Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Cold Wave Shatters Records in Midwest; Russians Targeted the Mueller Probe; Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired January 31, 2019 - 04:00   ET

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


[04:00:20] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Record cold has the U.S. hunkered down. Record low temps overnight, life-threatening conditions for tens of millions.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Robert Mueller's investigation targeted by the Russians. How a pro-Russian Twitter account spread confidential information.

BRIGGS: Go back to school. The president seething at his intelligence chiefs who publicly contradicted him on security threats.

JARRETT: And a California woman with dementia left to wander alone outside a mental health facility in the middle of the night. Look at those photos.

Good morning, and welcome to EARLY START.

BRIGGS: Awful story there.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett in for Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: Good to see you, Laura. Happy birthday to Christine Romans who's off for that.

JARRETT: Absolutely. Happy birthday.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. It is Thursday, January 31st, 4:00 a.m. in East. And it feels like 16 below here in New York, that is warm compared to what the Midwest is experiencing.

JARRETT: Yes. We don't have it so badly.

BRIGGS: The record breaking deep freeze where we start is moving east but the Midwest is by no means out of the cold, cold woods. Chicago set a record cold high temperature yesterday minus 10 without the wind chill. The ultra cold weather will halt postal deliveries, close schools in the area for a second day today.

In Milwaukee and Minneapolis St. Paul, public schools also stayed closed to avoid roads that look like that. Yes, that's a road in there.

In Michigan, where it felt like minus 35 with the wind chill, the governor is pleading for people to turn thermostats down to 65 degrees until midday Friday. A fire at a compressor station is limiting gas delivery.

JARRETT: A fire also causing big problems for firefighters in Hammond, Indiana. At 22 degrees below zero, the water immediately turning into hazardous ice. The fire chief telling us, quote, "I'm currently thawing out and so is my crew."

There have been at least nine weather-related deaths across the country. Four of them in Iowa. Nationwide about 6200 flights have been canceled since Tuesday. Hazardous road conditions causing at least seven injuries with this multicar pileup in Pennsylvania.

BRIGGS: A lot of people doing amateur science experiments including kids and parents stuck at home in Wisconsin. Hot water instantly turning to ice. Very cool. And one group the weather could in the deter, runners in the Arrowhead 135 ultra marathon. The windchill at the finish line in Tower, Minnesota, a staggering 52 degrees below zero. Look at that visual. Some of the runners finished with their faces completely encased in ice.

More than 80 million people face temps below zero in the coming day, dozens of record lows expected to be set overnight. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us from the warm weather center in Atlanta.

Good morning, Pedram.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, we often complain here in the studio that the 63, 64-degree temperatures in the studio are chilly.

BRIGGS: Yes.

JAVAHERI: But yes, you're right.

BRIGGS: Not today. Don't do it.

(LAUGHTER)

JAVAHERI: Not today. Not at all. Absolutely. When you take a look outside, conditions still at 35 to almost 40 degrees below zero. And mind you, this is a little bit warmer than this time yesterday and that's because the winds have died down just a little bit. But the air temperature, the ambient air temperature without the windchill in fact is colder than yesterday, but the winds again slightly quieter. But really hasn't changed much when it comes to the amount of people under 80s advisories, the watches, the warnings.

Over 120 million here feeling those windchills that at times still as cold as 35 to 45 below zero. And really odd events taking place across portions of the Midwest. Folks reporting an unusual event known as a frost quake. You've probably never heard of it because it needs to be very cold, 40 below or lower, in spots where you have the soil moisture beneath your feet several feet down that actually freezes fast enough, expands fast enough to where you have rumbles, little mini quakes.

Very localized, but folks across the Midwest reporting feeling the ground shaking. It has everything to do with these cryoseism as they're called across portions of the Midwest. But that cold air certainly beginning to move in towards the northeast. Look at this, New York City, Boston, minus 14, minus 15. That's what it feels like at this hour temps. The ambient air temperatures sitting right around five degrees without the winds.

And of course disruptions have been wide spread. Over 6,000 flights preemptively cancelled going into Thursday and either delayed, and you take a look, Chicago airports still taking the brunt of this associated with the extreme cold is still in place. But all of that energy goes toward the northeast and just like that, go Saturday into Sunday, a dramatic warming trend.

Really one of the most impressive forecasts I've seen in quite some time. Look at Chicago. Thursday's high zero, Friday 22, Saturday 41, wait until you see their seven-day forecast here and notice the windchill forecast over the next 24 or so hours from 40 below eventually almost, almost to the freezing mark and eventually even climbs up above the zero degree range.

[04:05:09] And Chicago's minus 23, guys, a quick glance of this, look what happens going into early next week, a 76 degree climb takes us into the 50s from the minus 20s. An incredible turnaround.

JARRETT: Incredible. If we can just hold on for a couple of days, we'll get through the frost quake.

Thanks so much, Pedram. See you soon.

JAVAHERI: Yes.

HARTUNG: Well, there is a deep concern among National Security officials this morning. The Justice Department alleging a pro-Russian Twitter account targeted the special counsel's Russia investigation. The DOJ says the account spread confidential information from a case Robert Mueller's team filed against a Russian company. The special counsel says the company funded an Internet troll farm that interfered in the 2016 elections.

BRIGGS: The Justice Department has been turning evidence to the Russian company's U.S. legal team and Mueller's office now claims some of that evidence showed up on a Twitter account hosted from a computer with a Russian IP address. The tweets linked to thousands of documents, a throve altered to make the Mueller investigation look like, well, a nothing burger.

Crime and justice reporter Shimon Prokupecz has more from Washington.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Dave and Laura, good morning. A pro-Russia Twitter account to use information from a criminal case Robert Mueller's team has brought against a Russian social media company as part of a disinformation campaign. This time aimed at discrediting Mueller's investigation.

Now federal prosecutors wrote in the filing that certain non-sensitive discovery materials in the defense's possession appears to have been altered and disseminated as part of an information campaign aimed at discrediting ongoing investigations into Russian interference and our U.S. political system. According to the prosecutors now the documents that were released, that were put out by these Russians, were not sensitive information that could harm American national security.

The concern here from the Mueller team and from the FBI is that if the Russians did have access to some of the sensitive information, that could certainly hurt national security and the Mueller team is fighting in court to try and prevent Russians who are fighting these charges against them from having access to these documents -- Dave and Laura.

JARRETT: Shimon, thank you for that report.

Well, President Trump claims he will leave all decisions involving the Mueller report to the Justice Department. Remember, he's been bashing the Russia probe as a hoax and a witch hunt for years now. But he tells the "Daily Caller," quote, "I could have ended everything. I've chosen to stay out of it but I had the right to as you know. I had the right if I wanted to end everything. I could have just said that's enough. Many people thought that's what I should do."

The president insists he has not spoken to the acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker about a timetable for wrapping up the Mueller probe. But on Monday Whitaker announced the investigation was close to being completed.

BRIGGS: When President Trump receives his intelligence briefing today, it will be interesting to see whether the director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, delivers it. CNN learned the president was seething yesterday as he watched his intel chiefs testify on Capitol Hill and repeatedly contradict him. Two sources confirming Mr. Trump singled out DNI Coats by name. Here is why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have won against ISIS. We've beaten them and we've beaten them badly.

DAN COATS, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: The president taking to Twitter to rip his intel chiefs as passive and naive concluding they should perhaps go back to school.

Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer firing off a letter to Coats calling the president's criticism extraordinarily inappropriate. Schumer writes, "Trump's attack will undermine public confidence and efforts to protect national security."

BRIGGS: Border security talks getting under way in Washington. A bipartisan group of 17 lawmakers expressing optimism about avoiding another government shutdown. No clear progress was made though. Democrats offering money for personnel, ports of entry and technology, but not a border wall. Government funding expires on February 15th.

JARRETT: Most of the negotiators are considered dealmakers rather than hard liners, but each party's leadership will ultimately shape the debate. Mr. Trump blaming former Speaker Paul Ryan for not getting border wall funding. He tells the "Daily Caller," Ryan assured him congressional Republicans would get him the money once he agreed not to veto the omnibus spending bill last year.

BRIGGS: Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz downplaying concerns by Democrats that he could help Donald Trump's re-election if he enters the 2020 race as an independent.

[04:10:10] On Wednesday morning, Schultz's Twitter account posted then deleted a message pointing to an article that said he could win the White House in 2020. This article described Kamala Harris as, quote, "shrill," and called Elizabeth Warren "Fauxcahontas."

Here is how Schultz addressed Democrats' concerns during a town hall at Arizona State University.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What you're going to do is you're going to have us have another four years of President Trump. Please explain to me why you feel you can't run as a Democrat.

HOWARD SCHULTZ, FORMER STARBUCKS CEO: The Democratic Party today has moved so far to the left. What better expression of democracy would there be to provide a better choice and not the binary choice of just a Republican and Democrat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two words which a lot of people here probably weren't even born when this happened. Ralph Nader.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Now remember, Nader picked up about 97,000 votes in Florida in 2000. Al Gore lost to George W. Bush by 500 votes.

Senator Sherrod Brown also testing the waters for a White House bid kicking off a "Dignity of Work" tour in his home state of Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D), OHIO: Donald Trump has used his phony populism to divide Americans and to demonize immigrants. He uses phony populism to distract from the fact that he has used the White House to enrich billionaires like himself, because real populism is not racist. Real populism is not anti-Semitic. Real populists don't engage in hate speech and don't rip babies from families at the border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Senator Brown's listening tour will take him to Ohio -- Iowa, I should say, Nevada, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

BRIGGS: Consummately described by even those who admire him as frumpy and a little bit of a mess.

(LAUGHTER)

JARRETT: He doesn't care, though.

BRIGGS: Doesn't case.

JARRETT: It's his look.

BRIGGS: The Howard Schultz thing sure is interesting.

JARRETT: Yes.

BRIGGS: Besides, take Starbucks out of the equation, does anyone know who Howard Schultz in the middle of this country even know who he is?

JARRETT: Yes. Well, we're about to see pretty soon.

BRIGGS: Yes. Yes. It's been a lot -- not how you want to roll out your 2020.

Bringing back manufacturing jobs was a core of the President Trump's campaign. Well, now one company has said it would help, may be reneging.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:16:31] BRIGGS: 4:16 Eastern Time. A check on CNN Biz.

Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn changing its plans in Wisconsin, undercutting President Trump's promises on manufacturing. Rather than opening a factory to manufacture LCD screens, Foxconn now plans to recruit researchers, designers and engineers into a technology hub, but it says it is going ahead with developing the Wisconsin property and still expects to hire up to 13,000 workers. President Trump took credit for the Foxconn deal during the ground breaking over the summer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have this incredible company going to invest some place in the world. Not here necessarily, I will tell you they wouldn't have done it here except that I became president so that's good.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BRIGGS: The president was quiet about the news Wednesday. A White House official said while the president has created one of the strongest business climates in American history, any reductions to the initial investment would be disappointing.

In a statement Foxconn said, quote, "The global market environment that existed when the proper was first announced has changed, while the project's focus will be adjusted to meet these new realities. The Wisconsin project remains a priority for our company."

Foxconn had originally planned to invest $10 billion in the plant and very controversial as you know, Laura, with the tax benefits given to the state of Wisconsin, some estimate around $4 billion which a lot of people in Wisconsin thought was outrageous. A lot more to come in this story today.

JARRETT: Yes. So much for the eighth wonder of the world.

BRIGGS: The eighth wonder of the world.

JARRETT: As President Trump said at the time.

BRIGGS: That is correct.

JARRETT: A far cry.

BRIGGS: Long way.

JARRETT: Well, Roger Goodell finally breaking his silence 10 days after the blown call that caused the Saints the Super Bowl.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:22:40] BRIGGS: 4:22 Eastern Time. In Virginia, Democratic Governor Ralph Northam facing a barrage of criticism for comments he made on a late-term abortion bill. The measure proposed in a Virginia legislature would loosen restrictions on abortions during the third trimester of pregnancy. The governor was hit with backlash when he suggested how such a late term procedure could happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RALPH NORTHAM (D), VIRGINIA: If a mother is in labor I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired. And then, a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The intent of Governor Northam's comments was not clear, but some conservatives thought he was discussing the possibility of letting a newborn die. A spokeswoman for the governor says his comments were being taken out of context by Republicans.

JARRETT: A California woman is demanding answer after her elderly mother, a dementia patient, was dumped outside a health care facility in the middle of the night. Costanza Zerbi says her mother, Savina, was put in a cab by College Medical Center and dropped off at the facility at 2:00 a.m. Video shows the elderly woman banging on a door and windows and later walking through a dark alley in a bathrobe and sandals. She was finally let in by a security guard about 25 minutes later.

The California Department of Public Health and the hospital that released her say they cannot comment on the complaint.

Just amazing. Well, this could be a movie, but it's real life. A Florida sinkhole that turned out to be an underground tunnel to a bank. It's 50 yards long, a power cord and a generator were discovered inside. The tunnel did not reach the bank, but the FBI says it was heading directly toward an atm. The case will be investigated as an attempted burglary. Authorities believe more than one person likely dug the tunnel using pick axes. They don't yet know where it is or when it was abandoned. Rain over the past few days may have caused it to collapse.

BRIGGS: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell finally breaking his silence on the controversial no-call in the NFC championship that may have sent the wrong team to the Super Bowl.

[04:25:02] The commissioner admitting officials blew the call but says there was no consideration given to overturning the result. The play in question came late in the fourth quarter in the Rams-Saints game, clearly should have been flagged for pass interference or helmet-to- helmet contact. Judgment calls like that cannot be reviewed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER GOODELL, COMMISSIONER, NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: Whenever officiating is part of any kind of discussion post game, it's never a good outcome for us. We know that, our clubs know that, our officials know that. But we also know our officials are human. We also know that they're officiating a game that moves very quickly and have to make snap decisions under difficult circumstances. And they're not going to get it right every time. As I say, they're human.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: As for Saints coach Sean Payton, he says he handled it like most people would.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN PAYTON, HEAD COACH, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS: After the game, for two to three days, much like normal people, I sat and probably didn't come out of my room. I ate Jeni's ice cream and watched Netflix for three straight days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER) BRIGGS: Amen. On Sunday the New England Patriots and Rams will face off in the Super Bowl LIII. I'll be covering the game for CNN in Atlanta. I'll co-anchor EARLY START from Atlanta tomorrow and Monday we'll also have a Super Bowl special 2:30 on Saturday.

JARRETT: Such tough duty for you.

BRIGGS: I know. It is hard work. You see Sean Payton there, internet sleuths looked at the shirt he was wearing underneath and they determined it was a "Roger Goodell is a clown" shirt that has been popularized by many of Goodell's critics.

JARRETT: Not such a hidden message.

BRIGGS: You have to really compare the side-by-side but it appears they are correct. It does appear it was a Roger Goodell clown shirt underneath.

JARRETT: Netflix is going to give him some comfort hopefully.

BRIGGS: That's right.

JARRETT: Record cold overnight, expect more of the same today. Over 200 million Americans in freezing temperatures. For some, frostbite sets in after just a few minutes.

BRIGGS: And the Mueller investigation targeted again, not by conservatives, but a pro-Russian twitter account spreading confidential information.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)