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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
President Trump Slams French and Canadian Leaders Ahead of G7; President Trump May Invite Kim Jong-un to U.S.; Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired June 08, 2018 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:26] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The president leaves for the G7 in just a few hours and he'll be leaving early. He'll defend his new tariffs after another Twitter tirade at world leaders he'll see today.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: A longtime Senate staffer arrested for allegedly lying about leaks of confidential information. His ex- girlfriend, a reporter for the "New York Times," had her e-mail and phone records secretly seized.
ROMANS: And finally something everyone in Washington can agree on. The Stanley Cup is headed to D.C. for the first time in franchise history.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: Forty-four years, that city has waited long.
ROMANS: That's something. That's something.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. 4:30 Eastern Time. Congrats to the Caps and to D.C.
We start with the G7, though. Air Force One will be wheels up this morning for Canada and the G7 summit. But President Trump will not be staying long. He plans to leave Quebec mid-morning tomorrow, skipping sessions on climate change and the environment.
The president expecting a brawl with top U.S. allies over trade. Even as late as Thursday afternoon he was questioning whether it made sense to attend when he'll be outnumbered on key issues. But our sources say the president was told that cancelling the visit outright would make it look like he is shrinking from a fight he very publicly started. With that on his mind, the president told advisers he'll enter the talks swinging.
ROMANS: No official reason given for leaving the G7 early, but we know from Trump's own mouth that it is not to prepare for the North Korea summit next week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What are you doing to prepare for the summit with North Korea? DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think I'm very well
prepared. I don't think I have to prepare very much. It's about attitude. It's about willingness to get things done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: News of the president's early departure came as he fumed on Twitter late into the night against U.S. allies' trade policies. It even aimed directly at two of them earlier in the day.
Senior White House correspondent Pamela Brown with more.
PAMELA BROWN, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Dave and Christine. President Trump arrives in Canada today to meet with the G7 leaders. But it appears he is looking more forward to meeting with America's adversary, Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, than America's allies.
In fact before heading to Canada, the president engaged in a Twitter spat with French President Macron. Macron sending the first feisty tweet saying, "Trump may not mind being isolated but neither do we, as in signing a six-country agreement on trade if need be." The president fired back targeting both Macron and Prime Minister Trudeau who is hosting the G7 saying that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs.
And all of these really is setting the stage for what could be awkward meetings between President Trump and some leaders of, you know, America's allies. And President Trump has been telling his aides sort of questioning whether he even needs to go to Canada for this, questioning whether anything worthwhile will come out of these meetings. His aides have warned him that yes, this is very important.
Back to you, Christine and Dave.
BRIGGS: Pamela Brown, thank you.
President Trump, as you heard, boasting there is no need for him to do a lot of prep work for next week's historic summit with North Korea. That doesn't bother much his secretary of State.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: There were few days that I left the Oval Office after having briefed the president that we didn't talk about North Korea. So over months and months, days and days, President Trump has been receiving briefings on this issue.
I am very confident the president will be fully prepared when he meets with his North Korean counterpart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Now the president says he may even invite Kim Jong-un to the United States, perhaps to the White House.
Let's bring in Anna Coren live from Tokyo this morning.
Good morning, Anna. What's the reaction overseas to all these developments?
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dave, it was quite interesting listening to Donald Trump basically roll out the red carpet to Kim Jong-un if that meeting in Singapore next week goes well. But what is his definition of a successful talks? We just don't know because the bar keeps moving. Is it full denuclearization, which is what was initially a deal breaker for Trump?
Obviously Mike Pompeo coming out saying yes, North Korea has committed to denuclearization. We have not heard that come out of the mouths of the North Koreans. Does it mean striking some sort of compromise, allowing Kim to keep his shorter-range missiles in exchange for giving up the long-range ICBMs that would keep United States? Or is it simply just a matter of good chemistry between Trump and Kim, them getting along and coming to some sort of agreement that these talks were made to continue. Trump says it's going to wrap in one meeting.
[04:35:01] It's going to take a little while to put it mildly. Experts say that this could take years if these talks are going to move in the right direction. Trump of course says he would like to see a normalization of ties. He insists however, Dave, that the Singapore summit is not just for optics. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This will not be just a photo-op. This will be at a minimum will start with perhaps a good relationship. And that's something that's very important for the ultimate making of a deal. I'd love to say it could happen in one deal. Maybe it can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Now we have to remember this is a very complex issue that previous U.S. administrations have failed to deliver. Obviously there are experts out there who believe Kim Jong-un will never fully give up his nuclear weapons program. The reason being is that they are vital to the regime and to his leadership -- Dave.
BRIGGS: All right. Anna Coren live for us in Tokyo tonight. Thank you.
Meanwhile, a longtime Senate staffer arrested for allegedly lying to federal agents in a probe of unauthorized leaks. 59-year-old James Wolfe is the former security director for the Senate Intelligence Committee. Prosecutors say he lied to FBI agents in December about his contacts with three reporters. In some cases, using an encrypted messaging app. Wolfe worked under the leadership of both parties since 1987 before abruptly leaving at the end of the 2017. He's due in court later today.
ROMANS: In connection with the Wolfe investigation, the "New York Times" reports prosecutors secretly seized years' worth of phone and e-mail records of one of its reporters. The government did not obtain the contents of those e-mails and calls. The reporter, Ali Watkins, had been dating Wolfe for three years. The "Times" reports she denies receiving classified information during their relationship. The seizure suggests federal prosecutors are not letting up on their aggressive efforts to deter leaks, tactics that were also used under the Obama administration.
BRIGGS: A bold prediction from Mitt Romney. The Republican Senate candidate in Utah, believes President Trump will win a second term. The 2012 GOP nominee is no huge fan. He has called the president a fake and a con man. He made his prediction during a retreat in Utah attended by some high profile business and political leaders. And according to the AP Mr. Romney said, "I think our Democrats friends will likely to nominate someone who's really out of the mainstream of American thought and will make it easier for a president who is presiding over a growing economy."
Since launching his Utah Senate bid earlier this year, Romney has mostly praised President Trump's actions while lamenting his bombastic style.
ROMANS: All right. The Trump administration will not defend key provisions of Obamacare in court. This is a dramatic break with tradition. The Justice Department rarely declines to argue in favor of existing law but will not defend the Affordable Care Act as 20 GOP- led states challenge its constitutionality. And this case is centered on the individual mandate requiring Americans have health insurance or pay a penalty.
The tax bill repealed it so the suit argues that if the individual mandate is unconstitutional, so are other parts of the law. And the Justice Department agrees. So says Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a letter with the approval of the president of the United States. The individual mandate requires younger and healthier people to sign up for Obamacare, but with only sicker and older Americans on the exchange, that means premiums rise. And they are rising by double digits next year. Insurers in several states have requested large rate hikes. 24 percent on average in New York, 19 percent in Washington and 15 percent in Maryland.
BRIGGS: Will that be a midterm issue? It is likely indeed if Democrats can find the right message.
ROMANS: Yes.
BRIGGS: Well, for the first time in their 44-year history, the Washington Capitals are Stanley Cup champions.
The great Doc Emrick with the call there. The Caps' Lars Eller scored the game winner with seven 1/2 minutes left in the third. They win the series in five games ending a remarkable run with the finals by Las Vegas Golden Knights in their first year. No players savoring the win more than superstar and captain Alex Ovechkin. He won the Conn Smythe trophy as the playoff MVP.
And as tradition goes, he was the first to hoist Lord Stanley's cup, giving it a kiss, taking it around for a celebratory skate in front of the fans in Las Vegas who did certainly appreciate the moment even though that's on the road. The celebration was on in the nation's capital. The first championship D.C. has seen since 1992 when the Redskins won the Super Bowl.
Finally something to unite everyone in Washington, D.C. Congrats to the Caps fans.
ROMANS: What better reason for that guy to take his shirt off than the Caps winning --
(LAUGHTER)
BRIGGS: He needed some excuse.
Lindsay Czarniak was there last night. I'm sure she is enjoying all the festivities.
ROMANS: All right. It is about 40 minutes past the hour.
[04:40:01] We have this new troubling video out of Mesa, Arizona.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell me where the gun is at?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No gun. No gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's the gun?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No gun, no gun, no gun. No gun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That is a 15-year-old saying no gun. Now a second investigation of excessive force by police is under way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Mesa, Arizona, Police facing more questions about excessive force.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell me where the gun is at?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No gun. No gun. No gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is the gun?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is the gun?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The department releasing this body cam footage of an incident involving a 15-year-old boy arrested and charged with armed robbery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
[04:45:02] After a review of body camera footage, officials launched an internal investigation into excessive force and two officers were placed on administrative leave.
BRIGGS: This as additional officers placed on administrative leave over the police beating of Robert Johnson. Bringing the total number of officers on leave for that incident to five. Police releasing the incident report saying Johnson was aggressive calling them names and spitting. But one of Johnson's attorneys responded by saying there is a lot on the report we disagree with. Mesa's police chief will hold a news conference this afternoon to talk about both excessive force investigations.
ROMANS: A New York City man is facing deportation after he tried to deliver a pizza to the Ft. Hamilton military base in Brooklyn. Pablo Villavicencio showed his city I.D. card to the guard last week as he was trying to deliver that pizza. He'd done this several times before. But this time the undocumented immigrant from Ecuador was asked to get his daily visitor's pass. Military and ICE officials claim Villavicencio wound up signing a waiver permitting a background check which revealed an active warrant for deportation.
BRIGGS: But Villavicencio tells the "New York Post" that's lie, insisting he did not sign any waiver and claiming video cameras will prove it. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says the state has secured pro bono legal counsel for Villavicencio. Protesters gathered last night outside the immigration court in New York City, chanting "Free Pablo Now."
ROMANS: Breaking news. Authorities in Germany arrested four Iraqis allegedly linked to ISIS. German prosecutors say the men joined the terror organization between 2013 and 2015. One of them is suspected of being an accomplice to war crimes and murder. Including a dozen explosive attacks between 2006 and 2008. In 10 of those attacks, members of the U.S. military were wounded or killed according to German prosecutors.
BRIGGS: All right. Uber wants to know if you're drunk when you're looking for a ride. Isn't that the point of Uber? And it's turning to artificial intelligence for an answer. "CNN Money" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:51:46] More than 100 deaths are blamed on Guatemala's Fuego volcano. That's according to the country's National Institute of Forensic Sciences with close to 200 still missing. Guatemalan officials are vowing to launch an investigation into whether necessary protocols were established ahead of last weekend's eruption. Six badly burned Guatemalan children are now receiving treatment at the pediatric burn facility at Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston, Texas. ROMANS: Officials in Hawaii now say lava flows have destroyed about
600 homes on the big island since Kilauea began its eruption May 3rd. The state's governor just releasing $12 million to the county of Hawaii to aid in disaster response. Fissure eight among the most active now, filling in Kapoho Bay and sending a huge toxic plume of laze into the air along the coastline.
The U.S. Geological Survey calculates the volcano has released enough lava to fill 45,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Alarming new numbers from the CDC. Suicide rates increased by 25 percent across the U.S. between 1999 and 2016. More than half of those who took their own life had not been diagnosed with a mental health issue. Numbers went up in every state except Nevada. The increase is ranged from 6 percent in Delaware to nearly 58 percent in North Dakota.
Researchers suggest economic factor related to the number of suicides out west since people in rural areas have less access to mental health services. Health experts say not every suicide is preventable but many are. There are steps to help like a conversation and a follow-up if you see warning signs like a change in mood or behavior, alarming social media posts. Help someone make that call.
ROMANS: All right. Facebook facing another privacy problem. 14 million users around the world had their default sharing setting set to public. This bug affected new posts from May 18 to the May 22nd. Facebook says the glitch occurred during the testing of a new feature.
After it was discovered, Facebook went back, changed the setting for all posts by those users during that timeframe to private. Affected users are now getting a notification on the app or the Web site. Facebook says the notification signals a new proactive transparent approach to problems going forward.
BRIGGS: Philadelphia 76ers president's Bryan Colangelo stepping down over a social media scandal. His resignation coming after the team investigated allegations that he posted sensitive information about his own players to multiple anonymous Twitter accounts. It turns out Colangelo was not doing the actual posting, his wife was, using information he provided. Barbara Bottini admitted her involvement with forensic evidence backing it up according to the law firm that conducted the investigation. 76ers call Colangelo's actions careless and reckless. He disagrees, describing his wife's actions as a misguided effort to publicly defend him. She could not be reached for comment.
ROMANS: New progress in the search for signs of life on Mars. NASA says organic matter was found in soil from a three billion-year-old mud stone found by the Curiosity rover. Organic compounds like the ones found are the building blocks of life. You know, although they can also exist without it. Curiosity rover also detected methane in the Martian atmosphere.
[04:55:02] It is the simplest organic substance also found in other places in our solar system that could support life. Researchers call the findings detailed in science magazine, breakthroughs in astrobiology.
BRIGGS: Fascinating. All right. A reunion almost 27 years in the making between a New Jersey state trooper and the man who delivered him as a baby. At a recent traffic stop, State Trooper Michael Paterson pulled over Matthew Bailly because his windows were tinted. Bailly mentioned he was a retired officer from Piscataway. The trooper also grew up there. Even telling Bailey the name of the street. Bailey told the trooper he once delivered a baby there. That's when the trooper stuck out his hand and said, my name is Michael Patterson, sir. Thank you for delivering me.
How about that? October 5th 1991. That's when that happened. Patterson's mother went into labor, was barely able to make it home and Mr. Bailly delivered the child. As for the traffic stop, happy ending there, too. The trooper did not give Mr. Bailly a ticket.
ROMANS: (INAUDIBLE).
BRIGGS: That's a fantastic story.
ROMANS: That's a great story.
BRIGGS: What a happy ending.
All right. Severe storms on the Great Plains today with showers and thunderstorms for the northeast over the weekend.
Here is Ivan Cabrera in the weather center.
IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And good morning. Another round of severe weather potential. Nothing widespread. We see the green here along the boundary. We see some stronger thunderstorms this afternoon and into the evening. And then you get into the yellow and even orange. That's an enhanced threat here across Nebraska and into South Dakota. Damaging wind potential and large hail is what I'm looking at. A few isolated tornadoes, but mainly the straight line wind damage here that we could have ongoing.
Look at the temperatures cooler to the north in the 70s. But many areas into the 80s and 90s, still on the coach will be necessary I think this weekend. Likewise (INAUDIBLE) as temperatures surge into the 90. Look at Dallas. Another day pushing 100 degrees and with the humidity, yes, it will feel like it's in the 100s.
Then we have a front coming in Saturday night and into Sunday. That will impact both D.C. and New York. Watch what happens to the temperatures. It will stay in the low 80s. But by Sunday afternoon, getting below average. Highs in the lower 70s. That continues into Monday -- guys.
ROMANS: All right. Ivan, thank you so much for that weather news.
Here's your money this Friday morning. Global stocks lower right now. A six-day rally in tech ended pushing the Nasdaq and S&P 500 down. But the Dow closed up boosted by McDonald's. McDonald's up 4 percent on news it will trim its corporate staff. Energy stocks rose thanks to a jump in oil prices. U.S. crude up 2 percent on concerns of tightening supply. Exports from Venezuela fell and there is concern major oil producing countries will not follow through on that promise to boost production.
Overall Americans have never been richer. Household wealth topped $100 trillion for the first time. That's from the Federal Reserve. It's mainly due to rising home prices. A roadblock to homebuyers but great for owners. Home equity jumped 13 percent during the first three months of the year, offsetting the impact of a decline in the stock market. But $100 trillion as a total, it doesn't measure distribution and guess what, the wealthiest Americans received the biggest share of gains in real estate and in stocks.
Uber wants to know if you've had too many drinks when looking for a ride. And it's turning to AI, artificial intelligence for the answer. Uber is patenting away to identify drunk passengers. An algorithm will write in factors like typos, how precisely you click, walking speed, the time of day, for example someone clumsily typing at 1:00 a.m. on a Saturday is likely not sober. Uber plans to use that technology to better tailor its rides either by warning drivers or matching them with drivers with relevant experience or training. We asked Uber for a comment on this and they wouldn't respond.
BRIGGS: I've got a few comments for them. Do they really need technology? If it's 1:00 a.m. on a Saturday night, you're drunk. If it's 5:00 p.m. on a Thursday, probably not.
ROMANS: What if you are going to work at 1:00 a.m.?
BRIGGS: Therein lies the point. But I thought we call Uber because we couldn't drive home, isn't that the idea?
ROMANS: I don't know.
BRIGGS: I don't know.
ROMANS: You're saying a lot about yourself, Dave Briggs. I'm learning a lot about Dave Briggs this morning.
BRIGGS: Revealing on a Friday. EARLY START continues right now with the latest on the G7 scuffle between the president and our allies.
ROMANS: All right. The president leaves for the G7 in just a few hours and he'll be leaving early. He will defend his new tariffs after another Twitter tirade at world leaders. The very world leaders he will see face-to-face today.
BRIGGS: A longtime Senate staffer arrested for allegedly lying about leaks of confidential information. And his ex-girlfriend, a reporter for the "New York Times" had her e-mail and phone records secretly seized.
ROMANS: Yes. And finally something everyone in Washington can agree on. The Stanley Cup is headed to D.C. for the first time in franchise history.
Good morning. And welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: Congratulations to Alex Ovechkin, everybody. I'm Dave Briggs. It's Friday, June 8th, 5:00 a.m. in the East. We start with the group of seven.
Air Force One will be wheels up this morning for Canada and the G7 summit.
