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New Day Sunday

Jay-Z Opens Up About Fighting For His Marriage; Larry Nassar Scandal Rocks Michigan State And USA Gymnastics; The 60th Grammy Awards; Epic NBA Battle; Tom Brady's "Tom vs. Time;" Will Ferrell Revives President George Bush To Jab Trump; Trump To Tout Controversial Immigration Plan In First Address; Casino Mogul Steve Wynn Steps Down As RNC Finance Chair; White House Official: Tuesday's Address Will Be More "Unifying"; Lawmakers Plan Bills To Protect Mueller From Firing; Hip-Hop Icon Speaks Out About Trump, Race. Aired 6-7a

Aired January 28, 2018 - 06:00   ET

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


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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tuesday night will be interesting because it will be the state of the union. I wonder who is going to show up? Is it going to be the Goldman Sachs scripted Trump or is it going to be the gloom and doom and carnage Trump?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Everybody wants to solve the DACA problem. They've been wanting to solve it for a long time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a path forward on this. We can do this in a bipartisan way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, what happens in Vegas is not staying in Vegas. If the allegations are true, then, yes, I think you would have to be -- contributions would have to be refunded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the president were to fire Robert Mueller, that would set off a political firestorm the likes of which we haven't seen since Watergate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Welcome to Sunday. I'm Christi Paul.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Martin Savidge in for Victor Blackwell. Great to be with you.

Well, in just two days' time, President Trump will deliver his first state of the union of the address in what could be one of his biggest moments of his presidency. Will he play politics or really try to bridge the divide in this country?

PAUL: Yes, at the forefront of this speech is immigration. The president set to sell his controversial plan that has lawmakers on both sides of the aisle a little skeptical. The president foreshadowed what he could say in his speech on Twitter. Blasting Democrats overnight over DACA and border security.

SAVIDGE: The White House is remaining silent on a sex scandal surrounding a top Republican Party official. We are talking about Steve Wynn. He has stepped down as finance chair of the Republican National Committee amid reports that he forced dozens of women to perform sex acts on him at his casino.

PAUL: We are also learning new details about the bipartisan effort to stop the president from firing Special Counsel Bob Mueller in the midst of the Russia investigation.

SAVIDGE: Right. Let's begin with President Trump's anticipated state of the union address. CNN politics reporter, Dan Merica, joins me now. Dan, the president is already calling out Democrats ahead of the speech. What is he saying?

DAN MERICA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Hey, Martin, yes, the president plans to use the perch of his first state of the union. Remember, he gave a speech earlier to a joint session of Congress in February of last year, but this will be his first real state of the union.

He plans to use it as a salesman in chief. He wants to take the immigration plan that his administration rolled out earlier in the month and try and sell it not only to the lawmaker in the room, but also to a pretty skeptical American public.

As you correctly noted, Democrats and Republicans have been slamming this bill, this plan really since it came out. Republicans think it's way too easy on DACA recipients and Democrats think there are too many things added to the bill ending the visa lottery program and tightening up the way that family immigration is handled.

All of that they say is way too much to exchange for a DACA bill. Now, President Trump tweeted this morning already kind of jumping on Democrats for immigration. I want to read you one particular tweet.

"I have offered DACA a wonder deal including a doubling in the number of recipients and a 12-year path to citizenship for two reasons because the Republicans want to fix a long time terrible problem. Two, to show that Democrats do not want to solve DACA only use it."

That is, you know, Politics 101. President Trump is saying Democrats are using immigration and using DACA to try and woo Hispanic voters. That's not a message that will resonate with Democrats in that room on Tuesday.

Plenty of presidents before President Trump have used a state of the union address to reach beyond their base, to talk to not only Republicans but also Democrats. Unclear really if President Trump will do that and this tweet doesn't seem like he will. SAVIDGE: That is a question whether he can be a unifier. Another issue I wanted to ask you about. The finance chair for the Republican National Committee, Steve Wynn, he was forced to step down in the wake of the reports that he forced dozens of women to perform sexual acts on him. Republicans have been largely silent on this and I'm wondering has the White House addressed any of these reports?

MERICA: The White House has not addressed these reports and that will have to change at some point. Clearly, they will be asked and have to weigh in. Steve Wynn is not only a personal friend of President Trump, but somebody who he hand-picked to lead the finance operation at the RNC.

Now the RNC released a statement saying that they accepted his resignation and President Trump we are told by a senior administration official was kept apprise of what was happening, unfolding and was supportive of Wynn stepping down.

But the White House itself has not weighed in and that has going to have to change at some part. Whether President Trump brings up this "Me Too, Times Up" Movement at the state of the union seems unlikely. Democrats are bringing representatives from the movement to the speech. Many of them will be wearing black in solidarity with the movement.

[06:05:09] President Trump has, obviously, been accused of sexual harassment in the past. It's unlikely he will mention this movement at all. But the Wynn situation is weighing on this White House because they know, the people in the White House, know they are going to have to weigh in at some point and that is going to be complicated for the president.

SAVIDGE: Yes. There is definitely going to be a lot of people looking at what happens on Tuesday, if not even just the lead-up to it. Dan Merica, thanks very much. Good to see you.

PAUL: Julian Zelizer, CNN political analyst, historian and professor at Princeton University with us now as well as Errol Louis, CNN political commentator and political anchor for Spectrum News. Thank you, Gentlemen for being here.

Errol, let's talk about immigration. We just read the tweets there. The president saying that the Democrats aren't interested in anything but obstruction. That they don't want to solve DACA. That they just want to use it.

The White House we know is planning to release its immigration plan tomorrow. This is not something that's being embraced by either party at this point. Is there anything the president could say in the state of the union that could push this forward?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's a very interesting question. The president, like much of the Republican establishment, which he now leads, they see immigration in almost strictly political term. The Democrats have been trying to frame this as a humanitarian issue. But Republicans have always put kind of a hard-voting edge on it saying you Democrats don't really care about these immigrants, all you really want to do is swell the ranks of your voting base in key states, including swing states like Nevada and Florida, Colorado as well.

We will see whether or not the president backs off from this strictly political interpretation of this very important issue and decides to speak as president rather than as party leader at the state of the union address.

PAUL: Yes. Julian, let's talk about approval ratings for the previous three presidents prior to and after the first inaugural address here. President Obama back in 2010 there was really no change after his speech.

President Bush in '02, his approval dropped two points and then President Clinton in '94, his edged up four points. You have written an article for cnn.com, very interesting in which you say, "The notion that this event will have a huge impact on political dynamics shaping Washington or really tell us much about where the president is going this year are far-fetched.

There's very little a president can do to persuade his opponents to change their minds. His supporters don't need to be convinced." But then you mention the Trump effect. What do you mean and how might that play into this?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the first part is just that a lot of the electorate is where it is. That is modern politics, we are very polarized. It's hard to convince the other side to change their minds.

But with the Trump effect, we have had a year where he has just said many, many things that are not true or which a stretch reality beyond limits. And so, there is much of the public that doesn't believe any single statement that he makes.

He doesn't have a lot of credibility. So, it's hard in a speech like this, even a speech as big as the state of the union to lay out an agenda and make promises where much of the public is convinced he is going to follow through.

So, you combine those two, this is an important speech, but I'm not convinced it's really going to change that much a week or two later.

PAUL: Here is the thing, Errol. White House officials are asserting, look, you're going to see a notably different President Trump here. You're not going to see what we saw, say, in his inauguration speech. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities, rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation. An education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge.

And the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Do you have faith, Errol, any indication that the president can say something to unite this country as opposed to talking about American carnage?

LOUIS: Would this be the famous pivot we have all been waiting for? No, there will not be pivot. However, I don't think we are not going to hear an American carnage bloom and doom speech because the president now owns this economy. He owns this administration. He has gotten the power that he sought and now has responsibility for the results of what he's done.

[06:10:05] He also frankly has some good news. Everybody should be prepared to hear the president speak at great length about something he can and should take credit for. We have had some really good economic growth the last three-quarters in 2017 were extraordinary.

Two of them were over 3 percent growth, which is really, really good stuff for the economy. We've got record low unemployment and stock market making new highs. The president will take credit for all that and he's going to promise that it's going to continue.

That is going to be I think the main framework, message of the state of the union address and it would be a mistake to downplay that. The policies that he's brought about, the market confidence that he is going to take credit for are really going to have real world effect.

So, it's not just words coming from the podium. This is his strong suit and I think he would be wise to emphasize that in the state of the union address.

PAUL: No doubt he'll take credit for it as he should. Julian, will he touch the Russia investigation? Will he look head-on at some of these other controversies?

ZELIZER: I don't think he is going to do much of that. I think most of it will be the economy and immigration. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a line or two saying let's move beyond the fake news or the scandal. But I think this is going to be a pretty scripted event and it's going to be the economy, the economy, the economy, and a little immigration.

PAUL: All righty. Julian Zelizer and Errol Louis, it's so good to have you here. Stick around, though, we want to hear more perspective from you in a minute.

Senator Marco Rubio said he immediately fired his chief of staff yesterday for what he calls improper relations with a subordinate. Senator Rubio didn't name anyone in a statement, but his chief of staff has been identified as Clint Reed. The senator says Reed allegedly engaged in improper conduct and threatened to withhold employment benefits from this subordinate. Rubio said the allegations were reported directly to him and that he then immediately began an investigation with his general counsel. It moved very quickly.

SAVIDGE: Meanwhile, casino mogul, Steve Wynn, has stepped down from his post at the RNC. So, far there's silence from the White House on the whole issue. Should we expect the White House and the administration to weigh in?

PAUL: Also, Democratic lawmakers continue to legislate a push to protect Robert Mueller from being fired by the president. Are they going to get enough support from the GOP because they do need that? We have got a look at the plans that they are touting.

SAVIDGE: Also, hip-hop icon, Jay-z, gets political. Why he says reaction to President Trump's remarks about African countries is an expression of pain that has been brewing for some time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY-Z, HIP-HOP ICON: Everyone feels anger but after the anger is really hurtful because looking down on the whole population of people and you so misinformed because these places have beautiful people and have beautiful everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[06:17:00]

SAVIDGE: Casino kingpin, Steve Wynn, has resigned as finance chairman for the Republican National Committee. The RNC chairwoman said she accepted his resignation. Even as Wynn continued to deny allegations of sexual misconduct after a story in the "Wall Street Journal."

So, let's talk about this and the impact of it all. I'm joined by CNN political analyst, Julian Zelizer, and CNN political commentator, Errol Louis. Let's me start with you, Julian.

The president tweeted about the DACA deal, we have heard that, but nothing on Steve Wynn and there's been no sort of official comment coming from the White House. How important do you think it is that there is some sort of reaction and acknowledgment here?

ZELIZER: Well, certainly, I think there are many Americans who would like some reaction or acknowledgment, but I'm not sure it's coming. Obviously, this is a pretty precarious issue for President Trump, given the multiple allegations that surround him.

So, he is a bit checked in talking about someone else's resignation for those kinds of issues and nor is it something that he is really addressed in the past, as the "Me Too Movement" has gained steam and the questions of sexual misconduct have been front and center. This has not been at the center of his agenda, so I don't expect much. The real question in the long run is how much does this issue mobilize Democrats and the opponents of the president going into the midterm?

SAVIDGE: It seems, Errol, that this is in stark contrast what we are hearing from Marco Rubio that he quickly traveled to D.C. to fire his chief of staff for improper conduct.

LOUIS: Well, that's right. Look. It depends on who are you in this whole question. We have got a broad national movement that's happening and as it makes its way into the political process Republicans have to be alarmed at the number of women, the record number of women who are declaring for office at all kinds of -- at multiple levels of the system.

And so, to have a president, a leader of their party who can't speak credibly on this issue and has to frankly just stay silent on it is terribly debilitating and it makes people like Marco Rubio have to kind of fend for themselves.

They've got to take matters into their own hands and strike their own policy and speak for themselves, and so I think what we are going to have is a cluster of different ideas and statements and policies and efforts coming from different Republicans because we have got no leader to bring them together behind a coherent message.

SAVIDGE: I want to move on to the issue of trying to legislate protection for Robert Mueller. We got a couple of different versions of bills that are aimed at doing that. Julian, do you think either one of these have a chance of really passing?

ZELIZER: No. So far, the Republicans have shown absolutely no interest in this kind of legislation and, frankly, they have joined the effort coming from the administration to discredit Mueller and discredit a lot of what the investigation is about including circulating stories about the FBI and about memos that are not grounded in fact.

[06:20:08] And so I would be shocked if, all of a sudden, they turn around and support this kind of legislation, given the current political dynamics.

SAVIDGE: And, you know, Errol, I understand what could motivate people to want to protect and preserve this investigation, but then there is the issue of, you know, should we legislate to limit essentially the president's power?

LOUIS: Well, I don't know that this president, in particular, is going to let anybody limit his powers. He is going to stretch the outer limits of them, which is why the legislation came up in the first place. This is a president who unlike his four or five predecessors is perfectly willing to say, yes, let's fire the special prosecutor and see if we can get away with it.

Apparently, cooler heads prevailed within the White House, but look, the question here is if the Congress wants to take seriously this investigation, rather than try to discredit it in advance, which seems to be the Republican strategy.

The investigative committees will work as best they can to sort of take seriously what the special prosecutor is doing and use some of his findings and share some of their research with him and perhaps we could get to the truth of all of this sooner rather than later.

SAVIDGE: Getting to the truth of it sooner would be better. Julian Zelizer and Errol Louis, thanks very much.

Coming up on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper, by the way, she helped broker a deal to reopen the government, but can Republican Senator Susan Collins pull out a victory on immigration before another shutdown? She will join Jake live on "STATE OF THE UNION" at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

PAUL: The man behind the anti-corruption protest in Moscow gets a visit from Russian police. We want to show you here the moment officers forced their way into Navalny's office. This is a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin as you know.

He tells CNN that he called for the protest and election boycott not only because he was barred from running himself, but also because of what he calls rampant corruption in the Putin regime.

In Afghanistan, the government has declared today a national day of mourning after a bombing in Kabul. This is an attack that happened a little more than 24 hours ago, and authorities say a driver was able to get through a checkpoint and detonate explosives packed into an ambulance. At least 103 people died and 235 were wounded.

A spokesman for the Taliban claims that group is responsible for this. U.S. President Donald Trump calls the bombing despicable and also says it's renewed the resolve of the U.S. and its Afghan partners.

SAVIDGE: Still to come, hip-hop icon, Jay-z gets personal and he opens up about what he had to do to save his marriage to Beyonce. We will discuss it all in minutes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY-Z: For us, we chose to fight for our love, for our family, to give our kids a different outcome. You see, see, you know, to break that cycle for black men and women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[06:27:27]

PAUL: It's 27 minutes past the hour. You're up early on a Sunday and we are glad for it. I'm Christi Paul.

SAVIDGE: I'm Martin Savidge in for Victor Blackwell.

PAUL: Just a couple of days now away from President Trump's first state of the union address. He's not waiting for the official address to pitch his controversial immigration plan, though. On Twitter overnight, the president blasted Democrats over DACA and border security.

SAVIDGE: As for the sex scandal surrounding the top GOP fundraiser, the White House has not said a word even as Steve Wynn has stepped down as the finance chair of the Republican National Committee.

PAUL: Hip-hop legend, Shawn Jay-z Carter has been political and a little personal too. The icon sat down with Van Jones for the premiere of the "Van Jones Show" and Jay-z talked about everything from the "Me Too Movement" to race in America to the trials of marriage.

SAVIDGE: CNN senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES," Brian Stelter, joins me now. Hello, Brian. Good to see you.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. This is really notable because Jay-z almost never gives interviews. He's in a league of his own and rarely has to sit down and talk about politics or his personal life, but he did with Van Jones here at CNN yesterday and his comments about President Trump's racist remarks about African countries really stood out. Here is what Jay-z said about the recent remarks in the oval office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) \

VAN JONES, CNN ANCHOR: We have a president that comes and says every African country is a shit-hole country. How does that land with you as a dad?

JAY-Z: It's disappointing and it's hurtful. Really is hurtful more so. Everyone feels anger but after the anger is hurtful because you're looking down on a whole population of people and you're so misinformed because these places have beautiful people and have beautiful everything.

And it's just -- like, this is the leader of the free world speaking like this. But on the other side, this has been going on. This is how people talk. This is how they talk behind closed doors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Jay-z talking about the recent s-hole comments saying this was exposing behavior that sometimes is kept in the shadows. Of course, there has been all sorts of vague denials of what the president did or didn't say.

But essentially his discouraging immigration from African countries is what stood out. Jay-z talking about politics there. He said he would not be expected to be invited for the Trump White House and not holding his breath for any sort of party or anything like that.

PAUL: Are you surprised that he talked openly about his marriage to Beyonce? Because there has been so much talk about that. STELTER: Yes. I think in some ways this was the even bigger headline from the interview.

[06:30:03]

There have been rumors I think back to 2014 rumors about Beyonce and Jay-Z's marriage. There have been at one point, talk about a split.

There was a song Jay-Z wrote was an apology to his wife that had a lot of people buzzing. So here is how Van addressed that with Jay-Z.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN JONES, CNN HOST: What is it about this marriage that's so special that you would fight this hard to save it?

SHAWN "JAY-Z" CARTER, MUSICIAN: It's my soul mate. It's the person I love, you know? And you -- and you -- you can be in love with someone. You can love someone and you not -- and if you haven't experienced love and don't understand it and you don't have the tools to move forward then you're going to have complications, period.

And if you -- you can either address it or you could pretend until it blows up at some point. And you know for us, we chose to fight for our love, for our family, to give our kids a different outcome. You see -- you see, you know, to break that cycle.

For black men and women, you know, to see a different outcome, like you were saying, it's not this celebrity -- we were never a celebrity couple. We were a couple who just happened to be celebrities.

JONES: That's beautiful.

CARTER: We are real people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: I think that is what many of their fans, of Beyonce and Jay- Z fans, want to believe and feel that these are not celebrities, they are real people trying to get through this.

Jay-Z also talked about the pain that comes in many relationships and you have to get through the pain because on the other side, he said, it's beautiful. There is more clips up on CNN.com. But it was really -- really an unusual and pretty candid sit-down there between Jay-Z and Van Jones.

PAUL: And that was a really smart emotional characterization. We are not a celebrity couple. It's not why (ph) we're together because we want to be celebrities. We were already celebrities we just -- we are a couple.

I think that brought it home.

SAVIDGE: Yes, very human. You see people in a life where we can all relate to. And that is when you gain insight. PAUL: Yes.

STELTER: Absolutely.

SAVIDGE: Yes.

STELTER: Yes.

PAUL: All right. Brian Stelter, always good to see you.

STELTER: Thanks.

PAUL: Thank you, sir. He is not going away either. Remember you can catch Brian on "RELIABLE SOURCES," that's at 11:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN today.

SAVIDGE: Michigan State is under fire. Officials are now investigating how Larry Nassar sexually abused girls for nearly two decades without the university doing anything about it.

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[06:36:45]

SAVIDGE: Things are moving quickly at Michigan State University. The university is now under investigation -- quote -- "from the president's office down."

PAUL: Michigan's attorney general said the investigation is going to look at how Larry Nassar, the former MSU and USA gymnastics doctor could have sexual abused girls for nearly two decades without university action. And who knew what and when.

Here's CNN's Jean Casarez.

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JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is now official. Michigan State University is being investigated by the attorney general's office here in Michigan. Bill Schutte attorney general for the state said that he didn't want to make it public until all of the young women had come forward with their victim impact statements, but so much had happened in the last week, he believed that it was appropriate.

He would not say whether it was an actual criminal investigation but they are bringing someone in from the outside. His name is Bill Forsyth, a former prosecutor for 42 years. His title in this investigation -- independent special prosecutor.

Also, he said that this was priority one for this investigation and he also had some words for the Michigan State University board of trustees, that last week, issued a statement saying, we think the attorney general's office should investigate our university.

Here is what he replied back to them. BILL SCHUETTE, MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: I don't need advice from the board of trustees at MSU about how to conduct an investigation. Frankly, they should be the last ones to be providing advice, given their conduct throughout this entire episode. Their conduct throughout this entire episode speaks for itself.

CASAREZ: The special prosecutor said that they will be looking for facts, which can possibly lead to potential evidence and the big question in his mind is that how could Larry Nassar have been able to sexually assault girls associated with Michigan State University for over two decades.

Jean Casarez, East Lansing Michigan, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Well, Nancy Hogshead-Makar is with us. She is CEO and founder of Champion Women and also a former Olympic gold medalist herself, I should point out. Nancy, thank you for being here.

NANCY HOGSHEAD-MAKAR, CEO AND FOUNDER, CHAMPION WOMEN: Thank you for having me.

PAUL: Of course. First of all, do you think this is the only case of its kind? Do you think this is isolated or there is more to this?

HOGSHEAD-MAKAR: Yes. I don't think it's isolated and the reason why is because we had lots of women and girls coming forward and we just didn't believe them. And we didn't ask for hard scientific evidence that the procedures that Larry Nassar was doing was medically necessary. So, no, I doubt it, seriously.

PAUL: Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman tweeted this.

"Good to see officials in Michigan taking steps with an investigation led by Special Prosecutor. If we are to believe in real change USAG and USOC need to do the same."

What do you believe needs to be next, Nancy?

HOGSHEAD-MAKAR: Yes, I think that in addition to looking at sort of who knew what when when it came to one person, Larry Nassar, I think we also need to look at just the bigger issue of sexual abuse in club and Olympic sports and seeing why didn't the USOC enact the same kinds of child protection that we see in all other types of (INAUDIBLE) and organizations.

[06:40:08]

So whether its boy scouts or girl scouts or YMCA, Special Olympics, Police Athletic League, they all do it. They all recognize that sexual abuse is a risk when you have these adults in a hierarchy power type situation, and -- and the USOC did not do that. They did not mandate to all of their clubs and all of their members.

We are talking 8 million children here. This is not a small number. PAUL: So let me ask you -- do you believe Congress needs to intervene here? Should they make the Olympic committee take responsibility here and fix the system? Could they?

(CROSSTALK)

HOGSHEAD-MAKAR: Because actually, Senator Feinstein has a bill number 535 that we are really urging Congress, the House to take up.

The senator already passed it. It's bipartisan. It's already -- it passed unanimously out of the Senate and fingers crossed we have hoping to get that will have Congress do what we couldn't get the Olympic committee to do.

PAUL: You know, Kristine Brennen was with us yesterday and she made a very good point about how university -- how Michigan State University -- she was shocked, did not take better -- was not more cognitive of what happened just years earlier at Penn State with Jerry Sandusky.

We know what happened there for a Penn State assistant coach and a sexual assault that was happening there. Do you believe that Nassar's case, now that people -- this is what is going to bring this to the forefront, and that people will start paying attention?

HOGSHEAD-MAKAR: Yes. I think -- I mean, I was shocked that it took seven days of having woman after woman come forward with their own testimony, they were so vulnerable but they were also very strong, and to give the whole country and to give Michigan State University a real insight into just how damaging that both Larry Nassar was and that sexual abuse was.

I really think before this happened, even though they did know the numbers, they just really didn't think it was that big of a deal. Right? It was the Larry Nassar thing.

PAUL: Right

HOGSHEAD-MAKAR: And -- yes so -- I'm hoping that when women come forward and report sexual assault that they will be believed and will be taken seriously. And that, you know, it won't be a situation of the institution sort of protecting its own, the same way they did at Penn State.

PAUL: Anything that you would like to say to all of those women that you just watched?

HOGSHEAD-MAKAR: I'm just so proud of all of you. I'm just so amazed.

I mean, what you did for the country. I would say your average human being probably here is between five and 10 stories like that in their lifetime and they -- they opened themselves up and they let a hundred -- we heard 160 stories. And that really changes the whole conversation about sexual assault when you hear that many stories, it's hard to take it lightly.

And the attorney general is not taking it lightly and I really hope that the Olympic committee is not going to be taking it lightly and that this has long-lasting profound changes in somebody's life and it's our job as adults to protect them from any kind of harm like that.

PAUL: No doubt about it. Nancy Hogshead-Makar, thank you so much for sharing. Good to have you here.

HOGSHEAD-MAKAR: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

SAVIDGE: And still ahead, the biggest night in music is going to be shining a light on sexual abuse in the entertainment industry. How the Me Too movement will take center stage at this year's Grammy Awards.

Plus, a message from the Oval Office of George W. Bush. That's right. Will Ferrell is back on "Saturday Night Live" with a reprisal of the former president.

That plus a whole lot more, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:30]

PAUL: All right. You got your popcorn and everything ready here, the Grammys take center stage to honor the best in music tonight.

SAVIDGE: The music world will also honor the spirit of the Me Too movement that has swept the entertainment industry.

Here is CNN's Chloe Melas -- thank you very much. I knew I'd have trouble with that -- with a preview of what you can expect from music's biggest night.

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Martin and Christi. I'm so excited for the Grammy Awards. I'm going to be there on the red carpet.

This is the first time in 15 years that the Grammys are back in New York City at Madison Square Garden. It's going to be a very big night for Jay-Z who is leading the way with eight nominations but also Kendrick Lamar. Don't count him out. He is nominated for seven.

Also the Me Too movement is bound to play out this weekend and we're hearing that celebrities are going to be wearing white roses on the carpet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELAS (voice-over): New York. The city Jay-Z famously paid homage to now hosting the Grammys for the first time in 15 years. So it's fitting the rapper also happens to lead the pack in Grammy nominations.

He's up for eight, including Album of the Year.

Kendrick Lamar and Bruno Mars come in second and third as the most nominated artists.

Both are slated to perform at the show, which will be hosted again by late-night's James Corden.

JAMES CORDEN, LATE-NIGHT HOST: Let's get on with the show.

MELAS: But music's biggest night comes at a complicated moment for the entertainment industry.

[06:50:02]

A sexual harassment reckoning that spawned the Me Too movement has dominated awards shows. Expect to see white roses on the Grammy red carpet and a message of female empowerment.

SHANON COOK, SPOTIFY TRENDS EXPERT: There is some very strong self- aware female musicians who are going to be taking the Grammy stage. You've got Kesha, you've got Lady Gaga, you've got Pink, Lorde, Miley Cyrus. I think we're going to see some really strong wonderful moments.

MELAS (on camera): Musicians tend to be a more unbuttoned, unpredictable crowd. But here at Madison Square Garden there is a sense that anything can happen on Grammy night. And that probably includes some jabs at President Trump.

COOK: Historically the Grammys hasn't been as politically charged as other awards shows. But given that we're just a little over a year past the election, and the mood in this country is very fired up and still very divided, I would be very surprised if no artist spoke about politics at all at the Grammys this year.

MELAS (voice-over): The topic of race may also come up, especially in light of President Trump's controversial comments about African countries. Either way, the Grammys are already sending a strong message of diversity. This year, the seven most nominated artists are all people of color.

And, "Despacito," the Latin crossover sensation, could make history.

It could become the first Spanish language song ever to win Song of the Year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MELAS: A lot of people are saying that the Grammys finally got it right with how diverse the nominees are this year. It's going to be very exciting and I cannot wait.

Back to you guys.

PAUL: All right. Have fun with that, Chloe.

So, NBA finals? I mean, a month away but we have gotten a little bit of a glimpse of what to expect last night -- Mr. Coy Wire. COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was an epic NBA dual. Two of the best point guards on the planet going mano-a-mano. We'll have those highlights and also hear from some guy named Tom Brady ahead of some games coming up called the Super Bowl. That's coming up in a bit.

SAVIDGE: Plus, Will Ferrell resurrects former President George W. Bush for "Saturday Night Live." Bush's message from his Oval Office is still ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESLIE JONES AS CONDOLEEZZA RICE (singing): The housing market went to hell.

WILL FERRELL AS GEORGE W. BUSH (singing): Nazis kept it to themselves.

LESLIE JONES (singing): Bin Laden was alive and well those were the days.

FERRELL (singing): Bin Laden was alive and well those were the days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:56:55]

SAVIDGE: I don't know if you saw it but it was an epic battle last night in the NBA as two of the league's best players went toe-to-toe in what could be a preview of the season's NBA finals.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: Oh, that golden voice.

(CROSSTALK)

SAVIDGE: -- kind of down cast on that and Coy knows it.

WIRE: Someday I hope to have the smooth mellow tones of one Martin Savidge.

SAVIDGE: It's not that. I'm talking about the --

(CROSSTALK)

PAUL: Everybody does.

WIRE: It was a dream matchup last night for basketball fans and if it is a preview of what the NBA finals is going to be like what a treat it will be --

SAVIDGE: Without your Cavs.

WIRE: Without your Cavs that's right.

PAUL: Yes.

WIRE: Says Ohio boy over here but it was like a heavyweight prize fight and a lot of people billing this as the preview. And there was two all-stars leading the way throwing the haymakers at Oracle Arena in Oakland.

The Celtics Kyrie Irving put up 37 points. Golden State Steph Curry cooked up 49. The two went bucket for bucket, blow for blow and Kevin Durant of the Warriors he says, these two put on a show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN DURANT, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: You just got to sit back and enjoy the show. You know what I'm saying? Once they've got it going you got to get out the way, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Sit back and watch them. Now this is what people are watching after the game, is trending top five on Bleacherreport.com this morning. Steph left hanging by Kyrie Irving -- 109 105 victory for the Warriors and this one we will see what else is yet to come.

All right. We have the Super Bowl just around the corner. Tom Brady's documentary, "Tom vs. Time," releases its second episode on Facebook today at noon Eastern Time. And this time it's a glimpse into Tom's relentless dedication to his craft.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BRADY, QUARTERBACK, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: I watched the tape all day Monday, all day Tuesday. You know, Wednesday we practice. Thursday we practice. Friday we practice.

When I come home I watch the film. And Saturday before the game I watch film and in Sunday morning I watch the film. You know, if you want to perform at the highest level then you got to prepare at the highest level.

All of those binders is just logs of information. You'd think we were launching rockets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: It's a crazy glimpse into the mind of a champion. He is going to add -- try to add another ring. He's going to need a secondhand if he gets this win over the Eagles.

Opening night for Super Bowl is tomorrow night. It's like media. I'll be flying out -- media night I'll be flying out tomorrow morning to bring all the sights and sounds from one of the greatest stages in sports.

SAVIDGE: We look forward to it. PAUL: Sorry.

(LAUGHTER)

WIRE: I know, but someone has got to do it.

PAUL: You've got a tough job.

WIRE: What they do to me over here.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: Coy, thank you.

WIRE: You're welcome.

PAUL: Always good to have you here.

SAVIDGE: Will Ferrell returns to "Saturday Night Live." This time he is reviving his rendition of former President George W. Bush in the Oval Office.

PAUL: And he has a message for anyone who, you know, might still wish that he was in office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FERRELL: According to a new poll, my approval rating is at an all- time high. That's right. Donny Q. Trump came in and suddenly I'm looking pretty sweet by comparison. At this rate, I might even end up on Mount Rushmore right next to Washington, Lincoln, and I want to say Kensington.

I don't know. But the point is I'm suddenly popular AF. And a lot of people are saying, man, I wish George W. Bush was still our president right about now.

[07:00:02]

So I just wanted to address my fellow Americans tonight and remind you guys that I was really bad.