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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump "Has Not Risen to the Mantle of the Office"; White House Set on Day 12 of Shutdown; Family Denies Spy Charges Against American in Russia; Winning Mega Millions Sold in New York. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired January 02, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:18] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The president has not risen to the mantle of the office, so says Mitt Romney. He's making his presence known in a blistering op-ed just before taking his Senate seat.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Today, the first bipartisan meeting since the government shutdown began. Is a deal possible to end the shutdown costing 800,000 government workers their paychecks?
ROMANS: The family of an American detained in Russia denies any charges of espionage. Was Paul Whelan detained as payback for the Russia investigation?
BRIGGS: And somebody in New York waking up $425 million richer before taxes. We'll have the lucky numbers and where that ticket was sold.
Good morning, everyone. Happy new beard, welcome to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: It looks good. I like it.
BRIGGS: I'll give it a shot. A little itchy.
ROMANS: At least for a day or two.
I'm Christine Romans. It is Wednesday, January 2nd, 4:00 a.m. in the East. Happy New Year, everybody.
And we begin with this, Mitt Romney unloading on President Trump before he even takes is seat in the U.S. Senate. The incoming Republican senator from Utah writing a scathing op-ed in "The Washington Post". He claims the president's behavior over the past two years is, quote, evidence that he has not risen to the mantle of the office.
Romney has been a frequent critic of the president. They appeared to mend fences after the 2016 election when Romney was being considered for secretary of state.
BRIGGS: While Romney says he agrees with many of Trump's policies, he writes, quote: A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity and elevate the national discourse with comity and natural respect. It is in this province where the incumbent shortfall has been most glaring.
The op-ed indicates Romney is planning to be the president's new Republican foil in the Senate with Bob Corker and Jeff Flake both departing.
ROMANS: President Trump's 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale responded to Romney's op-ed, tweeting this: Jealousy is a drink best served warm, and Romney proved it.
BRIGGS: What?
ROMANS: Mitt Romney will speak with Jake Tapper today. "THE LEAD" airs at 4:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN. We will hear from the former Republican nominee for the presidency himself --
BRIGGS: Jealousy is a drink best served warm. Perhaps the chaser to the dish which is revenge best served cold?
ROMANS: Maybe.
BRIGGS: Brad is ahead of us all. O you're just back from a holiday break, yes, the government shutdown is still going on.
It's been 11 days and counting. President Trump holding firm on his demand for border wall funding and more than two dozen tweets since Friday. Today, he's invited congressional leaders from both parties to meet with him at the White House. That hasn't happened since the shutdown started.
About a quarter of the federal government has been frozen for nearly two weeks. That means 800,000 federal workers are going unpaid while lawmakers still collect paychecks.
Jessica Dean with more from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave and Christine.
Here at the White House, there's expected to be a meeting with the president and leadership from the House and Senate from both parties later this afternoon. Details are still being worked out on all of this. But we are told to expect a briefing from the Department of Homeland Security during that meeting.
Of course, the two sides in the shutdown still pretty far apart. President Donald Trump for the past several days, he has been tweeting about the wall, how he must have the wall, and the $5 billion to fund it, the funding for the wall. And Democrats who will take over the House on Thursday and who plan to vote on a package of bills that includes $1.3 billion for border security but no funding for a wall, no mention of a wall.
So, of course, a lot there in the middle for them to -- both sides to compromise on. The question is, will there be any movement here at the White House this afternoon when that meeting takes place? We'll certainly be keeping an eye on it -- Dave and Christine.
(ENDV VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Jessica Dean at the White House, thank you.
So, the impact of the shutdown is widening. The Smithsonian tweeting that all museums, research centers, and the national zoo will shut down today. And California's Joshua Tree National Park closed its campgrounds for health and safety concerns as toilets reached their capacity. Driving off-road and other infractions that damage natural resources are also becoming a problem.
In previous government shutdowns, national parks have closed entirely, but gates remained open under the Trump administration, leaving parks severely understaffed.
BRIGGS: U.S. Customs and Border Protection investigating an incident at the California border with Mexico. Agents using teargas, pepper spray, and smoke on a group of migrants trying to enter the U.S. illegally. Some of the migrants allegedly throwing rocks as others lifted children over the razor edged wire in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
[04:05:05] CBP estimates about 150 migrants approached the fence, but one-third of the group turned back when they saw the agents. Twenty- five people were taken into custody.
ROMANS: A family of an American citizen detained in Russia strongly denying claims by the Kremlin that he is a U.S. spy. Retired marine Paul Whelan was arrested in Moscow on Friday on suspicion of espionage. His brother tells CNN Paul has been to Russia many times for work and personal business, and that he was in Moscow for the wedding of a former fellow marine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID WHELAN, BROTHER OF PAUL WHELAN: He's not the sort of person who would stumble into a strange environment or make poor choices that could cause him risks. But particularly, he wouldn't have made choices that would have gotten him sideways of the Russian government and its espionage act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: David Whelan says the family only learned about Paul's detention from media reports on Monday.
Let's get more on this from CNN's Martin Savidge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave. Good morning, Christine.
You know, this may sound surprising, but actually the family of Paul Whelan was relieved to hear that he'd been taken into custody by Russian authorities. Let me explain that. You see, they knew he was going to Russia. And then come the 28th, last Friday, he suddenly goes silent. He doesn't call home, even his friends in Russia didn't know where he was.
And given what they know about their son and about their brother, that is totally out of character. They were so worried, they actually thought maybe he'd been the victim of violent crime, possibly even dead, which is why when the Russian authorities said, no, he's alive, but we've arrested him for spying, that there was a sense of relief but then also a realization that, of course, wait a minute here, spying? That is not the person they know. They say it's not his character.
A bit about Paul Whelan -- he is Canadian, or born in Canada, but he's an American citizen, actually served in the U.S. Marines, served overseas in Iraq. And then worked in local law enforcement and now works as a consultant for private security for a major auto parts manufacturer here in Detroit. He went to Russia not for work but was there to be at the wedding of a fellow former marine and then he gets arrested.
So, the initial fears the family have, have been replaced by new ones, that somehow he may be a pawn in a kind of showdown between the United States and Russia. And that leads them to fear of when will they ever see their son and brother again -- Christine and Dave.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRIGGS: Martin Savidge reporting there.
So what is Russia saying about all this?
Let's bring CNN's Matthew Chance live for us in Moscow.
Matthew, happy New Year.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Happy New Year to you, as well, Dave.
Well, in terms of what Russia is saying, they are being very tightlipped apart from the bare minimum of what they've already announced which is that they have this U.S. citizen that we know is Paul Whelan in custody, and they say he was caught spying. Beyond that, there's been absolutely no details given about what he was accused of doing specifically. Just that he was arrested December 28th in the Russian capital, Moscow.
In terms of consular access, well, the Russians have 72 hours under the Vienna Convention to give consular access to U.S. diplomats so they can meet with Mr. Whelan and talk to him about the way in which he's being kept, such as his treatment. We're not clear that access has been granted. The U.S. embassy have been in contact here, saying they can't confirm nor deny it, they're not giving him any comment either on the record or off the record.
So, we're in the dark as to whether consular access has been granted. The 72 hours, of course, has long expired. So, it should have been given. If it hasn't been, already hope that you're now shortly.
In terms of the timing of it, there's a lot speculation it is linked, it is a speculation linked to the admission of guilt a couple of weeks ago by Maria Butina, who's a pro-Russia, a pro-gun enthusiast, the Russian national being held in the United States. She pleaded guilty a couple of weeks ago to conspiracy and faces a prison sentence shortly. There's no direct link between the two cases. But the speculation is is that Mr. Whelan could have been detained perhaps for the possibility of a swap of prisoners in the future.
Back to you.
BRIGGS: OK, Matthew Chance live for us, just past noon in Moscow. Thanks.
ROMANS: At least one prominent member of the military coming to the defense of retired four-star Army General Stanley McChrystal. McChrystal felt the wrath of the president after making these comment about Mr. Trump on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RETIRED ARMY GENERAL STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL: I think it's important for me to work for people who I think are basically honest, who tell the truth as best they know it.
INTERVIEWER: You think he's a liar?
MCCHRYSTAL: I don't think he tells the truth.
INTERVIEWER: Is Trump immoral in your view?
[04:10:01] MCCHRYSTAL: I think he is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: President Trump firing back, tweeting, general, in quotes, McChrystal got fired like a dog by Obama. Last assignment a total bust. Known for big, dumb mouth. Hillary lover.
BRIGGS: For the record, General McChrystal resigned in 2010 over comments he made belittling administration officials including Vice President Joe Biden.
Now, retired four-star Admiral William McRaven defending McChrystal. McRaven led the Osama bin Laden raid and has also drawn the scorn of President Trump. He calls McChrystal, quote, one of the great generals of this generation and the finest officer I have ever served with.
ROMANS: One thing to report to in the New Year, lower gas prices. According to AAA, the national average for gas is $2.25 a gallon, nearly 20 percent of states are enjoying prices below 2 bucks a gallon, the lowest since 2017.
The president tweeting about gas prices twice on New Year's Day. Gas prices are low and expected to go down this year. This will be good. Do you think it's just luck that gas prices are so low and falling? Low gas prices are like another tax cut.
U.S. crude settled at $45.41 a barrel Monday ending the year down nearly 25 percent. That's considered a crash in oil prices. OPEC and its allies agreed earlier in December to remove 1.2 million barrels a day from world markets. Members of the cartel pledged to reduce their production by 800,000 barrels per day for six months beginning in January. Now, that move could drive crude prices up and, in turn, drive gas prices higher in the New Year.
BRIGGS: Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts will travel to Iowa this weekend after launching a presidential exploratory committee. A source telling CNN she'll hold events in Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Storm Lake, and Des Moines in the coming days and weeks.
Democrats will announce more their challenges to the president in 2020. We expect a long list of candidates as you can see --
ROMANS: I can't even -- you can't hardly make them out there are so many, right? There you go.
BRIGGS: Mark Cuban jumps out to me, and Beto O'Rourke I think we do expect for sure.
ROMANS: All right. Day four of the manhunt for whomever killed a 7- year-old boy -- a 7-year-old in a drive-by shooting, rather, in Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAPORSHA WASHINGTON, JAZMINE'S MOTHER: Whatever kind of hate this man had in his heart, my child was taken from us with no reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That little girl's devastated mother looking for answers. More next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:15:23] BRIGGS: A devastated Texas mom demanding to know who killed her 7-year-old daughter in a drive-by shooting Sunday morning. Jazmine Barnes was one of four children who are in the car at the time of the shooting. Her mother, LaPorsha Washington, threw her body over her oldest daughter in the front seat to shield her. She could not protect three others in the back seat, including Jazmine. Washington suffered a gunshot wound but has been released from the hospital and is struggling to come to grips with the tragedy.
Nick Valencia with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is absolutely a heartbreaking way for the family to start their new year, mourning the death of the 7-year-old little girl, Jazmine Barnes. She was in the car with her mother and three siblings leaving a Walmart parking lot on Sunday morning in the Houston area, when out of nowhere, unprovoked, a gunman opens fire.
Very few details are given about the gunman's description. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez saying the suspected shooter is a white male in his 40s, had a beard, was wearing a hoodie, and was driving in a red pickup. But still, the make and model has not been released, nor have any license plate or any other distinguishing characteristics.
It was earlier that the mother of the 7-year-old who was also injured in the shooting, she was shot in the arm.
WASHINGTON: I want him to be a man and turn himself in because I will never get to see my child again. You took my baby away from me. Behind whatever was going on in your head, I don't know if it was some kind of hatred, violent hatred, if it was a hate crime or what it was. When you fired that first shot and you seen my kids in that car, you should have stopped. You should have stopped. You took my baby from me.
VALENCIA: The Harris sheriff's office says that there's still no official motive, and they're not taking anything off the table, not even a potential for this being a hate crime. The suspected shooter is said to have continued to open fire as he fled the scene. They're asking for the public's help in combing through any surveillance footage that they might have to catch the suspected shooter -- Dave, Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Just a terrible story. Nick Valencia, thank you for that.
Netflix facing criticism for pulling an episode of comedian Hasan Minhaj's show "Patriot Act" from its service in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom filed a legal complaint, claiming it violated the country's anti-cyber crime law. But this particular episode centered on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's alleged role in the killing of "Washington Post" journalist Jamal Khashoggi and mocked the official government accounts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASAN MINHAJ, COMEDIAN: At one point, they were saying that he died in a fist fight Jackie Chan style. They went through so many explanations. The only one they didn't say was that Khashoggi died in a free solo rock-climbing accident.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: A spokesman for Netflix says they strongly support artistic freedom worldwide, but the group Human Rights Watch denounced the move saying, quote, Netflix's claim to support artistic freedom means nothing if it bows to demands of the government officials who believe in no freedom for their citizens. Not artistic, not political, not comedic. Coming up, half a dozen passengers get sick after a flight from
Cleveland to Tampa. Now the water fountain shut off at the Cleveland airport.
ROMANS: If you're going to steal a bike, don't steal it from where this guy did. Yeah. In front of the police department. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:22:13] ROMANS: The shooting death of a U.S. marine at a Washington, D.C. barracks remains a mystery this morning. The unidentified marine was on duty early Tuesday morning when he was killed. A marine spokesman confirms the fatal gunshot wound was not self-inflicted. The circumstances surrounding this incident are unclear. The killing is being investigated by D.C. police.
BRIGGS: Most of America's rail systems have missed a critical safety deadline. The Department of Transportation says only four of the nation's 41 rail systems met the Monday deadline to implement positive train control which can prevent collisions and derailments. The others including Amtrak have either applied for or have been granted extensions.
The chairman of the NTSB told Congress last February 150 accidents which caused 300 deaths since 1969 could have been prevented by this technology.
ROMANS: Several water fountains shut down at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport after passengers aboard a Frontier flight became sick. At least six passengers who traveled to Tampa fell ill after leaving Cleveland. Health officials have not confirmed what caused the illness. The airport's water fountains will remain shut off until tests are completed. Now, passengers had to wait at least an hour and a half before they were allowed off the affected plane. They've been asked to monitor their health over the next few days.
BRIGGS: Sad news from Purdue University. Tyler Trent, known as the super fan of the Purdue Boilermakers, lost his battle with bone cancer on Tuesday. The 22-year-old inspired fans across the country. He was named honorary captain for Purdue when the boilermakers faced Auburn in the Music City Bowl last week. He also received the Disney Spirit Award in December.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYLER TRENT, PURDUE SUPERFAN: I think today there's all this in the tunnel, and -- as long as you rely on your faith, things will work out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Man.
Trent helped raise more than $100,000 at a student-run event at Purdue to support the children's hospital at Indiana University Health. Tyler Trent was just 20 years old. ROMANS: The woman who helped kidnap Elizabeth Smart back in 2002 is
now living near an elementary school in Salt Lake City. Wanda Barzee was released from prison five years earlier than expected back in September after pleading guilty to helping her husband abduct Smart when she was 14 years old. Barzee is serving five years of federal supervised release.
The release guidelines don't set limits on how close she can live to a school. Smart says Barzee's early release is, quote, incomprehensible. She says anyone with a history of child abuse should not be allowed anywhere near a school, family, or community center.
BRIGGS: From the dumb criminals file, take a look at this man caught on surveillance video trying to steal a bicycle outside a police station in Gladstone, Oregon.
[04:25:07] Police shared the video on their Facebook page. You can see the man in a hoodie trying to cut the lock off the bike directly outside the station. Within 30 seconds, an officer with a Taser confronted him and put him in handcuffs. Genius.
All right. College football bowl games always in the spotlight on New Year's Day. There was a big upset in the Sugar Bowl. Texas defeating Georgia 28-21. Sam Ehlinger of Longhorns with three rushing touchdowns, completing Texas' first winning season since 2009. Best play of the Sugar Bowl, though, came on the sidelines.
The Longhorns and mascot Bevo gets out of his enclosure and almost runs over Uga, the Georgia mascot. A bit of size advantage there for Bevo. Everyone was OK.
Ohio State's Urban Meyer coaching his last game in the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes sent him off in style. Quarterback Dwayne Haskins in what could have been his last game at Ohio state. Three passing touchdowns. Ohio state built a 28-3 lead, survived a fourth-quarter comeback by Washington to win 28-23.
ROMANS: All right. The New Year's off to a really good start to one lucky resident of New York State. One winning Mega Millions ticket was sold for last night's $425 million jackpot in Glen Head, Long Island, about 25 miles from New York City. The cash option for the jackpot is $254.6 million. The winning numbers were 57-70-34-62-44, and the gold mega ball was 14. Don't spend it all in one place, folks.
BRIGGS: What a way to start the New Year.
All right. Ahead, before Mitt Romney takes his Senate seat, he's letting the president know he demands better. A harsh op-ed says the president is falling short.
ROMANS: And the first bipartisan meeting since the government shutdown began. Is there middle ground on border security with a shutdown now in day 12?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRIGGS: The president has not risen to the mantle of the office, so says Mitt Romney, making his presence known in a blistering op-ed just before taking his Senate seat.
