Dr. Abdullah, he cannot guarantee that this will not become a safe haven for terrorists again.

And when I have been in country, he is speaking to U.S. military leaders, that has been their mission. That is why they came. And we have to remember the blood and treasure that has been lost here. You know, more than 2,400 U.S. lives, you know, $2 trillion has been spent, as well as the countless Afghan lives that have been lost.

To leave Afghanistan in a situation that is very unstable, the peace process is virtually nonexistent. So, this is a critical time for Afghanistan, but as Dr. Abdullah said, it is up to us, now, to take on this war.

ROMANS: All right. Anna Coren, thank you so much for that report.

JARRETT: Appreciate it.

All right, 15 years and nearly $2 million in what prosecutors say was untaxed compensation, the first criminal case against the Trump Organization focuses on the former president's long time money man, Allen Weisselberg. You see him there in handcuffs. The indictment alleges a plot to compensate Weisselberg and other executives off the books. And the investigation isn't finished.

ROMANS: Of course, no matter the charge, Trump's defense is familiar. He is the victim of a vicious political vendetta. No doubt he will try to use the charges to rally his supporters, but can he do it without the power of the White House behind him?

CNN's Paula Reid reports from court.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Laura and Christine.

Prosecutors describe this case as a sweeping and audacious illegal payment scheme to compensate Trump Organization executives and help them avoid paying taxes. Now, in court on Thursday, prosecutors alleged that this scheme began around March 2005, where the company was putting these off-the-books compensation perks and describing them as tax-exempt expenses. Weisselberg is accused of avoiding paying taxes on $1.7 million in compensation.

Now, all the defendants have pleaded not guilty. Weisselberg's attorney has said in a statement that he will fight these charges. Now, in the indictment, we have learned a little bit more about

exactly the extent of the evidence that these prosecutors have gathered in the course of this over two-year investigation. These are the first criminal charges, though, that have been filed.

ALAN FUTERFAS, TRUMP ORGANIZATION ATTORNEY: The reason they were brought, okay, if the name of the company was something else, I don't think these charges would have been brought. In fact, I am fairly certain they would not have been brought if the name was a different name.

REID: Now, the former president also issued a statement, he described this, as, quote, another witch hunt by radical left Democrats.

At this point, though, there's no indication that the former president or any member of his family will be charged anytime soon. But these charges really increase the pressure on the longtime CFO, whosoever has been resistant to Cooperating with prosecutors against the former president. But prosecutors really do likely need at least one Cooperating witness, and maybe even more than that, to successfully go after the former president -- Laura and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Paula, thank you so much for that.

So, Laura, big question here. Now that we've finally seen the details, is there real meat on the bone?

JARRETT: So, we're not talking about chump change. It is $1.7 million that prosecutors say that Allen Weisselberg allegedly evaded taxes on. But it's not the big, vast, deep conspiracy that I think some were led to believe. When they went to the U.S. Supreme Court to get Donald Trump's taxes, I mean, we were -- we were hearing things about assets being inflated, trying to swindle banks and lenders out of vast amounts of money. That's not what this indictment is.

But I do think it's interesting. There's this whole question about intent. And you have to prove they actually intended to break the law. And here, the prosecutors lay out in pretty extensive detail, Allen Weisselberg is the one signing the checks. He's not going to be able to say, I didn't know what was going on. His fingerprints are all over this.

So, I think that's something to watch here. But again, it is not nearly sort of the vast, wide-ranging conspiracy that some people might have expected.

ROMANS: So where does this fit? For the former president, does he need to be worried? And where does this fit in his legal troubles?

You know, you've got lawsuits involving defamation, misusing inauguration funds, that phone call to change votes in Georgia. Where does this fit in his legal worries? JARRETT: Well, I think this one, obviously, he's not named in it. So,

unlike, I think, the situation in Georgia, where he made that phone call directly.

[05:10:00]

That's the one that poses the potential greatest risk. It's on tape. It's not something he'll be able to skirt out of, saying, well, I wasn't sure what was happening. He was the one making the phone call to the secretary of state there.

Now, obviously, the attorney general in New York says the investigation continues. So maybe she has something else. But as of right now, the former president is not implicated in this directly.

ROMANS: All right. But it certainly is a reputational hit for the Trump Organization.

JARRETT: Oh, for sure. And lenders will not want to do business with an indicted company. So, they may come calling on those loans and it may go into bankruptcy.

All right. More legal news. Attorney General Merrick Garland has ordered a temporary pause on federal executions. The Justice Department says there are serious concerns about whether capital punishment is imposed fairly against people of color, in particular.

Now, President Biden has said that he, too, has significant concerns about the death penalty and how it's applied. There was a flurry of executions during the waning months of the Trump Organization and there are now 46 men currently on federal death row. Many thousands more, however, on state death row, and those are not covered by Garland's directive.

ROMANS: All right. Newly uncovered documents show major repair work was set to begin at the Florida condo that later collapsed. We'll tell you why it was halted.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:15:23]

ROMANS: New signs this morning the trouble was brewing long before the condo if Surfside, Florida, collapsed. Documents obtained by CNN's "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" revealed last October, contractors found such extensive concrete deterioration around the pool, they suspended a repair job. Two reasons: they feared the work might impact the stability of nearby buildings and repairs were needed inside the pool, which was supposed to stay open while work was done.

JARRETT: Families hoping for a miracle, instead, finding heartbreak. The numbers stubbornly unchanged. 145 still unaccounted for, 18 now confirmed dead. Officials say during the initial search and rescue effort last week, crews heard the voice of a woman trapped in the rubble, but were unable to reach her in time. Imagine just being a first responder with that. And this morning, it appears what remains of the Champlain Towers

South will soon have to come down, as well.

Our Boris Sanchez has the latest from Surfside.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Laura, sadly, not many changes to the numbers here in Surfside, Florida, on Thursday. Rescue crews actually having to pause for several hours on work of what remains of the Champlain Towers South because of instability in the remaining portion of the structure. Officials worried that there were portions of it that could fall on rescue crews.

The weather not helping. After several days of rain, large portions of that area remain muddy and potentially dangerous for these crews. The mayor of Miami-Dade County, Daniella Levine Cava acknowledging that there will liable have likely have to be a demolition of that structure.

DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA, MAYOR, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY: We're proceeding with the likely demolition of the building as our search and rescue continues as our top priority. This is a decision we need to make extremely carefully and me methodically, as we consider all the possible impacts to the pile of debris and to our search and rescue operation.

SANCHEZ: And while the good news is that rescue crews were able to get back to the safe portions of that debris pile in continuing their work in trying to find any signs of life, there is trouble on the horizon, literally. Tropical storm Elsa expected to dump serious rain and pummel this area with heavy winds on Sunday night, complicating what has already been a very difficult effort -- Laura, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: It's been so heartbreaking watch every day, as there's just not a lot new to report. There's so much painstaking work going so slowly.

JARRETT: And the families are just left unable to really grieve, because they're waiting, and holding out hope.

All right. Boris, thank you for that report.

As we head to break, we remember some of the victims of the collapse.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:10]

ROMANS: The economy is recovering, booming, really, but it may take time to work out the kinks in the jobs market. There are worker shortages, millions of people are still unemployed and many can't secure child care to get back to work.

We'll get critical information about the jobs market in just a few hours. The June jobs report, an estimated 700,000 jobs we added back last month. The unemployment rate likely ticked down to 5.7 percent. If that holds true, though, the economy is still down 6.9 million jobs since February 2020. More work to do. The hope is that the jobs market fully recovers later this fall when schools open.

Meantime, investors are looking forward to the other side of the pandemic and stocks are hitting record highs. The Dow closed up 131 points Thursday after first-time jobless claims hit a new pandemic-era low. The S&P 500 finished at a record high, its sixth straight day of records. Nasdaq also finished higher. The S&P is up 15 percent for the first half of the year. The Nasdaq up nearly 13 percent. Stocks are hitting records on the idea that this recovery is sustainable.

JARRETT: That's amazing. Look at those numbers.

ROMANS: Yeah, it's been a gain this year.

JARRETT: All right. To COVID now, the real-world impact of the highly contagious delta variant becoming more apparent in the U.S. with fewer people getting vaccinated now. New coronavirus cases up 10 percent. The Biden administration is set to deploy medical response teams to those areas for more COVID testing and help with administering vaccinations.

But there is good news for the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The company says immunity from the shot lasts at least eight months. That's good. And it appears to work against variants. Meantime, Royal Caribbean will restart cruising from U.S. ports today with the launch of its "Freedom of the Seas" ship in Miami.

All right. This July 4th, America is open, celebrate with Don Lemon, Dana Bash, Victor Blackwell and Ana Cabrera.

[05:25:03]

A star-studded event of music and fireworks, the fun begins on July 4th at 7:00 p.m., only on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Good morning. Good Friday morning. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. It's almost 30 minutes past the hour here in New York.

And this morning, Democrats are bracing for an uphill battle on changing new laws that make it harder to vote. A climb made even steeper Thursday by the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices ending their term, ruling that two provisions of an Arizona law restricting how ballots are cast do not violate the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965. The major 6-3 ruling further cementing a sharp turn.