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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Senate Republicans Reject Dems' Amendments; Coronavirus Death Toll in China Rises to 9; Hillary Clinton Backtracks On Bernie Sanders; Jeter, Walker Indicted Into Baseball Hall of Fame. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired January 22, 2020 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[04:30:54]
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JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it is appropriate at this point for me to admonish both the House managers and the president's counsel --
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LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Rules for the president's impeachment trial are set after 13 long hours. What changes and what stays the same from the original plan.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The first confirmed case in the United States of the fast-spreading coronavirus. More than 400 sick in China. Top health officials meet today.
JARRETT: Hillary Clinton walking back her claim she might not back Bernie Sanders if he's the Democratic nominee. What the whole mess means for his supporters.
ROMANS: And Derek Jeter is heading to the hall of fame. Somehow only 99.7 percent of voters agree. That's a -- nice to see so much bipartisanship somewhere, right?
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
JARRETT: And I'm Laura Jarrett. Thirty-one minutes past the hour here in New York.
At least one thing is guaranteed for today's opening arguments at President Trump's impeachment trial -- 100 senators will be there, and they're going to be exhausted. House managers prosecuting the case and the Trump defense team did not finish sparring over the rules for the Senate trial until nearly 2:00 a.m. After 13 hours, patience was wearing thin, and tempers were hot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): So far, I'm sad to say I see a lot of senators voting for a cover-up -- voting to deny witnesses. And absolutely indefensible, though obviously, a treacherous vote. History will judge and so will the electorate.
JAY SEKULOW, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S PERSONAL ATTORNEY: The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, at this body on the floor of this Senate, said executive privilege and other nonsense. Is that the way you view the United States Constitution? Because that's not the way it was written, that is not the way it's interpreted, and that's not the way the American people should have to live.
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ROMANS: Things so heated, perhaps the most notable moment of the late night came as Chief Justice John Roberts tried to cool things down.
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ROBERTS: I think it is appropriate at this point for me to admonish both the House managers and the president's counsel in equal terms to remember that they are addressing the world's greatest deliberative body.
One reason it has earned that title is because its members avoid speaking in a manner and using language that is not conducive to civil discourse. I don't think we need to aspire to that high a standard, but I do think those addressing the Senate should remember where they are.
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ROMANS: Democrats offered 11 amendments to the rules. All of them voted down. Ten along straight party lines. Susan Collins of Maine crossed the aisle once, voting to give senators more time to respond to motions.
Among the amendments rejected, subpoenas for testimony or documents from the White House, the State Department, the Budget Office, Trump's chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, and former national security adviser John Bolton.
JARRETT: At 1:50 a.m., senators voted to adopt the rules which changed a bit from the initial proposal. CNN has learned moderate and conservative Republican senators raised objection to -- objections to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's original plan. Under revised rules, both sides will now have three days for 24 hours of opening arguments instead of having to pack it all into two days. And evidence from the House will automatically be entered into the Senate trial instead of requiring a separate vote.
ROMANS: To call this a process partisan would be an understatement. At bill Clinton's Senate trial, Republicans and Democrats negotiated rules which were then accepted by a vote of 100-0. This time, Republicans are standing in the way of new witnesses and documents despite what Senator McConnell told CNN in 1999. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): My view was that we were entitled to witnesses. I voted for live witnesses, myself. Had my vote prevailed, there'd have been live witnesses. I would have been prepared to vote for whatever the House managers wanted in terms of putting on their trial.
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[04:35:03]
ROMANS: In a twist overnight, an email dumped from the Budget Office shows why Democrats want documents and witnesses.
Republican lawmakers are shown asking about the Ukraine aid back in August when reports emerged the aid was being held. Four Republicans have -- would have to join Democrats to subpoena additional evidence. Some Republicans who voted down amendments yesterday have signaled openness to hearing from John Bolton later.
CNN's Athena Jones is on Capitol Hill for us.
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ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Laura.
Today, House impeachment managers will begin their opening arguments before the Senate. But the first order of business before that is going previously motions. There will be a debate on motions filed by both sides. There's a deadline at 9:00 a.m., then 11:00 a.m. for rebuttals of those motions. We don't expect the motions to include anything to do with witnesses or documents or other evidence.
We also at this point don't expect there to be a motion to dismiss filed by Trump's legal team. Even though we know the president wants this case to be over, the thinking is that because they don't have enough Republican votes to pass a motion to dismiss, that they won't end up filing such a motion. So, we'll have to wait and see what happens with those motions.
I should tell you that during the 12 or 13 hours of debate, it was a test of endurance for the senators who sat -- you saw over the course of all these hours, a lot of the senators, some of them seeming to nod off, there was note passing, there was whispering, there were light moments on the floor of laughter. Deep into the night, we saw senators getting up to stretch and to yawn and to pace. Senator Bernie Sanders was one of the pacers.
We also saw several senators, maybe a dozen or more, taking copious notes throughout the trial. Of course, we don't know what they were writing, but they were paying close attention. Some of those includes Cory Gardner of Colorado, one of the GOP senators facing a tough re- election fight. Also, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Those are just some of the people who were taking serious notes.
And we expect more of the same today, perhaps not as long of a night. But probably more fireworks and possibly a lot of repetition of the arguments we've already heard on each side -- Christine, Laura.
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JARRETT: Athena Jones in Washington -- thanks so much.
Meantime, President Trump ending his visit to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in just a few hours. That hasn't stopped him from railing against the impeachment trial in Washington, D.C.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond is traveling with the president. He is live for us in Davos -- Jeremy.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura, when the president woke up this morning, that debate on the floor of the Senate between the president's legal team and those House -- Democratic House managers was still raging. The president wasted no time quickly taking to Twitter to echo messages of support from many of his Republican colleagues in the Senate, as well as tweeting criticisms of the Democrats who are, of course, leading this impeachment case against him. The president tweeting more than 40 times this morning as he woke up here in Davos, Switzerland.
Now the president was focused on the economy yesterday as he delivered remarks to the World Economic Forum here in Davos. And in most of his meetings, he did not bring up impeachment. But we do know that it was on his mind, it was something he brought up yesterday as he went into the speech.
And then later in the day, we heard from the White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, who said that the president would be updated periodically about how the impeachment proceedings in the Senate were faring.
We have heard now from the president this morning after that debate in the Senate has since concluded. And the president saying that he was very happy with the presentation by his legal team, and that he believes he has a winning case. Back to you guys.
JARRETT: Jeremy, thanks so much for that report. See you soon.
ROMANS: All right. The fast-spreading coronavirus has top officials at the World Health Organization calling an emergency meeting in Geneva. The death toll up to nine in China, with 440 people infected. Officials in Washington state confirmed the first case of the virus here in the United States.
The Centers for Disease Control activating an emergency operations center and has increased travel precautions as screenings are being stepped up in New York, Chicago, and Atlanta. Cases have already been confirmed in South Korea, Thailand, and Japan, with suspected cases under investigation in Australia. This is sparking fears of a possible pandemic. JARRETT: Hillary Clinton reversing course after her scathing takedown
of Bernie Sanders. In an interview with "The Hollywood Reporter," the former secretary of state refused to commit to backing Sanders if he wins the Democratic nomination. She insisted nobody likes him.
She said, quote: It's not only him, it's the culture around him. It's his leadership team. It's his prominent supporters. It's his online Bernie Bros and their relentless attacks on lots of competitors, particularly the women. And I really hope people are paying attention to that because it should be worrisome that he has permitted this culture -- not only permitted, but he seems to be very much supporting it.
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ROMANS: Asked if she would support Sanders if he wins the nomination, Clinton responded, I'm not going to go there yet.
A few hours after her quotes published, Clinton was ready to go there. Mrs. Clinton now saying the number-one priority for our country and world is retiring Trump. And always said, I will do whatever I can to support our nominee. Clinton and her supporters believe Sanders' refusal to drop out of the race and support her until the summer of 2016 helped Donald Trump win the presidency.
Sanders not commenting on Clinton's remarks. He says he is focused on going forward and defeating the most dangerous president in American history.
JARRETT: You know, it's a really fascinating interview that she gave "The Hollywood Reporter."
ROMANS: Yes.
JARRETT: All in anticipation for this documentary. She talks about how she's reached out to Klobuchar and Warren and talking about the gender dynamic in politics.
ROMANS: Right.
JARRETT: Pretty interesting.
Well, Netflix is feeling the pressure from its rivals. CNN Business has the details, up next.
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ROMANS: The streaming wars are putting pressure on Netflix. Subscriber numbers in the United States and Canada were sluggish in the fourth quarter. It added 420,000 new members in those new markets. That's fewer than the 600,000 it estimated.
But Netflix is growing abroad. It added, wow, 8.3 million subscribers in overseas markets bringing its total now 167 million subscribers worldwide. Netflix blamed the miss in U.S. growth on recent price changes and the launches of the competitors, like Disney Plus and Apple TV. It told investors: We have a big head start in streaming and will work to build on that by focusing on the same thing we've focused on for the past 22 years, pleasing members.
Netflix closed out last year with a lot of buzz-worthy content, including "The Irishman" and "Marriage Story." Both films are up for multiple Oscars next month, including best picture. And there'll be more competition, NBC Universal's peacock and Warner Media's HBO Max launch later this year.
JARRETT: A new warning about sunscreen from the FDA. After just one application, seven different chemicals can be absorbed into the bloodstream at levels that exceed safety standards. And experts say what's really alarming is that the commonly used ingredients have not been fully tested.
The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, an arm of the FDA, is calling for immediate testing to determine the safety of the chemicals. But they don't abandon -- they say don't abandon sunscreen just yet. If you're concerned, experts urge you to consider using mineral-based sunscreens.
ROMANS: All right. A love story for the ages in Missouri. Now, a couple dying hours apart after spending a few hours together one last time.
Jack and Harriet Morrison met in 1955 when he was a 21-year-old bus driver and she was an 18-year-old passenger. Thirty years later, he retired and they traveled the world together.
Their daughter Sue Wagener tells CNN they were always holding hands right up to the end in their room in the nursing home. Wagener says this is what movies are made of. They were truly in love.
Isn't that remarkable? Whole life like that together --
JARRETT: It's like "The Notebook."
ROMANS: I know, exactly.
All right. A man and his dog stuck in an icy pond. How firefighter managed to get them out.
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JARRETT: The frigid weather now affecting everything from the deep south to the Canadian border. Thirty-six million people are under cold weather and wind advisories.
Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with more on when the cold will ever let up.
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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good Wednesday morning to you. It is an incredibly cold morning across portions of the country. And, in fact, look at wind chills into the early-morning hours down in South Florida. On South Beach, in Miami, it feels like 37 degrees this morning.
And then, of course, you work your way toward the Gulf Coast states and temperatures in New Orleans feel like 38; Montgomery, 29; Atlanta, 27. And into the northeast, into the lower 20s and teens out of, say, Boston.
But you've got to look at the state of Florida, in particular, and nearly the entire state underneath wind chill advisories. Wind chills across parts of western Florida in and around, say, Tampa, down into the middle 20s. Temps by this afternoon only make it up to the middle- 60s in Miami. That's about 11 degrees below average for this time of year.
In Raleigh, your temps into the upper 40s, just a few notches below what is considered normal for this time of year.
But the bigger story moving forward will be the next system coming in and with it, some wintry weather possible. This includes places such as Tulsa and St. Louis. On into Omaha, we get a quick shot of wintry weather and maybe even some icy potential there.
But again, a very quick moving system here. So I think total accumulations at the most, across some of the bigger cities such as St. Louis and Chicago, could just be a couple of inches here as we go in from, say, Wednesday into Thursday -- guys.
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ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that, Pedram.
Rutgers University has named the first black president in the school's 254-year history. Jonathan Holloway becomes the 21st president. He says he was drawn to the school by the university's excellence and ambition to conduct life-changing research.
Holloway talked about a phone call with his now-deceased mother 29 years ago. He wanted to discuss what he thought was a potential job offer from Rutgers.
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JONATHAN HOLLOWAY, PRESIDENT-ELECT, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: And somehow I was able to ignore the fact that I was only in my third semester at my doctoral program. And in retrospect, I'm quite certain that Professor Lewis wasn't offering me anything at that time.
And as we've come to know, I'm the kind of person whom hope always springs eternal. And wouldn't you know it -- I'm going to get through this moment.
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HOLLOWAY: No, no, no, no, no.
And wouldn't you know it, this time my hope paid off. Mom, I got the job.
(APPLAUSE)
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ROMANS: Holloway succeeds Robert Barchi, who as served as president of Rutgers since 2012. He leaves the post in July.
JARRETT: Brigham Young University in Salt Lake City waving a rule that bans same-sex ballroom dance while it hosts the U.S. national dance sport championships in March.
The women-run school normally prohibits all forms of physical intimacy that give expression to homosexual feelings.
[04:55:00]
But in this case, BYU says it will follow National Dance Council of America rules. Before BYU's announcement, one pair of opposite sex competitors had planned to boycott the championship as a protest.
But Katerina and Xingmin Lu say they will attend.
ROMANS: Wow. All right. Firefighters in Sterling, Massachusetts, rescuing a man and his dog from a frozen pond. The dog fell into the icy water first, and his owner tried to rescue him in a canoe, but the canoe flipped sending the man into the freezing water, too. After they were rescued, the owner refused medical treatment. His furry friend was hypothermic but otherwise uninjured.
JARRETT: Congratulations to Derek Jeter. The legendary New York Yankee a first ballot hall of famer. Jeter falling just one vote short of unanimous election to Cooperstown.
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DEREK JETER, ELECTED TO HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2020: I was speechless when I got the call. Everyone said anticipate a phone call coming at such and such time. But quite frankly, I was pretty nervous.
This is something that's very difficult. You're talking about one percent of the players that have ever played this game getting to the Hall of Fame, so it's very humbling.
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JARRETT: That's 1 percent.
Well, joining Jeter in the class of 2020, Larry Walker. The outfield great who played for three teams in his 17-year career made it in his tenth and final year on the ballot.
Meantime, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens continue their slow climb in Hall of Fame voting. But tainted by storied allegations, both remain well short of what's needed for induction.
ROMANS: All right. Let's get a check CNN business this Wednesday.
Take a look at markets around the world, really trying to rebound here. Asian stocks recovered from losses sparked by the coronavirus outbreak.
On Wall Street, futures at the moment also leaning a little bit higher here. You know, stocks closed lower Tuesday, again, worried about that coronavirus outbreak and on news that the first case had been reported in the United States. The Dow finished 151 points lower, snapping a -- a five-day winning streak. The S&P 500, the Nasdaq also fell.
Boeing fell after saying it doesn't expect regulators to sign off on the 737 MAX until the summer. A 3 percent move lower in Boeing.
General Motors autonomous unit Cruise revealed the next thing in ride sharing, a robot taxi. The all-electric shuttle called Cruise Origin is specifically designed to operate without a driver. It doesn't have manual controls like pedals or a steering wheel at all. It does have sensors that function as the car's eyes. GM will build the vehicles while Cruise plans to own and operate them within its own ride-sharing service. The Cruise is being tested in San Francisco.
Delta had a very good year last year. So, instead of just thanking its employees, it paid them a record $1.6 billion in bonuses, sharing the profit. That breaks down to an additional two months' pay for every eligible employee. The only people excluded from the profit-sharing plan are delta's officers, directors, and general managers. They'll be paid their own performance-based bonuses.
This is the sixth year in a row Delta has paid out more than $1 billion to its workers.
JARRETT: While you were sleeping, late-night hosts took jabs at midnight Mitch McConnell at the Senate impeachment trial.
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STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, CBS "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": So, no evidence, no witnesses, just 100 old people stuck in a room together. This isn't a trial, it's the 4:00 dinner rush at Denny's.
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, ABC "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": People online started called him midnight Mitch yesterday -- Midnight McCon-artist, Midnight McCover-up, Putin's little Mitch. Everything you can imagine.
JAMES CORDEN, HOST, CBS "THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN": Meanwhile, President Trump isn't even in the United States. He left last night for a World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland or as that's more commonly called, fleeing the country.
I mean, Trump said it was comforting being around skiers in the Swiss Alps. Very much like his presidency, they are also going downhill fast.
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ROMANS: That midnight Michigan moniker came from Carl Bernstein and our own --
JARRETT: Yes, they're going to have so much fun with this trial.
ROMANS: They will, yes.
JARRETT: Well, thanks to our international viewers for joining us. Have a great rest of your day.
For our U.S. viewers, EARLY START continues right now.
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ROBERTS: I think it is appropriate at this point for me to admonish both the House managers and the president's counsel --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Rules for the president's impeachment trial are set after 13 long hours. What changes and what stays the same from the original plan.
ROMANS: The first confirmed case in the United States of the fast- spreading coronavirus. More than 400 sick in China. Now, top world health officials meeting today.
JARRETT: Hillary Clinton walking back her claim she might not back Bernie Sanders if he's the nominee. What the whole mess means for his supporters.
ROMANS: And Derek Jeter is heading to the Hall of Fame. Somehow only -- only 99.7 percent of voters agree.
Good morning, and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
JARRETT: And I'm Laura Jarrett. It's Wednesday, January 22nd, 5:00 a.m. in the East.
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