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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Biden, GOP Senators Still Far Apart on COVID Relief After Meeting; Fierce Winter Storm Slams Northeast With Record Snowfall; Fauci Urges Vaccinations to Stop New Virus Variants; Trump's New Legal Team to File Impeachment Response by Noon; Countdown to Super Bowl LV. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired February 02, 2021 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:30]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is EARLY START. I'm Boris Sanchez, in for Christine Romans.
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Great to see you, Boris. I'm Laura Jarrett. It's Tuesday, February 2nd. It's 5:00 a.m. here in New York.
And we start this morning with Republicans sounding hopeful about a deal with the Biden administration on a new pandemic rescue plan. But the reality is, there's a very long way to go to bridge the funding gap. Biden met with a group of Republican senators for two hours in the Oval Office last night.
The GOP plan proposing a third of the $1.9 trillion Democrats are looking for.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): It was a very good exchange of views. I wouldn't say we came together on a package tonight. No one expected that in a two-hour meeting, but what we did agree to do is to follow up and talk further.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: The devil of course is in the details. There's plenty of disagreement on policy and dollar amounts between the White House plan and the Republican proposal.
SANCHEZ: Yeah. It's unclear how much Republicans are willing to go up or how much Biden may come down. But a top White House aide suggests not much.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CEDRIC RICHMOND, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: Everything in this pandemic is designed to help people who are suffering from the pandemic, whether it's childcare, whether it's the earned income tax credit, whether it's child tax credit, which will lift 4 million kids out of poverty this year. And it's all based on the pandemic.
So, look, we are more than willing to keep engaging, but at the end of the day what the president and vice president won't do is compromise their values or let the American people down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have taken the first steps towards reconciliation, a budget maneuver that would allow the Biden relief act to pass with a simple majority. But that would mean holding on to every single Democratic vote in the Senate, and it's not clear if Democrats have that right now, and, of course, giving in to Republican demands could cost them even more votes.
JARRETT: The Northeast this morning crippled by record snowfall and it's not over yet. Parts of Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont will all see over a foot of snow today. The fierce winter storm haunting emergency declarations across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, and, by the way, shutting down crucial vaccination sites.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, parts of northern New Jersey have seen more than two feet of snow. More than one foot of snow covering Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania. And watch this harrowing scene, firefighters in Stamford, Connecticut, rescuing two people in a submerged truck. One of them had been trapped inside, really incredible moments.
JARRETT: Yeah, very scary there.
Well, CNN's Polo Sandoval is live for us this morning in New York City. Again, right in the thick of it. Polo, this snowstorm among the top 20 of all time to hit New York and it's still coming down.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's certainly one to remember, right, Laura? And, you know, yesterday with the ban on nonessential travel in the city, most businesses decided to close up shop.
Today, of course, they do have hopes of trying to open back up. But they're going to have to deal with a lot of the streets. For example, it's going to be a slushy commute not just here in New York City but surrounding regions, obviously, after all the snow that fell.
Here in Central Park as we go this way, think about 16 inches of snow here. So, it's obviously going to be quite the cleanup process here. But you touched on New Jersey, over 30 inches of snow there, obviously going to be quite the cleanup effort.
Also in terms of those vaccinations that you mentioned a while ago, those highly sought after vaccination appointments at about five locations here in New York City, those are going to be rescheduled for later this week and possibly next week. Obviously, officials are keeping some of the older folks off the streets and safe at home so that was one of the big concerns. But meantime, really, it's all going to be about the cleanup and trying to get the city back online. This morning, commuter trains, subway trains we're told they're back online.
As for school, that's going to continue to be at home at least for now. Some students expected to head back tomorrow that's if nothing changes in the next few hours, Laura.
JARRETT: Yeah, the good news is New York City no longer under a winter storm warning. Just getting the alert coming through here now.
Polo, thank you. We will see you back in a little bit.
SANDOVAL: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Glad to hear the news.
Blizzard-like conditions, though, not the only threat today. Let's bring in CNN's Chad Myers.
Chad, coastal flooding could potentially put millions in harm's way.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely.
[05:05:01]
We saw it yesterday, Boris, at high tide, with water in parking lots along Long Island, along Staten Island, up and down New Jersey. And now, that wind is going to blow water into Boston harbor and all the way really into Maine for that matter. We have 30 inches, the big number right now.
People still waking up and measuring. So, I think these numbers may grow up a little bit at Morris County, New Jersey, really picked up between 24 and 30. We'll talk about those bull's eyes, those bull's eyes that we show on the map, the models did so phenomenally well with this storm. Right now, still snowing in New Jersey, parts of Pennsylvania and even Upstate New York. The heaviest snow into upstate New York and into Maine right now.
Lighter snow in New York and it will pick up as this area of snow slides off to the east. But we're not expecting major snow accumulations in New York City. Probably just another one to two -- most of that snow, most of moisture is now on the northern part of the system, up here in the northern tier from Rutland ski area all the way back up even to parts of Maine. That's where the heaviest snow will be today and it finally pulls away.
What you're noticing down here is the wind. The wind, I saw some pictures out of New Hampshire, it did look like a blizzard, at least a ground blizzard. You couldn't see 15 feet in front of some of these pictures I was seeing. So, it was quite an ugly day, still getting better today, but not over.
SANCHEZ: Important to keep in mind as we move towards the next few hours. We'll check back in with you in just a few minutes.
Chad Myers, thanks so much.
MYERS: Sure.
JARRETT: Coming up for you, even as vaccinations start to climb, so does the number of coronavirus variants. It's a race against time to use the former to beat the latter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:10:50]
SANCHEZ: Overnight, new moves from Democratic lawmakers on mask as health officials worry about a number of more contagious coronavirus variants. Members of Congress are calling on President Biden to consider invoking the Defense Production Act to provide higher quality face coverings to the public. They also recommend using the U.S. Postal Service to get them out the door.
You might recall similar plans abandoned by the Trump administration in the early days of the pandemic.
JARRETT: These variants nothing to take lightly. A woman in Alabama and her two young daughters clinging to hope after her husband was diagnosed with the U.K. variant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He went to emergency to support his heart. We went from COVID test to learning about a heart problem to having surgery to support my heart in less than 24 hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: The variants in the U.S. are likely far more widespread than we know now and the CDC says the U.S. is on target to sequence at least 7,000 samples a week but it would take 50 to 100,000 to match what the U.K. is doing.
SANCHEZ: There is good news here. The percentage of available vaccines being given is now up to 65 percent. The pace is picking up.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says that more shots in more arms is the best way to stop these new variants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you stop their replication by vaccinating widely and not giving the virus an open playing field to continue to respond to the pressures that you put on it, you will not get mutations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And a big boost for at-home testing to share with you. The White House has a deal to get 100,000 over the counter tests to the U.S. every month through July. These tests have to come from Australia until a U.S. factory is built. Officials say the tests provide 95 percent accurate results in only 15 minutes.
JARRETT: By noon today, former President Trump's new legal team will file its formal impeachment response. The schedule's already in place with the trial set to begin next week.
And CNN has learned that Trump's bogus claims of election fraud are not expected to be a focal point for his attorneys. That doesn't mean they won't come up -- as we get more on all of this and the impeachment strategies at play from Manu Raju on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Laura and Boris.
Now, today is the day we will start to see the arguments laid out for the impeachment trial of Donald Trump that will occur in the Senate next week, but today, we'll see those briefs being filed to the Senate detailing each side.
On the House Democratic side, I am told from sources involved in the planning that they plan to detail a methodical case laying out Donald Trump in their view intentional act to incite the rioters who came to Capitol Hill on January 6th and led to the deadly violence on that day as Congress is trying to certify Joe Biden's electoral victory. They're going to talk about how Donald Trump acted before the election, right after the election and then in that speech to those rally-goers on January 6th. They're also going to make the case that this is a constitutional proceeding.
That is important to them because Republicans in the Senate have dismissed the idea that this is a constitutional act. That is what you can expect to hear from Trump's defense team arguing that this should not be done by the Senate in creates a dangerous precedent.
One of the big questions, though, is how will they deal with the conspiracy theories and lies that the former president has said, that the election was stolen, it was rigged, votes were changed. Will they make that case before the United States Senate?
One Republican senator I talked yesterday, John Cornyn of Texas, told me it would be a disservice in his view, a, quote, disservice for the president's team to make that case on the Senate floor. Will they listen to John Cornyn or are they going to listen to Donald Trump is still an open question as we wait for these arguments later today -- guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Manu Raju reporting from Capitol Hill.
It turns out there was another reason that Trump's impeachment lawyer quit earlier this week -- money.
[05:15:03] A source confirms to CNN Trump balked at the $3 million price tag for trying the case. Trump has long been accused of failing to pay his bills, but it seems Butch Bowers was not willing to take the risk.
Trump's entire legal team bailed on him just a few days ago. Sources say it's partly because they did not want to use that voter fraud defense that Trump has been insisting on.
JARRETT: Still ahead, a personal revelation all too familiar from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. We'll tell you what she said and why she's opening up now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:20:02]
JARRETT: For the first time, Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is revealing she's a survivor of sexual assault. AOC describing the trauma on top of more trauma in the context of the attack on the U.S. Capitol last month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): The reason I say this and the reason I'm getting emotional in this moment is because these folks who tell us to move on, that it's not a big deal, that we should forget what's happened or even telling us to apologize, these are the same tactics of abusers, and I'm a survivor of sexual assault.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Ocasio-Cortez went on to share other terrifying details from January 6th. She recalls hiding in a bathroom when she heard a man banging on doors yelling, quote, where is she? She says she thought was one of the insurrectionists but it turns out he was a capitol police officer.
SANCHEZ: Fallen capitol police officer Brian Sicknick will lie in honor tonight in the U.S. capitol rotunda. It's the same location overrun by that MAGA mob last month. Officer Sicknick died after being injured during the hours long fight for control on the capitol. He's going to have a ceremonial arrival on the east front followed by a viewing period for members of the capitol police overnight. So far, there have been no arrests in connection with his death.
JARRETT: Law enforcement forces say the capitol riot case is the biggest FBI investigation since 9/11. The newest charges are against a man whose attack on a capitol officer was caught on video.
CNN's Jessica Schneider has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Laura and Boris, we are learning just how carefully investigators are examining each person who participated in the insurrection and how the video of these rioters recorded themselves are now leading to arrests. One of the latest to be charged is Ryan Stephen Samsel.
Prosecutors are pointing to him as one of the first rioters to breach the barrier. And they say he stormed the bicycle (ph) wrapped barriers which knocked a female officer to the ground and gave her a concussion.
Prosecutors saying in a court filing that Samsel then approached this fallen officer and said, we don't have to hurt you. Why are you standing in our way?
Samsel is now charged with assaulting an officer, but it has also been revealed he is out on parole and wanted for assault in New Jersey. This comes as CNN has identified at least 21 current and former members of the military who have been charged related to the riot and at least eight members of the far right group the Proud Boys -- Laura and Boris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JARRETT: Jessica, thank you for that.
Immigration on the agenda at the White House today. President Biden will unveil new executive actions, just the beginning of rolling back the Trump era.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:28:01]
SANCHEZ: The week of festivities leading up to Super Bowl LV getting off to a low key start. Andy Scholes has this morning's "Bleacher Report".
Good evening, Andy.
And even though the festivities may have started off low key, I think this has the makings of a potentially classic game.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yeah. We're hoping to have an amazing Super Bowl on Sunday, Boris, between Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes.
And, you know, usually opening night is when the festivities really get going. You feel the electricity in the air and they meet with the media answering silly questions. Fans are usually even on hand to watch that event. This year though all of it being done virtually.
And, you know, as we just kind of mentioned, Super Bowl LV has arguably the most intriguing quarterback match-up ever. You've got the greatest of all time, Tom Brady. Six-time Super Bowl champ going up against Patrick Mahomes looking for back-to-back titles at just 25 years old. Both of these quarterbacks, they've got nothing but admiration for one another.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TOM BRADY, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS QUARTERBACK: I really admire Patrick for the kind of player he is. He has great command of his team. I know his teammates love playing with him. He's got great charisma and I think when I see Patrick, I see someone who was, again -- you know, none of these moments are too big for him.
PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: As I continue in my career, I'm going to try to do whatever I can to watch the tape on him, because he's doing it the right way. You can tell by how many Super Bowl championships he has and the rings are on his fingers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Guys, I mentioned a moment ago, all of these interviews were done virtually. And many of the players weren't very fond of (AUDIO GAP).
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, what's up, man? What do we got?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just sitting here in a room by myself right now.
BRADY: How come I don't get to see them at all? Why do I just get to see me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm supposed to be seeing by the way. I can't see you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whose office is this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm all alone with myself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The juices aren't flowing as much as if you're in a room with media people.
BRADY: I've got to get a picture of this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: All right. In the NBA last night, the Lakers at the Hawks. Fourth quarter.
