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EARLY START

Government Shutdown: Day 33; FBI Agents: Shutdown Weakening National Security; Teachers' Strike; Alzheimer's Breakthrough?; High Court Allows Transgender Service Ban; Warren to Puerto Rico: Trump Does Not Respect You. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired January 23, 2019 - 04:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:32:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Day 33 of this government shutdown. Two competing proposals to end it go up for a vote tomorrow. Does either plan have a chance?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADMIRAL KARL SCHULTZ, U.S. COAST GUARD: I find it unacceptable that Coast Guard men and women have to rely on food pantries.

THOMAS O'CONNOR, PRESIDENT, FBI AGENTS ASSOCIATION: FBI agents should not have to go work at a store.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Frustration mounts with federal workers set to miss another paycheck in a couple days.

ROMANS: Striking Los Angeles teachers back in the classroom today just as teachers in another American city vote to walk off the job.

BRIGGS: A possible Alzheimer's breakthrough. Scientists may have a way to predict the disease years before symptoms begin.

Great news. Welcome back to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is 32 minutes past the hour.

The Senate set to take two votes tomorrow on competing bills to end this 33-day-old government shutdown. Neither of them is given any real chance of success. One bill backed by Republicans would fund the president's border wall with the full $5.7 billion he has demanded and it would offer three year extensions for Dreamers and immigrants in the U.S. on temporary protected status.

The Democrats proposal already passed by the House has no money for the border wall. It would reopen the federal government through February 8 while negotiations for a permanent fix go on. Both proposals are expected to fail at this point because either would need 60 votes to advance. BRIGGS: But White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders would not

directly answer CNN's question about whether the president would veto the Democrat's plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: If it gets 60 votes, is the president going to veto that bill?

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, the president has a proposal on the table. He has laid out what he would like to see and he has made in a clear time and time again. The real question is, why are Democrats not supporting the president's proposal?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Democrats pushing back, saying the Republican plan is one- sided and made in bad faith. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeting, quote, if Trump gets away with shutting down the government to get what he wants, he will do this again going forward, he will continue to hold workers hostage to his demands.

ROMANS: FBI agents sounding the alarm saying serious damage is being done to their counterterrorism and anti-gang operations. Dozens of agents releasing an anonymous report that concludes the impasse is weakening national security. The president of the FBI Agents Association calling on lawmakers to figure out a solution fast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS O'CONNOR, PRESIDENT, FBI AGENTS ASSOCIATION: Realistically, FBI agents should not have to go work at a store stocking shelves because they can't feed their families on their government job. They are still working 50-plus hours a week. So, when are they going to find time to go get that second time? It's ridiculous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:35:00] BRIGGS: Indeed.

The TSA also pleading for help as the shutdown drags on. According to an internal e-mail obtained exclusively by CNN, officials there are asking for 250 officers to move temporarily from their home airports to bolster staff at airports that are short handed. Ten percent of the TSA workforce had unexcused absences over the weekend, three times the number one year earlier.

ROMANS: The shutdown over demand for stronger border security forcing the State Department to cancel an international conference focused on stronger border security. Yes. The conference was scheduled to take place next month in Scotland with a goal of preventing the proliferation and transfer of weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons across borders.

BRIGGS: The Smithsonian managed to stay open for the first 11 days of the shutdown, but has since closed and its museums and National Zoo as well. They say the closure of restaurants, shops, IMAX theaters and other operations is costing the institution roughly $1 million in unrecoverable revenue each week.

ROMANS: The head of the Coast Guard says members of his service are relying on food pantries and donations during the shutdown. That's right. A branch of the United States military is not being paid for the first time anyone can remember. Admiral Karl Schultz tweeting out a video of support to his struggling team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADMIRAL KARL SCHULTZ, U.S. COAST GUARD: We're five-plus weeks into the anxiety and stress of this government lapse and your nonpay. You as members of the armed forces should not have to shoulder this burden. I find it unacceptable that Coast Guard men and women have to rely on food pantries and donations to get through day to day life as service members.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: On January 15th, thousands of active duty coast guard members did not receive their regular paychecks marking the first time in history U.S. service members were not paid during a lapse in government funding.

BRIGGS: Impossible to imagine, isn't it?

ROMANS: In the largest economy in the world, there are bread lines for American government workers. The sign of absolute failure is remarkable.

BRIGGS: A make shift food pantry for federal workers springing up in Brooklyn. Sonia Smith, a furloughed TSA employee, drove all the way from Queens. She's never had to depend on anyone else for food, but as sole provider for her family, she has no choice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SONIA SMITH, FURLOUGHED TSA EMPLOYEE: I can't believe this is happening. Every day I'm like, wow, here we go again. And I stay watching the news just to hear something positive, but it is not working.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Sonia says she is burning through her savings and if the shutdown la lasts another week, she will spend all her time travel from food pantry to food pantry.

For more information on how you can assist federal workers affected by the shutdown, you can go to CNN.com/impact.

ROMANS: All right. The state of the president's State of the Union Address is still a little vague this morning. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling for the address to be delayed or delivered in writing because of the government shutdown. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders says that is not stopping the president for now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: Nancy Pelosi invited the president, he accepted. She cited security concerns as a potential reason to delay that. The United States Secret Service and DHS have addressed those concerns and we're moving forward until something changes on that front.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Pelosi appears to be playing hardball. Over the holiday weekend, the administration asked for a walk-through in the house to prepare for the State of the Union Address. That request was denied.

BRIGGS: Special counsel Robert Mueller wants to know more about the Trump campaign's relationship with the National Rifle Association. A former Trump campaign aide tells CNN he was asked about it a year ago when he was interviewed by Mueller's team and CNN has learned that the special counsel had been asking questions about the NRA as recently as a month ago.

More now from Sara Murray.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Dave.

We are getting our first sign that the special counsel is interested in the Trump campaign's relationship with the National Rifle Association during the 2016 election. Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign aide, telling CNN, when I was interviewed by the special counsel's office, I was asked about the Trump campaign and our dealings with the NRA.

Now, the questions from Nunberg's interview in February 2018 are the first indication that Mueller has been probing ties to this powerful gun rights group and Mueller's team was still asking questions about this as recently as a month ago, CNN has learned. Mueller's investigators wanted to know how Trump and his early operatives first formed a relationship with the NRA and how Trump wound up speaking at the group's annual 2015 meeting just months before he announced his presidential bid, according to Nunberg.

Now, the NRA hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing by law enforcement, but it has come under plenty of public scrutiny for its ties to Russians like Maria Butina, who pleaded guilty to engaging in conspiracy against the U.S. And as part of her plea deal, she actually admitted to trying to build relationships with the NRA and trying to influence U.S. relations with Russia.

[04:40:01] Lawmakers have also been looking into the NRA financial support of Trump in 2016 and whether there were any large sums of Russian money that flowed to the NRA. This is something the NRA denies. Now, we don't know if Mueller is diving deeply into this NRA Trump

connection, or just covering all of his bases. The special counsel's office declined to comment for our story, and the NRA didn't respond to request for comment. We should note when Mueller posts a series of written questions to President Trump, Trump was not asked about the NRA.

Back to you, guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Sara. Thank you so much for that.

All right. Michael Cohen's testimony before Congress next month will not include any topic that is under investigation. That is according to top Republicans on the House Oversight Committee. They claim Cohen's lawyer informed them the testimony would be unsatisfying and frustrating because, frankly, just so much is off-limits. That could mean that the president's former attorney won't discuss lying to Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow project or the payments made to women during the 2016 campaign in exchange for their silence.

BRIGGS: The newest member of the committee that will question Michael Cohen is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The freshman Democrat from New York is one of several young progressives to join the oversight panel which will be very active investigating the Trump administration.

Joining Ocasio-Cortez on the committee will be Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Ro Khanna of California. The committee is expected to hear testimony from Cohen on February 7th.

ROMANS: Economists are not the only one worried about a recession. Investors are too. According to a survey by Boston Consulting Group, 73 percent of investors expect a recession within the next two years.

In 2017, just over half, 53 percent, thought the recession was coming. The current attitude has little to do with the trade war, Brexit or the government shutdown, instead investors are most nervous about current stock prices and the federal reserve's policies. The Dow declined 302 points. That's about 1.2 percent on Tuesday.

Wall Street futures right now pointing a little bit higher here, just two tenths of a percent. I would call that an unremarkable bounce back from yesterday's performance. The market has rebounded so far this year, but major averages are still down from their October highs. So, stocks are not as expensive as they were a few months ago.

Investors are also hoping the Federal Reserve will slow down its pace of rate hikes this year. They have been raising rates on a path for the next two years.

BRIGGS: Ahead, an out of control car on a slippery highway headed straight for a state trooper. See what happens next.

ROMANS: And the next big American city that could soon be dealing with a teachers strike.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:46:49] BRIGGS: LGBT activists expressing dismay this morning after the Supreme Court allowed President Trump's ban on military service by transgender people to take effect at least temporarily. The ban first announced by President Trump in a surprise tweet in 2017 will now go into effect while lower courts decide whether the ban itself is legal.

CNN's Ariane De Vogue has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: A divided Supreme Court allowed President Trump's policy that block most transgender people there serving in the military to go into effect for now. It was a closely divided 5-4, the Supreme Court splitting down ideological lines. The court did not take a stance on the legality of the ban. They will let that play out in the lower courts.

This policy was first announced by the president via Twitter in 2017, it was later released by then Secretary of Defense James Mattis. It blocks individuals who have been diagnosed with a condition known as gender dysphoria from serving with limited exceptions. The Department of Defense says the policy was based on its professional military judgment so that the armed forces remain, quote, the most lethal and combat effective fighting force in the world. But it was a huge disappointment for supporters of LGBT rights, they call the policy irrational and cruel -- Dave, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thank you for that, Ariane.

The White House announcing plans to renominate 50 judicial appointees in the new Congress, rekindling a battle. The names were put forward again because the Senate did not act on their nominations before the end of the last congressional session. The new nominations come with key players from the last go-round in the judicial confirmation wars no longer involved like former White House counsel Don McGahn and former Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley.

BRIGGS: Los Angeles teachers will be back in the classroom this morning. Union leaders say early vote counting shows more than 80 percent of teachers voted to end the six-day strike. The agreement with the L.A. unified school district calls for a gradual decrease in class sizes and more counselor, librarians and nurses, in addition to a 6 percent raise for teachers. The union says it will fight alongside the district and the mayor's office for an increase in state funding.

ROMANS: As L.A. teachers head back to work, teachers in Denver are planning to strike. The Denver Teachers Association voted Tuesday to go on strike. The city's public schools though will be open today. The school superintendent says the district is committed to working with the union to reach an agreement. At the earliest a walkout could happen is Monday.

BRIGGS: Flights were disrupted into and out of New Jersey's Newark Airport overnight after a drone was spotted flying over a nearby regional airport. Crews on both Southwest and United flights immediately reported the incident to authorities and an FAA spokesman says the drone was flying at 3,500 feet. Flights have since resumed at Newark Airport.

ROMANS: All right. In the midst of some brutal winter weather, police in Wisconsin are using a visual aid to encourage safe driving. The video shows a speeding car sliding across the lanes on a snowy ice covered road and barreling toward a police officer who just manages to get out of the way. The Fond Du Lac County Sheriff's Office released the video to serve as a warning to drivers to go slowly as another round of severe winter weather approaches the region.

[04:50:10] BRIGGS: OK. Netflix reached a whole new level on two fronts. CNN Business tells you how, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIGGS: Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren travelled to Puerto Rico with one clear message -- President Trump does not respect you. The 2020 presidential hopeful told a group of Puerto Ricans the president treated them with extraordinary disrespect in his response to the devastation that followed Hurricane Maria.

[04:55:00] Here is CNN's MJ Lee with more from San Juan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MJ LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Senator Warren visiting Puerto Rico this week, an interesting political choice given that the residents of Puerto Rico do not get to vote in the U.S. presidential election. It was clear that she wanted to come here in part to send a message about President Trump. She has been very critical of the way that President Trump and the administration has handled the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

We asked her about that in an interview in San Juan before she spoke at this event here behind me. We also asked her about the growing 2020 Democratic field. Here is what she had to say.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Donald Trump won't even pay the people of Puerto Rico the courtesy of acknowledging the deaths of the people they love. And now that he is caught in this fight to try to find funding to be able to build a monument to hate on the southern border of the United States, he looks over to Puerto Rico to see if he can take away unspent dollars that were designated for relief efforts. That is just fundamentally wrong.

LEE: The 2020 field is growing by the day. How do you set yourself apart from everybody else who is already in or is going to get in?

WARREN: Oh, I think this is an exciting moment. It is a reminder that Democrats have a lot of ideas and a lot of energy. LEE: Later today, Senator Warren is headed to South Carolina, a state

where it is going to be very important for the Democratic candidates to get the support of African-American voters. When I asked her how she plans to doing that, she said she simply will continue to talk about issues of racial inequality.

Now, all of this as the shutdown in Washington, D.C. continues on. She says it is simply up to President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to reopen the government.

Christine and Dave, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: MJ Lee in Puerto Rico for us.

An Alzheimer's detection breakthrough, a new study found that simple blood test could predict if someone will develop Alzheimer's disease up to 16 years before symptoms begin. The test measures changes in the levels of a protein in the blood called neural filament. Researchers say a rise in levels of the protein could be an early sign that degenerative brain disease.

ROMANS: Important breakthrough. So, important.

OK. Let's get a check on CNN Business this morning. Global stocks mostly lower amid uncertainty over trade talks in Asia. You see a mixed performance there. London, Paris, Frankfurt also barely moving, searching for direction is what I would say here looking at futures right now, slightly higher just a bit here.

But, look, the Dow declined 302 points yesterday. That's 1.2 percent, renewed concerns about global growth, slowing global growth, and the U.S./China trade war. The S&P 500 lost 1.4 percent. The Nasdaq lost almost 2 percent.

Worries about global growth amplified by the International Monetary Fund. The IMF cutting its 2019 economic outlook, a weak U.S. home sales report and new signs of trade tension between the United States and China.

All right. Spotify is making it easier for users to mute artists they don't want to hear. The Verge reports the feature lets you block an entire artist from playing songs from the library chart list or even radio stations on Spotify. Rollout of the feature comes during a height of a movement to mute R. Kelly following years of allegations of sexual misconduct. Last week, Billboard reported the singer and his longtime label Sony Music agreed to part ways. The feature appears to only be accessible on the mobile app, but once the artist is blocked for an account, it also applies to the desktop player.

Netflix has officially arrived. Netflix scored 15 Academy Award nominations, ten of those for Alfonso Cuaron's "Roma," including one for best picture. After the nominations were announced, "Politico" reported that the service is now the newest member of the Motion Picture Association of America. Netflix is the first tech company to join the 97-year-old Hollywood trade group that includes all the big studios.

BRIGGS: I did not see "Roma." I did see "RBG", which the CNN documentary was nominated as well. Did you see that yet?

ROMANS: The two, the song and --

BRIGGS: You have to see "RBG". It's fantastic.

All right. EARLY START continues right now with the latest on the longest government shutdown in our nation's history.

(MUSIC)

ROMANS: Day 33 of the government shutdown. Two competing proposals to end it. Look for a vote tomorrow. Does either have a chance?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: I find it unacceptable that Coast Guard men and women have to rely on food pantries.

O'CONNOR: FBI agents should not have to go work at a store.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Frustration mounts. Federal workers set to miss another paycheck in a couple of days.

ROAMNS: Striking. Los Angeles teachers are back in the classroom today, just as teachers in another major American city vote to walk off the job.