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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Meets May; GOP Lawmakers Discuss Blocking Trump's Mexico Tariffs; Big Tech Targeted; Jeopardy: The Run is Done. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired June 04, 2019 - 04:00   ET

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


[04:00:35] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump moments away from sitting down with the British prime minister, just hours after trading toasts with the queen.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: "The Washington Post" says Republicans in Congress could revolt against the president's new tariffs on Mexico.

BRIGGS: Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon all targeted as House lawmakers join federal regulators taking aim at big tech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX TREBEK, "JEOPARDY!" HOST: What a game. Oh my god!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: A librarian from Chicago takes down "Jeopardy" champ James Holzhauer, ending his $2.4 million run.

Good morning, and welcome to EARLY START, everyone. I'm Christine Romans.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. It was a strange final game for Jeopardy James. Talk about that shortly.

I'm Dave Briggs. Tuesday, June 4th, 4:00 in the East. It is 9:00 a.m. in London. And that's where we begin on game two of President Trump's three-day visit to the U.K.

Over in the next two hours, he and British Prime Minister Theresa May will be spending a lot of time together, first up on the schedule, a business round table at St. James palace. Then the president and prime minister hosts a breakfast attended by the duke of York and prominent U.S. and British business leaders. Talks follow later in the day and it is anyone's guess how this will all go. The two leaders already had a rocky relationship before the president publicly second guessed the prime minister this week on her Brexit strategy.

Let's go live to London and bring in CNN's Nic Robertson.

Could be an interesting day there, Nic. Good morning. What's in store? NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Good morning.

Well, right now, Theresa May, P Trump sitting down with five CEO -- or ten CEOs, five from leading British companies, five from leading U.S. companies. You have Barclays Bank. You have GlaxoSmithKline. You have BAE Systems. You have J.P. Morgan to name a few of the companies.

And what Theresa May is likely to say is, look, we already do a lot of business with the United States, trade between the two countries is usually important. British companies overall employ more than a million Americans. She'll point to this roundtable and say, look at this round table here, these British businesses here employ in the United States and Britain about 176,000 people. BAE systems and employ 60,000 people in the United States, 40 percent of their sales in the United States.

She is going to amplify that message that trade between the two countries is already very good, but this round table session is really a photo opportunity, if you like, but a way for people to sort of get a sense of the scale of that relationship, which is going to say we can do better than a future outside of the European Union, a free trade agreement with the United States, these companies can do more business together. So, that's going to be the narrative that she has for this meeting this morning -- Dave.

BRIGGS: So from pomp and circumstance yesterday to protests today, what do you expect on that front?

ROBERTSON: Yes, a couple of hours, big protests getting underway down the street here at Trafalgar Square. It's expected to match past the end of downing street sometime after that. Not clear on the numbers but some big speakers, a leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, no friend of President Trump, he will be there to speak to the people who are gathered. Undoubtedly when they pass here, they will try to do it when President Trump, and Theresa May are meeting together, try to make as much noise as possible.

This is a very secure street. None of the protesters are going to get within a rock's throw, if you like, of where President Trump will be. So, the environment he'll be in will be a very secure environment. They'll be trying to just make themselves heard so he gets an idea there are people in this city who don't care for his policies, don't care for the way he does business.

BRIGGS: A 21 percent approval there in the U.K.

Nic Robertson, live for us in London this morning, thank you.

The president and first lady attended a state banquet hosted by the queen at Buckingham Palace. The president walking with the queen as Melania Trump chatted with Prince Charles. The queen and Mr. Trump celebrated the relationship between the U.S. and Britain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) [04:05:02] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She has embodied the spirit of dignity, spirit and patriotism that beats proudly in every British heart. On behalf of all Americans, I offer a toast to the eternal friendship of our people, the eternal friendship of our people, the vitality of our nations, and to the long cherished and truly remarkable reign of her majesty, the queen.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II, UNITED KINGDOM: Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you all to rise and drink a toast to President and Mrs. Trump to the continued friendship between our two nations and to the health, prosperity and happiness of the people of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Prior to that event, the first couple had tea with Charles and Camila earlier in the day. They rolled out the red carpet for president Trump, receiving him with the royal troops salute.

ROMANS: All right. But back home, congressional Republicans may be planning a revolt to block tariffs on Mexico, and according to "The Washington Post," they could vote to block billions of dollars in border wall funding announced by the president in February when he declared a national emergency.

Senate Majority Whip John Thune tells the post we have a lot of members concerned about where this is headed. Congress is going to want to be heard from trying to limit Trump's tariff authority.

The president is threatening to impose a 5 percent tariff on Mexican imports beginning next week, with that rate rising incrementally to 25 percent by October 1st.

BRIGGS: A setback for Democrats in their bid to stop President Trump from building a border wall. A federal judge ruling the president can transfer funds from appropriate accounts to pay for construction. The judge also says the House lacks standing to challenge the president and he concludes the court should get involved in the fight between the president and Congress.

The ruling is not expected to impact other lawsuits by House Democrats in various states to block border wall protection.

ROMANS: White House lawmakers are launching a top-to-bottom antitrust probe of big tech with Google, Amazon, Facebook as some of the targets.

Rhode Island Democrat Representative David Cicilline is leading the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DAVID CICILLINE (D-RI): This is a broad investigation of the whole marketplace. So, it involved a whole range of companies. But it's really to look at competition in the digital marketplace, to look at anti-competitive behavior and determine whether our existing antitrust statutes are working, when whether they need to be modernized and updated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: A new era we're entering in tech after scandal after scandal for the tech industry. Critics have called for tough new regulations. They have demanded some of the companies be broken up. The investigation comes as the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission recently agreed to divide oversight of the tech industry.

Congressman Cicilline says this is the first time Congress has launched a significant antitrust investigation in decades.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CICILLINE: Frankly, you know, I don't have a lot of confidence that this administration has been particularly aggressive in their antitrust enforcement. In fact, they very often have co out on the side of monopolists and big mergers. So, I think, again, they have a responsibility in particular, enforcement actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Officials have notified Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook of this coming investigation. Amazon and Google declined to comment. Apple and Facebook did not immediately respond to CNN for a request for comment.

BRIGGS: The House passing a $19.1 billion disaster aid package sending it to the president for his signature. The Senate passed -- the bill rather passed the Senate last week. President Trump has said he supports it. The legislation will speed relief funds to communities hard hit by tornadoes, floods, wildfires and other disaster. The bill also includes money for Puerto Rico which is still rebuilding after Hurricane Maria.

ROMANS: The long reign of "Jeopardy" champ James Holzhauer is over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREBEK: So, Emma, it's up to you. If you came up with the correct response, you're going to be the new "Jeopardy" champion. Did you? You did. What did you wager? Oh, god, $20,000. What a payday? $46,801. What a game?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: That's Emma. She's a librarian for Chicago dethroning the champ. Holzhauer's remarkable run ended after 32 straight wins. He was just shy of $60,000 away from Ken Jennings all-time record for "Jeopardy" earnings.

But don't shed any tears for this professional sports gambler from Las Vegas. He won a total of $2.4 million during his "Jeopardy" reign.

BRIGGS: OK. So, it was interesting. He gave her a high five after the loss, which is good. ROMANS: Yes.

BRIGGS: But he only wagered $13,900 on his final "Jeopardy" answer, counting on her to lose, but go big or go home.

[04:10:00] That's what he's done all along. It was a strange strategy.

ROMANS: All morning, Dave has been second-guessing James Holzhauer.

BRIGGS: Second-guessing or suggesting --

ROMANS: Oh, I don't know, I don't know what you're suggesting.

BRIGGS: Maybe he's ready to go home. Not sure.

People around the world are publicly marking 30 years since the Tiananmen Square massacre, but not in China. We're live in Beijing with what they're hearing there, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: You know, remarkable, 30 years ago today, the world witnessed a massacre in Tiananmen Square.

[04:15:05] Hundreds of people killed in Beijing as the People's Liberation Army cracked down on pro-democracy protesters. That image there really, I think, captures what happened there that day. The people against a totalitarian regime.

Events will be held and speeches will be made around the world today, but, of course, not in China. Any coverage of discussion of the event will be tightly censored there.

I want to go live to Beijing and bring in CNN's Matt Rivers.

This is an event that the Chinese government doesn't want to talk about, almost won't admit and we don't even know how many people were killed on that day 30 years ago, people who just want human rights and democracy.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Christine. And it's not just that China's government doesn't want to talk about it, they will actively try and stop anyone in China from talking about it.

So start with the domestic population, let's say you go on a Chinese search engine, on Chinese Internet, you type in Tiananmen Square. Nothing will come up about the massacre, it's censored.

On social media platforms here, any protest mentions are censored. State media will report nothing about this today and that is because China's government is terrified of talking about what happened in 1989. They don't want to talk about that, because it makes their party, the communist party, look more illegitimate, and they want to stay in power more than anything else. And it's not just what they do in state media. It's also what they do

to Western media. So, CNN.com right now is blocked in China because we're talking about Tiananmen Square. The TV signal right now in China of CNN is cut.

And earlier today when we were doing live shots out on the street in an area where a lot of the killings happened, we were harassed by police. We were told we couldn't be there because it was unsafe due to traffic conditions, which was a boldfaced lie. They didn't want us on the street talking about this.

And all of this leads to governments around the world criticizing the government like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In a statement today, he said, in part, China's one party state tolerates no decent and abuses human rights wherever it serves its interests. China, of course, countered saying human rights have never been better than right now here in China.

Christine, I have lived here for almost four years now, and I can tell you that human rights not a big thing for the Chinese government.

ROMANS: Yes.

RIVERS: It hasn't been 30 years ago, and doesn't appear to be a big right now.

ROMANS: It's about social cohesion, and social cohesion means keeping people from having those human rights to state or a government, or to question what the government is doing. I think that statement from Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state is remarkable and the smack back from the Chinese government is as well.

I'm going to tweet out both of those statements so that people can freely choose both sides of that story.

Matt Rivers, we really appreciate all the hard work you do there, we know it can be under difficult conditions. Thank you, sir.

BRIGGS: Yes.

OK. Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten will remain behind bars even though a parole board has set her free. California Governor Gavin Newsom overruling the parole board, marking the third time a governor has blocked her release. The 69-year-old Van Houten was convicted of two 1969 murders and conspiracy to kill five others. Governor Newsom said she would pose an unreasonable danger to society if she was allowed to go free.

ROMANS: Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg separating himself from his Democratic rivals. He says he would not, not have pressured Senator Al Franken to resign in 2017 following allegations of sexual misconduct.

Here's what he said at an MSNBC town hall Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think the way that we basically held him to a higher standard than the GOP does their people has been used against us. I would not have applied that pressure at that time before we knew more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: His remarks drawing a strong response from fellow candidate Kirsten Gillibrand who was the first to call for Franken's resignation in 2017.

She says in a statement: Eight credible allegation of sexual harassment, two since he was elected senator, and one from a congressional staffer. That is not too high a standard, regardless of how the Republican Party handles its behavior and worse. Yes, it was Senator Franken's decision alone to leave the Senate, a path he ultimately chose, but for many senators, including myself and others in this primary field, that was not too high of a bar to raise our voice and make clear we value women.

A lot of women are talking about this and cautioning against lowering the bar because of --

BRIGGS: Yes.

ROMANS: Because of the commander-in-chief essentially instead of keeping the bar high, and understanding that there's, you know, behavior that won't be tolerated.

BRIGGS: Many Democrats agree with Buttigieg, but why pick that to separate yourself in a crowded field? Seems like a strange choice.

Ahead, Miley Cyrus fan crosses the line. The story behind this video, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:24:48] BRIGGS: A notorious YouTube prankster sentenced to prison in Spain for a video that drew outrage on social media. Kanghua Ren known to followers as ReSet filmed himself offering a homeless man in Barcelona an Oreo cookie that he filled with toothpaste.

[04:25:04] A Spanish court gave Ren a 15-month sentence and ordered him to pay $22,000 in compensation to the victim. He is unlikely to serve time behind bars. Those Spanish law typically allows sentences under two years for first time offenders and nonviolent crimes to be suspended.

ROMANS: What people do for clicks or views is just beyond me.

All right. A Miley Cyrus fan getting too close for comfort during the singer's visit to Barcelona this past weekend.

A video shows the fan grabbing Cyrus and trying to kiss her as she was leaving her hotel along with her husband, the actor Liam Hemsworth. Cyrus security guard quickly jumped into action to get her away, but she was said to be unsettled by the incident but is doing fine now. Cyrus was in Barcelona to perform at the sound festival and promote her new album which dropped the same day.

BRIGGS: The Stanley Cup Final, a best of three series. The Blues beat the Bruins 4-2 last night in St. Louis to even the final at two games apiece. The win for the Blues, the first Stanley Cup final victory in franchise history, if you can believe it or not. The series goes back to Boston for game five on Thursday night.

"Mad Men" Actor Jon Hamm fired up this crowd, complete with a solid playoff period last night in St. Louis.

ROMANS: All right. The beards rule.

BRIGGS: That's the bottom line.

ROMANS: President Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May, they get down to business today. More on that meeting and the rest of Trump's state visit, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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