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EARLY START

Senate Votes Down Both Shutdown Bills As White House Demands Down Payment On Wall; United States Refusing To Recognize Maduro Regime; Russia Slams President Trump's Stance In Venezuela; Missing North Carolina Toddler Found Alive. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired January 25, 2019 - 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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[05:30:22] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They pay a sort of a prorated down payment.

SEN. BEN CARDIN (D), MARYLAND: I have no idea what that means.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: The dynamics have not changed -- the urgency has. Another payday comes and goes today. A dozen senators trying to bridge the gap to end the shutdown.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Michael Cohen will go before Congress after all. He will comply with a subpoena from the Senate Intel Committee.

BRIGGS: The U.S. ordering most personnel out of Venezuela. The crisis in that country deepens as both sides struggle for control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRITTANY HATHAWAY, MOTHER OF CASEY HATHAWAY, TODDLER FOUND IN NORTH CAROLINA: He is good. He's up and talking. He's already asked to watch Netflix, so he's good. He is good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Oh, relief -- relief for a family in North Carolina. A little boy who vanished three days ago has been found alive.

Welcome back to EARLY START this Friday morning, everyone. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: Good morning. Good morning to all of you. I'm Dave Briggs. Thirty minutes past the hour.

Happy Friday to some of you, but not for those 800,000 federal workers who, today, miss a second paycheck. It is day 35 of the partial government shutdown. Democrats' and Republicans' dueling bills to reopen the government both failed in the Senate. Remarkably, though, six Republicans crossed the aisle to vote for the Democrats' bill that had no border wall money. Now, more than a dozen senators from both parties working behind the scenes to put pressure on both sides.

ROMANS: They want President Trump to reopen the government temporarily and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to make more commitments on border security. The White House indicating it would be open to a 3- week stopgap funding bill only if it included what they're calling a large down payment on the wall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: One of the ideas suggested is they open it and they pay sort of a prorated down payment for the wall, which I think people would agree that you need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Democrats agreed to the idea with skepticism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He's talking about a prorated down payment for the border wall.

CARDIN: I have no idea what that means.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Speaker Pelosi, herself, called the president's down payment not reasonable.

A senior Democratic aide tells CNN, quote, "The idea he has leverage here is not in touch with reality."

Certainly, one big issue remains a lack of clarity on what the president would accept in any type of deal.

ROMANS: CNN has learned exclusively about one possible tactic. The White House preparing a draft proclamation to declare a national emergency along the southern border and identifying more than $7 billion in potential funds to build that wall.

As soon as today, the White House may invite a group of eight congressional leaders for a meeting with the president.

BRIGGS: Some government workers have been overwhelmed by the emotional and the financial burden of the shutdown.

TSA officers living in their cars in Hawaii, unable to afford the commute between home and the airport, have started submitting resignations.

An air traffic control official from Fort Worth has major concerns. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK DANIELS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION, FORT WORTH CHAPTER: There's more risk now than ever. It is becoming less safe to get in that plane. We have the front seat to watching this unravel and crumble and we need somebody to hear and listen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: In Illinois, Eric Schwab, who was once homeless, donating groceries to TSA agents at the Quad City International Airport.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC SCHWAB, COLLECTING DONATIONS FOR GOVERNMENT WORKERS: I get emotional when I think about doing it and the people who have contacted me -- of our agents -- of our federal agents who are literally working without a check.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: U.S. federal courts run out of operating funds today. Prosecutors handling cases from sex crimes to illegal border crossings are warning austerity budgets will weaken law enforcement.

In Washington State, unemployment benefits are being extended to employees who are working but not receiving pay. New Mexico, California, Vermont, and Colorado are doing the same.

BRIGGS: House Oversight chairman Elijah Cummings says his committee is demanding White House documents to determine if an explosive report about senior Trump adviser Jared Kushner is true.

NBC News reporting that two White House security specialists rejected Kushner's application for a top secret clearance but were overruled by their supervisor. Two sources telling NBC that supervisor, Carl Kline, overruled career security experts in at least 30 such cases, a number the sources called unprecedented.

NBC reports that after Kushner received top security clearance his file went to the CIA for approval of the very highest clearance level. Two sources tell NBC the CIA balked, called the White House and asked how Kushner earned even a top secret clearance -- not even the highest clearance they were seeking.

CNN has not independently confirmed that NBC report. We've reached out to the White House and Kushner's attorney but so far, they have not commented. The White House and the CIA told NBC they don't comment individual clearances.

[05:35:06] But let's bring in "Washington Post" congressional reporter Karoun Demirjian, a CNN political analyst. Good morning.

BRIGGS: Good morning.

KAROUN DEMIRJIAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, CONGRESSIONAL REPORT, THE WASHINGTON POST: Good morning.

ROMANS: Nice to see you this Friday morning.

This Kushner security clearance story -- the fact that two career White House security specialists turned him down and then were overruled by their supervisor -- at least 30 -- according to NBC, of 30 cases in which the Trump administration overruled career White House security specialists -- how unusual is that?

DEMIRJIAN: Pretty unusual and I think that the stark contrast in that story makes that clear when you're talking about one case -- similar case in the last three years before this trend took over where you've seen over 30 cases happen.

There's been questions about the security clearance practices at the White House for quite a while. The Oversight and Government Reform Committee said this week that they were going to formally launch an investigation into that.

But this all kind of brings it to a head because everybody's been questioning the specifics of the case. But if really, the adjudications were overruled each time, it's suggesting to me there's some political favoritism or something else that's going into this.

And if the trend in the White House is to not actually make the security clearance decisions based on the security risk each person poses, that's just generally across the board quite problematic and could open up -- I mean, this is the White House. The most secure stuff goes across the president's desk. It could open up any number of vulnerabilities that relate to each of these people's various vulnerabilities in their applications.

BRIGGS: Very scary. In your piece you cite Elijah Cummings says "grave breaches of procedure."

But let's turn now to this government shutdown, day 35. And today, nearly 800,000 federal workers miss a second paycheck. They're struggling to make ends meet.

Some see a glimmer of hope here because there are some behind-the- scenes work being done. But look, the dynamic has not changed. The president won't reopen the government until there's border wall money. Nancy Pelosi will not give a dollar towards that border wall.

Do you see that glimmer of hope, and what would an off-ramp look like?

DEMIRJIAN: Right. Well, I think it really depends right now who puts forward a proposal that calls the other side's bluff successfully.

BRIGGS: Yes.

DEMIRJIAN: What we saw yesterday in the Senate was the two proposals -- the Democrat one and the Republican one trotted out. Now we know where everybody in the Senate stands and it's really going to be Senate Republicans that are going to have to break away from the president if the Democrats are going to get their way. And right now, it seems like they are winning people over from the

GOP, not vice versa. Six Republicans decided to vote to just reopen the government without the border wall funding.

But now we're seeing the president say well, if you will do this short-term opening of the government if we have the prorated wall funding -- that's really not what the Democrats were proposing before. Before, they were saying OK, look, let's open up everything else, extend the Homeland Security budget for about a month so we can have these discussions. Prorated funding and so we can have these discussions, not the same thing.

But it's on each side right now and the clock is ticking, too, for who can actually put forward a coherent proposal that says this is exactly what we want to do. And we are now, having gotten -- you know, let the air out of the tires of the Senate votes. Now this is going to be the new standard to what's reasonable to try to pull more people over to our side.

And right now, because of the Republicans switching sides, it seems like the momentum is behind the Democrats unless the Trump administration comes up with something really good. And so far, they've been sticking to their guns --

ROMANS: Right.

DEMIRJIAN: -- which hasn't been working.

ROMANS: And --

BRIGGS: I expect this press conference from Nancy Pelosi --

ROMANS: Yes.

BRIGGS: -- today, perhaps a little border wall.

ROMANS: Meanwhile, I mean, we've been saying every day what the real- world impact is. You've got 800,000 who aren't going to be paid today. It is no-pay payday Friday for them.

And there seems to be this empathy gap in the administration about sort of feeling the pain of these workers. And it's not just here or there. There's now a trend of White House officials or people close to the White House who don't seem to understand the paycheck-to- paycheck nature of some government employees -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILBUR ROSS, U.S. SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: I don't really quite understand why because as I mentioned before, the obligations that they would undertake -- say, borrowing from a bank or a credit union -- are, in effect, federally guaranteed.

LARA TRUMP, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OF PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: But this is so much bigger than any one person. It is a little bit of pain but it's going to be for the future of our country. KEVIN HASSETT, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER: A huge share of government workers were going to take vacation days, say, between Christmas and New Year's. And then we have a shutdown and so they can't go to work. And so, then they have the vacation but they don't have to use their vacation days.

And then they come back and then they get their backpay. Then they're -- in some sense, they're better off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Hunky-dory. OK, cue the cleanups. All -- there's been cleanups all along the way when you have comments like this.

That first comment from the Commerce secretary yesterday was he doesn't understand why people are going to a food bank. Why don't they just get a loan?

There's no liquidity crisis. He used the words liquidity crisis. Nobody should be having an individual liquidity crisis because they can just get a loan.

It just -- it's almost, as one person said on Twitter -- sorry -- it's like the Marie Antionette sweepstakes going on here.

[05:40:00] What do you make -- the president's always -- has always said he's got all these rich people around him, so they are successful and that's great. Is that the problem?

DEMIRJIAN: That -- I mean, look, this is a risky run when you've had people that have never seemingly struggled that much and cannot empathize. And like you said, it's an empathy gap.

When you're a politician, instinct matters. Sympathizing with the people who have to support you to keep you in power matters. And not every rich person is unsympathetic, but this administration has shown a habit of kind of not being able to bridge that gap at all.

And yes, it's a problem -- when you're saying these things at the outset it's a problem because they don't make that much sense. You can't get a loan without some sort of collateral anyway.

And the fact that person after person after person is trying to make light of it -- I think the Trump administration has, at various points, said look, there's a little bit of short-term pain here for the long-term gain. We heard that line being trotted out when we were talking about the tariffs and changing the trade policies.

And the good thing for Trump is that a lot of his supporters do follow him with the faith that he's doing greater things on the macroscale, and so they'll just suffer through the more limited individual stuff. But if we're talking about people going to food banks, that cuts pretty deep.

And at a certain point you have to wonder does this line of OK, just wait for us, wait for us, this is for the greater good -- actually, do people still continue to follow that? Do they continue to believe in that and believe in the president if there's no nod to a sense of we're sorry you're going through this?

And you're not hearing that fundamental sympathy is not empathy coming from the members of this administration that they're trotting out to be the public face of this shutdown crisis.

ROMANS: I'm going to tell you right now. I do not want my air traffic controller sitting there dialing on his phone trying to figure out where he can get the lowest interest rate loan to bridge the next two months or whatever. I mean, that's not what I want --

DEMIRJIAN: Me, too.

ROMANS: -- my --

BRIGGS: Nor do I want --

ROMANS: -- national security infrastructure worried about.

DEMIRJIAN: Yes.

BRIGGS: Nor do I want the FAA having to tweet out that we're hashtag safe in the skies. That is concerning in and of itself.

ROMANS: To have to say your skies are safe.

DEMIRJIAN: That's part of the picture, too, right. I mean, we're talking right now about just the individual pain but you're right, the bigger picture is not just the wall. It's several things that are related to national security that have nothing to do with the wall, and just basic functioning of the economy eventually, as well --

BRIGGS: Yes.

DEMIRJIAN: -- that hits people personally in the gut.

ROMANS: All right. Karoun Demirjian, so nice to see you this morning. Thanks for getting up early for us.

DEMIRJIAN: Thank you.

ROMANS: I hope you have a great rest of your Friday and a great weekend.

DEMIRJIAN: You, too.

ROMANS: Thank you.

BRIGGS: OK.

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen has been subpoenaed by the Senate Intelligence Committee to testify in mid-February. Cohen intends to be there. The questioning expected to take place behind closed doors.

A source telling CNN Cohen has the same concerns about the safety of his family that led him to postpone his appearance before the House Oversight Committee.

The subpoena is the first of several Cohen could face before he reports to prison on March sixth to serve a 3-year sentence.

ROMANS: All right, a daring rescue caught on video. Officers trying to save a teen who fell through the ice -- they go under themselves.

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[05:47:02] ROMANS: Senator Elizabeth Warren wants a new tax on the richest Americans. She's calling it the "Ultra-Millionaire Tax." According to documents provided by her presidential campaign, it would impose a two percent tax on Americans whose net worth exceeds $50 million, with an additional one percent levy on billionaires.

Now, it's not -- it does not specifically address marginal tax rates. It's not even clear if it's constitutional. Congress has the power to levy taxes and the Constitution places limits on so-called direct taxes.

Still, it is the most detailed proposal yet to address gaping income inequality and frankly, the party's drift to the left.

Newly-elected Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposed marginal tax rates as high as 70 percent to fund a climate change plan called the "Green New Deal."

Now, for Warren's tax plan, experts say it would apply to about 75,000 of the richest households. That's less than the wealthiest 0.1 percent.

BRIGGS: The State Department ordering all non-emergency government employees to get out of Venezuela. There is a growing diplomatic crisis and power struggle as President Trump has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president. That's a significant blow to the Maduro regime.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo making the president's case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: The time for debate is done. The regime of former president Nicolas Maduro is illegitimate. His regime is morally bankrupt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: At least 26 people have now been killed in the violence in Venezuela overnight.

Interim President Juan Guaido called on Venezuelan diplomats to stay in the U.S. after Maduro ordered the embassy in the United States to close.

Stefano Pozzebon has the latest from Caracas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Well, Christine, Dave, neither Nicolas Maduro nor the White House are walking away from the dramatic standoff that is taking place here in Caracas around the U.S. Embassy.

Yesterday, Nicolas Maduro ordered the closure of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington and of every consulate of Venezuela in the United States and reiterated that the U.S. administration had until Sunday to evacuate the embassy here in Caracas or face the consequences of the disruptor of the international diplomatic relations between Caracas and Washington.

But on the other hand, the U.S. administration is saying loud and clear that it does not recognize the rule by Nicolas Maduro, and he says that those words and orders are meaningless.

And as we see this brewed up -- this diplomatic crisis that could definitely turn out into a very tense international standoff between Caracas and Washington is different. It's difficult to see how this could translate for the average Venezuelan people -- for the people who are feeling the burn of five years of deep economic collapse and have the feeling that this crisis has only just begun -- Christine, Dave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[05:50:05] BRIGGS: Stefano Pozzebon in Caracas.

China, Turkey, and Syria now joining Russia in criticizing the U.S. for recognizing Guaido as Venezuela's president.

Let's shift from Caracas to Moscow and bring in Fred Pleitgen. Fred, you spoke exclusively with Russia's deputy foreign minister. What did he say, and what is Russia's stake in all this?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russia has a huge stake in all of this, Dave. They've expanded their relations with Venezuela over the past couple of years to a great extent. They recently include two strategic nuclear-capable bombers to Venezuela. Obviously, a show of force against the United States.

And so, therefore, the deputy foreign minister telling me that Russia is squarely on the side of Nicolas Maduro and warned the U.S. against any sort of intervention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEI RYABKOV, RUSSIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: There are dangerous signs of something going on along these lines. We warn everyone -- not just the U.S., but some others who may entertain these ideas -- from this type of action. The resort to military power would be catastrophic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Vladimir Putin also talking with Maduro last night, once again reiterating his support with -- for Maduro.

But, of course, speaking to a senior Russian official like that, I also had to ask him about President Trump and his possible ties to Russia. Here's what he said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: There are even some questioning whether President Trump is an agent of Russia. What do you make of that?

RYABKOV: I mean, it's completely, completely out of touch with anything that could be conceived as, you know, anywhere close to the reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: And we talked about election meddling as well. The Russian deputy foreign minister, despite all the evidence that we've been seeing over the past couple of years, saying -- continuing to say the Russians didn't do it, Dave.

BRIGGS: Continuing to stick with that line. Great reporting, Fred Pleitgen, just before 2:00 there in Moscow.

ROMANS: All right.

BRIGGS: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:56:33] ROMANS: How far would you go to help a sick child? An Indiana school superintendent may have gone too far.

Casey Smitherman is charged with fraud, accused of pretending a sick student was her son to get him medical treatment. Police say she took the 15-year-old to an urgent care facility after he missed school and showed symptoms of strep throat. Smitherman was denied service because the child was a minor and she wasn't the guardian.

BRIGGS: She then took him to another clinic where she checked the student in under her son's name and insurance. The teen's actual guardian reported the incident to police and Smitherman turned herself in.

The school board is standing by their superintendent who they say did the right thing the wrong way. They issued a statement saying she made an unfortunate mistake out of concern for the child's welfare.

ROMANS: All right. In North Carolina, a happy ending to a potentially tragic story. A missing 3-year-old boy has been found alive and well. Casey Hathaway disappeared Tuesday after playing outside of his great-grandmother's home. Casey has now been reunited with his family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HATHAWAY: We just want to tell everybody that we're very thankful that you took the time out to come search for Casey and pray for him.

And he's good -- he is good. He's up and talking. He's already asked to watch Netflix, so he's good. He is good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Casey is said to be in good health. He is being evaluated at a local hospital.

BRIGGS: Heart-pounding video out of Toledo. Police officers fall through ice during a frantic rescue.

A 17-year-old was trapped in the frozen pond. Officers walk on the ice to throw a flotation device attached to a rope. That's when things took a turn for the worse as the ice starts breaking and an officer falls in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLICE OFFICER, TOLEDO, OHIO: Give me your hand! Give me your hand! Give me your hand!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Fortunately, everyone has since recovered.

ROMANS: File this one under no general left behind. Retired Army veteran Anthony Maggert, who lost his leg in Afghanistan, was driving on the highway when he stopped to help someone with a flat tire. It turns out it was Gen. Colin Powell. It took only 10 to 15 minutes to change that tire, but Maggert grabbed a selfie with Powell.

Both men were actually headed to Walter Reed Medical Center for appointments. General Powell later thanked Maggert in a Facebook post, saying, "You touched my soul and made my day" -- and changed his tire.

BRIGGS: Yes, I was going to say don't forget that part.

ROMANS: That's a free-for.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans. Have a great weekend.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" starts right now.

Don't forget to help those government workers if you know anyone going without pay for another Friday. Have a great weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They open it, they pay a sort of a prorated down payment for the wall.

CARDIN: I have no idea what that means.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going to get into negotiations while the government is closed.

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R), ALASKA: The message that we've heard loud and clear from Americans is enough already.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now he's subpoenaed. He has no choice but to come.

LANNY DAVIS, ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL COHEN: Mr. Cohen is concerned that when you're labeled a rat there could be some danger.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: I can certainly understand the concerns over the threats. It's clearly an effort by the president to try to intimidate this witness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. Deep breath -- it's Friday.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I'm cleansing.

BERMAN: It is Friday, January 25th, 6:00 here in New York.

And new this morning, 800,000 federal workers will miss a second paycheck starting today, as the longest government shutdown in U.S. history hits day 35.

So, the president, effectively, shut down the government more than a month --