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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
16 States File Lawsuit To Stop President Trump's National Emergency Declaration; Pragmatic Klobuchar Makes Pitch For Democratic Nomination; President Trump Vows New Day For Venezuela; Study: Screen Time For Kids Under Two Is Soaring; West Virginia Teachers To Strike Again. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired February 19, 2019 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:31:17] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Sixteen states sue to stop the president's national emergency declaration from coast to coast. Presidents' Day protests against this president's border move.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The actual legislation you do, we know there's going to be comprises. I am not for free 4-year college for all, no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, Sen. Amy Klobuchar willing to say no. It may anger some progressives but can it win over centrist Democrats?
ROMANS: Screen time for infants has more than doubled, but what device they're watching may surprise you.
SANCHEZ: And just one year after walking off the job, West Virginia teachers will hit the picket lines again. But the union says it had no other choice.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Boris Sanchez in for Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: Nice to see you today. I'm Christine Romans. It's 31 minutes past the hour.
Let's begin with this escalating challenge to the president's national emergency declaration. Protesters took to the streets coast-to-coast Monday rallying against the plan to use billions from federal programs, mostly Defense, to build a border wall. And last night, 16 states filed a lawsuit seeing to block the emergency declaration.
SANCHEZ: Now, they were led by California Attorney General Xavier Beccera. The states argue the president is using the pretext of a manufactured crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) XAVIER BECERRA, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, it's pretty clear that the president is trying to usurp Congress's authority. The president does not have the power of the purse.
The president can't decide to shuffle money around once Congress has allocated it. That's only for Congress to do. Otherwise, presidents, for the last 240 years, would have been doing the same thing when they don't like where Congress puts the money.
Simply because Donald Trump fabricated a crisis and called it a national emergency doesn't mean that he can violate the separation of powers under the Constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The suit specifically addresses this remark by the president on Friday where he all but admitted that the situation at the border is not exactly an emergency -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On the wall, they skimped. So I did -- I was successful in that sense, but I want to do it faster. I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn't need to do this, but I'd rather do it much faster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Now, Stephen Miller, a top adviser to the president, actually says that what the president meant to say was that he could ignore the crisis at the border but he's not going to.
Nevertheless, this is the latest in a wave of expected litigation, but fighting it in court will likely be difficult and time-consuming. The president does have broad discretion over what constitutes a national emergency.
ROMANS: Challenge is also expected from Capitol Hill. A resolution of disapproval to block the emergency declaration is expected in the House and could even pass the Senate. If the resolution passes, the president is expected to veto it.
There's also still no word from the Pentagon what military funding sources will be diverted to build that wall.
SANCHEZ: Here to discuss the national emergency declaration and more, Princeton University historian and professor Julian Zelizer. He's a CNN political analyst and the co-author of this book, "Fault Lines: A History of the U.S. since 1974".
Julian, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, CO-AUTHOR, "FAULT LINES: A HISTORY OF THE U.S. SINCE 1974": Good morning. SANCHEZ: We have to ask about this declaration. Obviously, there are going to be challenges, both in court and in Congress, but the president has broad discretion here.
So do either of these moves really stand a chance of challenging the president on this declaration?
ZELIZER: I think it's going to be difficult. The courts are often reluctant to challenge or stop the president when they invoke national emergency powers and on national security. So even though many people -- most people agree there's not a crisis at the border, he might still survive this challenge in court.
And remember, he can veto a resolution from Congress.
ROMANS: Right.
ZELIZER: So you're going to need a lot of Senate Republicans talking about what -- why this is wrong and so far, we haven't really seen that.
[05:35:00] ROMANS: Let's talk about the 2020 field. Last night on CNN, Amy Klobuchar --
ZELIZER: Yes.
ROMANS: -- with Don Lemon really staking out her claim as the pragmatist -- the realist in this party that's -- a lot of the headlines have been about the -- you know, the left wing of the party. Let's listen to a little bit of what she said last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, ANCHOR, "CNN TONIGHT WITH DON LEMON": What's your reservation about supporting Medicare for All?
KLOBUCHAR: Well, I think it's something that we can look to for the future, but I want to get action now. And I think the best way we do that is something that we actually wanted to do back when we were looking at the Affordable Care Act and we were stopped -- was trying to get a public option in there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you were asked about the Green New Deal you were quoted as saying that it is an aspiration.
KLOBUCHAR: The actual legislation you do, we know there's going to be compromises. It's not going to be exactly like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you be willing to stand with my generation and end the student debt crisis by supporting free college for all?
KLOBUCHAR: My idea is to make it easier to refinance. To start with your two-year degrees -- the community colleges being free. I am not for free four-year college for all, no. If I was a magic genie and could give that to everyone and we could afford it, I would. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: She's staking her claim right in the middle.
ZELIZER: She is and there is appeal to that, especially now in an era where the Republicans seem so radical and the dysfunction so severe.
Her goals are the same as many of the other Democrats. She's not against climate change policy and education policy, but she's trying to say I'm a legislator. I can make this happen and I will be realistic in my goals.
It's tough. You don't want to be like Michael Dukakis in 1988 --
ROMANS: Right.
ZELIZER: -- where that falls flat. But I think this is a special year.
ROMANS: Well, especially when the Republicans and the right is trying to paint so much of the energy in the party right now as socialists --
SANCHEZ: Right.
ROMANS: -- you know? She can claim right in the middle.
ZELIZER: Yes. I mean, they will do that whoever the nominee is.
ROMANS: Yes.
ZELIZER: They will do it to her.
ROMANS: Right.
ZELIZER: And so they -- the Democrat has to adjust their policies and ideas based on what they want and what they think the party wants. Regardless of what's out there, they will be called socialists.
SANCHEZ: And we're seeing a lot of these 2020 contenders sort of race to be Bernie Sanders with big ideas about --
ZELIZER: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- how to reshape the country.
One of them is Elizabeth Warren. Listen now to her position she's making about childcare.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The costs of childcare are just crushing families. Families are just buckling under the weight of it. It holds people back. They decide that they can't work because they're worried about the cost of childcare.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: She's been saying this for years, by the way.
ZELIZER: Right.
SANCHEZ: So this universal childcare plan is partly going to be paid with her wealth tax plan.
Ultimately, how big of a role is this going to play in her campaign? Do you think she's going to try to consolidate some of the ideas that others on the left has or do you think she's going to try to limit herself a little more like Klobuchar did?
ZELIZER: Well, I do think you're going to see more ideas from Warren. She's an idea candidate. But I think this could be an appealing idea.
Childcare is something very concrete to American families who are spending over $7,000 a year for their kids in this age bracket. And this is a little like Social Security or Medicare -- big idea. There will be a cost but it's something that every person, red state-blue state, can understand what it would mean to them.
ROMANS: She has been consistent on this for years --
ZELIZER: Yes.
ROMANS: -- and she has talked about sort of this two-income problem in America.
ZELIZER: Right.
ROMANS: For years, she has that there -- and, you know, there are those who look at the labor force participation, right. How many people are not in the labor force because they can't afford to work.
ZELIZER: It's a massive problem and it touches all parts of the family. And here's a contrast.
ROMANS: Republican and Democrat.
ZELIZER: President Trump is building a wall and using his power to do that, and she's going to draw a contrast and say I will use my power to help solve this health care -- childcare --
ROMANS: Right.
ZELIZER: -- crisis that we all face. So I think this could be, actually, a very winnable issue.
SANCHEZ: We'll see how it all plays out.
Julian Zelizer, thank you so much --
ROMANS: Nice to see you, Julian
ZELIZER: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: -- for having some coffee and getting up early. We appreciate it.
ROMANS: All right.
CNN has learned that Deputy Attorney Gen. Rod Rosenstein is set to leave the Justice Department mid-March. We had previously reported that Rosenstein planned to step down after the Senate confirmed Bill Barr as Attorney General.
A Justice official confirmed this more precise timing but said it has nothing to do with the latest revelations from Andrew McCabe.
SANCHEZ: Yes, the former acting FBI director claiming that Rosenstein suggested wearing a wire to secretly record President Trump and then talked about a strategy to oust the president using the 25th Amendment.
Yesterday, the president made his feelings known about Rosenstein and McCabe, writing that they were quote "planning a very illegal act" and what he called an "illegal and treasonous insurance policy."
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, meantime, says his panel will investigate McCabe's comments related to the 25th Amendment.
ROMANS: Roger Stone, who says never apologize, formally apologizing to the judge overseeing his criminal case. A photo posted and then deleted from Stone's Instagram account showed Judge Amy Berman Jackson next to crosshairs mimicking the scope of a rifle. The same photo was later posted without the crosshairs, and then the photo was deleted altogether.
[05:40:02] Stone tells CNN a volunteer who works on his social media made that post. The post not likely to sit well with Jackson, who last week imposed a partial gag order in Stone's case.
SANCHEZ: A White House source tells CNN the president sees former Michigan Senate candidate John James as a leading contender for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The Republican Iraq war vet lost to Sen. Debbie Stabenow in November.
The source says Trump sees James as a rising star and asked trusted advisers what they thought about James.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert withdrew from consideration for the U.N. job last week over a tax issue with a nanny whose visa did not allow her to work in the United States.
ROMANS: And new overnight, crews rush to rescue 16 people trapped in a gondola ride at SeaWorld in San Diego. Harnesses and lifeguard boats were brought in to pull the passengers to safety. Emergency officials say an infant was among those on board, along with a partially paralyzed passenger.
Officials say the attraction, Bayside Skyride, stopped running over Mission Bay after a big gust of wind tripped a circuit breaker -- scary.
SANCHEZ: Yes, you get nauseous just watching them dangling over that end.
ROMANS: All right. Not racist, not homophobic. Two brothers speak out after being cleared in the alleged Jussie Smollett attack. But when will the actor speak to police again?
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[05:45:28] SANCHEZ: President Trump putting more pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The twilight hour of socialism has arrived in our hemisphere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: At a speech in Miami, Mr. Trump expressed strong support for Venezuela's self-proclaimed President Juan Guaido and urged that country's military leaders to do the same. President Trump's remarks drew sharp criticism from Maduro, who is blocking humanitarian aid from reaching his own citizens.
More now from Isa Soares in Caracas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Boris, President Trump added yet more pressure on Nicolas Maduro and his men in a bid, really, to try and asphyxiate the regime and embolden that of Juan Guaido, the self-declared interim leader of Venezuela.
Speaking in Florida, President Trump, in many ways, was giving a message to the Armed Forces that are still blocking the aid -- still standing aside of Nicolas Maduro and blocking the aid from coming into Venezuela. He told the Armed Forces -- he's telling the Armed Forces that if you stand next to Nicolas Maduro you will lose everything.
Take a listen.
TRUMP: You cannot hide from the choice that now confronts you. You can choose to accept President Guaido's generous offer of amnesty or you can choose the second path, continuing to support Maduro. If you choose this path you will find no safe harbor, no easy exit, and no way out.
SOARES: Well, Venezuelans on both sides of the border who have no doubt been hanging onto every word of President Trump's speech, especially when he said yet again that nothing is off the table. He also said they'll be no going back and to many people that will mean that the United States is in for the haul -- long haul -- standing next to Venezuela.
We have also heard from Nicolas Maduro in a very fiery speech today in which he said that he's not intimidated by the comments made by President Trump. And he said they are ready for whatever comes at us with the force of the Venezuelan Armed Forces -- Christine and Boris. (END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Isa, thank you for that.
There is a deepening crisis in Haiti. Five Americans on the island were arrested in the middle of violent anti-government protests. The identities of the Americans in custody were not immediately available but according to the chief of Haiti's National Police, they were in possession of automatic weapons, pistols, satellite phones, and drones.
Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, has been rocked by deadly protests with demonstrators demanding Haiti's president resign in the face of soaring inflation and allegations of corruption.
ROMANS: All right.
Global stock markets mixed, leaning lower. Trade talks this week center stage. You can see global markets there -- Asian markets have closed. London has a few more hours of trading.
Wall Street reopens today after being closed for Presidents' Day and they've turned down a little bit here. But I would call that, honestly, directionless. You're not even talking about a tenth of a percent move for the Dow futures.
Look, we've got a big Walmart earnings report this morning in just a few hours, and that retail giant is a barometer of consumer spending because it is so big and it really has the pulse of the paycheck-to- paycheck consumer.
December retail sales surprisingly fell 1.2 percent. That was the biggest drop since 2009. Now, that decline rattled investors and raised concerns that there are cracks emerging in an otherwise strong U.S. economy.
Netflix has canceled the only two Marvel television shows it has left, effectively ending its relationship with the Disney Company.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRYSTEN RITTER, ACTRESS, NETFLIX "JESSICA JONES": Some people call me a hero.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Netflix said the upcoming third season of "JESSICA JONES" will be the show's last. Netflix also announced "THE PUNISHER" will not return for a third season.
So, could the superhero series end up on Disney Plus? Disney has not officially said which series will be added to its streaming service but the chairman of Disney's Direct-To-Consumer division called them high-quality shows that could possibly be revived on Disney Plus.
SANCHEZ: Chicago police say two brothers who were arrested in connection with an alleged attack on "EMPIRE" star Jussie Smollett are no longer suspects. Abel and Ola Osundairo were released Friday after new evidence emerged.
In a joint statement to WBBM the brothers said, quote, "We are not racists, we are not homophobic, and we are not anti-Trump. We were born and raised in Chicago and are American citizens."
ROMANS: Jussie Smollett claims he was attacked last month by two men yelling racial and homophobic slurs. He said this to ABC News.
[05:50:06] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSSIE SMOLLETT, ACTOR: Who the (bleep) could make something like this up or add something to it or whatever it may be? I can't -- I can't even -- I'm an advocate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The sources say police believe the actor paid the brothers to orchestrate an assault. Smollett denies playing any role. Police now want to re-question him.
SANCHEZ: Still plenty more news ahead. We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: Screen time for kids under two is soaring according to a new study. Between 1997 and 2014, daily screen time for children under the age of two more than doubled from one hour, 19 minutes to three hours and three minutes.
[05:55:08] Surprisingly, most of it was spent in front of a T.V. despite all those other devices being available.
ROMANS: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends zero screen time for children under 18 months and limiting kids between two and five years old to just one hour a day of high-quality programming.
Excessive screen time early in life has been associated with cognitive, language, social, and emotional delays, likely because screen time decreases the time kids spent interacting with parents. Some doctors say electronic readers and learning devices should not be in the same category, though, as other screens.
SANCHEZ: Public schools across West Virginia are closed today. Teachers and school workers are walking off the job just one year after their last strike. Union officials say they had no other choice.
The strike is prompted by an education bill that diverts money from public schools and invests in private school vouchers and the state's first charter schools.
Last year's work stoppage lasted nine school days and resulted in almost daily rallies at the State Capitol in Charleston. It also sparked teachers' strikes and walkouts nationwide. And you can still feel some of the ramifications. Oakland teachers
are set to strike on Thursday.
ROMANS: Iowa's governor will not appeal a court ruling that struck down the state's fetal heartbeat law. It would have banned most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. That's as early as six weeks and many women don't even know they're pregnant at that point.
But last month, a state judge declared the ban unconstitutional before it even took effect. Governor Kim Reynolds said last night she won't fight the ruling. She cited last year's Iowa Supreme Court decision that there is a fundamental right to an abortion under the State Constitution.
SANCHEZ: Caught on video in Louisiana, good Samaritans rescuing a woman from a burning car. Look at this. It happened on Airline Highway in St. John the Baptist Parish. The woman's car was hit by a drunk driver.
The victim was transported to a local hospital. Though she's being dragged there by these good Samaritans, she is expected to be OK.
The other driver is 22-year-old Richard Preston. He will face drunk driving charges.
ROMANS: And then this, also caught on video. Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma rescuing two young children from a suspected carjacker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POLICE OFFICER 1: Hey, put your hands out.
POLICE OFFICER 2: Hands up.
POLICE OFFICER 3: Hands up. Hands up. Hands up. Get out of the car.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: This police video from last month shows officers pulling the suspect, Jarrod Gilliam, from a stolen car. Authorities say he took the car with two children inside while their mother was in the store.
The kids were not hurt. You can see one child there. They were returned to their mom.
SANCHEZ: A Texas teacher getting very creative with a student who was being teased. Shannon Grimm noticed 5-year-old Priscilla Perez began wearing a hat to class to hide her hair.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRISCILLA PEREZ, 5-YEAR OLD STUDENT, MEADOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, WILLIS, TEXAS: It was short -- like here, and then my mom cut it.
SHANNON GRIMM, KINDERGARTEN TEACHER, MEADOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, WILLIS, TEXAS: About that time that friends started to call her boy -- call her a boy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So, the kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Grimm, decided to chop off her own hair -- waist-length hair -- in favor of a pixie cut just like Priscilla's.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRIMM: I am going to do other things for my friends in my classroom other than just teach them. I'm going to show them the love and the support that they need in order to learn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: At a school board meeting, Priscilla presented Mrs. Grimm with a medal for being her hero during a difficult time.
SANCHEZ: I love their matching bows.
ROMANS: I do, too.
SANCHEZ: Plus, this. A very close call for hockey commentator Pierre McGuire at last night's game between Columbus and Tampa Bay. He was preparing for his "Inside the Glass" segment when a puck whizzed by, narrowly missing his face by inches.
No damage done to McGuire. The camera, though, not quite so fortunate.
ROMANS: Oh, this image. The sailor in this iconic V-J Day photo has died. George Mendonsa was the exuberant young sailor kissing a woman in New York's Times Square on August 14, 1945. The famous photo dubbed "The Kiss" came to symbolize the end of World War II.
George Mendonsa was 95 when he passed away Sunday in Rhode Island. Part of him, of course, will live on forever, captured at the age of 22 at the end of the war in Times Square.
SANCHEZ: He was only two days away from being 96 years old.
ROMANS: Oh.
SANCHEZ: It's sad to see him go but, again, an image that will last.
ROMANS: We thank his family for his service for us.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
ROMANS: All right, thanks for joining us, everybody. I'm Christine Romans.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez in for Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BECERRA: The president is trying to usurp Congress's authority. I think every state should be worried.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to see the state to get knocked out quickly. It's a pretty pathetic case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a fundamental constitutional crisis and we have to fight back.
KLOBUCHAR: What we need right now is less gridlock and much more of moving our country forward.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She radiated practicality. She's saying in my brand it is going to be the commonsensical candidate.
WARREN: Invest in our babies. That's an investment that will pay off for generations to come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
END
