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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
President Trump Calls For Sweeping Changes To Asylum System; Joe Biden Brings Campaign To Iowa; Army Veteran Plotted Terror Attack. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired April 30, 2019 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:32:37] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: More roadblocks for asylum seekers trying to enter the United States. The latest immigration move from the Trump administration.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Joe Biden makes his first campaign trip to Iowa today. The president repeatedly going after him despite warnings from the president's advisers to keep quiet.
BRIGGS: A murder mystery in Iowa. A driver shot in the neck as she drives home. A manhunt for the shooter underway.
ROMANS: And grab the Kleenex. A man who got a heart transplant randomly meets the family of the man who saved him at a baseball game. Oh, listening to that heartbeat.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs on a Tuesday, 5:33 Eastern time.
We start with the immigration issue in this country. President Trump taking direct aim at migrants seeking asylum in the United States in a new plan to overhaul the nation's immigration system.
In a memo to the attorney general and the Homeland Security secretary, the president calls for all asylum applications to be adjudicated within 180 days of filing. Right now, they typically take years because of a growing backlog.
He wants migrants to pay for work permits and asylum applications and wants migrants barred from receiving work authorization if they've entered or attempted to enter illegally.
ROMANS: Mr. Trump has been stepping up his anti-immigration rhetoric, accusing migrants of taking advantage of legal loopholes. DHS reports a 2,000 percent increase in migrants claiming credible fear as the first step in the asylum process over the last five years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The asylum program is a scam. Some of the roughest people you've ever seen -- people that look like they should be fighting for the UFC -- they're all met by the lawyers and they say, "Say the following phrase. I am very afraid for my life. I am afraid for my life."
OK, and then I look at the guy. He looks like he just got out of the ring. He's the heavyweight champion of the world. He's afraid for his --
It's a big fat con job, folks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The president calls on the DOJ and the DHS to take action within 90 days.
BRIGGS: The president taking his stonewalling tactics to new heights. The Trump Organization and the president's family suing Deutsche Bank and Capital One to block congressional subpoenas. Deutsche Bank has loaned Mr. Trump more than $360 million in recent years.
[05:35:03] The filing claims subpoenas are being issued to quote, "just harass the president."
Adam Schiff and Maxine Waters, chairs of the House Intel and Financial Services Committees, call the suit a legal ploy to put off meaningful accountability as long as possible.
This suit is similar to one Mr. Trump filed earlier this month against his own accounting firm Mazars USA to stop it from complying with a subpoena for financial documents.
ROMANS: All right. Joe Biden brings his newly-launched campaign to Iowa today.
The former V.P. kicking things off at a rally in Pittsburgh Monday. He called for a $15.00 minimum wage. He called for a public option for Medicare to bring down health care costs.
Biden says Democrats need to worry less about the president and look inward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Everybody knows who Donald Trump is and I believe -- I believe and hope they know who we are. We have to let them know who we are.
Quite frankly, folks, if I'm going to be able to beat Donald Trump in 2020 it's going to happen here. It's going to happen here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: The president launching into a Twitter tirade branding Biden "Sleepy Joe," once again, while touting the economy under his administration.
CNN learning Mr. Trump's advisers are urging him not to get drawn into a one-on-one verbal battle with Biden or any of the top candidates. They fear that could elevate his rivals.
Let's go live to Washington and bring in CNN political producer Dan Merica. Good to see you, Dan.
ROMANS: Hey, Dan.
DAN MERICA, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Hey, guys. How are you?
BRIGGS: We're doing well, and yourself?
MERICA: Great.
BRIGGS: So look, a healthy, strong economy, both in the United States and specifically, in Pennsylvania and yet, Joe Biden goes right there and leads with an economic message -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: It's well past time that the minimum wage nationally should be a minimum of $15.00. It's well past time. It's time to start rewarding work over wealth.
The first step is reverse President Trump's tax cut for the very wealthy and corporations. We need to eliminate these special tax credits from the tax code that reward special interests.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: With the economy so strong Dan -- again, in the country and in Pennsylvania --
MERICA: Yes.
BRIGGS: -- can that message resonate?
MERICA: Yes, absolutely. I think -- I think what Democrats are wanting to do is tie a strong economy to what people are feeling in the rest in America, and it's anxiety over whether their paycheck is getting bigger --
ROMANS: Right.
MERICA: -- whether they're feeling the tax cut, and using that to kind of put a divide between elites and people who are making minimum wage and working paycheck-to-paycheck.
And what you're seeing is that when candidates like Joe Biden go to places like Pittsburgh, like Iowa, like other places across the country, that's what the message that they're doing and that allows them also to attack President Trump.
And what you're seeing is while all these candidates are saying let's look past the president, let's look inward, they're also using the economy, immigration, and a host of other issues to attack the president. And I think it might be because they want to get into a direct one-on-
one match with the president much like what happened yesterday when it really seemed like Joe Biden had rented space in Donald Trump's head for much of the day because the president was really fixated on not only his trip to Pennsylvania but the fact that a union was endorsing him.
And it's hard to imagine how that can continue if every time a union endorses someone other than him -- is he really going to tweet about that if every time a candidate goes to Pennsylvania or Michigan or a state where he had success in 2016, are they going to react -- is he going to react that way because it's going to be a long year --
ROMANS: Yes.
MERICA: -- before we get to the general election.
ROMANS: Dan, we know our reporting is that some of the president's advisers are saying come on, don't be -- don't be singling out --
MERICA: Yes.
ROMANS: -- Joe Biden or anybody else because that just gives them oxygen to rise. But the president cannot help himself. He makes these nicknames that he likes to go after his perceived -- his perceived enemies.
On the economy, I mean, look, the conventional wisdom is that the economy is strong right here and that if the Democrats want to get an edge in there it's got to be on health care. It's got to be on access to health care. It's got to be on the idea that the president's tax cuts are corporate welfare for big companies that are paying zero taxes.
Can they -- can they fine tune that kind of a message?
MERICA: Yes. I mean, I think that's what the primary is all about is you have 20 candidates and you're going to see 20 different ways to go at that. And at some point, you're going to have candidates who kind of appropriate and take tips and strategies from other candidates even if they're not saying that out loud.
So you're going to see the Democrats fine-tune their talking points when it -- when it comes to health care, when it comes to the economy. And that's also going to come out in the debates as well.
And that's why a lot of Democrats are hopeful that a primary field that includes 20, 21, maybe 22 candidates is actually going to be good for the party even though it splits up the party --
ROMANS: True.
MERICA: -- and makes it so -- makes it more difficult for maybe a lesser-known candidate to get much attention because it does help fine-tune and vet talking points that will then be successful possibly in the general election against President Trump. [05:40:08] BRIGGS: So, some new polling from CNN out in about 20 minutes that should look to show Biden the frontrunner and --
MERICA: Yes.
BRIGGS: -- Bernie, a clear second place.
And, Pete Buttigieg looks like he is a secure third place, at least for now in this race. You've covered Mayor Pete. What's his message and why is he resonating?
MERICA: He seems to be resonating with a mix of people. I think there are a lot of young people who are drawn to his message.
But what I've noted at events as well is that there's a lot of seniors who are double his age who are drawn to this idea of handing over control and handing over power to a younger generation who can -- who can shake things up and who are different than the politician that they have voted for for decades now.
He is finding success because of a media strategy as well that has him everywhere. Last night, he was on Trevor Noah. He's been on almost every night -- late-night show. He's more than happy to sit down and chat with reporters about his plans and his policies and that is really putting him in front of a lot of different and diverse groups of voters.
An example is he did a -- he did a show like "TMZ LIVE" -- not a traditional landing spot for 2020 --
ROMANS: Sure.
MERICA: -- presidential candidates. And his communications team basically believes that the reason you do that is because you want to reach out to all voters. You don't want to look down on any outlet or any show because it allows -- in this case Pete Buttigieg -- to reach out and to tap into voters who may not be watching --
ROMANS: Right.
MERICA: -- CNN or other news outlets. And that has also led to a lot of success.
And you're right, you have seen poll after poll after poll that has shown he is firmly in. He might be far behind Biden and Bernie Sanders but he's firmly in that next tier of candidates, which would have been really unheard of three months, even two months ago.
ROMANS: Yes, and infrastructure talks today between --
MERICA: Yes.
ROMANS: -- congressional Democrats in the White House. The last time Chuck and Nancy and Donald Trump were all together it was a -- it was quite a show, so we'll see what happens this morning.
All right, Dan Merica, thanks. Nice to see you today.
MERICA: Thanks for having me.
ROMANS: All right.
A 26-year-old Army veteran charged with plotting a terror attack in the Los Angeles area. According to the Justice Department, Mark Domingo was radicalized online and seeking retribution for last month's deadly mosque attacks in New Zealand.
CNN's Jessica Schneider has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Dave, this 26-year-old former Army soldier who served in Afghanistan for four months has allegedly been plotting an attack since early March.
Authorities say Mark Steven Domingo began posting his support for violent Jihad online and then, for the past two months, repeatedly met with an FBI informant before ultimately staking out a spot in Long Beach, California where he planned to detonate a homemade bomb on Sunday.
But authorities were tracking him the entire time and agents from the Joint Terrorism Task Force, they arrested Domingo on Friday after the FBI informant he had been talking with handed over the bomb materials to Domingo.
NICK HANNA, U.S. ATTORNEY: This is a case in which law enforcement was able to identify a man consumed with hate and bent on mass murder, and stop him before he could carry out his attack.
SCHNEIDER: Now, what we know about this 26-year-old is that he served in the military from 2011 to 2013 and deployed to Afghanistan for four months in 2012.
But in videos recently, he proclaimed that he had become a Muslim and wanted to harm Americans, and Jewish people, and police officers, among others -- Dave and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Jessica Schneider. Thank you for that.
BRIGGS: All right. Ahead, he broke barriers on and off the screen. Hollywood remembering Oscar-nominated director John Singleton.
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[05:47:52] ROMANS: Welcome back.
A manhunt is underway in Iowa after a woman was mysteriously shot and killed on a highway.
Waterloo police responded to a car accident on Highway 218 near the Greenhill exit. The driver, Micalla Rettinger, had been shot in the neck. She later died.
The passenger, Adam Kimball, was also injured. Rettinger's father tells the "Des Moines Register" Kimball was her boyfriend and that there was another person in the car as well. That person was not hurt.
Police say it does not appear that Rettinger was specifically targeted.
BRIGGS: Measles cases reaching another historic high. More than 70 percent of those infected were not vaccinated.
As of Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report 704 cases of measles nationwide this year. That's the highest number of cases in a single year since the disease was eliminated back in 2000.
Six of the outbreaks were in, quote, "under-immunized, close-knit religious or cultural communities."
ROMANS: Yes, 474 cases have been reported in New York City and New York State, mostly in ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods.
New York City's health department closed to two more schools for violating an order that keeps unvaccinated students out of class.
BRIGGS: Pioneering filmmaker John Singleton has died. He had been in a coma since suffering a stroke earlier this month.
At 24, Singleton became the youngest and first black director nominated for an Academy Award. That was for his 1991 debut film "Boyz n the Hood."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ICE CUBE, RAPPER, ACTOR, BOYZ N THE HOOD: Either because they don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's going on in the hood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Introducing us to Ice Cube among others.
Singleton went on to direct films like "Poetic Justice" and the remake of "Shaft" as well.
A spokesperson says Singleton was surrounded by family and friends when he was taken off life support yesterday.
Ava DuVernay is the first black female director to have her film nominated for the best picture with "Selma."
She says, "He was a giant among us, kind, committed, and immensely talented. His films broke ground, his films mattered. He will be missed and long remembered."
[05:50:03] John Singleton was just 51. ROMANS: All right, conflicting signals from the White House over Stephen Moore's nomination to the Federal Reserve's powerful Board of Directors. Early Monday, press secretary Sarah Sanders said this about Moore's past columns disparaging women.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Certainly, we're reviewing those comments and when we have an update on that front we'll let you know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: It was the first time any White House official has openly acknowledged Moore's past opinions.
A few hours later, National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: We're still behind him and he's going to through the process of vetting and we'll see what happens through that process. And then hopefully, it will go up to the Senate Banking Committee. No change in our position.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: In the latest reveal, "The New York Times" highlights a 2000 CSPAN appearance in which Moore blamed the decline of the American family on women working. The male, he said at the time, needs to be the breadwinner.
Over the weekend, Moore said he was embarrassed by some of this past writings but he also said he's being treated unfairly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN MOORE, NOMINEE, FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD OF GOVERNORS: But you know, they're pulling a Kavanaugh against me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Senator Lisa Murkowski acknowledged what she called reservations about Moore yesterday, telling reporters this. "He's written a lot and said a lot. There's a lot there."
Global markets are lower right now. You can take a look around the world. Tokyo is closed. Shanghai closed up a little bit but the rest of the markets are down.
Futures barely moving here in the U.S., pretty much directionless. Stocks were up yesterday. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at a record high -- barely higher, but it was enough to squeak out another record. This marks the third record since last Tuesday.
Upbeat consumer spending data earlier in the day helped push stocks higher. The Dow ended up 11 points for the day.
Today, the Fed meets to discuss interest rates. The question, how long can the central bank remain patient?
All right, JPMorgan Chase's idea of Monday motivation, telling its customers don't buy coffee or take a cab. It did not go over well.
The bank tweeted a hypothetical conversation between a customer and their bank account with the hashtag "Monday Motivation" and said this.
You: why is my balance so low? Bank account: make coffee at home. Bank account: eat the food that's already in the fridge.
It goes on like that.
Several people, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, criticized the tweet as tone deaf before it was finally deleted. Senator Katie Porter said -- or Congresswoman Katie Porter said essentially, hey, why don't you pay your people a little bit more --
BRIGGS: Yes.
ROMANS: -- and they could afford a coffee -- they could afford a coffee and a cab ride.
BRIGGS: Good advice.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:56:48] BRIGGS: Will a celebration of Woodstock's 50th anniversary this summer go on as planned?
The 3-day Woodstock 50 Festival was supposed to take place in August in Upstate New York. The marketing firm financing the festival told Billboard it was canceled because they didn't think they could pull off the event in a safe manner.
ROMANS: But festival organizers denied it has been canceled and said they would seek a legal remedy.
Chance the Rapper, Miley Cyrus, and Jay-Z were slated to headline along with some of the artists who played at the original Woodstock, like Santana, John Fogerty, and David Crosby.
BRIGGS: Scientists say a footprint found in Chile is 15,000 years old. It's the earliest sign of humans in the Americas.
The discovery challenges the previous time line and map of human migration into South American. Most available evidence held that humans did not reach the Patagonia region at the southern tip of South America until 12,000 years ago.
ROMANS: All right, it was close -- really close, but it was enough for the reigning "JEOPARDY!" king.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX TREBEK, HOST, "JEOPARDY!": Let's take a look -- $20,500 -- just enough. It takes him up to $54,017. Yes, he heaves a big sigh of relief because Adam made you earn it today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: James Holzhauer won his 18th game Monday by $18.00. His total earnings on "JEOPARDY!" now over $1.3 million. His 18-game streak puts him one way away from -- one win away from catching the third-longest streak in show history.
BRIGGS: A remarkable chance encounter at a baseball game had everyone in tears. On Sunday, the St. Louis Cardinals held a "Transplant Awareness Day" at Busch Stadium.
Donovan Bulger's family was there to honor their brother. He was just 21 when he died in 2016.
Donovan was an organ donor and it turns out the recipient of his heart was also at the game. John Sueme was in heart failure for five years before he received Donovan's heart three years ago.
After they met it was a literal emotional hug fest with John holding the Bulger family members close to his chest so they could listen to Donovan's heartbeat.
ROMANS: Oh, so remarkable. Everyone, please talk to your family members. Become an organ donor. It changes lives.
All right, thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Here's "NEW DAY."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The former vice president headed to Iowa.
BIDEN: We have to choose hope over fear, unity over division, and truth over lies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There may be Trump voters in his mind he can win over. He's got to play it moderate.
BRIGGS: The Trump Organization and the president's family is suing Deutsche Bank and Capital One to block congressional subpoenas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump is going to fight on all fronts to keep his financial record private.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president and his family have a right to contest it and we'll have a court battle and see who comes out on top.
(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 Tuesday, April 30th -- the last day of April -- 6:00 here in New York.
We do begin with breaking news. A brand new CNN poll releasing this second and it shows a huge opening weekend for former vice president Joe Biden. Think "Avengers: Endgame" here.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: That huge?
END
