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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

U.S. Troops Were Injured In Iran Missile Attack; President Trump's Impeachment Trial Begins; Evelyn Yang Reveals Sexual Assault By Her OB-GYN. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired January 17, 2020 - 05:30   ET

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


[05:30:00]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Presidential candidate Andrew Yang's wife Evelyn shares her story of sexual assault.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Major League Baseball says it found no evidence that players used wearable devices to steal signs in the cheating scandal.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is 30 minutes past the hour this morning -- this Friday morning.

Breaking overnight, these new revelations that several U.S. troops were injured in Iran's missile attack last week on American bases in Iraq. Now that's despite assurances from the Pentagon, at the time, that there were no casualties, no one seriously hurt, no one killed. The initial report of zero casualties was crucial in President Trump's decision not to retaliate following Iran's attack.

Asked about the discrepancy, a defense official told CNN it, quote, "...was the commander's assessment at the time. Symptoms emerged days after the fact and they were treated out of an abundance of caution."

More now from national security reporter Ryan Browne in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYANE BROWN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and Laura.

The U.S. military revealing that 11 U.S. military personnel were injured during that Iranian missile attack on Al-Asad air base in western Iraq.

This previously -- the Pentagon had previously said that there were no U.S. causalities but reports of concussions -- potential traumatic brain injury has been suffered by 11 U.S. service personnel, including some who have had to be sent out of the country -- out of Iraq for more enhanced treatment. Eight were sent to Landstuhl base in Germany; the remainder sent to a base in Kuwait so they could get more sophisticated care. But this comes amid continuing questions about the missile attack -- the strike against Gen. Soleimani, the Iranian general, which led to that retaliatory missile attack -- questions about how transparent the U.S. is being. The U.S. military not initially disclosing these casualties and as the reports came in still continuing to not disclose those facts. It wasn't until it broke in the press that the U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. troops in the region, finally did issue a statement.

Now, concussions are hard to detect. Sometimes they're detected days after an attack -- after an explosion. Forces hiding in the bunkers for safety likely could have suffered that kind of injury. It may have taken a few days. But there was no official correction of the record despite the Pentagon initially saying that there were no casualties until the story broke in the press.

And again, continued questions about how transparent the Trump administration and the Pentagon are being given these major international security issues involving Iraq, Iran, and U.S. troops deployed overseas.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: Ryan Browne, thanks so much for that report.

After all the anticipation and all the buildup, it's finally here. The third impeachment trial of a president in U.S. history has now officially begun. With pomp and ceremony, the House transmitted and read out the articles of impeachment against President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES: -- and raise their right hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: The chief justice of the United States and members of the Senate all sworn in and now, the battle begins.

Congressional correspondent Phil Mattingly has more for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine and Laura, this is now the Senate's job -- the idea of whether or not to vote to remove the President of the United States.

It started on Thursday with the procession of the seven House Democratic impeachment managers walking over those two articles of impeachment and what followed was something that, at least at it pertains to the United States president, has only been seen two times prior on the United States Senate floor.

Take a watch.

MICHAEL STENGER, U.S. SERGEANT AT ARMS: Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye. All persons are commanded to keep silent, on pain of imprisonment, while the House of Representatives is exhibiting to the Senate of the United States articles of impeachment against Donald John Trump, President of the United States.

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA): The managers, on the part of the House, will now proceed.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. With the permission of the Senate, I will now read the articles of impeachment. President Trump used the powers of the presidency in a manner that compromised the national security of the United States and undermined the integrity of the United States democratic process.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): The presiding officer will now administer the oath to John G. Roberts, chief justice of the United States.

ROBERTS: I am now prepared to take the oath.

GRASSLEY: Will you place your left hand on the bible and raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump, President of the United States, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the laws, so help you God?

ROBERTS: I do.

GRASSLEY: God bless you.

ROBERTS: Will all senators now stand or remain standing and raise their right hand. Do you solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump, President of the United States, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the laws, so help you God?

[05:35:06]

U.S. SENATORS: We do.

MATTINGLY: Now guys, let me quickly kind of lay out what's going to happen next. You're not going to see the senators on the Senate floor for the trial again until Tuesday at 1:00 p.m., but in the meantime, stuff will be happening behind the scenes.

The president has now officially been summoned for that trial. The response from the White House defense team will come this weekend. Also, both the House managers and the White House defense team will have to file briefs and responses to those briefs over the course of the next several days.

And when senators return on Tuesday, they will be debating and voting on the initial rules and structure of the trial. The expectation at this point in time is it will essentially be presentations from both sides, each lasting 24 hours over the course of a couple of days, and then questions from senators for the course of 16 hours.

Now that is a resolution that's been drafted or is still being drafted by Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Democrats have made clear they are unhappy with that, would like to vote against it, and likely will offer amendments to it in the initial stage of the process, so there should be votes. It could get interesting early.

But the big question that's still outstanding for everybody is will there be enough votes at some point in the trial, likely after the presentations and senator questions, to subpoena witnesses and documents? At this point in time, Democrats have made clear that is what they are focused on. They will need four Republicans to join the 47 Democrats to be able to make that a reality. Still waiting to see where those Republicans come down.

Sen. Susan Collins putting out a statement last night making clear that she is open to the idea but has not decided on any specific witnesses, and is only open to it after those initial presentations, which runs counter to what Democrats want, at least at the start of the trial.

So basically, we're going to have to wait and see, likely for a couple of weeks, to get the answer, at least to the question of witnesses and documents -- guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, thanks for that, Phil.

All right, an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani speaking out again. Why he now says Republicans are scared.

JARRETT: But first, here is this week's global energy challenge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR (voice-over): This iconic New York City skyline is set to change over the next 10 years. Under 2019's City Climate Mobilization Act, buildings larger than 25,000 square feet must slash emissions by 40 percent.

DEFTERIOS (on camera): For over a century, success in New York was defined by how high you could build or design. But in this modern age, value will be increasingly linked to energy efficiency in the buildings.

DEFTERIOS (voice-over): Once crowned the tallest skyscraper in the world, today, the Empire State Building's green credentials are making headlines.

DANA SCHNEIDER, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR OF ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY, EMPIRE STATE REALTY TRUST: We did a huge deep-energy retrofit in this building starting in 2009 and we publicized all the work that we did. We shared everything in the hopes that we would not only succeed in the Empire State Building, that we would motivate others to replicate what we had done.

DEFTERIOS (voice-over): The building's trust spent $550 million on initial energy upgrades. More than 6,000 windows were changed, insulated, and optimized for natural light within three years. Energy efficiency has reached 40 percent. Annual cash savings hit $4.4 million.

In light of the new act, it will have to do even more.

John Defterios, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:42:40]

JARRETT: New claims this morning from a Rudy Giuliani associate at the center of the Ukraine scandal that led to President Trump's impeachment. Lev Parnas says the president of Ukraine is lying when he claims he didn't feel President Trump was pressuring him to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

Parnas says the Ukrainians are still afraid of President Trump, as are many Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEV PARNAS, INDICTED ASSOCIATE OF RUDY GIULIANI: There's a lot of people in the Republican Party that don't agree. They're good people that don't agree with what he's doing, but they're scared. He gets away with everything and I would -- you know, especially with attorney Bill Barr on the side and the Justice Department. I mean, a lot of people are scared. They don't want to get investigated.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": People are scared of being investigated by the Justice Department on behalf of President Trump, you're saying?

PARNAS: I think so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Now remember, Parnas has been indicted for making illegal campaign contributions, including to a Trump super PAC.

President Trump, as recently as yesterday, denied knowing him personally at all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know Parnas other than I guess I had pictures taken, which I do with thousands of people, including people today that I didn't meet -- but just met them.

I don't know him at all. I don't know what he's about. Don't know where he comes from. Know nothing about him.

He's trying to probably make a deal for himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Last night, Parnas' attorney mocked Trump's claim, releasing this new video of the two men socializing at Mar-a-Lago in December of 2016.

ROMANS: Yes, they certainly appear to know each other -- not just the 5,000 grip and --

JARRETT: There's tons of pictures of him everywhere --

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: -- with Rudy Giuliani. He went to George Bush's funeral, for goodness sakes.

ROMANS: That's right, that's right.

All right, let's bring in "Washington Post" congressional reporter Rachael Bade, a CNN political analyst. Good morning, Rachel. Happy Friday.

RACHAEL BADE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Hey.

ROMANS: Let's talk a little bit here. Republicans appear to be unmoved by these latest developments -- these latest reveals from Lev Parnas. How much of a battle -- uphill battle is it for Democrats to mount their case here?

BADE: Yes. I mean, clearly, it's going to be a challenge and this was just underscored again yesterday when we saw these sort of two major revelations -- not just Parnas' interviews where he said Trump knew of everything, he sort of pointed the finger at Mike Pence and sort of unveiled this whole surveillance that was going on of Marie Yovanovitch, the ambassador to Ukraine.

[05:45:01]

But also, this Government Accountability Office report -- this sort of nonpartisan government watchdog saying that the president flat-out broke the law when he stopped -- or halted the military aid to Ukraine that had been authorized by Congress.

I mean, I was up on the Hill yesterday and I'll tell you we talked to dozens of Republicans. And all of them seemed to either not want to respond to that at all or most of them actually just downplayed these new revelations, saying that they're not relevant to the impeachment case the Democrats are going to be bringing and that they didn't think that they should include this sort of new evidence when they hear -- begin the trial next week.

So I think that just -- again, just shows how difficult it is for Democrats to move the needle with Republicans.

JARRETT: Rachael, do you think the timing on that GAO report kind of just debunked -- I mean, it's now come out after the president has already been impeached. But in some ways, I feel like it must also undercut the GOP claim that well, he didn't break the law -- that President Trump didn't break the law --

ROMANS: Right.

JARRETT: -- so no problem here.

The GAO finds he did break the law. The administration did break the law by withholding those DOD funds.

BADE: Yes. I mean, you would think, but I can tell you some of the responses I got.

For instance, the appropriations chairman Richard Shelby, who oversees government spending, specifically, and has been an advocate for Congress' power of the purse in the past -- he accused the agency of meddling in impeachment and said that they are becoming increasingly partisan --

ROMANS: Oh, wow.

BADE: -- which is shocking because clearly, this is a nonpartisan agency.

We also heard people like John Cornyn, who is a Senate Republican from Texas, very close with Mitch McConnell. His response was something along the lines of this GAO report, it specifically points a finger at the Budget Office, not at the president.

ROMANS: Right.

BADE: And reporters reminded him no, that hold was directed specifically by the president, according to multiple witnesses who have testified in impeachment. He again said no, no, no, no, no -- look at the report. It's not talking about Trump; it's talking about the Office of Management and Budget. So he tried to sort of distinguish the two.

ROMANS: It goes into this crescendo of just trying to undermine the credibility of institutions -- independent institutions, the press, and all the things that are so vital to a healthy democracy. That has been a part of this entire discussion that has been really troubling to me.

Let's talk a little bit about the president and whether all of this is getting -- the impeachment is getting under the president's skin. You could see him yesterday -- he was behind his -- the resolute desk. He had a map in front of him of -- there it is, 2016 election results, just there -- surrounded by students there for a school prayer event.

And you could see that he was aggrieved that his big new NAFTA and his China trade deal were not the top stories -- that impeachment was the top story. And this seemed to really get under his skin, didn't it?

BADE: Yes, of course. I mean, I think it's interesting -- you know, Republicans -- and this was their advice to the president in 2018 leading up to the midterms election -- midterm elections. Focus on policy, focus on your achievements, ignore -- at that point, it was the Mueller investigation -- put it aside.

Right now, they're trying to convince the president to sort of sideline impeachment and focus on what he's accomplished, focus on policy. I don't know how long that's going to last. I mean, you can see there he's not himself, he's not super joyous.

ROMANS: Yes.

BADE: I thought it was really interesting that they had the 2016 election results in front of him --

ROMANS: I loved it. I loved it.

BADE: -- which clearly, he loves to talk about. Maybe they were trying to cheer him up a bit.

But next week is going to be a real test for him. I mean, Republicans are not going to be able to fight back when the trial starts. The Democrats are going to have three days in a row, at least, of just presenting their case without any argument from Republicans or any defense of the president. His allies can say nothing in that jury room on the Senate floor.

And, I mean, keeping him focused on policy is going to be a real tough challenge for his allies in the White House right now because he's going to want to hit back at some point.

ROMANS: You know, he did talk about how strong the economy is. He said it was the best in history of any president in any economy ever, which is not true, of course. I mean, the thing is that the good points he has to bang on, he exaggerates anyway, so then he kind of undercuts his own position. But he did -- he did mention that again yesterday.

JARRETT: It's going to be a long couple of weeks so we can't wait to have you back, Rachael. Thanks so much, Rachael Bade, congressional reporter at "The Washington Post."

ROMANS: Thanks, Rachael.

JARRETT: Have a great weekend.

ROMANS: All right, the new competitor in the streaming wars with a radical move to win over customers. Hey, it's free. More on CNN Business, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:54:11]

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

Taking a look at global markets you can see optimism really around the world to close out the week. And on Wall Street, a higher tone as well -- maybe another 79 points, about three-tenths of one percent.

Stock market records across the board Thursday. Solid U.S. retail sales, strong corporate earnings easing trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

Tech stocks on fire. Google parent Alphabet hit a record high. Google joins an exclusive Wall Street club, companies worth at least $1 trillion. It joins Apple and Microsoft.

Contrast the go-go days in stocks to the plight of American college students and graduates. The U.S. student loan debt is more than $1.6 trillion and very few people are paying it down.

According to Moody's, student debt has more than doubled over the past decade. Just about half of borrowers have made any progress at all in paying it back mainly because many Americans opt for longer repayment plans.

[05:55:08]

In the U.S., student loans now second only to mortgages as the highest debt and 11 percent of student loan debtors are in default. That's the highest of any debt. It's one reason many Democratic candidates have made it a campaign talking point.

Moody's says those proposals would stimulate the U.S. economy but would hurt some financial institutions.

The streaming wars getting a new competitor with a radical move to win over customers -- free content. NBCUniversal unveiled its new streaming service Peacock on Thursday. Peacock will have subscription options with exclusive content, but will also offer a free ad- supported version with movies and classic NBC shows, including "THE OFFICE," "CHEERS," "30 ROCK."

So why the free content? Well, NBCUniversal has to play catchup. It's entering a crowded field. There's Netflix, Disney, Amazon. WarnerMedia, parent of CNN, has a -- has a streaming service to come out, too.

Peacock will debut across the U.S. in July.

JARRETT: The wife of presidential candidate Andrew Yang revealing she was sexually assaulted by her OB-GYN during her first pregnancy. Evelyn Yang tried for years to conceal her identity through court proceedings. But now she says campaigning with her husband and listening to other women tell their stories -- well, has inspired her to speak out.

Yang says visits to Dr. Robert Hadden in 2012 became gradually more invasive, culminating in what she calls straight-up sexual assault.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVELYN YANG, WIFE OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ANDREW YANG: He grabbed me over to him and undressed me and examined me internally, ungloved. And at first, I was a little bit like what's going on here?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And there was no one else in the room?

YANG: No, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Eventually, Yang reported the assault to the Manhattan D.A. and learned several women had already reported Hadden. In 2016, he pleaded guilty to two of nine charges against him which did not include his attack on Evelyn Yang. He lost his medical license but served no jail time.

Yang and 31 other women are now suing Hadden and Columbia University, which runs the facility where Hadden practiced.

ROMANS: And the no jail time is still getting real scrutiny here. A lot of people talking about why didn't the Manhattan D.A. push for a --

JARRETT: (INAUDIBLE).

ROMANS: Why didn't they push for more jail time? It doesn't seem very fair.

All right, new developments in the cheating scandal rocking Major League Baseball. Major League officials, in response to social media rumors, say their investigation of the Houston Astros turned up no evidence that players used wearable devices to tip off hitters about pitches that were coming.

Now, the New York Mets also parting ways with manager Carlos Beltran. Beltran was named in the baseball commissioner's report as one of the Astros players involved in stealing signs.

JARRETT: Well, singer Demi Lovato is back and hitting the high notes again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEMI LOVATO, SINGER: Singing "Sorry Not Sorry."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Lovato has been tapped to perform the National Anthem at the Super Bowl LIV in Miami next month. A week before the big game she'll take the stage at the Grammy Awards. Lovato has not performed live since 2018. She was hospitalized for a drug overdose that summer.

ROMANS: And best of luck to her.

Indicted Giuliani associate Lev Parnas ripe for picking on by the late-night comedians. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARNAS: The message was it wasn't just military aid, it was all aid. Basically, the relationships would be sour. That he would -- that we would stop giving them any kind of aid.

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, CBS "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": We're talking all the aid -- military aid, humanitarian aid, lemonade, Band-Aid, farm aid, milkmaid, Dennis Quaid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Ah, Stephen Colbert. That was very funny.

JARRETT: He's too good.

ROMANS: Have a very good weekend, everyone. That's it for us this week. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Breaking overnight, several U.S. troops injured in Iran's missile attack last week on American bases in Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were 11 casualties in the attack despite the Pentagon saying that there were no causalities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is not that kind of treatment that Al-Asad for one of these injuries.

SCHIFF: Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.

ROBERTS: Do you solemnly swear you will do impartial justice, so help you God?

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): They are afraid of the truth. They don't want to see documents, they don't want to hear from eyewitnesses.

MCCONNELL: The House's hour is over. The Senate's time is at hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Friday, January 17th. It's 6:00 here in New York.

And it's on. The impeachment trial is underway. The ceremonial scripted part is over. Now, they're off-book.

END