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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Hong Kong Extradition Bill Sparks Huge Protests; Trump Versus Biden In Iowa; Jon Stewart Rips Congress Over 9/11 Funding. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired June 12, 2019 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:31:45] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. Right now, police using tear gas on protestors trying to storm a government building in Hong Kong. We're live on the scene.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And breaking overnight, reports of a second arrest in the David Ortiz shooting case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Sleepy Joe -- he's a sleepy guy.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Only I can fix it. Fix yourself first, Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: President Trump and the Democratic front-runner Joe Biden trading insults in Iowa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, 9/11 FIRST RESPONDERS ADVOCATE, FORMER LATE-NIGHT HOST: They did their jobs. Eighteen years later, do yours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: And, John Stewart outraged at lawmakers who stood up 9/11 first responders. A really emotional tribute from him.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
I'm Dave Briggs. Good morning, everybody -- 5:32 a.m. Eastern time. It's 5:32 p.m. in Hong Kong and that's where we start this morning with breaking news.
Right now in Hong Kong, huge protests have forced postponements in a debate over a controversial Chinese extradition bill. Police now calling the protests a, quote, "riot." A short time ago, officers fired tear gas on protesters trying to storm a Hong Kong government building and police say they're ready to deploy water cannons if necessary.
CNN's Ivan Watson joining us live from Hong Kong with the latest. Ivan, what are you seeing now?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave.
Well, the police here -- as you can see, riot police have succeeded in pushing aside a lot of the barricades that had been erected on the east side of city hall and pushed back demonstrators, and bystanders, and journalists from the different traffic thoroughfares that had been erected where the protesters had set up.
For a couple of hours here you had tens of thousands of demonstrators who succeeded in encircling City Hall and succeeded in the short-term in postponing the tabling -- the debate of a controversial law that could theoretically allow the government of Mainland China to take suspects from Hong Kong, the semiautonomous city, and take them up to Mainland China, which as of now they cannot do. And that's what has brought people out into the streets.
There are a lot of -- this is very reminiscent of the protest sit-in of 2014 -- the so-called "Umbrella Movement" that occupied some of these same streets for close to 80 days. And the riot police have made it clear they don't want to see that happen again.
We see ambulance crews coming in. They've brought out some injured people and took them away in ambulances just minutes ago.
And for now, the situation on this side of City Hall is calm. But the burning question about whether the city authorities will keep going with their plan to push through this extradition law, despite the opposition of, on Sunday, nearly one in seven Hong Kongers were estimated to be out in the streets saying they did not want this law passed -- the question whether or not the authorities will move forward or not -- whether the protesters will try to reinforce themselves and new tactics, that is very much in the air.
[05:35:00] But we have not seen this kind of turmoil in the streets of this former British colony in nearly five years -- Dave.
BRIGGS: OK. So clearly, the seven million people there in Hong Kong see this as not a piece of legislation but a defining moment for their future.
Ivan Watson live for us in Hong Kong. We will check back with him if things escalate further.
ROMANS: Potentially, a defining moment for the city's role as an international business hub. You've already had the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong expressing concern.
What does this mean for international business travelers who are working there? They, right now, enjoy the protections of a fair legal system in Hong Kong. They don't see the Chinese system as giving due process. If you're traveling through the Hong Kong airport could you just be picked up and sent into Mainland China?
BRIGGS: One country-two systems may no longer be the case. We shall see.
ROMANS: All right, let's come back to the U.S. here to Iowa, to be precise.
President Trump and Democratic front-runner Joe Biden both in the Hawkeye State, although they were never in the same city at the same time. Each focused a lot of his attention on the other. It felt a little like a general election preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Sleepy Joe -- he's a sleepy guy.
BIDEN: I believe that the president is literally an existential threat to America.
TRUMP: I think he's the weakest mentally. Obama took him off the trash heap.
BIDEN: He's really fascinated with me. I find it fascinating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Keenly aware that Iowa, of course, takes its role as "first to vote" very seriously, the candidates also focused on policy. Here's Biden at an evening event in Davenport.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Tax cutting past for multimillionaires and billionaires. Guess what? My president is God.
You know, I don't think the president really gets the -- gets the basics. He thinks these tariffs are being paid by China, just like he believes Mexico is building the wall.
And what about health care, trying to have the Justice Department declare the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional? And he saw how well trying to take away people's health care worked in 2018 and yet, they were trying like the devil to eliminate the Affordable Care Act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The president tried to tie Biden to Democrats in Congress, labeling them radical socialists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And with Biden, we would never be treated with respect because people don't respect him.
More than 100 Democrats in Congress have signed up for the Bernie Sanders government takeover of health care.
Democrats also support the $100 trillion Green New Deal. How about that beauty, the Green New Deal? The Democrat Party is really now the socialist party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. Let's bring in "Inside Elections" editor and publisher Nathan Gonzales, a CNN political analyst, live from Washington. Good morning. It's so great to see you this morning.
BRIGGS: Good to see you.
NATHAN GONZALES, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, INSIDE ELECTIONS: Good morning.
ROMANS: Look, I have a question here. Is this a smart strategy for Joe Biden to already be kind of mano a mano with the president with 235 days to go before the -- before the Iowa Caucus?
I mean, remember Jeb Bush and how some Republicans thought that was a -- that was a coronation --
BRIGGS: A coronation.
ROMANS: -- and Hillary Clinton was a coronation and that we just took it -- we gave them too much -- too much energy too soon.
GONZALES: Yes. I mean, comparing the last Republican race to this one, there's a kind of apples to oranges.
But I do think it's a good strategy for Vice President Biden because I think that increasingly, he is not in step with the party ideologically.
But if he is viewed as the single candidate who is best able to take on the president -- if he's able to show that he can have these back- and-forths and appear the strongest, I think that could -- I think could appeal to Democratic primary voters who want to defeat President Trump and that's their ultimate goal.
BRIGGS: The backdrop to this schoolyard brawl Tuesday in Iowa was these polls just released that really had some surprising takeaways, including all six Democrats that they measured straight head-to-head against Trump -- led him in that head-to-head matchup, including Cory Booker who really hasn't resonated so well early in these national polls. And, Pete Buttigieg under 40 and still leading the president.
What was your big takeaway once you dive inside these numbers a bit?
GONZALES: Well, I think if you look at that, I think -- you know, there are differences in the Democratic candidates between who they are, what they stand for, and their name I.D. But if you look at that -- where the president is -- 42, 42, 42 -- 42, 41, and 40 I believe. I mean, that's a -- that is a consistent trend and I don't -- and that's not good for any incumbent. We look at House and Senate races and any incumbent in the low 40s, that's not a good sign even though there's a year and a half before -- a year and a half before these elections.
Maybe more concerning, I think, for the president in this particular Quinnipiac poll was that I believe 70 percent of the people who responded said the economy was headed in the right direction. But yet, his job approval rating is still in the lows 40s. He's not getting credit for that -- those economic numbers.
[05:40:00] I think Republicans are relying maybe a little too much on the historical trend of how well the economy is doing, combined with the president's reelection rate. But it's a little bit different when we're talking about President Trump.
BRIGGS: One more takeaway from that polling was the Independent number, and that's where Joe Biden really blew out President Trump -- a 30-point lead when it comes to Independents. And that would explain kind of his strategy of rising above and playing to the moderates out there.
ROMANS: Can I ask you something Nathan because I'm telling you, the last time we were sitting in this chair in a primary season we thought the polls were going to -- were telling us one thing and they -- and they were wrong.
Are the polls going to be better this time? I mean, I hate to sound like a devil's advocate but --
GONZALES: In the primary -- I mean, I think we have to treat the vice president like the front-runner, realizing that there's still time for this to change.
ROMANS: Yes.
GONZALES: We're not even -- we haven't even started the debates. But I think there's a chance that we could look back -- a year from now we'll be sitting here bright and early in the morning and saying Joe Biden is locking up the nominations.
Of course, we saw this coming. He was leading in all the polls.
ROMANS: Right.
GONZALES: So we don't want -- we don't want to ignore the numbers but realize that they could change.
And when we're talking about 2016 and the polling on the general election presidential, I would argue that the polling was actually pretty good. I mean, the national polls showed that Hillary Clinton was winning by about three points.
ROMANS: Yes.
GONZALES: She won by -- the national vote by about two points.
BRIGGS: Yes.
GONZALES: Now, that's not how we elect a president, but the polling was right. I think it was our analysis -- our collective analysis that was flawed because of the Electoral College.
BRIGGS: I want to ask you about Bernie Sanders because President Trump did mention him there. He mentioned democratic socialism -- the Green New Deal. And today, Bernie Sanders gives a speech defending democratic socialism.
Does that play into the president's hands?
GONZALES: Yes. I mean --
ROMANS: Yes.
GONZALES: -- and Republicans love it.
I mean, this is -- what we heard from the president, I think is what we're going to hear from him continually, from Republican candidates for the House, and Republican candidates for the Senate. They want to make this election a choice between capitalism and socialism because if this election is just about whether you like the president or not, Republicans aren't going to do as well. And so I think this is a precursor.
And they want Bernie Sanders -- go ahead, Republicans -- you know, go ahead and defend it because that's where they want the conversation to be.
ROMANS: Oh my God. But capitalism versus socialism -- I mean, is this a capitalist president? I'm not sure this is a capitalist president.
He's -- the transfer of wealth from consumers to farmers, deficit spending, huge deficits and growing the national debt -- I mean, in a way -- I mean, does the president have -- does he have capitalist credentials?
GONZALES: Well, you know -- you know, you could talk circles around anybody on the economy and you know these things better than -- better than anyone. I'm just not sure that the average voter is going to dive in there right away.
ROMANS: You're right. It's about branding.
GONZALES: It's going to be about the -- how the voters -- you know, the frame that they're going to be looking with and if Republicans can get in under their terms then it's a much different type of election.
BRIGGS: Nathan Gonzales, I can't let you go without asking -- because I know you tweeted about it -- are the U.S. women's national team bad sports or just really good soccer players after a 13-nothing blowout of Thailand?
GONZALES: Yes, I wanted to be a part of the sports segment. It -- no, an impressive victory. And I know they say well, Thailand wasn't that good.
I'm not sure -- you know, the U.S. men's team has kind of fallen on hard times. I'm not sure if the U.S. men's team could put a 13 spot on the Thailand women.
BRIGGS: Ouch.
GONZALES: It is -- I think it's just fun to watch. It's fun to watch dominance sometimes, particularly when it's your team.
BRIGGS: There was more goals in the U.S. Men's National team score than the entire last World Cup. These ladies are underpaid and they're not bad sports.
ROMANS: Yes.
BRIGGS: Nathan Gonzales, good to see you, my friend. Thank you.
GONZALES: Good to see you.
ROMANS: It's a -- it's a good thing to kick like a girl, you know?
BRIGGS: Yes, it is, indeed.
ROMANS: All right -- thanks, Nathan.
GONZALES: Thank you.
BRIGGS: OK. An angry, emotional Jon Stewart ripping into Congress over health care for 9/11 first responders. The former late-night host testifying Tuesday at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on reauthorizing the September 11th victim compensation fund and he was clearly irritated by the number of lawmakers who didn't even show up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Behind me, a filled room of 9/11 first responders. And in front of me, a nearly-empty Congress. Sick and dying, they brought themselves down here to speak and no one -- it's shameful. It's an embarrassment to the country and it is a stain on this institution.
There is not a person here -- there is not an empty chair on that stage that didn't tweet out never forget the heroes of 9/11. Never forget their bravery. Never forget what they did -- what they gave to this country.
Well, here they are. Your indifference cost these men and women their most valuable commodity, time. It's the one thing they're running out of.
[05:45:04] They did their jobs with courage, grace, tenacity, humility. Eighteen years later, do yours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Strong words from Stewart. Lawmakers from both parties insist no disrespect was intended. They claim they were monitoring the hearing while conducting other congressional business.
The committee's ranking member, Republican Mike Johnson of Louisiana, predicts that bill will pass with overwhelming support, and one would hope.
ROMANS: Yes.
All right, breaking overnight, another arrest in the ambush shooting of Boston baseball icon David Ortiz. You'll get the latest on that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRIGGS: Breaking overnight from the Dominican Republican, the "Boston Globe" reporting a second suspect has been arrested in connection with the weekend shooting of Red Sox legend David Ortiz. The report says the suspect was taken into custody Tuesday night.
[05:50:10] It comes as the first suspect arrested was charged as an accomplice to attempted murder.
Meantime, Big Papi taking his first steps Tuesday following a second surgery to treat his gunshot wounds.
Ortiz's wife Tiffany says he is stable and resting comfortably in a Boston hospital.
ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on "CNN Business" this Wednesday morning.
Taking a look at global markets, all leaning lower here. Asia markets closed down on some inflation data. And also, Hong Kong you see down because of protests -- one of the reasons there in central Hong Kong. Consumers -- consumer prices at a 15-month high is one of the problems for -- in the Shanghai market there.
I'm taking a look at Wall Street here. Dow futures leaning lower here. You know, the Dow snapped a 6-day winning streak, falling 14 points Tuesday. The Nasdaq and the S&P also finished slightly lower.
Still, markets have been resilient -- take a look. The Dow is about 779 points below the record high. That's less than three percent away from record. The S&P and the Nasdaq also very close to their highs.
There's more trouble, though, for Boeing. For the second month in a row, the jet manufacturer received no new orders, and it's not just because of the 737 MAX crisis. Boeing has a massive backorder of 5,000 planes. Its customers don't need to place more orders now.
And, the Paris Air Show is next month. That's a key industry trade show where new deals are likely to be announced.
So, May, typically a slow month for new orders. We'll watch and see if there's a rebound in June.
All right. "Endgame" wasn't the end for Marvel's Avengers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Clip from "Avengers: Endgame."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. The franchise will soon feature a new video game. The trailer for the game was released Monday and shows a new look for the superheroes.
I don't know, what do you think? Twitter users were mocking these changes, joking that it might cost too much to hire back the original stars of the film.
"Endgame" made $1.2 billion in the box office on its opening weekend and made $20 billion globally.
The game will be released May 2020.
I don't know. I mean, I just -- you don't mess with my Tony Stark and my super -- my Superman.
BRIGGS: Well, it's -- Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans -- these are beautiful men. It's not easy to make the video game characters look quite so -- I don't know, dashing is the word.
ROMANS: I don't know. Hemsworth was not so beautiful in "Endgame."
BRIGGS: You're right about that if you haven't seen it, but he was outstanding in the movie.
Up next, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and what might be the end of their bad blood.
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[05:57:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAYLOR SWIFT, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Singing "Bad Blood."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: No more bad blood between mega popstars Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.
In an Instagram post, Perry revealed she and Swift had a girl's night. The picture is of a batch of freshly-baked cookies with the word -- words "Peace At Last" on the plate. Perry then tagged Swift in the caption, which says "Feels Good."
Fans have been wondering about the feud between the stars ever since Swift revealed her song "Bad Blood" was about another female artist.
BRIGGS: Yes.
ROMANS: You needed that information for today.
BRIGGS: You did.
ROMANS: Be honest. And that song is now in your head.
BRIGGS: Thank you. Another earworm implanted in the ears of our viewers by our producer, Bruce. Nice job.
Late-night hosts had some fun with President Trump's -- his piece of paper he held in the air, claiming it was a secret deal with Mexico. Here's your "Late-Night Laughs."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: But here's the agreement. It's a very simple agreement.
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, CBS "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": If I don't have a secret agreement with Mexico then how do I have this piece of paper right here? How do I have a piece of paper that I will not read to you, OK -- OK? And here -- here's Middle East peace right here.
It's so fantastic like this. Is that -- yes, that's peace right there. There you go, all right?
OK, we got -- we got the Mexico deal, we have Middle East peace, and hold on -- the Colonel's secret recipe right here. Just seven herbs and spices.
JIMMY FALLON, HOST, NBC "THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON": We actually found out what was on that paper.
STEVE HIGGINS, ANNOUNCER, NBC "THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON": Really?
FALLON: Yes, here at "THE TONIGHT SHOW" we find out those types of things. It says, "Do you want to make agreement, si or no?"
SETH MEYERS, HOST, NBC "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": President Trump held up a single sheet of paper and claimed it was the text of his new border security deal with Mexico. But I bet if we zoomed in -- (piece of paper with game from Denny's).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: As we were both waiting for the laughter there.
ROMANS: What?
BRIGGS: "The Washington Post" did zoom in. They found the highest- ranking U.S. official was a deputy assistant Secretary of State of political and military affairs. So, probably not a crucial agreement between two countries.
ROMANS: And Dave, this is the shopping list from Dave's wife. Pick up some skim milk.
BRIGGS: Yes, two-faced.
ROMANS: Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Here's "NEW DAY."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Four years of Donald Trump will be viewed as an aberration to American history.
TRUMP: When a man has to mention my name 76 times in a speech he's in trouble.
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Trump has made this into a general election campaign and that's a great favor he's doing to Joe Biden.
ROMANS: Huge protests in Hong Kong. Tens of thousands of demonstrators restricting access to the Legislative Council building.
WATSON: Riot police carried out a charge using tear gas they fired from shotguns. This is a dramatic situation that we've seen escalate in a very short period of time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we will be talking about those protests. The use of tear gas, et cetera -- everything that's happening in Hong Kong.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we have some pictures -- let's put them up -- of what's been going on in Hong Kong all morning. Thousands of people on the streets there demanding.
END
