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EARLY START
President Trump And First Lady Visit Troops In Iraq; President Trump Defends Decision To Pull Out Of Syria; Day Six Of Partial Government Shutdown; Dow Stages Comeback After Worst Christmas Eve Ever. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired December 27, 2018 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:30:35] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The president is back in Washington after his first trip to a war zone. He said Iraq could be used as a base for operations in Syria after the U.S. pulls out.
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Wall Street with a record rebound. The Dow stops it slide with the biggest point gain ever.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Whatever it takes. I mean, we're going to have a wall. We're going to have safety. We need safety for our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The president vowing to stay the course. No wall, no deal to fund the government.
JOHNS: And a New Jersey school district standing up for a varsity wrestler forced to chop his dreadlocks. No teams will compete if the referee who ordered the haircut is officiating.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Joe Johns.
ROMANS: Nice to see you this holiday week. I'm Christine Romans. It is 31 minutes past the hour.
Let's begin with the president and the first lady. They just landed at Joint Base Andrews and they're headed home to the White House now on Marine One after they quietly slipped into Iraq yesterday, paying a holiday visit to U.S. service members.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We came to Al Asad to share out eternal gratitude for everything you do to keep America safe, strong, and free.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: The president making good on a promise to visit troops fighting one of the wars he has scorned as a costly mistake. The secret overnight flight from Washington to Al Asad Air Base --
even Mr. Trump admits caused some anxiety.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I had concerns for the institution of the presidency because -- not for myself, first of all. I had concerns for the first lady, I will tell you.
But if you would have seen what we had to go through with the darkened plane with all windows closed, with no lights on whatsoever, anywhere -- pitch black. I've never seen it. I've been in many airplanes -- all types, and shapes, and sizes. I've never seen anything like it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The president remained on the ground for about three hours.
And just a week after Defense Sec. James Mattis resigned over the president's decision to pull troops out of Syria, Mr. Trump said Iraq could be used as a base to take further action in Syria.
CNN's Barbara Starr has made that trip to Iraq many times. She has more from the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Joe, President Trump and first lady Melania Trump made the secret unannounced trip into Iraq. It had been expected, at some point, he might visit the war zone but nobody knew that it would happen when it did.
The Secret Service and U.S. military working together for weeks to, of course, ensure the security of the president, the first lady, and the entire traveling party.
They spent about three hours on the ground, the president talking to the troops for about 20 minutes, visiting with them, talking about football, talking about how things were going for them. Getting a briefing from commanders.
But the president also very much taking the opportunity to defend his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from next-door Syria.
TRUMP: They said sir, could we have six more months? I said, yes, you've got six more months.
And they said again recently, could we have more time? I said, nope, you can't have any more time. You've got enough time.
And we've knocked them out. We've knocked them silly.
I think that a lot of people have come around to my way of thinking. It's not fair when we burden the -- when the burden is all on us.
REPORTER: Do you have any plans to pull forces out of Iraq as well? TRUMP: No plans at all -- no. In fact, we could use this as a base if we wanted to do something in Syria.
STARR: That may prove to be very difficult because if you want to do airstrikes, if you want to do ground operations, you have to have intelligence from the ground inside Syria. It may be, now, much more difficult to collect that intelligence.
But the troops giving the president a very respectful, a very optimistic, a very enthusiastic reaction, as you would expect U.S. military troops to do for any President of the United States -- Christine, Joe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: Thanks for that, Barbara Starr, at the Pentagon.
President Trump also delivering a blunt 'America First' message to the rest of the Middle East.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're in their region. They should be really sharing the burden of cost and they're not.
And now, they're going to be doing it. And if they don't, they're going to go in and they'll go into places like Turkey, and Russia, and Iran, and Iraq, and lots of other places.
[05:35:00] So these people are going to have to start doing a lot of their own work and they're going to have to start paying for it because the United States cannot continue to be the policemen of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CNN's Fred Pleitgen is live for us this morning in Moscow.
Fred, what's likely to happen if the U.S. leaves it to other countries to shape events in the Middle East?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Joe -- well, exactly.
Those countries that the president was talking about -- Iran, Turkey, and Russia -- those countries are already saying they're happy to oblige to move into the void that the U.S. is about to leave there in Syria, especially the Russians who have all been listening very carefully to some of the things that President Trump said while he was on the ground there in Iraq because one of the things that the Russian government has been saying over the past couple of days, after President Trump made that announcement to leave Syria -- they said well, we don't really know if this is real. If the U.S. is really going to pull out.
They say that they've been hearing this for about 17 years, that the U.S. wants to pull out of Afghanistan and it's never happened.
So now, certainly, from President Trump, some very reassuring words for the Kremlin as they then move on to form their strategy for Syria, and we can already see that happening as well. Overnight, the Russians and the Turks announcing that very soon there's going to be a high-level meeting between the two sides about the future of Syria.
And that, of course, means those forces on the ground that are currently allied with the United States have a very tough choice to make. They can either try and cut a deal with the Syrian government and the Russians or face, possibly, an assault from the Turks. So some pretty dire circumstances going on there.
And all of this happening, Joe, as the Russians just also announced that they've tested a hypersonic missile that they say is capable of defeating U.S. air defense systems, Joe.
JOHNS: Fred Pleitgen live in Moscow. Thanks so much for that.
ROMANS: All right. So we're lucky this holiday week to have Ron Brownstein here, senior editor at "The Atlantic" and a CNN political analyst. Good morning.
The president's trip -- I wanted to get your reaction. I mean, the president now ticking off a box. It's been two years. He said he would visit a war zone and now he has.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, SENIOR EDITOR, THE ATLANTIC: Right. You know, it's striking a measure of how tumultuous this presidency has been that what has been a routine activity for other presidents visiting troops in wartime, we are remarking upon it finally happening here. But look, I mean, it is better -- it is better than not for a president to visit troops in a war zone.
Once again, we see the consistent pattern going all the way back to his first appearance at the CIA of the president politicizing this event to a greater extent than we have seen in previous commanders in chief, and the kind of remarks that he made, the signing of the Make America Great Again hats, and so forth.
But nonetheless, better that the president -- better late than never, I suppose --
ROMANS: Sure.
BROWNSTEIN: -- for the president to do this.
JOHNS: Now, meanwhile, Ron, back here in this country we still have the shutdown going on. The president, three times, did not answer a question as to whether he would accept less money than the $5 billion he's been asking for for his border barrier.
What do you think happens with his base if the president doesn't get all or almost all of what he wants?
BROWNSTEIN: Well look, I mean, I think the president, clearly, in this shutdown, is playing solely to the base. I mean, he is using a tactic that historically has been very unpopular. As you know, Joe, from covering Congress, shutting down the government has always been unpopular and he's been using that tactic toward a goal that is, itself, possibly even more unpopular.
I mean, the last CNN poll, only 38 percent of the country supported building the border wall and that dropped to 33 percent when people were told -- asked if they would still support if Mexico did not pay.
The only groups that do support it are self-identified Republicans and a narrow plurality of white voters without a college education who are -- you know, have been his core constituency.
He faces overwhelming opposition on this from all of the groups that powered the Democratic gains -- the historic Democratic gains in the midterms -- young people, minorities, college-educated white voters. And given those sentiments it's really hard to see where the incentive is for Democrats to give in.
Don't forget, a year ago --
ROMANS: Yes.
BROWNSTEIN: -- they were willing to make a deal --
ROMANS: Yes.
BROWNSTEIN: -- in return for legal status for DACA. Not clear why they would do this with nothing on the other side.
ROMANS: After the numbers that they saw in the midterms, why would they give in to the president at all and anger those voters who clearly are not aligned with the president?
BROWNSTEIN: Empower them, yes.
ROMANS: Right. The Trump -- Trump, at one point, said that he would own this. He sat there with Chuck and Nancy and said he would own this.
Now, the latest tune is -- it is punting the blame to Nancy Pelosi -- listen.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have a problem with the Democrats because Nancy Pelosi is calling the shots, not Chuck. And, Chuck wants to have this done. I really believe that. He wants to have this done.
But she's calling the shots and she's calling them because she wants the votes. And probably, if they do something, she's not going to get the votes and she's not going to be Speaker of the House, and that would be not so good for her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: I mean, she's got the votes to retain the gavel.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
ROMANS: To regain the regain the gavel. Was this -- this strategy -- what's happening here?
[05:40:03] BROWNSTEIN: Well also, look -- I mean, logically, the Democratic leverage is going to go up once they have the majority in the House. At that point, they will not be a majority -- there will not be sufficient votes in either chamber to fund the wall as President Trump defines it.
I mean, don't forget -- I mean, Democrats, I'm sure, are going to point when they get the majority the undocumented immigrant population in the U.S. peaked in 2007, according to Pew which is the most authoritative count that we have. It's 1.5 million lower today than it was a decade ago.
And there have been -- you know, look, we've seen both in 2006 and 2013 the Senate pass legislation that included increased border security as part of a comprehensive package --
ROMANS: Yes.
BROWNSTEIN: -- that included a pathway to legal status for the undocumented.
The debate is not so much about whether we need strong border security, it's about whether a physical concrete barrier across the length of -- whatever length, as it keeps changing and the president -- is the most effective way to do that.
And I don't see where the pressure comes on Democrats to accept that solution given, as I said, that in the past it has only been part of the discussion when there is a comprehensive plan on the table.
ROMANS: Right.
BROWNSTEIN: And that also, the voters who gave them the majority overwhelmingly oppose this idea.
JOHNS: We can't let you go without talking about the apparent rebound in the markets which is pretty big, of course. We're still watching the numbers this morning as Wall Street opens.
ROMANS: Well, you've finally got -- you've finally got --
JOHNS: Right.
ROMANS: You've finally got a good message from --
JOHNS: Right.
ROMANS: The White House finally got a -- BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
ROMANS: -- decent reassuring message out there in Kevin Hassett.
JOHNS: Exactly. So -- and --
BROWNSTEIN: Right.
JOHNS: But that's a question. Is it because Kevin Hassett came out and started talking or that the president stopped talking?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know -- and look, the history of the first two years of this administration is does anyone think this is the last word on the fate of Jerome Powell -- what Kevin Hassett -- or this is the end of the stock market gyrations?
It's interesting. I mean, there are -- you know, there are people in the political system who believe that the financial markets may be the one force powerful enough to force the president -- to compel the president to change and temper his behavior because clearly, he is unnerved by the decline in the market which he sees as one of his principal arguments for reelection.
I think it is unlikely that the markets alone can force him to change his behavior, particularly since even after this November election -- which Republicans lost the popular vote by a larger margin than Democrats did in the 1994 or 2010 GOP landslides -- congressional Republicans have not joined, in effect, this message from the markets that we need a more predictable, less impulsive, less volatile behavior out of the Oval Office.
And without that, I think what you see is what you're going to continue to get. And I don't think this is the last time you're going to hear the president criticize the Fed chairman and the last time the markets are unnerved as a result.
ROMANS: And he has, so many times, talked about -- and falsely talked about how much things are better under him than they were under Obama. This will be the worst year for stock investors in 10 years. There was no year -- down year like this.
BROWNSTEIN: After the tax cut, by the way. The tax cut was promised --
ROMANS: After the -- a year after the tax cut -- you're right.
BROWNSTEIN: -- as turbocharging the markets --
ROMANS: Yes.
BROWNSTEIN: -- and it is significantly lower today than it was on the day before the tax cut was passed.
ROMANS: But the Dow still up 3,000 points since he --
JOHNS: Yes. ROMANS: -- took office, so I guess he can point to that.
All right. Ron Brownstein, thank you for that.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
ROMANS: Forty-three minutes past the hour.
Frustrated border officials speaking up after the second death this month of a migrant child in U.S. custody.
One Customs and Border Protection agent tells CNN, "We're not designed to hold all these people. A complete overhaul needs to happen. We're overcrowded, understaffed. We don't have the manpower to deal with this crisis.
No one ever thinks you'll lose a life. You give them food and water. If they complain, you flag it.
It's sad. It's heartbreaking. That hits home."
JOHNS: Homeland Security Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen announcing changes. She says all children in CBP custody now have received what she called a thorough medical screening. She says going forward, all children CBP takes into custody will get a medical assessment whether or not the adult they're with asks for one.
Nielsen says nearly 1,500 officers and agents along the border are medically trained and DHS has asked the military to provide medical help.
ROMANS: All right. A winter storm intensifying as it moves east. Tornadoes, flash floods, blizzard conditions all possible during one of the busiest travel times of the year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:47:55] ROMANS: All right.
If you're on vacation and just tuning in, a Santa Claus rally came a day late to Wall Street. Stock markets staged a miraculous comeback Wednesday from their worst-ever Christmas Eve.
The Dow soared more than 1,000 points -- the most points in one day, ever. That's a five percent rally. And the S&P 500 also rose five percent. The Nasdaq jumped 5.8 percent, pulling out of a bear market.
It was the biggest percentage gain for all three averages since March 2009.
Here's how the rest of the world now is responding. So, what do we do with this?
Well, Tokyo rallied but Shanghai and Hong Kong did not share the enthusiasm. And right now, you've got European markets mixed.
And the Dow this morning -- Dow futures have been all over the place -- down 400, down 200. So watch this space.
Wednesday was a respite from a very rough month for investors, though, even after that rally. The S&P 500 is close to a bear market which would end the longest bull market in history. This month, still on track for the worst December for stock investors since 1931.
Now, the White House tried a new approach to reassure investors about the U.S. economy, sending the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers -- an economist named Kevin Hassett. He spoke with reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: You've made it very clear that Sec. Mnuchin's job is safe. Is the Fed chairman's job safe?
KEVIN HASSETT, CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: Yes, of course, 100 percent -- yes.
REPORTER: One hundred percent, the Fed chairman's job is not in jeopardy by this president?
HASSETT: Absolutely, that's correct.
All the anecdotal information we're getting is that the fundamentals remain extremely sound. That Christmas sales are through the roof. G.P. in the fourth quarter is looking like it's going to be very close to, if not above three, again.
And so I think that the momentum that we saw this year is carrying forward to next year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Now, the president has bashed the Fed chief so many times that that 100 percent safe comment was well-received by Wall Street. The president has said the Fed is raising interest rates too fast but if the job is safe that's something Wall Street likes to hear.
Hassett, instead, blamed all this market volatility on fundamentals, noting growth in Europe has slowed, growth in Asia has slowed. But he said the U.S. economy continues to be strong.
All right. JCPenney shares fell below a dollar for the first time since it started trading in 1929. The 110-year-old department store has not been profitable since 2010 and it is $4 billion in debt.
[05:50:04] It has offered steep discounts on clothing to clear its massive inventory.
The stock has fallen 68 percent this year and nearly 30 percent in December alone.
Even after an expensive makeover, JCPenney has not been able to recover from the Great Recession when it lost shoppers to cheaper sellers. But, wow, holiday sales overall had a fantastic -- a fantastic
December. The fastest pace in growth in six years. Rising wages and a drop in gas prices.
Holiday shoppers spent more than $850 billion from November first through Christmas Eve. Retail spending increased 5.1 percent from a year ago.
Gas prices have dropped more than 20 cents a gallon over the past month. That gave shoppers extra cash for the holidays.
Consumers were also buying online. According to MasterCard, online sales rose more than 19 percent compared to last year.
Amazon had a record-setting season with more than one billion items shipped for free with Amazon Prime. That's a big number.
JOHNS: Yes, a couple of them came to my house -- that's for sure. All right.
ROMANS: The boxes are all in my basement. I complain about it every time.
JOHNS: You got it.
A winter storm intensifying as it moves east. This is Santa Fe, New Mexico. Snow and ice have caused road conditions to deteriorate. Multiple wrecks on I-25.
Thunderstorms and heavy lightning causing cancellation of the First Responder Bowl in Dallas. The game between Boise State and Boston College called off just after about 10 minutes of play.
More than 65,000 people without power in Texas.
Expect more of the same as that storm moves east today. Blizzard conditions, flash flood watches, even isolated tornadoes in parts of the south.
The latest now from meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Joe and Christine, good morning, guys.
Yes, we're watching the severe weather across portions of the Gulf Coast and back towards northern and central Texas in the past few hours. At least one report of a tornado.
The active weather here going to shift all the way towards the east and a severe weather concern does have a risk for hail, damaging winds. Those are the primary threats. And an isolated shot of some tornadoes, potentially, embedded in here.
New Orleans, around Lakes Charles, back toward Mobile, some of the areas of concern here when it comes to the active storms into later this afternoon.
But notice very slow progression going from Thursday into Friday when it comes to the wet weather. That's the concern here with the rainfall that's in store and impacting potentially at least 24 million here where we do have the flood watches in place.
So expecting widespread coverage here of two to three inches. Some areas as much as four to five inches of rainfall down towards the south.
And to the north, it's all about the wintry weather. In fact, blizzard conditions in parts of the Dakotas. It includes Aberdeen, south towards portions of South Dakota as well. Some of these areas could see as much as a foot and a half to two feet of snow in the next couple of days.
But again, the big story for the east coast becomes all rain and all severe storms, mainly along the Gulf Coast states -- guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. And, everybody, be careful out there.
JOHNS: It sounds pretty nasty.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:56:06] JOHNS: The Buena Regional School District in New Jersey says athletes will not compete in events officiated by Alan Maloney. He is the referee who forced a varsity wrestler to cut his dreadlocks.
Andrew Johnson told the referee that he could push back his hair, but Maloney refused because the teen's hair wasn't in its natural state.
ROMANS: The state's athletic association is now investigating.
Governor Phil Murphy tweeting, "No student should have to needlessly choose between his or her identity and playing sports."
Despite the disruption, Johnson did win his match in overtime.
The referee has yet to respond to CNN's request for comment.
JOHNS: A manhunt intensifying in California for a suspect police say gunned down an officer during a traffic stop.
Officer Ronil Singh pulled the suspect over just before 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday in Newman, about 70 miles east of San Jose. He was found at the scene with gunshot wounds. The 33-year-old pronounced dead at the hospital.
The suspect was spotted on surveillance video. He took off in a silver or gray extended-cab Dodge Ram 1500 pickup. The truck has a paper license plate that says "AR Auto." Police warn he's armed and dangerous.
ROMANS: It wasn't exactly the gift that he was looking for. A man from San Diego was celebrating with family in Mississippi. He was checking on his app on his phone to see if a gift had been picked up and delivered and spotted this burglar inside his home on Christmas Eve.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYLER LUNA, WITNESS TO BURGLARY: Uh-oh. I'm like what's going on. Look at this guy.
You heart sinks. It's like what's happening?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Wow. Tyler Luna flew home Christmas night and immediately met with police to file a police report. All of his watches and valuables on his nightstand were, of course, gone.
JOHNS: One city in Massachusetts is taking a new approach to curb the rising rates of teen vaping. Somerville, located right outside Boston, is restricting e-cigarette sales to adult-only stores.
The city's mayor says the products are shamelessly markets to teens who don't understand the health risks.
E-cigarette use among teenagers skyrocketed this year. The number of high school students vaping jumped by 78 percent while use by middle- schoolers rose by 48 percent.
ROMANS: An amazing holiday story. An Arizona man fulfilled an 8- year-old girl's Christmas wishes sent by balloon from Mexico.
Randy Heiss was hiking with his dog near Patagonia, Arizona when he spotted the remnants of a red balloon with a note written in Spanish. In the note, a girl named Dayami asked for toys, clothes, magic markers, and a coloring book.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDY HEISS, FOUND CHRISTMAS LIST FROM MEXICO: It was a kid's Christmas wish. I mean, you don't -- you can't turn away from that. Somebody -- some little kid put the -- put that list out there in good faith hoping something would happen with it. And so I just knew at that moment that I had to do everything I could to fulfill that list.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Oh. She and her sister are adorable.
JOHNS: Wow.
ROMANS: Last week, Heiss sent a message to a radio host in Nogales to track Dayami down using social media. OK, they found her father in about an hour. A day later, Randy met Dayami at the radio station with her sister and gave her the gifts.
Love that story. Love it, love it, love it, love it.
JOHNS: That's the story of the morning.
ROMANS: All right, thanks for joining us, everybody. I'm Christine Romans.
JOHNS: And, I'm Joe Johns. "NEW DAY" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're no longer the suckers, folks. Our presence in Syria was never intended to be permanent.
REP. DENNY HECK (D), WASHINGTON: He used it as an occasion to advance his specific policy objective. It's highly inappropriate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's wonderful the president visited. Let's be thankful that he's there.
SAM VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The president seems to have confused this trip with a campaign rally.
TRUMP: Whatever it takes, we're going to have a wall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Democrats have no incentive to negotiate. This shutdown is owned by the president.
(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. It's Thursday, December 27th, 6:00 here in New York.
Alisyn is off. Erica Hill joins me.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to have you back, my friend.
BERMAN: I should say I join you. I've been the one gone.
HILL: We've held down the fort but we're happy to give you back your chair.
