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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
WH Using Disaster Funds for Wall; Senate Republicans Ditch Immigration Compromise; Federal Workers Protest Government Shutdown; Michael Cohen to Testify Publicly Before Congress; Mueller Met with Trump's Campaign Pollster; 13-Year-Old Girl Found in Wisconsin. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired January 11, 2019 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:30:54] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have the absolute right to declare a national emergency.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: The White House considering taking money meant for disaster relief in Puerto Rico, Texas, California and Florida to build a border wall.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Eight hundred thousand federal workers will not be paid today. These drastic steps some of them are taking to get through this shutdown.
BRIGGS: Mark your calendars, February 7th, Michael Cohen will testify publicly before the House. What we could learn from this testimony?
ROMANS: Breaking overnight in Wisconsin, a teenage girl missing for nearly three months after both her parents were murdered, she has been found alive. We'll tell you about that rescue.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: Yes. A press conference later this morning. I'm David Briggs. Happy Friday everybody, 5:31 Eastern Time on Day 21 of the government shutdown.
The administration now actively looking for funds to use for building that border barrier if and when President Trump declares a national emergency. One prime source under consideration, billions in unspent Defense Department disaster recovery money intended to help victims in Puerto Rico, Texas, Florida, and California. The president now warning he will declare a national emergency if talks with Democrats to end the government shutdown stay at a standstill.
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TRUMP: If this doesn't work out, probably I will do it. I would almost say definitely. This is a national emergency.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: Such a declaration would be subject to an immediate court challenge and even Trump's advisers have told him it probably wouldn't work legally. But there are not many other paths out of a shutdown that at midnight becomes the longest in modern American history.
CNN's Jim Acosta traveled with the president to the border, Thursday and filed this report.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine, today President Trump came down to the border here in McAllen, Texas to get a sense of the situation down here, talked with law enforcement officials and other border patrol agents. At one point during the day, the president described the situation down here as being under attack. He said the nation is under attack down here on the border.
It was an odd case to make because he was sitting in one of the safest communities in the country. McAllen, Texas is consistently ranked one of the most secure communities in the United States. But yet the president tried to make the case that this community and other communities along the border are under attack, trying to bolster his case potentially to declare a national emergency so he can secure funding for his wall.
Here's more of what he had to say.
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TRUMP: We're certainly under attack by criminal gangs, by criminals themselves, by the human traffickers and by drugs of all kinds. Much of it comes through the southern border.
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ACOSTA: Throughout the day, the president made several misleading statements about his case for a wall on the border with Mexico. At one point, he told reporters that he never said during the campaign that Mexico was going to hand over a big check to pay for the wall. Of course during the campaign, the president repeatedly said that Mexico would pay for a wall and at various points he said, yes, Mexico would actually deliver a payment to the American people to fund that wall.
As a matter of fact, his campaign put out a document saying that Mexico could end this once and for all and hand over to the United States a payment. A one time payment they put it of $5 billion to $10 billion.
Christine and Dave?
BRIGGS: Jim Acosta, thank you.
Republicans in the Senate ditching an 11th hour plan to find a compromise on immigration after President Trump rejected it. The measure spearheaded by Senator Lindsey Graham included border wall funding and temporary protections for Dreamers. House Democrats meanwhile forging ahead, passing two spending bills. Twelve Republicans joining them to pass the first measure which would reopen the Transportation Department and Housing and Urban Development or HUD.
But as Phil Mattingly reports, it may be a waste of time.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, for a brief moment there was hope, not hope that there was going to be a solution to the government shutdown, but hope because at least people were talking. To be specific, a group of Republican senators, senators who had expressed some frustration with the president's strategy, senators who had said they didn't want a shutdown at all, that they wanted to find a way out.
Now, they had been working since Wednesday night on a proposal that would essentially trade DACA protections on a temporary basis for the money that President Trump asked for the wall. That deal fell completely apart.
[05:35:00] Why? Because President Trump rejected it.
How did the top senator who is working on this deal feel? Well, take a listen to Lindsey Graham.
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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I have never been more depressed about moving forward than I am right now. I just don't see a pathway forward. Somebody is going to like get some energy to fix this.
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MATTINGLY: And Graham in that statement is really kind of talking for all 535 members of Congress, at least those that I've spoken with over the last couple days. There is recognition right now that there is no clear pathway out. The both parties are very entrenched that their positions are not moving and at the near term, there is no legislative solution at the moment for a fix for a way out of the government shutdown. There is a real question right now whether or not this is not going to go days, whether this is actually going to end up going weeks.
And is it going to be solved anytime soon? Well, talks aren't continuing. Meetings aren't scheduled. The Senate is out of session and won't be back until next week. And House Democrats were still passing individual funding bills that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made clear he won't take up.
So where does that leave things? Well, a lot of Republican aides are looking towards the president to take some executive action, declare a national emergency. That might be the next path. Lindsey Graham is still advocating for that saying that's really the only path left. That is something Democrats have made clear they will quickly try and take to court, see if they can block it in some way.
So, a fight is going to continue. When it is over is still an open question. What's not an open question is that the government is going to remain shut down unlikely for a while.
Guys?
ROMANS: All right, Phil, thank you so much for that.
Federal workers staging protests across the country as they prepare to go without their first full paychecks since the government shutdown started.
In Washington, the president of the AFL-CIO was joined by members of Congress and hundreds of federal workers demanding an end to the shutdown.
And in Utah, listen to this protester with no paycheck in sight, she is resorting to some desperate measures.
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LYNN STRATON, FURLOUGHED FEDERAL WORKER: I have enough for one more mortgage payment and I got to go to Carmax tomorrow and sell my car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to sell your car?
STRATON: I have to.
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And in Atlanta, TSA workers led a protest against the government shutdown right outside the busy north terminal at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport.
BRIGGS: Michael Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer and fixer will testify publicly before the House Oversight Committee on February 7th. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison on multiple charges, including campaign finance crimes and lying to Congress. He implicated the president in a scheme to pay hush money to two women claiming they had affairs with then citizen Trump.
Here's what Cohen told ABC after his sentencing in December.
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MICHAEL COHEN, TRUMP'S FORMER LAWYER: I am done with the lying. I'm done being loyal to President Trump. I followed a bad path and hence how we started this conversation.
I have my freedom. And I will not be the villain as I told you once before. I will not be the villain of his story.
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BRIGGS: The House Intelligence Committee also wants Cohen to testify about the Russia investigation. That would have to happen behind closed doors.
ROMANS: All right, new developments in the Russia probe. It turns out Special Counsel Robert Mueller interviewed Donald Trump's top campaign pollster in February of last year. A man named Tony Fabrizio. Fabrizio also happens to be an ex-business associate of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Now that could be significant. We know Mueller is investigating why Manafort shared internal polling data with a Russian military intelligence operative while he was running the Trump campaign.
BRIGGS: All right, let's bring in Michael Moore, he is the former U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. Joins us live from Atlanta. Good to see you, sir.
ROMANS: Hi, Michael.
BRIGGS: We'll circle back to all the Russia developments and start with the president preparing to declare a national emergency or so it seems. Michael, 58 times a president has declared a national emergency since 1976. How many involve a policy goal that they didn't win congressional approval for? Zero.
This would be the first time it's ever happened. And as a reminder, here is how the president would justify a national emergency. Listen.
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TRUMP: I have the absolute right do a national emergency if I want.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what's your threshold for when you might think that so.
TRUMP: My threshold will be if I can't make a deal with people that are unreasonable.
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BRIGGS: Wow. Did he undermine his entire argument for there being a national emergency? Does he have the legal standing? And what court challenges might await the president, Michael?
MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY, MIDDLE COURT OF GEORGIA: Not only does he undermine his entire argument, but he really undermines the authority and the powers of presidents to come. And that is by declaring an emergency when there is not one. The idea behind a president having the authority to come in and declare a national emergency is such that so if we have a true crisis, if we have something like an attack, if we are have something -- some terrible disaster, then a president is authorized to come in and make a move or to move some money around so that the U.S. can respond in a certain way.
It was never intended to be a tool for a president to come in who simply didn't get his way and throw a tantrum, say that I can't cut a deal, I can't follow through and gin up my base and so I'm going to declare this emergency.
[05:40:11] So he is clearly I think off base. I think that his close advisers know that. I think that -- you have people who don't have the courage to tell him that. You have certain leaders in the Congress who are too wishy-washy and too worried about currying favor to tell him that candidly.
But I do think that we're going to see court challenges. The question will be, you know, Mr. President, you say there's an emergency now, why wasn't there an emergency last year or the year before. Why is it now just when you can't get a deal on the budget?
So, the question when we move into those court challenges will be the extent of his executive authority. And ultimately, I think too, you know, we may find ourselves in the Supreme Court and I know that John Roberts, Chief Justice John Roberts is particularly concerned about the integrity and the legacy of institutions. I think he will see this as an abuse of power and he will be worried about not only protecting the reputation of the court, but also protecting the reputation of the Oval Office for years to come. And I think you'll see him say that this is not a no-go.
ROMANS: It wasn't that long ago that there were real concerns about, you know, an overreach of executive power in terms of immigration. Listen to some of the Republican leadership unhappy with President Obama.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: True.
ROMANS: Listen.
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GRAHAM: This is wrong. It's irresponsible. And will do damage to our efforts to fix a broken immigration system. This is a tremendous presidential overreach. I will try to de-fund the effort for him to go to alone. We will challenge him in court.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Imposing his will unilaterally may seem tempting. It may serve him politically in the short term. But he knows it will make an already broken system even more broken. And he knows this is not how democracy is supposed to work.
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ROMANS: This is not how democracy is supposed to work. That was 2014. A different president, but two men who are still in leadership positions here, Michael.
MOORE: Well, that's right. You know, these cries of indignation we hear it all depends on whose ox is being gored, right? I mean, that's -- people get upset when it's not their folks. And they were making references, you had Lindsey Graham who now is openly one we just saw urging President Trump to move forward --
BRIGGS: That is right.
MOORE: -- because he can't get cut a deal. That's not how we re-open government. That's now how we solve budget issue by declaring a national crisis and using those extraordinary powers.
BRIGGS: And Mike Pence said of that very move in 2014, it's not leadership, it's a profound mistake. He, too, encouraging a national emergency.
MOORE: Well, that's right. And I want to remember too that Lindsey Graham during the campaign also I think questioned Trump's sanity sometime or confidence (INAUDIBLE).
ROMANS: Yes.
MOORE: So, you know, there been a lot of back and forth, et cetera.
BRIGGS: He also said the immigration plan was lunacy and would end the Republican Party. But that was then, this is now.
Michael Moore, great to have you here this morning.
ROMANS: Have a great weekend.
BRIGGS: Thank you and have a great weekend.
ROMANS: Thank you, sir.
MOORE: Good weekend. Thank you, both.
BRIGGS: All right, ahead, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on a tour through the Middle East. And he is sending some mixed signals on the president's decision to pull U.S. troops from Syria. A live report from Cairo is next.
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[05:47:24] BRIGGS: 5:47 Eastern Time and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo leaving Egypt today heading to Bahrain and Abu Dhabi after laying out America's Middle East policy in a major speech in Cairo, Thursday. In his remarks, Pompeo assured allies there is, quote, no contradiction whatsoever on the shifting U.S. strategy in Syria. Those words come amid mounting confusion over the president's announced drawdown of U.S. troops in the country.
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MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: There's no contradiction whatsoever. This is a story made up by the media. And so it is possible to hold in your head the thought that we would withdraw our forces, our uniformed forces from Syria and continue America's crushing campaign.
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BRIGGS: CNN's Ben Wedeman live from Cairo with the latest.
Ben, good morning.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave. Well, Secretary Pompeo has arrived in Bahrain this morning, Bahrain of course is the home of the U.S. Fifth Fleet. He is going to then carry on with his tour of Gulf States. There he'll find a more receptive audience to his message that the United States has to help its allies to confront what is being described as the growing Iranian footprint in the region.
As far as contradictions in the U.S. position, well, if you think about it, there's not much contradiction between what President Trump said on the 19th of December when he said he wanted U.S. troops out of Syria. Now, this morning we're getting word from a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition that U.S. forces have begun their withdrawal from Syria. But in the meantime, there have been contradictory messages from U.S. officials traveling in the region. Earlier this week U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said that a pre-condition for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria was a guarantee from Turkey that it wouldn't attack U.S.-backed Kurdish rebels in the northeastern part of the country.
But nonetheless, it appears that withdrawal is going ahead. It has sent a message of uncertainty to the America's Kurdish allies who are now in talks with the government in Damascus to restore Syrian sovereignty over that part of the country. Syria of course a close ally of Iran. So it no make sense but that's the situation.
Dave?
BRIGGS: That word uncertainty looms over the entire region.
Ben Wedeman live for us in Cairo this morning, thank you.
ROMANS: All right, about 10 minutes (INAUDIBLE). Let's get a check on CNN business. This Friday morning, markets around the world are higher building on Wall Street's gains although Paris and Frankfurt have just tipped slightly lower.
[05:50:04] This morning in Wall Street, let's take a look at the futures there. Futures are really mixed to down. We'll watch this very closely today. It's been quite volatile as you know.
Stocks rallied for a fifth day in a row, Thursday. The Dow climbed to 123 points recovering from a slide that was 176 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 gained close to half a percent its first five day win streak since September. The NASDAQ closed higher as well.
(INAUDIBLE) averages around this winning streak but retailers are struggling. Macy's plummeted 18 percent, its worse day in history on week holiday sales and dimmed guidance. The sharp decline in Macy's dragged down other retailers. Look at Kohl down five percent, JCPenney down and also Nordstrom fell sharply as well.
All right, Taco Bell wants to help vegans and vegetarians eat there. The chain said it will test out a vegetarian menu board in some restaurants in coming months. Taco Bell will unveil limited time vegetarian and vegan items. This is as part of this test. It's going to highlight the restaurant's current vegetarian options including tacos, (INAUDIBLE), burritos, and crunch wraps.
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ROMANS: You're welcome, America. This song is going to be in your head all day. This is every kid's favorite and it is swimming up the charts. "Baby Shark" which spawned a dance challenge following the release of Pinkfong's 2016 version. It came in at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 chart.
(INAUDIBLE) music, the viral children song earned 20.8 million streams in the latest streaming tracking --
BRIGGS: I used to hate it, but we got another shark behind us. I got a new daddy shark here I guess. Whose shark is that? I don't know. 2.1 billion YouTube views.
ROMANS: That's a lot. All right, 51 minutes past the hour.
BRIGGS: Ahead, after three months of searching, a Wisconsin teen has been found alive.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's OK. I just cannot believe this.
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BRIGGS: What we know so far about her rescue.
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[05:56:44] BRIGGS: New details out overnight about the rescue of 13- year-old Jayme Closs from her captor three months after she vanished. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reporting the malnourished draggled girl walked up to a woman near the town of Gordon, Wisconsin and said she needed help. The girl was skinny with matted hair and shoes too big for her feet. But the woman realized it was Jayme. She banged on a neighbor's door yelling this is, Jayme Closs, call 911.
The Star Tribune reports Jayme was taken to the hospital for examination. And a 21-year-old suspect was almost immediately arrested.
ROMANS: Jayme vanished on October 15th, 66 miles to the south near the town of Baron. After emergency dispatchers received a mysterious 911 call with yelling in the background, police arrived at the home to find Jayme gone and her parents James and Denise Closs shot to death. Investigators think Jayme was home during the shooting of her parents.
Authorities say they will offer more information at a news conference later this morning.
BRIGGS: A Milwaukee bus driver honored for rescuing a barefoot baby girl from the freezing cold. Irena Ivic was on her regular route on the morning of December 22nd when she looked across a freeway overpass and saw a one-year-old child in a diaper running toward an intersection. She stopped, rushed to the little girl, scooped her up and brought her back to the bus. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God, oh, my God. I'm shaking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I am too.
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BRIGGS: Officials believe the child went missing after her mother experienced a mental health crisis. She was eventually reunited with her very relieved father. Can you imagine?
ROMANS: And she stroked the baby and then the baby fell asleep in her lap there under the coat of another passenger who took off her own coat to make sure that the baby got all cuddled up.
Oh, everyday heroes. Thank you so much for that story this morning.
Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Have a wonderful weekend everybody.
Here's NEW DAY.
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TRUMP: I have the absolute right to declare a national emergency.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: I think he's going to have to answer to his own party (INAUDIBLE) he's usurping that much power.
TRUMP: These communities along the border are among the safest in the country.
GRAHAM: I have never been more depressed. Somebody's got to get some energy to fix this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've never had a top person like this testify in public.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Democrats are going to treat him like he's Saint Francis of Assisi. But Republicans are going to go after this guy as the criminal that he is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to know as much as he can possibly tell.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY, it is Friday, January 11th, 6:00 here in New York. Happy Friday.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happy Friday but not so happy for some 800,000 people around the country today.
CAMEROTA: And we will speak to some of them on the program. The shutdown of the U.S. Government is now tied for the longest in American history. And unless there's a breakthrough today, this one will surpass the 1995 shutdown that lasted 21 days.
So 800,000 federal workers will not get a paycheck today. This is pay stub on your screen right there from an air traffic controller working without pay. He will get zero dollars this week.
After a breakdown in shutdown talks, President Trump is reportedly moving closer to the only option that can quickly get him out of this mess and that's declaring a national emergency to bypass Congress and use some unspent federal funds to build that border wall.
