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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Biden Makes Closing Argument in Iowa; Impeachment Trial Resumes with Closing Arguments; Chinese Stocks Slump Since 2015. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired February 03, 2020 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CO-ANCHOR, EARLY START: And what I have to -- I've got to tell you, I'm going to be honest, full disclosure, I'm dragging this morning, but it was worth it. That was a game that was worth it for the loss of sleep --
LAURA JARRETT, CO-ANCHOR, EARLY START: Christine is here for Shakira and J'Lo.
ROMANS: Exactly, I love the halftime show.
JARRETT: Good morning everyone, welcome to EARLY START, I'm Laura Jarrett --
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday, February, 3rd, it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. But let's begin here, this is week that will reverberate in U.S. history. And President Trump's impeachment trial today marks the beginning of the end for the Democratic race to unseat the president, it is the end of the beginning. The first in the nation caucuses in Iowa are today. After a year of campaigning, we get a first glimpse of how voters feel about this Democratic field, a field that has shrunk considerably but remains deep with months of voting to go.
JARRETT: And closing arguments are today in the president's impeachment trial. A forgone conclusion, the Senate will acquit him on charges he abused his power. But the push to uncover who knew what and when could be just beginning. The final vote is expected on Wednesday -- and oh, by the way, the president will get a head-start on his victory lap tomorrow night with the "State of the Union" speech in Nancy Pelosi's chamber.
ROMANS: But we'll begin in Iowa where Democrats will begin answering the critical 2020 question today, can a party at war with itself beat the president in November? Arlette Saenz begins our coverage with the Biden campaign in Des Moines.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Laura and Christine, heading into tonight's caucuses, Joe Biden has been consistent with his message. He's essentially framed this race as a matchup between himself and the president. Biden has also been arguing that he is the candidate who could best unify and heal the country which he thinks is something that Democrats are craving in this presidential race.
Now, he has at times tried to make some distinctions between himself and the other contenders. Over the weekend, he was arguing that Democrats and Iowans need to consider a candidate who can actually fulfill the promises and make their promises a reality. And take a listen to part of the closing message he left with Iowans as he held his final rally in Des Moines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We choose hope over fear.
(APPLAUSE)
We choose science over fiction. And we choose unity over division. And we choose truth over lies!
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: Now, Biden's campaign has said that Iowa is not a must-win state, but he has invested significant time and resources here in the state. Biden himself has predicted that this will be a toss-up. He believes that candidates could emerge from Iowa bunched up in the amount of delegates that they acquire. And what Biden and his team have argued is that he has a diverse coalition waiting for him in states like South Carolina and Super Tuesday which have a more diverse demographic.
But Biden as he's closed out his argument and his pitch to Iowans here, he has stressed to them that they should caucus for him because the president is most concerned about facing him in a general election. Laura and Christine?
JARRETT: Arlette, thanks so much. And Joe Biden has been a front- runner since he first got in the race, but a late surge by Bernie Sanders even after a heart attack just four months ago underscores just how fractured the party is right now. CNN's Ryan Nobles is on the trail in Iowa with the Sanders campaign.
RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Laura, Bernie Sanders is back in Washington D.C. today after spending all of Sunday in Iowa. And right now his campaign is feeling confident. They do believe that there are more caucus goers, Democratic caucus goers here in this state that support his campaign than any of the other campaigns.
But what they're focused on now is getting them to those caucus locations on Monday night. And Sanders crisscrossed the state on Sunday, particularly hitting these canvas locations where his volunteers are then going to go out into the community and get those people to show up on caucus night. This was Sanders' final push to his volunteers to make sure that they understood the stakes that were ahead of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT) & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My request of all of you is to do everything that you can in the next 24 hours, to knock on doors, to talk to your friends, to get on the phone to make sure that we have a large turn-out tomorrow night. Because I've said this before and I'll say it again. If there is a low voter turn-out tomorrow night, we're going to lose.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBLES: So, there's no question than Sanders and his team are feeling confident right now, but they know that this is a close race and nothing is guaranteed. That's why they're putting such a heavy emphasis on their organizational effort here in Iowa. It's important to also point out that it is pretty remarkable that Sanders finds himself in this position on caucus day when just a few months ago, he was suffering from a heart attack and many political observers wondered if that was the end of his campaign. He stands now here today in a position to possibly win. Laura and Christine?
[05:05:00]
ROMANS: All right, Ryan for us in Des Moines. The first of two final anti-climactic stages of President Trump's impeachment trial gets under way in a matter of hours. Both sides will make their closing arguments today. The final vote is scheduled for Wednesday, though the outcome is not in doubt. Even though Republican senators who admit the president acted improperly, well, they're preparing to acquit him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): Generally speaking, going after corruption will be the right thing to do --
JAKE TAPPER, HOST, THE LEAD: No, but going after the Bidens --
ERNST: He did it -- he did it maybe in the wrong manner. The president has a lot of lever to do what he wants to do. Again, not what I would have done, but certainly again going after corruption, Jake.
TAPPER: So, you're saying it's not perfect, I get that, but look at -- if it's not something --
ERNST: Maybe not the perfect --
TAPPER: If it's not something --
SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-TN): You look at Nixon, when the vote to authorize that inquiry was 410-4, and you look at Trump where not a single Republican voted for it, if you start out with a partisan impeachment you're almost destined to have a partisan acquittal.
(END VIDEO CLIP) JARRETT: Senator Alexander says he doesn't want a partisan process,
but does not call out Republican colleagues in the house who refuse to accept the same facts that he does. Meantime, Democrat Adam Schiff will not say whether the house will subpoena John Bolton after Alexander's vote killed any chance of it happening in the Senate. And unlike the last president to be acquitted, don't expect President Trump to apologize or express any contrition. People close to him say, they expect him to claim vindication and proclaim complete and total innocence.
ROMANS: Yes, it was President Clinton apologized for putting the nation through that in a public apology. No one is expecting that from this president. Right, six minutes past the hour, Chinese stocks having a really bad day, the worst day in years. Investors with their first chance to react to the coronavirus after the lunar new year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:10:00]
ROMANS: All right, Chinese stocks are having their worst day in years. Investors finally have a chance to react to the coronavirus outbreak. And oh, react they did. Shanghai plunged almost 8 percent on the first day of trading after the extended lunar new year holiday. That's the worst day since August 2015. So what's happening in futures right now a little bit of a bounce up. It is still really impossible to determine how much this virus will affect the Chinese economy.
Some economists have said China's growth rate could drop 2 percentage points this quarter. A drop that mean -- big is about a loss of $62 billion in the Chinese economy. China may have to cut taxes, boost spending, slash interest rates, prevent the outbreak from wreaking havoc on an already fragile economy there.
JARRETT: Meantime, the U.S. has started enforcing tougher travel restrictions in an effort to contain the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. The plan includes a temporary ban on foreign nationals who visited China in the 14 days prior to their arrival to the United States. So far, the virus has killed more than 350 people and infected more than 17,000 in China.
A more than 600 percent spike since this time last week. There's also concern for medical teams in China trying to treat the growing number of patients. And this morning, the Chinese government had some harsh words for the U.S. CNN's David Culver is live for us in Beijing. David, folks are not happy, obviously officials feel like the U.S. is overreacting.
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And they feel like, Laura, that they started what's now looking like a trend of essentially isolating China. You see several countries going forward with their own travel restrictions, not allowing people who have either come from China or Chinese nationals coming into their countries for a certain period of time. That's why they're really upset. And it seems to also be relevant for the Americans who are still within the locked-down zones, the city of Wuhan, we know several hundred are there. They're eager to get out. We've spoken with them. They were supposed
to get out on a flight today, but they're hearing that it was delayed. We're trying to get the exact confirmation as to what's going on with that flight. But it may be between a back-and-forth between the two governments, and we know that the Chinese Foreign Ministry, they came out really strong a few hours ago in harsh words towards the U.S. government, and here's what they said.
They said, quote, "the U.S. government hasn't provided any substantial assistance to us, but it was the first to evacuate personnel from its consulate in Wuhan, the first to suggest partial withdrawal of its embassy staff, and the first to impose a travel ban on Chinese travelers. All it has done could only create and spread fear, which is a bad example."
Essentially saying that now other countries are doing the same, and that's creating a lot of pain for China as a whole. Meantime, we do know that Chinese officials are still working with the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo who says they're trying to figure out how to get the aircraft to Wuhan. Chinese officials have said essentially, they only have room for aircraft that are coming in with supplies because they are in dire need of medical supplies especially on the front lines there.
So, we've seen Japan and South Korea with their evacuation flights, bringing in supplies, kind of a gesture of good will. It's possible according to Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State saying they're looking into that exchange as well essentially.
JARRETT: David, thanks so much. See you soon. All right, it was 50 years in the making, but the Kansas City Chiefs and their fans finally have another Super Bowl. Coy Wire has this morning's "BLEACHER REPORT" next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:15:00]
[05:20:00]
ROMANS: OK, so it was a game that lived up to the hype, you know, it really was. For the first time in 50 years, the Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl champs.
JARRETT: And our very own Coy Wire has more on their thrilling come back over their 49ers in this morning's "BLEACHER REPORT" in Miami.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: Top of the morning to you. It's dark and early out here, Laura and Jarrett. But you know what? Christine, this is incredible moment. The Kansas City Chiefs can forever be known as the comeback kids, overcoming deficits of 10 and 24 points in their previous two playoff games.
And now this, a stunning comeback to win the Super Bowl. Let's check the highlights. They were down 10 with 7 minutes to go, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes had just thrown two interceptions, looking human, right? But the 24-year-old finds that Mahomes' magic, a 44-year -- yard bow to Tyreek Hill is the spark they needed. And two Mahomes touchdown throws in about four minutes would follow, including this one to Damien Williams who barely crosses the goal line.
Look at him there, stretching out to give KC the lead. Mahomes looking to become the first quarterback in NFL history to lead three double- digit comebacks in a single post-season. He's really feeling it, then Williams puts this one out of reach for good. Thirty one to 20 would be the final. The Chiefs after so many decades of heart-break are champions.
Head coach Andy Reid no longer the winning-est coach without a Super Bowl title, and Mahomes becomes the youngest player ever to win league MVP and a Super Bowl. He talked with us after the game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK MAHOMES, QUARTERBACK, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: Hey, we're coming home, it's going to be amazing, everybody be out there for the parade. We can bring the Lombardy home!
ANDY REID, HEAD COACH, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: And I've got a great bunch of guys, man. They're phenomenal. So, I could coach another 20 years with this group.
WIRE: The come-back kids, how?
REID: Heart, man, you know that, it's heart, so I'm proud of them.
WIRE: You're just the third African-American quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl. What does your story -- what does that message send to kids all across America?
MAHOMES: I think it just means that no matter where you come from, no matter -- no matter how you were raised or what race you are, that you can -- you can go out and follow your dreams. And that's what I've always believed. No one thought I was going to be a football player, everyone thought of me to be a baseball player, but I followed my dreams and now I'm here winning the Super Bowl with all my teammates.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Now, Laura, Christine, listen to this tweet that Mahomes sent out seven years ago. He said, "I bet it feels amazing to be the quarterback who says I'm going to Disney world after winning the Super Bowl, well now he has. And listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Patrick Mahomes, you and the Kansas City Chiefs just won the Super Bowl. What are you going to do next?
MAHOMES: I'm going to Disney World.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Patrick Mahomes, you and the --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: How sweet is that? You know, Patrick Mahomes has inspired an entire generation of kids out there. They're going to be wearing a lot of shirts like this, a lot of number 15 jerseys and Kansas City, they have already planned out their championship parade. It's going to be this Wednesday, and those streets are going to be a sea --
ROMANS: Yes --
WIRE: Of red.
ROMANS: I've got to tell you, my fourth grader, it was like the best night of his life. He loves Patrick Mahomes, he loves the Chiefs, it was just so cute --
JARRETT: He got to stay up late.
ROMANS: He did. You know, what's interesting, Coy, because --
WIRE: Christine?
ROMANS: Right, yes, what have you got there?
WIRE: You know what? We can make -- we can give him some confetti from the field. So, I'm going to bring this and send it to New York --
ROMANS: Thank you --
WIRE: And you can give this to him. This was on the field upon which Patrick Mahomes made history.
ROMANS: Oh, you're so sweet, Coy, thank you so much. All right, nice to see you.
WIRE: You got it.
JARRETT: Thanks Coy, if you made it --
ROMANS: Looking sharp today --
WIRE: Thank you --
JARRETT: President Trump muffing his congratulatory tweet to the Chiefs. The president praised the Super Bowl champs for representing the great state of Kansas so very well. But, of course, the Chiefs play in Missouri. And Twitter lit up. Matt Fuller of the "Huffington Post" says no one actually thinks Trump could locate Ukraine on a map, right? Of course, remember his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo who is from Kansas, by the way, recently tried to humiliate a reporter by asking her to point out Ukraine on a map which she says she did.
ROMANS: And this from CNN's Rebecca Buck. As if losing the Rams weren't enough, now Missouri has zero NFL teams by presidential decree. This map has been retweeted thousands of times. It looks like someone took a sharpie to Kansas and extended it into Missouri. Remember Sharpie gate? JARRETT: Yes --
ROMANS: After about 10 minutes, the president deleted the tweet and posted a new one with the correct state --
JARRETT: What would we do if we couldn't dig up deleted tweets?
ROMANS: I know, I know --
JARRETT: That's what Twitter is for. It turns out we need them.
ROMANS: Yes.
JARRETT: Well, three frenzied days that could shake this country for years to come. The Senate poised to acquit the president in his impeachment trial. New urgency for Democrats voting today in Iowa, hoping to make Donald Trump a one-term president. What he will say about all of this in tomorrow's "State of the Union".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:25:00]
ROMANS: A split-screen for the ages. Democrats begin deciding who they want to replace President Trump as the Senate prepares to acquit him of high crimes and misdemeanors.
JARRETT: The U.S. now restricting travel to combat the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus, but China says the U.S. is overreacting.
(WORLD SPORTS)
ROMANS: And another epic come-back in a post-season full of them. The Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl champs for the first time in 50 years. Also 50 years in the making, Jennifer Lopez --
JARRETT: Wow, that was just an awesome half-time show. She was amazing, so is Shakira whose --
ROMANS: Yes --
JARRETT: Birthday, it was yesterday --
ROMANS: Happy birthday, good morning, this is EARLY START.
END
