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EARLY START

Vast Security Plan In Place To Protect Crowds At Inauguration; Latino Pastor To Pray With Trump At Inauguration; Dems Fire Shot Across GOP Bow. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired January 20, 2017 - 05:30   ET

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


[05:32:30] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST: As huge crowds of Trump supporters and protestors converge on Washington, tens of thousands of law enforcement officers are on duty to ensure the inauguration goes off without any problems. CNN's Rene Marsh is live from Union Station with details of the vast security plan that's in place to protect all of these crowds. Good morning.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION & GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. I can tell you that the masses will arrive by train and the majority of them will pass through Union Station. It's just steps away from the U.S. Capitol. We can see that law enforcement already on deck here. They've got their K-9's and we've been seeing them kind of throughout Union Station here.

On an average day, Union Station police tell me that some 10,000 people pass through here. I mean, you have some folks here just kind of waiting for a train. But they expect the foot traffic today to morph that 10K number that they see on a daily basis. And, of course, when you have massive crowds you also have the security concern.

So we do know that nearly one million people will show up at the inauguration. That includes protestors so they will be blocking off some 100 square blocks of roadway around inauguration activities. And we also know some 28,000 security personnel from the FBI to TSA to local police, they will all be out here. Just yesterday, we know some thousands of National Guard members, they were deputized just so they could help keep the calm on the street.

But I want to just walk through here. I mean, again, this is Union Station. This is where the masses will essentially descend. I was talking to a police officer today and he tells me that they're expecting to really see this foot traffic happening at around 7:00 this morning but, already, this is pretty busy for what they usually see. I'm going to send it back to you.

ROMANS: All right, Rene Marsh for us at Union Station. Thanks, Rene. Stay safe out there.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: All right, one change. Because of the weather, authorities will now allow mini umbrellas on the National Mall because rain is in the forecast. The big question is when's it going to start and how much will fall? Chad Myers has the details for us -- Chad. CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I think it starts soon. I think it gets heavy around 10:00, again probably around noon some heavy showers. But how much, a tenth of an inch so we're not talking heavy, heavy stuff. The rain is to the west. It's in West Virginia, all the way to Roanoke right now, but there are showers not that far from Damascus so we are going to see the showers come in. Forty degrees for the temperature now. It's not going to change much by 6:00 or 7:00. The clouds are going to be all day. We're not going to see sunshine so it's not really going to warm up.

[05:35:05] But now, I get you to 10:00 and you see this mass of rain showers coming in right into Washington, D.C. and by noon, it's here. That's when the heaviest rain will be. And then finally, by 3:00 or 4:00 it is completely gone.

But the umbrella thing -- I just logged onto the Secret Service website and it said if you have a ticket -- if you are sitting and have a public ticket, you still can't bring umbrellas. But if you're on the Mall or if you're on the parade route, then you can have that mini umbrella. We'll keep you up-to-date on that because that's kind of still changing with how much rain is going to come in. But still, so far, don't take your favorite umbrella that your wife just got you for Christmas to the inauguration because they may have to take it away. So that's just an idea. The little mini ones -- the little Totes -- those are OK so far on the Mall and on the parade route.

Forty-seven for the 12:00 temperature. The rain showers, 90 percent by 3:00. Somewhere around 50 percent, the chance of showers will be going down. So hey, guys, it's going to be wet but that's OK. It isn't snowing. It's not going to be that 1841 inauguration so we think we're probably better than we could be.

ROMANS: Oh yes, I remember that one.

BERMAN: That's the first one I covered.

ROMANS: Still sweating that one.

BERMAN: Yes, it was tough.

ROMANS: All right, Chad.

BERMAN: Chad, thanks so much.

ROMANS: Keep us posted. All right. President-elect Trump picking a Latino pastor to pray for him at his inauguration. The same pastor who slammed the president-elect's immigration policies during the campaign. So why the change of heart? That's next. But first, one of the truly iconic moments in U.S. inauguration history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN F. KENNEDY, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:39:55] BERMAN: President-elect Donald Trump will make history today in many ways. But before he takes the oath of office he will attend church. The president-elect has chosen a Latin -- a Latino evangelical pastor to pray for him there. The same pastor spoke out against Trump's immigration policies during the election, so why the change of heart from the president-elect? Here's CNN's Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PASTOR SAM RODRIGUEZ, PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL HISPANIC CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE: I'm for the first Latino evangelical ever invited and I was invited by President-elect Trump. I mean, go figure.

The moment you say yes, I am a sinner, please forgive me, change my life.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An historic, yet astonishing position for Pastor Sam Rodriguez, one of the nation's leading religious advocates for immigrants who condemned Donald Trump's rhetoric that threatened and insulted the parishioners in his own pews.

RODRIGUEZ: I want you to give God the best shout of praise you've given him today.

LAH: He will pray for the new president at his inauguration. Why would he accept? Days after Trump's election the pastor led an emergency call between Hispanic religious leaders and the Trump transition team.

RODRIGUEZ: Will you deport 12 million? The answer is explicitly, no. Who are you going to deport? The rapists, the murderers, the gang bangers, the drug traffickers? I said please, should the children pay for the sins of their parents and they responded we're not going to harm those kids. And then, subsequently, they issued that statement to the media. I went wait, what's going on?

LAH: That statement to "TIME" magazine appeared to show Trump softening on the 700,000 children brought illegally to the U.S. by their parents -- the so-called dreamers. Trump said, "They got brought here at a very young age. We're going to work something out that's going to make people happy and proud."

RODRIGUEZ: Something's happening. I'm not here to justify what Donald Trump, the president-elect, stated during the course of the campaign. I'm not here to justify that. I do know that there has been a change in tone.

LAH: What if this man, similarly, begins the deportation forces. What are you going to tell that child that you went to Washington and prayed for this man on his inauguration day and he deported her mother or father?

RODRIGUEZ: Oh, it's not going to happen. It's not --

LAH: How can you say that?

RODRIGUEZ: Well, first of all, it -- here's the reality. Really, politically speaking, this is a community that can be engaged by the Republican Party. It would be political suicide for them in any way, form or shape to deport 12 million people.

LAH: Rodriguez did not explicitly endorse either candidate, torn between Hillary Clinton's support for abortion rights and Trump's anti-immigration policies.

RODRIGUEZ: The Democratic Party needs to have a strong faith outreach in order to engage the Latino community. Republicans, don't blow it. You have this chance and this chance, alone.

LAH: If you are wrong, Pastor, will you bear any responsibility for the extra people who may have voted for Trump?

RODRIGUEZ: No. Who would be at fault would be Republicans and Democrats who have sacrificed the Latino and the immigrant community on the altar of political expediency.

LAH: So he will pray for President Trump in a leap of faith for this man of faith. Kyung Lah, CNN, Sacramento, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: You know, just part of the diverse mix of people and opinions --

ROMANS: That's right.

BERMAN: -- that will be here today in Washington --

ROMANS: That's right.

BERMAN: -- to be part of this historic moment.

ROMANS: More controversy over President-elect Trump's cabinet nominees. Which of them will be confirmed on day one of the Trump presidency? We're going to discuss the confirmation process next on EARLY START. But first, FDR's inaugural message during the Great Depression in 1933.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:47:40] ROMANS: As Donald Trump prepares to deliver his inaugural address today, two of his cabinet nominees are likely to be confirmed. Now, that's far short of the seven picks Trump was hoping to have approved, so what do Democrats plan to do with all the other nominees?

Let's bring back our panel, Greg Valliere, Eugene Scott, Salena Zito, and Tim Naftali. I want to play a little sound from Kellyanne Conway last night. There was this dinner for donors at Union Station and she talked to reporters there. And she really talked about how she's concerned about what's happening with the confirmation process -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, INCOMING TRUMP COUNSEL: Well, every president tends to sign into law executive action he has. For example, I'm very concerned about the pace of the confirmation process. I'm sure you're aware that some of these confirmation hearings have been (INAUDIBLE) incredibly qualified men and women who just want to serve the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Meantime, you've got Sen. Chuck Schumer explaining what the thinking is here behind Democrats who are asking a lot of tough questions. Listen to Sen. Schumer.

(PAUSE)

ROMANS: OK.

BERMAN: Chuck Schumer basically said -- he was accusing Republicans of stonewalling. He's saying the fact that the committees got some of the ethics information late has held things up. He also complained about the length of time that some Democratic senators -- or all senators -- had to ask questions to the nominees. So what Chuck Schumer is essentially saying is hey, look, you reap what you sow, you know, Trump team. You've made this difficult for us, so now we're going to make this difficult for you.

ROMANS: So, Eugene Scott, where do you think we are in this process? I mean, they wanted to have more done by now.

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: They wanted to have much more done by done but as the Ethics Committee -- the watchdog group -- communicated, they haven't had as much information as they would have liked it as soon as possible, and so part of these sessions are just asking questions that perhaps they would've known had they gotten forms earlier.

To be fair, I understand Kellyanne's frustration but the Democrats are doing exactly what they are supposed to do. They want to reveal to voters who these people are. Many of these names the American public has no experience with and they just want to know where they stand. And I will say lastly, one of most interesting things about all of that is that we're discovering that many of them stand in very opposite areas of Donald Trump himself.

BERMAN: The numbers here, eight years ago, seven cabinet appointments were confirmed on the first day. That is why the Trump team keeps pointing to that number. [05:50:05] ROMANS: Right.

BERMAN: They say Obama got seven, we should get seven, too. The two that they -- we know that they will get today are Mattis as Secretary of Defense --

ROMANS: Right.

BERMAN: -- General Mattis as Secretary of Defense, and John Kelly to be Secretary of Homeland Security. These are two very important positions.

ROMANS: Right.

BERMAN: Right. I mean, you want someone leading up the Pentagon, you want someone leading up Homeland Security. You'd also want a Secretary of State and a Secretary of Treasury if you could.

And one we knew that was supposed to be today was CIA Director Mike Pompeo. That's going to be delayed at least until Monday. And the functional effect of that is that Donald Trump, as president, was going to visit the CIA we were told, tomorrow, on Saturday, which was going to be a very symbolic moment reaching out to the Intelligence Community after everything that's happened during this transition. Now it's unclear whether or not that will happen. You have to imagine it will be delayed.

Greg, what happens functionally beyond that visit being delayed without these cabinet secretaries confirmed?

GREG VALLIERE, POLITICAL ECONOMIST, CHIEF STRATEGIST, HORIZON INVESTMENTS: Well, they'll be other people at these agencies who will carry on, but let me just make this point. I think most of all of Trump's nominees will win approval. Maybe Puzder at Labor, he could be in a little bit of trouble. But I think that the Democrats need to sort of revitalize their very demoralized base, so they're going to have show trials. They'll be a few more days of show trials for Mnuchin. But I think virtually every one of these people will get approved.

ROMANS: Mnuchin was on for hours yesterday and for people who know him and people who were working with him on debate prep and the like, they liked his performance. They thought he handled the Democrats well yesterday.

VALLIERE: Yes.

ROMANS: You think he makes it through?

VALLIERE: I think so. The intriguing story, of course, is Rex Tillerson. He may lose the committee vote and win on the Senate floor. That's happened before.

BERMAN: They only have a one-vote majority in foreign relations. Marco Rubio, who hasn't told us how he will vote, he could be swing vote, right, to make him lose in committee, but then it would go to the full Senate where you've had people like Jim -- Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a Democratic, say that he would vote to approve him, so he would likely get through as well.

You know, Tim, historically speaking, the Trump transition is right. We have seen more cabinet secretaries approved more quickly but, you know, that was before a lot of the partisanship that we've seen up here on Capitol Hill also.

TIM NAFTALI, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN, FORMER DIRECTOR, NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY: And it's not just partisanship. It's the -- this is what happens, good or for bad, when you bring people into government who have never done public service before.

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Right.

NAFTALI: These are people who've never filled out public forms -- public disclosure forms before. These are people with very complicated personal asset situations. It's not simply a case that Congress is slowing it down, it's also a case that the nominees themselves are so unaccustomed to the ways of Washington that this process is a lot more complicated now because of the -- of the group of people involved. This isn't the same as the Bush transition or the Obama transition. With few exceptions, these are people with no U.S. government experience and that matters.

ROMANS: And it's not like they have a mortgage and a bank account. They have a lot of money.

NAFTALI: They have a lot of money, yes.

ROMANS: And then there's a lot -- I mean, just yesterday Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury nominee, was explaining to the senators why there was $100 million of real estate that was not on his disclosure form because he -- you know, his advisers said he didn't have to put it on there. He was also explaining about, you know offshore -- you know, offshore, you know, tax accounts or investment accounts and whether they're tax havens because he has some of them, you know.

I mean, so these are complicated financial -- a group of -- and a very rich, you know -- a very cabinet rich cabinet. I mean, Donald Trump keeps saying that they've got the highest I.Q. of any cabinet in history, but they certainly have the highest net worth of any cabinet in history.

SALENA ZITO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, they have really nice bank accounts wherever they are -- here, in the Cayman Islands. You know, I mean, that's the thing about Mr. Trump. He did say that he was going to put different change kinds of people in there.

ROMANS: Winners.

ZITO: Yes, winners. Big winners. The best. But, you know, they're -- as you said, they're complicated. This is not easy. I mean, even if you look at our most simple tax forms they're a pain. Imagine what the forms that they're filling out now and trying to figure out should I put this in, do I do that. So, you're right. They're all probably going to get through --

VALLIERE: I think so.

ZITO: -- but it's going to be dragged out a little bit. And you're also right that the Democrats -- they also -- the need to vet these men and women properly, but they also need to get their message out about who they are.

BERMAN: So that is the business of governing, which happens after the business of the transition itself --

ROMANS: That's right.

BERMAN: -- which happens behind us in oh, about six hours. We are going to lay out much more on the day ahead. The ceremony, the celebration that marks this historic day in American history. Donald Trump will become the 45th President of the United States. But before we talk more about that, let's look backwards. Let's look back at 1993 at Bill Clinton's first inaugural address.

[05:55:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: We're going to have four incredible years. It's going to be something special.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The truth is one minute after 12 he is the president.

TRUMP: That was some big victory. I outworked everybody. I think I outworked anybody who ever ran for office.

GOV. MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: Our job is to be ready on day one. The American people can be confident that we will be.

TRUMP: The cabinet members are doing really fantastic. I'm very, very proud of my picks.

SEAN SPICER, INCOMING WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: His inaugural address, it's going to be a very personal and sincere statement about his vision for the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world watches this peaceful transition of power.

TRUMP: We're going to unify our country and make America great again. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

ROMANS: All right. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is "NEW DAY." Chris and Alisyn are working their way through the very tight security to get here for you because this is the big day. It is January 20th, 6:00 here in Washington. It is Inauguration Day in America. We are just hours away from history. Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, capping his improbable journey to the White House after an unprecedented campaign.

BERMAN: So the pageantry on display today. It dates back 228 years to our nation's first president, George Washington. He was sworn in in New York. Today it happens right behind us at that majestic Capitol which is all lit up for us this morning. Each president since George Washington, adding his own touch to the ceremonies that take place. Today, some of the big questions facing Donald Trump --