the president's controversial pardon of a fire brand. could this be a signal for aides caught up in the russia investigation? fierce pull back from allies and the president's party over new tariffs from the trump administration. perhaps as many as 2.5 million american jobs could be on the line. do something about your dad's immigration practices you feckless [ bleep ]. >> samantha bee apologizing for the vulgar crack about ivanka

trump, but she gets to keep her job. is there a double standard? welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm dave briggs. happy friday. june 1st. it is a fascinating day in the white house catching couch. a lot of convicted felons are looking for pardon. if you are a prosecuted by a trump opponent or appear on "the apprenti apprentice" your odds are decent. a full pardon for dinesh d'souza, the conservative author who plead guilty to campaign finance laws. now d'souza says obama and his stooges tried to extinguish my american dream and destroy my faith in america. thank you donald trump for restoring both. >> the president's move raising eyebrows of many including the office of government ethics.

walter shaw said this, imagine nixon waiting for a stack of pardons after the watergate break-in. he has the power to put his henchmen above the law. that is what trump is telling manafort and others with the pardon of d'souza. for more, we have jim acosta an at t -- acosta at the white house. >> reporter: the president is not only considering granting pardons with celebrities, but he granted a pardon for dinesh d'souza and considering martha stewart and blagojevich. d'souza has made offensive and racially loaded comments over the years about former president obama. the president is considering each case on merits. here is what deputy raj shah

told reporters. >> each of the president's actions on pardons or other things should be judged on the merits and circumstances surrounding that case. >> reporter: the president has shown a willingness of pardons for controversial figures. including sheriff arpaio. dave and christine. >> thank you. the white house admitted to jim that you can't ignore trump's considerations. consider this, former u.s. president paree trt prosecuted dinesh d'souza. and patrick fitzgerald. fitzgerald won the election of the illinois governor on

corruption charges. and the u.s. is hitting tariffs and they are hitting back. the u.s. slapped tariffs on the eu, mexico and canada. the three had temporary exemptio exemptions, but the white house let those expired after it did not get what it wanted in negotiations. the goal is to help u.s. steel workers. metal tariffs could raise prices. think cars, appliances and food cans. it puts the u.s. in another trade dispute as it is targeting $50 million in chinese goods. these three struck back. eu and mexico with tariffs on u.s. goods. canada will tariff on equal amounts. justin trudeau says this just won't hurt canada. this risks 2.6 million american jobs. especially if it causes nafta to

fall apart. president trump responded saying he wants a fair deal on nafta or nothing at all. the needless trade war will hurt the u.s. economy and foreign policy and perhaps republicans in november. republicans are fuming. senator ben sasse says it is dumb to treat allies the way you treat opponents. you should work with them instead of targeting them. watch this space. more to come. imagine this, the former spy chief and top aide to a dictator of a country that threatened to nuke the united states sitting face-to-face with the commander in chief. that will play out in washington today. secretary of state mike pompeo confirming the top north korean official met with kim yong chol will hand deliver a letter to the united states. we have nic robertson in seoul,

south korea. it appears the summit is still on track in singapore. good morning, nic. >> reporter: good morning, david. president trump thought progress was made in the talks with mike pompeo and kim yong chol. for his part, pompeo said progress had been made in the last 72 hours. that was a positive sign. he still said it is not clear whether the summit will actually go ahead. he believes that the korean leadership is contemplating a fundamental shift. a strategic change that would be something different than the path taken in the past. it will require a bold move by kim jong-un. he describes this as historic movement and pivotal time. emphasis now is very much on the north korean side. in the letter, maybe kim yong

chol will have the clues in the summit can happen. june 12th is 12 days away. kim yong chol getting a waiver to travel outside the confined area he is allowed to travel in new york to go down to d.c. this is the next step. everyone is watching. dave. >> chol still under sanctions. nic robertson, thank you. comedian samantha bee apologizing for the ugly crack on ivanka trump. the crass insult on "full frontal" after ivanka posted a picture of her and her son among reported that undockumented children separated from parents at border. >> chose to post the second most oblivious tweet we have seen this week. ivanka, that is a beautiful photo of you and your child. let me just say one mother to another, do something about your

dad's immigration practices, you feckless [ bleep ]. he listens to you. put on something tight and low cut and tell your father to [ bleep ] stop it. tell him it was an obama thing and see how it goes. okay? >> the slam comes the same week roseanne war fired or a racist tweet. the insult was not smart or funny. i would like to apologize to ivanka trump and viewers. i crossed a line and i deeply regret it. >> tbs is owned by the time warn warner. samantha bee has taken the right action and apologized. the words should not have been erred and -- aired and regret it. two sponsors are pulling ads from the show. white house press secretary sarah sanders called it vile and vicious. that is much further than what

the president said about roseanne. he followed and demanded an apology for that. >> and if the fbi was so concerned about the russians n infiltrating a campaign, hoax, why not stop it? why not tell trump? president trump was personally warned in august of 2016 by senior officials that foreign adversaries, including russia, would likely infiltrate his team. >> the president tweeted not that it matters, but i never fired james comey because of russia. the corrupt mainstream media loves that narrative. they know it is not true. well, here's where the mainstream media got the crazy idea. s>> i said, you know, this russa

thing with trump and russia is a made up story. it's an excuse by the democrats for having lost an election that they should have won. >> hard to forget that one. new information this morning on the cost of the mueller probe. the spend aing report shows the justice department spent $17 million since last may. ten minutes past the hour. steve bannon speaking out on the russia probe in the exclusive cnn interview. bannon saying he was against firing james comey and is a supporter of special counsel robert mueller. bannon had harsh words for former trump lawyer ty cobb. >> if you fire him, get a special prosecutor. i have been part of that as a witness of fact. i always said he is a combat marine. great individual. it should play out. where i have a problem and huge problem, i was a guy that said publicly that ty cobb should be

fired. he gave the president, i thought, terrible advice. i think actually lied to the president consistently about the nature of the investigation and timing of it. >> bannon also says that deputy attorney general rod rosenstein should be fired. if he refuses to turnover all documents with the fbi source whom president trump accused of spying on his campaign. you can see the full interview tonight at 9:00 and during fareed zakaria on sunday. washington post reporting that fbi director james comey was interviewed by the u.s. d.c. attorney's office to see if his deputy andrew mccabe broke the law. claiming he misled investigators about disclosure to the media. this is a sign that the office is considering whether mccabe

should be charged with a crime, but not definitive indication. ahead, you can hear the fans in cleveland screaming. shoot the ball, j.r. smith. check the clock. historic blunder that sent the nba finals in overtime. we will tell you how it turned out next. but there's one... that blows them all out of the water. hydro boost water gel from neutrogena®. with hyaluronic acid it goes beneath the surface to plump skin cells from within and lock in hydration leaving skin so supple, it actually bounces back. the results will blow you away! hydro boost and our gentle exfoliating cleanser from neutrogena®

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fascinating details this morning as the russian journalists explains how he played dead to avoid the alleged assassination plot. some reporters questioned if he went too far. cnn's fred pleitgen is in moscow. tell us what we know about the amazi amazing story. >> reporter: the details keep getting crazy. the reporter arkady babchenko came out yesterday at the press conference. he said on the day his death was faked with the help of the

ukrainian security services, a makeup artist came to his house and made him look dead. he said he was covered in real pig's blood and given a shirt with bullet holes in it. they faked his death outside his home with shorts ts allegedly b fired. he was put in an ambulance with a doictor and brought to the morgue. he said only after the doors of the morgue were closed were what he calls resurrected and brought to a different location and came out that the whole thing had been staged. allegedly to uncover a plot the ukrainians say came from russia. he has been under criticism for faking his death. someone could undermine the credibility of journalists worldwi worldwide. he is unapologetic about it. he felt the plot was real. he said for him it was a choice

of saving his life and upholding journalist standards. in the end, it was about saving his life. >> thank you, fred. fascinating. ahead, this baby has quite a story to tell. read the shirt. why her father is her hero and why she is surrounded by all these soldiers. next. from the first moment you met, it was love at first touch. and all you wanted to do was surround them in comfort and protection. that's why only pampers swaddlers is the number one choice of hospitals to wrap your baby in blanket-like softness and premium protection. so that all they feel is love. pampers the number one choice of hospitals, nurses and parents i saw my leg did not look right. i landed.

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look at the pictures. residents have until noon local time to leave. anybody who stays, could be arrested and at their own risk. the fissures could flow into the area. resulting in fast moving lava flow. the u.s. geological survey says temperatures now reach above 2,000 degrees. >> unbelievable. today is the official start of the 2018 atlantic hurricane season. there is concern that puerto rico may not be able to weather another storm. nine months after maria hit, 20,000 homes are still without power. according to a study this week, 4,645 people have died as a results of hurricane maria. more than twice as katrina.

do you know how to spell? new national champion did. >> k-o-i-n-o nits-n-i-a. >> the new national champion. he edged out in the final that went 18 rounds. the greek word is an intimate spiritual communion and sharing in a common religious commitment. he wins more than $40,000 in cash and prizing. good job. >> well done. missing in the nba finals. golden state taking game one of the finals. a brutal mistake at the end of regulation may have cost cleveland the win. george hill missed a free throw.

j.r. smith gets the rebound and instead of shooting, he dribbles out the clock. appearing not to know the game was tied or the time on the clock or any situational awareness. he said he thought they were going to call a time-out. warriors put the game away in overtime. 124-114. lebron james had 51 points for the cavs. not enough. game two in oakland. this is a photo shoot you will never forget. 2 month old christian harris met special people. soldiers who met alongside her late father, christopher harris was killed in afghanistan in august. one week after his wife told him she was pregnant. britt harris was pregnant, she got support from the men of his division. she gathered the soldiers and some who survived the very explosion that killed her husband. in the photos, christian, that

baby, wears her father's dogtags along with the onesie that reads my daddy is my hero. >> quite a shot. quite a story. ahead, president trump and rod blagojevich have met before. >> you're fired. >> you're fired. now he might pardon him. why is the president only helping people with connections to his adversaradversaries? 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 doesn't cover everything. and like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide.

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the president's pardon of a

conservative fire brand. could this be a signal for aides caught up in the russia investigation? fierce pull back from allies and the president's party over new tariffs from the trump administration. perhaps as many as 2.5 million american jobs could be on the line. do something about your dad's immigration practices you feckless [ bleep ]. >> still shocking. samantha bee apologizing for the vulgar crack about ivanka trump, but she gets to keep her job. is there a double standard? welcome to "early start." i'm dave briggs. >> i'm christine romans. did you know today is friday? >> yeah. i have been waiting on it all week. >> that's the breaking news i can get behind. 4:31 in the east. welcome to "early start." dinesh d'souza, rod blagojevich and martha stewart. what do these names have in common? all prosecuted by trump adversaries and now on the list for pardons. it started when president trump

announced a full pardon to d'souza. he pleaded guilty in 2014 for violating campaign finance laws. d'souza has a history of ra racially charged against about obama. now d'souza says obama and his stooges tried to extinguish my american dream and destroy my faith in america. thank you, donald trump. >> the president's move raising eyebrows of many. including the former director of the office of government ethics who tweeted quote imagine if nixon was waiting with a stack of pardons for plumbers to return from the watergate break in. the president has the power to put his henchmen above the law. that is what he is telling us. for more, here is jim ancosta. >> reporter: the president is not only considering granting

pardons with celebrities, but he granted a pardon for dinesh d'souza and considering martha stewart and blagojevich. both martha stewart and blagojevich made an here answpp "the apprentice." d'souza has made offensive and racially loaded comments over the years about former president obama. the president is considering each case on merits. here is what deputy raj shah told reporters. >> is he sending a message to his allys? -- allies? >> each of the president's actions on pardons or other things should be judged on the merits and circumstances surrounding that case. >> reporter: the president has shown a willingness of pardons for controversial figures. including sheriff arpaio. he was convicted in court of ignoring a judge's order of stopping racially profiling latinos. dave and christine. >> thank you.

the white house admitted to jim that you can't ignore trump's considerations. consider this, former u.s. attorney preet bharara prosecuted dinesh d'souza and james comey and martha stewart. as well as patrick fitzgerald. and the u.s. is hitting tariffs and they are hitting back. the u.s. slapped tariffs on the eu, mexico and canada. 25% on steel. 10% on aluminum. the three had temporary exemptions, but the white house let those expired after it did not get what it wanted in negotiations. the president calls this fair trade. the goal is to help u.s. steel workers. metal tariffs could raise prices. raise prices on cars and appliances and food cans.

it puts the u.s. in another trade dispute as it is targeting $50 million in chinese goods. these three struck back. eu and mexico with tariffs on u.s. goods. canada will tariff on equal amtd ever amount -- amounts of tariffs for the u.s. justin trudeau says this just won't hurt canada. >> unfortunately, we know this will lead to harm for the american industries. our economies are too inter linked to not have significant disruption in american families and american communities south of the border. >> the chamber of commerce says this move risks 2.6 million u.s. jobs. especially if it causes nafta to fall apart. nafta is 1.5 million jobs tied if the u.s. leaves nafta. president trump responded to trudeau saying he wants a fair

deal or none at all. "wall street" editorial board slamming trump. hurting his foreign policy and perhaps republicans in november. republicans are fuming. ben sasse says this is dumb. speaker paul ryan says the u.s. should work with allies instead of targeting them. "the wall street journal" editorial. i encourage you to read it. it says the president thinks he is being ronald reagan. >> but terrifying echos of herbert hoover. the sunset clause in particular is one that is baffling. certainty is what is needed with markets. >> a non-starter. the white house wanted a fi five-year sunset clause on nafta. justin trudeau did not come to the meeting in washington after that. >> g-7 is a week away. samantha bee apologizing for an ugly crack about ivanka

trump. bee's insult on her show "full frontal" came after she posted a picture of ivanka trump and her son with the immigration issue at the border. >> ivanka trump who works at the white house chose to post the second most oblivious tweet we have seen this week. you know, ivanka, that's a beautiful photo of you and your child, but let me say one mother to another. do something about your dad's immigration practices, you feckless [ bleep ]. he listens to you. put on something tight and low cut and tell your father to [ bleep ] stop it. tell him it was an obama thing and see how it goes. okay? >> bee's slam comes the same week roseanne was fired for a racist tweet and some yelling of a double standard. it is not smart or funny. samantha bee tweeted i would like to apologize to ivanka trump and viewers.

i crossed a line and i deeply regret it. >> tbs is owned by the time warner. joined bee seeking forgiveness. samantha bee has apologizing and those words should not have aired. auto trader and state farm are pulling ads from bee's show. sarah sanders called the language vile and vicious. this is further than the white house or president went denouncing roseanne's comments following the president's demand for apology for his treatment by abc. imagine this. the former spy chief and top aide to a dictator of a country that threatened to nuke the united states face-to-face with the commander in chief. that will actually play out in washington today. secretary of state mike pompeo confirming the top north korean official he met kim yong chol will hand deliver a letter from kim jong-un. we have nic robertson live with the latest from seoul.

good morning, nic. >> reporter: good morning, dave. north korea's former spy chief, a man under sanctions, given dispensation to travel to the new york area and has now a waiver to go to d.c. and hand the letter to president trump. what is inside it? we don't know. president trump listened to what mike pompeo told him about the talks. pompeo and chol made clear that pompeo believes progress has been made in the past 72 hours. he also made it very clear the moment they don't seem to have anything completely concrete and that the north koreans are ready to get to the summit in singapore. he still is not sure if it will go on. it is a historic moment and pivotal moment. it depends on the analysis he has and president trump seems to have that the north korean leadership is contemplating,

these are his words, contemplating a change of path. a strategic shift away from the way they acted before. when the letter is delivered to president trump, will it unlock the doors to the summit in singapore? unclear. pompeo not willing to make that commitment we he spoke yesterday. dave. >> a rapidly evolving story. nic robertson in seoul. thank you. "the washington post" reporting former james comfbi d james comey was interviewed by the department over andrew mccabe after mccabe misled investigators. this is a sign the office is considering if mccabe should be charged with the crime but is not a definitive indication. the pressure on jeff sessions to un-recuse himself on the russia investigation was not limited to one conversation.

cnn confirmed the president tried four times in the last 14 months to get his attorney general to change his mind. sessions recused himself after conversations with the ag and russian ambassador during the campaign. the frustration from the president has grown which left trump without a loyalist overseeing the russia investigation. for the first time, we hear from michael cohen on tape making threats against a reporter. the reporter now works for npr. he was with "the daily beast" in 2015. he reached out to cohen on a rape accusation ivanhis former made against donald trump before their divorce. here is what took place. >> talking about the frontrunner for the gop.

as well as private individual who never raped anybody and of course i understand that the very definition you can't rape your spouse. if you write a story that has mr. trump's name in it with the word rape and i'll mess your live up for the rest. for as long as your on this planet, you will worry about what i'm going to [ bleep ] do to you. >> michael cohen was wrong. spousal rape is a crime. he apologized for the remark. in the comment following the release, cohen said as i said in a previous statement. i made an inn -- inarticulate

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fascinating details as a russian journalist explains how he played dead to avoid an alleged assassination plot. that journalist defending his actions after some reporters question whether he went too far. cnn's fred pleitgen is live in moscow with the fascinating story. good morning, fred. >> reporter: fascinating and the details get crazy. arkady babchenko came out yesterday with the press conference and gave details how everything went down. he said on the day that his assassination was staged, a makeup artist came to his house and covered him in pig's blood

and gave him a shirt already with bullet holes in it. he was staged outside the apartment block and the ambulance was called and on the way to the hospital, they called and said he already died. they then went to the morgue where a real mortici arkmortici him dead. only after the doors were closed, he be was able to get u and left. he said this was all staged to save his life. there was a real plot to assassinate his life. he has come under criticism. this undermines the credibility of journalists if you stage your death to do this. he said he is absolutely unapologetic. he was presented with evidence he would be killed. he said it was a decision about staying alive or upholding journalistic values.

>> i think we would make that decision. thank you, fred. house speaker bemoaning the party he once led. john boehner said this. >> there is no republican party. there's a trump party. a republican party is taking a nap somewhere. >> boehner said american voters were not the only ones surprised by the election results. >> the two most surprised people in the entire world that night were hillary clinton and donald trump. i think donald trump promised melania he would not win. he promised her she would never live in the white house. that's probably why she doesn't look real happy. >> is that a bloody mary? >> very perceptive. every interview should be done with a bloody mary. can i institute that here? >> i would love it. you mix them. 49 minutes past the hour.

this baby -- this story is so amazing. quite a story to tell. read the shirt. why her father is her hero and why she is surrounded by all these soldiers. that's next. you don't want to live with mom and dad forever, do you? i'm making smoothies!

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visit alz.org to join the fight. i'm a small business, but i have... big dreams... and big plans. so how do i make the efforts of 8 employees... feel like 50? how can i share new plans virtually? how can i download an e-file? virtual tours? zip-file? really big files? in seconds, not minutes... just like that. like everything... the answer is simple. i'll do what i've always done... dream more, dream faster, and above all... now, i'll dream gig. now more businesses, in more places, can afford to dream gig. comcast, building america's largest gig-speed network. new mandatory evacuation orders in hawaii's leilani estates as the threat from kilauea grows. residents have until noon local

time to leave. anybody who refuses could be arrested. fissure number eight is at concern of overflowing. breaches can happen without notice. the u.s. geological survey says lava temperatures reaching above 2,000 degrees. today is the official start of the 2018 atlantic hurricane season. there is concern that puerto rico may not weather another storm. nine months after the hurricane hit, 20,000 homes on the island are still without power. officials fear a small storm could plunge them back into darkness and start the crisis all over again. according to the harvard study released this week, 4,600 people died as a result of hurricane maria. a number that dwarfed the original estimate. the national champion

speller. >> k-o-i-n-o-n-i-a. >> that is correct. s>> karthik from texas is the national champion. the final went 18 rounds. the greek word is an intimate spiritual communion. of he wins more than $40,000 -- he wins more than $40,000 in cash and prizes. poise under pressure there, but not in the nba finals. lebron james with 51 points in game one. lebron was left ex-as pasperate here. j.r. smith grabs the rebound and dribbles out the clock. he said he thought they were going to call a time-out.

warriors put the game away in overtime. 124-114. despite one of the best performances of the nba history finals, game two is in oakland sunday night. this is a photo shoot you will never forget. 2 month old christian harris got to meet special people. the soldiers who served alongside her late father. her father killed in afghanistan in august. just one week after his wife told him she was pregnant. brit harris was pregnant and she got the support from the men and women of the 42nd airborne division that served with her husband. she gathered the soldiers and some who survived the explosion that killed her husband. in the photos, she wears her father's dogtags and the onesie that reads my daddy is my hero. >> a beautiful girl. 57 minutes past the hour. rain continues in the east with the severe storm threat

developing on the plains. meteorologist derek van dam has the look at friday weather. >> good morning, dave and christine. keep an eye to the sky if you are across the plains today. we have the potential for severe weather. in fact, the storm prediction center with an enhanced risk of the storms in dakotas with damaging winds and large hail and isolated tornadoes. it is thanks to a low pressure system moving east across the region. other headlines we are following. fire risks continues across the four corners. hot temperatures across the dew point -- across the deep south. we have a series of thunderstorm active ctivity with up to 4 to inches over the weekend. wi we have a storm system to settle in across the northeast. you will see that in the next four days with the temperature outlook. check out new york city.

82 degrees today. we start off next week in the upper 50s. back to you. >> derek, thank you. "early start" continues right now with the fascinating day in the white house with who the president is pardoning. the president's controversial pardon of a fire brand. why are celebrities getting a priority and could this be a signal for aides caught up why the russia investigation? fierce pull back from allies and the president's party over new tariffs from the trump administration. perhaps as many as 2.5 million american jobs could be on the line. do something about your dad's immigration practices you feckless [ bleep ]. >> samantha bee apologizing for the vulgar crack about ivanka trump, but she gets to keep her job. is there a double standard? we will discuss this in a moment. good morning. welcome to "early start."

i'm dave briggs. happy friday. >> i'm christine romans. it is june 1st. new month. 5:00 a.m. in the east. let's begin with the pardon. dinesh d'souza, rod blagojevich, martha stewart. what do these names have in common? prosecuted by donald trump adversaries and now on the list for clemency. president trump granting a full pardon to dinesh d'souza. the author who pleaded guilty in 2014 for violating campaign finance laws. now d'souza says obama and his stooges tried to extinguish my american dream and destroy my faith in america. thank you, donald trump for restoring both. >> this move is raising eyebrows of many, including the former director of the government ethics office. imagine if nixon was waiting with a stack of pardons for the plumbe