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Deadline Extended For Candidates To Challenge Iowa Results; Trump Retweets Call For Key Witness To Be Removed; Coronavirus Outbreak. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired February 07, 2020 - 14:00   ET

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

WILLIAM JAWANDO, FORMER WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: So there are Muslim countries, there are black countries, and it's just a shame that this President is doing this racist policy and doubling down on a failed policy.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: William, thank you for talking to us today. We appreciate you coming in.

JAWANDO: Good to see you.

KEILAR: That's it for me. NEWSROOM with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.

[14:00:17]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Brianna, thank you. Hi there. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN. Thanks for being here on this Friday afternoon.

Here's the breaking news regarding the Iowa caucuses and it guarantees the chaos will now continue into next week.

The Iowa Democratic Party has just given candidates more time to challenge the findings of the first-in-the-nation contest in the 2020 race.

The caucuses, remember, were four days ago. So now with a hundred precincts reporting, 100 percent -- I should say -- precincts reporting, Pete Buttigieg is just edging out Senator Bernie Sanders for the top slot.

But the Iowa Democratic Party still has not declared a winner as the caucuses were plagued by lack of results, irregular voting records and major technical problems.

So guess who is still in Des Moines? Jeff Zeleny, our CNN Senior Washington correspondent. So Jeff, how much more time do these candidates have now?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, we should point out it's not a bad thing to be in Des Moines. We love being in Des Moines, but it does feel like Groundhog Day here.

BALDWIN: We love Des Moines. ZELENY: Because the reality is -- for sure -- but the reality is

there simply isn't much changing. But we are getting new information now that campaigns have until tomorrow at noon Central Time, Saturday to essentially show any errors that they've been talking about.

There's been a lot of talk on social media, a lot of talk from the Sanders campaign, the Buttigieg campaign and others talking about, you know, all of these irregularities they saw.

Well, the Iowa Democratic Party is basically saying, okay, show us those with evidence by tomorrow at noon. And then they are saying, if you would like to have a recount or recanvass, put that request in by noon on Monday.

So this basically is, you know, a little bit more of a waiting game here, but we're not hearing from any campaigns necessarily that want to go back into all of this because it allows them this uncertainty, it allows both the Buttigieg campaign and the Sanders campaign to essentially both declare victory and move on.

You've heard almost nothing from the Warren campaign. The Biden campaign, of course, wants to forget about Iowa all together.

So the reality here is, we'll see if these candidates ask for a recanvass or a recount, but unlikely to change much. Pete Buttigieg, you know, just has that narrow, narrow lead in delegates over Bernie Sanders.

At the end of the day, though, Brooke, they split the delegates at the county conventions that get those state convention delegates.

So it's been a mess, no questions. The only thing that is certain here, the reputation of these Iowa Caucuses tarnished, without question -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Without question. Jeff, thank you very much. And while the Iowa caucus is maybe a thing of the past, at least according to the calendar, Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden's third and fourth place finishes are not and that is raising the stakes for those campaigns in next Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.

Decades after a surprise second place finish in the state made Bill Clinton, remember the comeback kid. So Warren and Biden are probably hoping they will get to say the same thing.

As for Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders, the top vote getters in Iowa find themselves in a similar spot going into the first of the nation primary.

A new Monmouth poll shows Sanders and Buttigieg holding on to the top spots followed by Biden, Warren and Senator Amy Klobuchar.

So let's check in with the top candidates now all busy preparing for tonight's debate in Manchester, and that is where we find CNN's Jessica Dean. Hi, Jessica. JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke. I'm following the Biden

campaign. And tonight all eyes will be on Joe Biden on that debate stage to see how he interacts with his rivals.

Over the last couple of days post Iowa, we've seen him sharpen his attacks, calling out Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders by name, so it'll be interesting to see tonight how they all interact with each other.

Certainly things have changed. The dynamics have certainly changed since the last time we all saw them all together on the debate stage.

And then looking ahead through the weekend and into next week, Joe Biden has a handful of events tomorrow and then on Sunday and Monday as he looks to firm up his support here in the Granite State. I'll pass it along now to my colleague, Kyung Lah -- Kyung.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Keeping an eye on the Pete Buttigieg campaign, the mayor off the campaign trail today, but the argument between Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders very much in public view.

In his CNN Town Hall last night, Pete Buttigieg really trying to turn the page from Iowa to New Hampshire. What he is hoping to solidify is that he is not just the rising star, that he is trying to solidify his image as the front runner.

Expect this evening in the debate, the fight between these two front runners, Buttigieg and Sanders to spill onto the stage tonight as Buttigieg, the moderate tries to make some daylight and some space between Bernie Sanders the progressive.

And now to the Sanders campaign and my colleague Ryan Nobles.

[14:05:10]

RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Bernie Sanders seems ready to put Iowa behind him and put all of his focus here into New Hampshire. But there's no doubt the results in Iowa have changed his game plan just a bit.

For the first time, Sanders is drawing specific distinctions with former South Bend Mayor, Pete Buttigieg. Listen to what he said this morning here at the Politics and Eggs at Saint Anselm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Pete Buttigieg lures even closer look from Wall Street donors following a strong Iowa caucus performance. "Forbes" Magazine. Here are the billionaires backing Pete Buttigieg's presidential campaign.

I like Pete Buttigieg. Nice guy. But we are in a moment where billionaires control not only our economy, but our political life.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NOBLES: Now, Sanders of course has long railed against the donor

class and its influence on politics, particularly Democratic politics, but this is the first time that he has put that tag on Pete Buttigieg, and that is something that could definitely come up at tonight's debate.

Now for more on the Warren campaign, here's Leyla Santiago.

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And with the Warren campaign, a senior adviser tells me that Senator Warren this afternoon will be having some debate preps, will make a final walkthrough on the debate stage and she'll be with the contest winner.

And you know, if this past week is any indication as to what we'll hear from her tonight, you'll likely hear her make a case for electability and try to convince voters that she is the one to unify the party.

This debate comes before a big weekend here in New Hampshire as her campaign will be in full force trying to reach those undecided voters here before the big primary and they'll also be trying to raise some money.

In an e-mail to supporters, she says she wants to raise $2 million before the New Hampshire primary and that is four days away -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right guys, thank you so much. Let's stay in New Hampshire. Michael Parsons is a senior at Dartmouth College and the President of the New Hampshire College Democrats.

And, Michael, nice to have you on, and let's just begin with the big debate tonight. You're attending. I know you're taking a neutral stance on candidates just because of your position with the College Democrats.

But you tell me. What do you want to hear from these candidates? What are you looking most forward to?

MICHAEL PARSONS, PRESIDENT, NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE Democrats: It's great to be with you, Brooke. I think that young people, myself and others are going to look for their issues to be taken up and talked about in a meaningful manner tonight at the debate.

For instance, climate change being the number one issue with younger voters. Climate change hasn't really been talked about enough in the past debates. And so I think that for young people in New Hampshire, college students, they're really going to want to see this issue get the attention it deserves tonight.

BALDWIN: Climate change. What else? What else really affects college students?

PARSONS: I mean, climate change, college affordability, student debt reform -- those are all issues that are very intrinsic to being college students, and those are issues that are really hot topics in New Hampshire. New Hampshire is one of the most expensive states in the country to go

to college in.

BALDWIN: Which candidate then Michael, do you think is addressing college affordability, climate change the best?

PARSONS: I think that a number of candidates have released very good plans.

BALDWIN: Which ones? Could you name -- yes.

PARSONS: Bernie Sanders has focused a lot of his attention in college students.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

PARSONS: Elizabeth Warren has focused -- Pete Buttigieg has released an affordable college plan. I know that a number of the front runners have really done their best to come and speak to college issues, but I would love to see that happen on the national stage tonight.

BALDWIN: We now have 100 percent of the precincts reporting in Iowa and so Pete Buttigieg does now hold this slim lead over Senator Bernie Sanders. Do you think, Michael, that any of that would have influence over New Hampshire voters come Tuesday?

PARSONS: Well, the New Hampshire electorate is very independent. They're not always going to look for Iowa for signs, especially in past primaries.

The number that I was thinking about the other day was that a tracking poll from yesterday came out and showed that unsure was in third place at 16 percent.

This race can break a number of different ways, but I do think that that tracking poll as well also had Mayor Pete and Senator Sanders at the top, though I think that over the next three, and even four days as people head to the polling place, they might still be unsure.

So I think that there could be a number of surprises on Tuesday.

BALDWIN: Okay, I know you're not -- last question -- I know you're taking a neutral stance, but in your head, do you have an idea who you like the best so far going into Tuesday?

PARSONS: I have taken an outwardly neutral stance for so long and said that so many times that I've somewhat ingrained it in my head that I think I might walk into the polling place on Tuesday and say, oh man, I've actually got to make a decision now.

[14:10:04]

BALDWIN: You do. Michael Parsons, thank you very much out there at Dartmouth. Appreciate you.

Let's move on to this. Acquitted and apparently unleashed. President Trump is now openly retweeting supporters who are calling for the removal of a key impeachment witness. Is there a purge in the works?

Also today, the President is praising China's efforts to contain the coronavirus. But are they really doing enough to stop the global spread?

And former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg just got a big endorsement today and it's from a long-time Republican military official who the President recently fired. Stay with me. You're watching CNN on this Friday. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:15:05]

BALDWIN: Now, it appears a key witness in President Trump's Impeachment Inquiry will soon be departing the White House's National Security Council.

CNN first learned that Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman had told colleagues that he expects to leave the White House post in the coming weeks and return to the Defense Department.

And if that happens, it would be months earlier than when his assignment is expected to end in July.

Today, the President talked about his displeasure with the decorated war veteran and Purple Heart recipient.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Would you like to see Alexander Vindman out of your White House? Do you want Alexander Vindman --

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I'm not happy with him. You think I supposed to be happy with him? I'm not. I'm going to make that decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The President hinted at Lieutenant Colonel Vindman's fate a short time later retweeting a call for his immediate removal because of his behavior and to protect foreign policy.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi express d shock when she heard the President may be ousting Vindman because of his testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I'm stunned by it. I'll talk to my colleagues about this because I know they have some concerns about some of the interventions that the President has with our military.

That's such a shame. What a patriotic person.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: So let's start here. Kara Scannell and CNN legal analyst,

Elie Honig are with me and just Elie, is this pure and simple, is this witness retaliation?

ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, it is. And here's how textbook it is. There is a Federal law that prohibits taking action against someone as payback essentially for testimony.

And the one specific example that the law gives is taking action to interfere with or terminate somebody's employment. So this is right down the middle.

BALDWIN: Recourse.

HONIG: Yes, any harmful action and --

BALDWIN: Is there any -- because of Bill Barr, I mean, is there anything?

HONIG: Well, I don't have any faith in Bill Barr to do anything about it.

BALDWIN: Yes.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: I mean, we haven't seen Bill Barr's Justice Department investigate, you know whether there is obstruction or other actions, so it would seem unusual for them to take this step now.

HONIG: Yes.

BALDWIN: Would this have a chilling effect, Kara, on just any other witnesses who may want to speak up, testify against someone in power?

SCANNELL: I mean, I think that you often hear that as the case. I mean, if, if this is the result that happens when Vindman speaks up, which was, you know, public, it wasn't even secret.

You know, this was out in the public. You have the support of the Democrats, but you can still get fired. There's certainly not going to be a lot of, you know, safety net for people who think that they might want to speak up, but then can see that this is a sort of thing that can happen and there may not be any recourse to it.

HONIG: The bigger concern to me is that this is just the beginning of the Donald Trump payback tour. He kicked it off yesterday with that maniacal speech in the East Room, ticking off his enemies, people who have angered him. And now he's taking concrete action against one of them.

And I think everyone needs to be very, very alert for whether he continues to go after people who've wronged him.

BALDWIN: Yes. No, we've been saying this is what now acquitted President Trump looks like. Let me ask you about this court ruling today. This Federal Appeals

Court dismissed this lawsuit. This is by Congressional Democrats, alleging the President violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.

So just remind people -- Emoluments Clause and what this means.

HONIG: So the Emoluments Clauses is in the Constitution. It says that a President cannot take salary or money from any foreign state or a United States state, and the allegation here is he is profiting through his hotels from foreign leaders who are staying there.

But the important thing to know about today's ruling, it's not on the merits. The court did not say, okay, Donald Trump, you're clear, you did not violate the Emoluments Clause.

All the court said today is this particular group of plaintiffs, a group of Congress people, you're not the right people to bring this lawsuit. It's called standing.

So it's a technical ruling. It doesn't clear the President and there are two other emoluments lawsuits out there still --

BALDWIN: That's what I was going to ask about. So also at the Federal level, right?

HONIG: Yes.

BALDWIN: So how would what happened today affect those?

HONIG: So they are on separate basis. But ultimately, this could lead to this going up to the Supreme Court because one thing the Supreme Court looks for is are the various circuits in disagreement, and if they're in disagreement, the Supreme Court then -- that's a classic example where the Supreme Court needs to step in and say we need to set this straight.

BALDWIN: Do you want to add anything to that?

SCANNELL: No, I mean, I think with those two other lawsuits, though, you know, it's a different setup like you were explaining. This was 215 Democrats, it was not the full body of Congress, and that's where the Appeals Court, which is the unanimous three-judge decision drew the line.

These other cases are, you know, more on the merits that are slightly different. So the same argument wouldn't play out there.

But you know, there is a split in the circuits and it is going to be interesting to see where those ultimately end up and if there is an appeal to the Supreme Court.

BALDWIN: Kara and Elie. Thank you.

[14:20:01] BALDWIN: The deadly coronavirus is spreading, 11 more Americans have

now been infected on this cruise ship docked off the coast of Japan. We will take you there.

And the jobs report out today. It crushes expectations. But the Trump administration admits the economy probably will not grow as much as the President said it would. Let's go through all those numbers. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:25:02]

BALDWIN: The Corona virus outbreak continues to spread killing more than 630 people in China and infecting within 31,000 around the world.

It is now infecting more Americans and impacting two cruise ships, a Royal Caribbean ship pulled into Bayonne, New Jersey this morning, amid fears that some passengers might have contracted the virus.

Four members of a family of Chinese nationals are currently being screened after feeling sick. They have recently traveled to China.

All of this is coming in as 61 passengers on a cruise ship off of Japan have tested positive for coronavirus and 11 of those infected are Americans.

CNN's Will Ripley is covering this for us live there in Japan where he has spoken to those quarantined Americans on the ship. Will, what did they say to you?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Brooke -- it's the kind of thing where a week ago they were having the time of their lives. They were at the buffet. They were at the casino. They're watching the shows.

They were enjoying all the amenities on the ship, but as soon as they got that test result back and the coronavirus cases started to multiply rapidly, doubling, then tripling, more than quadrupling, actually from the original tally to now 61 cases, people are no longer able to even leave their cabins. They have to stay inside 23 hours a day.

They're allowed outside for less than an hour under close supervision. They have to stand three feet away from each other. They have to wear masks and it's cabin fever, but it's also anxiety because they wonder if the circulating air that they're breathing in that's going -- you know being circulated around the ship is safe.

I mean, they don't know much about the coronavirus yet. They don't know how its spread. So it's a very, very tense time for those who are healthy and of course for the woman who we spoke with from Oregon.

She and her husband, they were shocked when they got a knock on the door telling her that she was one of the people who tested positive. She didn't really have many symptoms aside from a sore throat. They did a throat swab, and they found out she has coronavirus. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REBECCA FRASURE, QUARANTINED ON CRUISE SHIP: A little bit scared. Hard to know what the future holds since I don't really feel sick right now. Like, is it going to get worse? You know what's going to happen?

It's terrible. I just -- I could never have imagined that this would be happening right now. Like not in a million years.

Like I don't know what's going to happen an hour from now, tomorrow, like, for all we know we could stay quarantined on this ship for a month. We just --

The not knowing is the hardest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: And that's if even let her back on the ship. Initially, they said she might be in the hospital for three days if her symptoms were too bad, but now, she is being told that she and her husband might have to be apart for the next two weeks.

And remember, Brooke, every time there's a new case, they reset that 14-day quarantine period.

So passengers really don't know how long this ordeal is going to last.

BALDWIN: I cannot begin to even imagine. And then you have President Trump, he is praising the President of China, President Xi for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak as the death toll has passed 600. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They're working really hard, and I think they're doing a very professional job. They're in touch with the world -- our world organization, C.D.C. also.

I had a great conversation last night with President Xi. It's a tough situation. I think you're doing a very good job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I'm just curious, do the people in the part of the world where you are feel the same way?

RIPLEY: You know, people in China actually -- a lot of people do like President Trump, you know, they look up to people who have accumulated so much wealth. It is just a cultural thing.

But this is an instance where the vast majority of Chinese citizens or at least the ones who are speaking out online would strongly disagree with the President saying that China is doing a good job. In fact, this is one of the rare instances where there's almost been

an online revolt because the doctor, the Chinese doctor who tried to raise the red flag about this before it turned into a global health emergency, well, he was silenced by police.

He was actually threatened with criminal prosecution. He was forced to sign a document that he wouldn't cause trouble online.

And it was that misstep in the early days that basically kept people in the dark. They kept going about their lives and the virus spread and now you have tens of millions of people in China that are under a lockdown in their cities and citizens are furious.

So many angry comments online, Brooke, on Chinese social media. The censors have not been able to keep up. It's been a long time since that's happened.

BALDWIN: Will, thank you on the coronavirus there and then those folks who are stuck in Japan.

Meantime, jobs numbers. The January jobs report just beat expectations. The Labor Department reports there were 225,000 new jobs added last month. That is much better than the 158,000 jobs economists were expecting.

The jobless rate rising slightly to 3.6 percent, but that's because more Americans are now actually looking for work.

Most of the jobs growth is coming from the construction and healthcare industries, but manufacturing jobs dipped for the second month in a row.

For perspective, I have Diane Swonk with me. She is a labor expert and a chief economist at Grant Thornton. So Diane, always a pleasure to have you on --

[14:30:10]