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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Versus "The Squad"; Biden Versus Sanders on Health Care; Rays' D'Arnaud Hits 3 Home Runs to Beat Yankees. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired July 16, 2019 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As far as I'm concerned, if you hate our country, if you're not happy here, you can leave.
REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): This is the agenda of white nationalists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: A defense of racism now an ironclad part of the president's playbook. His rhetoric met with mild criticism from the Republican Party he reshaped.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The transition of dropping 300 million people on a new plan are a little risky.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The system that Joe and others are trying to prop up is the most wasteful bureaucratic and expensive system on earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders squaring off on health care. A pivotal issue now dividing some Democrats.
BRIGGS: Joy and relief after a missing hiker is rescued in California. Sheryl Powell went missing for four days. We'll tell you why.
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DEPUTY WILL KIMBRO, BERKELEY COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE, BERKELEY COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA: There we go. There we go. Come on. Come on, baby. She's breathing. As long as she's crying like that, she's breathing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: A heart pumping rescue in South Carolina as a deputy pulls over a car for speeding and saves a baby in distress.
Good morning to you. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Jessica Dean, in for Christine Romans today.
BRIGGS: Good morning. Good morning to all of you. I'm Dave Briggs. Tuesday, July 16th, 5:00 a.m. in the East.
Fifty years ago today, Apollo 11 launched and how far we've come, talking about racist statements from the president of the United States. President Trump escalating the ugliest of ugly politics. Instead of apologizing for his racist attack on four progressive House members, he justified it at a White House news conference.
Trump sparked the controversy Sunday when he tweeted the congresswomen, all of them U.S. citizens should, quote, go back to where they came from.
John Roberts of Fox News put this question to the president yesterday.
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JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Does it concern you that many people saw that tweet as racist and that white nationalist groups are finding common cause with you on that point?
TRUMP: It doesn't concern me because many people agree with me and all I'm saying, they want to leave, they can leave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: The episode reflects the president's certainty he won't lose the support of his base nor the Republican Party he reshaped.
DEAN: Most GOP lawmakers kept mum but a number of prominent lawmakers did come out against the remark if not against the president. The only black Republican in the House, Will Hurd of Texas.
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REP. WILL HURD (R-TX): The tweets are racist and xenophobic. They're also inaccurate. It's behavior that's unbecoming of the president of the United States and the leader of the free world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: George Conway, Washington lawyer, Trump critic and husband of Kellyanne Conway wrote, quote, Sunday left no doubt. Naivete, resentment and outright racism roiled in a toxic mix, have given us a racist president.
Now the women Trump painted as the American hating face of the Democratic Party are pushing back.
We have more from White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins.
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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Dave and Jessica, not only is the president not backing off the remarks he made over the weekend, he's escalating his attacks on these four Democratic congresswomen, accusing them of hating the country and saying if they do not like living here, then they should leave.
He was at an event on the South Lawn of the White House when he came prepared with pieces of paper with bullet points to make the case where he said he felt he was in the right.
TRUMP: As far as I'm concerned, if you hate our country, if you're not happy here, you can leave. And that's what I say all the time. That's what I said in a tweet, which I guess some people think is controversial. A lot of people love it, by the way.
COLLINS: Now, the women that the president has accused and made these attacks on held a press conference yesterday where the four of them appeared on Capitol Hill to confront what the president said, statements they said they were not surprised by to come out of the president's mouth.
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Weak minds and leaders challenge loyalty to our country in order to avoid challenging and debating the policy.
OMAR: This is the agenda of white nationalists. Whether it is happening in chat homes or it's happening on national TV and now it's reached the White House garden.
COLLINS: I should note that Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader's office said we will hear from him at his normal press conference that he holds pretty much on a weekly basis.
And people will be watching to see what it is he has to say about these racist attacks coming from the president -- Jessica and Dave.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRIGGS: Kaitlan, thanks.
The fight over health care now front and center in the race for the 2020 Democratic nomination. The issue increasing the friction between front-runner Joe Biden and challenger Bernie Sanders. The former vice president releasing a 10-year $750 billion proposal Monday, a plan that Sanders calls too wasteful and complicated.
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SANDERS: The system that Joe and others are trying to prop up is the most wasteful, bureaucratic and expensive system on earth. And when you talk about subsidies, what you're talking about is spending even more money, in this case taxpayer money, on a dysfunctional, wasteful and bureaucratic system. We need a simple system.
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BRIGGS: Albeit far more expensive.
[05:05:01] Arlette Saenz traveling with the Biden campaign in Iowa. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Dave and Jessica, Joe Biden kicked off a three-day swing through Iowa here in Des Moines by touting his newly released health care plan which he says will build on the Affordable Care Act. Now, Biden's plan would provide a public option to allow Americans to buy into a Medicare type of program. It also provides massive subsidies to make purchasing insurance through the exchanges cheaper for all-Americans regardless of income.
Biden also insisting that Medicare for All isn't the answer when it comes to health care worrying that programs like that will be difficult to implement and also are, quote, kind of a little bit risky.
REPORTER: You're talking now about a public option as part of your health care plan?
BIDEN: Yes.
REPORTER: That was very tough the last time.
BIDEN: Sure it was.
REPORTER: When Obamacare was first coming around.
BIDEN: Sure it was.
REPORTER: And it didn't happen.
BIDEN: Can you imagine what Medicare for All, if you think that's tough? Come on. Look, here's the deal, guys. One of the things that's happening is, all of a sudden, the American public has figured out what Obamacare was about.
It's solid, it's real, it's consequential. And we can in fact for a significant portion of the price, we can in fact insure 97, 98 percent of all the American people who want to be insured, and they can keep their policy if they want.
SAENZ: Now, Biden was really focused in the past week and a half on establishing clear lines of differences between himself and his Democratic opponents who are supporting a plan like Medicare for All.
Now, Biden will continue promoting his health care plan over the next two days in Iowa, including making some stops in rural Iowa to talk about healthcare. We're also going to be hearing more about health care from Kamala Harris who has promised a policy proposal coming today. And Bernie Sanders will once again be making his case on Medicare for all on Wednesday.
These candidates clearly trying to draw their battle lines on health care heading into that next debate just over two weeks away -- Jessica and Dave.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BRIGGS: Arlette, thanks.
A check on CNN business at 5:06 Eastern Time. An unusual alliance in Washington. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Congresswoman Maxine Waters both coming out against Facebook's digital currency Libra. Lawmakers have expressed skepticism Facebook already under attack over privacy concerns can be trusted with the digital currency.
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STEVEN MNUCHIN, TREASURY SECRETARY: To the extent that Facebook can do this correctly and can have a payment system, you know, correctly with proper AML, that's fine. They've got a lot of work to do to convince us to get to that place.
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BRIGGS: Mnuchin's comments came as Facebook executive David Marcus prepares for a pair of hearings on Capitol Hill. In the remarks released ahead of the Senate Banking Committee Marcus wrote, quote, Facebook will not offer the Libra digital currency until we have fully addressed regulatory concerns and received appropriate approvals.
Libra also faces resistance in the House Financial Services on Wednesday. Congresswoman Maxine Waters who chairs that committee has drafted legislation that could block Facebook from operating Libra. The, quote, Keep Big Tech Out of Finance Act would prevent all large finance companies from being involved in or becoming financial institutions. Libra is expected to launch in early 2020.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, God, I can't believe it.
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DEAN: Tears of joy after a missing camper in California is found alive. Sixty-year-old Sheryl Powell of Huntington Beach disappeared Friday near the grand view campground in the Bristle Cone Pine Forest. She had taken the family dog for a bathroom break and her son believes someone threatened her, forcing her to run down the hill where she got lost. This is a photo of Sheryl reunited with her husband Joe and her children Greg and Farrah.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Magnificent. We were so --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a miracle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a miracle. After so many days gone.
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DEAN: Powell's son tells CNN his mother was dehydrated but is otherwise doing well. BRIGGS: One hundred messages about child abuse and neglect went
unread in Colorado. Why and what officials are saying now.
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[05:14:02] BRIGGS: Five-Eastern Eastern Time.
And Barry is slowly weakening this morning, but it will continue to pose a flooding threat over the next few days. One Louisiana family is homeless after a bee infested tree crashed through their mobile home during the storm. Listen to this teen describe how his father tried to free his mom while the bees were attacking.
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KAVIAN ROBERTSON, PARENTS ATTACKED BY BEES: My mom was screaming for help -- bees everywhere. I tried to help my mom but he wasn't -- he got trapped because the bees was eating him up everywhere -- eating them both up. His face was just so swelled up from bees.
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BRIGGS: Right now, heavy rain is spreading north into Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee. Over 21 million people are currently under a heat warning or advisory. Highs will approach 100 degrees in New York City later this week.
DEAN: An historic opioid trial now in the hands of a judge. The state of Oklahoma and Johnson and Johnson sparring over whether the drug maker bears the blame for the state's opioid crisis.
[05:15:00] Oklahoma accuses Johnson and Johnson and its subsidiary Johnson of creating a public nuisance that cause the state billions. Johnsons and Johnson argues its vital pain medications aren't the cause of the complex opioid epidemic and that it has been made a scapegoat. The judge he'll take about a month to render a decision.
BRIGGS: The boxing world mourning the loss of legendary Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker. He died after being hit by a vehicle while he was walking on Virginia Beach Sunday. Whitaker was just 55 years old. "Sweet Pea" rose to fame during the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, winning the gold medal in the lightweight division. He won titles in four different weight classes.
One of his boxing rivals, Oscar De La Hoya, tweeting it was an honor to share the ring with him in terms of his defense and ring generalship. Pernell Whitaker was the best fighter that I ever fought.
DEAN: In Colorado, more than 100 messages about child abuse and neglect went unchecked for four years because an email account was set up and then forgotten. At least five child abuse cases that needed follow-up were not investigated. That email account was established in 2015 to support a phone hotline for abuse cases. It was part of a campaign to raise public awareness of the state's resources for reporting child abuse. State department of human services says it's of great concern these cases did not get attention they needed in a timely way.
BRIGGS: Over 1 million people have signed up for a fake Facebook event, calling for a mass raid on Area 51 in September. The U.S. Air Force base in Nevada has long been a source of alien conspiracy theories. A pinned post on the Facebook page says: Hello, U.S. government, this is a joke.
But Air Force officials are not laughing. The bogus event has gained so much traction the Air Force is issuing a warning that Area 51 is an open training range and will be protected accordingly.
DEAN: Take a look at this giant barrel jellyfish spotted off the southwest of England. You see there, it's the size of a human. It was spotted by broadcaster and biologist Lizzie Daly and she described the moment she set eyes on the creature breathtaking and called the encounter unforgettable. Barrel jellyfish typically grows up to three feet in diameter and weigh 5 pounds. According to Daly, this one was at least as large as her.
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KIMBRO: There we go, there we go. Come on -- come on, baby. She's breathing. As long as she's crying like that, she's breathing.
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BRIGGS: Dramatic bodycam video shows an officer saving the life of a 12-day-old baby. It happened after Deputy Will Kimbro had pulled over a car for speeding last month. The driver immediately got out of the vehicle and old him her baby had stop breathing.
Kimbro took the baby's limp body and performed life saving first aid, tapping her chest to clear the airway and massaging her heart. He kept at it until the paramedics arrived. The sheriff's office says the baby is doing well and Deputy Kimbro was given a medal for his life-savings actions.
Bravo, sir.
All right. Ahead, after he was dumped by the Mets for struggling for years, suddenly, he is a Yankee killer after joining the Tampa Bay Rays. Andy Scholes has that story in the "Bleacher Report".
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[05:23:31] BRIGGS: You can add the Kansas City Royals now to a list of teams who will be extending their protective netting down the foul lines.
Andy Scholes has that story in the "Bleacher Report".
Good morning, my friend.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Dave. You know, this is another case of a team being reactive instead of
proactive. A 12-year-old girl unfortunately was hit by a foul ball on Sunday by the Royals game. According to the team she was being kept overnight at the hospital for observation. As a result, the Royals say they will be extending their protective netting down the foul line. They said they were already looking into extending the netting before Sunday's incident.
Last week, the Chicago White Sox were the first team to install protective netting for the season. Here's a list of teams who say they will be extending the netting before the start of next season. You have the White Sox, Nationals, Rangers, Dodgers, Royals, Orioles and the Pirates.
OK. NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo hanging with the Yankees before their game last night. I'm going out on a limb say that Giannis hasn't played much baseball. He was struggling to hit the ball off the t.
Now, one guy who was connecting plenty last night was the Rays' Travis D'Arnaud. He tied the team record with three home runs and the last one was quite dramatic. It was top of the ninth, two outs, down two, two outs, full count and D'Arnaud connects for the go-ahead three-run home run off of Chapman.
[05:25:00] And thanks to D'Arnaud, the Rays stun the Yankees 5-4.
After the game, D'Arnaud, a former New York Mets, said it was the coolest night ever.
All right. Finally, we had an awesome moment before last night's Rockies game in Denver. Jamie Ketchum lost both her legs, an arm, a hand and suffered severe burns on 95 percent of her body after being in a fiery car crash that killed her father. Jamie spent 425 days in the hospital and has overcome incredible odds. She lived out a lifelong dream throwing out that first pitch before the game last night.
Dave, just an incredible moment. What a journey she has gone through to get to that moment. Props to her for just being such an inspiration.
BRIGGS: Remarkable moment there in Denver. Thanks so much, Andy Scholes.
Jessica, what's ahead?
DEAN: All right. Up next, not once, not twice but three times. The president digs in and defends racist tweets. Is he digging himself and his party a hole they won't be able to escape come 2020 and beyond?
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