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New Day Saturday

Senate Set To Acquit President Trump After Vote For Witnesses Fails; Woman In Custody After Police-Involved Shooting At Mar-a-Lago; Iowa Voters Torn Ahead Of Democratic Primary; Biden Rolls Out New Ad Featuring Obama Praising Him; Trump, Bloomberg Buy Super Bowl Ads At $10 Million Each. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired February 01, 2020 - 06:00   ET

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


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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are adjourned.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're watching history unfold in the U.S. Senate. They have just defeated a motion to allow new witnesses to appear before the trial of the President of the United States.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The president will be acquitted in a bipartisan manner.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): This country is headed towards the greatest cover-up since Watergate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Public health officials are on edge as a novel virus first identified in Wuhan, China continues to spread throughout the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The coronavirus presents a public health emergency in the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number 24, 66, 20th campaign out of Lower Merion High School, Kobe Bryant.

LEBRON JAMES, BASKETBALL PLAYER: So in the words of Kobe Bryant, Mamba Out, but in the words of us, not forgotten. Live on, brother.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. President Trump's impeachment firewall is holding. Senate Republicans voted to block witnesses in the president's impeachment trial. Final vote scheduled for Wednesday. The president expected be acquitted.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: You'll remember that the president wanted to be acquitted before the Tuesday State of the Union address and Democrats' longshot hope of convincing four Republican senators to cross over and vote to allow witnesses, it came up short, but now some GOP senators are pushing back at President Trump's claim that he did nothing wrong by pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. Several GOP senators are now acknowledging, at least in some degree, that what the President did was inappropriate, but they're also claiming it is not worth removing a sitting president.

PAUL: Joining us now Lauren Fox, CNN congressional reporter live in Washington, and Kristen Holmes, CNN national correspondent live in West Palm Beach. Good morning to both of you. Lauren, you start for us here. Where do things stand?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, essentially it was another drama-filled day on Capitol Hill and while Democrats knew very early in the day they were not going to get the witnesses that they have wanted and campaigned for as part of this trial, it was less clear how this all would end. Essentially when would the president be acquitted? On Thursday night, you had Lamar Alexander, a much watched lawmaker who is retiring in 2020, announce that he was not going to support witnesses and I want to read to you his rationale for that.

He said, quote, "I think it was inappropriate and wrong for the president to do what he did and I think it was proved. The question is whether you apply capital punishments to every offense and I think in this case, I think the answer is no. Let the people make the decision." Now, Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican from Alaska, also announced that she was opposed to witnesses. She said to my colleague Ellie Kaufman that she was disappointed in both sides of the aisle, essentially arguing that Congress had sunken to a new low.

And of course Democrats very frustrated with their colleagues, arguing that some of those moderate Republicans who they count on to be reasonable voices in the Senate had really let them down. Here's what Chuck Schumer, the leading Democrat in the Senate, told reporters yesterday.

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SCHUMER: It's a grand tragedy, one of the worst tragedies that the Senate has ever overcome. America will remember this day unfortunately where the Senate did not live up to its responsibilities, where the Senate turned away from truth and went along with a sham trial. If the president is acquitted with no witnesses, no documents, the acquittal will have no value.

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FOX: And Senate Democrats of course forced four more amendment votes on more witnesses and documents last night, but the president isn't set to be acquitted until Wednesday after his State of the Union address.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's go to Kristen now and as has been the pattern during this impeachment trial, new releases, although these won't be submitted during the official proceedings, this time from the Office of Management and Budget. A late-night filing says e-mails exist of President Trump asking about and deciding on Ukraine aid June 24th through September. What more can you tell us, Kristen?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Victor and Christi, this is incredibly notable. Here's what you have to remember. This is all stemming from the Center of Public Integrity who sued to get these documents from the Department of Justice and they won and when they got the documents, it was e-mails between the Department of the Defense -- Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget, they received e-mails that were heavily redacted, so they took them back to court.

Now what we're seeing is an overview of what were -- what was in those heavily redacted e-mails and here's why it's notable. It shows an extent, it shows the administration acknowledging President Trump's thinking that these e-mails actually exist that surround his involvement in this withholding of Ukraine aid.

[06:05:05] And it's coming at a time that was just hours after this vote that blocked all of these subpoena and documents and witnesses. So you're seeing here two things happening. One, this realization that these e-mails will not be put into any sort of this impeachment trial here and that they actually exist.

Now we're heading into a vote to acquit President Trump with this hanging over them, showing once again that there are actual pieces of evidence out there that show President Trump's thinking. Of course we'd heard that from witnesses during that House trial, but that they exist and that they won't be put into play at all during this procedure.

PAUL: All right. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much. Lauren, stay with us here.

BLACKWELL: All right. With us now, Julian Zelizer, a historian and professor at Princeton University, Guy Smith, he served as a special advisor to President Clinton during his impeachment trial, and Lauren Fox, CNN correctional reporter is staying with us. Guy, let me start with you and this new revelation from OMB that there are e-mails that exist that will get to the president's focus, the president's interest, the president's questioning of the aid to Ukraine and they won't make it as part of this trial.

GUY SMITH, SPECIAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT CLINTON DURING IMPEACHMENT: No. They're not going to. I mean, the entire Republican Senate has just joined in the cover-up and it's -- but here's the -- and there going to be of course the vote for acquittal and they'll all go out on the floor of the Senate and they'll all say, oh, needed to do this, you had Rubio and Lamar up there a few minutes ago, but here's what -- the political implications are that the Republicans just handed the Democrats control of the Senate in the 2020 election because they handed -- by this cover-up, they have handed the Democrats a huge bat that they can bat them with every day and the Democrats will do that.

BLACKWELL: Let me come back to you on that and I want to bring in Julian because you've got a new piece up on CNN.com in which you write that "the most important step will be for Democrats to build on the main lessons of impeachment rather than trying to put the saga behind them." What are the lessons, Julian?

JULIAN ZELIZER, HISTORIAN & PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Well, this is a president who abuses his power and this is a Republican Party that supports that president regardless of what he does and the challenge for Democrats is not to move away from that, not to put that aside, but make that a central theme on the campaign trail and that's where the president is extremely vulnerable and Senate Republicans are going to be vulnerable as opposed to news about the economy which are much more favorable to the Republican Party.

And so impeachment brought out a lot of revelations and they will continue to come forward and Democrats have to remind voters of what's the risk of keeping this president in office for four more years?

BLACKWELL: Lauren, are Democrats there on the Hill convinced that this is potent when they go back, you know, members of the House who are on the ballot and the few members of the Senate, the Democrats who are on the ballot in November, are they convinced that the revelations from the impeachment inquiry and the trial will be enough to get them to be sent back in November?

FOX: Well, I think that you have to think about the Republicans who are up for re-election in 2020 and what they're thinking. You know, Susan Collins handled this very differently than some of her other colleagues who are up for re-election in 2020. Collins really wanted more witnesses, more evidence. She wanted to be very involved in the drafting of the initial resolution that set the rules for this Senate trial, that even allowed for this vote yesterday on witnesses.

Then you have people like Cory Gardner, Joni Ernst, Thom Tillis who are ready for this to be over and were convinced a long time ago that this was not going to rise to the level of an impeachable offense. You know, I'm told that in private Senate GOP lunches, Majority Leader McConnell would really lean on those individuals like Martha McSally, Thom Tillis, Joni Ernst, Cory Gardner to talk a little bit about their races and why this needed to wrap up sooner than later.

Remember, they want to get back on the campaign trail. They think that what the message that is going to be best for them is one in which they aren't in Washington stuck six days a week in their seats impeaching the president and rather they are doing their job on the campaign trail and doing their job in Washington, passing trade bills, doing more for the economy. Those are the messages that I've heard from those members --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

FOX: -- that are resonating more. Certainly they are ready to move on with impeachment. Democrats are definitely going to use it, though, on the campaign trail. You can be sure of that.

BLACKWELL: And Guy, let me ask about that because for the last several months, you have lauded President Clinton's distance from his impeachment proceedings back in the late '90s. Now, of course he was the president. He had the responsibilities of the job. We're talking about candidates who want the job, but what should be the overlap? [06:05:04]

Are you saying that the impeachment revelation should be paramount versus health care versus jobs versus gun control?

SMITH: No. I'm not saying that and what I'm saying is that Democrats can walk and chew gum at the same time and the best illustration of that was the 2018 midterms where the Democrats just draw on (ph) the Republicans and that's what is going to happen. So right now, we're going to -- the Iowa caucuses, the Democrats are trying to figure out who will be the candidate. They will -- Democrats always have a messy process in that and that's just the way politics is.

But what is happening is the economy is not going to save Trump and Julian's piece outlined a good bit of that. It's no longer the economy, stupid. It's people don't feel it and they feel generally about the economy, when it comes down to them, they don't feel good about this president or the economy and as I said, people are not stupid. They see this cover-up that has happened. That's why 75 percent of the American people wanted to have witnesses. Now, that isn't -- they're not just going to stop thinking that and if we saw -- you just reported a few minutes ago on the OMB e-mails ...

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SMITH: There's going to be more and more and more that's going to just pound this home and Trump will remind everybody every day. Now, that isn't going to change the Red Hatters --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SMITH: -- but it changes the Independents, it changes women. That's where Trump is going to lose. His base is shrinking.

BLACKWELL: Julian, let's talk about those Independents and what we learned from the "CBS News" poll that's just out this weekend. President approvals rating is 43 percent, right about where it has been for months now. There's another important question here. When asked if they think if the impeachment will help, hurt or have no impact on the president politically, 44 percent of Independents say they don't think that it will have much effect. We've got -- and these numbers are wrong -- 27 percent that say it would help him, 24 percent say it would hurt him.

So let me go over the numbers again. Twenty-four percent say it would hurt, 27 percent said it would help, 44 percent of Independents say it would have no effect at all. So how fertile is this for Democrats? How fertile is the impeachment soil in these early states?

ZELIZER: I think it's still very fertile even with that response. Many Independents in the midterms were not happy with the president. That's why you had this influx of Democrats from Republican areas. It wasn't simply about issues like health care. It was about President Trump and what he does to the democracy.

And while many voters might not think in the end about what happened in Ukraine or the vote not to have witnesses, the bigger story about the way he governs, about the way he uses presidential power I think is something that many Americans, even those who don't follow politics very closely, are aware of, are thinking about and it might sway those very Independents to vote for the Democratic ticket even if their economic circumstances are better.

So even with that poll, it seems to me that everything that comes out of this impeachment is fertile ground for a Democrat if they handle it right. Again, not the details of Ukraine, but the bigger question about presidential power and how it's used.

BLACKWELL: Well, speaking of details, Lauren, what's the momentum behind continuing this investigation after Wednesday's vote, subpoenaing John Bolton, going after, potentially, other records or other testimony, getting Lev Parnas in front of a House committee?

FOX: Well, the House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Adam Schiff, has been a little busy, of course, on the Senate floor making this case over the last couple of days. So he's remained a bit vague about what his committee's next plans would be, but certainly you can expect that there are going to be some on the left in the Democratic caucus who want to keep moving forward with this, want to keep going.

I think you have to take a step back and remember Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, was very, very reluctant to go down the road of impeachment. When she got there by the end of September, it had been months of many in her caucus really clamoring for that and she held them back. What really changed was where the moderates in her caucus got to. Essentially they got to the point -- a lot of national security freshmen got to the point where they said, OK, it's time to open an impeachment inquiry.

So I would be watching those moderate freshmen for her cues of where she thinks this needs to go because remember, Adam Schiff is very close to the Speaker. He is not going to go out there and go rogue and run an investigation that does not have her blessing and so I would be looking for what the moderates in the caucus think is the best direction moving forward and likely that's where Pelosi and Schiff will move next.

BLACKWELL: Lauren Fox, Guy Smith, Julian Zelizer, thank you all.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

[06:15:01]

PAUL: Well, U.S. health officials are taking new steps this morning to stop the spread of the coronavirus, including a mandatory quarantine method that hasn't been used in 50 years.

BLACKWELL: Plus, a tearful LeBron James speaks from the heart about the life and the contributions of basketball legend Kobe Bryant.

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JAMES: We're all grieving. We're all hurt. We all heartbroken. (END VIDEO CLIP)

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PAUL: So Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell keeping his troops in line it seems, Republican senators voting primarily along party lines to block calling any witnesses in President Trump's impeachment trial.

BLACKWELL: And some GOP senators are attempting to explain their vote against witnesses and their eventual vote to acquit the president next week. Here's this from Florida Senator Marco Rubio, "Just because actions meet a standard of impeachment does not mean it is in the best interest of the country to remove a president from office." Errol Louis, CNN political analyst and political anchor for "Spectrum News" joined us to discuss.

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[06:20:04]

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: What Senator Rubio and a number of his colleagues have done is going to have implications that I'm not sure we're going to have to wait very long to see frankly. You know, it's not about some future president. It's about what happens right now. Not just the really hard scary things like whether or not we're going to have more foreign interference in the next election, but even routine business like getting a response.

I mean, Victor, put aside everything about -- everything else about it. There was an impeachment article about obstructing Congress and so once -- if armed with the knowledge that he can simply obstruct Congress, simply ignore requests for information that are duly issued by Congress, Senator Rubio may have a hard time getting answers to really routine business. How much did that weapon system cost? What's the new policy going to be in a certain area of social services, for example?

He's no -- he's no longer entitled to any kind of answers and that's what that answer that he gave means, that just because the White House has committed misconduct, has obstructed Congress, has invited foreign interference in our elections, we don't have to do anything about it. And, you know, look, you empower somebody to misbehave in that way, the consequences are very easy to see and I think we're going to see them sooner rather than later.

PAUL: So Senator Lamar Alexander called it inappropriate and improper. Ben Sasse said, "Let me be clear, Lamar speaks for lots and lots of us." We have Marco Rubio's statement. We have Senator Lisa Murkowski saying, quote, "As an institution, the Congress has failed." A lot of people yesterday were saying are Republicans going to come out and acknowledge this? They have now acknowledged it. What does that acknowledgement mean, however, when you look at their votes?

LOUIS: Well, you know, in the end it means very little. Not only because it did not change their votes, but because the White House never asserted any of the excuses that they are now making for him. That cute and clever bit of wordsmithing by Lisa Murkowski, the senator from Alaska, by Marco Rubio from Florida, the White House specifically rejected all of that. Remember, the president keeps saying the phone call was perfect, the actions were perfect. The impeachment, even the inquiry was utterly illegitimate and unconstitutional.

That's the extreme position that the White House took and has never wavered from and so they're now making excuses that the White House never wanted, explicitly rejected and I don't expect the president ever, ever to say any of the things that his defenders are now saying. So I think they're going to find themselves really pretty far out on a limb when they go back and talk with their constituents about what they did and why they did it.

PAUL: Errol, real quickly. Tuesday, President Trump's giving his State of the Union address. This, of course, a day before what is expected to be an acquittal vote in the Senate. How much weight is now on the State of the Union for him in terms of the content, in terms of his tone?

LOUIS: Oh, well, I mean, look, I could -- a great deal. The State of the Union is probably the peak of the president's ability to reach everybody. We always talk about social media. This is the main event. The entire world will be watching what President Trump has to say.

He will frame it, I think, precisely because he's in such close coordination with the Republican majority in the Senate, but he'll frame it as when that vote is cast tomorrow, I will be completely acquitted, that this was all a sham, this was all a farce and so forth and so on.

He'll frame it that way on Tuesday. Mitch McConnell the next day will vote in lockstep with his Republican majority to provide that and that'll be their story that they take into the fall elections.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Always good to have Errol with us. Thanks again, Errol.

BLACKWELL: A woman is in custody after shots were fired right outside the president's Mar-a-Lago resort yesterday.

PAUL: Police say the suspect was behaving erratically, she was standing on a car, on top of her car there and when they approached her, she sped off and what turned into a police chase along the island. Now, that suspect drove at dangerously high speeds, we're told, on the wrong side of the road and headed toward Mar-a-Lago where she breached two security checkpoints that were in place ahead of the president's arrival and that's when security -- or Secret Service, rather, fired their weapons. Thankfully nobody was hurt, police say.

BLACKWELL: Now, the woman was eventually arrested. She faces several charges, including assault on a federal officer. This incident is under investigation, but police say it is not terror-related.

Still to come, former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders neck-and-neck in recent polling in Iowa. Now with just two days before the caucuses, there are still plenty of voters who haven't made up their mind.

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[06:25:00]

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PAUL: Well, hope Saturday's been good to you so far. We're glad to have you with us. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Just two days now until the first votes in the Iowa caucuses and former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders, they are in a tight race according to the CNN Poll of Polls. Biden holds 27 percent of support among registered Democrats, Sanders 24 percent.

PAUL: Now, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg rises in the Democratic field here and could qualify for the first debate ahead of the Nevada caucuses. You're wondering how does that happen? Well, under new DNC rules, grassroots fundraising requirements were dropped.

BLACKWELL: And the timing of the decision by the DNC, it is upsetting some candidates. Sanders campaign senior advisor called it the definition of a rigged system. Senator Warren said, "Billionaires shouldn't be able to play by different rules."

PAUL: And so as Iowans get ready to vote Monday, they have a lot more to think about as the end of the impeachment trial gets underway as well.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Jeff Zeleny caught up with some folks who are still undecided about who they'll support.

[06:30:00]

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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Finally, it's their turn. Iowa voters are poised to render the first verdict of the presidential race.

PAT MUNDY, IOWA VOTER: I have never been not willing to take a chance. And I think this election we maybe need to take a chance.

ZELENY: Pat Mundy has been busy sizing up the field.

MUNDY: I started first with Elizabeth Warren, and I was very pro- Elizabeth in the beginning. My next candidate was Pete, I've heard him speak twice. Joe Biden, he is a source of comfort. Bernie Sanders comes off much more compelling in person than he does on the screen.

ZELENY: So Monday night, whose corner will you be in?

MUNDY: I have committed to caucus for Pete. ZELENY: Mundy, a retired teacher, has taken full advantage of her

front row seat, shaking hands with Biden, asking a question of Andrew Yang and finally coming face-to-face with her top choice. After a year of listening to candidates' at town hall meetings --

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT) & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to win this campaign --

ZELENY: And through TV ads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Elizabeth Warren is the president this nation needs.

ZELENY: Voters are making up their minds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the year to play of faith and go with a proven candidate. And I think that's Joe Biden.

ZELENY: We met John Heightland(ph) at a campaign stop for Buttigieg where he made his final decision to support Biden.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to nominate the person who can beat President Trump. That's the number one issue.

ZELENY: The signs of the season are everywhere in Iowa, from store fronts to front yards. This time many voters have been slow to choose as they search for the strongest candidate to challenge President Trump. Their decisions are driven by issues, but above all electability. On that front, Democrats are torn whether to choose a progressive path --

DENISE DIAZ, IOWA VOTER: I am supporting Senator Sanders.

ZELENY: Why?

DIAZ: I just love his message. I think that he has integrity.

ZELENY: Or a more pragmatic one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My first choice caucus I think is going to go with Amy Klobuchar. My second is uncertain.

ZELENY: It's that question of second choice that's critical here. Candidates must win at least 15 percent support in the first round of voting. If they don't, voters turn to their plan B. For Hope Bossard, that's Biden, she respects him and is comfortable with him. That after seeing him up close, she wasn't electrified.

HOPE BOSSARD, IOWA VOTER: I have to weigh this out. I like a lot of the new ideas that Tom Steyer has, but I am good with Biden. If he's our guy, I can support him.

ZELENY: But not everyone is making that choice. After seeing Biden and Buttigieg on the same day just before Christmas, Cheri Scheib faced a tough decision.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's a guy to do?

CHERI SCHEIB, IOWA VOTER: I don't know yet. I'm -- I've got to think about it and sleep on it. I don't know yet.

ZELENY: We caught up with her again this week.

Who are you going to be with Monday night?

SCHEIB: I'm going to be with Pete. I am. Mayor Pete, you've got my vote. As many times as I've seen him, I've enjoyed him every time. I appreciate everything he says. Smart guy. Today really solidified my thought process on it. So I'm going with Pete.

ZELENY: Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Jefferson, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Well, former Vice President Biden rolled out a new ad featuring former President Obama, praising him -- this was during a 2017 speech. Now, this is another example of how closely Vice President Biden ties himself to the Obama legacy. Here's a part of the ad.

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BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Somebody whose faith has been tested and who knows who to lean on to find the light. A resilient and loyal and humble servant. And through his life, he has never once forgotten the values and the moral fiber that made him who he is. The best part is, he's nowhere close to finish.

JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm Joe Biden and I approve this message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And President Trump's campaign is airing two ads during the Super Bowl. The ads highlight the state of the economy, Democratic candidate Michael Bloomberg also bought some air time during the big game. We understand that his ads will focus on gun control.

BLACKWELL: And the first time campaign ads will air nationally during the Super Bowl.

PAUL: The United States unveiling serious travel restrictions amid the fight to stop the coronavirus. A travel bans are mandatory, quarantines the answer? We'll talk about that.

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[06:35:00]

PAUL: Well, the number of confirmed cases of the Wuhan coronavirus may soon reach 12,000. Because officials in China say there are now 11,791 cases in mainland China, and 259 people have died. Now, Australia, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Taiwan have all announced new cases this morning.

BLACKWELL: Here in the U.S., coronavirus is being considered a public health emergency, seven cases of the virus have been confirmed. It's important to note no one here has died of the coronavirus, no one in the U.S. But starting at 5:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow, the U.S. is imposing serious travel restrictions on people coming from China. Let's bring Natasha Chen live in Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport with details on the travel restrictions.

And also we want to go to the epicenter of this, the outbreak there, CNN's David Culver is in Beijing. David, let me start with you, the Chinese government working to reassure people that it is containing the virus.

[06:40:00]

How are they doing that? And are people confident that the government is being successful?

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, the reality is they're trying to use the flagship media broadcasting of "CCTV", they're doing it through some of its state-run media and portraying that what is a reality, and that is the massive containment effort, right? You've got those two new hospitals going up, they're showing the construction, sometimes they've been doing this 24/7 livestream of it to show how in a matter of days, China is able to construct this to hold some 2,600 patients.

They're showing the deployment efforts of putting in personnel on the ground, nurses and doctors, and they're showing that as a very heroic effort, and even getting supplies to the people. But the reality is also very different from the folks we talked to. While they say that may be happening, for example, the supplies may be coming to the province, it's not necessarily being distributed to where it needs to be, and that's to the front lines.

To these doctors and nurses who say essentially they're going into battle here without the armor that they need. But I will say that there is a portrayal on some more independent Chinese media that tend to have had a more independent streak traditionally. They sometimes go in line with the party, but here, they're portraying the truth and they're showing some of the dire circumstances that are going on there.

Also what's different here, you have Chinese social media that likewise is perpetuating the narrative that things are not as smooth and as easy as some may want to portray. Overall though, I can tell you, there are some extreme efforts being taken. In fact, just in the past few hours, we've heard about one city, it's Huanggang, and it's not far from Wuhan, the epicenter of all of this.

And imagine picking one person in your household who can leave your house every other day, and can only go to the grocery store and back. That is the restriction that this one city is putting on the city center in particular. It's just about 400,000 people who have to make that decision. But they're suggesting that surrounding communities implement this as well.

That would be 7.5 million people. Christi and Victor, that's like saying to the entire population of Arizona, one person can leave the house every other day, go to the store and come back. Of course, those who need medical attention and those who are part of fighting this virus are the exception, but it's pretty extreme.

PAUL: It was so extreme, hearing these reports, I want to ask you about the government using drones to track people who may be trying to leave their homes or to --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

PAUL: Try to quarantine areas. What do you know about that?

CULVER: Yes, we're seeing that, Christi, on social media that's put out -- actually from state-run media. So they're putting this out on their own social media feeds, and essentially you'll see these drones that have speakers attached to them, and they'll go into communities, mostly rural communities. So, inner Mongolia for example, and they'll be up there and they'll do it in a rather light-hearted way.

And if you watch some of the videos that are posted, they'll suggest, hey, man, over there near the bike, put on your mask, you know, and trying to make it lighthearted. Hi, lady, near this market, whatever it may be, don't forget to put on your mask when you go out. And they're doing it in that way, but there's also a very serious undertone to it, and that is that some of these places have made it mandatory, and some folks are simply going out without their mask, and it's making others uneasy.

BLACKWELL: Let's go to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Natasha Chen is there, I mentioned at the top, Natasha, that these travel restrictions, they start 5:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. Give us some of the specifics.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, this was announced by the White House yesterday. People who are not U.S. citizens who have been in China within the last 14 days are temporarily banned from entering the U.S. Now, Americans arriving from near the epicenter of this outbreak in Hubei Province will have to go through a 14-day mandatory quarantine on arrival.

That's the first such order in 50 years. And Americans coming from any other part of mainland China in the last 14 days will face some screening and self-monitoring. But officials say the risk of infections for Americans is still low. And of course, right now, we have nearly 200 people who have flown in from China currently quarantined for 14 days in Southern California.

One of them told CNN that they feel it's a good idea to stay there and make sure everyone is healthy. They said during a Q&A session with officials actually, the first question is whether they could watch the Super Bowl tomorrow. But this is still a major impact on travel, 14,000 people traveled from China to the U.S. on a daily basis in fiscal year 2019. We're now hearing about American Airlines and Delta temporarily suspending their flights to and from China, and United Airlines has also reduced their flights to China, Victor.

PAUL: I want to get your perspective, Natasha because I understand you just returned from Taiwan and Japan celebrating the Chinese --

CHEN: Right --

PAUL: New year. What did you see when you were there in regards to this?

CHEN: Well, Christi, we heard talk from China about people putting on their masks. I want to explain to people in the United States that this culturally is a common thing that everyone did long before the coronavirus was an issue.

[06:45:00]

It's a gesture of courtesy to protect from the common cold. Don't want to be spit on by people who have a cough or a sniffle. So, typically, I would see people wearing masks anyway, but this time around, it was so much more pronounced. So many more people covering their faces. And I did not go into mainland China, but even so in Taiwan and Japan, where there are some cases of coronavirus, people are being extremely careful.

When we walked into restaurants or businesses, there were people ready with hand sanitizer ready to spritz our hands, and in one case even there was a device they used to check my temperature before walking into a fish market just to make sure I didn't have a fever before I walked in. So a lot of extra measures being taken. And also we felt the impact of the travel restrictions even within the Asia region with lunar new year being the biggest holiday of the year, when everyone travels, it was really noticeably quiet.

PAUL: Wow, I cannot imagine just going into a store and having somebody take my temperature as I'm going in. Natasha Chen, David Culver, we appreciate you both so much. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right, one day now until Super Bowl LIV in Miami. Got the Chiefs, the 49ers and we've got Coy Wire. He's there for us. Hey, Coy!

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: Good morning. Feel the ocean breeze blowing through my hair, good morning Victor and Christi. A lot of stories of redemption in this year's Super Bowl. A lot of fighters. And I'm going to tell you about one guy whose rough upbringing and being cut by six different teams have turned him into one of the brightest stars and best dads in the big game. His story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

(WORLD SPORTS)

PAUL: L.A. Lakers are honoring Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gigi and the seven other victims of Sunday's helicopter crash last night. As part of the ceremony, all members of the starting lineup as you heard there were introduced as the former Laker.

BLACKWELL: And a T-shirt with one of Kobe's numbers on it, 8 or 24, was draped over every seat in the Staples Center. And there was this tearful LeBron James tribute, let's call it. And he tore up his prepared remarks, he said he instead chose to speak from the heart about his friend.

PAUL: The Staples Center now says all of the flowers -- look at this. All of these flowers you see there, that are left at this growing memorial outside the arena are going to be mulched and used to help new life grow. Great sentiment there --

BLACKWELL: Great idea --

PAUL: Right?

BLACKWELL: Certainly. Hey, tomorrow's Super Bowl halftime show will pay tribute to Kobe Bryant as well. Kickoff to Miami is on now and Coy Wire is there with more on Super Bowl LIV in this morning's "BLEACHER REPORT", Coy, good morning!

WIRE: Top of the morning to you, Victor and Christi. Tickets for this Chiefs-Niners Super Bowl are selling at an all-time high. A lot of excitement, 5,600 bucks on StubHub for nosebleed seats. One reason is the star power in this game. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has electrified crowds and won the hearts of fans all across the nation. He'll become just the seventh black quarterback to start in a Super Bowl, did you know?

Patrick already historic at just 24 years old, and he's the reigning MVP in part because of his jaw-dropping plays that shock even his own teammates. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYREEK HILL, WIDE RECEIVER, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: Everything about Pat is special, man. He's a very special kid. He's a rare talent. You know, I feel like he's one of those talents that comes around like once every 50 years.

MITCHELL SCHWARTZ, OFFENSIVE TACKLE, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: He's only going to get better which is the scary part. I mean, he's still, whatever, 23, 24.

TRAVIS KELCE, TIGHT END, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: He had this like this sideways jump-pass where he left the ground as he's throwing it, and it was just -- I was like admiring it as he's throwing the ball -- this dude is airborne right now. What are we doing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right, for the 49ers, running back Raheem Mostert is the ultimate fighter. No team called the former Purdue Boilermakers name in the 2015 draft. Not good enough, they said. Well, over the next 18 months, he bounced around as a free agent, six different teams cut him before he landed with the Niners in 2016. He keeps a tally of every one of those teams and uses it as fuel to his fire that made him his team's leading rusher.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAHEEM MOSTERT, RUNNING BACK, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS: I know, you've heard about the list that I had in my phone. Yes, I look at those days and I really -- I really just try to take a piece out of every spot that I've been at. I always see the light at the end of the tunnel no matter the situation. That's just how I've always been in my life. And yes, when I was cut by those teams, you know, like I said, I always find positives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Now, the light of Raheem Mostert's life is his one and a half- year-old son Gunner. Raheem doesn't have any photos of his own childhood growing up in a rough neighborhood in Florida. And it's why he's soaking up every photo-op with his son, Gunner. Now, we're going to have more stories like Raheem's on the Niners and the Chiefs this afternoon on our CNN BLEACHER REPORT special, "KICKOFF in MIAMI".

Andy Scholes and I are joined by Jerry Rice, Joe Burrow, Rob Gronkowski and other mega stars, it's today at 2:30 Eastern right here on CNN. And Victor and Christi, I may or may not be joining Gronk on the beach for some push-ups and Gronk spikes in the sands.

PAUL: Which means he is --

BLACKWELL: Every opportunity. Every opportunity Coy gets to show it, and he's going to take it.

PAUL: And you know why? Because he can.

BLACKWELL: Yes, that's true.

PAUL: I'll say it every time because he can --

BLACKWELL: There you go --

[06:55:00]

PAUL: Coy, you have fun with that, we'll be watching.

BLACKWELL: Thank you.

PAUL: I don't know if we've told you lately, but we appreciate the fact that you let us invade your space in the morning.

BLACKWELL: We certainly do --

PAUL: We do --

BLACKWELL: Always good to be with you --

PAUL: Made some good memories today.

BLACKWELL: Our special coverage of the impeachment trial continues next with John Berman and Alisyn Camerota.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): This impeachment process is over.

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: The ayes are 49, the nays are 51. The motion is not agreed to.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): No witnesses, no documents in an impeachment trial.