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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

President Trump Says Shutdown Meeting A "Waste of Time"; Deputy A.G. Rod Rosenstein Stepping Down; No Paycheck Friday Due To Government Shutdown; Secretary of State Pompeo Set To Give Speech In Egypt. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired January 10, 2019 - 05:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:30:58] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump heads to the U.S.-Mexico border today, but is it more than just a photo op?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Unfortunately, the president just got up and walked out.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democratic leaders are unwilling to even negotiate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: The president walking out of a meeting with Democratic leaders, calling it a waste of time. What House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that set him off.

ROMANS: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein planning his exit. What does this mean about how soon the special counsel investigation could wrap up?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROTESTORS OUTSIDE R. KELLY'S CHICAGO STUDIO: Mute R. Kelly! Mute R. Kelly! Mute R. Kelly!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Increasing backlash for Grammy award-winning singer R. Kelly. A statement overnight from Lady Gaga taking a stance for his alleged victims.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. Good morning, Dave.

BRIGGS: Good morning.

ROMANS: Good morning, all of you. It is 31 minutes past the hour.

We begin with the president, who will board Air Force One this morning bound for the border city of McAllen, Texas as the federal government shutdown enters day 20 now. The president traveling even though, according to "The New York Times", he said during that off-the-record meeting with network anchors Tuesday the border visit is quote "not going to change a damn thing, but I'm still going."

BRIGGS: In that same spirit yesterday the president walked out of his third meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, afterward tweeting that the meeting to end the partial shutdown was "a total waste of time."

Here is how Sen. Schumer recalled the sit-down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHUMER: He asked Speaker Pelosi, "Will you agree to my wall?" She said, "No." And he just got and said, "Then we have nothing to discuss" and he just walked out.

Again, we saw a temper tantrum. He said, "If I open up the government, you won't do what I want."

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Yes.

SCHUMER: That's cruel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Vice President Mike Pence and congressional Republicans remember things a little differently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PENCE: The president walked into the room and passed out candy. I don't recall him ever raising his voice or slamming his hand.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: The president then turned to the speaker and politely asked her, "OK, Nancy, if we open the government up, in 30 days could we have border security?" She raised her hand and said, "No, not at all."

The president calming said, "I guess you're still not wanting to deal with the problem."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Two sides to every story.

More now from White House correspondent Kaitlin Collins.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLIN COLLINS, CC WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dave and Christine, that meeting between President Trump and congressional leaders ended with the president storming out after Democrats said they would not budge on their refusal to give him any more money for his border wall funding. It started out on a chummy note, sources told us, with the president passing out candy to several of those people in the room. But things took a turn when the president and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi started going back and forth on what the White House wants for this and what the Democrats say they are not willing to give up. And it ended with the president essentially telling them goodbye and leaving the room.

Now, the Democrats say that the president was just throwing a temper tantrum but Republicans are disagreeing with that. But the bottom line of what this all comes down to is that was the third meeting that the president has had with congressional leaders in the Situation Room since this whole shutdown got started, yet we are still no closer to resolving these talks.

Now, of course, on Friday, that's the first day that those federal government workers are not going to be receiving their paychecks. And then on Saturday, this turns into the longest continuous U.S. shutdown that we've ever seen in this country.

So certainly, both sides are going to start feeling the pressure to come up with some kind of resolve. However, we're told by sources inside the White House that right now there's no other meeting set up between the president and Nancy Pelosi or arguably, the two people that ended this shutdown is going to come down to.

Now, in that off-the-record lunch with news anchors the other day, President Trump, according to "The New York Times", told them he did not believe that his prime time address or his trip to the border, which he's taking today, was going to change any opinions about where they are on whether or not it's worth shutting the government down over building the president's long-promised border wall.

[05:35:00] Now, he's going to make that trip today. We'll have to see what he says. But right now, we are still very much in the middle of this government shutdown -- Dave and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: Dig in, folks. Thank you, Kaitlin.

We are getting new details about the time line for the upcoming departure of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. As CNN's Jessica Schneider reports, the man who oversees the Russia probe may have to be flexible about the date of his final day in office.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dave and Christine, it turns out Rod Rosenstein has actually long been planning his departure.

We know that the deputy attorney general has been signaling that he would leave the Justice Department when he was satisfied that Mueller's investigation was either complete or close enough to complete that it was protected. So with Rosenstein's upcoming possible departure, this could be the clear sign yet that the Mueller probe is wrapping up in the next several weeks. And Rosenstein, he's also timing his departure in coordination with William Barr's likely confirmation. A source is telling us that he'll leave the Justice Department after the next attorney general is confirmed which, at this point, is shaping up to be about mid-February at the earliest since the confirmation hearings don't start until Tuesday.

Now, we did see the president's pick, William Barr, up on Capitol Hill on Wednesday and he told Sen. Lindsey Graham that he plans to be transparent when it comes to the Mueller probe and any release of Robert Mueller's report to Congress or to the public. So that's Barr's stance.

But really, it's fair to say Rod Rosenstein -- he's been the big protector and proponent for the special counsel. He appointed Robert Mueller.

And he's given Mueller broad authority including, interestingly, allowing the special counsel to investigate allegations that Paul Manafort colluded with the Russians during the 2016 campaign. And that's a claim that we saw hinted at in court papers on Tuesday when Manafort's lawyers inadvertently revealed that Paul Manafort had handed over polling data to a Russian operative Konstantin Kilimnik, with connections to Russian intelligence, at the height of the campaign.

Now, Paul Manafort's lawyers have since come back, saying that that polling data was actually intended to go to two Ukrainian oligarchs through Konstantin Kilimnik. It's unclear, though, why Paul Manafort wanted to give this polling data to him -- to those oligarchs -- and whether or not it satisfies Mueller's questions about any possible collusion here.

So that's the Manafort piece of it.

But really, the question now when it comes to Rosenstein is where will the Russia investigation go once Rosenstein leaves if it hasn't already been wrapped up by that point, and how will the presumable next attorney general, William Barr, handle it? Either way, the Justice Department is set to see a lot of changes in the coming month or two -- Christine and Dave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

Joining us, Princeton University historian and professor Julian Zelizer, author of this new book -- terrific new book, "Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974." He's a CNN political analyst.

Good morning.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, AUTHOR, "FAULT LINES: A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1974": Good morning. BRIGGS: Good to see you.

ROMANS: Jessica laid that out very well with the two big questions now. Where will the Russia probe go now, now that Rosenstein is leaving, and how will the new A.G. handle the investigation? Those are the unanswered questions.

ZELIZER: Yes, it sounds like we're getting closer to having a report. But once the report's out, this isn't over.

If there's damaging evidence, the question is what happens? Does anyone see it, what does Congress get to see, what does the public get to see? And that's where the A.G. is going to matter.

And this A.G. is not supportive of the investigation.

ROMANS: Yes.

ZELIZER: He is a very strong proponent of executive power, so I think he's going to push back from allowing this to expand any more.

BRIGGS: All right, those are questions for another day.

The question today is what is the off-ramp for this government shutdown now in day 20? And the president heads to the border today which he said in this off-the-record meeting is a waste of time.

He's bringing with him, Julian, White House counsel -- that's baloney -- which begs the question, is he preparing to declare a national emergency? Here's what he said about that yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have the absolute right to do a national emergency if I want.

REPORTER: What's your threshold for when you might make that decision?

TRUMP: My threshold will be if I can't make a deal with people that are unreasonable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: My threshold is if people won't give me this deal. Does that undermine his entire argument for declaring a national emergency if this were to go to the courts, which it most certainly would?

ZELIZER: Right. The threshold should be there is a national emergency, not someone won't agree with me --

BRIGGS: Yes.

ZELIZER: -- but that's how he's thinking.

This will be challenged in the courts. This is his way out. If Congress won't do it, he's going to try to do it himself.

But there's a pretty strong challenge to be made that there isn't an emergency. They can use his own words against him. Congress can also vote to limit his powers under the 1976 legislation.

But he likes pushing the fight. He likes kicking the ball down the field and waiting. So I think this is attractive to him.

ROMANS: And there are those around him who are saying that he hasn't really sold the public on the fact that there is a national emergency today -- a new national emergency.

ZELIZER: Right.

ROMANS: He didn't, in his address -- his 8-minute address to the people and he -- I mean, if you believe what "The New York Times" is reporting about what happened inside that network meeting, he doesn't think that his visit to a border state is going to change anything, anyway.

[05:40:04] ZELIZER: That's true, although we've also seen presidents use emergency power very often and it's not always agreed to about why they have to do it.

ROMANS: Right.

ZELIZER: So we shouldn't assume if he does it, it won't work. This is a pretty serious move he's making.

But the fight will continue. This will not end the fight over whether the wall will exist or not exist.

ROMANS: It's interesting because I feel like if -- to call it a stalemate would to be -- would be to upgrade the situation about the shutdown, right? We're not even at a stalemate here. Am I right?

ZELIZER: No, absolutely. There is no room for compromise. Many Democrats feel they already gave him a budget that he wanted and he's throwing this entire new request on the table. And it's unclear how to get out of this other than to move to executive power or congressional Republicans buck him and say no, we're going to vote to override you and give a budget that you can't refuse.

BRIGGS: But it's also not clear what Democrats will offer, if anything, in the way of compromise. They have voted in the past for various measures of a border.

And even though the president basically offered Baby Ruth, M&Ms, and Skittles -- and what was the other candy bar?

ROMANS: Butterfingers.

BRIGGS: Butterfinger -- that appears to be a bigger offer than Democrats have made.

What are they willing to support in the way of border security and do they need to make that clear?

ZELIZER: I think more money for border security is the one thing they can put on the table as long as it's not going to construct what they would say is a monument.

And they could be the more serious hawks on border security. Let's use it for enforcement, let's use it for new technology.

Put the president on the defensive and say let's really do border security, not with a wall but with real mechanisms to make sure the border is straight. That's what they can put on the table right now. And he has to give them something --

BRIGGS: But they haven't --

ZELIZER: -- about the Dreamers.

BRIGGS: They haven't done that.

ROMANS: No.

BRIGGS: They haven't made any offer --

ROMANS: No.

BRIGGS: -- in that -- any step in his direction -- any baby step.

ZELIZER: In their minds, he's the one who's being unreasonable. Their budget, already, is pretty much a Trump budget and then he threw a new program on the table.

ROMANS: Yes.

ZELIZER: So this is a matter of principle for them.

ROMANS: All right, Julian Zelizer. Nice to see you. Thank you.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

ROMANS: All right.

Federal workers feeling the pain of that government shutdown. They're on track to be the longest shutdown in U.S. history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC SCHNEIDER, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: I have my savings account and then after that, I have no idea what we're going to do.

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ROMANS: How this air traffic controller says the shutdown could affect your safety.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [05:46:30] BRIGGS: As the partial government shutdown closes in on three weeks, among those about to feel the pinch, air traffic controllers. They're going without a paycheck starting tomorrow and they worry that the lack of pay could lead to a lack of focus on the job, meaning travelers are less safe when they fly.

Here's CNN's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: Give me a kiss.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These days, family is the only thing Marc Schneider can count on. The 48-year-old air traffic controller from Indianapolis is working. He's considered an essential employee but he isn't getting paid because of the government shutdown.

SCHNEIDER: I'm being paid on an IOU.

KAYE: An IOU he hopes the government will make good on.

TRUMP: Many of those people -- maybe even most of them --

KAYE: When President Trump says that many people who aren't getting paychecks quote "agree 100 percent with what he's doing" and are "fans of what he's doing," don't count Marc in.

SCHNEIDER: I don't many of those people. It must -- he -- I assume that he's getting his data from somewhere. I don't many of those people that are big fans of not getting paid.

KAYE: And when asked if he considers a safe border his safety net, as the president has suggested for these unpaid workers --

SCHNEIDER: I can't spend border security if that's what you're asking me. Border security isn't going to pay my mortgage next month.

It's not an immediate need for me right now. I would prefer to be able to pay my bills, to take care of my family.

KAYE: None of this is good for Marc's family and it could be downright dangerous for airline passengers.

KAYE (on camera): The system is already stressed and the number of air traffic controllers is at a 30-year low and many of them are working six days a week and 10-hour shifts.

Also, about 2,000 of them are eligible for retirement. If they retire early because of this shutdown there could be massive delays nationwide.

KAYE (voice-over): Delays and distractions. Marc is worried about passenger safety and how his fellow air traffic controllers will handle the stress of not getting paid.

SCHNEIDER: The last thing I want is my air traffic controller worry about where his next check is coming from.

KAYE: At Marc's house the shutdown hit twice as hard as some others. Marc's wife isn't getting paid, either.

KAYE (on camera): You and your wife are both air traffic controllers. How did it feel to just lose both your paychecks like that?

SCHNEIDER: You know, it was terrifying. I don't have a plan B. I have my savings account and then after that, I have no idea what we're going to do.

KAYE: Congress is still getting paid and you're not. Is that OK with you?

SCHNEIDER: Why am I different? What's less valuable about my job?

What's less valuable about a TSA employee? What's less valuable about a park ranger? Where's the difference? Why are my bills less important than someone else's?

KAYE (voice-over): Marc was last paid two weeks ago. If he doesn't get a paycheck this Friday, due to the shutdown, it will be the first check he's missed as a federal employee. He has some savings but can't hang on more than a month or so.

SCHNEIDER: Am I upset about it? Absolutely. Do I think it's right? It's not, it's not.

Someone should be paid for the work that they do, period. That's what our country has always stood behind. A day's wages for a day's work.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, Indianapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on "CNN Business" this morning.

Global stocks mostly lower after some Chinese data that disappointed. In Asia, you can see Tokyo and Shanghai down. Hong Kong up just a little bit on its close. And then, London, Paris, and Frankfurt all open just slightly lower.

On Wall Street, futures down just a little bit -- not really much here -- taking away yesterday's gain, essentially, at the open.

[05:50:02] The Dow closed 92 points higher. It has spiked about 2,100 points. That's 10 percent since Christmas Eve. Folks, this is why you don't sell after a big sell-off, right, because then you just lock in the losses.

The S&P 500 posted modest gains yesterday, its first 4-day win streak since September. The Nasdaq closed higher as well, rallying for the ninth time in 10 days.

Oil prices helping drive the market higher here. U.S. crude oil prices up 12 percent to more than $52 a barrel since January second, a big bounce back. But gas prices are still falling. The current average price is two cents lower than just one week ago.

The world's richest couple is calling it quits. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie are divorcing after 25 years of marriage. They issued a joint statement on Twitter saying they made the decision, quote, "after a long period of loving exploration and trial separation."

The couple adding, "We feel incredibly lucky to have found each other. If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again."

The couple have four children.

The divorce could end up being quite costly. Washington is a community property state, meaning wealth acquired during marriage is split equally. Bezos is the world's richest person with an estimated net worth of $137 billion.

And I would argue that that much money -- if you cut it in half, you still live the same way.

BRIGGS: Yes, if that happens she becomes the richest woman on earth. But --

ROMANS: A lot of people talking about this story. People are interested in Jeff Bezos, yes.

BRIGGS: -- today's story is the "New York Post" and the "National Enquirer" have extensive stories on the other woman, they say, in Bezos' life, Lauren Sanchez. You'll hear more about that in the days ahead.

Up next, though, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo giving a major speech in the Middle East as the region marks 100 days since the brutal murder of "Washington Post" journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi. We're live in Cairo, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:56:10] ROMANS: Today marks 100 days since the brutal murder and dismemberment of "Washington Post" columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's swing through the Middle East expected to include a high stakes stop in Saudi Arabia where the Khashoggi question will be difficult to avoid.

This morning, he is in Egypt, set to make a major speech and the U.S. commitment to the region.

Let's go there to CNN's Ben Wedeman -- he's in Cairo -- for the very latest -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine, that speech will be delivered by the secretary at the American University in Cairo. And we are already getting indications that he's going to be

addressing, for instance, the perceived threat of the Iranian domination in the region. He's going to underscore the importance of defeating Islamic extremism.

And he's going to say -- I mean, "I can tell you right now that we have rediscovered our voice. We have rebuilt our relationships. We have rejected false overtures from enemies."

That last bit a suggestion, we can assume, that he is relinquishing the responsibility for the nuclear agreement concluded by President Obama and other countries with Iran. So it's definitely a repudiation of previous positions taken from the United States but we'll have to wait until he actually delivers the speech to see what meat he puts on those bones.

ROMANS: Sure.

WEDEMAN: Christine --

ROMANS: All right, Ben Wedeman. Thank you so much for that.

BRIGGS: All right.

Back here, dozens of protesters gathering outside of R. Kelly's Chicago studio overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROTESTORS OUTSIDE R. KELLY'S CHICAGO STUDIO: Mute R. Kelly! Mute R. Kelly! Mute R. Kelly!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The Cook County prosecutor in Chicago says her office is receiving numerous calls after she urged potential sexual abuse victims of R&B singer R. Kelly to come forward earlier this week.

ROMANS: Now, Lady Gaga tweeting overnight, vowing to take a 2013 song she recorded with him called "Do What You Want With My Body" off of iTunes and other streaming platforms.

At the time, Gaga defended her collaboration with him by pointing to the bond they shared over quote "very untrue things written about us."

She now says, "I stand behind these women 1,000 percent. I'm sorry, both for my poor judgment when I was young and for not speaking out sooner."

BRIGGS: OK. Some incredible dashcam video now shows a freeway sign falling onto a moving vehicle, crushing the roof of an SUV in Melbourne, Australia. Remarkably, the 53-year-old woman who was driving the SUV suffered only minor neck injuries.

ROMANS: That video is unbelievable.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: And they said they had just inspected it the day before and it was fine, and then it just falls right on top.

BRIGGS: A miracle to survive that.

ROMANS: All right, thanks for joining us this Thursday on EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" starts right now. We'll see you tomorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHUMER: We saw a temper tantrum. He walked out and said it was a waste of his time.

TRUMP: I have the absolute right to do a national emergency if I can't make a deal with people that are unreasonable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to try to figure out a way that we're able to reopen quickly while meeting the president's priorities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are gearing up to fight the Mueller report. Giuliani has made that very clear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clearly, what they're reacting to is an abject fear. I think they're afraid of going to jail.

REP. WILL HURD (R), TEXAS: Bob Mueller should be allowed to turn over every rock and complete his work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: You know, the show starts at six whether we're ready or not.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I keep on telling you it's going to happen.

CAMEROTA: It really is happening right now.

BERMAN: All right. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Thursday, January 10th, 6:00 here in New York.

The president is handing out candy; the Coast Guard is telling its members to have a garage sale. That is where we are this morning after the president literally said bye-bye to a meeting with congressional leaders trying to end the government shutdown -- bye- bye.