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New Day Saturday
Government Shutdown Continues; Trump: I'm Very Proud of What I'm Doing; Trump: I Could Call a National Emergency and Build Wall Quickly; Sources: President Prefers the Word "Strike" to Describe Shutdown; 3 Dead, Several Others Injured After Bowling Alley Shooting; Looking For Compromise on Capitol Hill; Hundreds of TSA Employees Calling Out Sick at Major Airports; Search Intensifies for Suspect in Killing of Jazmine Barnes; Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Asks For Federal Task Force in Barnes Case; Sheriff: "We Won't Rest Until We Find Justice For Jazmine"; Rally for Jazmine Barnes Being Held in Texas at Noon CT; Shutdown Stretches Into Another Week, No Deal in Sight; Paul Whelan Was Discharged From Marines For Bad Conduct; U.S. Source to CNN: Whelan Had No Apparent Ties to Intel Operations; Democrats Have 2020 Decisions to Make in the Coming Months; Sen. Elizabeth Warren Makes Campaign Debut in Iowa; Dow Surges Over 700 points, Pushed Higher by Strong Jobs Report; U.S. Economy Added 312,000 Jobs in December. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired January 05, 2019 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00] (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NANCY PELOSI, SPEAKER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: We really cannot resolve this until we open up government.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm very proud of doing what I'm doing.
SCHUMER, SENATOR (D) NEW YORK: We told the President we needed the government open. He resisted. In fact, he said he'd keep the government closed for a very long period of time, months or even years.
TRUMP: Absolutely, I said that. I don't think it will, but I am prepared.
RYAN VAUGN, FURLOUGHED GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE WHO VOLUNTEERS: Let us work without having anxiety over our next grocery bill.
ANDREA POPELKA, FURLOUGHED WORKER: All of those things are pre- budgeted. So when something like this happens and you're not going to get your next check, it's like - OK, what do I do?
(END VIDEO)
ANNOUNCER: This is "New Day Weekend" with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN HOST: Well, Happy new day to you, so glad to have you with us. You are waking up to shut down week three. President Trump says, "He'd rather call it a strike." VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: It's not a strike, but whatever you call it, he says, if a deal is not reached it could last for months even, years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm very proud of doing what I'm doing. I don't call it a shutdown. I call it doing what you have to do for the benefit and for the safety of our country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: So what's happening next? Well, in a few hours Vice President, Mike Pence will host a meeting with House and Senate staffers. This is a follow-up to yesterday's meeting, which reportedly started with a 15-minute tirade from the President during which he cursed at congressional leaders.
PAUL: President later called the meeting productive. Democrats called it contentious. But afterwards the President warned, he could go around Congress, if he so chooses, and build the border wall using military funding.
With the latest from the White House now, CNN White House Reporter, Sarah Westwood. What are you hearing about this 11 o'clock meeting, Sarah?
SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christi what we heard yesterday were very different outlooks from Democratic congressional leaders and from the President out of those high-level talks in the situation room yesterday with Democrats reiterating their demands to reopen the government while talks continue, and the President saying that he'd be willing to keep the government partially shuttered indefinitely until he gets funding for that border wall.
And heading into today's meeting, which will happen at the staff level, it won't have the principals involved this time around. The President is reprising those demands for that $5.6 billion sum that House Republicans passed in a spending bill in one of their last acts in the House majority before Democrats took over. That happened right before the shutdown.
And Trump is showing increasing flexibility also as to what might qualify as a wall. Suggesting, he might settle for steel slats or a fence. That he might not need the concrete wall that he ran on in 2016. And Trump is also now saying that he's considered declaring a national emergency over border security in order to get funding for his border wall if he's not able to get that money legislatively. Here's what he said yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can call a national emergency because of the security of our country, absolutely. No, we can do it. I haven't done it, I may do it, I may do it. But we could call a national emergency and build it very quickly. (END VIDEOTAPE) WESTWOOD: Now Congressional Democrats are already expressing their opposition to that idea. Congressman Adam Smith, the Democratic Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee threatened to scrutinize the President's military budget requests if he were to proceed with this idea. Saying in a statement last night,
"By abusing this authority President Trump would be saying that he does not actually believe all the money he requests for our country's defense is needed for legitimate national security purposes. That would raise major questions about his credibility when he requests his next defense budget from Congress."
Of course, Trump would face serious headwinds if he tried to proceed with this national emergency declaration. But heading into today's meeting, there's not a lot of expectation for a big breakthrough, Victor and Christi, because Democrats are showing no signs of moving anywhere closer to a compromise.
PAUL: All right. Sarah Westwood, thank you so much for the update.
BLACKWELL: Let's talk about this now with Amie Parnes. She's a Senior Political Correspondent at The Hill and Co-Author of the book "Shattered". Amie, welcome back to the show.
AMIE PARNES, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT AT THE HILL: Thanks Victor.
BLACKWELL: Let's start here with what's happening at 11 o'clock. Vice President, Mike Pence is going to meet with congressional staffers on the Hill. The President has undercut and undermined Vice President Pence twice. First, before this shutdown started, when he went to the Hill and said that, "The President will sign this bill", and then he didn't. And then after going to Democrats and saying, "Let's talk about $2.5 billion", the President said, "No, I want 5.6". What's his word worth in these negotiations with the President not in the room?
PARNES: Well, apparently, not much, as we've learned from these two specific instances. But, I think, he's going there - the Vice President to sort of try to, kind of, come to some kind of compromise, I think. If I were to guess, I would think that some people around him want to make this happen. It doesn't look good for the White House ultimately.
I think the White House - I think there are some White House officials who kind of know this. No one is urging the President to do anything different. In fact, the sources that I've spoken to are saying that they're holding firm and they're holding their ground and they don't want to compromise.
[08:05:00] But I think it'll be interesting to see what Vice President Pence can kind of can do in these sorts of situations, and in this in this meeting.
BLACKWELL: I want you to listen to the White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp. This was before the meeting yesterday between the President, Schumer and Pelosi, and what you said is potentially or could be on the table.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HALLIE JACKSON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT FOR NBC NEWS: Would the President agree to some kind of a compromise that protects Dreamers and gives him money for a border barrier?
MERCEDES SCHLAPP, WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: Well, I think we got to see what happens in this meeting today.
JACKSON: So it's on the table.
SCHLAPP: I believe that it is on the table. I think we have an opportunity to have these options. For our goal, it is important to say, though, that border security is key.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Dreamers, DACA on the table. Now we know from reporting that it was when Ann Coulter wrote that op-ed for Breitbart that said, wall less country, but a gutless President, and criticized him and others in the Freedom Caucus. He then pulled out of the funding deal - the continuing resolution. Here's what Ann Coulter said about Dreamers and DACA.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANN COULTER, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'd deport the Dreamers before deporting MS-13 members. They are - you catch them, they at least say OK you got me. The Dreamers are all over Congress, the streets, TV, demanding - demanding that we grant. How dare you wait before excusing our law-breaking?
No, I want those guys first, then we'll get the felons and then the hard-working illegal aliens doing the gardening and so on. Everybody kind of likes them, they're so friendly, they're such hard workers. But the Dreamers, #1.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: If that's who the President is afraid of offending and he's scared of what she's going to say, how could the Dreamers or a DACA deal be on the table?
PARNES: I don't think it's on the table, Victor. In fact, everyone I've spoken to who had - was in that meeting, who knows about the meeting, has said, "Well, it's an idea in theory. It's not something that's plausible".
Democrats are kind of holding firm to that notion too. Of course, they want something they want to do on DACA. But they're saying, no, first we need to the government, then we can talk about DACA. Later and you know even President Trump has said as much like, "Let's get this wall built and then we can talk about DACA". So, I don't think that this is anything - both sides are kind of in agreement on this that this can't be part of this agreement. BLACKWELL: Before yesterday, the semantic argument was over wall, steel slats, concrete, fence, see-through, now is - it's the President doesn't want to call it a shutdown reportedly, he wants to call it a strike, which is a very different thing. What do you glean from the President wanting to reframe or recast this shutdown as strike.
PARNES: He's trying to minimize it, obviously, Victor. I mean, some way to say, this isn't as big of a deal as some people are making it. But the thing is, as long - even if this goes months and years, this has ramifications.
This is going to - he's going to start hearing from more and more Republican lawmakers, increasingly, that say this is a problem for me and this is a problem for my constituents. My constituents are really angry about this. I mean, this is a huge chunk of the population.
And so I think that as this kind of carries on and takes on, it's going to be increasingly problematic for him. And I think that's why democrats feel like they have leverage at this point.
BLACKWELL: So what's the argument? I just spoke with one of the members of the Trump Campaign Advisory Board on HR21, which is the bill that would open and fund through September 30th all of the departments, except for Homeland Security, to continue the fight over the wall, that they could get Agriculture, Interior, HUD and the rest back open. What's the congressional argument for not bringing that bill to the floor of the Senate?
PARNES: I think because the Department of Homeland Security is critical. There I've talked to a source yesterday who says that it's not as up to snuff as it should be right now and they're kind of concerned about that.
And so, I think, it has to - a lot of people feel like it has to include the Department of Homeland Security to move forward. It's not enough to just say, OK the rest of these departments will open. So I think they're holding on to that and seeing what how - much they can - what they can build off that.
BLACKWELL: All right. Amie Parnes thanks so much for being with us this morning.
PARNES: Thank you, Victor.
PAUL: So we're bringing another viewpoint here. Andrea Catsimatidis. She's the GOP Regional Vice Chairman for New York State. Thank you so much for being with us, Andrea, we appreciate it.
ANDREA CATSIMATIDIS, NEW YORK STATE GOP REGIONAL VICE-CHAIRWOMAN: Thanks for having me.
PAUL: Absolutely. So we just heard - I want to ask you a question off of what, Amie was saying there. How long do you think the GOP can support President Trump in this until - before Congressmen and women in the GOP are going to the President saying, "Listen, my constituents are not going to put up with this much longer". [08:10:00] CATSIMATIDIS: I think that they're going to do whatever it takes to support the President. When you're negotiating a deal, you can't tell the other side when you're going to finish negotiating, because then there wouldn't be a negotiation. They would know when it's over and they would know when you cave. So I think the President and the GOP have to hang strong in this endeavor.
PAUL: For the sake of their constituents? I mean, do you think that GOPers are going to say I'm going to risk my whole job for this wall?
CATSIMATIDIS: I mean, the Republican Party really supports the wall, it's a matter of national security. We have to know who is coming into this country. 89 percent of border security agents say that the wall would help improve national security, and I think that's what the American people ultimately care about.
PAUL: OK. I want to listen to something that President Trump said yesterday about who he believes these people are that are dealing with a shutdown and what they support. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can call a national emergency because of the security of our country, absolutely. No, we can do it. I haven't done it. I may do it - I may do it. But we could call a national emergency and build it very quickly.
TRUMP: I really believe that these people - many of the people that we're talking about, many of the people you're discussing, I really believe that they agree with what we're doing. Many of those people, maybe even most of those people that really have not been, and will not be getting their money in at this moment, those people, in many cases, are the biggest fan of what we're doing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: Do you know what evidence the President has to back that up?
CATSIMATIDIS: That was his whole campaign promise, and the reason that he got elected. So--
PAUL: But how does he know that the people who are suffering through this shutdown agree with him? What evidence is there that all of these people, as he deems and he said, I really believe these people agree with him, that they agree with what he's doing?
CATSIMATIDIS: I think Americans want to be kept safe. And as I said 89 percent of border security agents say that it's going to help with our national security. We're having huge problems in America, because not only is this a national security issue, but it's also a domestic security issue. MS-13 gang members get across the border illegally and they commit these heinous crimes in these countries.
PAUL: We know that there are dangerous people that come across the border. We know that there are people who are not dangerous that come across the border. You are right in that. But here's my question. Right now today we're dealing with week three of a shutdown.
There are people who cannot afford to pay their rent, to buy food, to buy clothes, to take care of their children. So at the end of the day, President Trump hasn't had to live paycheck to paycheck. Do you think there is a disconnect for people and could there be a political vulnerability there because of it?
CATSIMATIDIS: I really sympathize with these people. And, honestly, I feel like it's irresponsible on the part of the Democrats for passing the legislation on Thursday knowing that the Senate and the President weren't get a vote for it, and therefore the government was going to stay shutdown for longer, and these poor people are going to be out of work for longer. And I think that there needs to be a compromise, so that we can send these people back to work.
PAUL: But can that compromise be about the number? At the end of the day there is a commonality, Democrats and Republicans both say we need to secure the border. Is it up to the President to come to the table and say, "OK, let's agree on a number".
CATSIMATIDIS: So the border wall would cost about $5.6 billion, which is essentially only about 0.1% of the budget. 0.1% is--
PAUL: So what happened to Mexico paying for the border wall?
CATSIMATIDIS: Well, President Trump didn't say--
PAUL: --paying for the border wall?
CATSIMATIDIS: Yes. Well, President Trump didn't say exactly how Mexico would pay for the border wall. They're paying in other ways through our beneficial trade agreement. But, ultimately, I think--
PAUL: If there being other ways why does he need that much money for the border well?
CATSIMATIDIS: It's about national security. I mean, they're paying in other ways, but it would be more beneficial for us to get the wall this way.
PAUL: OK. So let me ask you this. We just heard the President there too say that he would bypass Congress and declare a national emergency, and in doing so, then he would take money out of the military budget to pay for a wall. Here's my question.
Are you - and do you think other republicans are comfortable with that idea, knowing that if you're taking money out of a military budget and something huge happens in terms of terrorism, whether it has anything to do with Mexico or not and now we have deflated much of that military budget. That could be a real crisis for us.
So would you - are you uncomfortable at all or comfortable with the thought that the President would steal money or take money rather. I shouldn't say steal. Would take money out of a military budget to pay for this and bypass Congress? [08:15:00] CATSIMATIDIS: The wall is a matter of national security. And I think, ultimately, Americans will feel safer at night knowing that we have that border security. And so to me as a national security issue it makes sense. But would I rather have it come somewhere else? Yes, and I think everyone would as well. But, ultimately, I think that it would be important for us to have the wall.
PAUL: Andrea Catsimatidis, we appreciate being here. Thank you.
CATSIMATIDIS: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: We are following breaking news out of Southern California this morning. At least three people are dead and several others are wounded after a shooting at a bowling alley. This was in Torrance.
Officers say there were multiple people with gunshot wounds inside the building and witnesses described it just a chaotic scene.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA SCOTT, WITNESS, BOWLING ALLEY SHOOTING, TORRANCE: A lot of people ran into - back into the bar area behind the seats, and on the floor, under the benches. People were crying. It was not comfortable. People were looking for their parents. Nisei is a family league, so you got mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, you know everybody's friends in that league.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: Well, detectives are investigating the shooting and working to identify those suspects. We're going to bring you more information, of course, as we get it, we'll pass it on to you right away.
BLACKWELL: Plus, it's a test of wills and many other things as President Trump and Congressional Democrats negotiate a deal or try to get close to opening up the government fully. With no end in sight, a growing number of lawmakers on Capitol Hill are calling for compromise. You'll hear from them.
PAUL: Also, hundreds of TSA employees calling out sick at major airports across the country, the effects that that could have on your travels.
[08:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: All right. Two of the powerful people in Washington, working now to try to find an end to the government shutdown are Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump, both not wanting to budge on border wall funding. We know there's a meeting that's happening, neither will attend, but Vice President Mike Pence will be there, leading a meeting with Congressional Democrats and leaders on the Hill.
Joining us now to discuss is Democratic Congressman John Sarbanes from Maryland. The shutdown having a major impact on your district, you have one of the highest concentrations of federal workers in the country. Thanks for being with us. JOHN SARBANES, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE (D) MARYLAND: Good to be here.
BLACKWELL: So we know that Vice President Pence will be meeting with staffers this morning in about two and a half hours or so. One of the things the President said that, if there cannot be a deal with Congress to build this wall, that he has the option - he's thought about it, not doing it yet or he's not decided to do it - to declare a national emergency and go around Congress to build the wall. If he does that what Congress' recourse and what are you going to do potentially to stop the President from doing it, if you can?
SARBANES: Well, let's talk about declaring a national emergency is another example the President kind of throwing up a flare to distract people from what ought to be a very focused, steady, diligent process of negotiating and reaching a constructive compromise.
Now I'm encouraged that there are people sitting down today that are going to try to find a good compromise. That makes sense. But it's got to be something that bolsters security at the border, not just this obsession with the wall that we've been hearing from the President over the last 3-4 weeks.
We've got to get the government opened. We've got to get these federal workers back on the job, because they're serving a lot of Americans across the country. Let's have a sensible discussion about what makes sense to keep our borders secure.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress have reached compromise on this a number of times. It's the President who won't say yes to a solution here. So we hope that he'll do that in the coming days. We can get the government open. We can get people back to work. We can get decent border security and we can move on to other things that need to be on the agenda.
BLACKWELL: All right. Congressman, that's interesting, because you say open the government and then we'll discuss the border security, the wall, negotiate. But get the government open first.
The last time you were on the show it was December 23, 2017, and it was just before - Democrats were trying to get protections for Dreamers - for DACA recipients. And this is what you said to me about the leverage and strategy Democrats would use to try to get DACA protections. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN SARBANES, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE (D) MARYLAND: I think the important thing is that the leverage, we think, we have when it comes to an ultimate deal on the budget, and we're going to be coming back to that in January, we still have that leverage. I think we're still going to press to make sure that the DACA situation is addressed--
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: The leverage you had was the budget, right? And we know in January of 2018, the government was shut down to try to get those DACA protections. I actually went back in read CNN's write of it and it said, "The Republicans are resolute. No talks on DACA until Democrats give them enough votes to reopen the government".
We could just flip that now and say the Democrats are resolute no talk on the wall until the President reopens the government? What's the difference strategically between what the President's doing now and what you said was your leverage a year ago?
SARBANES: If this were a real discussion about border security instead of the President just being stuck on this idea of a wall, which is something that doesn't make sense according to everybody who looks at the way security operates at the border, then we could have that kind of a leverage discussion.
But the wall is a non-starter. It's a non-starter practically, it's a non-starter in terms of good policy. Most Americans understand that if you want to have good border security, you have to have a combination of efforts. Some physical barriers in some places, but there's a lot of other measures that need to be taken.
BLACKWELL: But Congressman let me interrupt here--
SARBANES: Let's take that wall off the table the table and then we can address these issues--
BLACKWELL: Let me interrupt here. The argument you just made before I played the soundbite there was, that we should open up the government and then have the conversation. In 2017 what you said is, we will use the budget as our leverage to get what we want. Isn't that exactly what the President's doing now?
SARBANES: No, what I said today is, that we can have a conversation about border security as part of getting the government open, but not the wall, that's the difference. The wall is not going to be some bargaining chip for purposes of opening the government, because it's not a policy proposal that makes any kind of sense.
If we're going to have a conversation here as part of getting the government open, let's focus on the things that, hopefully they're focusing on today in these discussions, which is things that can actually strengthen border security.
[08:25:00] But the President for the last 3-4 weeks, all he's been wanting to talk about is a wall, that's a non-starter, because it doesn't make sense. Forget about the politics of it for a moment. As a policy matter, it does not make sense in terms of securing the border to put all of those dollars behind the wall.
BLACKWELL: You said forget about the politics of it, but what you were explaining in 2017 was pure politics, leverage, getting what you want and how you were going to get there. Let me move on, because I think we've belabored that point there--
SARBANES: But the leverage is there. If policy and politics match up then that's appropriate leverage. In this case the wall is politics, but it's not good policy. BLACKWELL: All right, let's move on then. So what type - you talked about border security. What type of border security will you support?
SARBANES: Well, look, there's been discussion about how you strengthen investing in our border patrol and I have real concerns there, because they don't have necessarily the resources that they should, so we can put dollars into that. There's electronic surveillance. There's other measures that you can do. In some places fencing is appropriate, so you have to look at that.
And frankly, there are places along the border right now where you have that combination of measures. So let's look at what has been effective up to this point. Put that on the table as part of the discussion, which is what the Democrats have been doing. And by the way, it's not just the democrats as I say, Democrats and Republicans have agreed on measures for border security. They've put those forward.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SARBANES: It's the President that's stuck on this idea of a wall.
BLACKWELL: You say there are some areas where fencing is appropriate, so if they don't call it a wall, and they call it a fence, you'd be behind funding fencing?
SARBANES: Everybody's stuck on the on the semantics of this thing.
BLACKWELL: That was your word Congressman. I'm just repeating what you said--
SARBANES: Smart border security--.
BLACKWELL: That there are some areas with fencing--
SARBANES: Smart border security is the standard.
BLACKWELL: You said there are some places--
SARBANES: You want to smart border security.
BLACKWELL: I understand. I got Congressman.
SARBANES: A combination of physical barriers plus other measures that make sense in terms of positioning of border--
BLACKWELL: But there are areas where you would support extending physical barriers, right? If they don't use the wall and they call it a physical barrier, they called it more bollard fencing, would you support additional money for a barrier?
SARBANES: I bet you that today in these discussions that are happening, I guess, at the White House from the two - from Congress and from the White House and Vice President Pence, they're talking about, hopefully, a combination of things that include some physical barriers. Democrats and Republicans in Congress understand that in some places you need that, plus other measures.
But this idea that all of these billions of dollars are going to go to support some kind of wall, that doesn't make any sense, that's not a good place to start if you're the Commander in Chief, if you're the President of United States in terms of coming forward with smart, sound policy to fix this issue of border security.
So let's have a constructive discussion about it. See where we land. Let's get the government open so that these workers, including people in my district, can get back on their job and serve the American people as they're sworn to do.
BLACKWELL: All right. Maryland Congressman, John Sarbanes thanks so much for being with us on "New Day".
SARBANES: Thank you.
PAUL: There is a manhunt going on right now in Texas for the gunman who killed seven year old Jazmine Barnes. We talked to the little girl's mother.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAPORSHA WASHINGTON, MOTHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM: Took my baby from me, and you have no care in the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Plus hundreds of TSA employees calling out sick at major airports across the country. How this could impact airport security and your plans to travel.
[08:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: The gunman who shot and killed seven-year-old Jazmine Barnes is still out there somewhere this morning and Texas authorities have now released this sketch. Look at the screen. This is the suspect they're looking for and they're asking for your help to track him down. Now the Harris County Sheriff's Office says that his department will not rest until they find justice for Jazmine Barnes.
PAUL: Now community rally is being held in just a few hours in the parking lot where Jazmine was killed. CNN Correspondent, Kaylee Hartung is in Houston, outside the sheriff's department right now. Kaylee, are you hearing anything new about the investigation? Or at least how many tips the sheriff's office is receiving?
KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Christi, the Harris County Sheriff's Department tells me that tips have been flooding in since that composite sketch was released late Thursday. But they say they are not ready to discuss any of the specific tips that they've received. Now, federal, state and local authorities are working in coordination as this manhunt now moves into its sixth day.
And Houston area Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, she's now calling on the federal government to share more resources. She has asked Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to form a task force within his Justice Department to further assist in this investigation.
You know here's the information that authorities are working with. You mentioned and showed that sketch. This sketch illustrated by one of the top names in the forensics art field after speaking with Jazmine's mother and her three sisters who were in the car, particularly Jazmine's 15-year-old sister Alexis, who says, she looked right into the gunman's eyes. And this is who she saw, this gaunt white male in his 30s or 40s with blue eyes wearing that black hoodie.
And in addition to this sketch, there is surveillance video of the red and maroon pickup truck that the gunman was driving captured on a security camera along the feeder road that they were driving on near the time of the attack, enhanced with the help of NASA.
Authorities asking any homes or businesses in that area of East Harris County to look over their tapes, if they have them, from the early morning hours of Sunday morning, and if they any information to share. The reward is now up to $100,000 for anyone who can help with information leading to the capture of this suspect.
We have seen this widespread outrage in reaction to Jazmine's death. Outrage that has led to support from athletes like Shaquille O'Neal and DeAndre Hopkins of the Houston Texans, and today you will see the community's outrage as they gather in what we anticipate to be a very emotional community rally, as you mentioned Christi later this afternoon in the Walmart parking lot not far from where Jazmine was shot and killed.
PAUL: All right. Kaylee Hartung, we appreciate the update, thank you.
BLACKWELL: A big part of your government, the one that you pay for your tax dollars here is closed for business for the 15th day.
[08:35:00] Vice-President Mike Pence will lead a meeting between leadership staff from both parties later this morning.
Now you know the museums and the zoos are closed in Washington, but it's so big - so much bigger than that and it will likely affect you or someone you know or something you care about.
Now if this is the year that you wanted to start a small business, the agency that handles small loans for that is not processing loans right. Or maybe you're planning for a major life event, like getting married, congratulations, but you may have to wait, because the DC Court that handles marriage licenses is closed. And in just a few more days all federal courts could be impacted, because they're projected to run out of money on January 11th.
Or maybe you're thinking about or in the middle of buying a house. Well, depending on your type of loan, your closing could be delayed. The IRS is impacted too. Most workers there are off the job. That's great you might think to yourself, unless your refunds, the one you're banking on, it's processed later than usual.
And if you're a farmer waiting on further assistance, because you've been dinged by those retaliatory tariffs from Trump's trade war with China, you may have to wait until after the shutdown to get a loan from the USDA. And if the shutdown continues much longer it could delay a major January report from the USDA which farmers use to make plans for the rest of the year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOREY HILL, FARMER: The January report has a lot to do with 2018's production in acres and a lot of farmers and traders base a lot of what they're going to do in the coming year on what that report tells us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: And some environmental and food and drug inspections have also ground to a halt. And you've probably seen the pictures of the national parks left mostly open, but largely unstaffed. The videos of overflowing trash, human waste. Or pictures of this guy who broke his leg at Big Bend and no First Responder could come so he was rescued by strangers.
Also right now when Smokey The Bear says only you can prevent forest fires, he really means it, because the U.S. Forest Service worked to prevent forest fires has stopped as well as staffing at ranger stations.
And while the Coast Guard got their pay and got it through the end of December, the President made sure that, it's now harder, though, for them to enforce fishing laws and perform boating checks like the kind that catches drug smugglers.
Well there are a lot of Americans out there making compromises. They don't want to go through this shutdown, which is more than we can say for the President and Congress.
PAUL: So please don't be mad at me for this, but there could be a little bit of a delay if you're planning on flying during the government shutdown. CNN is learning of mass sickouts at major airports across the country. Hundreds of transportation security administration officers who are working without pay are calling out sick.
Now officials with the TSA say at least three major airports are being impacted here. A TSA spokesman says, "Security effectiveness will not be compromised and performance standards will not change".
I spoke earlier with Mary Schiavo, she's a CNN Transportation Analyst and Former Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Transportation, here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: When you have this many out sick you have to assume this is organized to some degree, yes?
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well one would assume, but let's hope not. Remember there was also a lawsuit filed about the furloughs and the shutdowns. So one would hope it's not organized to violate any of the requirements and the ethical standards and the employment standards of the federal department. but it would appear to be so.
I prefer to think that these people are just trying to find other work to temporarily pay their bills. Now, I was in the government for so long. I went through lots of shutdowns, including the longest in history under President Clinton. And (old salts) around the government keep your furlough money on hand if you have to go through a long furlough, you're used to it. Ford, Clinton, Carter, Bush, Reagan, they all had shutdowns.
But the TSA is relatively new as a government agency, though. They were formed after September 2001, so a lot of these people haven't been through a shutdown, and so they don't know that the possibility exists or they're not familiar with it. But this happens a lot. The Clinton one, for example, was five days followed by 21 days, but we didn't have the TSA back then. Airlines did airport security.
PAUL: Do you fear that security is going to be compromised because of this?
SCHIAVO: Oh, certainly. I mean, when you don't have your full workforce they're doing and putting their heart into the work. Of course, the TSA is extremely important. A safe a safe transportation system is what allows our nation to work. So, yes, it could be compromised. But certainly their leadership and their supervisors will be doing the best that they can to carry on during this time. But sure there possibility is there to have safety and security effective.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[08:40:00] BLACKWELL: Coming up the U.S. citizen charged in Russia with espionage was convicted of attempting to steal money when he was deployed in Iraq and discharged from the Marines for bad conduct.
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BLACKWELL: We're getting new information about Paul Whelan, he's the American man charged in Russia with espionage. According to Marine Corps records Whelan was convicted of attempting to steal about $10,000 when he was deployed in Iraq and he was discharged from the marines for bad conduct. But his family says, he is not a spy and was in Russia to attend a wedding.
CNN Senior International Correspondent Sam Kiley is live now from Moscow. Sam, what do you know about this discharge from the Marines?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor this came during one of his tours in Iraq when he had a clerical job and was charged and convicted for embezzlement - effectively larceny was the charge of totaling $10,000. And he was then given - he was then discharged with a bad conduct mark against his name from the U.S. Marine Corps.
During that period also, this was a time when he made a trip to Russia. At a time when most veterans or now veterans, then serving in Iraq would have gone home, he chose to come to Russia and that was the beginning of a long-standing relationship between him and many people in Russia.
He is a frequent visitor here, posting on social media. And according to local Russian news agency he was allegedly caught red-handed with some kind of electronic device carrying sensitive information. Now, there's been no confirmation whatsoever from the Russian authorities of that.
Indeed Sergei Ryabkov, the Deputy Russian Foreign Minister has recently given that statement saying that any talk of a possible prisoner swap - a spy-for-spy swap, say perhaps with Maria Butina, the celebrated case ongoing in the United States, referring to a young woman accused of trying to infiltrate among other things the NRA.
[08:45:00] That could not occur, because indeed as far as the Russians are concerned, he hasn't yet, Victor, been formally charged.
BLACKWELL: Sam Kiley for us there in Moscow so many questions still about this arrest. Thank you for joining us.
PAUL: So year before the first votes are cast in the 2020 Presidential Campaign - yes, we're talking about it already, the list of potential Democratic candidates is in the double digits, which is why we're talking about it. One of them, Senator Elizabeth Warren is in Iowa today to kick-start her candidacy. What's she saying, we'll talk about that.
BLACKWELL: Also experience the incredible story of comedy great Gilda Radner in her own words, "Love, Gilda", a CNN film hits tonight at 9:00 on CNN.
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BLACKWELL: Well, potential 2020 caucuses in Iowa, they got their first face-to-face with Senator Elizabeth Warren since she announced she'd formed a Presidential Exploratory Committee.
PAUL: Massachusetts Democrat kicked off a five city tour last night in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Her announcement New Year's Eve kicked off the 2020 presidential primary season, more than a year before the first votes will be cast in Iowa. Now speaking to voters last night she argued the 2020 election should be about a single issue.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH WARREN, SENATOR (D) MASSACHUSETTS: If we're content with government working for the rich and the powerful, keep voting Republican. But if you believe that government ought to work for all of us, then I think that's what the Democratic Party should be all about and that's what 2020 should be all about.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: Now, Warren is a first major Democrat to announce a potential presidential run, but there is a long list of candidates here expected to join that campaign in the coming months.
[08:50:00] BLACKWELL: The 2020 Democratic field could be one of the largest in history. Joining us now to break down the challenges Warren and others will face is CNN Senior Political Writer and Analyst, Harry Enten. Harry, I treasured this time we have together on Saturdays.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: It's so beautiful isn't it?
BLACKWELL: It is.
PAUL: We love having you here.
BLACKWELL: So let's start. I mean, with the challenges that Warren will face, because she's first out, but we understand that her unfavorables are pretty high?
ENTEN: Yes, so one of the things that we try and get at is to try and understand how are these candidates going to do once they get into the race. And what I did was I looked back at the different potential 2020 Democratic candidates and looked how they did if they ran in a US Senate race in 2018.
And what I saw with Elizabeth Warren was that she vastly underperformed the average Democrat running for a federal race in Massachusetts. So she won by 24 points, but the average democrat running for the House won by 36 points. That 12 point gap was one of the worst for any democratic senator in 2018 versus say Sherrod Brown or Amy Klobuchar, who are also rumored to be running. They actually vastly outperformed by double-digits the average federal candidate Democrat running for office in 2018.
PAUL: So what - is there any indication what she needs to do or what - whomever will the nominee, what they need to do to try to pull off a win?
ENTEN: Well, obviously, first they need to win a nomination. And I think that Elizabeth Warren is making the right move going to Iowa first. I mean, there's all this talk right, "Oh, California is moving up in the schedule, therefore California will be more important this time around".
You know the fact is that primary processes are sequential. You got to do well in Iowa then you got to do well in New Hampshire. And by going to Iowa first she's taking out her ground and she's making the discussion revolve around the issues that she wants to discuss. I think it's actually a very wise move.
And more than that given some of the negative press that Warren has received over the last few weeks and months, I think she's trying to turn the page and getting the press to report on what she's actually talking about on the campaign trail and the issues that are most important to her.
BLACKWELL: Is it clear why she's underperforming as compared to other potential 2020 candidates. Why she is that 12 points behind? Is it only name recognition? Is it because she's been out front in this back-and-forth with the President have you identified?
ENTEN: I don't think it necessarily really has to do with name recognition, because what I'm specifically looking at is how they did in their 2018 Senate races And you would think those in Massachusetts who know her best--
BLACKWELL: Yes.
ENTEN: And we have this poll up on the screen right now about how they were doing in Iowa. But interestingly enough, there was a poll in Massachusetts where Elizabeth Warren was also running about third or fourth and those are the voters who know her best. So that to me was very interesting and very odd and perhaps points out a problem. I'm not exactly sure why Elizabeth Warren is underperforming right now, but there's still so much time that she has plenty of time to recover.
PAUL: All right. Harry Enten, always good to have you here, Happy Saturday.
ENTEN: Happy Saturday to you. Now that we've gotten this under my belt, I'm ready to hit the ground running.
BLACKWELL: OK.
PAUL: We can't wait to see what that looks like Harry. Thank you.
ENTEN: Rush back next week, Harry. We'll be waiting for you.
ENTEN: See you. It's won my heart once again.
PAUL: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Still to come, stocks get a boost after a strong jobs report and more flexibility from the fed, but those interest rates - talk about the state of the economy next.
[08:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: Well, ended the first week of 2019 in the positive were stocks were concerned. But it was little bit of volatility to get there.
BLACKWELL: Up and down and up during December. The rally that we saw yesterday or this early part of the week was fueled in part by the strong jobs report and here is CNN's Alison Kosik with more.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi and Victor. 2019 kicked off much the same way 2018 ended, with more volatility in the stock market, and several triple-digit moves by the Dow in the first week of the New Year.
Investors are getting mixed messages. A surge of hiring in December suggests that the economy remains strong, but a warning from Apple raised fears about a global economic slowdown. And a U.S. Manufacturing Index showed activity grew in December, but suffered a sharp decline. Apple cut revenue forecasts citing slowing iPhone sales in China. Shares tumbled on Thursday, its worst day in almost six years. And now investors are asking which companies are next. From iPhones to autos, global brands rely on China for growth.
A slowdown in China, the world's second biggest economy puts their earnings at risk. And the slowdown in global growth could be taking its toll on the U.S. economy as the manufacturing report showed demand for American-made products fell last month. It could put pressure on the federal reserve to pause rate hikes.
But the strong December jobs report makes that case harder. The U.S. economy added a much better than expected 312,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent, but that's because more than 400,000 people came into the labor force and wages moved higher at the fastest pace since 2009 and beat economists' expectations.
At a panel discussion on Friday at The American Economic Association, Fed Chief Jay Powell said, the economy has good momentum, but he also said the Central Bank will be patient about raising interest rates, indicating more flexibility compared to comments made last month when the Fed hiked rates for the fourth time in 2018. His comments lifted the Dow more than 700 points.
During the discussion we got the first reaction from Powell about President Trump's dissatisfaction with Powell's decisions. Trump's constant complaints about Powell have worried investors that the President would try to fire the Fed Chief. But Powell said he wouldn't resign if the President asked him to. Victor and Christi back to you.
PAUL: Alison, thank you in about two hours from now Vice President Mike Pence will host a meeting with House and Senate staffers in the hopes of ending the government shutdown. Will both sides be able to reach an agreement? That is the question of the day we will watching for you.
BLACKWELL: Absolutely. More news is straight ahead.
PAUL: Yes, Smerconish is with you next for CNN Hour.
