Return to Transcripts main page

New Day Sunday

Trump Offers Dreamer Deal In Return For Wall Funding; MAGA Hat Teens Taunt Native American At Indigenous People's March; Residents Rescued As Devastating Tornado Wrecks Homes; Nearly 50 Million People Under Winter Weather Alerts; Federal Workers Turn To Food Banks During Shutdown; Champion Figure Skater Dead A Day After Suspension; "Saturday Night Live" Plays "Deal Or No Deal" With Government Shutdown Debacle; Giant Great White Shark Filmed Swimming With Divers; Martin Luther King III To Share King Holiday Message; "American Style". Aired 6-7a ET

Aired January 20, 2019 - 06:00   ET

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


[06:00:17]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a common sense compromise both parties should embrace.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Trump now offering to extend temporary DACA protections in exchange for more than $5.5 billion for a border barrier.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't negotiate by keeping the government hostage.

ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: I want 5 billion for my border wall and in exchange I'll extend DACA, and I'll release the kids from cages so they can be free-range kids.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A mob of MAGA hat-wearing high school students surrounding a Native American.

NATHAN PHILLIPS, NATIVE AMERICAN ELDER/VIETNAM WAR VETERAN: I see that group of people in front of me and I see the angry faces and all of that, I realized I had put myself in a really dangerous situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning to you. Democrats and Republicans are finally offering maybe dueling deals to reopen the government. It seems they could be closer to what looks like a negotiation yet still so far away from an actual agreement.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. The end of the day the president offered a three-year deal to protect immigrants brought to the U.S. by their parents in exchange he gets his border wall funding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: This is a common sense compromise both parties should embrace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Well, instead of embracing it, Democrats called it a non- starter. While hard liners in president's own party said he had gone too offering what amounts to amnesty. Now Democrats in the House will put their bill forward this week. Republicans in the Senate will do the same.

The question is what happens after that? We want to go to CNN national correspondent Kristen Holmes live at the White House. What are you hearing, Kristen? And good morning to you.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi and Victor. Well, as it stands now, absolutely nothing. Now, why is that? Because we know that Mitch McConnell will not put anything on the Senate floor that doesn't have what President Trump will sign off on which is that border wall funding and we know the Democrats are not passing something in the House that includes any border wall funding.

Also we are hearing that that proposal will be voted on that President Trump proposed next week. But there's a lot of questions here. He'll bring it to the floor, will Democrats block it, will it even go up for a vote but there is a slim, slim chance and a hope that at least this opens the door for negotiation.

But let's just take a step back here and look at what exactly was in the president's proposal. Now of course it is a negotiation so let's look at it in terms of who gets what. When it comes to the president he gets 2,750 border agent and law enforcement professional. He gets 75 new immigration judges and still that $5.7 billion for a physical border wall.

Democrats they get three years of extended protection for dreamers and those with temporary protected service and $805 million for drug detection technology. This is something to keep in mind here dreamers three months, this enraged many Democrats who said that President Trump who was the one who actually ended the DACA program and the TPS program.

Take a listen to what Nancy Pelosi had to said. I'm going to read a statement here. We can pull it up.

She said, "His proposal is a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives, each of which is unacceptable and in total, do not represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to people's lives. It is unlikely that any one of these provisions alone would pass the House, and taken together, they are a non-starter. For one thing, the (ph) proposal does not include the permanent solution for the dreamers and the TPS recipients that our country needs and supports." So essentially this looks like the worst of both worlds for President Trump because he has nothing move forward on the shutdown and, as you said, these hard liners on the Republican side they thought this was an amnesty program. They were enraged as well.

But it seems as though the president had to do something. He was sitting here in the Oval Office looking at poll numbers that showed that a majority of Americans blamed him for the shutdown over Democrats and it was essentially a huge majority. You're looking at 20 percent of Americans blaming President Trump over Democrats so this does put the ball back into the Democrats' court but what happens next? That's still the big question.

I want to take it full circle here. The hope is that this at least brings people to the negotiating table. Back to you.

BLACKWELL: All right. Kristen Holmes for us there at the White House, thanks so much.

PAUL: You might have been listening to the president's speech thinking, wait a minute, is that right? There are a few misleading statements here so let's try to get a fact check and start with this.

[06:05:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: There is a humanitarian and security crisis on our southern border that requires urgent action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So last year, in 2018 some 397,000 people were stopped at the southern border. That's near 2017's historic low when that number was around 300,000 by comparison. In the early 2000s there were nearly 1 million people capture each year then there's this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Walls are not immoral. In fact, they are the opposite of immoral because they will save many lives and stop drugs from pouring into our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Now, the president claimed heroin, alone, kills 300 Americans a week, "90 percent of which comes across our southern border." That was a quote.

The number of deaths absolutely right. He's correct about that. But he claims a border wall will prevent this and that is false.

According to the DEA, a majority of the heroin that comes across the southern border is smuggled in privately in vehicles and in tractor- trailers and they come in at legal points of entry. In fact here is Glenn Kessler's take on the idea that a wall would help cut crime and drugs. He's a "Washington Post" chief fact checker he said -- quote -- "Even after two years of Trump, I still am amazed that a line like this would end up in an official speech. Statements with no credibility undermine everything else in the speech" -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Joining us now to talk CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer, historian and professor at Princeton University, and Siraj Hashmi, commentary writer and editor at the "Washington Examiner." Gentlemen, welcome back.

Julian, let me start with you. This is being reported framed as the two sides are coming closer together but let's challenge that because the president's proposal still has every dollar he wants for the wall. Democrats say that is a non-starter. The billion plus dollars Democrats are putting forward and will vote on next week doesn't have a single dollar for the wall and the president says he needs that.

So are they any closer after weekend of speeches and legislation?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The only way in which they are closer is at least there might be some negotiations or discussions in Congress. I think the actual proposal doesn't get anyone anywhere. House Republicans have made clear they are not in favor of the immigration measures that the president has proposed. And for Democrats he is still shutting down the government demanding that these concessions be made and that is the non-starter.

It's the process as much as the wall. And so the president didn't outline anything that is going to lead to grand bargain the next few days and end this crisis of the government shutdown.

BLACKWELL: So Ann Coulter -- and, Siraj, the reason I bring her up is because she's one of the conservative influence who -- influencers who led the president to back out of the initial deal last year that lead to this shutdown that we're now on day 30.

She tweeted this after the president's speech. "Trump proposes amnesty. We voted for Trump and got Jeb."

Now are there any indications, considering the president's suggestion of including temporary protections for DACA recipients that the president is any more willing really to endure the ire of the conservative part of his party that he was a month ago? Or a week ago when he rejected similar compromise suggested by Senator Graham?

SIRAJ HASHMI, COMMENTARY WRITER AND EDITOR, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": Well, the (INAUDIBLE) is that the devil will be in the details as soon as leader McConnell figures out what is going to be in the bill. We actually have no idea what it's actually going to say with respect to extending DACA and TPS protections for another two or three years. And just because he is extending those protections does not guarantee amnesty for these, you know, hundreds of thousands to millions of undocumented immigrants who came into the country when they were children and who are here on the temporary status.

What we have to look at right now is that if Trump was going to give full amnesty, he would have to demand a full border wall. Just because he is giving these extended protections does not mean that he is giving amnesty, but we have to also remember that with respect to Trump even talking about amnesty or this conversation about amnesty, illegal immigration will go up. There will be a number of illegal crossing are going to be happening within the next month. You already have two migrant caravans that are on the way and so this is just going to be another thorn in Trump's side with respect of immigration.

BLACKWELL: Does this -- we know that the president obviously take seriously the criticisms that come from the freedom caucus, from Rush Limbaugh, from Ann Coulter, but does this separate any more than -- you know anything it has in the last month or so the president from his base? Will they stick with him despite all the complaints that will likely come from those on the right who don't like this plan? And, Siraj, I'm going to stay with you for this.

HASHMI: Yes. So with respect to this particular plan, there are more moderate Republicans, Leader McConnell and Mitt Romney, a few senators and a few House -- the House leadership, they are on board for this plan because it is extending at least an olive branch to at least come to the negotiating table and it puts pressures -- it puts pressure on the Democrats really to kind of move on something that may or may not, you know, it may not give them what they want, which is a actual pathway to citizenship for many of these undocumented immigrants and just because it's not enough for the left and it's not enough for the right, maybe it's good enough for the senator to peel (ph) a lot of those rank and file Democrats in the House.

[06:10:30]

BLACKWELL: We will see if a good negotiation comes out with both sides feeling that they've -- they've lost a little something and that's how most negotiations end.

HASHMI: Exactly.

BLACKWELL: Julian, let me come back to you with this. Mitch McConnell is going to bring this plan to the Senate floor for a vote, it will pass, likely. But it's not going anywhere in the House. Here is what Mitch McConnell said just a couple of weeks ago about those bills that passed the House that he wasn't going to bring to the floor. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MAJORITY LEADER: The last thing we need to do right now is to trade pointless, absolutely pointless show boats back and forth across the aisle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: How was this anything more than a pointless show vote?

ZELIZER: Well, it's not unless the crisis of the government shutdown is somehow moving Republicans, meaning and Democrats, meaning that effects of not having government changes, the dynamics which this bill comes up. But other than that, it is a show vote. House Republicans are very clear on issues like the Dreamer Act. They have been very staunch on fighting this. I would disagree there is no border crisis right now, but the president, by stoking those fears in the speech, is suggesting that he is not really going to put pressure on House Republicans.

The House Republicans, the Senate Republicans, they have the key to a solution. They could override the president with a budget bill that gets the government moving again. And the question is will they or won't they? If they won't, either party the House or the Senate, this is still into the show vote and we're not -- we're going to have the same conversation next week.

BLACKWELL: Julian, I want to remind people that showdown that happened in the Oval Office. This was December 11th and when the president said that he would take up the mantle of the shutdown for border security. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know what I'll say? Yes. If we don't get what we want, one way or the other, whether it's through you, through military, through anything you want to call, I will shut down the government.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: OK. Fair enough. We disagree. We disagree.

TRUMP: And I am proud -- and I'll tell you what I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Julian, does this offer, does this pending vote change the way potentially the American people will see this shutdown? Right now, they blame the president and the Republicans.

ZELIZER: Slightly, but I don't think so. In the end, the president is in the spotlight and I think if the government shutdown in a few days, even with this, quote/unquote, "offer" that has been made, I think the blame will continue to face the president. I think that is how these often work.

He has owned this from day one. So he can't really separate himself from the shutdown. So I think he needs to put a better deal on the table that will entice Democrats, either some kind of permanent solution, rather than a temporary solution or opening the government and then negotiating a grand bargain on immigration. Those are the processes that can get this moving forward.

BLACKWELL: Looks like the president's plan goes nowhere with Democrats and the Democrats' plan goes nowhere with Republicans.

Julian Zelizer, Siraj Hashmi, thank you both.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

HASHMI: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: President Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani is Jake Tapper guest on "STATE OF THE UNION" later this morning. Also joining Jake 2020 hopefuls Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. That's at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

PAUL: Well, a native American elder and Vietnam war veteran is speaking to CNN after a disturbing viral video shows this group of teenagers harassing and mocking him. This happened in Washington.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Here is the video that started the outrage on social media. Nathan Phillips you see him there on the right beating a drum, singing American Indian protest song. This was Friday on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial when he saw a clash erupting between a group of teenage students, he says, and four African-American young men preaching about the Bible and oppression.

PAUL: Phillips says he immediately sensed danger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: When I was there and I was standing there and I see that group of people in front of me and I see the angry faces and all of that, I realized I had put myself in a really dangerous situation.

You know? It was like, here is a group of people who were angry at somebody else and I put myself in front of that and, all of a sudden, I'm the one who is all of that anger and all of wanting to have the freedom to just to rip me apart, you know?

[06:15:08]

That was scary. And I'm a Vietnam times (ph) veteran and I know that mentality of there is enough of us, we can do this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Phillip says the moments after that became pretty tense. And you're seeing them. They are played all over the place online, on Twitter, on Instagram. You've seen them on Facebook as well.

He said the young man got right in his face. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: When I started going forward and that massive groups of people started separating and separating and moving aside to allow me to move out of the way or proceed, this young fellow put himself in front of me and wouldn't move. And so if I took another step, I would be putting my person into his presence, into his space, and I would have touched him. And that would have been the thing that the group of people would have needed to spring on me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: CNN Sara Sidner asked Phillips what bothered him most about Friday's confrontation. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Fear. Not for myself but fear for the next generations, fear where this country is going. Fear for those youths, fear for their future, fear for their souls, their spirit, their what they are going to do to this country, what they were doing wasn't making America great, it was just tearing down the fabric that was -- that the whole idea, the spirit of America, that wasn't it. You know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, newly elected representative Deb Haaland is among the first Native-American woman elected to Congress and she reacted on Twitter with this.

"This veteran put his life on the line for our country. The students' display of blatant hate, disrespect, and intolerance is a signal of how common decency has decayed under this administration. Heartbreaking."

PAUL: CNN did reach out to the school that the teens attend, the school has not returned any phone calls, voice mails, or e-mails just yet.

BLACKWELL: Yes. But they did delete their Facebook and blocked their Twitter page. The Roman Catholic diocese of Covington has condemned those teens' actions.

PAUL: They do say that there will be an investigation and consequences.

BLACKWELL: Yes. We'll see where that goes.

PAUL: It's what we've heard.

So residents rescued, several homes destroyed after a tornado. Yes, we are talking about a tornado ripped through the southeast. And there is more wild weather going through the country. We will talk about it.

BLACKWELL: Plus, federal workers left without paychecks because of this government shutdown. They're now turning to food banks for the basics. We will talk to the CEO of a food pantry in Maryland about how they are stepping up their efforts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:22:21]

PAUL: Well, 22 minutes past the hour. And look at what the folks there in Alabama are waking up to. That is just frightening, isn't it? We are talking about the wild weather that's slamming the southeast and the northeast. This is not the time of year you usually hear about tornadoes.

BLACKWELL: It is not.

PAUL: But we are hearing about it this morning with damaging winds through Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.

BLACKWELL: Meanwhile, there is an inch of ice and more than snow, more than a foot of snow is just creating a mess in the northeast. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is in the CNN weather center with, I guess, the mess that is everywhere. Allison, what is on (INAUDIBLE) today?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. I mean, it really goes to show you the scope of this storm because even people who are further south who clearly were too warm to get snow were certainly going to get some aspect of this storm. Unfortunately, it was the severe side.

The storm rolled through the southeast yesterday, unfortunately, you had numerous severe weather reports. In fact, three reported tornadoes. Now the weather service crews will go out later today and survey these and determine which ones were actually tornadoes, which ones may have been straight line winds. But it's the northern side where we have also had other reports.

But these have been snow. Take a look at this. Two Rivers, Wisconsin, that's right there along Lake Michigan, picking up over a foot of snow. The Buffalo Airport in New York picking up nearly a foot of snow and Mansfield, Ohio which is kind of the halfway point between Cleveland and Columbus picking up about 10.5 inches.

But we've also had reports of ice numerous locations in Ohio and Indiana. Picking up about two and three tenths of an inch of ice. The problem here was now you have snow on top of that that makes it very dangerous because you can't see it.

You see the snow you think I can get traction, this will be fine you just don't realize there's that layer of ice is underneath. Right now the heaviest snow is located in portions of upstate New York, New Hampshire and Vermont. You still have ice, sleet, freezing rain for places like New York, Massachusetts, and especially in Connecticut.

This system will end tonight, though. So that is the good news. But not before dumping additional amounts of snow and ice.

Here you can see some of the heaviest amounts will still likely be in portions of northern New York, areas of Vermont, New Hampshire where you could still pick up an additional foot of snow. Ice is still going to be a concern for cities like Boston, Portland, and a lot of the suburbs around them where you could still pick up about half of an inch of ice.

This, unfortunately, is going to continue to cause travel concerns, Victor and Christi, especially for airports like Boston and New York and even some others that are still dealing with the lag from yesterday's many delays and cancellations.

BLACKWELL: A lot to take in. Allison Chinchar, thank you so much. PAUL: So let's just take you there, shall we? CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval is driving around Hartford, Connecticut and doesn't look like he is driving.

(LAUGHTER)

[06:25:01]

PAUL: I don't know what that means, Polo.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's a (ph) pull (ph) over.

PAUL: Is it? I was going to say, did you have to pull over? I mean, how bad is it?

SANDOVAL: We did because here is the thing. Some of the equipment here is definitely struggling to keep with us because of that freezing rain. As we give you a view, just outside our vehicle, you can see as we here pulled over next to Interstate 84 here in Connecticut, you can see traffic is moving, but it's moving along fairly slowly.

Here's the thing. What comes after the storm from last night is really what is concerning authorities here. The low temperatures, combined with that precipitation that does continue to come down.

The snow here, not terribly deep but it's the sleets and that freezing rain that is making the snow extremely dense. It is prone to accumulate, not just on the roads as you see here on Interstate 84, but also on the power lines and that is why leading up to this weather event, we have seen utility crews position themselves throughout the northeast standing by because there is that real potential of power outages today as the sun comes up here. And this is what we are noticing throughout the northeast here in Connecticut.

For example, Governor Ned Lamont activated the Emergency Operation Center yesterday that will continue to be open throughout the day today, as they actively monitor the situation. But look, guys. As we have been hearing the warnings from authorities is to simply stay home. Obviously traveling by air is going to be extremely difficult throughout the northeast for millions of Americans if you have to go to the airport but also on the road.

So, of course, we are out here surveying the situation. Again pulled over here so we can safely give you a look at what is happening at some of the roads and highways but as the temperatures continue to drop, as the precipitation continues to drop, well then the real threat of the ice is what is what's going to linger into the second half of the weekend. Guys, back to you.

PAUL: At the end of the day that's what is so dangerous, is that ice. Especially if you think you see it but you don't. It's there. Yes.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the black ice in the morning.

PAUL: Be careful. Polo Sandoval, thank you. So the government shutdown, it is making for desperate times. We see these federal workers and their families lining up for blocks to get groceries at food banks. This is happening across the country. We are talking to the CEO of Maryland's food bank, large contingency obviously of federal workers in that area.

BLACKWELL: Plus, swimming with the great white shark. Coming up, why the diver who came face-to-face with this big shark, says they need our protection.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:39]

PAUL: Thirty-one minutes past the hour. Happy Sunday to you. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell.

PAUL: So it's day 30, if you're waking up. Yes, day 30 of this government shutdown. And we thought maybe yesterday there was going to be a push. Maybe some compromise coming up. Not so sure where that stands again now this morning.

The president made an offer to back three-year extension of protections for DACA recipients in exchange for his border wall but it didn't really go anywhere.

BLACKWELL: Yes. The White House and lawmakers are fighting Washington communities across the country though are coming together to feed the people who need help, who do not have income right now. Or any indication that they are going to get paid when the time comes around next week.

These are people who are going to food banks and the food bank, they are stepping up across the country to help people who are furloughed or working without pay.

PAUL: We have the president and CEO of the Maryland Food Bank Carmen del Guercio. Thank you so much, Mr. Guercio, for being with us. It's so good to have you here.

We know that there is one of the highest concentrations of federal workers in the country in your area. Have you -- are you experiencing that now?

CARMEN DEL GUERCIO, PRESIDENT AND CEO, MARYLAND FOOD BANK: Yes. We are clearly experiencing increased demand and activity at our various pantries. We have a thousand pantries across our state and we have 172,000 federal employee workers who live in Maryland who are beginning to experience what far too many people in Maryland and across our country who are food insecure experience every day.

BLACKWELL: So I read on your Web site -- and I just want to confirm this because the number jumped off the page -- that you already before this shutdown and the need for additional help, serve 100,000 meals a day?

GUERCIO: Yes. That is a critical point here, right? There is already 665,000 people in the state of Maryland who are food insecure. So when you lay around this 172,000 people, that makes, you know, our work that much more difficult to make sure that we are accessing people in need across our state.

So we obviously have limited resources. This is unplanned event and we are trying to do what we can to reach as many people as we can.

PAUL: What is your most urgent need at the moment?

GUERCIO: Actually access to food. So clearly we already purchased 25 percent of the food we distribute as it is and so now lay around this 172,000 additional people, we need to make sure we get access to as much food as we can both through donations, which we have a number of organizations who support us generously with food -- food donations as well as individuals but more importantly we're going to need the more dollars to help us to fill this mission, to make sure that we can address this need.

BLACKWELL: So, Carmen, I know you're seeing a lot of people who are coming for this type of help for the first time. And I've told people who have never had to go to a food bank that it takes a considerable amount of humility, to set pride aside to get in line and wait in line to get that food.

How are you dealing with that element of it? Not just giving actual tangible meal but caring for the person who is coming for help.

GUERCIO: Yes. I mean, we certainly try to do as much dignity as we can. We are a food bank of choice so people who come into any of our pantries or any of our events have the ability to take whatever food they feel is appropriate and it's not necessarily a bag of food that's being handed out but access a little bit of an opportunity for them to figure out what is appropriate food for them and take what they feel best suits for their personal needs.

[06:35:09]

We certainly try to engage in dialogue and maintain a human relationship here as it relates to our interactions with folks on a day-to-day basis so they feel as though it is a little more dignified experience than you might think, but the reality it's not a place that they want to be and we need to do what we can to help them not only get through that day but hopefully at some point get them so they are no longer relying on food banks going forward.

PAUL: Are there any particular stories you've heard from people that have stuck with you?

GUERCIO: Yes. We hear stories every day. I mean, virtually every day of the year. One of our pantry partners are feeding somebody in need. We had one of our partner agencies in yesterday who was telling a story about a woman who has been furloughed but who was asked to go into work. First the IRS and was asked to go into work. And so now no longer -- she's no longer getting paid but now has to pay for transportation into D.C. to go to work and was unable to get back to Baltimore to get back in time to get to one of our pantries to get access to food.

Great story is our pantry partner recognized that and literally opened up the pantry for that one individual so she would not go without. And so that is just one isolated incident that I think we are hearing time and time again across our state. Not only for people -- federal government employees but as well as others who have to deal with this every day.

BLACKWELL: We're hearing similar stories from food pantries across the country. Let me ask you about the SNAP program, the possibility that if this drags on for another 30 days, that, you know, people who rely upon that, hundreds of thousands of people across the state of Maryland, millions across the country, they will get to the end of February and they will possibly be no additional funds for that.

Are you planning for that? How could you absorb all of those people who will need some food from somewhere?

GUERCIO: So, yes, we are beginning initial conversations about how we might address that. We clearly have a little bit of time to deal with that. As you said, it likely will be covered through the end of February and there is some funding that might allow that extend someone into March. But, you know, we talked about 172,000 federal employees in the state of Maryland.

There is over 680,000 individuals who are SNAP recipients so our ability to fill that gap is going to be -- is going to be virtually impossible. It's going to be very difficult to cover that kind of support for those folks in need and that is where we will continue to rely on the donor community to help us get through that.

So we are hopeful that the next 45 days or so that there is some solution that come about but that is really the bigger issue down the road is the folks who are SNAP recipients and our ability to fulfill that gap.

PAUL: It's that uncertainly that so many of these people who are furloughed say is so frightening to them.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: Because they just don't know what kind of a time frame they are looking at. Carmen del Guercio, thank you so much for the work you do and for taking time to be with us this morning.

GUERCIO: It's my pleasure. Thank you for having us.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Carmen.

So, yesterday, I did something that I have never done before. I asked you to support a cause, to support your local food bank, obviously, because of the government shutdown and all of the people who were struggling to find food. We know that no working person, especially not the people who work for the American people, they work for us, should have to struggle the way that federal workers are right now. And the #shutdownhunger was trending on social media yesterday.

Thousands of people tweeted and retweeted shut down hunger. A lot of people donated. I spent the day reading the tweets and retweeting some myself and I saw a lot of receipts there for donations to food banks across the country and I wanted to read for you a few of the tweets from people who answered the call.

Let's start Tavo (ph) in Nevada. He writes that, "I am an immigrant to this great country, not yet a permanent resident but filling all the proper process -- or following all the proper process to get there. And as a person who has been helped in several occasions by nice and committed federal workers, I feel we all should support this great initiative, especially us expats."

From Melissa in Wyoming, "A group of us collectively made a donation to the food bank of the Rockies here in Casper, Wyoming."

And from Karen in Florida, "My elderly mom and I who live mostly on our Social Security just donated $10.00, which equals 80 meals, to Treasure Coast Food Bank headquartered in Fort Pierce, Florida. We have 1000 plus federal employees in a four-county area in Central East Florida."

This is from Blake in California. "#ShutDownHunger just donated our bi-weekly farm box to help furloughed workers."

And one of my favorites from Twitter user Astrozan, "All that bread you all use to flex on social media can be used to #ShutDownHunger."

Again, this is not over. It's day 30 of the shutdown. This is not a single day effort. Hunger comes every day.

[06:40:01]

And if you've not yet supported your local food bank, please consider it, because while the fighting continues in Washington, we can feed each other and let me know if you do, if you donate. Just go to Twitter or Instagram use the #shutdownhunger. Again, thank you.

PAUL: There are good people out there.

BLACKWELL: Great people.

PAUL: It is just inspiring to see it because we need to see that.

BLACKWELL: You asked me during the break what did I do all day? I read tweets and retweeted and responded to a lot of folks online.

PAUL: Thank you for stepping up.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Absolutely.

PAUL: You inspire us as well. So we want to talk about this former -- excuse me -- former U.S. figure skating champion. He was found dead just a day after he was suspended.

BLACKWELL: Yes. What we know about the circumstances surrounding his death. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:08]

BLACKWELL: A former U.S. figure skating champion is dead, found in his Kansas City apartment building.

PAUL: Yes, this happened just a day after he was suspended for possible misconduct. Coy Wire has been watching this. This had to been pretty shocking.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. News of this passing of the two-time former U.S. pairs champion John Coughlin has completely shaken the skating community and this is ahead of U.S. figure skating's marquee event, the national championships.

Coughlin's sister is the one who posted on Facebook Friday that he took his own life. One day earlier on Thursday, U.S. Figure Skating and U.S. Safe Sport temporary suspended the 33-year-old coach and TV commentator citing an upcoming hearing and that prohibited him from participating in any activity which included those upcoming championships.

Skating officials have not said why Coughlin was suspended. Safe Sport is an independent organization which according to his Web site handles allegations of bullying, hazing and as well as sexual misconduct and abuse. Safe Sport does not disclose allegations during investigations.

Now reaction to Coughlin's death ranges from sad to stunned. Two time Olympic figure skater and NBC broadcaster Johnny Weir called Coughlin a talented kind person with an incredible laugh.

Former Olympian Randy Gardner called it tragic saying, in part -- quote -- "With the allegations still unknown, we have yet to know the pressure he may have been under."

U.S. Figure Skating tweeted condolences to Coughlin's family but declined to respond further out of respect for the family. Coughlin was a two-time U.S. pairs champion as I mentioned back in 2011 and 2012. And most recently, he was active as a coach, as a TV commentator there.

Official have not said why Coughlin was suspended. Again, CNN has reached out to U.S. Figure Skating but we are not heard back but we will keep you up-to-date.

BLACKWELL: OK.

PAUL: So sad. Coy, thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you.

WIRE: You're welcome.

BLACKWELL: Well, this one is a lot braver. Is that where we are going to here? Braver?

PAUL: Than me.

BLACKWELL: Me too. Than most of us.

Coming up, we hear from the diver who swam with this -- got to play the "Jaws" music.

PAUL: You got to.

BLACKWELL: Great white shark. Why she says those sharks need our protection.

PAUL: Also ahead, it was President Trump versus Congress on "Saturday Night Live" in "Deal Or No Deal" government shutdown edition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENAN THOMPSON AS STEVE HARVEY: Earlier today you went on T.V. and you told the American people that you want to make a deal.

BALDWIN: That's right, Steve.

THOMPSON: All right. So we decided to do this in the only format that you can understand. A TV game show with women holding briefcases.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:51:55]

BLACKWELL: "Saturday Night Live," yes, they are back. First episode of 2019. They kicked it off with Alec Baldwin and his impersonation of President Trump. This time he's playing "Deal Or No Deal." government shutdown edition. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMPSON: In your briefcase here, you got the deal that Congress offered you in December.

BALDWIN: And I said no deal.

THOMPSON: Yes. Nobody is excited about that player. What was your counteroffer today?

BALDWIN: I want $5 billion for my border wall and in exchange I'll extend DACA and I'll release the kids from cages so they can be free- range kids.

ALEX MOFFAT AS CHUCK SCHUMER: OK. My offer is, whatever you want?

KATE MCKINNON AS NANCY PELOSI: No. Chuck -- Chuck, we are not doing that any more, remember? We're not caving in.

MOFFAT: Oh, right. Right. Yes, projecting strength.

OK. Let put on my fiery red cheetahs. OK. My new offer is $15 and a pastrami on rye. Yes.

THOMPSON: OK. Deal or no deal, Mr. President? Remember, every time you choose no deal, 500,000 federal employees work another day without getting paid.

BALDWIN: Cool story, bro. No deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: All right. They never seem to leave their cleverness at the door.

BLACKWELL: Yes. We had to know they would hit that at the top of the first episode of 2019.

PAUL: Yes. Absolutely.

So, listen. Some pictures here to show you because we are hearing from the diver, yes, that one, that you see right there that was captured. These are stunning images, aren't they? As she is with what is believed to be the biggest great white shark in the world.

BLACKWELL: The shark -- I love this that the shark's name is Deep Blue, 20 feet long. She is believed to be a little more than 50 years old. The marine biologist in the image says she is happy Deep Blue is going viral because they don't look cute and cuddly but that does not mean they are less important.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OCEAN RAMSEY, SHARK CONSERVATIONIST AND MARINE BIOLOGIST: She is big and beautiful. I call her grandma shark. She is by far the most gentle white shark I have ever seen.

And you know what breaks my heart is that I may never see her again and my chances of seeing her again are slim to none the rate that sharks are being killed which is 70 to 100 million sharks being killed every year.

I'm not saying that they're puppies and I don't advice anyone just to jump (INAUDIBLE) that way but they are not monsters and they deserve the same respect that dolphins and whales are given, if not more, because of their ecological importance and because their populations are declining by over 90 percent.

Sharks need and deserve protection. I get it, they don't look cute and cuddly but that doesn't make them less important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: The imagines really are something to see. Ocean Ramsey there says this encounter with Deep Blue it was an accident. She and her team went on to spend the entire day with the shark though and you know they are going capture some still image that she -- she probably blow up somewhere in her house so she can remember this moment because, wow.

BLACKWELL: Good for the shark for playing along because the shark didn't have to play this game all day.

[06:55:02]

PAUL: Well, maybe she got a little bored.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: You meet somebody named Ocean you think they are on your side.

PAUL: I know. Exactly.

BLACKWELL: Civil rights activist Martin Luther King III joins us to share a message for -- as the holiday dedicated to his father's memory now during a government shutdown.

PAUL: And 10-year-old rising activist Yolanda Renee King with us as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Well, the CNN original series "AMERICAN STYLE" looks at the influence of the hippie movement on fashion. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grunge is an extension of the hippie movement. It was anti-conformist fashion niche (ph) but it was also about fairly minimal clothes. I mean, we have a t-shirt. We have a pair of jeans. We have ratty old holey sweater.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People wore something they didn't have to think about.

[07:00:02]

It looked as though in the case of Kurt Cobain he did his shopping at second-hand stores.