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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Donald Trump Delivers State of the Union Tonight; Trump Inaugural Committee Subpoenaed; Deal to Keep U.S. Troops in South Korea; Obesity Causes Cancer Spike on Younger Patients; Pope Makes History in UAE. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired February 05, 2019 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[04:30:39] BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: The president's State of the Union Address just hours away. Aides say that he will appeal for compromise. But how will Democrats respond with a new speaker of the House looking over his shoulder?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A subpoena related to the president's inaugural committee, prosecutors are probing possible conspiracy and illegal donations from abroad.
SANCHEZ: Plus, a deal is reached to keep tens of thousands of U.S. troops in South Korea, a major commitment ahead of the president's next summit with Kim Jong-un.
ROMANS: And significant rise in cancer among millennials. The reason: obesity. This is pretty shocking this study finding that these younger Americans are having these rising rates of cancer.
Welcome back to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Christine Romans.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez, in for Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: Nice to see you.
SANCHEZ: Great to see you, Christine.
We're 31 minutes past the hour. And tonight, President Trump delivers his second official State of the Union Address. It will be his first in this new era of divided government.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will sit over his shoulder after outmaneuvering him during the government shutdown, potentially a second one ahead. The speech comes in a critical time in his presidency with a divided Congress, another shutdown looming, the border wall issue, the Mueller investigation, the investigation in the Southern District of New York, the list goes on and on. Those and other issues the focus in Congress and elsewhere.
Administration officials have been previewing the president's address and the theme tonight is supposed to be choosing greatness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: This president is going to call for an end to the politics of resistance, retribution. He is calling for cooperation and he's calling for comity, C-O-M-I-T-Y, and also compromise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Vice President Mike Pence and Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney were among the officials briefing surrogates at the White House last night, they said the speech will be about 50 percent foreign policy, it will touch on infrastructure and lowering drug costs to areas, two areas where there might be some common ground with Democrats. Of course illegal immigration and the border wall still big issues. They may lead to another lapse of government funding late next week.
On that topic, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham had this message for his colleagues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: To every Republican, if you don't stand behind this president, we're not going to stand behind you when it comes to the wall. This is the defining moment of his presidency. It is not just about a wall. It is about him being treated different than every other president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Sources inside the White House say that in the latest draft of the speech, the president does not declare a national emergency. Several Republican senators say they are deeply skeptical of the idea, mainly out of the worry their future Democratic president might then use the same excuse to fund their priorities.
The president's State of the Union guest list also highlights some of his key themes. That includes family members of a couple murdered by an undocumented immigrant, survivors of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre, a prison reform advocate, a man who benefited from tax cuts and this kid, a kid named Trump, sixth grader Joshua Trump, not related to the president, but the White House says he has been bullied at school because of his last name.
ROMANS: All right. Stacey Abrams, a rising star in the Democratic Party, will deliver the response to the president's State of the Union. Abrams fell short of the 2018 Georgia governor's race, but energized liberal voters in the South. She will be the first African- American woman to give the Democratic response.
As for how she will prepare, Abrams says that she will hydrate first. That is a nod to Marco Rubio who awkwardly remember took sips of water during his response. At least four House Democrats will not be attending tonight's State of the Union. Fourteen Democrats skipped the president's address last year. SANCHEZ: Looming over the president's speech, President Trump's
inaugural committee has been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors in New York. The move escalates a wide ranging inquiry into how a record $107 million was raised and spent. A copy of the subpoena reviewed by CNN demands documents related to donors, vendors and finances.
The investigation covers a long list of potential crimes. Listen to this -- they include conspiracy against the U.S., illegal contributions from foreign nations, and contributions in the name of another person, a process known as straw donations.
[04:35:05] ROMANS: "The Wall Street Journal" reported last year, the probe is looking at whether some donors gave money in exchange for access. A spokesman for the inaugural committee says the subpoena is being reviewed and that it is their intention to cooperate. It's worth noting, much of the committee's fund raising was headed by former Trump campaign official Rick Gates.
He pleaded guilty to a variety of felonies. He is now cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
SANCHEZ: Another possibly messy confirmation ahead for the Trump administration, the president nominating Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to replace Ryan Zinke who resigned late last year amid controversy. Bernhardt is a former energy lobbyist and now, he is tapped to lead a department with the dual and what many say is contradictory missions of developing and protecting America's natural resources including oil and gas.
"The Washington Post" is reporting that Bernhardt lobbied for many of the businesses that he would now regulate. Last year, he said he was committed to avoiding conflicts of interest.
ROMANS: Dueling narratives over that racist photo that appeared on Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's medical school yearbook page. A member of the school's 1984 yearbook staff tells CNN the photos were chosen by each student and submitted in a sealed envelope with the student's name on it. They were not chosen at random.
Governor Northam claims he never saw the photo in question before he was confronted with it last week. He is resisting calls to resign and said to be weighing his options. And now, the lieutenant governor who would take his place is facing a controversy of his own.
We get more from Ryan Nobles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Boris and Christine, good morning from Richmond, Virginia, where a lot has happened here, but not much has changed.
The Governor Ralph Northam still in office, his Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax still in that same position, but there is a lot of uncertainty about the future of both of these men. We know Ralph Northam gathered his cabinet on Monday for a very tenuous and what was described as a solemn meeting where he essentially begged his cabinet to stick with him, to give him more time to prove that he is not the person in this racist photo that has gotten so much attention.
In fact, Northam saying that he wants to stay in office in an effort to clear his good name because he did not want to resign and be thought of as a racist for life. Now, all of this drama surrounding about Northam comes at the same time that new report has emerged about the Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax who would take over were Northam were to resign. The accusation comes from a woman who accuses the lieutenant governor of sexual assault while they were both at the Democratic National Convention in 2004.
Fairfax however is not backing down. He vehemently denies this ever took place and he called and impromptu press conference yesterday to clear his name. Take a listen.
LT. GOV. JUSTIN FAIRFAX (D), VIRGINIA: You do now have something that was 15 years ago and yet you don't have a shred of corroboration, shred of evidence. You -- it was first posed a year ago. It went to the "Washington Post" and "Washington Post" made the decision not to run the story because it is false, it's uncorroborated. The reason it's uncorroborated is because false. You just go away until you find another opportunity to get back in the media.
NOBLES: Now, there is it no doubt that the new allegations against Fairfax complicate the situation here in Richmond. There is a lot of uncertainty about what the next 24, 48 hour or even the next week could bring.
For now, we know Ralph Northam has no plans to resign and that Justin Fairfax is not going to back down as these accusations are leveled against him -- Boris and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: RBG is back in the house, or in a concert, I should say.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spotted, making her first public appearance Monday since undergoing cancer surgery in December. Ginsburg attended a performance of "Notorious RBG in Song" at the National Museum of Women and the Arts. Her daughter-in-law, soprano Patrice Michaels released an album of songs celebrated Ginsburg's life, and Ginsburg's son James produced the album. A bit of an underachieving family there.
The court has not said if she's actually going to attend tonight's State of the Union, but it is not really expected given that Ginsburg has missed both President Trump's previous addresses to Congress.
ROMANS: Rail accident investigators say there should be no more extensions for railroad operators to new train safety technology. According to the NTSB, positive train control system could have saved 303 lives and prevented 6,800 injuries over the last 50 years. Congress passed a law in 2008 requiring operators to install the radio and satellite-based technology by the end of the year 2015. The rail industry has repeatedly requested and received waivers for that deadline because of the expense and complications of technology. Only four of 41 rail systems made that December 31st deadline.
SANCHEZ: And the dysfunction in D.C. may have made it worse. The head of the NTSB also says that life-saving information may have been lost in the recent shutdown.
[04:40:01] Investigators are only now looking in to 97 transportation incidents that occurred during the shutdown. In many cases, wreckage had already been moved or altered and that impacts the ability to learn potentially critical safety lessons.
ROMANS: All right. Bud Light's Super Bowl commercial not sitting well with corn farmers. During the big game Sunday, Bud Light released multiple commercials touting the fact that it is sweetened with rice rather than corn syrup.
The ad was meant to be funny. The National Corn Growers Association was not laughing. The group posted a tweet in response to the ad: American corn farmers are disappointed with you. Thanks, Miller Light and Coors Light for supporting our industry.
According to corn farmers group, a representative for the beer giant, e-mailed the association late Sunday asking for a meeting with farmers and Anheuser-Busch confirmed that it is in contact with the group. Corn farmers have taken a beating in the last year. The trade war put a 25 percent tariff on U.S. corn exports which has left many farmers unable to sell their corn for what they consider a fair price. Last month's government shutdown closed the USDA offices that were in charge of processing farmers' relief payments to help offset lost revenue because of tariffs.
Meant to be funny, corn farmers did not think that it was funny.
SANCHEZ; Bud Light learning a lesson you know well, you're spending time in Iowa, you do not make fun of corn farmers.
ROMANS: Nope.
SANCHEZ: Meantime, another major city in California could be heading for a teacher's strike. We'll tell you where, next.
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[04:45:33] SANCHEZ: Pope Francis making history, closing his historic trip to the United Arab Emirates, after celebrating mass. He's the first pontiff ever to visit in Arab gulf state.
CNN's John Defterios is live in Abu Dhabi -- John.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, thanks very much, Boris.
Pope Francis finished his mass just over two hours ago and I have to say, I've covered a lot of things in my 25 years in the business, but this was in the category of extraordinary. It was the first open air mass in the UAE, and therefore, in the Arabian Peninsula. So it says a lot. Ten percent of the Christians in this country were in one venue, and they are one a quarter million Christians in the UAE. So the message overall for the UAE to have the pope here is one of
tolerance, it is the year of tolerance. But the pope carried that much further, Boris, I think it is fair to say before he left the Vatican, he spoke of Yemen and listening to the cries of the women and children in the battle of Yemen. The UAE is involved with Saudi Arabia and the coalition there.
And he said let's not make it the year of tolerance but the year of peace in Yemen and throughout the region. I've been here since the Arab spring in 2011 and suffering all kinds of turmoil, but I spent the entire four hours on the ground here with parishioners from Lebanon, from the Palestinian territories, from India, the Philippine community, British, and they all said the same thing. He struck us in the heart.
We don't know about the sex scandal in the United States and the challenges that he has back at the Vatican, but when he did talk about peace and it is possible and we can have an inner religious dialogue, it resonated with them.
He met with the grand imam of Egypt of al-Azhar University yesterday and brought him to the service today and that was a very, very strong message that took place for them to see Christianity reaching out to the Muslim community and saying we can have a dialogue that continues after this visit.
SANCHEZ: Yes, Pope Francis certainly not shy about reaching out to parts of the world that the church historically has not had the best relationship with.
John Defterios, thank you so much.
ROMANS: All right. The U.S. and South Korea are reaching a preliminary deal to keep nearly 30,000 troops in South Korea. The move easing fears among President Trump's advisors that he could move to withdraw U.S. troops during his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Under this agreement, South Korea would pay more, nearly a billion dollars per year, a $200 million increase. This is not a long term fix. It is only a one year agreement with the option of a one year extension. The U.S. special representative on North Korea will visit Pyongyang tomorrow to prepare for that upcoming second summit between President Trump and Kim.
All right. After some major turmoil, Apple trying to build a comeback. CNN business is next.
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[04:52:45] SANCHEZ: School teachers in Oakland, California, have voted to authorize a strike. And according to their union, 95 percent are on board with a walkout. The vote authorizes the Oakland Education Association to call a strike after February 15th, that is when a neutral fact finder is expected to release a report designed to bridge the impasse. The main issue is pay. The school district is proposing a 5 percent
pay raise over the next three years, the union instead asking for a 12 percent increase, along with smaller class sizes and more support for students.
ROMANS: In Hawaii, the victim of a possible shark attack in Kauai is in the hospital this morning. Ocean safety officials closed the Hanalei Bay where the incident took place. They say that the victim had been surfing had a spot commonly known as a bowl when he was bitten by a large tiger shark. The surfer sustained multiple lacerations to his leg.
SANCHEZ: Staying in Hawaii. The state is considering a bill to ban cigarette sales. The measure is before the statehouse right now. And if it passes, it would raise the cigarette buying age to 30 by next year, 40 the year after that, with increases all the way up to age 100 by 2024. The staggered rollout gives the state time to adjust to lost cigarette tax revenue, about $100 million a year. The age limits would not apply to e-cigarettes, cigars or chewing tobacco and tourists of course could still Friday cigarettes with them.
Hawaii already has some of the most restricted cigarette laws in the nation. In 2016, it became the first state in the nation to raise the age to buy cigarettes to 21.
ROMANS: Some alarming research showing obesity related cancers are rising fast among millennials. The American Cancer Society found the trend among adults 24 to 49 which covers millennials and slightly older adults. Six cancers showed startling increases among the younger adults that usually show up later in life. Overall the rate is about double of baby boomers. On a global scale, the World Health Organization says obesity has reached epidemic proportions. Estimate of more than a billion adults are overweight.
SANCHEZ: Now, you may not know Austin Jones, but your kids might. YouTube star is facing time in prison for pressuring underage fans to send him explicit videos. Jones raked in millions of views with a cappella covers of hit songs. The 26-year-old who pleaded guilty to child pornography charge admits he attempted to persuade young girls to send him sexually explicit photos and videos about 30 times. Attorneys for Jones did not respond to a CNN request for a comment.
ROMANS: All right. This morning, Seattle digging out for them is a huge snowstorm, about half a foot fell, usually the amount they get all year. Schools will start two hours later today after being closed yesterday. At Sea-Tac Airport, flights were delayed after three hours. At one point, more than 12,000 customers did not have power.
Meantime, police in Duval, Washington, took a moment to enjoy a snow day with local kids. A serious snowball fight ensued.
Well, that system pounds the west, expect quite a warm up in the East.
CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Boris and Christine, good morning, guys.
Yes, the big time warmth widespread across portions of the south and working towards the north. The cold air beginning to seep in and enough wintry temperatures in place that at least across portions of the Upper Midwest, and you notice temps absolutely supportive of it as well. Minneapolis a high of only 16, Chicago at 31, not enough moist makes it there in time to produce significant snow just yet, but getting to overnight hours, you could see some of that mix in across the area, but Minneapolis 6 to 8 inches is your forecast. Just about everyone else gets in on decent rainfall.
But notice this, Chicago climbs up into the 40s, drops back down into the teens by Friday. Minneapolis down to one. And even after the climb in places like New York, of almost 60 degrees, we bring it back down to reality just like that into the 40s.
And back towards the west, also watching some wintry weather into the inter-mountain west, parts of California, Washington state and Oregon have seen significant snow, all of that shifting off toward the east. And expect decent snows into places such as Salt Lake City -- guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: A shocking admission to tell you about from actor Liam Neeson who says that he once contemplated racist revenge and he is expressing regret for it. Neeson tells the British newspaper "The Independent" that it happened years ago. He didn't exactly say where or when. He says, though, that he took to the streets after learning that loved one had been raped. Listen to this.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LIAM NEESON, ACTOR: I asked, did she know who it was? No. What color were they? She said it was a black person.
I've gone up and down areas with a cosh hoping I'd be approached by somebody. I'm ashamed to say that. And I did it for maybe a week hoping some black bastard would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Neeson says it took him about a week to process what had happened. When he looks back on it now, he says he is ashamed of his horrible behavior. The 66-year-old actor says growing up around violence in Northern Ireland taught him that revenge ultimately didn't work.
So why is he revealing this now? Neeson gave the interview to promote his new film "Cold Pursuit" in which he plays a father bent on revenge after the death of his son.
ROMANS: Let's go check on CNN Business this Tuesday morning. Global stock markets are mostly higher. Futures are slightly higher
ahead of the president's State of the Union Address. The Dow gained 175 points Monday, the S&P 500 closed up slightly, the Nasdaq closed up 1.2 percent.
It was a tech rally really yesterday. Big tech stocks closed higher. Big gains if one day in tech. Apple now up four days in a row, building a base after the 39 percent crash last year.
All right. Residents of high tax cities are heading south to Florida after last year's tax law capped deductions. "The Wall Street Journal" reports new data suggests a jump in Florida home sales by buyers from high tax states like New York and New Jersey. According to analysis from real estate firm Zillow, home values in lower tax areas have been rising faster than in high tax states like Jersey and New York where limiting the ability to deduct high state and local taxes eroded some of the savings from the federal tax reductions.
Papa John's has a plan to turn itself around with new board members and a big check. Papa John's announced that the hedge fund Starboard Value is investing $200 million in the struggling pizza chain. Papa John's also named Jeffrey Smith as its new chairman.
The change could lift them out of a year long slump. Sales have fallen takes scrambles to clean up their public relations mess. Revenue at North American stores open at least a year fell 10.5 percent last month.
SANCHEZ: We're still in the air.
ROMANS: We are.
SANCHEZ: EARLY START continues right now.
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