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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Day 2 of Trump's State Visit to Britain; GOP Lawmakers Discuss Blocking Trump's Mexico Tariffs; Big Tech Targeted; Jeopardy: The Run is Done; World Marks 30-Year Anniversary of Tiananmen Massacre; Source: Top North Korean Diplomat is Alive. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired June 04, 2019 - 04:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:51] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump just moments away from sitting down with the British prime minister just hours after trading toasts with the queen.

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

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX TREBEK, HOST, "JEOPARDY!": What a game. Oh, my god. What a way to start the week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

Welcome back to EARLY START, everybody. I'm Dave Briggs.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is 4:30, 4:31 in the East, 31 minutes past the hour this Tuesday morning.

We'll get through it this Tuesday.

BRIGGS: We will.

ROMANS: I don't know what time.

BRIGGS: But over the next few hours, President Trump and the British Prime Minister Theresa May will be spending an awful lot of time together.

First up on the schedule, there's a business round table at St. James Palace. Then the president and prime minister host a breakfast attended by the duke of York and prominent U.S. and British business leaders. Bilateral talks follow later in the day. Now, the two leaders already had a rocky relationship before the

president publicly second guessed the prime minister and her take on the Brexit strategy.

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

Hi, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, good morning, Christine.

Well, that business meeting is expected to get underway shortly. Five major British companies, and leading U.S. companies, along with President Trump, Theresa May, the CEOs, they are sitting down together. Theresa May is likely to point to this as a way to show how strong the trade relationship is between Britain and the United States. She'll point to the people around the table, the CEOs and say between these companies, they employ 176,000 people in jobs in Britain and the United States.

You'll have Barclays Bank. You have JPMorgan. You'll have GlaxoSmithKline. You'll have Lockheed Martin. You'll have British BAE Systems.

All these companies she will say are important in the strength and depth of a trade relationship between Britain and the United States. However, she'll also expected to say that this can be deepened, that it can be strengthened, that a future trade deal between the two countries could really improve the foundation here.

So, although this meeting itself is not about actually doing more business per se right now, it's part of the optics of showing President Trump, in particular, the strength of the relationship, what there is already, and what can be built on.

ROMANS: Yes, it's just remarkable, Nic. Both of these countries sort of embroiled in disputes between trade partners, European Union, for example, for U.K.'s perspective, Mexico, and China, some of the biggest players in the world, sitting down to talk about trade.

All right. Nic, Keep us posted on any developments. Thank you.

BRIGGS: OK. President Trump and the first lady attended a banquet last night hosted by the queen at Buckingham Palace. The president walking with the queen as Melania chatted with Prince Charles in brief speeches before the dinner. Both the queen and Mr. Trump celebrated the special relationship between the U.S. and Britain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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 the event, the first couple had tea with Charles and Camilla.

[04:35:08] And earlier in the day, Britain rolled out the red carpet for President Trump, receiving him with the royal troops salute.

ROMANS: All right. Back home, congressional Republicans may be planning a revolt to block President Trump's new threatened tariffs on Mexico. And according to "The Washington Post," the vote could also block billions of dollars in border wall funding announced by the president in February when he declared a national emergency.

Now, Senate Majority Whip John Thune tells the post, we have a lot of members who are very concerned about where this is headed. Congress is going to want to hear -- be heard from in terms of trying to limit Trump's tariff authority. The president is threatening to impose a 5 percent tariff on Mexican imports beginning next week and the rate rising incrementally to 25 percent tariffs by October 1st, and not to fix a trade deficit but to punish Mexico for illegal immigration.

So, using trade as a tool for a different policy goal, it's got Republicans concerned.

BRIGGS: We have said this before but this is a moment of truth for conservatives in congress, we shall see.

A setback for Democrats in their bid to stop President Trump from building a border wall. A federal judge ruled 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 concludes the courts should get involved in the fight between the president and Congress. The ruling is not expected to impact other lawsuits by House Democrats and various states to block border wall construction.

ROMANS: House lawmakers are launching a top-to-bottom antitrust probe of big tech, Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, some of the targets. Rhode Island Democrat David Cicilline leading this 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: Scrutiny after scandal upon scandal for the tech industry. Critics have called for tough regular regulations. They have demanded in some cases these companies be broken up. The investigation comes as the Justice Department and federal trade agreed to divide oversight of tech.

Congressman Cicilline said 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 the coming investigation. Amazon and Google declined to comment. Apple and Facebook did not respond immediately to our request for a comment.

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

ROMANS: Right after the House passed that disaster relief bill, the president, President Trump, fired up his Twitter account at 1:00 a.m. London Time to praise it. He declared, now we will get it done in the Senate. One problem, the bill is already headed to the president's desk for signature. At least that's what Chuck Schumer hopes.

The Senate minority leader tweeting: President Trump, you're clearly confused. The Senate passed the bill two weeks ago. Hopefully, after blocking it for so long, you're not too confused to sign it.

BRIGGS: The long reign of Jeopardy James Holzhauer is now 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, gosh, $20,000. What a payday? $46,801. What a game? Oh my god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Emma Boettcher, a librarian from Chicago, dethroned the champ. Holzhauer's remarkable run ended after 32 straight wins, less than $60,000 away from Ken Jennings old time record for "Jeopardy" earnings. But don't shed any tears for the professional sports gambler from Vegas, he won a total of $2.464 million during his jeopardy reign.

ROMANS: All right. People around the world are publicly marking 30 years. It's been 30 years since the Tiananmen Square massacre. We go live to Hong Kong where it will be commemorated. You will not hear about it in China.

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[04:44:14] BRIGGS: Four-forty-four p.m. in Beijing where 30 years ago today, the world witnessed a massacre in Tiananmen Square. Hundreds of people killed in Beijing as the People's Liberation Army cracked down on pro-democracy protesters. Events will be held and speeches will be held around the world today but not in China. Any coverage or discussion of the event will be tightly censored there.

Let's go live to Hong Kong and bring in CNN's Ivan Watson.

An interesting study in the "New York Times" referenced this afternoon, Ivan, saying that more people worldwide recognize the images of Tiananmen Square than they do in China. How will it be marked there in Hong Kong?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, people here are allowed to talk about it. They're allowed to commemorate the 30th anniversary, which is what people are gearing up to do here later this evening on this soggy day in Hong Kong in Victoria Park.

[04:45:09] But in China, it is strictly sensors, even references to the date, June 4, 1989 and code words that suggest that are strictly censored on the Chinese social media. It's been stricken from the history books in mainland China, so Hong Kong, which has this special status is the only place in modern day China where people are allowed to honor not only the massacre with tanks and troops of the protesters that gathered by the hundreds and thousands in Beijing's Tiananmen Square but they're also able to remember the weeks of pro-democracy protests that led up to the deadly massacre.

We still don't know officially how many people died on that dark and bloody day. So, that's what we're anticipating to see right here. The thing is in Hong Kong, which enjoys many Democratic freedoms that mainland China does not have, Hong Kong fears that its new Democratic freedoms are being chipped away at by the central government in China which is why you get some signs here that say end one party rule -- Dave.

BRIGGS: Ivan Watson live in Hong Kong this morning. Thank you, Ivan.

ROMANS: Let's go live to London, St. James Palace, where the president of the United States is meeting with the outgoing British prime minister, Theresa May, and some business leaders from the U.K. and the U.S. about transatlantic ties. Let's listen for a moment on this.

TRUMP: I appreciate it very much. We are your largest partner, a lot of people don't know that. I was surprised. I made that statement yesterday, and a lot of people said, gee, I didn't know that, but that's the way it is.

And there's an opportunity, you think a great opportunity to greatly enlarge, in light of what's happening, make a much bigger trading relationship. So we're going to be working on that today and tomorrow, and probably into the next couple of weeks, but I think we'll have a very, very substantial trade deal. It will be a very fair deal, and I think that this is something your folks want to do, my folks want to do, and we want to do, and we're going to get it done.

I'd just like to congratulate you on having done a fantastic job on behalf of the people of the United States and it's an honor to have worked with you, and I don't know exactly what your timing is, but stick around, let's do this deal. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

ROMANS: Here in the United States, talking about doing a deal, talking about the trade ties between the U.S. and the U.K. It's interesting to me, Dave, because they're talking about the U.S. and U.K., strengthening transatlantic ties in a time when the U.K. is embroiled in this messy divorce from the E.U., pulling itself away from integrated trade with the European Union. The United States is threatening tariffs on Mexico in a trade war yearlong almost with China.

So, talking about trade deals at a time when both countries have been receding from their leadership on the global stage in trade.

BRIGGS: On the global stage, a lot of questions about what does our word mean today. When you look at what happened, we had NAFTA torn up, we had the USMCA agreed to, that is being threatened by the tariffs.

John Kennedy, Republican senator, said he is very concerned about what world leaders make of our word, given how many agreements President Trump has torn up. You can talk about the TPP. The Iran nuclear deal, Paris climate deal.

So, what does our word mean to the U.K., especially with Theresa May outgoing?

ROMANS: Yes, outgoing, the British Prime Minister Theresa May.

All right. Let's switch back to politics here in the United States for a moment. Democratic candidate Julian Castro unveiling his reform plan for police. The former HUD secretary wants to restrict the use of deadly force by making officers responsible for intervening if they see fellow officers abusing excessive force or engaging in inappropriate conduct. Castro says the idea is to increase accountability and transparency and what he calls over aggressive and racially discriminatory law enforcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIAN CASTRO (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How many of these videos do we have to watch to understand that even though we have some great police officers this is not a case of bad apples. The system is broken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Castro says he would prohibit any federal funds to state and local governments for buying high caliber rifles, armored vehicles, and other military weapons and equipment.

All right. Despite reports of his untimely demise, sources tell CNN North Korea's top diplomat with his hands over his face is still alive. Why are his hands over his face? Details ahead.

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[04:54:20] BRIGGS: Four-fifty-four Eastern Time.

And sources tell CNN North Korea's top diplomat is alive, despite a report last week suggesting he had been executed. We're told Kim Hyok Chol remains in custody and under investigation for his role in the failed summit February in Hanoi between President Trump and Kim Jong Un.

CNN's Will Ripley is live for us in Hong Kong with the latest on this intriguing story.

What is going on here, Will?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Dave, this really speaks to the difficulty of getting at the heart of what's happening in highly secretive North Korea. South Korean media reported last week and we started checking with sources that Kim Hyok Chol, who is one of the key negotiators, not the person in the picture here but the other video we're about to show you, someone who negotiated with Stephen Biegen, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy.

[04:55:07] He was reported executed by firing squad. That's what the South Korean media was saying. I checked with source after source. Nobody would confirm that information. What my sources are telling me is that Kim Hyok Chol is actually still alive, he's in custody along with other members of his negotiating team, the people who were at Hanoi with President Trump, they are all in custody and under investigation, potentially facing serious punishment but they are still alive as of right now.

Now, Kim Yong Chol, the man in the photo released over the weekend with his hands over his face, he is the North Korean who was in charge of the whole team. He traveled to the White House. He met with President Trump at the oval office but now he, sources tell me, has been stripped of all of his power as a result of President Trump walking out of the summit in Hanoi. And his punishment, South Korea media said he had to go to a labor camp.

I'm told that's not true, but his punishment was mentally grueling, he had to sit in his office, locked in his office, I'm told, for a period of weeks. He was out of public view for almost two months and he was forced to write sentences of self-criticism in silence in his office, and now he's been trotted before the cameras to show he's alive and well and after basically having to be stripped of all his power and sit in his office and write about the mistakes he made that caused embarrassment for Kim Jong-un empty-handed.

This man with his hands over his face is sitting at an art performance about as far away as Kim Jong-un in the VIP section as he can get, after being one of the most powerful figures in the country, being released, trotted around to show he's alive, but having to sit in his office, writing about what he did wrong. That's what it works there, Dave.

BRIGGS: And the man overseeing his brutalities, Kim Jong-un, President Trump says he feels special chemistry with him, and at one point said fell in love with over his beautiful letters.

Bill Ripley, live for us this morning, thank you.

ROMANS: That's why it's called the Hermit Kingdom.

All right. 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.

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. Spanish law typically allows sentences under two years for first time offenders and nonviolent crimes to be suspended.

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.

Jon Hamm, the most famous Blues fan, firing up the crowd last night, complete with a rock solid playoff period.

ROMANS: Good Midwestern boy, cheering on his team.

Let's get a check of CNN Business this morning, taking a look at markets around the world. You can see futures on Wall Street this morning a little bit lower. Look at the mixed performance, I would say, really barely moving overall. U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday as investors worried about the possible crack down of the tech industry and lingering trade fears. The Dow finished up five points, the S&P closed lower, the Nasdaq ended the day down 1.6 percent.

Frankly, I'm surprised how resilient the broader markets were given where we are in the tech war. Tech stocks hit hard. Google closed down 6 percent. Facebook fell 7 1/2 percent.

One of the biggest artists in the world is now the first billionaire rapper.

A fortune of $1 billion, the rapper whose real name is Sean Carter owns a stake in Uber, an art collection, a sports management company, real estate and his extensive music catalog. He's now the 5th black billionaire, joining Robert Smith, the billionaire investor who pledged to pay off Morehouse grads' student loans. Also Oprah on that list.

All right. It's the end of an era. Apple announcing it replacing iTunes with a trio of apps called Music TV and podcast. ITunes launched in 2001. you know, iTunes changed the way people buy and listen to music.

The move to phase out iTunes not a big surprise. Apple has been pushing users toward Apple music subscription service. Users will be able to purchase and download songs through iTunes. Gift cards will also stay active.

It was interesting, the "Wall Street Journal" wrote the whole story as an obituary.

BRIGGS: I guess I'm old school. I'm still an iTunes users.

All right. EARLY START continues right now with the latest out of the U.K.

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