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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Negotiators Reach An Agreement In Principle To Avert Government Shutdown; President Trump Versus Beto O'Rourke At Dual Rallies; ISIS Launches Surprise Counterattack; Teen Vaping Epidemic Wipes Out Progress On Smoking; President Trump And Kanye West On MRE Packaging? Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 12, 2019 - 05:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:30:56] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R-AL), CHAIRMAN, SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: We have reached an agreement in principle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Lawmakers cut a deal to stave off another government shutdown, but will President Trump approve?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Walls save lives.

BETO O'ROURKE (D), FORMER TEXAS CONGRESSMAN: Walls do not save lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: The president's El Paso wall push countered by a potential 2020 challenger less than a mile away.

ROMANS: The government warning of a dangerous new trend. Vaping among kids is the new smoking.

BRIGGS: Plus, these military rations feeding more than troops. They're also feeding viral speculation that the guy on the left looks like the commander in chief. And ponder who the man on the right looks like.

The Internet certainly has their theories. We'll discuss in just a bit.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is --

BRIGGS: Good morning.

ROMANS: -- 31 minutes past the hour. Good morning, everyone. Let's begin with congressional negotiators who have, now, the outline of a border security deal that would avert a government shutdown. The four lead bipartisan negotiators emerging from talks last night. Now, they declined to get into details but Senate Appropriations chairman Richard Shelby told reporters, quote, "We got an agreement on all of it."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHELBY: 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)

ROMANS: A Democratic source tells CNN the deal includes this.

About $1.4 billion for 55 miles of new barriers in the Rio Grande Valley. That's -- well, that's a lot short of the $5.7 billion the president demanded for a border wall.

The deal also contains funding for nearly 41,000 beds ICE can use to detain undocumented migrants. Now, that's short of the 52,000 the White House wanted and it's the same as current funding levels.

BRIGGS: One major irony in this deal is that the funding for a border barrier is only slightly more than current funding, about $1.3 billion. The original Senate bill, which President Trump rejected, was for $1.6 billion.

Later, Vice President Pence sought $2.5 billion. Democrats rejected that. And, President Trump also said he would not approve of it. Now, we're back almost where we started with a deal for $1.375 billion.

A lot of numbers there, moving backwards, some might argue.

The ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, Patrick Leahy, said the agreement is the product of compromise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT), RANKING MEMBER, SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Not a single one of us is going get every single thing we want, but nobody does. But we are going to get what is best for the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The deal still needs to be turned into legislation that will have to pass the House and Senate, but the big wild card is whether President Trump will actually sign it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Does the White House support this agreement?

SHELBY: We think so. We hope so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: President Trump kicking off his 2020 campaign at a rally in Texas. He said he was aware of the border deal but wasn't interested in the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, we probably have some good news, 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)

ROMANS: If the phrase "setting the table" sounds familiar in this context it should. The president used it two weeks ago, telling "The New York 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)

REPORTER: So, setting the table for an emergency declaration?

TRUMP: I've set the table. I've set the stage for doing what I'm going to do.

REPORTER: And you will wait out for 21 days before you take any action?

TRUMP: Yes, I'm going to wait until the 15th. I think it's a waste of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: CNN has learned the White House mulling one other option -- taking whatever lawmakers come up with and using executive authority to build additional barriers. A White House official says we're keeping their options open.

BRIGGS: The president's most loyal allies are slamming the bipartisan border security deal.

Sean Hannity already predicting Mr. Trump will reject it. The Fox News host has the president's ear and he railed against the agreement last night, tossing in this blunt message for any Republican who backs it.

[05:35:10] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEAN HANNITY, HOST, FOX NEWS "THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW": If you are a Republican senator or 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 is willing to fight take your place.

One point three billion? That's not even a wall -- a barrier.

I'm going to tell 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)

BRIGGS: Garbage compromise.

More resistance to the deal coming from the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Chairman Mark Meadows says it is, quote, "hardly a serious attempt to secure the border."

And, Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio tweeting, "While the president was giving a great speech in El Paso, Congress was putting together a bad deal on immigration."

ROMANS: The president doubling down on his claim that a border wall led 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 ballgame. And 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)

ROMAN: No, it did not, as El Paso's Republican Mayor Dee Margo noted.

According to the FBI, from 1993 to 2006, crime in El Paso dropped 34 percent. In 2008, that's when construction started on a border fence. From 2006 to 2011, violent crime in El Paso went up 17 percent.

City officials in El Paso, Republicans and Democrats, are fed up with the president's misrepresentations. They passed a resolution on Monday saying they are "disillusioned by President Trump's lies regarding the border and our community." They are offering to meet with the president so he can become, quote, "properly informed."

BRIGGS: Just a few hundred yards away, possible Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke, at his own march and rally, slamming the president's call for a wall.

(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 lose both of them if we do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. Joining us from Toronto this morning, political economist Greg Valliere, chief strategist at Horizon Investments. Good morning, Greg. So nice to see you --

BRIGGS: Good morning.

ROMANS: -- this morning.

Let's talk a little bit about the president and this deal. I'm looking at $1.375 billion is the compromise. That's a lot less than the $2.5 billion that Mike Pence was talking with Democrats about a few months ago and it's a lot less than the $5.7 billion the president said was the number that he was going to have to have.

And a reminder here, Mexico's not paying for it. This is the American taxpayer borrowing money to pay for whatever it is that they're going to spend down there.

Is the president going to sign it?

GREG VALLIERE, CHIEF U.S. POLICY STRATEGIST, AGF INVESTMENTS: I don't think so. I think that this is so puny. I mean, Christine, we had three weeks of negotiations and that's all they could come up with is $1.3 billion.

I think it's an insult to Trump. I think he's probably going to be intimidated further by the right wing. As you pointed out, we've heard from Hannity and others. I'm sure Ann Coulter is cooking up something juicy to talk about today.

So, no. I think the pressure from the right wing will force Trump to reject this deal.

BRIGGS: Yes, we are awaiting an Ann Coulter tweet. That is 2019.

VALLIERE: Yes.

BRIGGS: There is something about "Art of the Deal" here. He once said in "Art of the Deal" "I always go into the deal anticipating the worst. If you plan for the worst, you can live with the worst."

So maybe he will go with that. Maybe he will get credit for compromise. We shall see.

Immigration will clearly, though, Greg, be an issue in 2020. So will abortion. So, too, will climate change. VALLIERE: Yes.

BRIGGS: And the president talked about his Green New Deal last night in El Paso -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Last week, they introduced a massive government takeover that would destroy our incredible economic gains. They introduced the so- called Green New Deal.

(BOOING)

TRUMP: It sounds like a high school term paper that got a low mark.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The author of the resolution, the Green New Deal, AOC -- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez -- tweeted out, "Yes. A man who can't even read briefings written in full sentences providing literary criticism of a House resolution.

[05:40:03] Let me ask you. Going forward --

VALLIERE: Yes.

BRIGGS: -- as we approach 2020, most of the high-profile candidates on the left have signed on to this resolution. Could it come back to haunt them?

VALLIERE: It could. I mean, Trump is really good at lining up foils. If he has a foil he usually hits them hard. And I think that when you look at these plans no one really can figure out how to pay for them. There's an enormous new role for government.

So, to me, Dave, this splits the party between the activists, maybe leaning socialists --

ROMANS: Right.

VALLIERE: -- and people like Bloomberg, Biden, Hickenlooper. I mean, there are a lot of moderates in the party who don't like this.

ROMANS: The president has called it a massive government takeover if you look at what the Green New Deal is.

VALLIERE: Yes.

ROMANS: And there's so much energy and attention to it, in part because young people are very interested in these kinds of ideas. The AOC-type --

BRIGGS: Sure.

ROMANS: -- style ideas -- the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. But they're the least -- the least likely group to vote, you know.

BRIGGS: Right.

ROMANS: So you wonder what kind of --

VALLIERE: Yes.

ROMANS: -- what this rift could do for the 2020 candidates.

VALLIERE: Yes. You know, starting with the State of the Union address a week or so ago, he is now campaigning. His reelection campaign is underway and it's clear that he is going to hit hard against higher taxes, socialism. And with a lot of his base, that's going to resonate.

BRIGGS: It is quite an interesting field, even just optically. When you look at the cover "The New York Times" and you've got four --

VALLIERE: Yes.

BRIGGS: -- women running for president it is historic.

VALLIERE: Yes.

BRIGGS: Who, though, best, do you think, fits what we learned from the midterms because AOC gets all the attention -- yes, great -- but the Democrats took --

VALLIERE: Yes.

BRIGGS: -- the House not because of the far left, because of moderate Democratic women.

So, does Amy Klobuchar have a lane? After all "The Wall Street Journal" editorial board --

VALLIERE: Yes.

BRIGGS: -- says her strongest argument is she's best able to beat Mr. Trump.

VALLIERE: So, who can unify the two wings -- the left and the moderate wings? I think she is on the short list. Maybe Sherrod Brown of Ohio, maybe Kamala Harris.

But I think there's got to be someone who can bridge these two wings because if the party continues to veer so sharply in either direction, Trump has a chance to win reelection.

ROMANS: So, Greg, you think there's a chance the president doesn't sign this budget deal negotiated?

VALLIERE: Yes.

ROMANS: What about a trade deal with China? I mean, we've got -- Lighthizer and Mnuchin -- VALLIERE: Yes.

ROMANS: -- are headed to Beijing right now.

VALLIERE: Well, just quickly, I think Trump goes to plan B on the wall. Maybe we get another two-week extension. But there is a plan B that you mentioned whereby he finds some money and declares victory.

But on China, fearless forecast. I think that there's a summit at Mar-a-Lago at some point in the spring-early summer with Xi and Trump -- you know, made-for-T.V. special, high drama -- and they sign an agreement in principle.

ROMANS: All right, you're on the record. A fearless forecast from Greg Valliere, chief U.S. strategist --

VALLIERE: OK.

ROMANS: -- at AGF, a Toronto-based investment firm. New firm there.

Nice to see you, though.

BRIGGS: You've got that right.

ROMANS: Same old Greg. Thanks, Greg.

VALLIERE: Good to see you, yes.

BRIGGS: All right, thank you, sir.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:47:20] BRIGGS: ISIS making its last stand with a surprise counterattack against the U.S. Despite being cornered and outnumbered, the terror group is proving they remain dangerous.

CNN -- extraordinary -- has Ben Wedeman live on the front lines. He witnessed this counterstrike. Ben, great to have you there. What's the latest?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest is that counterstrike by ISIS -- counterattack by ISIS has been driven back, we understand, after losing at least a dozen of their positions that they had gained in the initial hours of the offensive to retake the town of Baghouz Al-Fawqani.

The soldiers of the Syrian Democratic Forces were able to not only regain lost ground but push further, about 300 yards into the town, which is really not very large. It's about the size of Central Park.

Now, there's talk that there will be a renewed major push within the next day or two to try to actually bring this battle to a close, but what is complicating the effort to make progress in taking this town is the presence of civilians. In the last week, we've been hearing time and time again from officials with the Syrian Democratic Forces saying they thought there were around 1,500 civilians inside.

Yesterday, as we were returning from the front, we saw 21 trucks with, according to one official there, 700 people on board. As a result, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces told me they realized they had severely underestimated the number of civilians inside. He said there are thousands.

They don't know how many, but they're living under the most dire of conditions. In addition to being under bombardment, they're also running low on food, some people have to get by on animal feed -- Dave.

BRIGGS: Just brutal. Ben Wedeman, stay safe. Thank you.

ROMANS: Denver teachers and school officials return to the bargaining table this morning. Teachers walked off the job on Monday after talks broke down over the weekend.

Instead of canceling classes, the school system called in subs. That's raising some concerns about safety.

Some 5,600 teachers in Denver's 160 schools are demanding 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 skyrocketed by 1.3 million, which it tied directly to the popularity of vaping.

[05:50:00] The CDC specifically singled out e-cigarette giant Juul as a contributing factor. It says 2018 saw the biggest jump in teen tobacco use since 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.

ROMANS: All right. Let's get a check on "CNN Business" this morning.

Global stock markets higher. U.S.-China trade talks continue and a tentative deal has been reached to avoid another government shutdown. Will the president sign it? That's the big wild card here.

On Wall Street, you can see -- well, you can see stocks around the world are higher and futures on Wall Street also moving higher here this morning. It looks like it could be a little bounce if this holds for the opening bell.

Yesterday -- I would call this an almost directionless day. The Dow down 54 points, erasing a small gain it made after the opening bell. It was the fourth-straight day the average fell. The S&P 500 flat; the Nasdaq up just a little tiny bit.

All right. Starbucks is doing well since Howard Schultz stepped down as CEO. Shares of Starbucks hit an all-time high Monday. They're up more than 20 percent since his departure. Under new CEO Kevin Johnson, Starbucks has expanded in China, it has boosted its mobile offerings. Even as China's economy slows down in the wake of trade tensions with the U.S., it's doing well in China.

Starbucks said at the end of its last fiscal year, 14 percent of its U.S. transactions were done via mobile. To put that into context, rival Dunkin' announced that mobile orders made up just three percent of its transactions.

Are you a Toys R Us kid, Dave Briggs?

BRIGGS: Forever, my friend.

ROMANS: Well, it went into bankruptcy, right? Could it make a comeback?

It has new owners, Tru Kids Brands, and they want it to come back. Resurrection plans for Toys R Us emerging last month after the last of its stores in the U.S. closed last spring. It kept 900 stores open in Europe, Asia, and India.

There are plans for the brand to come back to the U.S. with physical stores and online sales, but it's not clear when a relaunch would happen.

Tru Kids Brands new CEO told CNN, "We're working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to bring it to life. At this point, we're not ready to commit to what that might look like."

I mean, the most --

BRIGGS: I'm reading that the stores could be smaller, though -- significantly.

ROMANS: The most valuable thing about this is the brand.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: I mean, that Toys R Us kid jingle, Geoffrey the Giraffe. You know, this is something that a lot of people --

BRIGGS: We all know it.

ROMANS: -- know -- a whole generation of people know.

It was saddled with way too much debt and now what can they do maybe to resurrect?

BRIGGS: Three billion in sales in 2018 alone.

ROMANS: Yes.

BRIGGS: All right. Up next, something we very rarely see -- snow -- that's not Montana, that's in Hawaii.

ROMANS: And the invasion of the polar bears. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:57:05] ROMANS: Wow, a historic winter storm pounding Hawaii. Massive waves, dangerous gale-force winds. At least one death blamed on the storm. A 191-mile-an-hour wind gust recorded on Hawaii's Big Island.

And here's something you almost never see. Look at that. This is Maui. Snow on Maui.

BRIGGS: Meantime, Seattle still reeling from what seems to be never- ending snow and bitter cold. Schools across Washington State were closed Monday. The Seattle metro area has already experienced three snowstorms this month.

According to the National Weather Service, Sea-Tac Airport has had more than 14 inches of snow in February, more than twice the annual average.

ROMANS: All right. An invasion of polar bears is threatening a remote Russian town. The arctic community with a population of about 2,500 people is now swarming with dozens of polar bears invading schools and residential areas. Parents say they are afraid to send their kids to school or even to leave their homes.

Experts say melting ice has forced the polar bears to migrate and hunt for food on land.

BRIGGS: That's some scary stuff.

All right. Take a look at the packaging on ready-to-eat meals being fed to the U.S. military. Well, the design features two soldiers sitting face-to-face. The man on the left bears a striking resemblance to the commander in chief. The man on the right --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KANYE WEST, RAPPER: Singing "Power".

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The man on the right, some believe looks like that man, Kanye West. West has been an outspoken supporter of the president. Take a look again. You tell us.

An Army officer named D.J. Kremer posted a picture of brisket in a bag on his Facebook barbecue page and everyone noticed the likeness.

Here's the Army's statement. "The specific image used on packaging of Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs) is representational of America's warfighters and has been in use since 2006. The persons pictured do not represent any government officials or entertainment personalities."

ROMANS: The fact that they had to actually release a press statement because so many people were talking about it. All right, thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: Let us know @EarlyStart on Twitter.

I'm Dave Briggs. Here's "NEW DAY".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were able to work together to come to an agreement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would assume that he would take the deal. It won't be enough. He has to go find the money in other ways.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very few conservative Republicans will be voting for this.

TRUMP: Walls save tremendous numbers of lives.

O'ROURKE: We know that walls do not save lives. Walls end lives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beto is getting ready to announce his decision, but there are a lot of signs that he's leaning toward it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Tuesday, February 12th, 6:00 here in New York.

And breaking overnight, there is a deal -- a deal to prevent another government shutdown, a deal to fund new fencing on the border.

END