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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Travel Ban Halted by Federal Judge; New England Patriots Win Super Bowl; Trump Praises Putin; Job Numbers Under Trump. Aired 4:30- 5a ET

Aired February 06, 2017 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump going after the judge who halted his travel ban, questioning the court's authority to suspend the order. As the fight keep up this morning lawyers filing arguments just moments ago.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And new criticism from both sides of the aisle as President defense Vladimir Putin again, this time asking if the U.S. is more innocent than the Russian leader.

ROMANS: Yes. Tom Brady cementing his hall of fame Legacy with an epic comeback win in the Super Bowl. We go live to Houston where the Patriots fans are still celebrating. And Andy Scholes is still working and Falcons fans are wondering how it all what's the latest from them. There it is.

MARQUEZ: Yes, Very shocker.

ROMANS: He loves that job.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

MARQUEZ: And I'm Miguel Marquez. It is 31 minutes past the hour.

It may have been the most mind blowing improbable victory in Super Bowl history. Tom Brady becoming the first quarterback ever to win five championships. He did it in epic, epic, epic fashion. Bringing the New England Patriots back from a 25-point deficit late in the third quarter for a stunning 34 to 28 overtime win over the Atlanta Falcons.

We will have much more on this historic come back coming right up.

ROMANS: But first, breaking news. Attorneys for Washington State and Minnesota filing legal papers with the ninth Circuit Court of appeals overnight beating a 4 a.m. Eastern deadline. They are trying to keep the suspension intact on President Trump's refugee and travel ban.

The ban was halted four years -- four days ago by the U.S. District Court Judge James Robart, prompting angry Twitter attack from the President of the United States.

Democrats and even some Republicans are blasting Mr. Trump for his attacks against that Judge. And now the President is coming under more fire for apparently suggesting the U.S. has been just as bad an actor as Russia and Vladimir Putin.

We get more on all of this from CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN REPORTER: After just the first two weeks in office, President Trump is preparing now for a judicial showdown CORRESPONDENT whether his travel ban by Executive Order can stand.

To the dismay of both democrats and some republican lawmakers, Trump spent part of his weekend disparaging the federal judge who temporarily suspended the ban through tweets calling him a so-called judge who made a ridiculous ruling, adding, "Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens, blame him and the court system. People pouring in, bad."

This could become an issue for Republicans, they are trying to get the 60 votes necessary in the Senate to confirm Trump's pick for Supreme Court justice, Judge Neil Gorsuch. Also, republicans publicly distancing themselves from Trump's comments about Russia.

When he suggested in an interview with Fox News, there was a moral equivalency between the U.S. and Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: Do you respect Putin?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do respect him...

O'REILLY: Do you, why?

TRUMP: Well, I respect a lot of people but that doesn't mean I'm going to get along with him. He is a leader of his country. I say it's better to get along with Russia than not and if Russia helps us in the fight against ISIS which is a major fight and Islamic terrorism all over the world

O'REILLY: But?

TRUMP: Major fight, that's a good thing. Will I get along with him? I have no idea. But it's possible I won't.

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: He's a killer. Putin is a killer.

TRUMP: We have a lot of killers. We got a lot of killers. Why, you think our country's so innocent? You think our country is so innocent?

O'REILLY: I don't know of any government leaders that are killers.

TRUMP: No. Take a look at what we have done too; we made a lot of mistakes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is now calling for a formal investigation in the Trump and Putin's relationship. Monday, President Trump makes his first major public address to U.S. troops since his inauguration. When he goes to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.

There, he is also going to be briefed by U.S. Central Command, CENCOM, and Special Ops Command.

ROMANS: Today, the Sunday talk shows were full of republicans who were denouncing the president's on that equivalency, that moral equivalency between the United States and Russia.

[04:05:00] All right. Expect a flurry of legal activity today on that battle over the president's travel ban. Minnesota, Washington State just filed legal briefs with the Ninth Circuit Court in the last hour to keep the President's ban suspended.

It's now up to the Justice Department to file a response by 6 p.m., Eastern Time tonight. Then the three judges assigned to the case can issue a ruling or schedule a hearing.

The side that ultimately loses is expected to file an appeal all the way to the Supreme Court.

MARQUEZ: And it looks like Obamacare may be around for just a while longer. President Trump insist he has a wonderful plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, but now he tells Fox News Obamacare is so broken it's going to take a lot longer to dismantle it than he thought.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Maybe it will take until sometime into next year. But we are certainly going to be in the process. Very complicated, Obamacare is a disaster. You have to remember, Obamacare doesn't work, so we are putting in a wonderful plan. It's statutorily takes a while to get.

We're going to be putting it in fairly soon. I think that, yes, I would like to say by the end of the year. At least the rudiments but we should have something within the year and the following year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Now when also asked if Americans can expect a tax cut this year as promised. The President said, quote, "I think so."

ROMANS: All right. The President Trump thinks tax cuts are possible this year, most insiders' think it could take longer. The Senate Finance Committee prefers to be quite deliberative and bipartisan when signing off on big reforms. I mean, look what happened with Obamacare, right? You know, you want to have both sides of the aisle.

And they have yet to offer its own reform proposal and it hasn't even weighed in on the president's various tax proposals. The committee's chair, Senator Orrin Hatch they've have questions about detail and design of the tax plan remain translation. Pause. We'll get to tax reform eventually but it will take some time.

And seminars have big questions about the border adjustment tax proposed by the -- by the White -- by the House. And that would radically change how the U.S. government taxes imports and exports that are already Business Community, Miguel, is getting out kind of a big campaign against it.

MARQUEZ: Against that.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: But especially retailers don't like it.

MARQUEZ: And on the tax cut, the last time anything was tried nearly as big was 1986. It took four years...

ROMANS: Yes.

MARQUEZ: ...to get it done. Amazing. Now President Trump still pushing his false claim that millions of illegal votes were cast in the November election despite the complete lack of evidence. Mr. Trump promised to sign an executive order to start a Federal probe. It promised he has not delivered on. Now he seems determined to move ahead with a different kind of investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It doesn't have to do with the vote, although that's the end result, it has to do with the registration. And when you look at registration and you see dead people that have voted. When you see people that are registered in two states that voted in two States. When you see other things. When you see illegals, people that are not citizens and they are on the registration rolls.

(CROSSTALK)

O'Reilly: So you think you're going to be proven correct in that statement?

TRUMP: Well, I think I already have. A lot of people have come out and said that I am correct.

O'Reilly: But then the data has to show three million illegals voted.

TRUMP: Forget that, forget all of that. Just take a look at the registration and we're going to do it. And I'm going to set up a commission to be headed by Vice President Mike Pence and we're going to look at it very, very carefully.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. Three of the President's key cabinet picks could find out their fate this week. Betsy DeVos as Mr. Trump's nominees for Education Secretary is expected to be confirmed on Tuesday by the narrowest possible margin. History would be made the Vice President Pence has to break a 50-50 tie. We know that the phone banks are just -- the phone lines are just...

(CROSSTALK)

MARQUEZ: Off the hook as they say.

ROMANS: ...of the hook in Washington. Teachers and education advocates against Betsy DeVos. The Senate then turns attention to Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions and treasury pick Steve Mnuchin.

But Democrats are still upset about what they call misleading testimony of their slow walking floor procedures to create delays.

MARQUEZ: Now, so quite a bit of buzz over that Melissa McCarthy portrayal of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on "Saturday Night Live". The comedian and actress stole the show literally. Here's the clip if you missed it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELISSA MCCARTHY, COMEDIAN & ACTRESS: Now I would like to begin today by apologizing on behalf of you to me. For how you have treated me these last two weeks. And that apology is not accepted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you OK?

MCCARTHY: Take it. Take it. You take it.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing? What are you doing?

MCCARTHY: This is soapy water and I'm washing that filthy lying mouth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: It was really comedic gold. It was very fun, I can't wait to see what Sean Spicer says about it later today.

MARQUEZ: I just -- I think he's going to bring probably a squirt gun.

[04:40:00] ROMANS: I know. I mean, he has a good sense of humor, so we'll see if -- we'll see if he pokes one about it back or if he's mad.

MARQUEZ: Yes. Hope she didn't crack though...

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: No.

MARQUEZ: ...that's the most amazing thing. ROMANS: Even CNN have a little -- CNN have a little cameo.

MARQUEZ: The guy in the cage in a diaper.

ROMANS: I think -- I think he's like Jim Acosta in the cage wearing a diaper. All right.

Just when you thought the New England Patriots were done, Tom Brady hoists them on his back and overcomes a 25-point third quarter deficit to win his fifth Super Bowl ring.

Andy Scholes bring me all the highlights post-game reaction. There he is in Houston when Early Start continues.

MARQUEZ: Hi, there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. The New England Patriots completing a thrilling come back.

(CROSSTALK)

MARQUEZ: Not bad. Not bad.

ROMANS: To win Super Bowl 51 in overtime. It was thrilling.

MARQUEZ: That was amazing.

CNN's Andy Scholes live for us in Houston with the historic finish. And you're still up. You're amazing, Andy.

[04:44:56] ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning guys. This is going down as the greatest Super Bowl of all time. No team had ever come back from more than 10-point deficit in Super Bowl. Patriots are down by 25 in the third quarter and still found a way to make it happen and there's really no question now.

Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. And this is a play we are always going to remember in the fourth quarter, Julian Edelman somehow finding a way to keep this ball off the ground. Incredible.

It kept the Patriots drive moving. They end up scoring a touchdown. They did a two points here, in the fourth quarter though to tie. Brady coming through once again, by Danny Amendola.

That sent us to our first ever Super Bowl overtime. Patriots won the coin flip, marched down the field and James White cast off the drive with a two-yard touchdown run.

Patriots win 34 to 28. Tom Brady, the Super Bowl MVP for a fourth time. Cementing him, really as the greatest quarterback ever to play the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BRADY, QUARTERBACK, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Thank you to all our fans. Everyone back in Boston, New England, we love you. You've been with us all year. We're bringing this sucker home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tom Brady.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Tom Brady was really emotional after getting that trophy from Roger Goodell or I should say from Terry Bradshaw. He is emotional for a couple of reasons. You know, we found out this week that his mother had been dealing with some health issues and she hadn't been to a game all season long.

But she was there at the Super Bowl. She is wearing that Brady's ladies shirt right there. Braly very emotional when hanging out with his family after the game.

He dedicated this win to his mom. And another reason Brady was far a little more emotional than usual. It's because of the whole deflate gate saga. You know, Brady hasn't said much about it, but it really had been the rallying cry for all the Patriots nation.

And he shared a little handshake with Roger Goodell by the podium. It was really quick. But there you see Goodell congratulating, he shook his hand. Goodell booed mightily by Patriots nation, though, when he was out there on the stage. So, what a night for Patriots nation and Tom Brady.

But Brady actually did have a little hiccup after the game guys. His jersey was stolen...

ROMANS: What?

SCHOLES: ...from his locker.

MARQUEZ: That's...

SCHOLES: He no longer had a jersey...

MARQUEZ: Unbelievable.

SCHOLES: ... he wore to win his fifth Super Bowl. So, it's kind of a mystery where that jersey is right now.

MARQUEZ: Wow.

ROMAS: Yes, he'll find it on eBay. Someone will put that on eBay

MARQUEZ: Jersey games. It's on -- it's on John Berman's back right now.

ROMANS: I know, Berman stole it. hey, let's talk about the halftime show. Lady Gaga, how did she do? How was that received?

SCHOLES: I thought -- I thought it was awesome. And by all means, by all indications everyone on social media really loved it. I mean, she was doing everything from jumping to the roof to flying to the air. She looked like a cirque du soleil act for a little a bit.

But she played all over head, she even played piano. The dancing and the light show was just incredible. You know, I've been handful Super Bowls and I put this right up there is one of the best halftime live performances I've ever seen

ROMANS: All right, interesting. All right. Thanks so much, Andy. I bet you had a good time last night.

MARQUEZ: Lady Gaga fan edition.

SCHOLES: I did.

ROMANS: It is still tonight to Andy Scholes. All right. Thanks, Andy. I'll talk to you soon. All right, after months of criticizing the jobs report, the Trump Administration now seems to be accepting it as a base line, even champion -- championing.

MARQUEZ: Championing.

ROMANS: Championing the numbers. Does this mean the president is going to finally accept these numbers? We're going to get a check on CNN Money next.

[04:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. The Kremlin demanding an apology from Fox News after anchor Bill O'Reilly referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a murderer or a killer. This is the same interview that President Trump, yet again, reiterated he respects the Russian leader.

CNN's Clare Sebastian is live in Moscow with more. Good morning.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. Yes, we just had in the last hour from the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov as he said, calling for an apology from Fox News, calling those comments from Bill O'Reilly offensive and unacceptable.

As to the response from President Trump to that comment by Bill O'Reilly, while the Kremlin said it preferred not to comment.

So the message here is that yes, the Trump administration is leaving the door open to better relations with Russia and so is the Kremlin. But there are key divisions that are starting to appear.

On that briefing with the Kremlin, they also talked about Iran. The Kremlin saying that it fundamentally disagrees with the classification of Iran by President Trump as the number one terrorist state.

Of course, Iran is a key ally of Russia, particularly in Syria. A fellow backer of the Assad regime. So this really creates a conundrum for President Trump how can he work with Russia and Syria as he has settle all along that he wants to do, while at the same time not backing Iran in that conflict. So, this as for the Kremlin, will they say that there are profound divisions on certain global issues between Russia and the U.S. but that should not stop the two sides being able to work together on which is beneficial issues, Christine.

ROMANS: Yes, It's just a fascinating weekend of developments and when you look at sort of the prospective from Moscow, very different from what we're hearing here in the United States.

The Sunday shows full of republicans denouncing the president's world equivalency between the United States and Russia, if you will. So, different conversations happening on different perspectives.

Thank you so much for that, Clare in Moscow.

MARQUEZ: Now Vice President Mike Pence speaking about the escalating violence in Eastern Ukraine. He says the Trump Administration is very troubled and is watching how Russia responds to make a determination about how U.S. sanctions, his words, come just one day after President Trump spoke to the Ukraine's president by phone.

CNN's Phil Black is live in eastern Ukraine. Phil, what are the Ukrainians feeling about the sort of seemingly uncertain American administration and how much they are actually backing Ukraine with the president saying one thing, vice president saying another, and this whole sort of back and forth with Vladimir Putin.

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miguel, they are very concerned, indeed. And they have considerable reason to be the recent events. Where I'm standing now on the outskirts of the town of Avdiivka, it's a frontline town, the very edge of Ukrainian control space.

[04:55:00] It has born the brunt of the last week, a very intense fighting that really kicked off and not long after President Trump and President Putin held their first telephone call.

Now the human cost here has been great. Around two dozen people killed. Tens of thousands of people have been enduring this incredibly cold, and bitter freezing temperatures with no heating, no power, no running water.

And so, there has been a great debate between both Russia and Ukraine about who is responsible for this latest uptick in fighting.

Now, fighting often takes place here. It picks up all the time. It is deadly. It is intense and we've seen it ourselves. But what's different over the last week or so is simply the scale of the fighting. It has been an artillery duel.

Bombardments going both ways on a scale that hasn't been seen in this region for a very long time. Perhaps ever. Now both Russia and Ukraine blame each other for this latest escalations in a sense it doesn't matter who started it.

Both sides will be looking to assess one key outcome. And that is just how the new U.S. administration responds to this.

As you mention, President Trump spoke to Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko over the weekend. President Poroshenko's office released a statement, thanking President Trump for a firm statement of support.

Now, President Trump's White House statement didn't say that. He simply said it was a good call. And President Trump has expressed his willingness to work with all parties to solve this. And that's really the point.

While some U.S. administration figures, key figures have spoken very strongly about Russia, the president still has not. Not in the context of Ukraine.

And so, many Ukrainians will continue to feel very nervous up until the point that they see a clear gesture or a very clear language from the president that says, he is with them as they try to repel Russian aggression and take back the territory that they have lost. Miguel?

MARQUEZ: Phil Black in Ukraine for what may be the very first big issue for this young presidency. Thank you very much.

ROMANS: All right. Let's get an early start on your money this Monday morning.

Asian markets closed higher. European markets right now in the early hours of trading there, they're slightly higher. U.S. futures not moving much.

The job market is humming adding 227,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.8 percent. So, that's a good things is because more Americans started looking for work again. This is the first job reportedly since the Trump Administration and he appears to be accepting these numbers.

MARQUEZ: What?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Two hundred twenty seven thousand jobs. Great spirit in the country right now. So, we're very happy about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Very happy about that. Remember, President Trump has ridiculed these numbers for months. Falsely claiming the jobless rate is as high as 42 percent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And I read every time it comes out. I hear, 5.3 percent unemployment. That is the biggest joke there is. Don't believe those phony numbers when you hear 4.9 and 5 percent unemployment. The numbers probably 28 or 29 as high as 35.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Even higher. When job numbers were good under President Obama, Trump disregarded them. Now, he'll need them to measure his own progress. He has promised to create 25 million jobs in eight years. That would be more than any president in history.

The tone of the Super Bowl ads, usually gives you a snapshot of what's going on in the country. While most were sorely sentimental. It was the ones that veered into political territory that gained the most attention.

Budweiser had one of most polarizing commercial in the Super Bowl retelling of its origin as showed founder Adolf Busch journey to America in seek of better life to hash tag boycott Budweiser trended on Twitter early on Sunday evening.

Apparently, but people who dislike the ad but then it was used by others to defend Budweiser and mock the people who were boycotting the ad. So the whole hash tag was sort of redirected by the end of the game.

A Coca-Cola revival and all that featuring people singing "America the Beautiful" in different languages and a powerful ad by Audi featured the father trying to explain the struggles of pay equity to his young daughter.

So, some issues in there, there were some fun. But some issues in there. I think diversity was the theme over all.

MARQUEZ: They seemed somber, very diverse. Not -- not the typical Super Bowl ads that one would expect.

ROMANS: Yes.

MARQUEZ: Not the high energy stuff. Guess what? EARLY START continues right now.

ROMANS: President Trump blasting the judge who suspended his travel ban accusing him of putting the country in peril as the battle over the ban enter the next legal phase overnight.

MARQUEZ: And President Trump defending Vladimir Putin again when asked about the Russian leader's reputation as a killer from response is, the U.S. is not innocent either.

ROMANS: And Tom Brady engineering a record breaking come back to win Super Bowl 51. We go live to Houston where Patriots fans are still celebrating and Falcons fans are trying to figure out how this all flipped away.

[05:00:03] Good morning everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

MARQUEZ: I'm Miguel Marquez. It is Monday. February 6. I almost Friday, 5 a.m. here on the East.

(CROSSTALK) ROMANS: No, four more days before Friday.

MARQUEZ: It was a Super -- Super Bowl.