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New Day Sunday

Democratic Candidates Make Final Push In Iowa Ahead Of Caucuses; Super Bowl LIV, 49ers Versus Chiefs; Trump Highlights Economic Success In Super Bowl Commercial. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired February 02, 2020 - 06:00   ET

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


[06:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JARED KUSHNER, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: What we've seen since the impeachment started is that most people by the way are not paying attention to it. The president's approval rating nationally was over 50 percent. It was the highest that it has been since right after the inauguration.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not enough to make promises. You got to keep them.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We want to beat back the influence of money in Washington. It's going to take big structural change.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe that we are the strongest campaign to defeat Trump.

PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to not only win against Donald Trump, but win so big that it sends Trumpism itself into the dust bin of history.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you.

This morning there's this growing urgency around the world to contain the coronavirus, because the number of cases and the number of deaths is growing.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Starting at 5:00 p.m. eastern today a strict new travel ban takes effect that blocks foreign nationals who recently visited China from entering the U.S. The TSA has also now requiring airlines to ask passengers on flights from outside the U.S. if they've been to China in the past 14 days.

Within the past 24 hours the number of confirmed cases around the world jumped from 12,000 to more than 14,000. Now a total of 305 people are dead, 304 of those deaths in mainland China, one in the Philippines.

PAUL: Here in the U.S. we have an 8th confirmed case now this morning of the coronavirus. The patient is a University of Massachusetts student recently back from Wuhan. That's, of course, the epicenter of this outbreak. But we're covering all the information from here in the United States to China.

CNN's David Culver is standing by for us in Beijing. We're going to talk first with CNN's Natasha Chen. Natasha, good to see you this morning. A lot of people I'm sure wondering how this travel ban is going to affect passengers who are flying today. Help us understand that.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good morning, Christi and Victor.

We are talking about these restrictions starting at 5:00 p.m. eastern time today. So, non U.S. citizens who have been in mainland China in the last 14 days will now not be allowed to enter the United States. U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residence and their immediate family members, if they have been in Hubei province near the epicenter of this outbreak in the last 14 days they will be undergoing mandatory quarantine for 14 days. And there hasn't been such an order for a quarantine like that in the United States for about 50 years. And then for Americans who have been in the rest of mainland China in the last 14 days, they'll have to go through more screening and self- monitoring.

All flights from China will be funneling through seven airports. And let's show you a map of where those seven are. They include Seattle, San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, JFK and here at Atlanta at Hartsfield- Jackson.

We actually met a woman yesterday who got on one of the last flights on Delta from Shanghai to Atlanta. She told us that her boss here in Atlanta made sure to arrange those plans to get her home here earlier. She had been visiting parents in Shanghai for the lunar New Year. And she said, by the time she arrived there the news about this virus was already so serious that she spent the entire time at home with her parents trying not to interact with people outside. And here when she arrived yesterday, she was very careful speaking to us, wearing a mask and saying that she was going to drive her own car home to limit the number of people she came into contact with.

Now we want to discuss the fact that there are many countries talking about restricting folks from China, from entering their countries and we spoke to Mark Eccleston. He's a lecturer on global health law. Here's what he had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ECCLESTON-TURNER, LECTURER OF GLOBAL HEALTH LAW: Closing borders doesn't stop cases coming to your country during outbreaks such as this. We know that this is unhelpful. We know scientifically it doesn't work. But we also know that it's probably illegal as well. That closing borders at this time and denying visas for people from China appears to breach the International Health Regulations which is binding international law which needs to be upheld and followed by states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: And he also talked about this actually stoking fear and stigma. We've already seen some European newspapers with headlines like yellow alert, accusations of racism. Even here in the United States, our colleagues spoke to a teaching assistant at U.C. Riverside who is Chinese ethnically and she was asked by people on campus to wear a mask even though she hasn't been to China in years. So certain isolated incidents and anecdotes like that are popping up. And I think that's what he may be referring to.

Victor and Christi, back to you.

BLACKWELL: Yes, fueling some discrimination. Natasha Chen, thank you.

CHEN: Thank you.

PAUL: So, the death of the man in the Philippines is the believed to be the first outside of mainland China.

[06:05:01]

He was a Chinese man who recently flew in from Wuhan, but the other 304 deaths all inside China. Countries around the world have moved to evacuate their citizens and as we were just saying, banning travelers from that country.

BLACKWELL: Now, after just six days, Chinese state media says construction is complete on the first of two hospitals commissioned to help treat patients in the city of Wuhan. Of course, that's the epicenter.

Let's go now to CNN's David Culver. He is in Beijing. David, tell us more about this hospital. In less than a week --

PAUL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- it's done. And what we're learning about what China is doing to contain the outbreak.

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. Good morning to you, Victor and Christi.

Well, you just had to turn on state TV here and you're going to see this hospital construction over and over. It's something that they're obviously quite proud of. That they're touting as being pretty impressive which it is. Less than a week that we're able to construct this. It will be able to hold a thousand patients. And then as you mentioned, a few days later, they anticipate to open up yet another hospital that will hold about 1,600 patients.

But the reality goes beyond just these heroic efforts. And that's something we've delved to in our reporting, talking to folks who are on the ground. The healthcare workers, the nurses, the doctors who are on the frontlines really of this. And they have pointed over and over to the lack of resources. And we're hearing that central government is pushing forward with moving those supplies in, those medical supplies, the face masks, the hazmat suits. But he health care workers say it's not coming to them. So that's the issue that still has not been solved.

Needless to say, we saw today actually the premier of China. His name is Li Keqiang and he was actually at a command center. And one thing that he stressed was that the medical supplies needs to get to where the nurses and doctors are. And he said that he's going to step up production of some of the factories so that that can happen.

But he also hit on something else that was quite interesting and that was food supply. Basic necessities. You remember China is a country that for the past several years has now touted its prosperity. It has become very wealthy for a lot of people here. And they now are talking about lacking basic necessities because of obstacles getting in the way essentially.

People are quite literally walling off their town in some cases trying to prevent the virus from coming in. Other people, really. But in doing so they are preventing supply chains from allowing to flow smoothly. So it's becoming a real issue. And if you think about that, this is a country that touts its prosperity, and yet at the same time now is talking about a challenge in getting basic necessities. It's significant -- Victor and Christi.

PAUL: No doubt about it. Very well put. David Culver, thank you so much for keeping us informed.

BLACKWELL: Now there is still a lot that we just don't know about the coronavirus and how it spreads. And Chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta says that really is a big reason why we're seeing the U.S. take drastic steps to contain it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: With a novel virus, we simply don't know how things are going to progress. It is a brand new virus. There are still lots of unknowns.

There are some things we've learned over the last few days. For example, we've learned that people can be entirely asymptomatic, have no symptoms whatsoever and still be carrying the virus. Now we've also at least seen one case that seems to suggest that someone could pass on the virus before or after they've had any symptoms. So all this new data is sort guiding these decisions that we're seeing at the federal level, guiding something that hasn't been done in five decades in this country again in an effort to try and keep the risk low.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Now there is some good news we can tell you about regarding the rush to learn more about the virus. This week a lab in Australia became the first outside China that was able to grow coronavirus from a patient sample. Researchers there say this is going to help with investigating and diagnose the virus.

BLACKWELL: Well, after months of investigation, the impeachment trial is expected to end on Wednesday of next. Now President Trump is preparing for his likely acquittal in the Senate.

PAUL: Also tomorrow, Iowans casting their first votes of the 2020 presidential election. Which candidates have the most momentum as we head into this big day for the Democratic caucuses? We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:13:19]

BLACKWELL: Closing arguments in President Trump's impeachment trial start tomorrow morning. Both sides will get two hours to make their case to senators just one last time.

PAUL: And, of course, it's widely believed that the president is going to be acquitted on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

National correspondent Kristen Holmes is with us from Florida right now. So, Kristen, if the president is acquitted, will he consider that proof that he did nothing wrong and will he tout that on Tuesday?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, the big question is whether or not he'll actually make a public statement after that vote on Wednesday. But we talked to someone who is close to President Trump who said that if the president does, in fact, make a statement, don't expect it to be any different than what he has said over and over again on Twitter and in interviews. He will say he is completely vindicated and that he is and was completely innocent, of course, that this was a hoax.

I do want to note some context here. Back during the last impeachment, President Clinton after he was acquitted in the Senate came out and issued a profound apology. He said he was profoundly sorry. And many saw this as a way to reunite the country. That's why they believed that he came out and spoke to the nation. And it doesn't seem like you're going to see that here from Republicans or from Democrats.

Just yesterday, Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, tweeted this out. She attacked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and said he humiliated the Supreme Court justice. She said, "It is a sad day for America to see Senator McConnell humiliate the Chief Justice of the United States into presiding over a vote which rejected our nation's judicial norms, precedents and institutions which uphold the Constitution and the rule of law."

So, it just seems like this is going to get uglier and uglier as we move forward.

[06:15:02]

BLACKWELL: Kristen, I don't have to tell you or most people that Super Bowl Sunday President Trump is running ads during the game. So is Mayor Michael Bloomberg running for the nomination. But with the impeachment trial wrapping up, how much of the impeachment is going to be part of the shift over to the election and the focus on the general election?

HOLMES: Well, look, everyone believes that once this is done on the Senate floor, it moves over to the ballot box. President Trump is going to be the first president to face voters after being impeached. And President Trump has really always been focused on the general election even after he won in 2016, he was already looking forward to 2020. Almost immediately. So it's no surprise that he is still in that competition.

Last night we saw a big shift. He no longer was just tweeting about the hoax. He really went after Michael Bloomberg. Now remember the two of them had a history in New York. But he started calling him names. He also came up with a bizarre conspiracy theory that Michael Bloomberg was working with the DNC so he could stand on a box during the Democratic debate. But you can see he's already lashing out.

And I want to note, you cannot watch T.V. here in Florida for more than five minutes without seeing multiple Bloomberg ads. So it's possible that's what he was doing last night when he went on this Twitter tirade against Bloomberg.

PAUL: So is there any indication, Kristen, how the impeachment trial has affected president -- the president's reelection campaign?

HOLMES: Well, look, Christi, it really depends on who you ask. If you talk to Democrats, they think that the impeachment hurt President Trump. That it exposed him. That now independents and moderates see who exactly President Trump is and they will not want to vote for him come 2020.

Republicans see it the opposite. They believe the impeachment has actually hurt Democrats and has energized their base. And the fundraising numbers do show a big increase. President Trump has raised a lot of money. But, as we know, we learned specifically back in 2016, fundraising numbers don't always guarantee a win.

But I do want to say Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and obviously adviser, sat down with Fareed Zakaria and talked about this very question. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KUSHNER: Yes. I think there's just a big difference between what the voters see and what the voters want. And from what the -- what people maybe in Washington or in the media are calling for. What we've seen since the impeachment started is that most people by the way are not paying attention to it. We've seen the president's numbers go up by seven points. We've got polling back last night that show that the president's approval rating nationally was over 50 percent. It was the highest that it has been since right after the inauguration. So we've seen --

(CROSSTALK) FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN ANCHOR: The "RealClearPolitics" average is more like 44 percent.

KUSHNER: I think it was about 46 percent. But, again, everything is relative, right?

Again, there's a lot of polls that were wrong in the last election. I think our data proved to be more right than the public polls and I think it will continue to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So one thing that is not relative is those actual poll numbers. We can pull it up for you here. That real clear politics poll. Fareed was right, it is approval rating of 44.6 percent. Disapproval of 51.9. So, none of the polls we're seeing show the president up by seven percent.

And there's one other thing that I want to take note and take issue with that Jared Kushner said in the interview which was that people aren't really paying attention. Whether or not they are agreeing or disagreeing with the impeachment trial, with this process, it is very clear that people are paying attention. No matter where you go, people are discussing this. So this is going to be an issue as we head into 2020.

PAUL: All right. Kristen Holmes, so appreciate it. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Well, speaking of closing arguments, Democrats in Iowa are making theirs ahead of the caucuses tomorrow. We'll talk confidence, expectations and which Democrat is saying the Iowa caucuses are undemocratic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:23:09]

PAUL: All right. It's just official.

BLACKWELL: It's time.

PAUL: It's just time. Tomorrow, first votes of the 2020 presidential election taking place. Voters heading to their libraries, their gymnasiums --

BLACKWELL: Community centers.

PAUL: -- wherever they're going to be to put in their votes at the Iowa caucuses. Now most of the Democratic candidates are there in Iowa today. It is a mad dash to get the last momentum that they can out of Iowa in the next couple of hours.

BLACKWELL: Now the top tier candidates are all calling for unity in the party. The pledge marks the effort to avoid the divide that some Democrats say helped President Trump win in 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: We, I, we choose hope over fear. We choose science over fiction. We choose unity over division. And we choose truth over lies.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BUTTIGIEG: I want to not only win against Donald Trump, but win so big that it sends Trumpism itself into the dust bin of history. I think a big win is also what it would take to send out the shockwaves that might actually reunite Senate GOP members with their conscience.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would be acceptable as a Democrat to an awful lot of the moderate Republicans. They would not cross over for Warren or Sanders or any of the other candidates, I don't think. But with me, they watch me in city hall, even though I raised taxes on the rich, they saw me spend the money wisely, improve the school system, bring down crime, reduce homelessness.

SANDERS: I believe that we are the strongest campaign to defeat Trump. Certainly, I hope that we're going to win.

[06:25:00]

But if we do not win, we will support the winner and I know that every other candidate will do the same. We are united in understanding that we must defeat Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Let's talk now with CNN correspondent Ryan Nobles and political reporter for "The Hill," Julia Manchester. Welcome to both of you.

And, Ryan, let me start with you. You followed the Sanders campaign for quite a while now heading into the final stretch. Give us an idea of the feeling inside the campaign, the degree of confidence.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I have to say, Victor, the Sanders campaign is as confident about their standing in the race as they have been since he got in to this campaign a little less than a year ago.

They do believe the momentum is on their side right now. They often talk about the energy in the Democratic Party and they believe the energy is with Bernie Sanders and his view of social -- Democratic socialism and progressive politics. And they really believe that it's going to require energy and enthusiasm to beat Donald Trump in November.

You know, when you look at Democratic and talk to Democratic voters oftentimes they say they like Bernie Sanders. They like his policies but they are a little concerned that he might be a little too radical to beat Donald Trump in November. And that's really the one Achilles heel that Sanders has been honing in on here in the final days of the Iowa caucuses. Really pushing and trying to tell voters that he believes he actually matches up the best against Donald Trump because of the way that he is talking about these issues in a way that resonates with many voters, including some of the voters that voted Democrat in 2016 or did not -- that had voted Democrat in previous cycles and did not vote for Democrat in 2016. Instead voted for Donald Trump.

So, they feel confident. But mixed within that confidence, I should say, Victor, is a realization that this race is very tight. And there's at least four candidates that could come out on top here on Monday. So they are taking nothing for granted here in the closing days of the campaign.

BLACKWELL: Now, Julia, to you while Senator Sanders and the other members of the Senate were in Washington former Vice President Joe Biden had some time there in the state to make his closing arguments. He's still doing so this weekend.

What is it? Is he starting where he -- or ending where he started, with character and dignity and the degree of confidence that the Biden campaign has?

JULIA MANCHESTER, POLITICAL REPORTER, THE HILL: Absolutely. So I think his message definitely involves character and dignity. But he still really pushing this message of the fact that he believes he is the best candidate qualified to defeat Donald Trump in 2020. Now, that's a question that a lot of other candidates have kind of honed in on and have instead focused on maybe more proposals that they are pushing forward, trying to make themselves unique from Vice President Biden.

Vice President Biden is struggling, I would say, when it comes to enthusiasm. Remember, when compared to Bernie Sanders, Biden doesn't have that same institution on the ground or system on the ground in Iowa that Bernie Sanders has had since 2016. Biden has really much had to build this from scratch and he's relying on this message of I'm not Donald Trump, I'm the best qualified to defeat Donald Trump.

The problem with that is that it doesn't seem to be drumming up the same sort of enthusiasm that Bernie Sanders is getting. We've seen that Bernie Sanders is really gaining on this progressive groundswell of support from -- on the ground of Iowa, which is benefiting him. I also would argue that some more moderate candidates, such as Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar who have also very much campaigned on this idea of the fact that they could potentially beat Donald Trump or they're the most electable, that could kill some votes away from Biden.

BLACKWELL: We're certainly hearing that from across the top tier of candidates.

Let me play something, Ryan, for you. From the winner of the Democratic caucuses in 2016 it was a very slim win. But this is former secretary of state Hillary Clinton on a podcast this weekend talking about the Iowa caucuses. Listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is a very undemocratic way of picking a nominee. I love Iowa. I love the people in Iowa, but I'd go to like a hospital and I'd speak and I'd meet a bunch of nurses and they'd say, oh, we wish we could caucus for you but we don't get off until -- you know, it just makes no sense. And so, who knows what's going to happen. But I'll be happy to see the primaries start rolling around, because that's a much easier way for people to participate and for the outcomes to be much clearer.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Ryan, are these resonating there and I also offer to you, Secretary Clinton's name has been part of a contentious exchange this weekend with some supporters from the Sanders campaign.

NOBLES: Yes. The first thing I'd say is, when you hear Hillary Clinton talk about the Iowa caucuses in this way, it makes probably the best evidence that she's never going to run for president again because the people here in Iowa so value the caucus system and they're still such an important part of that process.

[06:30:01]

But, yes, what's interesting is the fact that we're still talking about Hillary Clinton, especially at this stage of the campaign, but it shows that there is still a lot of lingering resentment over what was really a bitter contest, the primary contest in 2016 that a lot of establishment Democrats and Clinton herself did not expect to take place.

I was at an event here on Friday night. It was before Bernie Sanders got back, where current Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was part of a panel discussion where previous comments by Clinton were brought up, where Clinton talked about Bernie Sanders in a very derisive way and said that a lot of people don't like him. The crowd booed. They tried to temp down the boos, until he said, no, it was okay to boo. And that, again, shows these wounds that still exist between these two sides.

And I actually caught last night with Michael Moore, the Academy Award-winning film director. He's been serving as a surrogate here for Bernie Sanders. He actually rushed to Tlaib's support yesterday after this all came down. And this is what he told me about the current state of affairs between Clinton supports and supporters of Bernie Sanders. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MOORE, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: Nobody out there in Michigan or Wisconsin or Pennsylvania is thinking about 2016 now. We're thinking about how many people have lost their homes because they couldn't pay their medical bills. That's all we're talking about. That's all we're thinking about.

And I'm sure it was sad that when her mentioned, the audience reacted that way. But I think it's because the people, the public have moved on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: And so I do think that that's what the Sanders campaign would rather be talking about here in the closing days of the campaign. They feel they are winning the argument when it comes to the issues. They prefer that's where the conversation take place, and that's what they're going to focus here as we just lead up to these Iowa caucuses now just hours away.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN NEW DAY: Hours away indeed. Ryan Nobles there for us in Cedar Rapids, and Julia Manchester from Washington, thank you so much.

And be sure to watch State of the Union this morning. Jake Tapper will talk with Pete Buttigieg about the final hours leading up to the caucus. Senator Joni Ernst is also on the show. That's State of the Union with Jake Tapper today 9:00 Eastern only on CNN.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN NEW DAY: I don't know if you're counting down to the game or to the food. But either way, kickoff for Super Bowl LIV in Miami, 12 hours away now.

BLACKWELL: Andy Scholes is beating the crowd and already at the stadium. Andy, are you counting down to the game or the food?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I do both, Victor. I love me some football and I love to grub while I'm watching it. And this Super Bowl LIV is shaping up to be one of the best we've had in a long time. One of the closest matchups ever, Chiefs/49ers, we'll hear what both teams are saying, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:00]

PAUL: All right, here it is, Super Bowl LIV kicking off just a few hours from now in Miami.

BLACKWELL: Andy Scholes is already there at the stadium with more. Andy, it's a big day, the big day.

SCHOLES: It certainly is, Victor and Christi. And you know what? This is one of the most anticipated Super Bowl matchup we've seen in a long time. The Chiefs haven't been to the Super Bowl in 50 years. 49ers one of the most storied franchises in NFL history, they're looking for their sixth title. They haven't won one in 25 years. So like I said, the anticipation for this game, it's big and the ticket prices are reflecting that, guys.

Just to get into Hard Rock Stadium tonight, the cheapest ticket on StubHub right now, going to cost you more than $6,000. It could go down as the most expensive ticket in Super Bowl history.

Now, once the game start, all eyes are going to be on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He's the big story this year, could make some history, be the first player in NFL history if he wins this game to win both an MVP award and Super Bowl before turning 25 years old. Now, the Chiefs, they don't want to play like they did early in this one, like they did in the two previous playoffs games when they fell behind by 24 points to the Texans and ten to the Titans. It would be a tough task to come back against this 49ers team because they have an amazing defense and a great running game. Here's what both teams were saying ahead of Super Bowl LIV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: Hopefully, we don't get down, like we have the last few games. But, I mean, the best thing about this team is we've learned how to win in different ways.

TRAVIS KEICE, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS TIGHT END: Just being accountable, not letting the game get too big for you. I know the lights are going to be bright. The energy is going to be going crazy in there.

JIMMY GAROPPOLO, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS QUARTERBACK: Being prepared throughout the week is really what will make you most steady and calm before the game. If you're not prepared, then, yes, you'll go in there with your hair on fire.

RICHARD SHERMAN, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS, CORNERBACK: Once you kick off and all the cameras flash one time, it ends up just being football.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. The NFL handing out awards last night. And no surprise, Lamar Jackson of the Ravens winning this year's the league MVP. second youngest player behind only Jim Brown to get the award, Jackson just 22 years old. He was also the second unanimous MVP ever. Tom Brady the other when he won the award back in 2010.

All right, now, big part of Super Bowl week is always the parties around town, and one of the most exclusive events every year the Fanatics party on Saturday afternoon. I got the chance to go. And I caught up with a bunch of athletes and celebrities to get their predictions for the big game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRY SANDERS, HALL OF FAME RUNNING BACK: I would probably lean towards the Niners just because it's probably more balanced on that side. But what do I know?

NICK LACHEY, SINGER: I literally grew up hating the 49ers. So I'm all Chiefs. I'm all Chiefs.

JOE BURROW, HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER: I'm good friends with Nick Bosa. I got to go 49ers.

ALEX PALL, MUSIC PRODUCER, THE CHAINSMOKERS: Chiefs all the way. It's going to be a good though. It's going to be a really good game. I think it's going to be a low-score game weirdly enough, yes.

DR. OZ, T.V. PERSONALITY: One subtle little mental mistake can change the game. And I see it's going to the Chiefs by one.

EMMITT SMITH, HALLF OF FAME RUNNING BACK: I got to go with the defense wins the championships, I'm sorry, man.

[06:40:01]

I'm sorry. I do.

SCHOLES: You got the Niners.

SMITH: Plus, they are at the NFC. We need got to get us a Super Bowl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. Now, they're part of the Super Bowl every year, of course, all the wagering and fun bets you can do. And, guys, I looked through some of the fun prop bets. These are some of my favorites. Will Kyle Shanahan blow a 28-2 lead? He enforces the Falcon's offensive coordinator when when they had that debacle a few years ago. That pays 100 to 1 if you think he's going to do it again.

Jennifer Lopez, how many wardrobe changes is she going to have? Two- and-a-half is the number, over the favorite there. Who is going to get a political ad in first? Is it going to be President Trump or Bloomberg? Trump the favorite there as well.

And, guys, this I found this fascinating, what color Gatorade is going to be poured on the winning coach? Purple, the heavy favorite. I guess the people who set these lines must have done some research and found that the Chiefs and Niners both love that grape Gatorade.

BLACKWELL: Well, a folk would take your money for anything, won't they? They will take your money for anything.

PAUL: And what is two-and-a-half changes? Does that mean she's only changing into half an outfit?

BLACKWELL: Well, you just take the bottom half, a shorts or something. I don't know. Thank you, Andy.

So 15 of the last 16 Super Bowls have featured an AFC team led by Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger or Peyton Manning at quarterback position, but not this year.

PAUL: Tonight, Patrick Mahomes becomes just the 7th African-American quarterback to start in a Super Bowl.

Carron Phillips, Senior Columnist for The Shadow League, with us now. So, Carron, listen, this is a 24-year-old, I say, kid, not really, but young man, leading the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl in 50 years. At the end of the day, how much is on this kid's shoulders?

CARRON PHILLIPS, SENIOR COLUMNIST, THE SHADOW LEAGUE: A lot when you think about how the Chiefs were a couple plays away last year. I guess the Patriots in the AFC championship game, and now we've seen this playoff run, these huge comebacks they've had. So when you think about the hot start that Patrick Mahomes has had in his career, you think about this rise the Chiefs have been on for 50 years, people in Kansas City are going nuts. They need this. They want this. And it's all on the back of number 15. We'll see if he can get it done. We're a couple hours away from the game. So we'll see tonight.

BLACKWELL: You write about the intersection of sports and culture. So beyond Mahomes being 24, an African-American quarterback, the addition of pressures and the tension that come with that, explain to us what he's facing essentially off the field as he faces this game tonight.

PHILLIPS: You know, we just saw in that package there, like Lamar Jackson won MVP, right? When you think about tonight, Mahomes becomes the seventh black quarterback to have a start in the Super Bowl. There have been eight appearances because Russell Wilson did it twice. And that's a footnote that we always forget. And sometimes we miss the mark on it.

But still, here we are in 2020 and we're still having, despite the conversation about black coaches in the NFL, it's still only the seventh black quarterback to play in the biggest game. So that narrative and that conversation about black coaches and black QBs, can they be leaders on the field, can they be leaders of men, can they lead their team to victory, all these little anecdotal sayings we always hear in football. This is still going on all the way back from when Doug Williams did it back in the day.

BLACKWELL: You wrote something in a recent article, writing this. Black artists have been excluded from this year's performances, talking about halftime performance, of course, just months after Jay Z's Roc Nation group signed a deal with the NFL that would advise on selecting artists for major NFL performances like the Super Bowl.

I think that confuses a lot of people. Are you saying that Jay Z is excluding black artist from performing?

PHILLIPS: No. What I'm saying is we won't have any black artists that are headlining. Now, will I be surprised or shocked if someone comes out and there is a guest appearance somewhere? It wouldn't blow my mind if that happened.

Here in Atlanta, we had Big Boy come out last year but he wasn't the headliner. You think in a city like Atlanta, you would have a hip hop or an R&B artist out. We had Maroon 5 and then Big Boy was kind of like side act. But when Jay Z made this deal and part of it was that you have these concerts. We had Meek Mill and Meghan Trainor at the beginning of the season. It just kind of made no sense putting those two together.

But now at the Super Bowl, I understand it. It's Miami. J.Lo and Shakira make sense. But Miami also has a long history of hip hop and R&B singers, especially down in the south in Miami with the Miami base. It means that's been going on for decades. You just thought it would have been a little bit more, to use the word, diversity, with the halftime show. And Jay Z signing on this deal, you thought maybe it would have happened this year. But we see it hasn't unless there're some surprises tonight, but not a headliner.

BLACKWELL: Still looking for the fruit of this partnership. We'll see what that is. Maybe it will be more evident tonight. Carron Phillips, thanks so much.

PHILLIPS: Thanks for having me.

BLACKWELL: So the Congressional Budget Office is projecting a federal deficit of $1 trillion, more than that in 2020.

[06:45:06]

So while the president touts the stock market and job numbers, those might not tell the whole story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unemployment rate sinking to a 49-year low.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unemployment for African-Americans fell to a new low.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unemployment for Hispanics at an all-time record low.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: And, ladies and gentlemen, the best is yet to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: That just part of President Trump's Super Bowl ad, one of them that's set to air tonight.

[06:50:00]

And he's continuing to tout his economy, of course. Important to remember, the stock market and job numbers don't always tell the whole story.

Joining us, Chris Burns, he's a financial planner and host of the radio show, Dynamic Money. Good morning to you, Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, HOST, DYNAMIC MONEY: Good morning.

PAUL: Listen, there is no doubt that there are numbers can be propped up to the president. How much credit does he deserve in this case?

BURNS: Well, he should be pushing this. I mean, this is by far the cleanest way for him to move forward in his campaign. Because there are really great things for middle class Americans right now. We can't deny the reality that unemployment is incredibly low, that we're in the longest bull market in history, the job numbers are looking really good, even consumer spending is good.

So in the short-term, there's a lot going on that would make a middle class person go, my life isn't bad economically. The real question is, long-term, what --

PAUL: Yes, how sustainable is it?

BURNS: Well, that's the question.

So think about tax cuts for a second. When we did the tax cuts, that definitely stimulated the economy, and we've seen growth because of that. So that's basically like a household lowering its revenue. Like if you lost 20 percent of your income because we lowered taxes.

And the idea was, okay, we're going to see economic growth that's going to make up for that. But at the same time, in an incredible bipartisan fashion, you talk333333333 about the government never working together, that's not true. They are great at spending our money. So the last two years, the government has passed remarkably high spending bills. So we had a $1.3 trillion bill. The president said, I will never sign something like that again. He was right.

He came back the next year, a few months ago and signed a $1.4 trillion spending bill. So we have over a trillion dollar deficit last year. And now, the CBO, which just came out with the report last week, saying those deficits are going to continue at least for the next decade and long-term.

So the real question is, what's the long-term impact of maybe right now we stimulated the economy but we're going to have this incredible debt going forward.

PAUL: So what does that mean? What does that deficit mean for people who are sitting home this morning?

BURNS: Yes. The hard part is it doesn't mean much for people sitting at home this morning. And that's why I think no one really cares about it. We care about our 401(k) going up. The S&P 500 was up almost 30 percent last year. We care about, do I have a job.

And so you'll notice a lot of the strategic things this administration has done is going to feel very good in the short-term and people don't seem to care. Like we just got a report out that farm bankruptcies were really up last year.

PAUL: Yes, by 20 percent, right?

BURNS: Yes. So that matters economically. But how much does that actually matter to a normal voter? If you're not a farmer, if you're not living in the Midwest, are you sitting and worried about the fact that farm bankruptcies are up? Will that have a long-term impact? Sure. But the president is right to think, you know what, for most people, they care about how does this impact me.

So when we look at the China, for instance, a few weeks ago, we were about to levy these massive tariffs on consumer goods. The consumer goods would have been actually hitting your wallet if you're going out Christmas shopping. But suddenly, all of a sudden, within a few days, miraculously, a deal is struck, right, because we can't impact the regular Middle class Americans. That would impact votes far too much for 2020.

PAUL: So when we say short-term, I want to point this out, the president told The Washington Post in April of 2016, we're not a rich country. We're a debtor nation. We've got to get rid of this $19 trillion in debt. I think I could do it fairly quickly. I would say over a period of eight years.

We're in year four right now. So if he gets re-elected, there're four more years. When we talk about short-term, what possibly could he do in that amount of time to turn this around?

BURNS: Yes. Nothing is showing this is going to turn around. I mean, honestly, statistically speaking, the debt has increased dramatically. And a CBO report says, there is nothing telling us it's going to change, especially because, in the end, if Congress keeps passing these massive spending bills, the White House is going to say, look, we only have what they bring to our desk. Unless we want to shut the government down, we have to move forward with them and everybody blames everybody else.

So it's easy to say, yes, we're going to take care of the debt. But unless we have some sort of bipartisan movement to make hard decisions there, which we have not seen, it's not going to happen.

PAUL: All right. Chris Burns, always glad to have you on. Thank you.

BURNS: Okay. Thank you so much.

PAUL: Sure. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:00]

BLACKWELL: There's a lot going on, right? You've got the impeachment trial, the Super Bowl is today, the Iowa caucuses, the closing arguments, the State of the Union. So it's okay if you missed some of the big stories this weekend. We're going to get those to you right now.

Here are five them. The trump administration loosened Obama era restrictions on the U.S. military's ability to use land mines. Now, those weapons have been banned by more than 160 countries, and that's because of their history of killing and wounding civilians.

The Supreme Court voted to allow the Trump administration to make it more difficult for low-income immigrants to stay in the U.S. legally. Now, the rule change impacts people who rely on public assistance, including most forms of Medicaid, food stamps, housing vouchers. It could affect people who are trying to get a green card.

The New York Times says, President Trump weakened a more than 100- year-old environmental law protecting migratory birds. The administration announced that it would not punish construction crews or other organizations that incidentally killed birds since a company should be able to operate without fear of prosecution.

The House voted to rein in President Trump's ability to take military action against Iran. One resolution prohibits funding for military offensive attacks against or in Iran without congressional authorization. Now, the second repeals the 2002 authorization for the use of military force in Iraq.

[07:00:02]

It all stems from the U.S. military strike that took out a top Iranian general in December. Remember, that happened in the House.