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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Record Cold Wave Hits Midwest; Another Trump-Putin Debacle?; Trump Versus Intelligence; Medicare for All?. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired January 30, 2019 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:30:38] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. It's going to feel as 70 below zero. Tens of millions of people are in for the coldest temperatures you have ever felt.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: More substance, no translator. A new report says there was more to the Trump/Putin chat at the G20 than the White House revealed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have won against ISIS.
DAN COATS, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: ISIS is intent on resurging.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. The commander-in-chief and the intel officials he appointed on very different pages about threats facing the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (D), FORMER MAYOR, NEW YORK CITY: I think you could never afford that. You're talking about trillions of dollars.
HOWARD SCHULTZ, FORMER CEO, STARBUCKS: That's not correct, and that's not American.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: And possible 2020 candidates weighing in on Medicare-for-All. And do voters even want, can we afford single payer health care?
Welcome back to EARLY START, everybody, on a freezing morning. I'm Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: Yes, welcome to 2020. You're going to see the Democrats really defining where they are on the left plank of the party by whether they believe on Medicare-for-All and whether it's even affordable.
BRIGGS: Yes, Howard Schultz, as an independent, may expose on this --
ROMANS: That's right. I'm Christine Romans. It is 31 minutes past the hour.
We'll get to that in a moment, but let's begin with the extreme cold. Extreme cold hardly begins to describe it. Truly life-threatening conditions for a huge swath of the U.S. More than 200 million Americans are going to see temperatures below freezing. That's more than 70 percent of the American population, 80 million people face subzero weather without the wind chill. In Minnesota, those wind chills drop to a historic 70 degrees below zero.
BRIGGS: There's already a minus-66 degree wind chill in Ponsford, Minnesota. Wind chill of minus 62 in Swift County.
And the State Patrol has reported at least 193 crashes during the storm. Highway crashes in Michigan as well. This multi-car pileup left parts of some cars under tractor trailers.
And blowing snow reduced visibility in Buffalo to near zero.
ROMANS: State offices closed in Michigan and Wisconsin. And get this -- U.S. Postal Service delivery suspended in all or parts of 10 states. It's just not safe to deliver the mail. Schools in much of the region are closed. Check before you head out.
And Amtrak canceling all service to and from Chicago today.
For the very latest forecast, let's bring Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri live in the CNN Weather Center -- Pedram.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, guys when you're seeing flights disrupted, cancellations in place and you're seeing that because of the ices substance put on the planes themselves is beginning to freeze, you know we've got a big problem here. Of course, fuel lines on some of these vehicles turning into a gel-like substance.
Look at these wind chills, 55, 56, in some areas. That's the forecast for a widespread area from the Midwest to the Northeast. Population, 40 million people seeing the wind chills of 50 below in place. Many have felt 20 below or maybe 30 below.
For a brief period, if you step outside, you can throw boiling water in the air and that's a unique experience. But when you get to 40, 50 and 60 below, which what we're feeling across portions of the Midwest, look at Chicago, minus 45 degrees what is feels like outside. Very little of this is fun, even for the few minutes that you're outside. In fact, it's life-threatening and not much in your closet that you can pack on can really do much to protect you.
It takes, when you exceed 30 and 40 and 50 below wind chills it takes scientifically designed clothing that's insulated and properly set up to protect you in these sort of conditions. That's why officials are urging people to stay indoors. But good news, it's short-lived for the next 24 hours, before conditions begin to warm up very quickly in portions of the northwest and Mideast as well.
But some 61 possible record low maximums are excepted, and essentially what that means is different location there's have the coldest afternoons ever observed on this date. So, pretty incredible perspective to see afternoons fail to get into a seasonal setting. But the perspective again changes here going for the next couple of days, 15 below in Chicago. That's the expected high. That will be the coldest recorded low in history.
You take a look of the forecasted low getting to negative 25.
[04:35:01] That will be the coldest we've seen also since President Clinton was in office, and kind of looking at this perspective, taking you with that rapid warm up into the middle 40s on Saturday and Sunday. At that point, we're actually well above average for this time of year. So, going to be a shock to the system going from negative 45 to 50.
BRIGGS: Five hundred homeless beds just made available to Chicago. Check on your grandparents and elderly parents.
Pedram, thanks so much. We'll check the next hour.
ROMANS: Thanks.
JAVAHERI: Thanks.
BRIGGS: Meanwhile, a new report says talks between Presidents Trump and Putin at the G20 summit last November were far more substantive than the White House acknowledged.
According to "The Financial Times," the president sat down with the Russian leader with no translator or notetaker from the U.S. side. Instead, the president was accompanied by his wife Melania, while Putin was flanked by his translator.
ROMANS: Now, the White House had characterized the encounter with Putin as one of several informal conversations. But according to a Russian official's account, the two leaders discussed a number of foreign policy issues, including the conflict in Syria and Russia's November attack on three Ukrainian naval ships.
This was a conversation that last the 15 minutes. "The Washington Post" reported that president Trump tried to hide details of a previous conversation with Putin, including the one he had at the G20 Summit in Hamburg in 2017.
BRIGGS: The president and his top intelligence officials clearly do not agree about the biggest global threats facing the U.S. In a testimony before Congress, the intel chiefs wound up highlighting a wild gulf between their views and the president's. The directors of the intelligence community, or I.C., flat out contradicted several claims by President Trump to justify core principles of his foreign policy on Russia, North Korea, ISIS, climate change and more.
CNN's Alex Marquardt has more from Washington. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Dave.
What we saw on the Senate Intelligence chamber was really nothing short of a rebuke of President Trump on a whole number of different issues. And to have it done by the top intelligence chiefs in the country who are appointed by the president made it all the more stunning.
Now, this worldwide threat assessment which comes out annually was a wide ranging look at a threat against the United States, that the intelligence community says will expand and diversify in the coming year, on issue after issue with the top national security officials in the land said contradicted what the president's positions have been. And what he has claimed.
TRUMP: We have won against ISIS. We have beaten them and we've beaten them badly.
COATS: ISIS is intent on resurging and still commands thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria.
TRUMP: Chairman Kim -- we have a great chemistry and we're well on our way. You know, we signed an agreement that said we will begin the immediate denuclearization.
COATS: North Korea will seek to retain its WMD capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities.
TRUMP: I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia. I will say this, I don't see any reason why it would be.
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, DIRECTOR, FBI: Not only have the Russians continued to do it in 2018, but we've seen indication that they're continuing to adapt their model.
MARQUARDT: Finally, the I.C. is saying that climate change is causing national security threats while the president himself routinely cast out on the existence of climate change. So, just a remarkable series of contradictions from the intelligence community to their boss -- Christine, Dave.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRIGGS: Alex, thank you.
Medicare-for-All is suddenly a hot topic on the 20 campaign trail. It began with these remarks from Senator Kamala Harris on Monday night's live CNN town hall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And the idea is that everyone gets access to medical care.
And you don't have to go through the process of going through an insurance company, having them give you approval, going through the paperwork -- all of the delay that may require. Who of us has not had that situation where you've got to wait for approval and the doctor says, well, I don't know if your insurance company is going to cover this?
Let's eliminate all of that. Let's move on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGG: Polls show a vast majority of Americans like the idea of Medicare-for-All to help guarantee coverage, but they don't approve of eliminating private insurance companies and coverage that could force them to pick another doctor.
ROMANS: Two billionaires considering a 2020run scoffing at the idea of Medicare-for-All. Here's Democrat Michael Bloomberg.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (D), FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: I think you could never afford that. You're talking about trillions of dollars.
I think you can have Medicare-for-All for people that are uncovered, but -- because that's a smaller group and a lot of them have taken care of Medicaid already -- Medicare. But, to replace the entire private system where companies provide health care for their employees would bankrupt us for a very long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[04:40:02] ROMANS: And here's former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz who may run as independent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Senator Harris is saying she wants to abolish the insurance industry. That's not correct and that's not American. What's next? What industry are we going to abolish next? The coffee industry?
Again, this is exactly the situation. It's far two extremes on both sides. And the silent majority of America does not have a voice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Schultz clarified his un-American comment to our Poppy Harlow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: It's not that it's not American. It's unaffordable.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRIGGS: Senator Harris is now backtracking a bit on her call to eliminate private health insurers. Her spokesman tells us she is open to more moderate plans that preserve the private health care industry.
As for the rest of the field, former Vice President Biden tells CNN the race is starting off awfully early and he won't be rushed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: I don't think there's any hurry to have to announce. I don't think there's any hurry, but there's a bigger hurry to decide just personally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: One person who won't enter the crowded Democratic field, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. He announced last night he has decided against it.
ROMANS: CNN learning talks are under way for a possible meeting at the White House today between President Trump and this bipartisan conference committee picked to hammer out a long-term budget deal. At this point, it's not clear if the meeting has yet been agreed to, and whether it will include Democrats and just Republican members. Right now, 16 days of funding remain, and the impact of the shutdown could go on for a long time like centuries in one case.
BRIGGS: A former Joshua Tree National Park superintendent said what happened to the park is irreparable for the next 200 or 300 years. That's because vandals cut down industries in the park and damaged rocks.
In Nevada, federal prison worker Anthony Martinez was forced to leave their home after the shutdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY MARTINEZ, FORCED TO VACATE HOME AFTER MISSING RENT DUE TO SHUTDOWN: I'm going to get paid. I'm working. I have to be at work. What am I supposed to do?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: In letters from the property manager, the owners were apologetic but they say they can't afford to pay their own mortgage on that property without the revenue from his rent. In the meantime, most government workers who were furloughed by the partial government shutdown will receive their pay by tomorrow.
Shutdowns are so disruptive. So unnecessary. And the little guy always gets hurt. I mean, that's the bottom line. It's always the little guy that gets hurt.
BRIGGS: Another one could be a few weeks away.
New overnight, Nicolas Maduro said he's open to talks with the Venezuelan opposition. Huge protests expected on the streets today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:17:07] ROMANS: All right. For the second year in a row, the U.S. Treasury will have to borrow $1 trillion to pay for the growing budget deficit. Why is the deficit growing? Well, the government spends more than it takes in, a lot more.
Last year, the Congress passed a budget deal that increased federal spending by $300 billion. The same U.S. tax revenue. U.S. deficit rose 17 percent to $779 billion in 2018, the highest level since 2012. So, the U.S. Treasury Department is borrowing more to make up that short fall. The treasury borrowed $4.3 trillion. And a spike from the $546 billion it borrowed in 2016.
Don't forget, the U.S. is currently waging a trade war with its biggest foreign creditor, China. As of October 2018, China held $1.4 trillion in treasury bonds. The party of fiscal discipline has overseen these exploding deficits. However, Americans seem to care less than they have in the past. According to Pew Research, 48 percent of Americans say cutting the deficit should be the top priority for the president and Congress.
BRIGGS: Another day of protests expected against Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. Self-proclaimed interim President Juan Guaido calling on supporters to take to the streets to convince the military to side with him.
Maduro apparently starting to feel the pressure. Overnight, he said he is willing to negotiate with the opposition leader with international mediators. But he did also rule out new presidential elections until 2025. That decision coming one day after the U.S. slapped new sanctions on the Maduro regime, cutting off oil revenues.
ROMANS: Meanwhile, Venezuela's Supreme Court freezing Guaido's bank accounts and restricting his travel.
The State Department issuing a warning to all Americans, do not travel to Venezuela. At least 40 people have been killed in recent protests there.
National advisor John Bolton was seen holding that yellow legal pad with the words "5,000 troops to Colombia" on it. He said there's no plans to send U.S. troops there. He says the nonmilitary action against the Maduro regime will be, quote, very tough.
All right. The U.S. has now formally asked Canada to extradite Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer. The Justice Department alleges she helped the company dodge sanctions against Iran and the helped the company steal trade secrets from T-Mobile. Meng was arrested in Canada last month and will be back in court in March.
BRIGGS: Ahead, Sunday's game isn't just football. There's the soft drink showdown, Coke versus Pepsi. And the limited edition beer to honor the GOAT.
CNN Business, next.
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[04:54:07] BRIGGS: This morning, police are expanding their search for surveillance video in the attack on actor Jussie Smollett. The FBI is assisting Chicago P.D. which is investigating the attack as a possible hate crime. The 36-year-old who stars in the TV show "Empire" said he was assaulted by two men in a homophobic and racist attack near his home. He told police they doused him with an unknown substance and placed a rope around his neck.
Smollett was not seriously injured.
ROMANS: All right. A major recall to tell you about. Tyson Foods recalling 36,000 pounds of food because they may contain rubber. The affected products, 5-pound bags of Panko Chicken Nuggets have a use-by date of November 26, 2019.
The company says that people have complained of extraneous material in the chicken but there are no confirmed reports of adverse reactions.
[04:55:03] The recall comes a day after Perdue recalled more than 16,000 pounds of refrigerated chicken nuggets because of an undeclared allergen.
BRIGGS: The FBI has wrapped its investigation of the Mandalay Bay shooting in Las Vegas. That gunman's motive is still unknown. We may never know why Stephen Paddock killed 58 concertgoers in the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
A list of key findings found Paddock was similar to other mass shooters. He had no obvious grievance and wanted to die by suicide. The FBI found Paddock acted alone. Analysts did find a decline in his mental and physical health and his finances in the final years.
ROMANS: Two more cases of measles found in Hawaii both were visitors from Washington state where an outbreak is under way. State health officials say no other travelers were exposed to the virus. And a new case also confirmed in Clark County, Washington. That's 37 in the state this year. With 12 more suspected cases in neighboring Oregon. There's one confirmed case of measles also being linked to the Washington state outbreak.
BRIGGS: All right. If you're a driver in California, you need to hear this. A mystery surcharge costing you extra money for gas, anywhere from 20 to 40 cents a gallon.
According to a new report by the State Energy Commission, California drivers have been paying the premium since at least 2015. That's when prices spiked due to a refinery explosion and never went back down.
The mystery surcharge has cost Californians anywhere from $3 billion to $5 billion a year. More than a dozen state lawmakers calling on the state attorney general to investigate.
ROMANS: Let's get to the bottom of that. BRIGGS: Indeed.
OK. While were you sleeping, that notepad of John Bolton, well 5,000 troops to Colombia, caught the attention of Jimmy Fallon. Here's your late-night laughs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON: Five thousand troops to Colombia. Well, it's not the first time a politician hasn't safely revealed what's on a notepad during a meeting. For example, it also happened to Chris Christie. His notepad said 5,000 wings to Super Bowl party. It happens a lot.
UNIDENTIFED MALE: Yes, 5,000?
FALLON: Next, Betsy DeVos her notepad said 5,000 minus 3,000 equals turtle.
Here's Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. His notepad said 5,000 years ago, today I was born.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, come on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Oh come on. Here we go.
BRIGGS: Age jokes.
ROMANS: Let's check on CNN Business.
Global stock markets mixed ahead of these really important high-level trade talks between the United States and China. You can see a mixed performance when the Asian markets closed, also mixed in Europe. And U.S. stock market futures slightly higher here as investors wait for the Fed's decision this afternoon.
The Dow closed 52 points higher Tuesday. The S&P 500 fell a tad. The Nasdaq lost nearly 1 percent.
Harley-Davidson shares, by the way, fell more than 5 of course. Harley-Davidson said in its earnings per share were essentially wiped out last quarter because of President Trump's trade war.
All right. The U.S. crackdown of Venezuela will have sweeping consequences for the global oil industry. U.S. oil prices surged 3 percent Tuesday after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on PDVSA, that is Venezuela's state-owned oil company. The penalties are meant to put financial pressures on Venezuela's embattled President Nicolas Maduro.
President Trump's crackdown of Venezuela will also hit close to home because the OPEC nation is America number four importer. The sanctions of the state oil company will likely lift oil and gas prices. The problem is even though the U.S. has turned into the world's largest oil producer it still relies on OPEC and other nations. So, watch that.
Sunday's big game, this isn't just football, there's a soft drink showdown, Coke versus Pepsi. Pepsi is one of Super Bowl LIII's biggest sponsors and it has swarmed Coke's hometown with over 350 ads on billboards, recycling bins -- even the walls of train stations.
There's one billboard right down the street from the World of Coca- Cola Museum and it reads "Pepsi in Atlanta -- How Refreshing."
Sam Adams also getting into the spirit of the Super Bowl. Sam Adams has created a limited-release beer called "Too Old, Too Slow, Still Here." One hundred ninety-nine people will have the opportunity to purchase the beer, which comes in a GOAT-themed can at the Boston brewery and taproom tomorrow.
BRIGGS: And the GOAT being greatest of all time, of course, Tom Brady, no question about that.
EARLY START continues right now.
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ROMANS: It will feel as bad as 70 below zero. Tens of millions of people in for the coldest temperatures you have ever felt.
BRIGGS: More substance, no translator. A new report says there was more to the Trump/Putin chat at the G20 than the White House revealed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have won against ISIS.
COATS: ISIS is intent on resurging.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
