Of the 120 million severance. Good morning. Welcome to early start. Im dave briggs. Im christine romans. It is tuesday, december 18th. 4 00 a. M. In the east. Lets start with former National Security adviser Michael Flynn. Set to be sentenced in a few hours for lying in the russia investigation. And special Counsel Robert Mueller has released a memo giving details of the fbi interview where flynn lied. Flynn allies, including the president , latched on to the fact that flynn was interviewed by peter strzok who was later fired over antitrump texts. Flynn suggests he was tricked into lying because he did not have a lawyer with him. The memo with the questions and answers debunks that claim. Here is White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins with more. Reporter dave and christine, Michael Flynn is expected to be sentenced in the federal d. C. Court today. We know special Counsel Robert Mueller has recommended litt littletono jail time. The special counsel released a memo detailing the note
His former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who has now flipped on the president and will start a threeyear prison sentence soon. This from the president today. Im quoting here. Remember Michael Cohen only became a rat after the fbi did something which was absolutely unthinkable and unheard of until the witchhunt was illegally started. Cnns Boris Sanchez is at the white house right now. Boris, Michael Cohen is a rat, according to the president of the United States, but before he goes away in march, cohen may have even more to say on the record. Reporter thats right, ana. Despite the fact that he admitted he lied to congress as part of his plea deal with the Southern District of new york. Elijah cummings today on state union with jake tapper said he would like to invite cohen back to capitol hill to testify once more. Of course, cummings is the upcoming chair of the oversight in the white house and he believes theres still questions unanswered. Listen to more from the representative. I
An icy mix in the morning. Now, the new series of storms taking aim at the west before moving east. And, inside the rescue. The pilot who ejected from his military jet into the water, tangled in his parachute. Reunited with the man who saved him. And good evening. Thanks for joining us on this sunday. Im tom llamas. And we begin tonight with President Trump and his team playing defense by going on offense. Counterpunching against Michael Cohen, who was sentenced to prison, in part, he says, due to his loyalty to President Trump. The president and Rudy Giuliani attacking cohens credibility. Giuliani calling him a serial liar, and claiming the hush money payments were not illegal. Both the president and giuliani blasting Robert Mueller, in part for his tactics. Claiming he strongarmed subjects to get them to lie. Heres tara palmeri. Reporter tonight, President Trumps legal team firing back against Michael Cohen, calling him a serial liar. Pathetic. The man is pathetic. Reporter cohen was
Ago. And i and investors spooked. Im alison kosik. It is another busy news day. Good morning. Im dave briggs. Thursday, december 20th. 4 00 a. M. In the east. We have breaking news from north korea straight ahead. We start with President Trumps decision to order a full withdrawal from syria. Running into an issue, this decision will put lives in danger around the world. The u. S. Official says planning for the pullout is under way. Reaction to the president s move range from shock to outrange. A group of senators firing off a letter to mr. Trump urging him to reconsider. If there is a pullout, isis in syria will embolden their efforts in the region. Top republicans not pleased about getting blind sided. This is an obamalike move. Its a terrible mistake. I think we will pay a price for it if it is not reversed. It i is hard to imagine any president would wake up with this decision with little preparation. Pulling the troops without giving consideration to the consequences is something i
President trump announced hes going to pull troops out of syria, something putin wants more than anything. It could not get better for putin today. And trump in a new white house video tonight sticking by his syria announcement. And he did it on a video. He didnt speak to the nation, he didnt answer questions on the decision, hes not answering questions from congress, no, he hid away and put out a video. Heres a clip. Weve won against isis, weve beaten them back badly and now its time for our troops to come back home. He could say it as much as he wants to say it but he said that without taking questions to anyo anyone. His own party is livid. This is a terrible mistake. Its an obamalike move. There isnt anybody thats stunned by this precipitous decision, like you just woke up and made it. That shock and anger again from his own party. Coming in response to trumps twitter announcement that hes going to withdraw those u. S. Troops fighting isis in syria. So the original tweet, quote, to