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U.S. Pulls Out Of Nuclear Treaty With Russia; Thousands Of Troops May Come Home From Afghanistan; Two U.S. Teens Accused Of Murdering Italian Officer. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired August 02, 2019 - 05:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[05:30:00] BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: "On Feb 2nd, 2019 the U.S. gave Russia six months to return to compliance with the Intermediate- Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Russia refused, so the treaty ends today. The U.S. will not remain party to a treaty when others violate it. Russia bears sole responsibility."

The treaty was signed 32 years ago by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev --the arms deal now dead.

The Pentagon is set to test a new non-nuclear mobile-launched cruise missile that was developed specifically to challenge Russian aggression in Europe.

CNN's Barbara Starr has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Boris, look for this treaty -- called the INF treaty that restricts intermediate-range missiles in Europe -- look for it to disappear into history. The U.S. says Russia had already been violating it by deploying these intermediate-range missiles on its territory -- missiles that could target Europe.

And as of today, the U.S. officially will be out of this treaty. This is a Cold War arms control treaty signed back in the 1980s by President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, all aimed at arms control. The question now, are we in an arms race?

The Russians, according to the U.S., have deployed multiple battalions of their new missile that violates the treaty -- conventional at the moment. But it is a missile that can target into Europe.

And the U.S. now, upon withdrawal, will begin testing its version of a missile and try and get some congressional funding, perhaps to begin its own program.

There is very little hope, according to experts, that the Russians will come back to the table on this. They want to have this kind of system.

Look for NATO, today, to talk about all of this and talk about European security and stability for the countries in Europe. If the U.S. decides to go ahead and field the new missile they will need those European countries for basing of the American missiles. And nations, like Poland, that are nervous about next-door Russia just might agree to take the American weapons -- Christine, Boris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Barbara Starr. Thank you for that.

For the third time in eight days, North Korea has conducted a missile test. U.S. officials believe the latest test on Thursday involved a new short-range ballistic missile similar to the two other launches in recent days.

And even though the tests violate U.N. resolutions, President Trump says he has no problem with them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Is Kim testing you?

TRUMP: I think it's very much under control -- very much under control.

REPORTER: Why do you say that, though? Will you stop --

TRUMP: Short-range missiles -- we never made an agreement on that. I have no problem. We'll see what happens.

But these are short-range missiles. They're very standard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: "I have no problem."

Analysts believe the recent launches signal North Korea's displeasure with upcoming military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea, as well as South Korea's decision to acquire F-35 Stealth fighters capable of evading North Korean radar.

SANCHEZ: A big development in America's longest-running war. The U.S. preparing to bring back thousands of troops from Afghanistan. The Trump administration negotiating a peace deal with the Taliban right now.

Two sources familiar with negotiations say the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan would shrink from about 14,000 to between 8,000 and 9,000 in the coming months.

A spokesman says the move is part of the administration's push to end the war in Afghanistan, which has dragged on for nearly 18 years.

This has been a signature issue for President Trump going back to the early days of his candidacy in 2015. Here's what he said about Afghanistan just last month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: We're like policemen. We're not fighting a war. If we wanted to fight a war in Afghanistan and win it, I could win that war in a week.

I just don't want to kill 10 million people. Does that make sense to you? I don't want to kill 10 million people.

I have plans on Afghanistan that if I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the earth. It would be gone -- it would be over in -- literally, in 10 days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The Trump administration has already begun shrinking the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan. In fact, sources tell CNN the goal is to cut half the embassy's personnel by the end of September.

ROMANS: Tariff man is back. One day after trade talks wrapped in China, President Trump said he will slap 10 percent tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods starting next month -- effectively taxing all Chinese goods coming into the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: When my people came home, they said we're talking -- we have another meeting in early September. I said that's fine. But in the meantime, until such time as there's a deal, we'll be taxing them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: This is on top of tariffs already imposed on $250 billion in Chinese goods.

Now, these new tariffs will hit tech particularly hard. Goods like iPhones and consumer electronics will be taxed. It will also affect sneakers and toys.

[05:35:01] As he has many times before, Trump falsely claimed this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're taking in many billions of dollars. There's been absolutely no inflation and frankly, it hasn't cost our consumer anything -- it cost China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Just not true.

Business groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce coming out against the new tariffs, saying they will only hurt consumers and ultimately, undermine the economy.

And new this morning, China's foreign minister said China will take countermeasures if the U.S. is bent on putting tariffs on Chinese goods. Investors not happy at all about this. The Dow had a 600-point swing during the day from up 300 to down 281 points in the end.

Retail, tech, industrial stocks fell -- some of them big. Look at Best Buy.

And crude oil took a dive, indicative of how this trade war will hurt global growth and could kill demand for oil.

SANCHEZ: Republican Congressman Will Hurd, of Texas, joining a growing list of Republicans in announcing he will not run for reelection. The former CIA agent says he plans to pursue opportunities in the private sector to solve problems at the nexus between technology and national security.

Among the issues that he hopes to tackle, he cited China's geopolitical threat, international competition, and artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, and instability in Central America.

Hurd is the only black Republican in the House of Representatives and he's a frequent critic of President Trump.

Just on Thursday, he scolded the president for his recent attacks against four congresswomen of color -- "The Squad."

He told "The Washington Post" quote, "When you imply that because someone doesn't look like you, in telling them to go back to African or wherever, you're implying that they're not an American and you're implying that they have less worth than you."

ROMANS: As the dust settles from the CNN Democratic debate, Joe Biden says he was surprised by the degree of criticism aimed at former President Barack Obama, from health care to immigration to trade. Key accomplishments of the Obama administration came under fire.

The real target, of course, was Biden. The former V.P. has tied himself closely to Obama, who is beloved among Democrats.

Campaigning in Detroit Thursday, Biden was asked about the attacks on Obama's legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I must tell you, I was a little surprised at how much the incoming was about Barack -- about the president. I mean, I'm proud of having served with him, I'm proud of the job he did. I don't think there's anything he has to apologize for.

I hope in the next debate we can talk about how we fix -- our answers to fix the things that Trump has broken, not how Barack Obama made all these mistakes. He didn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: President Trump also noticed those attacks on Obama and talked about them at his campaign rally in Cincinnati.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But I was watching the so-called debate last night --

(RALLYGOERS BOOING)

TRUMP: -- and I also watched the night before. That was long, long television. And the Democrats spent more time attacking Barack Obama than they did attacking me, practically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: A spokesman for Obama declined to comment on the attacks from Biden's Democratic rivals.

SANCHEZ: Some former aides have told CNN they're furious --

ROMANS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- about the attacks.

Let's bring in Jackie Kucinich, Washington bureau chief of the "Daily Beast" and also a CNN political analyst. Jackie, great to have you.

ROMANS: Good morning, Jackie.

SANCHEZ: Good morning.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE DAILY BEAST: Good morning.

SANCHEZ: We have to talk about these attacks during the Democratic debates on --

KUCINICH: Right.

SANCHEZ: -- President Obama. Pretty harsh on Tuesday and Wednesday night. By Thursday, some of these candidates sort of walked them back a little bit. Take a look.

KUCINICH: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are having an honest conversation about an administration that was incredible. I would take him back -- heck, if he was to run for president for a third term, I wouldn't be running.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have nothing but praise for President Obama. I think he did great work.

JULIAN CASTRO (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've always praised Barack Obama. Last night, I did that we regard to the economy. At the same time, let me be very clear, Don. I do believe that when

it comes to immigration -- and I said this when I was mayor of San Antonio before I even joined the Obama administration in 2014 -- that there were ways that we could improve on what the Obama administration was doing.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: President Obama was a great president. And I think for a lot of us, we're looking to figure out how to build on his accomplishments and build on his records.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Now, Jackie, you heard Biden say that he's surprised by these attacks but you're suggesting that at least on the issue of immigration --

KUCINICH: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- he shouldn't be surprised.

KUCINICH: Well, welcome to Democratic primary politics, right? I mean, if you -- especially on the issue of immigration.

If you spoke to particularly, members of the Hispanic caucus during Obama's tenure and the -- and the activist base, they weren't happy --

ROMANS: Yes.

KUCINICH: -- with how the Obama administration was running, particularly deportations during Obama's term.

ROMANS: They called the deporter in chief.

KUCINICH: They called him the deporter in chief.

So, particularly on that issue, it's really hard for me to believe that Biden was surprised because that was bubbling up throughout the eight years that Obama was president.

On some of these other issues, again, there was a lot of debate during -- when the ACA was going through the legislative process about how far to the left that they should go.

[05:40:06] ROMANS: Yes.

KUCINICH: They ended up in the middle, which is I think why you hear some of the lawmakers that were a part of it saying -- and some of the governors that have had to implement it saying well, guys, you can't -- what you're -- some of the Medicare for All proposals, that's not going to be possible. That's going to be a little bit too hard to implement --

ROMANS: Yes.

KUCINICH: -- and hard to get through Congress. ROMANS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: To some degree, though, isn't this what President Trump wants because he remained relatively unscathed through the two debates --

ROMANS: Right.

SANCHEZ: -- and now the conversation is about Obama's legacy and not him, and he's joking about it at a rally.

KUCINICH: Well, and that's the risk during these debates is that you take -- that some of these Democrats are taking their eye off President Trump.

That said, also, the aim of these debates is to contrast different Democrats who are vying for their party's --

ROMANS: Sure.

KUCINICH: So I can't imagine when we're talking in a general election that it's not going to be about President Trump and his policies -- that it's going to be about President Obama at that point.

But they do risk alienating voters that love President Obama, that miss President Obama -- a lot of those voters who are big Joe Biden fans, as a result -- by going hard against his legacy of some of these other candidates.

ROMANS: I think Cory Booker had the best line yesterday when said, you know, look, we really miss Obama.

KUCINICH: Right.

ROMANS: And, your husband.

KUCINICH: Yes, I know. I was like (INAUDIBLE).

ROMANS: Very funny.

Let's talk a little bit about impeachment because --

KUCINICH: Right.

ROMANS: -- here you have now by our account -- you know, have 117 House Democrats who back an impeachment inquiry. That is up 22 since Robert Mueller has his public testimony -- 117 Democrats.

And it almost makes our very own Manu Raju look like he had a crystal ball a couple of -- last month when he was talking with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- listen.

KUCINICH: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If a majority of the caucus wants to go forward with an impeachment inquiry, would you go for it?

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): It's not -- it's not even close in our caucus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: That was only June 11th and slowly chipping away up to --

KUCINICH: Yes.

ROMANS: -- 117 now backing an inquiry.

What's the significance, in your view?

KUCINICH: Manu's a little clairvoyant, isn't he?

ROMANS: Yes.

KUCINICH: Yes. So it's not only that there are more backing impeachment, it's who is backing impeachment.

SANCHEZ: Right.

KUCINICH: Someone like an Eliot Engel, who is an ally of Nancy Pelosi -- the fact that he has put his name in there.

That said, among Democratic leaders, the most important name there is Nancy Pelosi, right? She -- without her backing it would be a major coup if they decided to go forward without her blessing on this.

That said, you know, some of the president's actions, particularly his racist comments of late -- Democrats have a range of reasons why they're -- why they're choosing to speak up now and that is both -- it's causing the surge. But it also could be problematic because it could look at little unfocused if they decided to go forward.

SANCHEZ: It's also sort of damned if you do, damned if you don't.

KUCINICH: Totally.

SANCHEZ: If they don't go for impeachment, then Trump says they didn't have enough evidence to.

ROMANS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: If they do, then it falters in the Senate.

KUCINICH: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Then he says look, again, not enough evidence.

KUCINICH: And you heard that during the debate. I believe Julian Castro made that point when he was speaking about impeachment. So there really is -- there really is a hot debate in the House right

now as to how to handle this.

SANCHEZ: All right. Jackie Kucinich, thank you so much for the time this morning.

ROMANS: Good to see you. Have a great weekend.

KUCINICH: Thank you. You guys, too. Thank you.

ROMANS: We will.

All right. Just moments ago, the lawyer for one of the American teenagers accused of killing an Italian police officer made a key legal move. We go live to Rome, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:48:18] SANCHEZ: New developments in the case of two American teenagers who are being held for the murder of an Italian police officer. Just moments ago, we learned Gabriel Hjorth is appealing his incarceration, seeking freedom while he awaits trial -- or at least lower security confinement.

Let's go live to Rome and bring in CNN's Melissa Bell. Melissa, how common is that sort of lower security release?

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the big question is whether the Italian system will allow it. We should know more by the beginning of next week.

The question will be whether they believe that he can be placed in some other kind of facility or under house arrest. But the real question is whether given that he has an American passport he will be considered by the Italian judiciary a flight risk.

Essentially, what's going to be appealed in a 1-day process is going to be, Boris, the question of whether until these charges are brought -- and that could take some time under Italian law -- he can be allowed out of this prison in which he's being held with Finnegan Elder, the other teen with whom he's accused of having been responsible for the stabbing of Mario Cerciello Rega, that Italian police officer so tragically killed in the early hours of last Friday morning.

Crucially, though, and I think this is the most important thing, that appeal by Gabe Natale-Hjorth's lawyer means that what the defense will get is faster access to the documents. For the time being, Boris -- and this is quite extraordinary -- all they've seen is essentially what we have seen in the press through leaks, through press conferences, through reports from the prosecution, and through the routing from the investigating judge just a few days ago.

Of course, the lawyers were present when they were giving their confessions to the police, so they have the full transcripts of that -- they were there. But beyond that, they really don't have much more for the time being than we do.

[05:50:02] SANCHEZ: And a controversial case. Melissa Bell, we know you'll keep watching it for us. Thank you.

BELL: All right.

SANCHEZ: Back to the states.

A controversial billboard in North Carolina is coming down. It features photos of the four progressive congresswomen known as "The Squad" along with the headline, quote, "The 4 Horsemen Cometh." And you can see there the word "Cometh" crossed out and replaced by "Are Idiots".

A local gun shop owner paid for this sign. There was a lot of blowback from anti-gun groups and ultimately, the company that owns the billboard convinced the gun shop owner that it had to come down. That gun shop owner says he had no intention of inciting violence.

ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on "CNN Business" this morning.

Take a look at global markets. You've got down markets around the world. Pretty significant declines in Tokyo and in Hong Kong.

And the European markets closed down well this morning, too. You know, Paris, Frankfurt both down more than two percent.

On Wall Street, leaning lower here this morning after stocks closed lower.

This is all about tariffs and trade war, and President Trump resuming that title of tariff man. He will impose a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion of Chinese goods starting in September.

The Dow ended Thursday down 280 points. That was a 600-point swing during the day. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also down.

Retail, tech, and industrial stocks hit really hard here by this announcement. Caterpillar closed down almost four percent. Nike and Best Buy had big declines.

And, U.S. oil fell sharply, down eight percent, indicative of the fear of how the president's trade war will hurt global growth and could crimp the demand for oil.

All right, an important piece of economic data. The jobs report will be released in just a few hours. Economists estimate the economy added 164,000 jobs in July.

The unemployment rate probably steady around 3.7 percent. That would be a little bit of a -- a little bit of a cooling from the 171,000-job average over the past quarter.

According to the National Federation of Independent Business, finding qualified workers is still the big concern for many sectors. The question also remains how many workers are left to be pulled back into the labor force.

And then, this.

The Senate passed a huge budget deal that would stave off the looming threat of a potential default on U.S. debt. It prevents automatic spending cuts to domestic and military funding. This deal suspends the debt limit through July 2021 and sets topline levels for defense and non-defense spending for the next couple of years.

Now, the bill now goes to President Trump for his signature. And the budget watchdog, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said if the deal becomes law, President Trump will have signed into law legislation that adds $4.1 trillion to the national debt during his first term.

On the one hand, you have that big tax cut law, which was not paid for --

SANCHEZ: Right.

ROMANS: -- and then, this spending deal.

SANCHEZ: A budget hawk, he is not.

ROMANS: That's right.

SANCHEZ: No runway, no problem. See what drivers saw as a plane came in for an emergency landing on the highway, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:56:47] SANCHEZ: A police dashcam catches a small single-engine plane making an emergency landing on a state road south of Tacoma, Washington. A state trooper happened to be on patrol in just the right place at the right time.

The pilot struggles to land without power but he nails it. No injuries, no damage to the plane. No damage to any cars on the road, either.

They were able to actually stop the plane at a red light. Look at the pilot getting off of it.

The FAA now investigating this incident.

There's a fugitive on the loose. Have you seen him?

Animal control workers across two North Carolina counties have been trying to find this emu, who they have decided to call "Eno." But every time they arrive on the scene the big bird is already gone. They can run up to 30 miles an hour.

It's been on the loose since June and it keeps popping up in people's yards. Eno the emu was last spotted on Tuesday meandering in a pasture near the town of Hillsborough. Seth Meyers following up on the CNN Democratic debates with a look at the best-case and worst-case scenarios for the 2020 candidates. Here now, your "Late-Night Laughs."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SETH MEYERS, HOST, NBC "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": First up, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Best case for Bill de Blasio, he wins one of the debates. Worst case, he misses the debate because he's stuck on the F train.

Marianne Williamson. Best case for Williamson, she gets a boost in her book sales. Worst case, she becomes President of the United States of America.

Senator Bernie Sanders. Best case, he finally secures the Democratic presidential nomination. Worst case, he throws his arms up so hard they get stuck that way, just like his mother always warned him would happen.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Best case, he gets the vice presidential nomination. Worst case, his mom comes home early from vacation and shuts the whole campaign down.

Senator Elizabeth Warren. Best case, she becomes a once-in-a-lifetime president who permanently transforms American society. Worst case, when the one-millionth person asks her if she's likable enough to become president, she finally snaps, murders them, and spends a decade in prison.

Former Vice President Joe Biden. Best case for Joe Biden, he gets elected president. Worst case, he gets elected president but Obama says he can't make the inauguration because he has a thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Those are your "Late-Night Laughs."

A quick reminder. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is visiting Thailand right now for the ASEAN Conference. The United States just got out of a major treaty it held for decades with Russia. He is set to speak soon.

Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Boris Sanchez. "NEW DAY" starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone.

We do begin with breaking news for you because Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State, has just announced that the U.S. will be withdrawing from the INF treaty.

This treaty has obviously been in effect for decades, since the 80s. This was supposed to help with the Cold War era. It was a nuclear deal and it banned intermediate-range missiles -- weapons with a range of up to about 3,000 miles.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Russia is, quote, "solely responsible" for this treaty's demise and why the U.S. is pulling out.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we're watching very closely. We might hear from the Secretary of State any minute now.

Also breaking this morning, a major development in America's longest- running war. CNN has learned that the U.S. is preparing for a dramatic --