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EARLY START

Eagles Stun Patriots, 41-33; GOP Lawmakers Contradict Trump; Winter Olympics Begin Friday; New Clues In Deadly Amtrak Crash; Uma Thurman Speaks Out; Pediatric Flu Deaths Rise To 53. Aired 4-4:30p ET

Aired February 5, 2018 - 04:00   ET

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


[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The Eagles soaring to victory defeating the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. Philadelphia celebrations going haywire overnight.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN ANCHOR: And fallout from the Nunes memo. President Trump says it proves the FBI is targeting him. Republicans say not so fast.

ROMANS: Two dead and more than 100 injured in an Amtrak crash in South Carolina, the investigation now focusing on the switch that sent the train hurdling into another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Good morning and welcome to Early Start. I'm Christine Romans.

NOBLES: And I'm Ryan Nobles. It is Monday, February 5th. And it is 4 a.m. in the East. Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles going from underdog to top dog knocking off Tom Brady and the defending champion, the New England Patriots, 41-33 in Super Bowl LII. What a story.

Foles, nearly quit football three years ago and started the season as the Eagles' back-up quarterback. He wound up taking home MVP honors. He went toe-to-toe with Tom Brady and beat him, throwing three touchdown passes. And look at this, he catch this fourth.

ROMANS: Wow. But in a game with featured record shattering offense, it was success defensive play that seals the win for the Eagles. Andy Scholes live from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. What a game, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: It certainly was, Christine. And that defensive play by the Eagles there -- Tom Brady said they had one good defensive play the entire games. And it came at the perfect time for them.

But these two teams, the Eagles and Patriots leaving out to the Super Bowl that many of us are going to remember for a very long time, it had the most epic offensive display from both teams you will ever see in a Super Bowl.

Foles, not only throwing three touchdowns, he caught that one at the end of the first half to give the Eagles a 10-point lead. Brady though has the fourth quarter comeback. He hit Rob Gronkowski to give them the lead in the fourth.

And then when he does that, that is usually a good sign for the Patriots but Nick Foles answering right back to Zach Ertz to take the lead for good for the Eagles.

The big play on defense coming from the Eagles line-backer -- Brandon Graham, getting the strip sack on Tom Brady. The Patriots actually would get the ball back and have one last shot at things.

But Tom Brady's last chance, a hail Mary, would fall incomplete. Nick Foles going from a guy, almost left the game of football a few years ago to back-up quarterback to now a hero in the city of Philadelphia forever. He was the Superbowl MVP. And our own Coy Wire caught up with him after the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK FOLES, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES, QUARTERBACK: Just to be part of this and be part of the Philadelphia Eagles Organization and be a part of the first world championship, we are very blessed.

It is an unbelievable feeling. And I mean, honestly right now it's just -- it's all soaking in. It is unbelievable. The city of Philadelphia deserves it. We are happy to deliver.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: People are partying in the streets out there. What do you have to say to Eagles nation?

FOLES: Please be safe. That is all I've got to say. Don't destroy everything. We are going to enjoy. So, see you at the parade.

TOM BRADY, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS, QUARTERBACK: Losing sucks, but that's part of it. You show up and you try to win and sometimes you lose. That's the way it goes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All kinds of records were broken in Super Bowl LII. The two teams combining for 1,152 yards of offense. That is the most ever for any NFL game regular season or playoffs. Nick Foles as we showed you, he not only threw a touchdown pass, he also caught one.

That the first time a player has ever done that in a Super Bowl. And Tom Brady is the first player ever to throw for more than 500 yards and three touchdown passes and have zero interceptions, and lose a game in the NFL.

And guys, you know, he has got five Super Bowl rings, he is married to supermodel Gisele. But I actually kind of feel bad for Tom Brady because he had the best game ever for a quarterback and he lost in the Super Bowl. ROMANS: What a great game.

NOBLES: I still don't feel bad for Tom Brady. Sorry.

ROMANS: I feel bad for John Berman not Tom Brady at the moment.

NOBLES: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: But let's not forget the halftime show, Justin Timberlake performs. What are the reviews this morning? How did that go?

SCHOLES: You know what, inside the stadium, Christine, people loved it, you know. He sang all his hit songs. He did a tribute to, prince, there in the middle.

And then going into the stands and singing in the stands, and taking that selfie with that young kid. I thought it was good. People around me thought it was good. But of course, you cannot make everyone happy at social media.

There was mixed reviews. Some people were not happy that there weren't any cameos and some special surprise performances like we see in the past. I think that was one of the knock of the performance.

ROMANS: Yes, social media is a breeding ground for negativity. Don't forget. So obviously, that is going to be slanted towards the complainers, not the -- not the celebrators. All right, thanks.

[04:05:00] Nice to see you, Andy.

SCHOLES: Thanks for having me.

NOBLES: Well, thousands of delirious Eagles fans, jamming broad streaming, marching towards city all last night to celebrate their first Superbowl title.

Police used hydraulic fluid on sign poles to keep fans from climbing them. But as you can see, that did not work out so well. Several of those poles were pulled down, along with reports of looting and smashed out windows.

Authorities say, a car was overturned in center city. And people were seeing jumping off the Ritz-Carlton Awning until it collapsed, local media outlets reporting several injuries.

ROMANS: All right, stay safe out there folks. Our own Dave Briggs is on assignment covering the game. And while he is not here, he did want us to remind you he called it -- listen to, Dave's, Super Bowl prediction from Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Wasn't so long ago that one Phil Simms, legendary Giants quarterback got hurt and who took over? Jeff Hostetler. He led that team to a Super Bowl title. Nick Foles, joins Jeff Hostetler as backup quarter from the NFC east to win a ring and got Philly their first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Dave called it and we'll never let us forget that.

NOBLES: I'll call him up before I make a bet in the future. New fallout now from that memo that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released Friday -- two GOP lawmakers disputing the president's claims.

They say the Nunes memo does not clear him in the ongoing Russia investigation as the president has been since he signed off on its release.

ROMANS: The president said to speak today in Cincinnati where he will probably echo comments like this tweet from the weekend where he refers to himself in the third person. This memo totally vindicates Trump in probe but the Russian witch hunt goes on and on.

Their -- T-H-E-I-R was no collusion. And there was no obstruction, (the word now used because, after one year of looking endlessly and finding Nothing, collusion is dead). This is an American disgrace! For more, let's bring in White House correspondent Boris Sanchez. He is in West Palm Beach, Florida.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We heard several Republican lawmakers, some of them on the House Intelligence Committee outright contradicting the president and his stance that he voiced several times over the weekend via Twitter that the Nunes memo vindicates him and proves that the Russian investigation is a witch hunt. Listen to South Carolina Representative Trey Gowdy on one of the Sunday morning talk shows.

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REP. TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: There is a Russia investigation without a dossier. So the extent, the memo deals with the dossier and FISA process. The dossier has nothing to do with the meeting at Trump Tower. The dossier has nothing to do with an e-mail sent by Cambridge Analytica.

The dossier really has nothing to do with George Papadopoulos' meeting in Great Britain. It also doesn't have anything to do with obstruction of justice. So there's going to be a Russia probe even without a dossier.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Well, that statement coming from Trey Gowdy is especially significant because even according to Devin Nunes, Trey Gowdy is the only Republican on the House Intelligence Committee that has actually seen the raw data, the raw intelligence that allowed the FISA court judge to go ahead and issue those warrants to surveil Carter Page. So, if anyone knows about the validity of the Nunes memo or its

potential implication on the Russia investigation, it is certainly Trey Gowdy.

Despite that, the president also tweeted portions of a Wall Street Journal editorial that suppose that there are political actors within the Department of Justice and the FBI that are anti-Trump.

We also heard from Donald Trump Jr. on Saturday and he said that the release of the Nunes memo is like sweet revenge for him and his family.

Democrats are pushing for the release now of the so-called Schiff memo contains, that is the rebuttal of the Nunes memo, which according to Democrats, contains more context and contradicts portions of the Nunes memo.

We could potentially see the Intelligence Committee vote to declassify that as early as today. What is unclear is whether the White House will allow for its declassification, the way that they did for the Nunes memo. Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Boris, thank you so much for that. Now, the Nunes memo released Friday is less than four pages. But the story it tells is highly controversial and a bit complicated.

So, here is a quick review. The memo claims an FBI official told the House Intel Committee, the salacious, disputed Trump dossier was, quote, essential to securing a surveillance warrant for Trump campaign aide, Carter Page.

NOBLES: But the memo then under cuts its own argument, noting that the Russia investigation was triggered earlier by information about a different campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos.

The memo alleges the Justice Department did not disclose the political bias of the dossier's author, but the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the New York Times' all report that the FISA surveillance court was told about the political motivations behind the dossier.

And Democrats are warning that releasing the Nunes memo could lead to a constitutional crisis. The number two Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin put it that way on CNN's State of the Union.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:10:00] SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), MINORITY WHIP: To say that that's the end of the investigation, that this is all that Donald Trump needs to fire Rosenstein or to fire Bob Mueller, I'll just tell you, this could precipitate a constitutional crisis.

If the House Republicans believe they've set the stage for this president to end this investigation, they are basically saying that in America, one man is above the law. And that's not a fact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: At the same moment former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus was on NBC's Meet the Press, saying he never thought Robert Mueller's job as Special Counsel was at risk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I never felt -- of all of the things that we went through in the West Wing, I never felt the president was going to fire the Special Counsel. I only know what I dealt with and I can just tell you, I've never felt that there was some sort of collusion or some kind of obstruction situation going on in the West Wing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: Just a reminder, Priebus left the White House back in July.

ROMANS: A special agent with the FBI turning in his badge to protest what he believes is a bureau politicized by the Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration.

In an op-ed in the New York Times, former supervisory special agent Josh Campbell writes, FBI agents are dogged people who do not care about the direction of political wins.

But to succeed in their work, they need public backing. Scorched- earth attacks from politicians with partisan goals now threaten that support, raising corrosive doubts about the integrity of the FBI that could last for generations.

NOBLES: Paul Ryan deleting a weekend tweet touting the GOP tax overhaul. Critics call him, the House Republican leader out of touch with low income Americans.

This is what Ryan tweeted, quote, a secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania said she was pleasantly surprised that her pay went up $1.50 a week.

She said that will more than cover her Costco membership for the year. That's true, all Costco membership runs about $60 a year. And leaving the woman with $18 to spare but after a severe backlash, Ryan pulled the tweet. CNN request for a comment from Ryan's office has not been returned.

ROMANS: Yes, there are those who say that that original tweet was meant to show how little it was and not how much it was. And then it just highlighted the billions and billions, and billions of dollars but companies get and a $1.50, this woman gets.

Time for an Early Start on your money this morning. It looks like an ugly start to the week for stock investors, Asian stock markets picking up where Wall Street left off Friday. Look at that, Tokyo and Hang Seng down very sharply here. In less than a week, the mood had shifted from grid to fear. Friday's jobs report was strong. But that was not good for investors. Wall Street suffered its the worst day of the Trump presidency. The Dow down 666 points, that is 2.5 percent, its biggest percentage decline since Brexit turmoil in June of 2016, its steepest point decline since the 2008 financial crisis.

Both the Dow and S&P 500 suffered their biggest weekly drop since early last year, about four percent each. Friday's strong jobs report showed growth -- wage growth is finally there, 2.9 percent wage growth.

So that is great for workers but it reinforces investors' concern about inflation and the bond market. Stocks have been rising since November 2016, some analysts think the market is long overdue for a pull back or even a correction.

So is this finally the place to buy or is this the beginning of the end of that 10-year -- it's going to be 10-year bull market. Next month will be the 10-year anniversary.

And this is what a late cycle looks like. It's just kind of -- it can be a little more eradicate, bigger moves, I think that's what we're seeing here.

NOBLES: All right. New clues in the deadly Amtrak crash that killed two and injured more than 100, investigators are looking into a key switch that diverted a train into another. That's coming up next.

[04:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: The Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, get under way on Friday. Much of the focus has been on North Korea, the Kim regime sending a delegation that will march under a joint flag with South Korea.

The female hockey players from the two Koreas will play together as one team. But a high profile U.S. guest plans to deliver a reality check when he arrives. Ivan Watson live for Pyeongchang with the latest developments. Fill us in.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Ryan. You know, this is supposed to be a sporting event, but politics is seeping in.

And we have learned from The Washington Post that Vice President Mike Pence will be traveling to Pyeongchang to attend, leading the U.S. delegation accompanied by Fred Warmbier.

That is the father of the American university student was imprisoned in North Korea during on a tourist trip and died of injuries while in detention there.

And that is clearly trying to send a message to North Korea and to the world as we have learned from the top vice presidential aide speaking to Axios that the Trump administration wants to remind the world about North Korea's dismal human rights record. That's one of the messages that the U.S. delegation wants to bring

here. Now the North Koreans will be coming as well for the Winter Olympics.

They will be led by North Korea's ceremonial head of state, a man named Kim Yong-nam, who will be attending. The North Koreans have been sending some funny mixed messages.

On the one hand, they are sending some 22 athletes, and on the other hand, they have organized a military parade a day before the opening of the Winter Olympics in which they will demonstrate some of their missiles.

So, on the one hand calling for peace and harmony, and unity with their South Korean neighbor and rival, and then on the other hand, showing military muscle at the same time.

You mentioned the hockey game -- well, for the first time, North Korea and South Korea have fielded a joint women's Olympic ice hockey team. I saw them play a friendly game against Sweden. They lost 3-1. And there were still divisions there.

We learned that those athletes won't even be living together here in Pyeongchang during the Winter Olympics. And the head coach was Canadian. She says that's going to be a problem. Christine and Ryan.

[04:20:00] ROMANS: Yes, how do you build the team work, how do you -- you know, that is all part of the sport. All right, thanks so much. Nice to see you, Ivan.

NOBLES: The International Olympic Committee turning down a request from 15 formerly banned Russians to participate in the Winter Games.

The 13 athletes and two coaches were among 28 Russians whose lifetime banned for doping was overturned by the world's top sports court.

The Court of Arbitration for sport said there was insufficient evidence the Russians broken the rules. They applied to complete under a neutral Olympic flag.

But in the statement issued overnight, the IOC said it examined each application case-by-case and that suspension remains about potential inside doping violations. No official response yet from Moscow.

ROMANS: Investigators have learned the cause of another deadly train crash this second in less than a week. Sunday's collision in South Carolina killed two people and injured 116.

Amtrak train 91 ended up diverted onto the wrong track causing it to smash into a stationary freight train. The two people killed were Amtrak employees, the train's engineer and the conductor. CNN's Kaylee Hartung in Cayce, South Carolina for us this morning with the latest.

KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Ryan. The chairman of the NTSB brought out a white board to diagram the fatal mistake that led to this crash.

As he explained it, a switch on the track was locked with a padlock in the wrong direction, diverting that Amtrak passenger train from the main track onto a siding track and squarely into the freight train.

Now, NTSB investigators have to figure out why -- why that switch was left locked in the wrong position when the trains like Amtrak train 91 travels along that path every day. This is a question that the CSX Corporation will have to try to help some answer.

CSX is the railroad group that owns, operates and maintains the stretch of track where this crash occurred. So they are responsible for the signaling, the switching and the dispatching in the area.

CSX offered out a statement with their condolences to the families of the two victims of this crash, the Conductor and engineer of that train.

While they did that, they did not acknowledge any wrongdoing of their own other than to say they would be cooperating fully with the NTSB investigation.

Another key piece of evidence in this investigation, that would be a forward facing camera on the Amtrak train that the investigators already have been analyzed in a lab in D.C. Christine, Ryan.

ROMANS: All right, Kaylee, thank you for that. Hollywood actress Uma thurman telling her harrowing story about Harvey Weinstein -- she says the former producer assaulted her. That's ahead.

[04:25:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBLES: Uma Thurman is detailing a tortured relationship with Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. In a New York Times op-ed, the actress reveals an incident where Weinstein allegedly attacked. Uma says it happened in the 1990, when Weinstein suite at the Savoy Hotel in London. She writes...

ROMANS: He pushed me down. He tried to shove himself on me. He tried to expose himself. He did all kinds of unpleasant things. I was doing anything I could to get the train back on the track -- my track, not his track.

NOBLES: Thurman said he sent her flowers the next day. And in 2001, she reminded him what happened at the hotel and he apologized. Now representative for Weinstein provided photos of Thurman and Weinstein together saying in a statement, that it demonstrated a strong relationship between the two.

ROMANS: And adding in part, Mr. Weinstein acknowledges making an awkward pass 25 years ago at Ms. Thurman in England and misreading her signals for which she immediately apologize and deeply regrets. However, her claims about being physically assaulted are untrue.

NOBLES: The statement goes on to say that Weinstein is saddened and puzzled as to why Thurman waited 25 years to make these allegations public. CNN reached out to Director Quentin Tarantino, who collaborated on many of these Weinstein projects and Thurman's representatives have not yet heard back.

ROMANS: I want to encourage everyone to read her story -- to read that story. It is just -- it's really something. And it shows you how something, an experience like that can fester for years and years. That is why 25 years later it comes up because of the damage.

NOBLES: Exactly.

ROMANS: Sixteen more flu-related pediatric deaths and U.S. reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that brings a number of children killed by the virus to 53 now since October.

And the CDC warns the season has not peaked yet but the influenza activity widespread in 48 states. It could be several weeks before cases start to decline. According to federal officials, 7.1 percent of all patients who visited health care providers last week were there because a flu-like symptoms.

And I can tell you, some hospitals are setting up stations outside of the emergency room and have so many people coming in and churches are encouraging people, instead of passing the piece to (Inaudible).

NOBLES: Yes.

ROMANS: Because they don't want people passing germs on Sundays.

NOBLES: All four of my kids got the flu. I was the only one that survived. I don't know how.

ROMANS: OK.

NOBLES: The Eagles achieving what seemed impossible. Defeating Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, we will show you all the highlights coming up next.