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Senate On Verge Of Unlocking Ability To Pass COVID Relief Without GOP; Democrats, Plus 11 Republicans, Kick Rep. Greene Off Committees; Russian Opposition Leader Alexey Navalny Back In Court On Different Charges. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired February 05, 2021 - 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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[05:30:50]
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone and welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: It's Friday. I'm Christine Romans. Thirty minutes past the hour.
Breaking moments ago, the Senate wrapping a session that lasted about 15 hours. It ended by unlocking Democrats' power to pass a major coronavirus relief bill without Republican support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On this vote, the ayes are 50, the nays are 50. The Senate being equally divided, the vice president votes in the affirmative and the amendment is agreed to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: A tiebreaker.
CNN's congressional reporter Daniella Diaz live on Capitol Hill this morning. So nice to see you this Friday morning.
For them, it still feels like Thursday night, I guess, because this has been going on forever. What does this mean for Americans in need of help in the middle of this pandemic and financial crisis?
DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Look, Christine, it's really interesting because this began at 2:30 p.m. yesterday. They have not paused. They just wrapped moments ago. The Senate has been here all night.
Look, it's important to note that this is a procedure that just passed. It's called a part of budget reconciliation. This is the procedure that Biden's administration and Congress is going to take to pass his COVID-19 relief package without any Republican support. That means they just need a simple majority in the Senate of 51 votes. This shows the urgency of the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress to pass a COVID-19 relief bill if they don't want a bipartisan package.
Now, one thing I want to mention is there was an amendment that was passed last night by 99 senators that showed that they are all OK with targeted stimulus checks this time around. They want the stimulus checks to go with a salary cap. That shows that they agree with that, but there were dozens of amendments that were passed last night.
Now, there's 10 Republican senators that have sent a letter to Biden. They sent it last night to tell him that they want to work with him on his COVID-19 package. They believe that this $1.9 trillion package that Biden wants to pass is too large and should be more targeted -- a smaller package. They sent him a letter to try to continue that dialogue with him -- to try to have him converse with them about what their concerns are.
So that's where things stand right now. And, you know, this bottom line is this shows the urgency from the Biden administration to pass this package when there's a divide between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to agree on a COVID-19 package.
ROMANS: You know, Daniella, explain the maneuvering last night over raising the minimum wage. You know, Senate Republicans wanted to get Democrats on the record about raising the minimum wage. Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst said it would really hurt small businesses -- a $15.00 minimum wage. But, Sen. Bernie Sanders essentially saved the Democrats from a hard vote here, right?
DIAZ: Yes. Sen. Bernie Sanders stood up and he told the Senate chamber that he does want to see a $15.00 hike -- or a $15.00 minimum wage increase, but he says he doesn't want to see it now. He understands the pandemic is affecting businesses and he says he wants to see it by 2025. That is what his legislation is.
And he agreed to a voice vote on the Senate floor, which means that since the Democrats didn't have to go on record about how they voted for this. So, that passed and there was no issue with that.
ROMANS: Showing his legislative experience, no doubt, in a long night in the Senate.
Daniella, so nice to see you. Thank you so much. Have a great weekend.
DIAZ: Thank you, guys.
JARRETT: All right.
Stripped of her vote but not her influence, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene tossed off two House committees by Democrats who were joined in the vote by less than a dozen Republicans.
When given the opportunity, Greene did not take responsibility for her hateful rhetoric. She said she stumbled across QAnon at the end of 2017 and began posting about it on Facebook because she felt she couldn't trust the government. Listen to all the passive voice here.
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REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I was allowed to believe things that weren't true and I would ask questions about them and talk about them, and that is absolutely what I regret. Because if it weren't for the Facebook posts and comments that I liked in 2018, I wouldn't be standing here today and you couldn't point a finger and accuse me of anything wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: So she's not wrong about one thing. She would not be standing there if not for the things that she said, the things that she liked, the anti-Semitism, the bigotry that she spewed that was known by those who voted for her and is now endorsed by her party.
[05:35:11]
ROMANS: And Democrats are fed up. Top House Democrat Steny Hoyer showed Republicans -- this was remarkable -- a poster. He carried it over to the other side to show this poster of a social media post of Taylor Greene holding a rifle, threatening progressive lawmakers.
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REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD): This vote can be a first step in correcting the error of those who, so far, have chosen to do nothing. Republicans have yet to offer a clear and unambiguous declaration that political violence is unacceptable and has no place in their ranks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Speaking of the direction of the Republican Party, it appears there is still a high price for anyone in the GOP who chooses country over party.
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse is one of five Republican senators who voted to move forward with former President Trump's second impeachment trial. And for that, he's facing a censure resolution in his home state -- one he says he can live with.
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SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): You are welcome to censure me again but let's be clear about why this is happening. It's because I still believe, as you used to, that politics isn't about the weird worship of one dude. The party could purge Trump skeptics but I'd like to convince you that not only is that civic cancer for the nation, it's just terrible for our party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Sen. Sasse is urging the GOP to accept critics of the former president if it wants to survive. ROMANS: All right, now the latest on the pandemic.
Seattle Children's Hospital forced to cancel its first 1,300 appointments for vaccinations this week. There were concerns people did not have equal access to signing up. Vaccination rates are picking up though across the country, but in Florida there's been a setback.
CNN has this pandemic covered from coast-to-coast.
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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Rosa Flores in Miami.
The Florida Department of Health is asking Palm Beach County to audit 1,000 damaged doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The county's health care district blames human error, saying that a vaccine refrigerator at a mobile unit was unintentionally turned off.
Now, the Department of Health is asking the county to account for all vaccine-related equipment. And it's also asking the county to review all procedures in place to store and handle the COVID-19 vaccine.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Stephanie Elam in Los Angeles.
The state of California has seen its average number of daily new cases drop by about 60 percent over the last month. This, as the state announced more than 13,000 new cases -- but that's below the average of about 18,000 new cases for the last two weeks.
The positivity rate also dropping below seven percent to levels we haven't seen since early December, while hospitalizations are down from the high that we saw in early January. Deaths, however, in the state, remain stubbornly high.
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Adrienne Broaddus in Chicago.
Over in Wisconsin it's on again, off again, back on again. On Thursday, Gov. Tony Evers issued a new public health emergency requiring everyone in the state to wear a face covering in all public spaces. This move came one hour after the Republican-led Assembly voted to repeal the previous mask mandate, calling it unconstitutional. Gov. Evers says the most basic thing people can do is wear a mask to help keep others safe.
EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Evan McMorris-Santoro.
Restaurants, gyms, and places of worship in Massachusetts will soon be able to welcome more people inside. Businesses that have been on a 25 percent capacity limit will see that limit raised to 40 percent starting next week. On Thursday, Gov. Charlie Baker said the pandemic situation in his state has improved enough to allow more people to share in indoor activities. There are still a lot of restrictions in place though. Indoor and
outdoor gatherings remain limited to 25 and 50 people, respectively. And movie theaters can only have a maximum of 50 people.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Erica Hill.
Youth sports can resume in Michigan starting on Monday. Masks will be mandatory at practices and competitions, and for sports in which mask- wearing isn't an option, testing must be in place. Each athlete is permitted two spectators at competitions.
The governor also announcing a target date of March first for a return to in-person learning.
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JARRETT: Many thanks to all of our correspondents for those reports.
With millions of kids still stuck at home, 24 states and Washington, D.C. are now allowing teachers and school staff to receive coronavirus vaccine. In 26 other states, some educators may fall into the age group their state is currently vaccinating anyway.
[05:40:00]
Atlanta Public Schools is discussing plans to have a mandatory four- week extended school program in June to address possible learning loss for 51,000 students.
President Biden's COVID relief package, meanwhile, will give $170 billion to schools and has made opening the majority of schools a key benchmark of his aggressive 100-day plan. The Republicans' package would give schools $20 billion.
ROMANS: All right.
The president and top Democrats are split on how to cancel student loan debt. For the first time, the White House has publicly signaled willingness to consider executive action to forgive student loans. The president prefers Congress act first. Congressional Democrats want Biden to do this on his own.
On Thursday, Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren -- they reintroduced a resolution calling on Biden to cancel $50,000 per borrower. But progressive lawmakers say Biden could use the same legal authority to cancel debt that then- President Trump used to temporarily wave interest on federal student loans during the pandemic.
Now, liberal consumer groups were disappointed when the policy was not included in the president's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
But, Laura, there are centrists who are a little worried about this focus just forgiving student loan debt. They would like to really focus in on inexpensive college -- make sure everyone has access to inexpensive college. And also, reinforcing the plans we already have for income-based
repayment and for forgiving student loans after a certain amount of time. They want to really shore that up. They think it's not fair for people who paid for schools -- saved and paid for school, and then other people get their loans forgiven.
JARRETT: Yes, it's a real question of how do figure out these priorities here --
ROMANS: Yes.
JARRETT: -- with all these competing interests and all things that are important to real people's lives.
Well, a judge on one of the country's most powerful federal courts is retiring from full-time duty, opening up another vacancy for President Biden to name a successor.
Judge Emmet Sullivan announced Thursday he's taking senior status after serving 27 years on the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. You might recall he presided over the Justice Department's abandoned prosecution of Michael Flynn, the debacle with the USPS in the run-up to the 2020 election, and many, many other cases.
More than a dozen other federal judges have also announced their plans to take senior status since President Biden took office. And now, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has no power to block Biden's replacement nominees.
We'll be right back.
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[05:46:38]
JARRETT: Russian prosecutors are keeping the pressure on opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Days after being sentenced to two years in prison, he's being dragged back to court. So what's going on here?
CNN's Fred Pleitgen is live at the courthouse in Moscow for us. Fred, bring us up to speed. What's happening?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Laura. You're absolutely right -- the prosecutors certainly keeping the pressure on Alexey Navalny.
This time, it's a defamation case where he allegedly defamed a 94- year-old World War II veteran when he -- when Alexey Navalny criticized changes to the Russian Constitution. That this veteran had made a video -- was in a video advertising those changes to the Constitution.
Alexey Navalny now in the docket. He's actually in court here in person. He's already criticized this case once again. He says as usual, that it's politically motivated. He says that the case is weak. He's also ripped into the prosecutors for making the 94-year-old man be part of this trial at all.
And his own attorneys have also come out and said that they believe that this case is illegal. Nevertheless, it's going forward.
Of course, it comes only a few days after he was sentenced to at least 2 1/2 years in prison on Tuesday. So you're absolutely right. The prosecutors very much keeping that pressure up on Alexey Navalny.
Alexey Navalny, for his part, of course, has said that he believes the only reason why he's behind bars is because he survived that poisoning by the chemical nerve agent Novichok. And, of course, he has said that he very much believes that Vladimir Putin and the Russian intelligence services were behind that poisoning.
Of course, one interesting thing that happened is that he was in a hospital in the town Omsk. And we just got word last night that the leading doctor who treated Navalny at that hospital in Omsk mysteriously died. He was only 55 years old.
And so far, the authorities in that area have not given any reason for his death. Of course, we don't know whether or not there was foul play in play but, so far, no reason for that death. Another mysterious death around that case, guys.
JARRETT: Yes, certainly only going to raise more questions about what's happening.
Fred, thank you.
ROMANS: All right.
Police in Plant City, Florida are searching for a man they say stole a car with vials of coronavirus vaccine inside. They released this surveillance video of a possible suspect. The car was taken Wednesday on the grounds of the city's Strawberry Festival where there's a vaccine distribution center.
It's not known how many doses were in the car. It's not known if the suspect even knew the car had those precious vaccine doses inside.
JARRETT: A nightmare for parents of infants and toddlers nationwide. A new congressional investigation found popular baby food tainted with high levels of toxic heavy metals.
Four companies -- Gerber, Beech-Nut, Happy Baby, and Earth's Best organic baby food produced internal documents showing their products had dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, mercury -- all linked to cancer and other chronic diseases. The companies are standing by their standards and practices.
ROMANS: A powerful winter storm shows no sign of letting up in the Midwest. Whiteout conditions along I-180 in Iowa leading to a 40- vehicle pileup Thursday -- wow. That included semitrailers, trucks, and some State Police cars. In Wisconsin, the Coast Guard had to rescue dozens of people stranded on three separate ice flows near Green Bay. The severe weather just the beginning of a bitter cold snap that could
affect more than 200 million Americans. Welcome to February.
Chicago is even being forced to close city-operated COVID-19 testing sites through Wednesday.
[05:50:04]
Let's take a look at markets around the world to end the week. You can see European shares have opened higher. A mixed performance for Asia.
On Wall Street, futures are up slightly. That Wall Street-Main Street split-screen, again Thursday. The Dow closed up 332 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both hit record highs.
But Thursday's jobless claims showed 779,000 Americans filed for the first time for benefits last week. Falling slightly for the third week in a row, but the level here is worrying. More than 18 million people are receiving some sort of jobs benefit from the government. We'll learn how many jobs were added in the month of January as the big jobs report comes out in just a few hours.
A big story in the auto industry. A global chip shortage is hitting Ford's best-selling vehicle. Ford plans to cut production of the F-150 pickup truck -- the iconic F-150 because of the global chip shortage. The F-150 is the nation's best-selling vehicle. It's Ford's biggest moneymaker.
The shortage is expected to cut Ford's vehicle output by up to 20 percent in the first quarter. The automaker reported it lost $1.3 billion last year despite a better fourth quarter, finishing a rough year for the auto industry.
Ford now making a big bet on electric and self-driving cars. It will invest $29 billion in EVs and autonomous vehicles.
The Super Bowl is just days away but big sports betters and fantasy firms are already winning big. Sunday's game will be the third Super Bowl since the Supreme Court legalized sports betting at the state level. Fans in more than two dozen states and D.C. now have the ability to legally bet on sports online, on an app, or in person.
And, Draft Kings and FanDuel are dominating this industry. Shares of both companies have soared ahead of the big game. Draft Kings is hoping to reach even more customers with two commercials during the game.
JARRETT: Super Bowl LV in Tampa almost here. All eyes are going to be on the quarterbacks, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes.
Andy Scholes has this morning's Bleacher Report. Andy, the Super Bowl is here.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Laura. So excited for this match-up. Forty-three-year-old Tom Brady against 25-year-old Patrick Mahomes. You know, Brady looking for that seventh Super Bowl. Mahomes trying to be the youngest ever to win back-to-back.
Check this out. When Brady won his first Super Bowl back when he was 24 years old, Mahomes -- he was just six -- a first-grader. Nineteen years later, they're set to face off in the Super Bowl.
Brady says if he wins a seventh title, the thing he's looking forward to the most is celebrating with his family.
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TOM BRADY, QUARTERBACK, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS: That's -- the best part about winning is having the people that have helped you get there and support you there with you to enjoy it. So some of the best memories I've had in my life were being with my kids right after the Super Bowl and celebrating with them. So I hope we have that experience on Sunday. It's going to be a really tough game.
PATRICK MAHOMES, QUARTERBACK, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: I'm focused on this game right now, trying to win this second Super Bowl and be able to hold that Lombardi trophy and have that second ring. But when I'm at the end of my career and I have a lot of Super Bowl rings in my hand, I'll be happy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: All right.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have one of the most diverse coaching staffs in all of the NFL. All three of Bruce Arians' coordinators are black and they're the only team that has two full-time assistant coaches that are women.
And, Commissioner Roger Goodell giving the state of the league address yesterday. He said he's proud of the NFL's hiring practices, despite the fact that only two minority candidates were hired this off-season.
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ROGER GOODELL, COMMISSIONER, NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: I know people want to focus on the head coach but there are a lot of positives. Three new general managers that are African-American. There's a lot more diversity in the coordinator position also and across the league.
So there are some real positives to build on and that's what we're going to do. But we're not satisfied and we feel like we can do better and we're going to.
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SCHOLES: All right, we'll have much more on the Chiefs and the Bucs tomorrow on our CNN Bleacher Report special "KICKOFF IN TAMPA BAY." Coy Wire and myself will get you ready for the big game. We'll be joined by two-time Super Bowl champion Malcolm Jenkins, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and many more. That's tomorrow at 2:30 eastern right here on CNN. All right. According to multiple reports, the NBA is going to have an All-Star game Sunday, March seventh. They're going to hold all of the events -- slam dunk contest, three-point contest, and the game all in one day in Atlanta.
Many NBA players not happy about trying to hold this event during a pandemic, including LeBron James.
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LEBRON JAMES, FORWARD, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: I have zero energy and zero excitement about an All-Star game this year. You know, I don't even understand why we're having an All-Star game. Pretty much, it's kind of a slap in the face.
And, you know, we're also still dealing with a pandemic. We're still dealing with everything that's been going on. And we're going to bring the whole league into one city that's open.
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SCHOLES: Yes. And, Christine, LeBron says if he's selected to go to that All-Star game, he'll be there physically but not mentally.
[05:55:00]
ROMANS: All right, Andy Scholes.
SCHOLES: You could tell he was not happy about it.
ROMANS: Thanks so much, Andy.
All right, Super Bowl weekend. Laura Jarrett, what's your favorite Super Bowl food? What does Laura Jarrett make on Super Bowl Sunday?
JARRETT: Laura Jarrett likes to watch the commercials and eat pizza and chicken. But please do it safely this year, everyone. For those that are enjoying, please follow the advice --
ROMANS: Yes.
JARRETT: -- of health experts.
ROMANS: Just you and your immediate family and lots of terrible food.
JARRETT: And maybe a little wine, beer.
ROMANS: Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.
JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.
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