Taking his senate seat. Today the first bipartisan meeting since the Government Shutdown began. Is a deal possible to end the shutdown costing 800,000 government workers their pay chokes . And the family of an american detained in russia denies any charges of espionage. Was paul whelan detained as payback for the russia investigation . And somebody in new york waking up richer. We have the lucky numbers and where the ticket was sold. The billiondollar jackpot unclaimed. They only have until april 21st. Get to work, everybody. Thats how youre going to make your money. Good morning, welcome to early start. Im christine romans. Im dave briggs. Happy new year. Wednesday, january 2nd, 5 00 a. M. In the east. We start with mitt romney unloading on President Trump before he even takes his seat in the u. S. Senate. The incoming republican senator from utah writing a scathing oped in the Washington Post. He claims the president s behavior over the past two years is evidence that he has not rise
In law enforcement. He was a marine. He does corporate security and hes not the kind of person who would stumble into a strange environment or make poor choices that would cause him risks but he wouldnt have made choices that have gotten him sideways of the russian government or espionage act. He was a marine and has traveled to russia multiple times and hes now a Global Security director for a private firm which he joined in 2017. The family did not know about the spy accusations until yesterday morning when russias Counterintelligence Agency reported he was in custody. Martin savidge is standing by. Has any of the family been able to speak with him since he was detained in russia . No, pamela, they have not. Thats a grave concern for them right new. You talk about how youve got this kind weird dichotomy where they find out hes alive, thank goodness and find out hes in custody and charged with spying. It was a real whiplash for them. Theyre waiting for u. S. Officials in russia from t
At the same time he was running Donald Trumps 2016 campaign. What could it mean for Robert Muellers investigation . In the race, democrat Elizabeth Warren takes a major step towards a white house bid, declaring she is in the fight to oust President Trump all the way. Tonight the 2020 race is heating up as 2019 is about to begin. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States. Wolf blitzer is off, im Brianna Keeler and this is a the situation room room report. Tonight cnn has learned that House Democratic leaders settled on a strategy to rye to reopen the government and use their new power to force President Trumps hand. Theyre planning to call votes just hours after the party takes control on thursday, but theres no indication that the president is willing to budge on his central demand for border wall funding. On this new years eve, mr. Trump is stuck at the white house missing his own party at mara las vegas y maralago and taking out his frustration on witter. I will talk about
Represented. Its a hsieh change for a institution that for a long time, that was considered old, white, and some would say stodgy. Its not entirely reflective of the United States in terms of diversity, but a change in that direction. You want to drill down, as well, on the number of women in congress. Not just new members but overall, 102 women total. 89 democrats, 13 republicans. Thats nearly 20 women more than have ever served in the institution. And again, it just underscores that the 116th congress, there will be no shortage of battles no shortage of gridlock to some degree, no shortage of fights, but theres also no shortage of barriers broken. Thats something, at least for one day, everything needs to be attention to. Yes, there you go. When it comes to priorities, we hear a lot from democrats saying look, look, look. Were focused on what the American People need on passing legislation, et cetera. A lot of them, including nancy pelosi, have said things like impeachment of the pre
Loyalty test of sorts for the president. Well get to that story and we have a series of rapid fire developments. If bill barr who wouithholds an evidence of president ial involvement, it will be considered a cover up. The d. O. J. Will not receive the Mueller Report next week. They wont say anything beyond next week. The special Councils Office will file a sentencing memorandum in the Paul Manafort case. It could be huge and tell us even more about what mueller is investigating. All of this as everyone gears up for the Mueller Report itself. In florida we have the washington equivalent of what a category 5 hurricane is forecasted to make land fall. The mueller models are all over the map. The democratic models have a direct hit on the white house, legal experts are modelling a once in a century storm that makes land fall multiple times. And then there is a mod from from trump loyalist that have an unexpected turn over to Hillary Clintons house. And then there is an increasing sense of