Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

NATO Leaders Reeling After Trump Attack; Germany Pushes Back At Trump's Criticism; Trump Administration To Turn Away More Asylum Seekers Under New Guidance; Croatia And France Reach World Cup Final; Dramatic Thai Cave Rescue Video Released. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired July 12, 2018 - 05:30   ET

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


[05:30:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Diplomats still reeling from President Trump's tirade against NATO allies. The president, as you know, accused Germany of being a captive of Russia. He called NATO members delinquent on defense spending, insisting they increase it immediately. The president's tone leaving diplomats dumbfounded.

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: One senior European diplomat telling CNN quote, "It's like the world has gone crazy. Trump's performance was beyond belief."

Last hour, we spoke to Michael Birnbaum, Brussels bureau chief for "The Washington Post," who made this observation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BIRNBAUM, BRUSSELS BUREAU CHIEF, "THE WASHINGTON POST": He's really taken a confrontational approach when on camera, when on Twitter. And apparently, when he's met in these closed-door meetings he's been much calmer, more polite, more generally accepting of the basic principles of NATO than he is in public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: All right. Let's bring in international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Nic, good morning to you.

Does that follow the Trump pattern? Very confrontational, in particular on Twitter, but not necessarily directly face-to-face.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: And he's followed it up again on Twitter this morning, of course. But he was confrontational with Jens Stoltenberg, the U.N. secretary general, yesterday. He was a half an hour late to the meeting today and that didn't go over very well at the G7 back in Quebec.

But I have to say there's quite a buzz around this media room right now. I've just been speaking to, let's say in the last 10 minutes, about three different NATO spokespeople I know to try to figure out what's happening behind the scenes.

We know that the North Atlanta Council -- that's the leaders -- the heads of state of NATO are all in a room meeting. They were expected to speak about Afghanistan. They were expected to speak about some of the challenges that some of the nations like Ukraine, like Romania, like Georgia, face with Russia.

So trying to figure out what's going on here at the moment, what is possibly happening is that the nature or the focus of the discussion in the -- in the -- in this NATO North Atlantic Council session this morning may have drifted off what was intended and perhaps gone onto topics picking up from yesterday.

I mean, President Trump's tweet this morning, about 2-2 1/2 hours ago, spoke of -- you know, spoke directly to the issue of NATO funding, saying that they -- you know, the NATO nations must commit this two percent of GDP as they're obliged to do in NATO, but they must do it now. And indicating as well in the same tweet that they should be doubled down to four percent.

So not clear quite what's happening behind the scenes this morning right now, but I think the general sense is that something is happening.

We're waiting to find out although we may have had a hint of what was going on with the pool -- the pool camera being allowed in to spray the early part of that meeting and apparently, that didn't happen as planned. So that also gives you an indication that things aren't running quite smoothly.

President Trump arriving late, something in the air, and then the pool camera not being allowed into the meeting. We just don't know what it is right now.

BRIGGS: So perhaps there is face-to-face confrontations this morning -- all right.

The president then heads to the U.K. What do we expect from that visit?

ROBERTSON: That will be a visit perhaps much more to President Trump's liking.

He will get to have tea with the queen. You know, his mother was born in Britain. He's said before, several times, that she really liked the royal family and he does too, so this is something that he's going to want to do.

He'll have tea with the queen on Friday and lunch with the prime minister on Friday, perhaps not quite to his political taste. She's in deep political trouble.

He has indicated already that he kind of likes the foreign secretary Boris Johnson better. He may or may not visit him while he's in the U.K. That would be a very negative message to send to the British prime minister.

However, he might -- for the foreign secretary -- from the foreign secretary. But he might, however, encounter some protests -- some street protests in London, maybe just flying over them in Marine One as he lands at his residence in central London. But those protesters will be kept well back by big barricades the police have erected.

BRIGGS: Protests also expected to welcome him to Scotland when he goes to play golf at his Turnberry resort there.

Nic Robertson live for us at the NATO summit in Brussels. Thank you.

ROMANS: All right.

Two countries closely watching the president, Germany and Russia. Europe is learning what the president meant when he said his meeting with Vladimir Putin could be easier than talks with America's allies.

For more on the reaction from Germany and Russia, let's bring in CNN's Frederik Pleitgen live from Moscow -- Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine.

Yes, Angela Merkel really giving some pushback to President Trump, but it really seems as though this summit -- NATO summit is really one that is defined by that rift between Angela Merkel and President Trump.

[05:35:08] Angela Merkel saying she knows very well how difficult it can be because she grew up in a country that was essentially under the thumb of the Soviet Union. Therefore, Germany values its own independence that it has now.

Also economic policies, shooting back at President Trump's criticism, of course, of that gas pipeline between Germany and Russia, saying look, America is not going to meddle in Germany's trade policies.

Angela Merkel, of course, also trying to be very constructive though. She had a meeting with President Trump then later on. That seemed to go a little better. But certainly, you do see Angela Merkel standing up for herself.

And really, President Trump's comments not going down well in Germany at all. Of course, coming at a time when she has problems internally in Germany and then also, of course, she is someone who generally is perceived as a very pro-American chancellor.

So certainly, President Trump's comments not going down well and Angela Merkel certainly fighting back, Christine.

ROMANS: The president meets with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. What's the reaction from the Kremlin and how could that all affect this summit?

PLEITGEN: You know, it's been -- it's been so interesting because on Facebook the Kremlin, this week, trying to remain very low key. They're saying look, what's going on in NATO is not any of our concern.

But at the same time, the Russians obviously are saying that they're highly critical of the NATO alliance. They think it's directed against Russia and they think that it's a danger to Russia that's moving in closer to Russian borders.

And it's quite interesting because just a couple of minutes ago we got some reaction from a senior Russian lawmaker who says that Russia is essentially withholding the NATO alliance together. And he also noting that there are major rifts in what he calls the Europeans around Angela Merkel and then President Trump on the other side.

And then he ends his statement saying that President Trump is saying look, if you are scared then you need to pay. So obviously, they're seeing what's going on at the NATO summit.

And the Kremlin certainly believes that the optics of the meeting between Vladimir Putin and President Trump can really only be better than what we've been seeing from the NATO summit. So they're gearing up for that.

The Kremlin staying low-key but you can see pundits and other politicians here really starting to think that there is really a fundamental rift going on within that Western alliance that Russia could possibly exploit and work towards better relations with at least the Trump White House, Christine.

ROMANS: Right, and no question, any rift in the Western alliance is something that works to the benefit of the Russians.

All right, Fred Pleitgen. Thank you so much.

BRIGGS: President Trump's confrontational comments at NATO provoking a notably mixed reaction among Republicans at home. But one senator, Bob Corker, who leads the Foreign Relations Committee said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BOB CORKER (R-TN), CHAIRMAN, SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: The rhetoric, to me, is just -- it's damaging to us and damaging to others, unnecessarily. I absolutely agree on the substance but I think there are ways of communicating with your friends and sometimes it feels like we punch our friends in the nose and hold our hand out to people that are working strongly against us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: And that's the dynamic as the president heads to the U.K. and then on to Helsinki to meet with Putin on Monday.

But, Corker also sponsored a resolution requiring Congressional approval --

ROMANS: That's right.

BRIGGS: -- when the president wants to national security as a reason for these tariffs. Eighty-eight to 11, this non-binding resolution passed. Nothing passes 88 to 11 --

ROMANS: Right.

BRIGGS: -- in the Senate today so that says an awful lot about how the --

ROMANS: It sure does.

BRIGGS: -- Senate feels about that national security excuse.

ROMANS: All right, 38 minutes past the hour.

FBI agent Peter Strzok testifies publicly today and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page could be alongside him. Strzok and Page were having an affair during the presidential campaign. Their texts have fueled Republican claims of an anti-Trump bias at the Bureau.

Strzok appears before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees at 10:00 a.m. eastern. Page defied a subpoena to appear privately before those committees yesterday.

House Freedom Caucus leader Mark Meadows said the Judiciary Committee plans to give Page two options -- appear for a closed-door interview later this week or testify alongside Strzok in public today. No confirmation yet whether she plans to take up either offer.

Even the president tweeting about this at 2:00 a.m. eastern time on his way to a NATO meeting. He asked, rhetorically, when Attorney General Jeff Sessions would get involved.

ROMANS: Breaking overnight, thousands of asylum seekers may be turned away at the southern border because of a new Trump administration policy. Border officers who evaluate asylum and refugee applications have brand new guidance. It orders them to reject claims based on fear of gang and domestic violence.

Officers also now allowed to reject asylum claims by immigrants who cross the border illegally, even if they have a legitimate fear of persecution.

BRIGGS: The administration officials say they expect reunifications to be finished by early this morning for children under five separated at the border. That excludes the 27 parents deemed ineligible because of criminal backgrounds or other issues.

[05:40:00] And a reunion appears imminent for the girl in this audio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLISON XIMENA VALENCIA MADRID (Crying): Dad! At least can I go with my aunt? I want her to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: That recording is a big part of the events that forced the president to reverse the border separation policy.

Six-year-old Allison's mother, Cindy Madrid, was released from a South Texas detention center last night. She now heads to Arizona where she hopes to see her daughter as early as tomorrow pending, of course, DNA results. BRIGGS: All right. Ahead, Stormy Daniels back in the news, arrested overnight. We'll tell you why and what her lawyer is saying, ahead on EARLY START.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right.

Breaking overnight, Stormy Daniels arrested at a strip club in Ohio. Michael Avenatti, her attorney, tweeted that his client was taken into custody for allowing a customer to touch her while on stage. It appears to be a violation of an obscure Ohio law.

[05:45:07] Now, Avenatti calls her arrest a set-up and politically motivated. She is expected to be arraigned tomorrow.

BRIGGS: Trouble this morning for the brand new White House deputy chief of staff for communications, Bill Shine. CNN's KFILE uncovering explosive new audio of this wife Darla Shine mocking victims of sexual harassment.

She's been under scrutiny lately for reportedly making racially- charged remarks and spreading baseless anti-vaccination conspiracy theories on her now-deleted Twitter account.

Listen to these comments she made on a radio show in 2009 about how women in the military should expect to be sexually harassed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARLA SHINE, WIFE OF BILL SHINE, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: Why on earth would you fight to go on a submarine ship for months on end? You know, there was just a story with these girls -- these women are upset that they are sexually harassed in the military. What do you think is going to happen when you go on a submarine for 12 months with 4,000 horny soldiers?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: That's a big submarine.

BRIGGS: That's is a huge submarine.

Darla Shine did not respond to multiple requests for comment and when CNN KFILE asked the White House whether Bill Shine agrees with his wife's comments there was no response.

ROMANS: All right.

In Arizona, a huge fire destroys a Safeway supermarket in North Phoenix. Billows of black smoke and flames roughly 30 feet high could be seen shooting from the roof. The 3-alarm fire broke out just before 6:00 p.m. Wednesday.

Firefighters immediately began clearing the store of customers and employees when the roof collapsed. Fortunately, nobody hurt. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

BRIGGS: There is now video of George Clooney's crash in Italy showing the moment his scooter hit an oncoming car. Security footage obtained by an Italian newspaper shows the actor riding his scooter up a road in Sardinia on Tuesday.

You can see he collides head-on with a dark-colored car. The impact sent Clooney high into the air and then smashing to the ground. He is now recovering at home.

ROMANS: All right, that's your Clooney update. Here's your "CNN Money" update.

U.S. stocks fell yesterday. The Dow down more than 200 points.

The U.S. announced new tariffs on China worth $200 billion. Beijing vowed to fight back.

Escalating trade tensions outweighed optimism for a strong earnings season kicking off this week. S&P 500 profits -- look at that -- should be 20 percent higher than last year.

Right now, checking global stocks and U.S. futures, it looks like they're recovering a bit.

If you are on Twitter don't be surprised to see your follower count drop. Twitter is purging tens of millions of suspicious accounts. Most people are going to lose only about four followers. Big accounts will see a more significant drop.

Twitter says this move will make Twitter a more trusted service for public conversation. It is part of a broader effort to fight trolls, fake news, and disinformation on the platform.

Papa John's founder is in trouble again. John Schnatter is resigning as chairman for using a racial slur on a conference call designed to prevent future P.R. disasters.

Schnatter used the "N" word during a role-playing exercise. He complained that Col. Sanders used the "N" word without facing backlash and he said that when he was growing up in Indiana racists dragged black people from their trucks.

Now, Schnatter's comments were supposed to show he's against racism but the people on the call were offended. Schnatter apologized but investors were not impressed.

The stock fell nearly five percent.

Last year, he stepped down as CEO after he blamed slowing sales on Papa John's on the NFL National Anthem protest.

BRIGGS: Yes, the NFL was out and now, Major League Baseball has a partnership that is out.

That Twitter crackdown -- keep your eye on the president's Twitter account --

ROMANS: Yes.

BRIGGS: -- and President Obama's Twitter account. Some expect them to lose millions of followers.

Ahead, the World Cup Final all set. Croatia dancing to the title game. England fans bumming out this morning.

Coy Wire has this morning's "Bleacher Report," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:53:30] BRIGGS: It's World Cup history for Croatia; heartbreak for England.

ROMANS: Oh. Coy Wire has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report." Hey, Coy.

BRIGGS: Hey, man.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Top of the morning to you, guys.

Croatia -- they had this undying will to win. Players overcoming absolute exhaustion to make Croatia the smallest nation to reach a World Cup final since 1950.

But this game meant so much to England and a dream start it was, taking the lead just five minutes into the match with a brilliant free kick from Kieran Trippier. It had England faithful thinking they could actually do it. They weren't expected to make it this far.

It was a surreal scene unfolding in that moment back in London. You think this meant something to England fans? Hands in the air, beers flying everywhere. Life was good.

But, Croatia went into that zone -- that mental space, allowing folks to somehow dig deep, keep pushing, and finding a way even when those bodies are exhausted beyond comprehension.

That goal from Ivan Perisic equalized the match that would eventually go into extra time where 32-year-old Mario Mandzukic, despite being hobbled, got that shot off right there that would put the nail in the coffin and the eventual game-winner.

Croatia piling on top of one another knowing that they had taken every team's best shot coming from behind, enduring, and winning three straight matches that all went into extra minutes -- unreal. Even a photographer nearby was consumed by the elation, nearly lost beneath that pile snapping some photos that are now worth more than a thousand words.

[05:55:06] Croatia advancing to the World Cup Final for the first time ever with a 2-1 victory over England.

And check out the scene back in Zagreb. Fans packing the streets. This nation of just four million people celebrating knowing that they just took down a giant of over 50 million folks. This party might still be going until the final, which is against France on Sunday.

Now we go from the thrill of victory, right, to the agony of defeat. That same watch party we showed you moments ago looked more like a funeral after the whistle had blown.

One England fan might be mourning more than just the team's loss this morning. You'll notice he was upset with the loss so much so that he threw his phone at the T.V., breaking it there in the background.

Just minutes after England lost, Prince William tweeted a message of encouragement to the team. "I know how disappointed England must feel," he says, "right now, but I couldn't be more proud of this team and you should hold your heads high.

You've had an incredible World Cup, made history, and gave us fans something to believe in. We know there's more to come from this team."

England played Belgium on Saturday for third place. Then the main event is Sunday, France versus Croatia, for one of the most prestigious trophies in the world.

And man, Dave Briggs, we were wrong. We have France -- but England, we thought they were going to pull it off. They just couldn't get it done.

BRIGGS: Yes, France-England would have been a dream final. Congrats to Croatia, but not the one I think most sports fans wanted to see.

Coy Wire, thank you, my friend.

WIRE: You're welcome.

ROMANS: All right.

Tears -- joyful tears flow as family members of the rescued Thai soccer team get to see the boys through the windows there. The boys recovering in a hospital isolation unit after spending 18 days trapped underground. Some details of their harrowing rescue only now coming to light.

We have Matt Rivers who has the latest from Thailand.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot of new video here that we're seeing for the first time coming out in Northern Thailand -- videos released by the Thai government.

Let's start with the rescue attempt. The Thai government releasing clips from the video they shot inside that cave which show just an absolutely treacherous path for rescuers to try and carry these kids out. What you see in that video is rescuers braving very dangerous

conditions, carrying boys out on stretchers. At some points, they actually have to hoist the stretcher up onto a pulley system because parts of that cave were so steep that rescuers couldn't carry the stretcher safely. So they actually had to hoist the stretchers up to get the boys out.

You see running water, you see how murky it is. Just an incredibly difficult task for rescuers. You also see them giving initial medical treatment inside that cave.

So really good insight that we didn't have before into how difficult this rescue operation turned out to be for the brave volunteers and the Thai military and the international military that came here to get these boys out.

So between video of the rescue attempt and video of the hospital, we are getting more and more insight into this situation overall here in Northern Thailand -- Christine, Dave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: You know, the world needed that story. They really did.

BRIGGS: Oh, man, did they.

ROMANS: And just a success mission possible. What they thought would be impossible they made possible so I really love all that.

And so, in about a half hour the president is going to leave from Brussels headed to the U.K., so there's a lot of news happening today.

BRIGGS: Yes, and reportedly, some more sparks flying at that NATO summit in Brussels and again, over spending.

So, John Berman is live in London. Alisyn Camerota here in New York for "NEW DAY."

ROMANS: Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: See you tomorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States is paying far too much and other countries are not paying enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The United States doesn't even spend four percent of GDP on defense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm looking at the results. NATO is stronger today than it was last week.

CORKER: When I see leadership trying to break apart alliances it troubles me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. president arriving in the U.K. today.

THERESA MAY, PRIME MINSTER, UNITED KINGDOM: We'll be talking positively about how we can continue to work together for the good of people living in the U.K. and the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Thursday, July 12th.

I'm John Berman, live in a very, very sad London this morning.

Alisyn's in New York. John Avlon there, as well.

I swear, I'm the only one smiling here this morning. Nothing but heartbreak after England's crushing World Cup loss. This is on the front page of every paper. Very sad people about this.

But, there's a tidal wave of news beyond that. President Trump arrives here in just two hours from his eventful NATO meeting in Brussels, and eventful if a euphemism. Diplomatic mayhem is more like it.

I want to show you the picture of the morning. This is --

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, I'll take it from here John because you're having audio issues.

This is President Trump arriving at the -- his second day of meeting with NATO leaders.