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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Worst So-Cal Quake in 20 Years; Trump Sticks to Script for July 4; 3 Stabbed in Chicago Fireworks Stampede; Deadline Day for Census Citizenship Question; Guaido Calls for Protests in Venezuela; Serena Rallies to Reach Third Round at Wimbledon. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired July 05, 2019 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN ANCHOR: Aftershocks are likely for weeks following the worst earthquake in southern California in 20 years.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, three people stabbed, more than a dozen trampled during a post-fireworks stampede in Chicago.
KOSINSKI: And it's deadline day for the Justice Department. Will they try to add a citizenship question to the census and what other options is the White House considering?
Good morning, and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Michelle Kosinski.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Friday, July 5th, 5:00 a.m. in the East.
We will show you Trump's speech a bit, in just a bit.
We start this morning with the spectacular Macy's fireworks display all across New York City.
[05:00:03] You can see different points. When you check online and on Twitter, some terrific images from all of the different vantage points people watch this from. We hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July and beginning for some of you a long holiday weekend.
But we start this morning with the earthquake out west. They are starting to pick up the pieces, in one southern California community after the worst earthquake in that part of the state in 20 years.
The quake magnitude 6.4 centered near Ridgecrest about 150 miles north of Los Angeles. Scientists recorded more than 150 after shocks of magnitude 2.5 or greater. The city of Ridgecrest announcing a state of emergency.
Mayor Peggy Breeden was interrupted by an aftershock.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEGGY BREEDEN, MAYOR OF RIDGECREST, CALIFORNIA: This would be our seventh or eighth one that we had. Oh, my goodness, there's another one. Oh, my goodness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you OK?
BREEDEN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breathe. Just breathe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: Broken gas lines in Ridgecrest may be what caused this house fire. Power outages in the city of 20,000 leaving many without air conditioning in 100 degree heat.
Elsewhere, a garage fire consumed two classic cars and this roadway near Ridgecrest will need some work before it's safe to drive on again.
Video from inside the Ridgecrest Walmart shows the force of that quake. Meantime, 110 miles away in Studio City, the news team from CNN affiliate KCBS who was shooting a promo for their morning show when the studio began to shake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wait, what's going on?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Earthquake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you serious?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's an earthquake?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the worst it's going to get, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, shoot, it's shaking. Oh, shoot. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Look it. Shoot, you guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Kudos to those anchors. Shoot. The worst they could do even though they weren't on --
KOSINSKI: I don't know what you --
BRIGGS: Much worse. Much worse.
Back in Ridgecrest, folks now facing a monumental cleanup job. A lake of liquor on the floor at a mini mart and books littering the floor at the city library. And the work may not be finished. The U.S. Geological Survey says aftershocks are likely for the next couple of weeks.
CNN's Paul Vercammen has more from Ridgecrest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN REPORTER: Dave, Michelle, let me give you a sense of what's like here in Ridgecrest. Aftershock after aftershock, some of them as strong as 4.0.
And you can see the devastation, look at this mobile home park, they took some hits here, this mobile home knocked right off its platform. It has now been red tagged. We saw a California building safety inspector come through here making sure that everything was OK.
These residents of Ridgecrest are glad to hear that there are no mass casualties but they were absolutely saddened to hear many neighbors were moved out of their homes. This woman got out alive and not seriously hurt.
But then the Fourth of July, it was all on their minds, and a memento here. Perhaps a symbol, one of the members of their park put his flag here and they had a twist on shaken and stirred. They said they were shaken and stirred but they are still Ridgecrest strong after this quake hit.
Back to you now -- Dave, Michelle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)_
BRIGGS: Thanks.
Breaking overnight, three people stabbed, 16 others trampled while trying to leave a fireworks show at Navy Pier in Chicago. Police believe someone yelled guns or shots fired which caused a stampede. Panicked visitors swarming the waterfront restaurant Harry Carey's Tavern to escape what they thought was an active shooter incident. Turns out a man who they thought was shot actually suffered puncture wound from an over turned table.
KOSINSKI: On Independence Day from the National Mall, a rare unifying message from a deeply divisive president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the joy of freedom, we remember that all share a truly extraordinary inheritance. Together, we are part of one of the greatest stories ever told, the story of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: It rained on and off, but not enough to stop President Trump from urging Americans to come together. Ahead of the president's "Salute to America", days of controversy over his unprecedented military extravaganza on the National Mall.
KOSINSKI: After a fly over by the plane designated Air Force One when the president is on board, he paid homage to America's early history and its military. Also spoke about recent advances in civil rights and gender equality.
The backdrop was competing protests across D.C., including a flag burning. [05:05:04] They're outside the White House. Out in the mall,
sweltering crowds were pulled towards different pulls with MAGA- wearing Trump supporters here and opponents' infamous baby Trump balloon over there. But for the most part, the Fourth of July in the Mall seems to have been as unifying as possible.
Tom Foreman reporting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Dave. Hey, Michelle.
Despite scorching temperatures and intermittent rain, a reasonable sized crowd did gather here on the National Mall for the president's speech to listen to him for about an hour as he extolled the virtues of the U.S. military, all branches of it, and the U.S. people in general.
TRUMP: Now we must go forward as a nation with that same unity of purpose. As long as we remember to our cause, as long as we remember our great history, as long as we never, ever stop fighting for a better future, then there will be nothing that America can not do.
(CHEERS)
FOREMAN: Despite a lot of fears, the president steered away from partisan talk and instead focused on general comments about the American people, about American exceptionalism and America's role leading of the future, including, according to him, a trip to Mars -- Dave, Michelle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSINSKI: Thanks, Tom.
Today is the deadline for the Justice Department to tell a federal judge whether it does plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Doing so would defy the Supreme Court. Earlier this week, President Trump ordered the DOJ to find a way after the administration had conceded the census would be printed without the question.
A source familiar with the discussion tells CNN there are limited paths forward. One option would be an executive order from the president, but that would likely be challenged in the lower courts. There's also the possibility of an addendum or supplement to the census with the citizenship question. And officials are considering going back to the Supreme Court directly with a motion to reconsider.
BRIGGS: Former Vice President Joe Biden trying to move on from the issue that tripped him up in the first round of the Democratic debates. Biden was asked about school busing again on the campaign trail in Iowa. The question coming one day after Democratic rival Kamala Harris said local school districts should be able to decide the issue for themselves. That's effectively the same argument Biden made when Senator Harris attacked him last week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's absolutely right.
REPORTER: Do you think if there is a difference between what she was saying to you last week versus today?
BIDEN: Look, she's a good person. She is smart as can be and she feels strongly. It came out of nowhere. It didn't seem to be something at all consistent with anything I had been accused of before, but I think the end of the day, I'd like to get -- we can talk about the future. I mean, busing is something that 99 percent of the American people don't even know what we're talking about here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: Well, not everybody wants to forget that issue and move on. Senator Harris campaigning in Iowa still thinks Biden has something to do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Sadly, we do not agree. I've asked him and have yet to hear him agree that busing that was court ordered and mandated in most places and in that era in which I was bused was necessary and he has yet to agree that his position on this, which was to work with segregationists and oppose busing, was wrong. Period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: A must-see CNN exclusive, less than an hour away. Joe Biden sits down with Chris Cuomo. They cover a lot of ground on this, on policy, the president, debates and whether he'd pick a woman as a vice president. That debuts just moments from now only on CNN.
BRIGGS: I can't wait for that.
KOSINSKI: Yes, me, too.
BRIGGS: OK. The rapid job growth in the past two years seems to be cooling off. The Labor Department will release the June jobs numbers 8:30 a.m. this morning. Economists expect the economy added 160,000 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate remains at a historic low of 3.6 percent. That would be a bounce back from the disappointing 75,000 jobs created in May, but a slowdown from the average of 164,000 jobs created over the past six months.
Two important factors to pay attention to -- construction and retail. Construction jobs have been a victim of the lackluster housing market. The retail industry has suffered thousands of layoff as online shopping continues to grow.
Even though e-commerce has given gains in the transportation and warehousing sector, it's unlikely they full offset the retail losses. Any sign of weakness could increase calls for an interest cut from the Fed later this month. KOSINSKI: Michigan Congressman Justin Amash is quitting the Republican Party now. He was the only member of the GOP to publicly call for impeachment proceedings against President Trump.
[05:10:05] Amash said he is leaving the party because he has become disenchanted with partisan politics and says he is frightened by it. In a "Washington Post" opinion column, Amash writes: I am declaring my independence and leaving the Republican Party. I am asking you to join me in rejecting the partisan loyalties and rhetoric that divide and dehumanize us.
BRIGGS: But him leaving the party, does it actually make the fracture worse? Because when you take out some of the differing opinions in the Republican Party, does the split grow greater between the two?
KOSINSKI: He was kind of the loner there. I feel like his leaving is no surprise at this point.
BRIGGS: No.
KOSINSKI: He went out with a little bit of a bang, I guess, on the Fourth of July. I think for other Republicans will be like, OK, see ya, never.
BRIGGS: It would be interesting to see his political future.
All right. Ahead, the wrong man was taken off of life support in Chicago. Now, two families are suing the city and the hospital.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:15:35] BRIGGS: Five-fifteen a.m. Eastern Time.
An opposition leader Juan Guaido calling for huge protests in the streets of Venezuela today, demanding the resignation of embattled President Nicolas Maduro. The call coming after a Venezuelan navy officer was tortured and killed this week while being held in government custody.
Isa Soares live in Caracas with the latest.
It seems that this international attention has kind of faded, but has the dynamic really changed much at all there?
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the pressure, Dave, I think we'll see has been intensified, but from the side of Nicolas Maduro, not from the side of the opposition. Because of that failed uprising that you were mentioning in the March 30th, what we have seen has been a heavy crackdown by the Maduro regime against those who tried to topple him, to take him from power.
So what we'll see today on this Independence Day here in Venezuela is a call to arms that say for many of Guaido's backers, his supporters, to take to the streets. And he's calling for people to take the streets because of human rights abuses. This is in the back of the naval officer who was allegedly tortured
but also on the back of this U.N. report that has been released in the last hour or so that highlights the gross and grave abuse by the Maduro government against people here in Venezuela, be it political, be it socioeconomic or civil aspects of society, accusing the Maduro government of using death squads and a policy of fear.
So, Guaido will be taking this, Dave, and hoping that this in the minds of many people who already knew this was taking place, that this will make many people, take many people to the streets, but, of course, as you well know, people here are tired. They're exhausted. They want to put food on the table and it will be interesting to see how many people in fact do turn out.
I wanted to give you this little tidbit I saw in the last few minutes from Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. human rights chief. She said that in terms of the minimum wage here, $7. That doesn't even buy you 5 percent of the food basket for a family of five. More than 3.7 million people malnourished in this country. So, people want to put food on the table, that's their main objective. But clearly, the internal forces at play here will be interesting to see whether Juan Guaido can keep the momentum today -- Dave.
BRIGGS: Very crucial day there in Caracas.
Isa Soares, reporting live, thank you.
KOSINSKI: Well, here's a strange story. Two families are suing the city of Chicago and Mercy Hospital for taking the wrong man off life support. Back in April, Chicago police incorrectly identified a man they found naked and unresponsive as Alfonso Bennett. Bennett's sisters told officials at Mercy Hospital they weren't sure it was their brother but hospital staff insisted it was him, claiming he couldn't be recognized because of facial injuries he had suffered.
BRIGGS: When the sisters were told their brother had to be taken off of life support, they agreed. Then the real Alfonso Bennett showed up while they were planning his funeral service. The victim who passed away was later identified as Elisha Brittman. Chicago police and Mercy Hospital are not commenting. A wrongful death lawsuit accuses them of negligence and inflicting intentionally emotional distress on the two families.
Ahead, a scare at Wimbledon for Serena Williams. The seven-time champ dropping the first set of her match. Could she survive and advance to the next round? Coy Wire has the answer ahead --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:24:07] BRIGGS: Miami Dolphins lineman Kendrick Norton had to have one of his arms amputated after a serious car crash in Miami.
Coy Wire with that story in the "Bleacher Report".
Good morning, my friend. COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESONDENT: Yes, devastating news for a
promising young defensive tackle, Dave. His pickup truck crashed into a wall causing his car to flip over early Thursday morning. The Dolphins signed the former University of Miami star off the Panthers practice squad in December and he hoped to compete for a roster spot in their training camp which starts in just under three weeks.
Norton's injuries don't appear to be life-threatening. No word on the cause of the accidents. The dolphins tweeting support for Norton, sending their thoughts and prayers to him and his family.
I reached out to his agent, Dave, and he told me of all of the people he represents Kendrick would be the guy that didn't deserve something like this. He said, he's the best. He's sad that this happened but glad he's alive.
All right. Let's head to Wimbledon. Now, where Serena Williams struggles early in her second round match against Kaja Juvan, but losing the first set 6-2.
[05:25:06] But the seven-time Wimbledon champ knows what it takes to battle back and she does, winning in three sets.
Her close friend, the duchess, Meghan Markle, there to cheer her dear friend and watch her advance to the third round.
Fifteen-year-old Coco Gauff playing her third round match today. Even if she loses, she's hanging around at least another day. She accepted an invitation to play mixed doubles with her friend, Jay Clarke, but get this, Dave, the British player ditched his other partner Harriet Dart at the last minute saying he couldn't pass up a chance to play with Coco.
Dart says she found out she was being dumped in a text message and she's not happy. The two were mixed doubles partners in Wimbledon last year, going all the way to the semis. Now, Dart won't have time to find another partner before the competition begins on Saturday. That hurts.
Speaking of hurt, turn your head if you haven't eaten breakfast yet. Joey Jaws Chestnut is top dog yet again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The champion of the world, Joey Chestnut.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: The competitive eater dunking and shoving 71 hotdogs and buns in ten minutes, winning Nathan's famous Fourth of July hotdog eating contest for the 12th time in the last 13 years. He falls three dogs shy of the record he set last year.
Joey, our best count, has eaten 861 hotdogs in just over 2 hours. During his 12-year run, Dave, 71 Nathans famous hotdogs would weigh more than 15.5 pounds, my brother. If you stack them end to end -- BRIGGS: Yes.
WIRE: -- they would be as tall about a three-story building. Imagine. Just imagine.
BRIGGS: That's one disgusting building, Coy.
Usually, our standard here is if we make Christine Romans tear up, but today you've got Michelle Kosinski to look a little bit nauseated. By that standard, a successful sportscast.
WIRE: I apologize for the dry heaving, Michelle.
BRIGGS: Thank you, Coy. Have a great weekend.
You didn't like the competitive eating so much.
KOSINSKI: No, I'm not into it.
We need to have a warning on that video. That is disturbing, and as you're eating your cheerios or 900 hotdogs, whatever the case may be.
BRIGGS: Yes, it does make me reconsider a dog today.
KOSINSKI: Not quite your record though, right?
Aftershocks are expected for weeks in southern California after the worst earthquake the region has seen in 20 years.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
