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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Cave Rescue Resumes, Boys And Coach Face Dangerous Rescue; Supreme Court Top Contenders Showdown; Diplomatic Disconnect; North Korea, U.S. Has Gangster Like Mindset; Pompeo, North Korea Talks Productive; Murder Investigation Underway On Russia Nerve Agent Attacks; China Tariffs Hitting U.S. Industries. Aired 04:30-05a ET

Aired July 09, 2018 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, EARLY START SHOW CO-HOST: All right. Rescue crews making that dangerous trip back through that cave in Thailand where eight boys are now stuck for more than two weeks. We are live at the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm getting very close to making a final decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BRIGGS, EARLY START SHOW CO-HOST: A primetime announcement from the East Room tonight as President Trump reshapes the Supreme Courts for decades to come.

ROMANS: Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo says talk between the U.S. and North Korea are still on track as Pyongyang accuses the U.S. of quote, gangster like negotiations.

Tense exchange there.

BRIGGS: It did not go well for Pompeo.

ROMANS: Wow. Welcome back to Early Start, I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. It is 31 minutes pass the hour, 3:30 p.m. in Thailand and that is where we start. Breaking news. The rescue operations have resumed in Thailand. Divers reentering the underground cave where those eight boys and their coach remain stuck for the 17th day now.

ROMANS: Officials say, four boys evacuated Sunday from the flooded cave are in good health. But rescue teams are running out of time. The mission complicated by the forecast of heavy rains. CNN's Ivan Watson, is live near the cave with the very latest. Ivan, we are, I mean honestly I am (inaudible) needles, you know hoping this next leg of the rescue goes well. What can you tell us?

IVAN WATSON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: yea. I mean, it has been under way for about four hours now according to the official in charge of the rescue efforts. So, you have this team of dozens of Thai and international rescue workers deep in the mountain there behind me. Hard work are trying to rescue some of the remaining eight boys and their coach, the ninth person, a 25 year-old who had been trapped in there for more than two weeks.

Of course, the good news is that they have successfully pulled four boys out on Sunday evening after using full face masks so that they could breathe and to bring them out and all four boys came within about two and a half hours of each other. And in fact, the official said that they came far ahead of what they had anticipated. He said that they are now quarantined in hospital in the provincial capital.

And they had been asking for a particular Thai dish that I have had for breakfast today. There has been an awful lot of messages coming from the boys trapped inside about food. They have been asking about food that they liked to have when they get out, when they are reunited with their families. Which gives you a sense of kind of what is kind of at the top of their minds for this long ordeal deep inside the mountain. The rescue officials say most of the same team of rescuers are still doing this the second day running with a few that had been swapped out in the interim. Dave and Christine.

ROMANS: Ivan Watson, thank you for that, you know the youngest -- the youngest is only 11 years old. It is just so frightening to think of how afraid they must be. It will be a long road to recovery for these youngsters even after they get out of hospital. CNN Chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on the physical and emotional problems they may face.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, Dave and Christine, these doctors have had a long time to think about and prepare for what is unfolding now. Their basic concerns when the boys come out of the cave. And you can pair it down to simple a, b, c, airway, and breathing, and circulation. You want to make sure that you address these things at the scene, at the mouth of the cave and make a decision them how quickly do the boys, this players, even the divers if something happens, needs to get to a hospital?

We saw one boy get air lifted. It could had been a problem with some breathing, it could had been problem with blood pressure as a result of dehydration. That is how these decisions getting made. Keep in mind the timeline. This is something that doctors are really paying attention to it as well, to sort of predict what these boys will need. June 23rd, the boys and the coach go missing.

Nine days before some of the food shows up as a result of those rescue divers. What were the conditions in the cave? We know the oxygen levels dropped. We know that there is a concern of dehydration. That is how you sort of process things up from the medical standpoint.

I try to guess, I would say most of the boys probably would not be in hospital that long. Because whether it is dehydration or malnutrition, some of the concerns, most of that could be addressed pretty quickly. So from the physical standpoint, pretty fast, psychologically and mentally, we have to wait and see. Christine and Dave.

(END VIDEO)

[04:35:00] ROMANS: All right. Sanjay, thanks for that.

BRIGGS: All right. And underwater cave rescue like this certainly the most difficult types of rescue dive there is. Let's bring back rescue dive instructor cave diver, Paul Sumner. Good morning to you, Paul. There is certainly a sense of relief, because of those four boys have been saved, but still a long way to go. What makes this rescue mission so difficult?

PAUL SUMNER, RESCUE DIVER INSTRUCTOR AND CAVE DIVER: The cave structure itself that they are trying to traverse from, you know, the earlier reports is a -- was a tighter, more narrow system in certain passage ways that it appears some of the rescue work has been to drill away and chip away at some of those openings to allow the operations to move or flow a little bit more smoothly, if you will, and move these boys through without some of the complications that a cave diver would be comfortable with. And in this case, boys who have never been on scuba, not so much.

ROMANS: You know, what would you tell these boys? When you have to try to talk them through this and prevent any kind of anxiety or panicking. That is what happened to claustrophobia, the rushing water, the mud. Breathing some, you know, a full face mask, I mean none of that is natural.

SUMNER: None at all. Not at all. I believe that the full face mask was a brilliant idea to bring in for these boys. I have a similar mask that they are utilizing. And one of the benefits is that it puts their entire face in so they are not exposed to the cold water. One of the added benefits to the full face mask if they have communications built into those masks, which these are capable of doing, the rescue divers and navy SEALS that are working to get these boys out may well have communications to where they have the comforting conversation of somebody that is monitoring their breathing and can talk to them and help reduce some of those the stresses and fears as they go along and explain to them while their head is beneath the water and what is going on and what is ahead in such murky conditions.

BRIGGS: And Paul, from what we understand, this rescue started about four hours ago. We are not sure if it takes, 10 hours or as may be 11 hours, because five hours as much as six hours out, with these kids, from what you understand, are they essentially being pulled or towed through or actively needing to dive out themselves?

SUMNER: Well, based on previous reports, I can only go under the assumption of what I heard is that they are tethered -- they the tethered each individual boy to one of the rescue divers who is the lead diver. And the second diver, which is essentially a safety diver, is following behind. And based on the previous stories that the boys had no swimming capability, it sounds as they are pulling the boys along with the addition of that heavy gauge rope that was installed in that system over the past several days. It is highly likely that even the cave diver, the rescue divers that are bringing these boys out, might even be pulling themselves along which can help accelerate the speed a little bit with which they traverse this area.

Normally a cave diver is doing it all under their own propulsion, their own leg work. Now you have someone that is potentially pulling, you know, an individual along behind him, plus another diver behind that. So, it may be the rope is helping assist with the speed with which they are making it through the system.

ROMANS: Certainly wish them well. And we certainly should take a moment to remember the diver who died getting that cave system, you know, supplied for these very rescue. Paul Sumner, rescue diver cave diver, thank you so much.

BRIGGS: Thanks, Paul. Great information.

ROMANS: All right. Today marks the start of what could argue to be the biggest week of the Trump administration so far. The President set to announce his pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in a primetime address tonight from the East Room. He will also embark on a trip to Europe that include a NATO summit, a visit with the queen and a high stake sit-down with Vladimir Putin.

BRIGGS: If that is not enough. The president's legal team signaling it is becoming less and less likely Mr. Trump will grant an interview in the Russia investigation led by Special Counsel, Robert Mueller. For more we turn to CNN's Boris Sanchez.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: Christine and Dave, President Trump getting set to make that historic announcement tonight at 9:00 for his nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court.

[04:40:06] Of course, the back drop of that decision is the news over the weekend that Rudy Giuliani has laid out some very serious demands of the Special Counsel so that Robert Mueller could sit down one-on- one with President Trump.

Giuliani is essentially asking the Special Counsel to provide some kind of evidence that would lead to suspicion of wrongdoing on behalf of President Trump. Giuliani does not believe that Robert Mueller would comply with some of these demands. He has openly said so suggesting that he believes Mueller would then issue a subpoena to try to compel the President to testify. Something that Giuliani says he would challenge in court. Here is more from the President's attorney on "State of the Union" Sunday morning.

RUDY GUILIANI, ATTORNEY FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: I have no idea what he is going to do. I think if he does, we could have the subpoena quashed. To subpoena the President has never been done successfully in the history on this country. There is a very, very strong law that the president cannot be subjected to criminal process. The reality is that we have a very strong argument that they have not made a case for an interview.

SANCHEZ: Now these developments out from the Russia investigation come during a very busy week for the President. He doesn't just have the Supreme Court pick to announce, but also his trip to Europe.

To meet with NATO allies, to visit the United Kingdom and his sit down with one on one chat with Vladimir Putin next week in Finland. Christine and Dave.

(END VIDEO)

ROMANS: Boris, thank you. Sources tell us the President spent the whole weekend seeking advice, he has four names, all of them federal appears -- appeals court judges withdrawing the most buzz in legal and political circles.

Former Kennedy Clerk, Brett Kavanaugh, who is hundreds of opinions, show strong conservative views on executive power and religious freedom. Amy Coney Barrett, named by President Trump to the seventh circuit. She wrote extensively on religion as a law professor at Notre Dame.

BRIGGS: And Raymond Kethledge, another former Kennedy Clerk, said to share the legal philosophy of Justice Neil Gorsuch. And Thomas Hardiman, runner up for the Gorsuch, he wrote a dissent favoring gun rights in the New Jersey handgun regulation case. Kethledge and Hardiman are both favors to Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell who has been advising Trump daily, but another adviser Leonard Leo, who assembled, the president's list of contenders has concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEONARD LEO, TRUMP ADVISER ON JUDICIAL NOMINATION: I think that first of all with regard to Ray Kethledge and Thom Hardiman, they are a little bit less known by conservatives. And their records are a little bit lighter. So, it might take some time. But it is important to have people who are extremely well known and had distinguished records.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: CNN will carry the president announcement live tonight 9:00 Eastern Time.

ROMANS: All right. A major deadline this week in the process to reunite migrant children with their parents. Why the Trump administration is asking for more time. That is next.

[04:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIGGS: The Justice Department and the ACLU returned to court this afternoon with the government trying to extend the deadline for reuniting migrant families separated at the border. The administrations already indicating it will not meet Tuesday deadline to reunite children under the age of five. Admitting it does not know where some of the parents are including at least 19 who had been deported. Over the weekend, the ACLU received a government list of names of approximately 100 children under five who were taken from their parents.

ROMANS: After meeting with Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, North Korea is firing up the anti-American rhetoric. Accusing the U.S. of having a gangster like mind-set during denuclearization talks and even describing the negotiations as, regrettable. But Pompeo says the talks represent progress. The Secretary of State insisting, the process is still on course. Lindsey Graham doesn't see it that way. The Republican senator thinks China is calling the shots for the North Koreans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: If I were President Trump, I would not let China use North Korea to back me off the trade dispute. We got more bullets than they do, when it comes to trade. There is no doubt in any mind that it is the Chinese that are pulling the North Koreans back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Let us go on to Seoul and bring in CNN's Andrew Stevens. Andrew, how is South Kore reacting to the apparent setback in these talks?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN NEWSTREAM ANCHOR: It certainly does look like a setback. But the South Koreans are being quite philosophical about it and they keep pointing to the fact that it is a strong relationship at the top. Either is a trust between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un. And that is the most important thing, Christine. They say that if the foundation is strong, the building will be high.

And they talked about what happened over the weekend. Nine hours of negotiations, that is according to the Blue House, which is the South Korean equivalent of the White House. Nine hours, Mike Pompeo meet his (inaudible) in North Korea. And they said really this looked like more of a negotiating tactic. They have said, no, what we are seeing images on the surface. We don't know what is going on underneath, but it does look like both sides were feeling each other out. Neither wanted to give anything away at this stage.

But even so, even having said that, Christine, you know, Mike Pompeo has set the bar fairly low for his arrival in Pyongyang. And it looks very difficult to say that he actually even hit those low expectations. And he did not get any sort of timeline on the denuclearization. He did not get any understanding as far as we know on the extent of North Korea's nuclear weapons and its nuclear infrastructure. And he did not meet Kim Jong-un as well.

And this sort of all underlines the fact that a lot more people are saying that the U.S. and North Korea are on different pages when it comes to what is the definition of denuclearization. A very, very basic concept. A very, very basic area which they have to get some agreement on before they can move forward. ROMANS: Do you think -- does Mike Pompeo -- was he dissed by the

North Koreans? I mean, he wasn't really told where he would be staying, he wasn't told of an itinerary would be.

[04:50:02] There were two really long, long banquets that the State Department team seemed to be annoyed, that they wanted to get worked done, where they dissed?

STEVENS: Yes, everything you said there that is being reported, Christine. I mean, it is hard to escape that conclusion given the fact also that even though the State Department says that there was not a planned meeting with Kim Jong-un. It certainly didn't happen. And he had been twice before to Pyongyang. And at both times had met Kim Jong-un. This is the first time also, since that big summit on June 12th between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump. So, you would have thought that they would have met at that stage. So, Mike Pompeo, yes, it has been said privately, it has been on the set on air that Pompeo has quite low expectations of whether they can get an agreement there. So, is he being dissed? Well, certainly being called a gangster is not a good start.

ROMANS: True. All right. Andrew Stevens for us in Seoul. Thank you, sir.

BRIGGS: All right. New allegations that Congressman Jim Jordan knew about sexual misconduct by the team doctor at Ohio State, 30 years ago and did not report. Jordan was an assistant wrestling coach at the university back then. A former wrestler at the school telling CNN, he and his teammates spoke openly about how the doctor would show with the athletes and claims Jordan, had to hear the conversations, because he was there. The Ohio lawmaker denying any knowledge of sexual misconduct, once again this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP JIM JORDAN, BENGHAZI COMMITTEE MEMBER: I never saw, never heard of, never was told about any type of abuse. If I had been, I would have dealt with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The chairman of the house, Freedom Caucus, Congressman Mark Meadows, calling on members to support Jordan. The Ohio Republican expected to return to Washington this week to fight the allegations.

ROMANS: All right. American soybean farmers, pork producers, and auto makers all stand to lose in the U.S.-China trade war. The U.S. and China slap tariffs worth $34 billion on each other Friday. The U.S. says it is combating China's unfair trade practices. Beijing says, it is responding to Americas trade bullying. There we go.

China tariffs target high value U.S. exports like cars. That will hurt U.S. companies like Ford and Tesla. Both export huge number of cars to China. But German automakers also built in the U.S. and ship to China. Producing 800,000 cars last year in Alabama and South Carolina. Exporting about half. Mercedes-Benz and BMW already warn these tariffs will hurt their profits, forcing them to absorb the costs or pass it along to you the consumer.

Beijing is also targeting cash crops hitting farm country hard. China is a huge customer for dairy farmers, pork producers, and soybean farmers. Soybeans were the top U.S. egg export to China last year. The farm goods are also strategic, 18 states grow the majority of U.S. soybeans. All but two of those states voted for President Trump.

All right. Move over (inaudible). Mark Zuckerberg is now the third richest person in the world. Making the wealthiest people alive. All tech type, CNN money is next. [04:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIGGS: British counterterrorism police launching a murder investigation after the death of a woman exposed to the Russian nerve agent Novichok, who died from the Russian poison Novichok. Authorities say, 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess died Sunday after touching a contaminated item. Detectives are working to identify the source, the same chemical was used in the March attack on a former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. They have both been released from the hospital. Russia denies any involvement in that incident. 45 year-old Charles Rowley also expose to the nerve agent last week. He is still in the hospital in critical condition.

ROMANS: Imagine a chemical weapon.

Let us go get a check on CNN Money this morning. Global stocks rising overnight following Wall Street. U.S. stock finishes last week higher, thanks to that strong U.S. jobs report. The U.S had a 213,000 thousand jobs in June. The jobless rate rose to 4 percent, but for a good reason. Tens of thousands of Americans reentered the labor market. A good economic news helped glum the impact of dueling tariffs from the U.S. and China. Companies are worried that America's trade battles will hurt their profits. We may get a peek this week when earnings season begins, some of the largest U.S. banks will be the first to report, including Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

More over Warren Buffett. Mark Zuckerberg is now the third richest person in the world. Facebook shares rose 2.4 percent Friday pushing the CEO net worth to $81.6 billion. That is about $400 million more than legendary investor Warren Buffett. But for the first time ever, the three richest people alive are Tech titans. Amazon Jeff Bezos is first followed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, tech stocks are huge winners this year. In fact they make up most of the markets games this year. Amazon alone accounting for more than one-third of the S&P500 rise.

BRIGGS: All right. "Early Start" continues right now with a massive and impactful week from the President and the latest on the Thai rescue effort.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm getting very close to making a final decision. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: A primetime announcement from the East Room tonight as President Trump changes the courts for decades to come.

BRIGGS: Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo insisting talks between the U.S. and North Korea are still on track as Pyongyang accuses the U.S. of gangster like negotiations.

ROMANS: Rescue crews are making the dangerous trip back through that cave where eight boys have been stuck for more than two weeks now. We are going to go live to scene there, hopefully now we are told the rescue is under way, so we are going to go to see what is happening there. Good morning, welcome to Early Start, I am Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I am Dave Briggs. Monday, July 9, 5:00 in the Eastern, it is 4:00 p.m. in Thai --