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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
249 Migrant Children Being Shifted To HHS Care; President Trump Imposes New Iran Sanctions; FedEx Sues U.S. Over Huawei Restrictions. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired June 25, 2019 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:31:58] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Billions in emergency funding on the line. The liberal wing of the Democratic Party could hold it up, demanding more help for kids along the border.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: "She's not my type." That's the president's dismissal of a woman accusing him of rape decades ago. Hear how Jean Carroll responded to that.
ROMANS: New sanctions mean the end of diplomacy. Big pushback from Iran against the U.S. as world leaders prepare to head to the G20.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL GATES, FOUNDER, MICROSOFT: Well, technology has become so central that government has to think, OK, what does that mean?
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BRIGGS: And, Bill Gates joins the call to regulate big tech. Why he says it's time his own industry was more closely watched.
Welcome back to EARLY START on a Tuesday, everybody. I'm Dave Briggs.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: Morning.
ROMANS: It is exactly 32 minutes past the hour, folks, and we start with the ongoing immigration battle playing out in Congress.
Torture facilities -- that's what an on-site doctor compared the conditions to where migrant children are being held along our southern border. No soap, soiled clothes, poor hygiene. And now, emergency funding to fix those problems at the border could be in jeopardy.
House Democrats emerging from a tense late-night meeting with Speaker Pelosi agreeing to review specific changes to a $4.6 billion proposal. Why? Democrats in the Progressive and Hispanic Caucuses argue it does not go far enough addressing those humanitarian needs.
A Democratic source calls it the hardest Nancy Pelosi has had to work in her speakership.
The speaker addressed the border issue before the meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Families belong together in America. Everyone has rights. Immigrants have rights. And we just have to beat that drum across the next couple of weeks. And as we do so, we must also pass legislation that meets the humanitarian needs at the border.
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BRIGGS: And urgently because the clock is ticking on several fronts. A vote on the Democratic proposal remains set for today. Lawmakers leave Washington for a weeklong recess on Thursday, and the president pushed back his time line but still says the deportations will move ahead in just 12 days.
The chair of the House Democratic Caucus recently outlined leadership's border strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): We should provide the humanitarian assistance necessary to change the conditions along the border, particularly as it relates to immigrant children. But we need to make sure that there are guardrails that are erected so that we do not inadvertently fund the reckless Trump deportation machine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Without some version of emergency immigrant funding, Health and Human Services Sec. Alex Azar says that the effect on HHS would be, quote, "like a government shutdown."
ROMANS: All right. So, help coming immediately for nearly 250 migrant children held at a Customs and Border Protection facility in Clint, Texas. Now, the Department of Health and Human Services says the children will be shifted into its shelter system by today.
[05:35:03] Our Jake Tapper asked Vice President Mike Pence about poor health and hygiene conditions on Sunday and Pence pivoted to politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, CNN ANCHOR, "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER": But we have money to give toothpaste, and soap, and blankets to these kids in this facility in El Paso County. Right now we do.
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, of course, we do.
TAPPER: So why aren't we? PENCE: My point -- my point is it's all a part of the appropriations process. Congress needs to provide additional support to deal with the crisis at our southern border.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: As of June 10th, more than 52,000 -- 52,000 unaccompanied children have been transferred from DHS (Department of Homeland Security) to HHS (Health and Human Services). That's a 60 percent increase over last year.
BRIGGS: An extraordinary denial from President Trump in the face of a rape allegation from the mid-1990s. Now, according to the president, writer E. Jean Carroll is totally lying when she claims he sexually assaulted her in a New York City department store.
Mr. Trump tells "The Hill", quote, "I'll say it with great respect. Number one, she's not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?"
Now, watch Carroll's reaction when Anderson Cooper reads her the president's remarks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": He said, "I'll say it with great respect. Number one, she's not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?"
E. JEAN CARROLL, TRUMP ACCUSER: I love that.
COOPER: You love --
CARROLL: I am so glad I am not his type. I am so glad. This is -- this was 20 years ago and I probably was, at that moment, in that five minutes, the most attractive woman in Bergdorfs -- in that one bit of time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Carroll has been an advice columnist for "Elle" magazine for 26 years.
She alleges Mr. Trump attacked her in one of the stores dressing rooms, a description that mirrors accusations of several other women.
The president has denied accusations of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women.
ROMANS: President Trump doesn't think he needs congressional approval for a military strike against Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I like the idea of keeping Congress abreast, but I wouldn't have to do that. SAAGAR ENJETI, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, HILL.TV: Sure. Well, Nancy Pelosi actually said you must have congressional approval. So you disagree with her on that?
TRUMP: I disagree.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Members of Congress have debated this question of the president's authority, especially in the wake of the attack the president called off last week. He ordered that strike in retaliation for Iran downing an unmanned American spy plane.
Senate Democrats weighing whether to block the annual defense policy bill. The idea would be to force a vote on an amendment requiring congressional approval for any war with Iran.
BRIGGS: Meantime, the president targeted Iran's supreme leader with new sanctions Monday. He warned that U.S. restraint is limited.
Overnight, the Iranian Foreign Ministry slapped back, saying the new sanctions mean the White House is, quote, "closing the channel of diplomacy forever."
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is standing by live in Iran with the latest. Fred, they seem -- these sanctions largely symbolic on the surface. What's the reaction there?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the Iranians, Dave, are also saying that these sanctions are just symbolic. But at the same time, symbolic obviously means something here as well and they're saying that they believe that this is something that crushes any sort of chances of diplomacy between Iran and the United States.
It was quite interesting because the president, Hassan Rouhani -- he came out in a speech -- in a press conference earlier today and absolutely lashed out at the United States and the White House, specifically, saying that -- he said, and this is a quote -- that "The White House is suffering from mental disability and no sane person would do what the United States is doing."
Essentially, what the Iranians are saying is they are saying that because of the White House, on the one hand, is saying that it wants Iran to go back to the negotiating table. But at the same time, the sanctioning senior figures -- but not just the supreme leader, but also saying they're going to sanction the foreign minister as well. That means that the U.S. is lying about any intention to want to go back to talks with the Iranians.
The Iranians for their part, of course, are saying that it's precisely these sanctions that are preventing them from going back to the negotiating table. They say only if the sanctions are dropped will they return to the negotiating table.
It's also quite interesting. A senior adviser to Hassan Rouhani coming out earlier today and saying the foreign minister being sanctioned by the United States means that he's slowly turning into a Nelson Mandela for Iran, Dave.
BRIGGS: How about that for a comparison? Fred Pleitgen live for us in Tehran this morning. Thank you, sir.
Let's discuss all this with "Washington Post" congressional reporter Karoun Demirjian. She's a CNN political analyst. Good to see you.
ROMANS: Good morning.
KAROUN DEMIRJIAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Good morning.
BRIGGS: So, these sanctions -- will they have any impact, and what is the Trump administration's central goal in Iran? Is it repackaging the JCPOA in some sort of USMCA type of manner?
DEMIRJIAN: If it is, it's also stiffening it incredibly because I think that with the -- the administration had the opportunity last year to strengthen and stiffen the JCPOA and they threw that out the window. Now, whether that was a branding issue because it was too closely tied to Obama -- you could make that argument -- given that they're saying we're open to talks.
[05:40:02] I think, though, given the fact that there were frustrations existing around that JCPOA in the first place, whatever they're going to settle on -- and I'm talking about the Trump administration's position here -- is going to have to be a lot more stringent and a lot more punishing on Iran because they've set this standard for themselves of never being able to get a nuclear weapon.
The yield to control the indefinite future, that's a very hard thing to do in a world in which there is nuclear power going around and other states have ambitions, too, that Iran considers regional enemies. And so, it's just -- it's a much more difficult equation for the Trump administration to get everything that they want with that much more -- much more punishing approach because they say the Obama --
BRIGGS: Yes.
DEMIRJIAN: -- administration was too light-handed.
ROMANS: Karoun, we're hearing this morning some pretty incredible details about this meeting that went on for several hours last night among Democrats. And one source telling us that Nancy Pelosi is having the hardest -- doing the hardest work of her speakership right now, trying to sort of wrangle the left wing of her party who are very, very angry about funding at the border.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said this. "We need to stop funding the detention of children under any and all circumstances. I will not fund another dime to allow ICE to continue its manipulative tactics."
There are a lot of others who have said similar things. You heard Congressman Hakeem Jeffries just a few minutes ago.
Where are the Democrats right now on this and could it end up being something like basically, a government shutdown for border funding?
DEMIRJIAN: If they can't figure this out quickly then yes, because we're looking at just a few days left in the week right now. And if we believe what the secretary of Health and Human Services said, this is dire. And the end of the week is the end of the month and Congress goes on vacation for a week after that, so the clock is ticking.
It seems like everybody in the Democratic Party ultimately wants to do a similar thing, which is improve the situation for the children at the border. Improve the situation at any sort of facility they might find themselves in. But there's this concern that OK, if we keep throwing money at the problem and we don't put any conditions on it to force the government to spend that money in the way that we want them to.
And I think that these latest reports about lack of soap, lack of toothbrushes, lack of basic facilities for these children really, really struck a nerve that has broken the patience of a lot of people to say OK, we'll put the check -- we'll sign the check right now and assume that we can fix the problems later.
They're saying no, you want to do everything at once. Otherwise, we have no guarantee that we're not just kind of endorsing this $4.5 billion. And so, that's the situation you've got right now.
Is it something that you could resolve? Seemingly so if you could put stringent enough conditions on how that money is spent. But this is the debate that they have to resolve today, basically, if they want to be able to get this to happen, especially because it's not the endgame. Whatever happens in the House has to be reconciled with the Senate and that could, itself, be a fairly --
ROMANS: Right.
DEMIRJIAN: -- thorny process because there's --
BRIGGS: Yes.
DEMIRJIAN: -- Republicans that have to be convinced in the Senate and the bipartisan game again.
BRIGGS: And expect this issue to play out on a larger scale Wednesday and Thursday when the Democratic debates begin.
ROMANS: Yes.
BRIGGS: You've got 20 --
DEMIRJIAN: For sure.
BRIGGS: -- Democrats taking the stage.
And the president has attempted to suggest that look, the Democrats don't want to do anything on our southern border.
Will one of those candidates emerge from the pack with a central plan to address our southern border and immigration overall?
DEMIRJIAN: I mean, it's going to be very interesting to see who is able to do that in a comprehensive fashion. And thus far, most of the pitches that have been made are about health care, which affects --
BRIGGS: Yes.
DEMIRJIAN: -- pretty much everybody. Students loans, which affects a lot of people.
The immigration issue at the border -- you have to -- there's a lot of people in the country that might not be watching even though it's a huge story that we're all talking about right now. And to make a case that appeals to just the greater human sensibility on this issue and also gets really serious about financial matters and takes the issue of immigration seriously, I don't think --
You've got diversity views in the Democratic Party. Some people want to have a more open border policy. We've heard proposals like that being made. A lot of the candidates are saying well, no, you can't do that completely. You have to regulate the border in some way.
ROMANS: Right.
DEMIRJIAN: There's proposals about what -- how many visas and for long do you give to undocumented immigrants who are already in the country.
All of these things are going to be competing. There really isn't a firm middle ground in the Democratic Party right now, except for they want to do something that is not just focused on border security -- that is a little bit more generous to the plight of these migrants. What that is though, and how much they can make that appeal to everybody across the board is the challenge, generally speaking, for the Democrats right now.
ROMANS: Sure.
BRIGGS: Indeed.
ROMANS: All right. Karoun Demirjian, nice to see you.
DEMIRJIAN: Nice to see you, too.
ROMANS: Thanks for stopping by.
BRIGGS: Thank you.
ROMANS: All right, 44 minutes past the hour.
Bill Gates calling on the United States government to step up its regulation of big tech. The founder of Microsoft says companies like the one he created have so much influence on culture, on business, on life, that they must be constantly monitored.
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GATES: Well, technology has become so central that government has to think OK, what does that mean about elections, what does it mean about bullying, things like privacy. I'm sure they'll -- and there should be, at some point, federal regulation that relates to that.
The fact that now this is the way people consume media has really brought it into a realm that we need to shape it so that the benefits outweigh the negatives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:45:10] ROMANS: Gates' remarks coming on the same day Senators Mark Warner of Virginia, and Josh Hawley of Missouri introduced a bill that could force companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook to reveal how much money they make off of your data.
BRIGGS: All right. Ahead, shipping companies connect the world, so what should they do when goods from one world power are banned from another? FedEx is now suing to make that point.
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BRIGGS: FedEx sits at the global intersection between commerce and trade and now, the shipping giant is suing the U.S. Commerce Department, pushing back against new restrictions aimed at the embattled Chinese tech firm Huawei.
"CNN BUSINESS" reporter Sherisse Pham joining us live from Hong Kong. Sherisse, hard to find a more consequential corporate battle than this one.
[05:50:06] SHERISSE PHAM, REPORTER, "CNN BUSINESS": This is a massive consequential corporate battle -- you're absolutely right -- and Huawei -- excuse me -- FedEx really caught in the crossfire here.
FedEx -- this lawsuit coming as FedEx is under fire in China for mishandling several packages related to Huawei. They have had to apologize twice in the last month and it hasn't exactly satisfied Beijing and it hasn't exactly satisfied Chinese netizens.
So, CEO Fred Smith saying in an interview to Fox News -- look, we do not have the capacity and the wherewithal to be the policemen of millions of packages. We can't enforce these restrictions that you have on Huawei and other companies.
Have a listen to what he had to say.
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FRED SMITH, CEO, FEDEX: The increasing use of restrictions on exports and imports by the Commerce Department and various geopolitical and trade disputes creates just an impossible burden. We are expected to be policemen for these export and import controls. (END VIDEO CLIP)
PHAM: These U.S. restrictions have left so many companies -- American and international companies scrambling to figure out what they can and cannot sell to Huawei. FedEx just the latest one to come out and say we can't handle all of these pressures.
And look, this is really a huge development because the Commerce Department has said all along that these restrictions on Huawei and other companies are a national security concern. You just heard the FedEx CEO there say it's not -- that it's related to geopolitics and trade restrictions.
The Commerce Department has said that they have not reviewed the FedEx lawsuit yet but they look forward to defending Commerce's role in the protection of U.S. national security.
BRIGGS: Yes, and further complicating the G20 this week.
Thank you, Sherisse Pham, live for us in Hong Kong.
ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on "CNN Business" this morning.
Taking a look at global markets, you can see leaning slightly lower. But look, Hong Kong down one percent but each of those other -- Shanghai, Hong Kong showing some weakness, but mostly here. This is what I would call indecision.
On Wall Street, stocks barely moved on Monday and they're barely moving right now. The next big event is the G20 summit where President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will talk trade. No deal expected, but that meeting could set the tone for the next phase of the trade war.
The Dow finished up just eight measly points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq down.
Look for the month, though. This is the last trading week of the month and the Dow was up almost eight percent this month, the S&P 500 up more than seven percent, and the Nasdaq up nine percent. So, the month -- it has done very well.
The Dow is just 99 points below the record closing high it set in October. And the S&P is also just below its all-time high set last week.
McDonald's sales are on fire. The reason, its decision to switch from frozen beef patties to fresh beef last year. That change means a 30 percent spike in sales of the classic Quarter Pounder over the past year.
McDonald's made the change to appeal to customers who want to know where their food comes from. It's the biggest supply chain change since it started serving all-day breakfast in 2015.
A Quarter Pounder with cheese -- think about that for five minutes. We'll be right back.
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[05:57:12] ROMANS: A big mystery in Utah. Police in Salt Lake City say a University of Utah student has been missing more than a week. She was last seen at a park before she vanished.
Twenty-three-year-old MacKenzie Lueck arrived at Salt Lake City International Airport in the early morning hours last Monday after visiting a family in California. She then took a Lyft ride to a park in North Salt Lake, miles from where she lived and has not been seen since.
Lyft and the driver are cooperating with police. The driver confirmed the route she took, telling police MacKenzie met someone after being dropped off.
BRIGGS: Joining the Washington Nationals, the Los Angeles Dodgers now plan to extend the protective netting past the far ends of each dugout at Dodger Stadium. This comes after a fan was hit in the head by a foul ball Sunday. That woman, Kaitlyn Salazar, spoke about the incident.
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KAITLYN SALAZAR, HIT BY FOUL BALL: You know in those movies where people -- like, when a bomb goes off and you hear an eerie sound and then, like, the scene starts to get fadey and then everyone sounds like mumbled? Yeah, like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: There has been greater scrutiny on fan safety after a woman died last year when she was hit by a line drive foul ball at Dodger Stadium. And just last month, a 4-year-old girl was struck in the head by a line drive during a game in Houston.
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WORLD CUP ANNOUNCER: Steps up -- Rapinoe shot -- goal. U.S. leads.
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ROMANS: The U.S. Women's National Team is in the -- in the quarterfinals now of the 2020 Women's World Cup. They defeated Spain Monday, two to one, behind two Megan Rapinoe penalty kicks.
Team USA, the defending World Cup champs, will now meet France, the host nation, on Friday.
The tickets are like through the roof, right?
BRIGGS: Yes, thousands of dollars. And some feel that is the true final, which would be great. Three o'clock Eastern time, 12:00 Pacific. ROMANS: All right, thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. "NEW DAY" starts right now. We'll see you tomorrow.
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BRIGGS: House Democrats at odds over implementing at strategy at the border.
PENCE: No American should approve of this mass influx of people coming across our border.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't take more than common sense to know that you need to give kids soap and toothbrushes. The conditions are inhumane.
ROMANS: Twenty-twenty Democratic hopefuls prepare to take the stage for the first round of debates.
JULIAN CASTRO (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The challenge is how do you say things in a way the American people can understand?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is our chance to dream big, fight hard, and win.
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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I've been reading about you in the papers all morning.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, tell me more.
BERMAN: Your interview with E. Jean Carroll yesterday on the show got written up everywhere.
CAMEROTA: Well, thank you for saying that. She said a lot of provocative things and we just watched her. You and I processed what had happened to her 23 years ago, she says, at the hands of Donald Trump. And so, obviously, President Trump had to respond to it.
BERMAN: It's interesting, still, it took three days from the publishing of her book for it to get any traction, but we'll talk much more about that in a little bit.
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