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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Equal Pay For Better?; Iran To Break Nuclear Accord; Biden's Apology; AOC Takes On Speaker Pelosi; Chants Of "Equal Pay" Accompany U.S. World Cup Win; Epstein Facing New Sex Crimes Allegations. Aired 05:30-6a ET
Aired July 08, 2019 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Champions, again. Can the U.S. Women's national team spark action on equal pay for equal work after a dominating World Cup performance.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Iran escalating once again breaking its commitment to the nuclear deal. How much uranium will Tehran enrich and how will the West respond.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, FORMER UNITED STATES VICE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm sorry for any of the pain or misconception I may have caused to anybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Joe Biden apologizing for comments about working with segregationist senators, but he's mounting a vigorous defense of his record on issues of race.
Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. And here are the front pages of papers around the country from coast to coast regardless of your political spin.
(SPORT)
DEAN: Turning now to Iran, how will the U.S. respond to Tehran exceeding the uranium enrichment limits it agreed to in the landmark nuclear deal. President Trump gave a first indication last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iran better be careful because you enrich for one reason and I won't tell you what that is, but it's no good they better be careful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Iran's move comes more than a year after the President withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed tough economic sanctions. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is just back from assignment in Tehran. He's joining us live this morning and Fred you've categorized this as significant. Yes, you're absolutely right. It is certainly a significant move on
the part of the Iranians. They had already said that they were going to increase the amount of low enriched uranium that they are stockpiling, but now they're actually increasing the enrichment level of uranium. They're going from 3.67 percent to about 5 percent. They haven't officially said that yet though.
Now, to keep that in perspective, the Iranians would need uranium of an enrichment of about 90 percent to actually build a nuclear weapon. The Iranians say, first of all that's not something they want to do and second of all they are still very far away from that with a 5 percent that they might reach right now. But, of course, it still is a very significant move and the big question is, of course, why are the Iranians doing that and essentially they're saying very straightforward that they are part of this nuclear agreement, they've been abiding by the nuclear agreement but they haven't got many of the benefits of the nuclear agreement which of course made them a curb to a great deal their civilian nuclear program.
And they say if they're not going to get any of the benefits, if they're going to continue get sanctioned by the United States, They are going to stop those restrictions on their nuclear program all in time and in certain steps but it's something that they say that they're going to do. And, of course, all of this already coming in an extremely volatile situation there in the Middle East between the United States and Iran where you had those attacks, two sets of attacks on tankers which the U.S. blames on Iran, the Iranians say that it wasn't them.
Then, of course, you had the Iranians shoot down an American drone where the Iranians say that it was in their airspace. The U.S. says that it was an international airspace and of course the U.S. also upping their troop presence in the Middle Eastern region as well. So there are a lot of people around the world who have been fearing that this could escalate and both sides are saying they want to avoid of war but both sides are also saying they would be ready if indeed a war does happen.
Now, the situation itself seems on the verge of escalating even more, because the Iranians are saying at 60 days down the line, they are going to take the next step and reach even more parts of the nuclear agreement and they've already warned the Europeans not to take any retaliatory measures against them, Jessica.
DEAN: All right. Fred Pleitgen for us this morning. Much more to come on this. Thanks so much.
BRIGGS: All right, to the 2020 trail, you remember this from a few weeks ago?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: REPORTER: Are you going to apologize like Cory Booker has called for?
BIDEN: Apologize for what? (END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: That, of course, former Vice President Joe Biden right after his controversial comments about working with segregation senators. He initially refused to back down, but had a change of heart this weekend in a message delivered to a mostly black audience in South Carolina.
DEAN: And joining us here to discuss this, Princeton University Historian and Professor Julian Zelizer and CNN Political Analyst. Julian, good morning to you.
BRIGGS: Good to see you.
JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
DEAN: Thanks for being with us. I want to play this, you mentioned the apology, let's hear from Joe Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I chose to work within the system to make it better to get things done for the least among us. Was I wrong to do that? I don't think so. Now, was I wrong a few weeks ago to somehow give the impression to people that I was praising those men who I successfully opposed time and again? Yes, I was. I regret it. And I'm sorry for any of the pain or misconception I may have caused anybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:40:08] DEAN: Julian, this has been going on now for about three weeks, the back-and-forth, "Will you apologize?" "Won't you apologize?" Well, what do you think about this? In the media world, we've been talking about it a lot. In the political world we've been talking about it a lot. How do you think this is playing with voters and are they following all these pieces? What does this mean bottom line?
ZELIZER: I don't think they're following yet, but this issue will return throughout the debates that are going to take place. It's not about just his comments, it's about his record. And when you run with a long record, your record will be one of the top issues.
So we're going to hear more about his positions on civil rights, on crime, on reproductive rights. This is all going to come back. So this is kind of a taste of the kind of debates he will face.
DEAN: And so that means that they're challenged too, is that they have find a way to make that record to go on the offense with them.
BRIGGS: Well, you got to look at the polling here, okay, because polling would suggest America doesn't care about any of this. The new Washington Post poll shows Joe Biden leading President Trump. The only candidate to lead President Trump in doing so by a wide margin, by 10 points. Everybody else in the field is essentially tied or within the margin
of error, but there's another number here that I thought we had on the screen but let me just read it to you. It's how you would compete against a candidate you regard as socialist.
Well, President Trump dominates a candidate presumed socialist 49 to 43. You write on cnn.com the Democrats should not underestimate Trump, why not?
ZELIZER: Well, look, you have an incumbent president with a strong economy, a totally united party and a conservative media which will continue to promote this candidate. So take away the name Trump whoever that president is goes into the fall in a strong position, so Democrats need to remember that. That doesn't mean Joe Biden is necessarily the candidate, but this will not be simply a replacement election. He will be a formidable incumbent come fall.
BRIGGS: Oh, yes.
DEAN: And as you look at the Democratic Party, obviously, you've got the 2020 field which is kind of its own animal right now. And then you've got the Democrats who are currently in office. The congressional Democrats and we've seen some fracturing, this has been kind of a storyline we've followed between Nancy Pelosi and then these more liberal parts of the party.
ZELIZER: AOC, yes, the AOC wing.
DEAN: Right. And I want to show people a tweet that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sent out. "I don't believe it was a good idea for Dems to blindly trust the Trump administration when so many kids have died in their custody, it's a huge mistake." What she's talking about, she did not vote for the border funding bill, she was one of four Democrats in the house not to do so, Nancy Pelosi then kind of taking a swipe at her in an interview in The New York Times. What do you think about this kind of this tension, let's say, between those two parts and what does it mean for the party as they look toward 2020?
ZELIZER: It's not a total surprise. When a party faces a president who they really opposed to, often divisions within the party will emerge. What do you do? What policies do you support? So the question is can speaker Pelosi find a way to use this to her advantage, can she use the liberal wing not as a foil but in the end as an ally to keep the majority and to win the election.
That's a tricky proposition, but historically that's what great leaders do. They don't just isolate those they opposed to, they use them as assets.
BRIGGS: The Democrats will need the unity the Republicans have at the moment to beat Donald Trump.
ZELIZER: Yes.
BRIGGS: Let's turn to soccer and the debate over equal pay for equal play and this is a difficult question because some are just saying, "Well, hey, this women is team is better. They are more popular. It's not that simple." Should they get paid more? Should they get paid equal? What's your take on all of these when you consider that the men's world cup makes 40 times more money revenue than the women's?
ZELIZER: I think even though they make more revenue, there's probably more than enough financial leeway for equal pay when a team is this dominant. They are remaking the sport. They're not just winning and I think that's where the argument comes in that you can equalize pay, you can equalize the conditions of travel.
BRIGGS: Sure.
ZELIZER: And you can give this team the respect that it deserves. It's a symbol and it's not unlike I just wrote about Billie Jean King in the battle of the sexes in 1973 where sports became a way to talk about social issues and I think that's why people are looking to what happens here.
BRIGGS: I think an easy case could be made that women should be paid more money than the men in terms of their salary, but less when it comes to World Cup prize money. There is a much smaller pie there, but go ahead, send me your angry tweets. We'll continue to bake this at the break. Juli, good to see you.
DEAN: But they certainly are the stars of the sport right now, there's no question about that.
ZELIZER: Oh, absolutely.
BRIGGS: No question about that.
DEAN: Julian, thank you.
ZELIZER: Thank you.
BRIGGS: All right. Services are getting back to normal in Ridgecrest, California after Friday's earthquake. It was the second powerful quake in as many days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[05:45:01] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get under the table. Get under the table. Oh, my god.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Ridgecrest authorities say all roads and concrete has been inspected following the 7.1 magnitude earthquake. The city's water facilities are operational and the transit system is resuming its normal schedule. New drone video shows the fault line and some damaged homes in nearby Trona, California. The quake rattled area residents, one family even decided to sleep under a tree.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAY BYRD, TRONA, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: We thought it was safer that way, because they said another one was coming and if it was worse than that one, you definitely didn't want to be in our house.
BROOKE THOMPSON, 8-YEAR-OLD GRANDDAUGHTER: It shook so bad that I had to escape by the window. So we've decided we were going to stay here and spend the night because we were too worried that another one would come and actually damage us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Now, geologists say a major earthquake along the San Andreas Fault is likely overdue.
DEAN: He has evaded similar charges in the past, but billionaire Jeffrey Epstein is facing serious new charges of alleged sex crimes involving minors.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:50:18] DEAN: Negotiations resumed today between the Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro and opposition groups demanding his ouster led by Juan Guaido. The talks are being held in Barbados mediated by Norway which hosted a failed round of talks in May. Guaido declared himself acting President of Venezuela in January, calling for free and fair elections to end what he called Maduro's dictatorship.
The country remains deeply divided with huge rival events in Caracas Friday. The country's independence day.
BRIGGS: Check on CNN BUSINESS at 5:50 Eastern time. It's the end of an era, Deutsche Bank announcing a radical restructuring plan that will cut 18,000 jobs and shrink its investment bank as part of a costly overhaul. The 149 year-old bank has struggled to produce consistent profits, sluggish European economy and a reluctance to reform have made it harder for the bank to compete in the expensive sector. Deutsche Bank said the job reductions would be made by 2022 but did not provide a geographic breakdown of the cuts. The bank employs almost 9,300 people in North America, most of those jobs here in the U.S.
A Saudi airline is going all-in on Airbus as Boeing struggles to get the 737 Max back up in the air. Flyadeal announcing it will fly an all Airbus fleet, changing course from a plan to buy up to 50 737 Max planes. Boeing struggle to regain trust in the airline industry. The Max 8 planes are still grounded around the world and airlines have said they will demand compensation. Flyadeal is the second airline to switch to Airbus after Indonesian Airline Garuda.
Summer box office found its hero. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to be our next Ironman now?
SPIDERMAN: Well, no, I don't have time. I'm too busy doing your jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.
SPIDER-MAN: I'm kidding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Spider-Man: Far From Home made an estimated $185 million at the box office over six-day holiday opening. Big opening was great news for Hollywood because the summer movie season was in desperate need of a win. June was a rough month with Men In Black International and Dark Phoenix, both underperforming, could see another bump on the way when the Lion King debuts July 19. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:56:56] BRIGGS: An indictment against Florida-based billionaire, Jeffrey Epstein, expected to be unsealed today. Law enforcement sources say the new charges involve alleged sex trafficking crimes committed between 2002 and 2005 in both New York and Palm Beach. CNN has reached out to Epstein's lawyer for comment. Epstein avoided similar charges in the past by securing a nonprosecution deal in Miami.
In November, the Miami herald reported when current Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta was a U.S. attorney in Florida, he gave Epstein 13 months in prison for pleading to two state prostitution charges despite 36 accusations for under aged victims.
DEAN: Kevin Spacey and the man accusing the Oscar winning actor groping him may come face-to-face in Massachusetts court room today. The hearing will focus on the cell phone the accuser used to text his girlfriend, even send a video during the alleged assault. Prosecutors say they downloaded data from the phone and then returned it to the accuser. The judge has ruled Spacey's defense team is entitled to examine the phone itself, but the accuser says he does not have it.
Music legend Stevie Wonder being sidelined for a kidney transplant. The 69-year-old singer, songwriter announced the operation during a concert in London Saturday just after his encore superstition. Wonder says he does have a donor. Last week, the Detroit Free Press reported Wonder has been battling a serious issue health issue touring overseas with a medical team.
BRIGGS: The family of Disney Channel star Cameron Boyce is shedding new light on the young actor's heartbreaking death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLOS: So, this thing will make me say what I really feel to Jane? (END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: The 20-year-old star of the Disney Channel's Descendents and Jessie suffered a seizure in his sleep Saturday morning. According to a statement from his family, it was the result of an ongoing medical condition he's being treated for. Boyce also starred in Grown Ups with Adam Sandler. The comedian called the young actor the nicest, most talented, and most decent kid around. He was a terrific actor. I know my kids love watching him and from all you hear a wonderful young man.
DEAN: Such a loss there. Well, thank you so much for joining us this morning. I'm Jessica Dean.
BRIGGS: Good to have you here. I'm Dave Briggs. NEW DAY starts right now.
(SPORT)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Was I wrong a few weeks ago to somehow give the impression to people that I was praising, those men who I successfully opposed time and again? Yes, I was. I regret it.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to take him at his word but again we cannot rewrite history.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're apologizing for all of the things that you did, how are you going to be a different leader, you're struggling with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
[05:59:58] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Monday, July 8th, six o'clock here in New York. World Cup champs.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I feel like we're wearing our Rapinoe purple right now.
BERMAN: Absolutely.
