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EARLY START

Trump Gives Oval Office Address Tonight; Democrats Demand Equal Time; Second Trump-Kim Summit?; Clemson Wins Second National Title in Three Years. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired January 8, 2019 - 05:00   ET

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


DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump taking his case to the American people in a primetime oval office address tonight on immigration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[05:00:05] SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: We want the symbol of America to stay as the Statue of Liberty, not a big concrete wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Democrats stand united against the wall. How they plan to respond to the president's address.

BRIGGS: North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un arriving in China overnight as we learn new details about a possible second summit between Kim and President Trump.

ROMANS: And while you were sleeping, Clemson dominating Alabama for the national title. We have all the highlights.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. It's just Tuesday, January 8, 5:00 a.m. in the East.

We start with that day 18 of the government shutdown. Tonight, he will give a 9:00 p.m. televised address on what the White House is calling the humanitarian and national security crisis on the border with Mexico. That address will be carried on all the networks, including right here on CNN. The White House also announcing that the president will visit the border on Thursday.

That location officially undisclosed, but the "Washington Post" reports that the FAA is restricting air space over McAllen, Texas, due to what it's calling VIP movement.

ROMANS: Two sources tell us that the president decided to make the speech after allies told him that his arguments are not resonating. Some aides say this build the wall slogan is getting worn out from overuse. Vice President Mike Pence and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen laying the groundwork for the president to possibly declare a national emergency to build the wall using military funds. At a press briefing, they used the word "crisis" 37 times.

BRIGGS: The president vowing to keep the government shut down until he gets his wall, however long that takes. Meantime hundreds of thousands of federal workers brace to miss their first full paycheck on Friday.

Congressional correspondent Phil Mattingly with the latest from Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, has the partial government shutdown enters its third week, it is clear that there is no end in sight. You have negotiators on both sides deeply entrenched not building a bridge in any way, shape or form to try and figure out a solution. You have the president on one side. You have Democratic leaders on the other. Both are playing to bases that don't want negotiations, bases that don't want compromise. And as it currently stands, there is no clear pathway out of this.

Now, why that really matters particularly this week is because the pain of the partial government shutdown is going to start to be felt in a very acute manner. Now, it's interesting, over the course of the last couple weeks, it has been somewhat muted. First and foremost, it is only 25 percent of the government that shut down. That lessens the disruption to some bit.

And you also had the holidays which played some role and keeping it somewhat quiet over the course of the period of time. You got a change of the new Congress as well.

But when it really starts to bite is when people start to miss their paychecks. Starting this Friday, it will be the first full paycheck, the bulk of the 800,000 federal workers affected by the shutdown will start to miss. And as the weeks move on, the pain becomes more and are more acute.

You have federal housing vouchers, potential tax refunds, you have all sorts of issues because of those agencies in the government are shut down. Now, in the past, those have been the issues, that has been the pain that has brought lawmakers to the table. Basically, they are hearing constituents saying enough is enough, time to make a deal and make a deal.

The problem right now when you talk to negotiators on both sides is they haven't gotten any sense that that is doing anything to change the dynamic at the moment. In fact, it seems like both sides are just digging in further. You have the president's primetime address tonight. You have Mike Pence the vice president planning to come to Capitol Hill later this evening to basically rally Republicans, to stick together.

Democrats are doing the same saying they will block anything in the Senate if it comes to the floor so they can stick together. Basically, both sides playing to their base, both sides playing to politics, and to be frank, both sides believe they may have the winning hand at least as it pertains to the politics of it. That, of course, didn't actually pertain to the personal stories, personal people who are actually affected by this, those people don't seem to have a say right now.

And as long as that is the case, I think the real concern up on Capitol Hill is that there is going to be no deal, there is going to be no pathway forward and again, it's not days we're talking right now, it is quite possibly weeks -- Christine and Dave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Phil Mattingly, thank you, Phil.

Democrats are demanding a chance to respond to the president's immigration speech tonight. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer releasing a joint statement that says, now that the television networks have decided to air the president's address which if his past statements are any indication will be full of malice and misinformation, Democrats must be given equal air time.

BRIGGS: CNN plans to carry the Democratic response live. Details about who will speak and for how long have not been finalized. Some Democrats though already dismissing the president's pitch

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I expect the president to lie to the American people. Why do I expect this? Because he has been lying to the American people and his spokespeople continue lying to the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:05:01] BRIGGS: Democrats will attempt to block a serious sanctions bill when it comes up for a vote in the Senate later this morning. This in order to keep the focus on the government shutdown. And according to a senior aide, party leaders are discussing the idea of broadening the strategy to all legislation. Two Democratic senators from Maryland, Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, first raised the idea of blocking bills on the floor to put pressure on President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Cardin and Van Hollen represent thousands of furloughed government workers. McConnell is refusing to put any government funding bills on the floor unless the president supports them.

ROMANS: You can expect to get your tax refund on time even if the shutdown drags on. The acting director of the Office of Management and Budget announcing refund checks will be sent out during a shutdown. Now, that reverses a long standing policy. According to senior administration official, budget officials are relying on a 2011 IRS memo that argues refunds can be paid during shutdowns. The IRS says it plan to recall a significant portion of its furloughed employees as tax season approaches.

BRIGGS: National Pilots Association says that the stalemate is compromising the safety, security and efficiency of the nation's air traffic system. The president of the Airline Pilots Association writing a letter saying because of the shutdown, there are fewer safety inspectors at the FAA and that adversely affects the air traffic control system. On Friday, CNN reported hundreds of TSA officers called out sick last week from at least four major airports. A TSA spokesman says that the agency is closely monitoring that situation.

ROMANS: Three of the four living ex-presidents deny telling President Trump that they wished they had built a wall on the southern border. Here see what Mr. Trump is claiming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This should have been done by all of the presidents that preceded me and they all know it. Some of them have told me that we should have done it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Some of them have told me that we should have done it.

Well, we've checked. Jimmy Carter says it wasn't him. The nation's oldest living former president tweeting: I have not discussed the border wall with President Trump and do not support him on the issue.

Was it George W. Bush? His spokesman says, quote, they have not discussed this.

Bill Clinton? No. His spokesman says he, quote, never said that and adds Mr. Clinton has not spoken to President Trump since the inauguration.

That leaves Barack Obama who has not responded directly to the claim but has publicly denounced the notion of a border wall.

BRIGGS: California Democratic Senator Kamala Harris set to begin a book tour. The tour giving Harris a chance to review her message ahead of an expected presidential announcement this month.

Meantime, "The Wall Street Journal" reports former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke planning a solo road trip to meet voters outside of Texas. "The Journal" says he will pop into places such as community college campuses as he considers whether to enter the 2020 race. O'Rourke does not plan to make a final decision until at least February.

Fellow Texan and Democrat Julian Castro plans it announce his decision on a possible run on Saturday.

ROMANS: Former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords will return to Capitol Hill today. She will help introduce some bill requiring background checks on private gun sale transactions. House Democrats plan to unveil the bill on the eighth anniversary of the shooting in Tucson that nearly killed Giffords and left six other people dead. Despite some bipartisan support for gun legislation, the Democrats'

background check proposal appears unlikely to advance in Republican- controlled Senate.

BRIGGS: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg missing the first day of oral arguments for the first time in the new year as she recuperates from cancer surgery. Ginsburg had not missed day one of arguments since she was confirmed to the court in 1993. The 85-year- old jurist had surgery last month to remove two cancerous growths from her left lung. She has been recovering at home.

The 85-year-old had surgery last month it remove two cancerous growths from her left lung. She has been recovering at home.

Ginsburg has had two other bouts with cancer in 1999 and 2009. A Supreme Court spokesman says she will still vote on cases by reviewing transcripts of the oral arguments.

ROMANS: All right. Wall Street is recovering from its worst December since the Great Depression. The Dow closed 98 points higher building on the Friday 747 point rally. However, the market rally seemed to fade throughout the day. You know, the Dow had been up 255 points at one point during the session. The S&P 500 closed up about 1 percent, nearly 1 percent. And the Nasdaq closed up 1.3 percent.

OK. U.S. oil prices jumped 1.2 percent to above $48 a barrel. Crude has closed higher now six days in a row, longest winning streak since July 2017. So what is driving the turnaround? Cautious optimism about the trade war and the health of the Chinese and American economies.

Investors are hopeful that the U.S. and China will reach a breakthrough on trade talks that began on Monday in Beijing.

[05:10:00] U.S. futures are higher on the second day of those talks. The Dow has surged 1,750 points, that is 8 percent, since that awful Christmas Eve. The market has been rebounding lastly, but it isn't the case for everyone.

Apple shares fell again yesterday slightly. But the stock has fallen 36 percent since October 3. Apple has now fallen behind Amazon, Google in market value. Apple has lost $500 billion in market value over the past three months.

BRIGGS: Five hundred billion.

ROMANS: And that is just --

BRIGGS: The size of the 25th largest economy in the world.

ROMANS: Isn't that something? Bigger than most companies. But they have an iPhone problem, so much of its fortune relies on those high margin iPhones. With China slowing a bit and with the iPhone saturation in some places, one wonders what that growth will be.

BRIGGS: We shall see. Ahead, Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey pleading not guilty on charges that he groped an 18-year-old busboy in Nantucket. Why defense attorneys asked the court to preserve text messages from the alleged victim.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:15:07] ROMANS: North Korean Kim Jong-un arriving in China for three days of meetings. He came in an armored train and here's his motorcade parading down Beijing's most famous boulevard.

According to North Korea's state-run media, he was invited by President Xi Jinping. This is the fourth visit by Kim to China in the past year. Each previous trip took place before are on after his summits with President Trump or South Korean President Moon Jae-in. U.S. scouting teams are narrowing down possible sites for a second Trump/Kim summit.

BRIGGS: Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey pleading not guilty in his sexual assault case. Spacey appearing in court Monday for his arraignment on a charge of indecent assault and battery. Prosecutors say that he groped an 18-year-old busboy at a bar in the island back in 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE THOMAS BARRETT, NATUCKET DISTRICT COURT: You're required to stay away and have no contact, direct or indirect, with the alleged victim.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: According to the criminal complaint, the accuser filmed a short part of that incident on Snapchat and sent to his girlfriend. Defense attorneys asked the court to preserve cellphone data and other text messages from the victim for six months after the date of the incident. If convicted on the felony charge, Spacey faces up to five years in prison.

Comedian Kevin Hart and CNN's Don Lemon engaging in a cautious back- and-forth over how far Hart needs to go apologizing. Furor over a series of years old homophobic tweets caused Hart to back out of hosting this year's Oscars.

Last Friday, Lemon who is openly gay criticized Hart's appearance on Ellen DeGeneres' show. He said that instead of apologizing moving on, Hart should become an LGBT ally and make the world a better place.

Yesterday, Hart pushed back on his Sirius XM radio show.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

KEVIN HART, STRAIGHT FROM THE HART WITH KEVIN HART: I don't like the forcing. I don't like -- like Don Lemon goes -- Don Lemon goes on CNN and he is like you can fix this, become an ally. That's not my -- it's not my life dream. Kevin Hart apologizes for his remarks that hurt members of LGBTQ

community. I apologize.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROMANS: So this was Don Lemon's response last night on his show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Whether I like it or not, whether you like it or not, that is his right. If he doesn't want to be an ally, he doesn't want to be a spokesperson for the gay community. He doesn't have to do that. It's his choice as America.

Kevin is sorry for what he said. He says that he understands how it hurt, but he is not here to be an ally. OK. So we have to march on without him. Glad he apologized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: There is still no official word on whether Hart will host the Oscar telecast. Motion Picture Academy indicated that it would still accept Hart as a host if he approached the group about returning.

BRIGGS: California Governor Gavin Newsom's toddler son stole the show in the middle of the new governor's inaugural address. 2-year-old Dutch with blankie in hand wandered right up to dad and he did not miss a beat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: Now more than ever, we Californians know how much a house matters and children matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Right on cue. In the midst of his speech, Newsom ad libbed this is exactly how it was scripted.

ROMANS: As working parents, that is very cute.

All right. The Clemson Tigers are claiming the title of national champions rolling right over the Crimson Tide. Coy Wire has highlights of this morning's "Bleacher Report", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:16] BRIGGS: Clemson claims its second national title in three years after dominating Alabama last night in the national championship game.

Coy Wire did not sleep, it is 2:23 out there in Santa Clara, California.

Boy, Coy, this looked like a tight game through about a quarter.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Did you get to see any of it or were you sleeping?

BRIGGS: Not the kickoff, my friend. I was out.

WIRE: Yes, you were sleeping and I think Alabama was too because my goodness, this is like a heavyweight title fight, back and forth for a bit, haymakers in the beginning. It was close for about a quarter, but then Clemson dismantled the defending champion. A team that some were calling the best Alabama team ever.

It was a tidal wave of orange. Trevor Lawrence, 19 years old, just the second tree freshman quarterback ever to win the national title, tore Alabama's defense apart. People in the stadium were like when there is a big hit.

This kid had three touchdowns, 347 yard, nearly half of them going to the other true freshman, Justyn Roth making huge plays that took the life right out of 'Bama. He loved Dabo Swinney and we caught up with the coach afterwards and Clemson's two young stars who helped the tigers demolish "Bama becoming national champs and first major college football team to finish 15-0 since 1897.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[05:25:00] WIRE: How do you feel?

TREVOR LAWRENCE, CLEMSON QUARTERBACK: Great, man. This is a blessing. This team is amazing.

JUSTYN ROSS, CLEMSON WIDE RECEIVER: I can't describe it. I'm so excited for my teammates and everybody who helped us get here.

WIRE: What did you have to say to Clemson football nation?

ROSS: We'll be back. We're not done.

DABO SWINNEY, CLEMSON HEAD COACH: We're going to enjoy this tonight, but Friday, we have a team meeting and it is the start of a new journey. I can't wait to get started.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Dave, the scary part is Clemson might be even better next year. Trevor Lawrence and Justin Ross have two more years in college before they can go pro. Dabo Swinney and Clemson hand Nick Saban his biggest loss ever at Alabama.

We may have just witnessed the passing of the torch in college football. There is a new king in college football and they are draped in orange.

BRIGGS: Scary, yes. This team is loaded next year. And one of the great teams in college football history now. Great job out there, get some sleep at some point.

WIRE: Thanks. We'll do.

BRIGGS: All right. Romans.

ROMANS: All right. Thank you.

Twenty-five minutes past the hour. President Trump going all in on immigration with a primetime address and a trip to the border over the next three days. How the Democrats are responding, next.

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