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Warmer Temps Ahead; Countdown to the Super Bowl; Brown's Listening Tour in Iowa; Losing Weight and Eating Breakfast. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 1, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:11] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Millions of Americans are about to get a much-needed reprieve from the deep freeze. At least 16 deaths are linked to this week's extreme weather. The cold air so intense in Chicago yesterday that steam rose from Lake Michigan. Remarkable pictures all day there.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers with the forecast.

Hey, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It warms up, John. It's finally here, this promised warm-up. It's 7 right now in Chicago. That's not as bad as we were, but the windchill still 5 below zero. The roads are still cold. Your car is still cold. Your pets are still cold. There's a little bit of snow coming down from about Chicago down through Columbus, even Cincinnati. Could be some slick spots this morning. But that's not what we're really worried about.

The highs today are going to be in the teens. The humidity is going to start to try to come back. Well, guess what, just like a day in the summer, when you take a glass of ice tea outside and the glass gets water on the outside, it condenses, that's what's going to happen to these cold roads. This humidity is going to try to come back up into our forecast too quickly and the roads aren't going to be 32, the roads are going to be 5 and 10 degrees because they've been cold so long. And that's going to cause some black ice anywhere in this area tomorrow morning. If the roads look wet, they are not. They are ice covered and it's black ice. Please be careful 24 hours from now.

Guys, back to you.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Appreciate it, Chad. Thank you.

The biggest game in football is just two days away.

BERMAN: You don't say.

HILL: You know, it's funny, John Berman wasn't aware. I had to tell him this morning, Andy Scholes, that there's a Super Bowl and that his man crush, Tom Brady, would be there. ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, I -- yes, I'm sure John

Berman's been just counting down the seconds until the Patriots take the field against the Rams.

And, you know, the big question, what's going to win out on Sunday? Is it going to be the experience of John's favorite person in the world, Tom Brady, and his other favorite person, Bill Belichick, or will it be the talent and youth of the up and coming Rams?

You know, I was around the Patriots yesterday for their media availability. They seem loose. They seemed ready to go for this game.

You know, this is going to be Tom Brady's ninth appearance in the Super Bowl. He's looking to win his sixth, which would be more than any other team in the NFL other than the Steelers. You know, Brady's first title came back in 2002 against the Rams and Brady says, you know, even though he's 41 years old now, he thinks he's a better player than he was back then.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BRADY, PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK: It's hard to believe that, you know, I -- this is the ninth time doing this. It wasn't always like this. I remember it was a little bit smaller back in the day the first time I did it.

I think I'm a better player now than I was in 2001. I don't think I was the -- the best player, you know, I could possibly be at that point. I think there's been a lot of work and effort over years to try to get to where I'm at now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And check this out, guys. Boston-based Samuel Adams creating a special IPA beer for the Super Bowl. It says, look at this, too old, too slow, still here, which is basically Tom Brady's motto for this Super Bowl. And, ironically, John Berman's for NEW DAY. But, you know, it's got a picture of a goat holding a football that's, you know, for Tom Brady being the greatest of all time. So, you know, pretty cool and I'm sure all the fans in Boston are going to be drinks these bad boys come Sunday.

HILL: It's nice that it's the oil (ph) can too, so you don't have to keep going back to the fridge as often. I mean they're really thinking ahead.

BERMAN: Yes.

SCHOLES: It gets warm, though, when it's this big, right?

HILL: The people at Sam Adams know what they're doing. Well, it all depends. You need a good koozie to keep it cold.

SCHOLES: There you go.

BERMAN: And Tom Brady is a giver. Andy Scholes down in Atlanta, Dave Briggs down there too for a big

Super Bowl special this weekend. Don't miss it. Thanks, Andy.

A potential Democratic presidential candidate taking his message to the people. Can Senator Sherrod Brown take the populism mantle from President Trump?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:07] HILL: If Democrats hope to defeat President Trump in 2020, the party much reach out to the working class and to progressives. That is the strategy being deployed by Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. He hasn't decided if he's running for president yet. He is, though, taking his message to Iowa voters.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is live in Perry, Iowa, with more.

Jeff, good morning.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erica, good morning.

As Sherrod Brown decides whether he is going to run for president or not, he is accusing President Trump of delivering what he calls phony populism. But he's also saying that Democrats must compete in Trump country. That's one of the central reasons he's starting his listing tour right here in Iowa, which like his home state of Ohio, Trump flipped red.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: From his home state in Ohio.

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D), OHIO: Donald Trump has used his phony populism to divide Americans and to demonize immigrants.

ZELENY: To a stop Thursday night in rural Iowa.

BROWN: I mean there's a betrayal by this president of working-class Americans of all races, of all stripes.

BROWN: Senator Sherrod Brown is presenting himself as a true populist, one handshake at a time. He's hoping to reach the blue collar voters who supported Barack Obama, but disillusion four years later, they turn on Donald Trump. He's touting his Ohio roots and re-election to a third term in the Senate last fall. A Democratic victory in a state Trump won by eight points. It's an example, he says, of how Democrats cannot ignore Trump country.

BROWN: I'm sort of weary of Democrats that say, you only talk to progressives to win and excite the base.

ZELENY: The fact that you're exploring this would suggest that you think that voice is missing from the conversation.

BROWN: I think that voice needs to be stronger. ZELENY: He's casting Trump as little more than a snake oil salesman

but not living up to his promise of bringing back manufacturing jobs to places like the soon to be shuttered General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio.

[06:40:04] BROWN: He promised them a year ago. He said -- he said to workers in Youngstown, don't move, don't sell your house, we're going to fill your factories, we're going to rip them down and build new ones. Well, we're still waiting.

ZELENY: Now Brown is one of at least nine Democratic senators eyeing a bid for the White House.

ZELENY (on camera): Do you think your party needs a candidate from the middle of the country to defeat Donald Trump?

BROWN: I think that our party needs to nominate somebody that can win the industrial Midwest, the heartland, the Great Lake states, the plains states from Pennsylvania to Iowa.

ZELENY (voice over): His wife, Connie Schultz, is often at his side.

CONNIE SCHULTZ, WIFE OF SHERROD BROWN: He's my husband.

ZELENY: A liberal newspaper columnist and a fierce campaigner, who could be a powerful partner in a presidential race.

He talks more about Trump than many Democratic hopefuls, testing this applause line with Van Jones.

BROWN: I would say that I will beat Trump in Ohio where they know me best and I'll beat him in my home state, I'll beat him in his home state of New York where they know him best.

VAN JONES: You might have --

BROWN: I've been working on that one.

ZELENY: But if he jumps into the race, navigating a Democratic primary will be the first task for a little known, famously rumpled senator.

BROWN: Donald Trump (INAUDIBLE). I mean you're looking for something different.

If my hair starts to look worse than Bernie Sanders', it's time for a haircut. And so I just kind of figured that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: So Brown, of course, could be new competition for Bernie Sanders, who's widely expected to jump into the race soon, as are other Democrats.

Now, John and Erica, if you look at the numbers here, Sherrod Brown, last night, did not get the biggest crowds of all, but he was focused on a different number. That visit last night was in nearby Howard County. Listen to these voting stats. President Trump carried the county by 57 percent in 2016. President Obama won it by 60 percent in 2012. Iowa is among the states that had the most countries flip from Obama to Trump. That is why he's starting his listing tour here. It carries on after this weekend in New Hampshire.

John and Erica.

BERMAN: Jeff Zeleny, Captain Iowa, bringing us the math to make the point there.

Jeff, great to see you. Thank you so much.

Joining us now is the colonel of Pennsylvania, the host of "Smerconish," Michael Smerconish.

Michael, it is great to see you this morning. And we're lucky to have you following this piece on Sherrod Brown because what Senator Brown is trying to do is tell Democrats, you don't have to choose between this new, progressive label, perhaps the left side of the party, and catering to maybe the more central part of the party or the white working class in states like Pennsylvania, where you are, Ohio, Michigan.

Is there a lane there? Is Sherrod Brown on to something?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So you're so right in saying you need someday daylight. To the put this in -- in football terms for this coming Sunday, everybody needs a path. And there's so much traffic on the far left that most progressive lane of the Democratic Party, maybe Cory Booker about to get in, we don't know, we think there. You've already got Elizabeth Warren. You've got Kamala Harris. It gets awfully crowded.

And there's that conundrum, John, of, you don't want to be too progressive, too far left in the primary process so that you can't come back toward the center in a general election. I happen to think that someone like Sherrod Brown, or I'll give you another name, Amy Klobuchar, would be an awfully tough Democrat for Donald Trump to beat. But can they survive the nomination and caucus process? That's the issue.

HILL: Can they even survive this crowded street process that you just laid out for us there with more people getting set --

SMERCONISH: True.

HILL: We imagine, to jump in. You mentioned Amy Klobuchar. There's speculation about any number of Democrats at this point.

How long does this window say open when you have so many who could potentially jump in?

SMERCONISH: You know, there's a lot of time on the clock, I think. I mean we're a year out from Iowa voters casting ballots and other states going to the polls, including California, with their having opened up the process a lot sooner. So I happen to think there's more time on the clock than most, although the retort would be, it's about the money.

HILL: Right.

SMERCONISH: If you don't get out there now and declare, then the -- like Joe Biden, that's really the issue that he faces. I'm sure he wants to take a little bit more time. But these donors want to know, are you in or are you out, because they want to commit because early money shouts, as they say.

BERMAN: You know, it's interesting, because Elizabeth Warren, who initially said she was launching an exploratory committee, that was in December, has now teased that she's got a big announcement coming. It indicates to me, Michael, that maybe the candidates who are looking at it or flirting with it don't think they can wait much longer. They know the clock is ticking. Part of that might be the money, but part of it might also be the energy they're seeing. For instance, with the rollout that Senator Kamala Harris had the other day. Even the president noticed the crowds there and the enthusiasm there.

[06:45:05] SMERCONISH: I think you're absolutely right. I suspect that Elizabeth Warren sped up her timeline because of Kamala Harris.

Look, Kamala Harris had an awfully strong launch week. I would say nearly flawless, although I'm still not sure how the Medicare for all comment that she said to Jake, particularly the insurance line, I don't know how that plays in the long term. But there's a buzz about her that's unmistakable and even in the president in mispronouncing her name noted, you know, she got off to a good start.

HILL: You know what I'm always fascinated by is what your listeners tell you and what you hear from people, especially because you're in Pennsylvania. But just in general, you know, we talk about it so much, where are they on this?

SMERCONISH: Well, specifically on Kamala Harris, very interesting, Erica. There were a number of -- of minority callers, people of color, who called me this week and said, don't assume that we are necessarily lockstep on Kamala Harris. And they were referring to a number of issues, including her prosecutorial experience. So I think that there's sometimes a simplicity that folks like me tend to apply to the dynamic and the callers, you know, are very quick to reign me in and say, it's not the way that you've outlined it.

BERMAN: So, Michael, I've rarely, if ever, seen you get angry. I think I almost saw you get angry this week over the issue of Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO, who says he's thinking about running as an independent. Democrats say that it will spoil their chances to beat President Trump. Why are you so angry at the criticism of Howard Schultz?

SMERCONISH: OK, I am a Philly guy, which makes me a wawa (ph) person, all right? I like Starbucks, but I don't want people to think that I'm here to carry the water of Howard Schultz. I drink wawa (ph) coffee mostly, but --

HILL: I'm glad we cleared that up. SMERCONISH: I -- I just think this is -- I think this is America. And I was watching day in and day out listening to all the same voices that the two of you are listening to, reading all the same opinion columns. Howard Schultz, you know, got a tremendous amount of attention this week and I was flabbergasted that it was negative attention because this is America, we should reward and congratulate people who are willing to get in the muck, especially in this environment.

So, you know, here's a guy who comes along, who, as far as I know, doesn't have baggage on a personal level. He's a Horatio Alger story. He's decided that at age 65 he wants to give to his country and instead people are all spanking him publicly and saying, oh, no, you can't do this. And they're coming up with racial as to how he'll divide the vote. When I think we all learned a lesson in 2016, we really don't know how this thing is about to play out. So why the hell shouldn't he have an opportunity to get into the mix and see how far he can take it.

SMERCONISH: Michael Smerconish, practically swearing there. You can see this is a point that matters.

Michael, thank you so much for joining us this morning. Appreciate it.

SMERCONISH: See, you guys.

BERMAN: And be sure to watch "Smerconish" Saturday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.

HILL: You have likely been told breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but is it really? A new study tackling your morning meal and your weight.

BERMAN: Oh, no.

HILL: Yes, John Berman. Donut Friday is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:52:15] HILL: For years we have been told breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A new study, however, says if you're looking to lose weight, you may want to skip breakfast.

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now with more.

I'm not a big breakfast eater. This is helpful. Weigh me -- tell me -- tell me everything.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't want this to be one of those medical flip-flops because it has been the conventional wisdom for a long time. It's a conventional wisdom I've abided by, the idea that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and that, in general, you should front load your calories, eat more of your calories early on as opposed to later on. You know, eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a prince, eat dinner like a peasant. That has -- I mean, since medical school, that's what we've been taught.

And there's this new study out that's going to get a lot of attention. I want to show you what it's saying specifically and talk about it for a second. But they're finding that people who do eat breakfast, just in terms of calories, eat an additional 260 calories per day, and they weigh an average of about a pound more.

Now, this was based on a study that came in the "British Medical Journal." They looked at many, many studies around the world and basically tried to aggregate the various data. I will say, because I really dug into this, some of the trials lasted a long time, some not that long. The quality of some of those trials weren't very high. So I have a little bit hard -- a hard time reading into this completely as a definitive statement saying breakfast no longer that important. The results of this notion that it's not just when you're eating, it's what you're eating. And if you do eat a big breakfast, then eat big meals throughout the day. There's no question that a calories in, calories out sort of problem.

But, if you are someone who eats a big breakfast and as a result is less likely to snack, less likely to have a big dinner later on, it could be more beneficial for you.

BERMAN: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, you just rocked everyone's world. No, seriously, this is one of those things, that conventional wisdom turned on its head. Maybe I think your caveats there are really important.

Sanjay, great to see you. Thanks very much.

GUPTA: Yes, thanks.

BERMAN: Here now, your late night laughs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON": It was freezing cold in New York City today with the windchill that was down negative 17. Even crazier, that's still higher than Trump's approving rating?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?

FALLON: Yes.

SETH MEYERS, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": He tweeted this morning, quote, let's just call them walls from now on and stop playing political games, adding, a wall is a wall. Hey, you were the guy who wanted to call it slats. This is like Diddy tweeting out, my name is Sean Combs, damn it.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": The idea I guess is declare an emergency and then take money that has been earmarked for real emergencies, like floods and hurricanes, and use it for a wall that won't do anything instead. Sometimes I'm kind of amazed he only bankrupted three casinos. [06:55:07] STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN

COLBERT": Trump also announced more troops being sent to the southern border to stop the attempted innovation of illegals through large caravans into our country. He can't get a wall, so he's sending in the army to cover up for his failures. It's our new motto. I made some oopsies (ph), so send in the troopsies (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Rhyming's always fun. It's always fun.

HILL: Especially when it includes a pun.

BERMAN: Indeed.

HILL: I don't know. I was just trying to rhyme.

In other news, Erica should not pursue a career in comedy.

BERMAN: I see what you've done. OK, that was totally not working at all.

HILL: That rhymes with pun too.

BERMAN: It's like the worst comedy ever.

HILL: It really was, but Tom Brady's playing in the Super Bowl this weekend, so that's good news for John Berman.

BERMAN: Thank you.

HILL: President Trump is claiming Rod Rosenstein told his attorneys he is not a target, nor a subject of Robert Mueller's probe. More from that wide-ranging interview, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BERMAN: All right, good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. Alisyn is off. Erica Hill joins me.

[07:00:04] And we do begin with breaking news in the race for president.

END