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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Senate Appropriations Chairman Telling Reporters We Got An Agreement On All Of It; Border Barrier Deal Includes $1.4 Billion For 55 Miles; The President's Most Loyal Allies Slamming The Bipartisan Border Security Deal; The Main Author Of The Green New Deal Congresswoman Cortez Took Immediate Fire For The Deal; An Apology From Congresswoman Ilhan Omar Of Minnesota, The Freshman Democrat Facing Backlash For Tweets Condemned By Both Parties As Anti-Semitic; The Cleveland Browns Are Giving A Second Chance To Kareem Hunt. Aired 5- 5:30a ET
Aired February 12, 2019 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Polar bears, the ice caps are melting. Good morning and welcome to Early Start. I'm Christine Romans.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Dave Briggs. Tuesday, February 12th, 5:00 am in the East. Happy snow day to many of you parents across this region. We start though with the deal Congressional Negotiators say they now have. The outline for a border security deal that would avert a second shutdown.
The four lead bipartisan negotiators emerging from talks late last night. They declined to get into the details but Senate Appropriations Chairman, Richard Shelby, telling reporters, quote, "We got an agreement on all of it."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: Our staffs are going to be working feverishly to put all of the particulars together and that's all we can tell you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: A Democratic source telling CNN the deal includes about $1.4 billion for 55 miles of new barriers in the Rio Grande Valley, that's well short of the $5.7 billion President Trump was demanding for a border wall.
The deal also contains funding for nearly 41,000 beds ICE can use to detain undocumented migrants, short of the 52,000 the White House wanted, about the same though as current funding levels.
ROMANS: An irony in this deal is that the funding for a border barrier is only a little bit more than current funding, which is $1.3 billion. The original Senate bill, the bill that the president rejected was for more than this. It was for $1.6 billion. Remember later, the Vice President, he sought $2.5 billion, that was
on the table, Democrats rejected that and now we're back almost where we started with the deal for $1.375 billion.
The Ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, Patrick Leahy, said, this agreement is the product of compromise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. PARTIC LEAHY (D), VERMONT: There's not a single one of us is going to get every single thing we want, but nobody does. But we're going to get what is best for the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The deal still needs to, you know, be turned into legislation. It'll have to pass the House and the Senate, but the big wild card -- the wild card is whether President Trump will actually sign it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does the White House support this agreement?
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: We think so. We hope so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: President Trump kicking off his 2020 campaign to rally in Texas. Said he had been made aware of the border deal, but wasn't interested in the details.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, we probably have some good new, but who knows? Who knows? We'll -- we're setting the stage folks. You know what it's called, right? It's called, we're setting the stage, we're setting the table, we're doing whatever we have to do. The wall's being built.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: If the phrase, setting the table, sounds familiar in this context, well it should. The president used it two weeks ago, telling "The Times" he thought congressional negotiations were pointless. He telegraphed the likelihood he would declare a national emergency and try to use his executive authority to spend military dollars on a border wall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, set the table for emerging (ph) declaration (ph).
TRUMP: I've set the table, I've set the stage for doing what I'm going to do. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going wait out their 21 days before ...
TRUMP: Yes, I'm going to wait till the 15th. I think it's a waste of time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: CNN has learned the White Hose is mulling one other option, taking whatever lawmakers come up with and -- and using executive authority to build additional barriers. A White House official says they are keeping their options open.
ROMANS: The president's most loyal allies slamming the bipartisan border security deal. Sean Hannity already predicting Mr. Trump will reject it. The Fox News host has the president's ear, of course, and he railed against this deal last night, tossing in this blunt message for any Republican who backs it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: If you are a Republican Senator or a House member and you're too weak to take a stand, then it's probably time for you to retire, go home, let somebody who's willing to fight take you place. $1.3 billion? That's not a -- even a wall -- a barrier. I'm going to settle this tonight and we will get back into this tomorrow.
Any Republican that supports this garbage compromise, you will have to explain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Garbage compromise. More resistance coming from the Conservative House Freedom Caucus, Chairman Mark Meadows said it is, quote, "Hardly a serious attempt to secure the border." And Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio tweets, "While the president was giving a great speech in El Paso, Congress was putting together a bad deal on immigration."
BRIGGS: The president ignoring the facts and doubling down on his claim that a border wall lead to a decrease in crime in El Paso.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I've been hearing a lot of things, oh the wall didn't make that much of a difference. You know where it made a big difference? Right here in El Paso. I spoke to people that have been here a long time. They said when that wall went up it's a whole different ball game.
But,I don't care whether a mayor is a Republican or a Democrat, they're full of crap when they say it hasn't made a big difference. I heard the same thing from the fake news. They said, oh crime actually stayed the same. It didn't stay the same, it went way down.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRIGGS: No, it did not. From 1993 to 2006 crime in El Paso dropped 34 percent. Later, in 2008, construction started on a border fence, meantime from 2006 to 2011, violent crime in El Paso actually went up 17 percent. Don't believe us? These are FBI statistics.
[05:05:00]
City officials in El Paso, Republicans and Democrats appear fed up with the president's misrepresentations. They passed a resolution Monday saying they are disillusioned by President Trump's lies regarding the border and our community. They're offering to meet with Mr. Trump so he can become, quote, "Properly informed."
ROMANS: So, just a few hundred yards away from where the president was speaking in El Paso, possible Democratic challenger, Beto O'Rourke, had his own march and rally. He slammed the president's call for a border wall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETO O'ROURKE (D), U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Oh, this is inspiring. This is the border standing up for itself. This is El Paso telling our story. No one can tell it better than we can. Safe, strong, secure community, that's who we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: O'Rourke told supporters El Paso was a safe city not because of it's border wall but in spite of it. He says, treating each other with dignity and respect, that's the key to security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'ROURKE: We stand for America and we stand against walls. There is no bargain in which we can sacrifice some of our humanity to gain a little more security. We know that we deserve and will loose both of them if we do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: He says he is going to announce whether he is running for president by the end of February.
BRIGGS: Meanwhile, an apology from Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the freshman Democrat facing backlash for tweets condemned by both parties as Anti-Semitic. Omar suggesting U.S. support of Israel is fueled by political donations from a prominent pro-Israel group.
She apologized in a tweet saying, "My intention is never to offend my constituents or Jewish-Americans as a whole. We have to always be willing to step back and think through criticism, just as I expect people to hear me when others attack me for my identity. This is why I unequivocally apologize. At the same time, I reaffirm the problematic role of lobbyists in our politics, whether it be AIPAC, the NRA or the fossil fuel industry. It's gone on too long and we must be willing to address it.
ROMANS: All right, the deadline for the U.S. and China to reach a deal to end their trade war is quickly approaching, but the pain of tariffs so far has been mostly invisible to consumers. The consumer price index fell slightly in December.
The reason, well, the duty isn't passed on to consumers if importers or retailers decide to absorb some of the added cost, which many did heading into the holiday season. Business owners across the country are waiting to hear how trade talks between the U.S. and China go when they meet in Beijing this week.
At the same time the president's trade negotiators are traveling to China, the president is considering -- signed an executive order Monday making artificial intelligence a priority in this administration and last month the U.S. filed a criminal charges against Huawei for allegedly stealing trade secrets from U.S. based companies working to dodge U.S. sanctions on Iran.
So, a lot of moving parts in the U.S.-China trade relationship right now. The president has threatened to increase the 10 percent tariff he's places on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25 percent if they don't reach a deal this week. If talks go well, the tariffs might be lifted all together.
The White House strategically put the highest tariffs on imports mostly used in the production of other items, so there are places where it can be absorbed along the way.
The president's tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum imports, those began back in March, duties on Chinese goods began in July. China's retaliatory tariffs have really hurt U.S. farmers harder than consumers. Farm bankruptcies are at the highest level in at least a decade.
BRIGGS: In any guidance on whether you think they'll kick the can on those tariffs if we don't have a deal by March 1st, which will be remarkable if we have one.
ROMANS: It really would be. If they kick the can though, that's a real win for China, who has not ...
BRIGGS: Right.
ROMANS: ... has not really changed ...
BRIGGS: Gives them back leverage.
ROMANS: ... the core sort of structural issues the U.S. wants them to address.
BRIGGS: That would be fear over the markets collapsing presumably. Ahead, President Trump trading shots with new Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Butting heads over this green new deal, next.
ROMANS: Plus, why the government says tobacco us is spiking among teens.
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[05:10:00]
ROMANS: All right, President Trump's 2020 campaign kicked off last nigh in El Paso, Texas, featuring his signature stream of consciousness, ad libs, including a number of remarks that lit up the internet, of course. Among many other things, he attack a sweeping agenda rolled out last week by progressive Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Last week they introduced a massive government takeover that would destroy our incredible economic gains. The introduced the so- called Green New Deal.
(YELLING)
It sounds like a high school term paper that got a low mark.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The main author of the Green New Deal, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez immediately returned fire. Oh yes, a man who can't even read briefings written in full sentences is providing literary criticism of a House resolution.
The president also amusing about keeping a dog in the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: How would I look walking a dog on the White House lawn? Would that be ...
(CHEERING)
... right? Sort of not for -- I don't know, it doesn't -- I don't feel good. Feels a little phony -- phony to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: President Trump is the first president in 130 years without a dog in the White House.
BRIGGS: What were they cheering for?
ROMANS: I don't know. Why was he like this with his hand?
BRIGGS: That was quite a moment folks. All right, Democratic Senator and 2020 presidential hopeful, Kamala Harris, taking on internet memes. A question where she was born and raised in her and her racial identity.
[05:15:00]
Harris confronted her critics on the syndicated hip-hop call-in show "The Breakfast Club."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD, AMERICAN RADIO PRESENTER: Another meme says Kamala Harris is not African-American. Her parents were immigrants from India and Jamaica and she was raised in Canada, not the United States. And it said, fact, that's what the meme said.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D), CALIFORNIA: So, I was born in Oakland.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Yes.
HARRIS: And raised in the United States except for the years that I was in high school in Montreal, Canada. And look, this is the same thing they did to Barack.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Yes.
HARRIS: This is -- this is not new to us. And so, I think that we know what they're trying to do. They're trying to do what has been happening over the last two years, which is powerful voices trying to sew hate and division among us. And so, we need to recognize when we're being played.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Harris also responded to criticism on social medial for marrying a white man, saying simply, "I love my husband, he loves me." Sounds about right.
And this programming note, tonight on CNN, a special presidential town hall live from Houston. Former Starbucks CEO, Independent, Howard Schultz talks to Poppy Harlow about the 2020 election. That's tonight, 10:00 pm right here on CNN.
ROMANS: All right, Denver teachers and school officials return to the bargaining table this morning.
(YELLING)
Teachers walked off the job on Monday after talks broke down over the weekend. Instead of canceling classes the school system called in substitute teachers. That has raised some concerns about safety. So many teachers have walked off, 5,600 teachers in Denver's 160 schools, want higher pay to compete with salaries paid to suburban teachers.
BRIGGS: The vaping epidemic among teenagers has grown to the point that it has wiped out any progress on declining youth tobacco use in recent years. The CDC says the number of teen tobacco users has sky rocketed by 1.3 million, which it tied directly to the popularity of vaping.
The CDC specifically singled out e-cigarette giant JUUL as a contributing factor. It says, 2018 saw the biggest jump in teen tobacco use and surveys started 20 years ago. The CDC estimates more than one in four high school students use some form of tobacco at least once a month. And there is a lot more nicotine in those e- cigarettes than you probably thought possible.
ROMANS: Yes.
BRIGGS: It is an epidemic. That's the only word for it.
ROMANS: And look, health officials are saying, don't assume your kid hasn't tried it. You should assume your kid has tried it. Because it's ...
BRIGGS: You might not know it if they've done it in the house.
ROMANS: Yes. Can't smell it. It's real small. Looks like a USB. All right, a mass invasion of polar bears threatening a remote Russian town. The arctic community with a population of about 2,500 people is swarming with dozens of polar bears, invading schools and residential areas. Parents say they're afraid to send their kids to schools or even leave their homes.
Experts say, well, melting ice has forced the polar bears to migrate and hunt for food now on land. The World Wildlife Fund has set up patrols in the Russian community to prevent fatal encounters.
BRIGGS: Fifty-two polar bears spotted near the main population center. That is a ...
ROMANS: Wow.
BRIGGS: ...a terrifying beast. Beautiful, but deadly and dangerous. Ahead, he was cut by the Kansas City Chiefs after he was caught on video shoving and kicking a young woman. Well, Kareem Hunt is getting a second chance from his hometown team. Andy Scholes has the latest in the Bleacher Report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:20:00]
BRIGGS: Okay, the Cleveland Browns are giving disgraced running back, Kareem Hunt, a second chance. Andy Scholes has more in the Bleacher Report. Good morning my friend. I don't know if I'm stunned at this because of the off-the-field issues, but even the on-the-field issues, Andy, they already have a great young running back. Why take this P.R. hit?
(SPORTS)
[05:25:00]
ROMANS: All right, thanks Dave. A new deal? The framework of a new deal to prevent a government shutdown, the wild card, the president, is he on board? More on what's in it next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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