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Trump Insults Host as He Begins U.K. State Visit; Congress Returns as More Dems Call for Impeachment; Poll: Rise in Americans Supporting Impeachment; Gunman Kills 12 in Virginia Beach; Dem Hopefuls Take Shots at Biden at California Convention; Massive Floods in Arkansas Expected to Get Worse. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired June 03, 2019 - 06:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president is setting the stage for his trip to the U.K. Comments about the duchess caught everyone's attention.

[00:59:26] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I didn't know that she was nasty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have realized he's not going to change. They're tolerating him until they don't have to deal with him any more.

REP. JIM CLYBURN (D-SC): If we sufficiently educate the public, we can move on an impeachment vote, and it will stand.

TRUMP: There was no collusion. There is no basis whatsoever for impeachment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's not one Republican in the Senate that would vote for an impeachment, so why waste your time?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Monday, June 3, 6 a.m. here in New York. And we begin with breaking news.

President Trump beginning his state visit to the U.K. and shattering diplomatic etiquette in the process. The president attacking London's mayor as Air Force One landed in London. Mr. Trump also called Duchess Meghan Markle nasty, then denied it, even though there was audio of it, which we will play. He also weighed into British politics. In the past, that was seen as a no-no by a foreign leader.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: In the next hour, the president and first lady head to Buckingham Palace, where the pageantry begins and, frankly, who knows what else, given how the first few minutes of the trip have gone? They will have a private lunch with Queen Elizabeth. Prince Harry will be there; Meghan Markle will not. We'll carry all the key moments for you live.

This visit comes just as Theresa May is about to step down as leader of her party, which begins the process of resigning as prime minister.

In Washington, as Congress comes back to work for a few days, a new CNN poll shows report support for impeachment is slowly rising.

We have a lot going on this morning. Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Max Foster, live at Buckingham Palace. Just a few minutes away, Max, from big events.

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John. Insults flying as the president flew into the U.K. this morning. He said of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, "He's been foolishly nasty, and he's a stone-cold loser."

This comes after Sadiq Khan, in a weekend op-ed, wrote that the president was one of the most egregious examples of a glowing global threat. He wanted the invite for the state visit rescinded.

That's not happening. I can tell you that the royal standard flying high above Buckingham Palace indicating the queen is in residence and ready to receive the American head of state.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER (voice-over): The last time the president visited the U.K., he was accused of arriving late and leaving the queen waiting. In fact, he was on time, and it was her majesty who was early.

He did raise a few eyebrows, however, during the military inspection when he walked in front of his host. Then he criticized U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's handling of Brexit in an interview with a British newspaper.

TRUMP: I actually told Theresa May how to do it, but she didn't agree with -- she didn't listen to me.

FOSTER: He's done the same again ahead of this visit, telling "The Sun" newspaper he thinks the U.K. allowed the European Union to have all the cards.

In the same interview, he praised May's archrival, Boris Johnson, who's running to replace her in the upcoming Conservative Party leadership contest, saying, "He's a very good guy."

Last year's visit was an informal working one, when this is a full state affair with all the pomp and pageantry the British can throw at it, including a lavish state banquet. That's been known to throw previous presidents. Barack Obama famously spoke through the national anthem.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To the queen.

FOSTER: In an unusual but not unprecedented move, President Trump is bringing all his adult children to the palace banquet. He told "The Sun" he wants Ivanka, Tiffany, Eric and Donald Jr. to hold a next- generation meeting with princes William and Harry, though a royal source confirmed to CNN that one isn't at hand. The duke and duchess of Cambridge will be amongst the guests at the banquet, however; and Prince Harry will be at an earlier lunch.

Notable in her absence during the entire visit will be the only American royal, the duchess of Sussex. The official line is that she's on maternity leave, looking after baby Archie.

MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: With as misogynistic as Trump is --

FOSTER: She famously accused Donald Trump of being misogynistic and divisive during his 2016 presidential campaign.

"I didn't know that she was nasty," the president told "The Sun." "I hope she's OK."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: So within the next couple of hours, the president will fly in by helicopter to the back garden. You're not going to see much of him on the streets here in the U.K. So many security concerns.

He'll get a formal welcome from the queen. At the same time gun salutes will ring out across London, marking the official beginning of this momentous state occasion.

Many people very excited. Some crowds here, not as many as there are, I have to say, as there are for many royal occasions. But perhaps that's because we're not going to see him, Alisyn, out in the streets as much as many people had hoped.

CAMEROTA: OK, Max, thank you very much for the preview. We will be following along with you.

So to Washington now Congress is back in session today. Over the weekend, more House Democrats called for impeachment proceedings to begin against President Trump.

CNN's Lauren Fox is live on Capitol Hill with more on that angle.

Hi, Lauren.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

You know, back when Democrats were gone last week, there was that bombshell from Robert Mueller. Now we're watching to see exactly where House Democrats are when it comes to this question of impeachment.

So far only 51 House Democrats support moving forward with impeachment. And Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, has held firm. She's continued to argue that they should continue to dive into their investigations. She says that they're getting information. They're winning court cases to get the president's financial information. Meanwhile, others in leadership, like Jim Clyburn, have basically

argued that, eventually, impeachment may have to happen. Here's what he said on CNN yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLYBURN: If we sufficiently, effectively educate the public, then we will have done our jobs. And we can move on an impeachment vote, and it will stand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And President Trump said before he left for the U.K. that there was no basis for Democrats to move forward with impeachment. He argued, essentially, there was no obstruction, no collusion. Therefore, Democrats are just moving forward with some kind of partisan exercise.

We should also note that, you know, a lot of Democrats are trying to balance the 2020 re-elections that they'll face in districts, some of them that President Trump won in 2016; while others are, you know, trying to listen to that base that wants the Democratic Party to move forward with impeachment -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Lauren Fox for us on Capitol Hill. What a lot of those members for -- are looking for is some kind of a shift in public opinion. And new this morning, a new CNN poll, which does show the beginnings of what could be a shift.

Joining me now, CNN senior politics writer and analyst Harry Enten. You've been looking inside the numbers, Harry. How have they changed?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes. Let's take a look sort of right now at where we are.

So 41 percent of Americans say they want to impeach and remove Trump from office. That is up slightly from the 37 percent in April of 2019 after the Mueller report was released. But it's actually down from the 45 percent that we saw in late 2018 on an average of two CNN polls.

And what we see consistently over the last two months is, yes, the no's in both of these are over a majority. So most people do not want to impeach and remove the president of the United States. I think that's why you're seeing Nancy Pelosi trying to keep the impeachment on the down low.

BERMAN: However, where is the shift coming from?

ENTEN: So this is the key thing. And the shift is coming overwhelmingly from this column right here.

Among Democrats, 76 percent of Democrats say they want to impeach and remove Trump from office. So that's, I think, what you're seeing with Jim Clyburn saying what he's saying. You saw that on the California state Democratic convention this weekend. There's a lot of movement within the Democratic base to impeach or remove the president; but of course, Nancy Pelosi is keeping an eye on this number, independents, specifically. Only 35 percent of them want to impeach and remove.

BERMAN: If this were ever to get up to 50 and this to get up to 85, you might start seeing some -- some in leadership get very, very antsy.

ENTEN: That's right.

BERMAN: What does history tell us? You know, in the '70s, for instance, where were people on impeachment?

ENTEN: Right. So do you want to impeach and remove Richard Nixon from office? So remember, he resigned on August 9, 1974. And look, at that particular point, 56 percent of Americans, the vast majority, said that, yes, he should be impeached and removed from office. I think if we ever saw those types of numbers, that's when you'd really see a lot of movement for impeachment.

BERMAN: You have an interesting number, because I peeked ahead here, that I think is fascinating, though. Which is that people's opinions on impeachment can change.

ENTEN: They absolutely can. And keep in mind, of course, not all Democrats necessarily want to impeach or remove Trump from office. They just want to start an impeachment inquiry. And that's exactly what happened formally on February 6, 1974.

And look at this: Impeach or remove Richard Nixon from office, only 38 percent at that point of Americans said that, in fact, they should do that. And that, of course, looks a lot like this number right here. In fact, it's slightly above it.

So just because, you know, you want to -- you're starting an inquiry doesn't necessarily mean you're going to remove him from office. And that's exactly what happened in '74 when we had 38 percent, again, looking a lot like --

BERMAN: It was over the process that opinions changed.

ENTEN: That's exactly right. You have to start the process sometimes in order to get public opinion in your direction.

BERMAN: All right. Harry Enten, thank you very much. Really appreciate it -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, John.

Virginia Beach is in mourning today after a gunman killed 12 people at a municipal center. CNN's Scott McLean is live in Virginia Beach with the latest.

What's happening there today?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Alisyn. There were a lot of prayer vigils held this weekend. There will be more set for this week as this city tries to remember these 12 lives lost and tries to figure out how to move on.

The two questions that are often asked after mass shootings is why did this happen and how do you prevent the next one? As for why, well, police don't have an easy answer to that.

We know that the suspect had turned in his resignation letter on the morning of the shooting for personal reasons. But the city manager says that there were no disciplinary issues. He was not fired. He was not in the process of being fired, so far as they know.

In fact, a colleague of his actually saw him brushing his teeth in the bathroom at work earlier that morning. They exchanged pleasantries and small talk. There were no signs of any trouble.

[06:10:05] As for how you prevent the next one, the president's acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, was asked about this over the weekend; and he touted the Trump administration's record, saying that they have beefed up the background check database and also banned bump stocks.

But he also made clear that the government cannot solve this problem entirely. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICK MULVANEY, ACTING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: There are things the government can do, and there's things this government is doing. But we're never going to protect everybody against everybody who is deranged, insane.

You have laws on the book that -- that make murder illegal, and yet people still do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: And authorities said that, of the two handguns that were found at the scene, one of them had a silencer or a suppressor attached to it. Now, it's not clear what role, if any, that silencer had on the outcome of this shooting. But the president was asked about it over the weekend and asked whether he supported greater regulations on silencers or suppressors. And he said, "I don't like them at all" -- John.

BERMAN: Scott McLean for us in Virginia Beach. Scott, thanks very much. We'll check back in with you in a little bit.

Breaking overnight, proof of life. North Korea's chief negotiator for the failed talks with President Trump has resurfaced for the first time after reports of his detention in a hard labor camp.

Kim Yong Chol, seen in this picture with his hands over his face for some reason, reportedly attended an art performance with leader Kim Jong-un and other high-ranking officials on Sunday. Last week, a South Korean news outlet reported that Kim Yong Chol had

been sent to a hard labor camp, for his part, in a failed summit. This is no accident. I mean, clearly, he was seen here and went to this event to be seen in public with Kim Jong-un.

CAMEROTA: It would also be helpful to see the people who were reportedly killed.

BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: All right. We will get more on that as soon as we have it.

But we want to show you this frightening video out of Venice. This is a massive cruise ship slamming into a dock and ramming a tourist boat. I think you're about to -- it's approaching.

BERMAN: This is a slow-motion disaster, I would call it.

CAMEROTA: I guess so. But you do see onlookers running at this point, John, for their lives. Authorities say that four people suffered light injuries. The cruise ship operator said the boat experienced a technical issue.

BERMAN: Given that there were only light injuries, I can make a joke, which is that it reminded me of "Caddyshack." You know the scene in "Caddyshack" where Judge Smails is christening his sloop, and then Rodney Dangerfield --

CAMEROTA: I'm not as familiar with "Caddyshack" as you. I mean, you've committed the whole thing to memory. But what --

BERMAN: Rodney Dangerfield's boat comes in. That's what it looked like there, albeit with a smaller vessel.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I mean, I think that the midnight buffet on the cruise ship outweighs any possible little technical problem here. So I'm still on board.

BERMAN: And to be fair, parallel parking is very difficult.

CAMEROTA: Thank you. Very difficult.

BERMAN: All right. A significant development in the Democratic race for president. All of a sudden, former vice president, Joe Biden, seems to be a target. What the other candidates are saying now and why. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Something different and new in the Democratic race for president this morning. More than a dozen 2020 candidates addressed the party faithful in California this weekend.

The crowd not happy at all with some of them and, all of a sudden, Vice President Joe Biden, who was not there, became a target. CNN's Kyung Lah is in San Francisco with the details. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bernie Sanders took aim, calling out Joe Biden, a no-show at the California Democratic Party convention.

SANDERS: There is a debate among presidential candidates who have spoken to you here in this room and those who have chosen, for whatever reason, not to be in this room.

We cannot go back to the old ways. We have got to go forward with a new and progressive agenda.

LAH: Progresses, ruling California this weekend, where 14 presidential hopefuls flocked to the delegate-rich state, its primary now on Super Tuesday.

Both Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren swiped at moderates like Biden.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Some Democrats in Washington believe the only changes we can get are tweaks and nudges. If they dream at all, they dream small. The time for small ideas is over.

MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In these times, Democrats can no more keep a promise to take us back to the 2000s or the 1990s than conservatives can keep a promise to take us back to the 1950s.

WARREN: Moderates who did show up got this treatment.

REP. JOHN DELANEY (D-MD), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Medicare for all may sound good, but it's actually not good policy, nor is it good politics. I'm telling you.

LAH: John Delaney drowned out for more than a minute, similar to what John Hickenlooper experienced.

JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we want to beat Donald Trump and achieve big progressive goals, socialism is not the answer. I was re-elected --

[06:20:03] LAH: Even Speaker Nancy Pelosi got an earful.

(SHOUTING)

LAH: They're yelling at her to begin impeachment proceedings against the president.

In the aftermath of the mass shooting in Virginia Beach, Cory Booker delivered the impassioned speech of the weekend. SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Twelve Americans

died, and we are seeing the normalization of mass murder in our country. It is time that we come together, and stand together and take a fight to the NRA.

LAH: Kamala Harris, California senator, got a warm welcome at the convention. But it was at the Move On event off-site, where a protester got too close --

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hey, hey, hey.

LAH: -- until security managed to finally pull him off-stage. Harris calmly walked off, then continued her event as scheduled. Joe Biden spent the weekend campaigning in Ohio, an absence pointed out by activists who pointed out this flyer that simply asks, where is Joe Biden?

Kyung Lah, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: All right. Meanwhile, this morning here in the U.S., no relief in sight for parts of Arkansas. Massive flooding is expected to get worse. CNN's Natasha Chen is live in Dardanelle, Arkansas, with more. What's the situation there this hour?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, there is some good news. We're at a flooded highway. You can see the speed limit is 55, but there's absolutely no road visible behind us.

But we see that the water line has slightly receded since we were here yesterday. And that makes sense, because the river has crested here in Dardanelle. It's expected to crest later today in Little Rock.

The bad news is that there's more rain expected in the forecast. And that's really bleak for people here in this community. The governor visited Dardanelle yesterday, toured around state and federal officials are starting to do some damage assessment. And that's going to be a long process.

Because you can't really tell the extent of the damage until all this water has receded, and that could take weeks if not months. And in the long term, the farmers here are very concerned. There are a lot of crops here in the distance, completely ruined by the floodwaters. We're talking corn, soybeans, rice.

We took a look at all of this overhead in a helicopter tour over the weekend. These farmers, people in the industry, tell me that they could be financially impacted for years to come.

The governor said last week that, because of the disruption to the navigation system, Arkansas is losing $23 million a day. So this is going to be a long-term challenge for people here in Dardanelle.

Of course, there was a levy breach, but so far, they've stabilized the situation, and they are hoping for the best -- John. BERMAN: They are hoping for the best. Natasha, thanks very much.

But more rain is set to head that way.

CNN meteorologist Alison Chinchar has the forecast -- Alison.

ALISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. All eyes right now are on not just the Arkansas River but a lot of river gauges that we have across the entire central U.S.

Look at all of these dots. Those dots show which river gauges are at or above flood stage. Some cresting today. Some not for a few more days. And that's a problem.

Because when you look at the forecast, yes, we are expecting more rain. And that forecast is brought to you by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, packed with goodness.

Here's a look at that forecasted rainfall accumulation. This is taking us all the way through the upcoming Saturday.

Look at the widespread yellow and even orange colors here. That indicates two to four. It's not even five or six inches of rain before we finally get through Saturday.

One inch would cause problems, let alone four to six inches in a lot of these areas that are already saturated. We also have, unfortunately, the potential for some severe weather today. This stretches from Texas all the way up to South Dakota.

Alisyn, the main threats are expected to be large hail, damaging winds and the potential for some isolated tornadoes.

CAMEROTA: OK, Alisyn. Thank you very much for keeping an eye on all of that for us.

So President Trump is already insulting several of his British hosts ahead of his state visit to Buckingham Palace, which will happen shortly. So we discuss the diplomatic dust-up, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:23] BERMAN: This morning, Attorney General William Barr, call your office and check your TiVo. Remember, the attorney general just said he sees no evidence of President Trump shredding institutions.

Well, in just the last few minutes, the president insulted the mayor of the city he was landing in calling him a stone-cold loser. In the last few days, he called Meghan Markle nasty and then denied it, even though there is actually sound of him saying it.

One might consider grace and honesty to be institutions, and one might consider them under assault this morning.

Joining us now from London, Maggie Haberman, White House correspondent for "The New York Times"; Clarissa Ward, CNN chief international correspondent. And I think we're going to get Max Foster in just a minute.

Clarissa, I want to start with you here. The president's plane was landing as he lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. I mean, I think everybody here has been sort of bracing themselves for the hurricane that would come with the arrival of President Trump on this three-day visit.

But surely, the president has not disappointed. In addition to the tweet that you mentioned, where he called Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, a stone-cold loser, I should say that was in response to a rather serious op-ed that Sadiq Khan wrote for "The London Observer," saying that President Trump embodied some of the worst qualities and used the same tropes that 20th Century dictators did.

But in addition to that dig at Sadiq Khan, he has also been giving interviews to "The Sunday Times" of London in which he said that he would have done a better job handling the Brexit negotiations.

He talked about how Nigel Farage, who is a populist Brexiteer, a controversial character here in the U.K., how he should be more involved in the Brexit negotiations.

END