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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Meryl Streep Takes On Trump At Golden Globes; Russians Mock U.S. Intel Report; Team Trump: No Timeline For Replacing Obamacare; Deadly Airport Shooting Caught On Video. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired January 09, 2017 - 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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[05:31:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This week, the big leagues in the presidential transition. Confirmation hearings, a farewell address, and an actual news conference from President-elect Donald Trump, the first in six months. A whole lot of questions.

All right. Big names, big awards, but the big story at the Golden Globes, that woman right there. Meryl Streep taking direct aim at the president-elect has Hollywood and Trump Tower buzzing this morning.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman. Thirty-one minutes after the hour. Christine Romans out today.

This morning, it is safe to say Meryl Street will not be performing at Donald Trump's inauguration. Overnight, the actress sort of froze the Golden Globes award ceremony. The audience in stunned silence as she criticized the president-elect, though not by name. She was accepting a lifetime achievement award there -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERYL STREEP, ACTRESS: "There was one performance this year that stunned me. It sank its hooks in my heart. Not because it was good. There was nothing good about it but it was effective and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh and show their teeth. It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter. Someone he outranked in privilege, power, and the capacity to fight back. It kind of broke my heart when I saw it and I still can't get it out of my head because it wasn't in a movie, it was real life. And this instinct to humiliate, when it's modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody's life because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others we all lose."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I don't believe I've ever seen a Hollywood room so quiet. (Video playing) And this is the moment Meryl Street was talking about. This happened in 2015 when Donald Trump was talking about Serge Kovaleski, a disabled "New York Times" reporter, right there. You can see how he's imitating Kovaleski. Now, "The New York Times" spoke to Donald Trump after the ceremony.

He says he did not watch overnight but he was not surprised that he came under attack from what he called liberal movie people. He added, "I was never mocking anyone" -- he's talking about Serge Kovaleski -- "I was calling into question a reporter who had gotten nervous because he changed his story. And remember, Meryl Streep introduced Hillary Clinton at her convention, and a lot of these people supported Hillary."

Now, that dispute, no doubt, will go on over the course of the day. We're supposed to hear much more from the president-elect himself this week, something we've not seen for six months. For the first time since July, Donald Trump is promising to hold an actual news conference. That will be this Wednesday. He says he had one scheduled for December to discuss how he would disentangle his business from his presidency, but that one was canceled. Unclear if we will get those explanations this Wednesday.

We also have hearings for the president-elect's cabinet nominees this week and we have new questions about what he intends to do or not do about the intelligence report linking Russia to election year hacking. He did get the briefing from intelligence officials. He now acknowledges there was hacking by Russia, but not just Russia, and he does seem to blame the victim here. He blames Democrats for being hacked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, INCOMING WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: If you read his entire statement that followed the briefing on Friday, he makes very clear that Russia, China, and others have attempted to attack on different government institutions and businesses and individuals and organizations over a series of time. He specifically mentions the Democratic National Committee. If you read the full report, they make very clear -- Mr. Clapper, in his testimony, made very clear on Thursday, under oath, that any attempt -- any aspiration to influence our elections failed. They were not successful in doing that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:35:18] BERMAN: All right. The hacking will come up at hearings this week -- lots of hearings for the president-elect's cabinet nominees. Jeff Sessions up for attorney general, John Kelly up for Homeland Security. That begins on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Rex Tillerson, who will be nominated for Secretary of State; Elaine Chao, Transportation secretary; Mike Pompeo, CIA director; Betsy Devos, Education secretary. Then on Thursday, Gen. James Mattis will be nominated to head up the Pentagon.

Now, Democrats are saying they have not received all the paperwork they want or need for these hearings. The head of Office of Government Ethics has written to senators Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer, warning that his staff is under undue pressure to rush through nominees' vetting. The Trump team has pushed back in a statement saying the transition is running smoothly and lamenting that "some have chosen to politicize the process." Some Republican lawmakers are offering assurances that Donald Trump will not be overly friendly to Russia. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell told CBS that the proof of that is in the national security nominees and in recent history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MAJORITY LEADER: I don't think it's all that unusual for a new president to want to get along with the Russians. I remember George W. Bush having the same hope. My suspicion is these hopes will be dashed pretty quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Russian lawmakers and commentators greeted the intelligence report on election hacking with open scorn. Their barrage of tweets focused mainly on the fact that the unclassified version of the report offered assurances and confidence, but no hard evidence. We're going to get much more on this. I want to bring in Jill Dougherty, a global fellow with the Woodrow Wilson Center and CNN's former Moscow bureau chief. Jill, I don't think anyone expected the Russians to admit hacking into the U.S. election season but, sort of, the scorn this morning that we are seeing is notable.

JILL DOUGHERTY, FORMER CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Yes. I think, basically, what they're doing -- it's kind of like a big yawn and a big laugh, essentially saying there's no new information. Nothing interesting here, let's move on. And besides, it's old information and ludicrous what that report proposed.

You can hear that definitely coming from RT television. The editor- in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, saying look, that information about RT came from 2012. That was way before Donald Trump was running for president. And then also, another major tweeter here in Russia, Alexei Pushkov, who is a member of the Parliament, said "the threat to democracy is inside the U.S."

So I think at this point, John, there is not a lot in it for them to talk about this. It's something that they want to set aside and kind of say that that was the old regime. That was President Obama. Now, there is a new president coming in and he is a man that they want to have a better relationship with. That said, they're not quite sure whether he can deliver what he promised during the election campaign -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Jill Dougherty for us. You know, Donald Trump tweeting over the weekend he, again, looks forward to a positive -- more positive relationship with Russia. We will see.

The incoming Trump administration is refusing to commit to a timeline for replacing Obamacare. The president-elect made the issue a central theme of his campaign. Listen to Kellyanne Conway with our Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CONWAY: He is committed to replacing Obamacare with something that actually is affordable and accessible, and allows you buy health insurance over state lines --

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Yes, by the same day or in three years?

CONWAY: -- and allow people to have --

Well, it really depends what the piece of legislation is. What does it look like?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul claims he and the president- elect see eye-to-eye on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. Senator Paul tweeted, "I just spoke to Donald Trump. He fully supports my plan to replace Obamacare the same day we repeal it. The time to act is now." It doesn't seem that the president-elect wants to -- or has a plan to replace it the same day the repeal is voted on.

Let's discuss the transition right now. Let's also discuss what we saw last night at the Golden Globes. Joining us, "CNN POLITICS" reporter Eugene Scott. Eugene, you know, we saw Meryl Streep deliver that impassioned rebuke of President-elect Donald Trump. And we saw the audience there at the Golden Globes sit sort of, you know, in silence -- complete silence with Meryl Streep. I don't know what's in the mind of every one of the people in that audience right there but we do know that, in general, Hollywood does not support this president-elect.

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, very much so. I remember watching the speech and I was seeing the camera pan the audience and I saw it focus on faces, many of which I have seen speak out against Donald Trump during the campaign. So, if I could guess what they were thinking, they were probably affirming her message and her concerns.

BERMAN: I want to play one more bit of what Meryl Streep said because I think it gets to the divide that is in this country between what many see as, you know, the coastal liberal elites --

SCOTT: Sure.

[05:40:02] BERMAN: -- and then, you know, the rest of the country. This is what Meryl Streep said when she was talking about sort of the cultural diversity in Hollywood and the importance of protecting it -- watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STREEP: So, Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners and if we kick them all out you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: Now, mixed martial arts and football may not be the arts, as Meryl Streep says, but they're very, very popular. And I will also note, you know, that when you look at the Golden Globes, films like "Manchester By The Sea", "La La Land", they're not the movies that people went and saw this year or were the big-grossing films, right? I mean, "Rogue One" was the highest-grossing film. Other films, you know, brought in more money. There is a cultural divide here.

SCOTT: There is a cultural divide and many people who only value football and the martial arts will hear some rejection in that statement. But I think her statement was saying that we need a country that values both. We need a country that values the sports world, we need a country that values the arts and the diversity in all of them. And we would need a leader who supports all of the people in those.

BERMAN: All right. This week, a huge week. We have the confirmation hearings. We also have the farewell address from President Obama. That comes on Tuesday night. And he did an interview over the weekend with George Stephanopoulos where he talked a lot about the future, a lot about his administration and also talked about Obamacare, which is something he went to Capitol Hill and rallied Democrats around saving. This is what he said about the future for Obamacare -- watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If the Republicans can come up with a system that ensures more people cheaper, better, I will be the first one --

GEORGE STEPHANOPOLOUS, ABC HOST, "THIS WEEK": I can tell by your smile you don't think they can do it.

OBAMA: Well, I'm skeptical that they can do it mainly because for seven years now, including when we first tried to pass health care, I said to them OK, if this doesn't work tell me what does.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Interesting to hear the president. We're told we're going to get some admonitions from the president -- sort of warnings from outgoing President Obama to the incoming president in his farewell address.

SCOTT: Yes. I think a lot of people are very much looking forward to that farewell address, especially since Donald Trump's first press conference since being elected president-elect is supposed to be the following day, and so it will be interesting to see how he responds to it. I think President Barack Obama is really confident and really believes that what he did with Obamacare was the best thing that could have possibly been done, despite the ongoing criticism of it. It will be very interesting to see if Republicans are able to come up with something better as quickly as possible.

BERMAN: You know, it's interesting. The incoming Republicans, their message is blame the Democrats. The outgoing Democrats, their message is not help the Republicans. At some point people may need to get together and figure out how to help Americans get the best health care they can. We will see.

SCOTT: Right.

BERMAN: We will hope that that happens. Now, this news conference from President-elect Trump this week -- we haven't had one since July. Yes, he's taken questions, he's done interviews, but a news conference is a news conference. It's a different animal completely. What do you expect him to be pressed on the most?

SCOTT: One, Obamacare, since that's something that he campaigned on quite a bit and people want to know what his replacement plan is. Two, where he's going to move forward with Russia regarding that relationship, saying that he wants to have a better relationship with the country and calling people stupid who do not. And lastly, this border wall piece that he campaigned on saying that, initially, Mexico was going to pay for it but not including the fact that he was asking the American taxpayers to front the cost first.

BERMAN: Yes. Now, of course, he's saying the media is misinterpreting it. He says that yes, the Congress and the government will pay for the wall first, but Mexico will repay it.

SCOTT: Right.

BERMAN: It's complicated. All right.

SCOTT: We'll see.

BERMAN: Eugene Scott, great to have you here with us.

SCOTT: Thank you.

BERMAN: Thanks so much. Friday's deadly airport shooting at Ft. Lauderdale caught on video. The awful moments, next.

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[05:47:30] BERMAN: The gunman who opened fire at the Ft. Lauderdale airport killing five people and wounding six others, makes his first court appearance today. (Video playing) New surveillance video released by TMZ shows the terrifying moment at baggage claim on Friday. That's just awful. You see the gunman there walking casually. He pulled out the pistol and began shooting. Now, the alleged killer told investigators he loaded the gun in a bathroom stall and shot the first people he saw, aiming at their heads. One mother who survived the attack recounted the ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNIKA DEAN, SURVIVED ATTACK: I looked for a place to hide. Unfortunately, there really wasn't a place. I saw a smartcart and I went on the other side of that and I just laid down. A man, basically, climbed on top of me and told me "I will protect you" and it just brought me comfort during the, you know, most terrifying experience of my life. I wasn't sure if I was going to live or die.

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BERMAN: We have new information this information about the shooter. The 26-year-old was a security guard in Alaska. He served nine years in the National Guard, including one tour in Iraq. His aunt told CNN he returned from Iraq a changed man.

In November, he told FBI officials his mind was being controlled by the CIA. Authorities took away his gun, ordered a mental health evaluation, but a month later he got the gun back and used the gun to carry out this shooting. The shooter confessed to planning the attack but it's still not clear why he targeted the Ft. Lauderdale airport. He faces three federal charges carrying the possibility of the death penalty.

All right, Fiat Chrysler making a big investment in two U.S. factories amid pressure on the industry from President-elect Trump. Fiat Chrysler will pour $1 billion, it says, into two plants -- one in Michigan and one in Ohio. The company says this will create 2,000 jobs by 2020.

The factories will produce SUVs and pickup trucks. One of them will be the all-new Jeep Wagoneer. This is a model that Jeep stopped producing way back in 1991. It is a favorite of Jeep fans. My father drove one for a while. It has that wood paneling, and who doesn't love wood paneling? The mileage, something to be desired, you know. About zero miles per gallon. The president-elect has not directly targeted Fiat Chrysler in his recent crusade against automakers so this announcement could be a proactive move to show the company's commitment to U.S. workers.

Wildcard weekend in the NFL. Four games, none of them close. Aaron Rodgers led the Packers to a 38-13 win over the Giants on Sunday. (Video playing) This, the best play of the game. The patented Aaron Rodgers Hail Mary to end the half. Why don't more teams do this more often? The Packers advance to play the Cowboys in the individual round this weekend.

[05:50:13] The other game Sunday, another blowout. The Steelers crushed the Dolphins 30-12. Pittsburgh goes to Kansas City to play the Chiefs on Sunday. Who would root for the Dolphins? What kind of person would be a Dolphins fan?

All right, the Saturday games. The Seahawks beat the Lions, who will play the Falcons next. The Texans defeated the Raiders. Houston travels to New England to play Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY". Chris Cuomo joins us right now. Chris, hopefully, can explain why more teams don't do the Aaron Rodgers Hail Mary.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": It gets picked off. Very low completion.

BERMAN: Oh, you make it sound so easy. CUOMO: You know, I'm not a Giants fan, as you know, I'm a Jets fan, but that first half was pretty knotted up, mostly because of the weather, you know. You've got to give them that much. Boy, but that was -- that was some play there. Also, it's the Grand Wagoneer -- key distinction. That's why --

BERMAN: That is a good point.

CUOMO: -- that model stood out.

BERMAN: It's a good point.

CUOMO: Grand Wagoneer.

BERMAN: It's a good point.

CUOMO: Three hundred and sixty engine, dicey electronics. I had one for a short while. Bled out oil like it was in fashion.

So, today, we're going to deal with the basic proposition of whether or not the president-elect now accepts the intelligence that Russia was the motivating force behind the hacks during the election. His team, he, himself, seem obsessed with the implications and the politicizing of the impact of those hacks. We'll try to suss that out. And there will be a great opportunity for the president-elect to do it himself.

This is a big week for the president-elect. You could argue the biggest week since he won the election. Why, because he's supposed to give his first press conference which will come right after President Obama gives his farewell address -- good timing -- and this week is when the nominee hearings will start down in the Senate -- his cabinet members. So it's going to be a big deal. We've got his senior adviser Kellyanne Conway. She promised on Friday she'd be on, on Monday, and guess what? She's keeping true to her promise.

Also, Hollywood took on Trump at the Golden Globes -- certainly Meryl Streep did. What does he make of the message and is it right for the celebrities to give one in that forum? How's that hit you, John Berman?

BERMAN: That is a good, good promo. Chris Cuomo, who will be hosting the Bernie Sanders town hall tonight. Looking forward to watching that, my friend.

CUOMO: You won't watch.

BERMAN: I'll probably watch in the morning. We'll be right back.

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[05:55:45] BERMAN: This morning, the Israeli government is considering new tactics to fight terrorism. This, one day after a man in a truck plowed into a group of soldiers in Jerusalem, killing four and wounding at least 10 others. I want to go live to Jerusalem and bring in CNN's Oren Liebermann. You know, a day of mourning to be sure but also a lot of political questions this morning, Oren.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. A day of tension, as well, as police are on the lookout for any copycat attacks. Anyone inspired by this truck attack that, of course, resembles the truck attacks we saw in both Nice and Berlin. That, as Israel is mourning the loss of four young soldiers all in their twenties, three women and one man who had just gotten off a tour bus for an educational and cultural tour.

Meanwhile, the police investigation continues. Police have arrested nine suspects after shooting and killing the driver in this case -- the attacker. Five of those suspects they arrested, police say, are family members of the attacker as police try to figure out was this a lone wolf attack or was he acting in some larger web?

One of the measures police and the government are looking at is administration detention. Holding suspects without charge or a trial for six-month periods that are renewable by the Israeli government. The government now says they'll use that against suspected ISIS supporters to make sure this group or the popularity of ISIS doesn't grow here. That's not only in the Israeli interest, John, that's also a Palestinian interest as well.

BERMAN: All right. And, of course, the country is still in mourning. Oren Liebermann for us. Thanks so much.

Let's check in on the CNN Money Stream right now. Global stock markets trading mixed this morning. Dow futures ticking slightly lower right now. The average came oh so very close to 20,000 on Friday. It was just one-third of a point way. That's insane. It couldn't get there, though. The Dow will need 37 points to cross that milestone today.

The big question on Wall Street this week, will we see a positive Trump effect on corporate earnings? Analysts expect profits to rise more than three percent overall for the fourth quarter. Some big banks will kick things off this week, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo. All of those stocks have soared since Donald Trump won the election. Investors like his pro-growth message, especially his plans for lower taxes and less regulation.

All right. New this morning, McDonald's selling off most of its business in China in a deal worth $2.1 billion. A huge Chinese financial company called CITIC is taking the majority stake. It will also run operations in Mainland China and Hong Kong. A U.S. private equity firm, the Carlyle Group, is also buying in, taking a 28 percent stake. McDonald's will hold the remaining 20 percent.

McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook says the new partners will bring a better understanding in the Chinese market. It's part of a global shift by McDonald's to reduce the number of stores it owns and turn them into franchises. The restaurant's not going away in China. You will still be able to get that quarter-pounder with cheese in that country, rest assured, just under different ownership.

All right. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm John Berman. "NEW DAY" starts right now.

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BERMAN: A huge week for Donald Trump.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D), NEW JERSEY: This is astounding that he would actually have hearings and not know the fullness of people's potential conflicts of interest.

MCCONNELL: We need to grow up here and get past that.

REINCE PRIEBUS, INCOMING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to have a good relationship with Russia.

OBAMA: What is true is that the Russians intended to meddle and they meddled.

STREEP: And the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter. It wasn't in a movie, it was real life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just walked along -- pow, pow, pow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An up-close look at exactly what unfolded at the Ft. Lauderdale airport.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We hit the ground then and she was killed.

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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

CUOMO: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is your New Day. It's Monday, January 9th, 6:00 here in the East.

And, up first, you could say it's the biggest week for Trump since the election. A flurry of confirmation hearings set to begin tomorrow for the president-elect's cabinet picks, as the Republican-controlled Congress moves forward with their plan to repeal and maybe replace Obamacare.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So, the president-elect is also expected to face tough questions on Russia when he holds his first press conference in months this Wednesday. We are now just 11 days away from Inauguration Day. We have it all covered for you so let's begin with CNN's Jason Carroll. He is live at Trump Tower in New York. Good morning, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. And, you know, a number of people on both sides of the aisle waiting for answers to a number of key questions.