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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Biden Seeks Partisan Support For New COVID Relief Package; Article of Impeachment Against Trump Heading To Senate; Biden Faces Foreign Policy Challenge With Russia. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired January 25, 2021 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:30:34]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning -- good Monday morning, this is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Laura Jarrett. About 30 minutes past the hour here in New York.

And new overnight, the Biden White House launching a full-court press to drum up bipartisan support for the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package, working through the weekend and holding a call with senators on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XAVIER BECERRA, SECRETARY-DESIGNATE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: The president has put forward not just a plan, it's a rescue plan that should be followed by a recovery plan. But first, you've got to rescue the people, you've got to rescue the economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: The White House faces a tricky dynamic here. Democrats are, of course, in control of the Senate, but at the moment, Republicans still run the agenda. The two sides struggling to reach a power- sharing deal in an evenly divided chamber.

ROMANS: Yes. The main dispute here is the filibuster, which the minority party could use to hold up legislation. Republicans want guarantees Democrats won't gut it. But, Sen. Chuck Schumer won't meet that demand, with progressives angling to push through Biden's agenda.

Now, this morning, the White House launches a week of themed events. Today, it's "Buy American," directly government agencies to source goods made in the U.S. The rest of the week focuses on racial equality, the climate crisis, healthcare, and immigration.

JARRETT: The ongoing priority for this White House, of course, is coronavirus, but some senators appear leery of spending another $2 trillion after greenlighting $900 billion late last year. Senators on both sides of the aisle who were on that White House call want more evidence of where any of the new money will go and to make sure it's going where it's needed most.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): I think people recognize it's important that we don't borrow hundreds of billions -- actually, trillions of dollars from the Chinese for things that may not be absolutely necessary. This is a time for us to act with prudence and care and that's why -- by the way, why we have two parties. Why we have people looking at one another and making sure there's not some kind of excess that would be not good long-term for the American people.

SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): We asked for more data. There were a lot of nerds on this call and we want the backup. We wanted to know if you're -- if the White House is saying we need to do $130 billion of school aid, what's the backup for that. Where did that number come from?

So that's on the White House. We're expected to hear from them in the next 24-48 hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: In reality, the power-sharing agreement or lack thereof may force the White House to use a legislative loophole to push the COVID bill through. CNN has reported Senate Democrats have been laying the groundwork to use a process call reconciliation. It's a budgeting process that only requires a simple majority to pass.

ROMANS: All right. The pandemic has pushed inequality into the spotlight.

New data from Oxfam shows it only took nine months for the world's top 1,000 billionaires to recover their fortunes after the pandemic hit. The organization says it could take a decade for the poorest to recover. Oxfam also found the pandemic could increase economic inequality in almost every country at once, the first time that has happened.

Americans are facing hunger as they choose between paying bills and putting food on the table. You have seen the lines for the food pantries from coast-to-coast. That continues every day.

And women are dropping out of the labor force to take care of children who are out of school or to take care of elderly family. Frontline workers often earning low wages and with little savings have to decide between a paycheck and putting their health at risk.

Even though stocks fell in the early months of the pandemic they have roared back, repeatedly hitting record highs, partly thanks to the unprecedented help from the Fed. But Main Street and Wall Street are not the same. Oxfam urged Congress to pass more stimulus and invest in jobs and supports the childcare industry, which will help get women back to work here.

But the inequality of this coronavirus pandemic has just been shocking to witness. And I will say that what is on the table here -- $1.9 trillion in aid -- that's not stimulus. That is income replacement and rescue just to get us to the other end of this thing.

JARRETT: Just for survival, really.

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: Well, the House will deliver a single Article of Impeachment against former President Donald Trump to the Senate today.

CNN has learned that dozens of influential Republicans, including former top Trump administration officials, have been privately lobbying Republican members of Congress to convict Trump. The effort is not coordinated but it does reflect a broader battle inside the GOP between Trump loyalists and those who want to sever ties with the former president forever. At the same time, a path to conviction is extremely narrow with more Republicans speaking out against the proceedings.

[05:35:02]

Trump's second Senate impeachment trial is scheduled to begin on February ninth.

ROMANS: President Biden is expected to repeal the Trump administration's ban on transgender people serving in the military. The change could happen as early as today.

Under President Trump, most troops were required to serve according to the sex they were assigned at birth, and they were barred from taking hormones.

The White House is not commenting on President Biden's plan but his newly-confirmed Defense secretary, Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, said during his Senate confirmation hearing last week that he supported the president's plan to overturn the ban.

JARRETT: Coronavirus vaccines are starting to pick up nationwide, but dwindling supply is a big concern in many states.

CNN has reporters covering the pandemic coast-to-coast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN REPORTER/PRODUCER (on camera): I'm Paul Vercammen in California.

Two big storylines. One, the vaccines are still lagging way behind what the state will need to get the vaccines completed by 2021. It's been a struggle to get vaccines -- so much so that people are euphoric when they get them. One man exclaiming the hunt is over and celebrating.

On a very, very tough front, the death toll continues to be just ghastly in California. Funeral directors saying they are absolutely stressed.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Evan McMorris-Santoro outside Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. This stadium was supposed to become the site of the largest vaccine distribution site in New York City starting this week. But now the mayor's office is telling us that plan is contingent upon the availability of the vaccine, something very much in question here in New York City now.

On Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said this state is running out of vaccine and isn't expected to get more until mid-week. He's urging the federal government to get this state more vaccine doses. He says he has the capacity to put 100,000 in people's arms per day -- he just needs the vaccine to do it.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Natasha Chen in Atlanta.

Publix grocery stores is now offering vaccines in three states -- Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. Walmart is also offering vaccines in seven states now, plus Chicago and Puerto Rico.

The director of communications for Publix told me the Achilles' heel right now is way more demand than supply. In fact, they opened up new appointment slots on Friday in Florida. More than 48,000 appointments were taken up within 2 1/2 hours.

She also said they are working with each state's governors on different eligibility guidelines and the locations where their services may be most needed.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.

As of this morning, Massachusetts has done away with a stay-at-home advisory and also a curfew on businesses. Last week, Gov. Charlie Baker announced an end to the restrictions that were requiring establishments close early and that people leave their home only for essential reasons after 10:00 p.m. and before 5:00 a.m. The governor citing COVID numbers that he says are going in a better direction after peaking in early January.

Across the board, limits on capacity at businesses -- those are going to stay in place for at least a couple of weeks.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Coy Wire in Atlanta.

The University of Michigan has halted all sports for the next two weeks after cases of a more transmissible variant of COVID-19 were found in people with ties to the athletic department. There will be no games, practices, or individual training sessions until further notice and all student-athletes, coaches, and staff will have to isolate for up 14 days.

Michigan's men's basketball team was scheduled to play four games over the next two weeks. The women's team was supposed to play five. There's no word from the school about games scheduled beyond February seventh. (END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, thanks to our correspondents for those reports.

Dr. Deborah Birx now says she could have been more outspoken as a top official on President Trump's Coronavirus Task Force. Birx tells CBS there were people inside the White House who definitely believed coronavirus was a hoax -- inside the White House. She is convinced there were multiple competing sets of COVID data coming into the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DEBORAH BIRX, FORMER COORDINATOR, TRUMP CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE: I saw the president presenting graphs that I never made. So I know that someone -- or someone out there or someone inside was creating a parallel set of data and graphics that were shown to the president. I know what I sent up and I know that what was in his hands was different from that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Dr. Birx says she knows from watching some of the tapes that Dr. Scott Atlas brought in his own collection of data.

Dr. Birx says she felt the only way she could convey her message about the virus was to leave Washington and take the truth on the road. She traveled to 40 states. Dr. Birx said these trips allowed her to speak freely with less concern over backlash from the White House.

JARRETT: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has tested positive for coronavirus. He's one of the highest-ranking officials worldwide to now test positive. Lopez Obrador says his symptoms are mild and he's receiving medical treatment.

[05:40:00]

He will continue his duties from the presidential palace and plans to speak with Vladimir Putin today about Russia's vaccine.

Mexico is one of 17 countries in the world that has reported more than one million COVID-19 cases.

ROMANS: Israel is taking extreme measures to stop coronavirus variants from entering that country, virtually shuttering its main international airport for the next week. All incoming flights by non- Israeli airlines are banned and Israeli airlines are expected to cancel all flights with the exception for medical treatment, funerals, and legal proceedings.

Israel has seen weeks of soaring infections and deaths, but also one of the world's highest vaccination rates.

JARRETT: Well, after a free pass from the Trump administration for the last four years, Russia is now lashing out at the Biden administration as massive protests spread across the country. Fred Pleitgen is live in Moscow this morning. Fred, I know you've been covering these protests all weekend long. What's the latest this morning?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hi, there, Laura. Well, certainly, there were very, very large protests -- certainly much larger than this country has seen in a long time.

And the interesting thing about the protests is that they were bigger than anybody would have thought beforehand and they were certainly a lot more widespread than anybody would have thought. They went through basically all of Russia's 11 time zones, all the way from the Far East to Siberia where, by the way, some people were protesting in towns at minus-60 degrees Fahrenheit -- coming out there.

The largest protests -- and we're seeing some images here -- was here in Moscow where I was on the ground and our crew was on the ground. We did see quite a heavy hand from the police.

There were certainly some interesting things that we saw as well. A lot of young people at that protest, many of them telling us that they were protesting, of course, to get Alexey Navalny freed, but also because they're unhappy with the general situation here in this country.

Also interesting is you did see the police go out in force but you also saw some of the protesters actually fighting back. That's not something that we've seen here in a very long time.

And then finally, Russian officials, as you stated, now lashing out at the U.S., accusing the U.S. of quote "encouraging radicals."

And essentially what happened was the U.S. Embassy here in Moscow put out a statement which they very frequently do. They said look, there's going to be protests in Moscow on Saturday. We urge American citizens to avoid that area. And the Russians are calling that meddling in Russian affairs by the U.S., Laura.

JARRETT: All right, Fred. Thanks for staying on top of this, as usual, for us.

We'll be right back.

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[05:46:29]

JARRETT: CNN has learned a man facing charges in the Capitol Hill insurrection has a brother in the Secret Service.

Preston J. Fairlamb, III once led Michelle Obama's security detail. And his brother, Scott Fairlamb, now faces five counts over his role in the riot as video evidence shows him shoving and punching an officer in the head on the Capitol steps. Scott Fairlamb's attorney tells CNN that Preston, the Secret Service agent, was unaware of his brother's actions during the Capitol attack. Preston Fairlamb, the Secret Service, and Michelle Obama's office have

not responded to CNN's request for comment.

ROMANS: In Indianapolis, five people and an unborn child killed early Sunday in what police there are calling the city's largest mass causality shooting in more than a decade. Officers responding to a 4:00 a.m. call found a young male shot. And less than a block away, five people, including a pregnant woman, all dead of apparent gunshot wounds. The young male is expected to survive.

Police believe this was a targeted shooting, not a random act, and say there are no named suspects. City officials have called the FBI in for assistance here.

JARRETT: A really disturbing story there.

Well, President Biden is working the phones reaching out to world leaders to build or rebuild relationships. That includes the president of Mexico since immigration is such a key part of the Biden agenda.

We get more now from CNN's Rafael Romo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was the second head of state to receive a phone call from President Joe Biden after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

According to a White House readout of the call, the two leaders agreed to work closely to stem the flow of irregular migration to Mexico and the United States, as well as to promote the development in the Northern Triangle of Central America.

A readout of the call published by the Mexican Foreign Ministry went further, saying that both leaders agreed to strengthen and tighten collaboration between their governments based on mutual respect and shared hope for the benefit of both peoples.

President Lopez Obrador was criticized both in Mexico and the United States because he did not congratulate President Biden on his November victory until after the Electoral College confirmed the results of the election. His critics also say that he was too willing to please the previous administration, sending the Mexican National Guard to reinforce Mexico's southern border at the request of then-President Trump.

President Obrador said Saturday that President Biden told him the U.S. will invest $4 billion in efforts aimed at addressing the root causes of migration from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras -- countries that form the so-called Northern Triangle.

The day before the call, Lopez Obrador also said he favors Biden's immigration initiative that would potentially legalize millions of Mexican nationals currently living in the United States.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, thank you for that report.

President Biden also spoke with top leaders in Europe, including French President Emmanuel Macron.

CNN's Cyril Vanier live in Paris. And, Cyril, France is America's oldest ally -- the first ally. What topped the agenda with these two leaders?

CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR: You know, it looks like in just one phone call, France and the U.S. turned back the clock to pre-Trump days. France described this call as friendly which normally wouldn't be noteworthy but in this case, it does raise eyebrows because, of course, the relationship between Mr. Macron and Biden's predecessor, Mr. Trump, had ended on a very sour note, indeed.

[05:50:02]

And on the U.S. side -- well, the White House readout of the call says Biden wants to strengthen not only the bilateral tie with France which, as you say, is the U.S.'s oldest ally, but also the institutions that France is a prominent part of. That's to say the European Union and the NATO military alliance.

So now, all of a sudden, France and the U.S. are once again aligned on the broad international architecture that was set up after the Second World War, right -- bilateral ties, transatlantic relationship, the E.U., and NATO.

And if you look at the issues du jour, whether it's the World Health Organization or climate change, same thing. There is a lot of commonality between the new U.S. president and Mr. Macron. He'd been a proponent of the Paris Climate Accord, a proponent of working with the WHO on the pandemic. Those are two institutions that Mr. Biden rejoined on the first -- his first day in office, Christine.

They also talked about Iran. There again, a lot of commonality. Europeans have been trying to keep the Iran Nuclear Deal on life support after Trump pulled out of it. Well now, they're dealing with somebody who was in the Obama administration that brokered the deal originally.

So, a lot, a lot of commonality. That's what comes out of these phone calls.

Now, one more thing. Look, nobody here -- everybody in Europe knows that the U.S. -- it will protect U.S. interests first.

ROMANS: Right.

VANIER: But before Trump, they believed that more often than not the U.S. could be relied on to be a force for good in the world. That was put on pause from the European perspective for a number of years and they are now back to that belief, Christine.

ROMANS: And a unified Europe -- a strong, unified Europe, of course, is also in the U.S.'s best interest. So that's what this administration believes at least -- not the prior administration.

Cyril Vanier, thank you so much for that in Paris.

JARRETT: For the first time ever, Europeans got more electricity from renewable sources than fossil fuels in 2020. An annual report from European think tanks found renewables generated 38 percent of Europe's electricity compared to 37 percent from fossil fuels.

Now, the shift comes as other sources such as wind and solar power have increased. Europe still needs to double the electricity produced from renewable sources to meet its target of reducing emissions 55 percent from 1990 levels by 2030.

ROMANS: Still, a very notable milestone there for Europe.

All right, let's get a check on CNN Business morning. Taking a look at markets around the world to start the week, European shares closed higher and -- I'm sorry, Asian shares closed higher. European shares have just turned lower in the early going. On Wall Street, so far, a quiet start to the new week -- just very small gains for Dow futures and S&P 500 futures.

Critical here, of course, is the president's $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan as he tries to sell Congress to be bold and help the frail American economy. Until then, he's moving ahead with executive orders to do what he can. Today's executive action is "Buy American," directing government agencies to purchase U.S.-made goods.

Betting on China, foreign companies are taking advantage of China's booming economy and investing there. A new report from the United Nations shows direct foreign investment in the U.S. dropped 49 percent last year. Foreign investment in China grew four percent.

Twenty-twenty marked the first year in history -- first time ever direct foreign investment in China overtook the U.S. Even though the pandemic played a large role in investment falling in the U.S., the decline began well before this pandemic. Former President Trump's go- it-alone trade policies hurt foreign investment, particularly from China.

Another retailer falls victim to the pandemic. Godiva is closing or selling all of its stores in the U.S. Less than two years ago, the luxury chocolate maker was planning a huge expansion. But Godiva relies heavily on mall traffic which, of course, has been declining even before coronavirus.

No word how many employees will lose their jobs. Godiva said it will keep stores open across Europe, the Middle East, and China.

Soon you'll be able to see where you can get the coronavirus vaccine on Google Maps. The feature will start rolling out in the coming weeks, starting in four states -- Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Google also said it is investing $150 million in funding to support education and equitable access for the vaccine and will open some Google locations to be used as vaccination sites.

JARRETT: Well finally this morning, one extremely generous diner at a Colorado restaurant left his mark in a way everyone can appreciate. The customer, known only as David, got a bill for $20.04. He left behind two things: a $1,400 tip and a message that said "COVID sucks."

Restaurant workers say when David was ready to pay he asked how many people were working that day. Then he left the $1,400 tip with instructions to give each of the seven employees $200. They say David's generosity left the entire staff smiling under their masks.

ROMANS: I love the pay it forward stories. It's so great.

JARRETT: And it just shows you how much this is needed for folks right now, right?

ROMANS: Yes.

[05:55:00]

JARRETT: Just that $200 makes a difference.

ROMANS: It sure does.

All right, Monday, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Joe Biden says the American rescue plan is a top legislative priority.

BECERRA: He can't just tell the states and the local governments here's some vaccines, now you go do it. We have to provide the resources.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): What we cannot do is wait weeks and weeks to go forward. We have got to act now.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: This will be history again as we gear up for the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): I think the trial is stupid. I think it's counterproductive. It's like taking a bunch of gasoline and pouring it on top of the fire.

ROMNEY: What we saw, which is incitement to insurrection, is an impeachable offense. If not, what is?