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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Joe Biden Enters 2020 Race; White House Stonewalls Testimony from Officials; Police in Sri Lanka Raid Five Houses Linked to Terror. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired April 25, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:19] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: The 2020 race in for an epic shakeup as Joe Biden gets into the race today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're fighting all the subpoenas. Look, these aren't like impartial people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN ANCHOR: That's President Trump vowing not to back down to Democrats. Two more aides now refusing to testify including immigration hawk Stephen Miller.
BRIGGS: The execution has been carried out for a man behind one of the most horrific hate crimes in American history.
KOSINSKI: And how does zero screen time sound for your kids? New guidelines where it seriously curtail how long children should spend in front of those screens.
BRIGGS: It sounds fantastic, to answer your question.
KOSINSKI: I don't know. But then how are you going to occupy your kid all day? Just kidding, just kidding.
BRIGGS: We do need screen babysitters. No, no, it's very true. Bane of my existence.
KOSINSKI: They could be watching EARLY START instead of doing that, well, whatever they do.
BRIGGS: Let's hope they're sleeping at 4:00 a.m.
KOSINSKI: But now they're like technological geniuses because of it.
Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Michelle Kosinski.
BRIGGS: I'm David Briggs. Thursday, April 25th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.
Is the third time the charm? We're about to find out as the list of Democrats running in 2020 now jumps to 20 today. Joe Biden will announce his presidential bid this morning. The former vice president rallied donors and supporters on a conference call yesterday. He offered a brief preview of his campaign's message saying the soul of the country is at stake. Biden underscored the importance of a strong fundraising performance straight out of the gate.
KOSINSKI: A source tells us this Pennsylvania native will hold his first campaign event in Pittsburgh on Monday, then he'll hit the road to the early voting states of Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire. Biden's decades in the Senate, eight years as vice president, and high-name recognition put him at the top of recent polls. But he faces a Democratic Party far different than the last time he ran for office. Progressive issues are now front and center, not foreign policy.
BRIGGS: Sources say Biden's team thought about releasing his announcement video yesterday but they were warned it would be a bad idea to draw attention away from a 2020 forum focused on women of color. Several candidates already in the race appeared at the "She, the People" event. Here are some of the highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will have a woman running mate. To me it's really clear that we do that.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Women of color are the heart and soul of the Democratic Party, and the heart and soul of our nation. They're creative people.
BETO O'ROURKE (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We also need an equal rights amendment ratified in this country so that no woman can be discriminated against on any basis whatsoever.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why should women of color choose you as a nominee for president?
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because of my track record my entire life. Focusing on women of color.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: The focus on women yesterday prompting speculation that Cindy McCain and her daughter Meghan would endorse Biden, a longtime friend of the late Republican senator. But Cindy McCain denied that speculation, tweeting, "Joe Biden is a wonderful man, however, I have no intention of getting involved in presidential politics."
BRIGGS: Two more cases of blatant stonewalling from the White House. Administration officials informing the House Oversight Committee that Trump adviser Stephen Miller will not testify about immigration policy and DOJ official John Gore will not comply with the subpoena to answer questions about the census. In recent days, the White House has interfered with Democrats seeking information on security clearances, Mr. Trump's financial records, his taxes and a subpoena for testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're fighting all the subpoenas. Look, these aren't like impartial people. The Democrats are trying to win 2020. The only way they can luck out is by constantly going after me on nonsense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: House Oversight chairman Elijah Cummings calls the president's actions a massive, unprecedented and growing pattern of obstruction. He says these employees and their personal attorneys should think very carefully about their own legal interests rather than being swept up in the obstruction schemes of the Trump administration.
BRIGGS: It was like, quote, "pulling teeth" to get the White House to pay attention to attempted Russian interference ahead of the 2020 election. A U.S. official telling CNN one reason it was so hard is that senior West Wing staff felt it wasn't a good idea to bring up issues related to Russia in front of the president.
KOSINSKI: One person who does not need to be reminded about Russian influence is Hillary Clinton. President Trump's 2016 opponent penning a new op-ed for the "Washington Post."
[04:05:01] She writes, "The debate about how to respond to Russia's sweeping and systematic attack and how to hold President Trump accountable for obstructing the investigation and possibly breaking the law has been reduced to a false choice. Immediate impeachment or nothing. History suggests there's a better way to think about the choices ahead."
BRIGGS: Clinton urges House Democrats to conduct public hearings to help the public better understand the allegations in the Mueller report and she adds, quote, "Obviously, this is personal for me and some say I'm not the right messenger." That line was re-tweeted by George Conway, husband of Kellyanne Conway, with the note, "Perhaps so. Probably so. But if she's with the Constitution, I'm with her."
KOSINSKI: Wow. A man who carried out one of the most disturbing hate crimes in the country's history has been executed in Texas. Forty- four-year-old John William King is one of the three suspects convicted for the murder of James Byrd, Jr. 1998, King, Lawrence Russell Brewer and Shawn Berry picked up Byrd and drove him to a secluded area. There they beat him, spray-printed his face, tied a logging chain around his ankles, and dragged him behind a pickup truck for nearly three miles.
Byrd's death led to new hate crime laws passed by Congress and the state of Texas. Byrd's sister Clara releasing a statement saying, "King showed no remorse, then showed no remorse tonight. His execution tonight was just punishment for his actions."
BRIGGS: The number of Boy Scout leaders accused of sexual abuse is nearly 3,000 more than previously known. According to the newly exposed court testimony, the Boy Scouts of America believes more than 7800 of its former leaders were involved in sexually abusing children over the course of 72 years. It identified more than 12,000 alleged victims. That number includes scout leaders and scout masters across the country.
The Boy Scouts in a statement Wednesday said they sincerely apologized adding, "At no time have we ever knowingly allowed a perpetrator to work with youth."
KOSINSKI: Those numbers. An Alabama police chief says he's disgusted by video that shows an officer cursing and threatening a woman during a traffic stop that then turned violent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go. Go on --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your arm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hand behind you.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you lost your freaking --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, please, please, please. Please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your arm. If you bite me, you're going to lose every one of your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) teeth, you understand me?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: Twenty-two-year-old Jasmine Shepard was accused of leaving the scene of an accident Friday. The Tuscaloosa officer began trying to handcuff her seconds after requesting her driver's license. Another officer arrived moments later. Shepherd tells CNN, "Officers made me feel like I wasn't even human." Local media report the officers are now on desk duty pending an investigation and will face a disciplinary board.
BRIGGS: Wow.
Murder charges have been filed against the parents of 5-year-old A.J. Freund after the little boy's body was found in a shallow grave about 10 miles from his home in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Andrew Freund Sr. and Jo Ann Cunningham reported A.J. missing last week. Police interviewed the parents again after obtaining new information from cell phone data. The cause of the boy's death still unknown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES BLACK, CRYSTAL LAKE POLICE CHIEF: Once presented with the evidence obtained by investigators, both Joanne and Andrew Senior provided information that ultimately led to the recovery -- what we believe is a recovery of deceased subject A.J.
To A.J., we know you're at peace playing in heaven's playground and are happy you no longer have to suffer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: A.J.'s parents are expected in court today. His mother's attorney has not responded to request for comments. It's not clear whether his father has gained legal counsel.
KOSINSKI: The outbreak of measles in the U.S. is now the largest since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000. That's according to the Centers for Disease Control. There have been 695 measles cases in 22 states this year. It's only April. The previous high number was 667 in 2014. Federal health officials have been mostly quiet.
But Health Secretary Alex Azar released a statement Wednesday saying, quote, "Measles is not a harmless childhood illness. We have the ability to safely protect our children and our communities. Vaccines are a safe, highly effective public health solution that can prevent this disease." There's been a growing anti-vaxxer movement online. Most of the cases in the U.S. have emerged in communities with lower rates of vaccinations.
BRIGGS: A check on CNN Business at 4:09 Eastern Time. Two big tech companies with big problems reported earnings Wednesday.
[04:10:03] Tesla and Facebook both reporting huge losses in the first quarter. Tesla snapped its profit streak, losing $702 million. Its revenue also fell 37 percent to $4.5 billion. Earlier this month, Tesla revealed it delivered about 63,000 vehicles to customers in the first quarter. That's a 31 percent drop from the fourth quarter last year and the single largest decline it's ever reported.
If you think $702 million is bad, well, Facebook preparing to pay $3 billion to $5 billion in fines related to an ongoing investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. The company set aside $3 billion in legal expenses related to the investigation which cut into its profit for the first quarter. Facebook's profit for the quarter fell 51 percent to $2.4 billion. That marks the company's first year-over- year profit decline since 2015.
KOSINSKI: President Trump's tax overhaul is hurting some Gold Star families. According to a nonprofit group that advocates for the families spouses who sign their Earned Survivor benefits over to their children are paying thousands more in taxes. In the past, Gold Star families who chose this option paid an average of 12 percent to 15 percent in taxes on that income. Under the Trump plan, though, that tax rate jumped to 37 percent. CNN has reached out to the White House on this. So far no comments.
BRIGGS: How much screen time is healthy for young children? Well, in some cases none. The World Health Organization issuing strict new guidelines on screen time for kids. They say never for children under 1 and rarely in their second year. Those 2 to 4 years old should spend no more than an hour a day in front of the screen. The WHO drew on emerging science about the risks screens posed to the development of young minds. Study showed children are spending increasing amounts of time with smartphones and other mobile devices.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is downtown -- no, no, no, no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: A violent end to a high-speed chase in Los Angeles. This chase started on Route 60. The car hit speeds above 100 miles an hour. The driver then got off the freeway and sped across downtown streets. After the crash, he tried to casually walk away like nothing happened. But he was arrested after eyewitnesses pointed him out. Right now, it's not clear what prompted that chase or the condition of the people in the car that was hit.
BRIGGS: OK. Ahead, a new dress code for school, not for the students, for the parents. Now there's major backlash at one Houston, Texas, school.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:16:50] KOSINSKI: An Alabama sheriff's deputy placed on leave for posting anti-LGBTQ comments after a teenager's suicide. Fifteen-year- old Nigel Shelby took his own life last week. He'd been bullied for being gay. A local news station in Huntsville then posted a story on its Facebook page raising awareness about LGBTQ bullying. One user took issue with that posting, "Liberty, guns, bible, Trump, barbecue. That's my kind of LGBTQ movement." That user was Jeff Graves.
BRIGGS: Wow.
KOSINSKI: A deputy with the Madison County Sheriff's Office. He's been placed on leave with the sheriff promising a thorough investigation.
BRIGGS: An unexpected show of support for actress Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman. Both caught up in the college admissions cheating scandal. Martha Stewart says she feels sorry for them. The TV icon, business mogul and ex-con says they might have made a bad mistake.
KOSINSKI: Yes.
BRIGGS: The two are accused of making big payments in a scheme to get their kids into elite universities at the expense of more deserving applicants. In the early 2000s you might remember Stewart served five months in prison for lying to investigators about a stock sale. Felicity Huffman was one of 13 parents who agreed to plead guilty last week. Lori Loughlin and her husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded not guilty in the case.
KOSINSKI: We've heard of high schools implementing dress codes for students but now James Madison High School in Houston, Texas, is telling parents how to dress. In a letter sent out earlier this month, officials said parents cannot enter school grounds wearing pajamas or revealing clothing. Leggings, sagging pants, low rider shorts are off limits along with hair curlers and shower caps.
Rosemary Young was handed a copy of the new dress code when she wore a satin cap to pick up her son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSEMARY YOUNG, PARENT: It doesn't matter how a parent should come, if we come here belligerent, out of control, or things of that nature, that's what you have the police for. But what I wear should never be an issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: The schools said their new policy was put in place to let students know how to dress appropriately when entering a building or applying for a job. The Houston Independent School District declined to comment.
BRIGGS: Some feel it's racially insensitive, the dress code.
KOSINSKI: Right.
BRIGGS: But the principal is black of that high school. I tell you, all I know is that at my kids' school, if you banned yoga pants --
KOSINSKI: I was just going to say, I assume it was --
BRIGGS: You would have no parents there to pick up.
KOSINSKI: I assume this was about yoga pants.
BRIGGS: Yes.
KOSINSKI: Those skin tight, see-through yoga pants.
BRIGGS: Not the ones I wear.
KOSINSKI: Yes.
BRIGGS: I do wear yoga pants but they're not tight.
KOSINSKI: Well, the -- when you wear the curlers, I think that's a little offensive.
BRIGGS: That goes too far?
KOSINSKI: I have to say.
BRIGGS: We can agree on that.
Ahead, five houses raided overnight in Sri Lanka following the Easter attacks. Search operations are still ongoing. We are live there next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:24:03] BRIGGS: Breaking overnight, Sri Lankan police have raided five houses they say are connected to the terrorists in the Easter Sunday bombings that killed at least 359 people. The safe houses have now been sealed for forensic investigation. All Catholic services across the capital of Colombo have been suspended until Monday over security concerns.
CNN's Nikhil Kumar live in Colombo, Sri Lanka with the latest. Good morning.
NIKHIL KUMAR, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Dave. So we are learning more about what happened on Easter Sunday and what the authorities knew in advance of the bombings. The prime minister of this country, Ranil Wickremesinghe, speaking to CNN a short time ago, told CNN that intelligence here was tracking some of the suspected bombers but didn't move in to arrest them because they didn't have sufficient evidence.
This as the investigation to stop any further bombings out there for making further attacks as that still unfolds. Israel's authorities have just issued a warning that there's a high concrete threat of further attacks.
[04:25:04] This is the latest number of warnings we've had over the week, warning people here that the threat of further terror attacks on this island is still very, very real. So we're learning more both about what happened on Easter Sunday and the threat that still exists over here -- Dave.
BRIGGS: We are still not out of the woods. All right, Nikhil, live for us this morning in Sri Lanka. Thank you.
KOSINSKI: Six-term senator, former vice president and soon to be three-time presidential candidate, Joe Biden, gets in the race today. But has the party passed him by?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSINSKI: The 2020 race in for an epic shakeup. Joe Biden leaps in today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're fighting all the subpoenas. Look, these aren't like impartial people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: President Trump vowing not to back down to Democrats. Two more aides now refusing to testify including immigration hawk Stephen Miller.
[04:30:00]
