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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Congress Chaos: Democrats Stage Sit-In Over Guns; Trump Speech Slams Clinton's Character; Clinton Hits Back at Trump's "Outlandish Lies"; Blockbuster NBA Trade: Derrick Rose to N.Y. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired June 23, 2016 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: The Cavaliers big win meant big business for the NBA's online store. Monday was the store's best shopping day ever. The team's home city hadn't won a major championship in more than 50 years.
[05:00:03] And fans wasted no time buying commemorative memorabilia. Cavs fans broke last year's sales numbers in just nine hours after the team won.
I love it. Did you watch the game? I was so excited.
RYAN NOBLES, CNN ANCHOR: I don't want to be skeptical about the sales. There are a lot of bandwagon fans there, right?
KOSIK: You think?
NOBLES: In places nowhere near Cleveland buying merchandise.
KOSIK: All right.
NOBLES: EARLY START continues right now.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is time for a real debate on these issues.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Radical Islam!
(CROSSTALK)
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: House to be in order. The chair wishes to make an announcement regarding the decorum in the House chamber.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Breaking news now. Utter chaos in Congress for 16 hours. Democrats take over the House floor staging an historic all night sit- in demanding a vote on gun control which ended just moments ago.
Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.
NOBLES: Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Ryan Nobles. It is Thursday, June 23rd. And it is 5:00 a.m. in the East.
Breaking news right now: a dramatic standoff overnight in the House of Representatives. Democrats seizing the floor demanding a vote on gun control legislation before the House goes on its July 4th break. The tension exploding after 10:00 p.m. after a chant of "no bill, no break".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: No break.
No bill.
No break.
No bill.
No break.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBLES: Emotions in the House veering from anger to frustration as protesting lawmakers and constituents took to singing in front of the Capitol.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD (singing): God bless America, my home --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBLES: The House sit-in led by civil rights icon Representative John Lewis of Georgia.
Just over an hour ago, Republican leaders adjourned. Then minutes later, Lewis and House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer spoke about the need for gun legislation and how they plan to get it passed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. STENY HOYER (D), DEMOCRATIC WHIP: There is an epidemic of gun violence in America and that we need to pass legislation to make America and Americans safer. The Republicans have left in the dead of night with business unfinished.
REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: Little more than 50 years ago, I crossed the bridge. Not just one time, but it took us three times to make it all the way from Selma to Montgomery. We have other bridges to cross and when we come back in July, we will start all over again.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NOBLES: Let's get the latest and bring in CNN politics reporter Eric Bradner who's on Capitol Hill all night long, tracking the latest developments.
And, Eric, there is a bit of parliamentary procedure here. Democrats would stay on the floor in protest in some capacity in protest. But because the House adjourned, they were able to get through the vote on the Zika virus. Essentially they're just going to be there themselves if they decided to stay, right?
ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: That's exactly right, Ryan. The House Republicans adjourned the chamber until July 5th which means if Democrats want to stick around, they'll be debating themselves. There are no floor proceedings to interrupt. Democrats not try to redirect and also importantly, no cameras are running. At least not the typical cameras we are used to seeing on C-Span. I just peeked into the House chamber. There are still about 23 Democrats. I counted 23.
I saw Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz looking like she's nodding off under a blanket. So, they are continuing to sit-in. A small number are. But for the Democrats, the question is where do they go now?
They have seen Republicans, essentially say they are not willing to engage for the next couple of weeks. So Democrats could be looking at smaller versions of this protest to continue. In the meantime and come back with a plan on July 5th.
But this is sort of the next step in what turned into a 16-hour commandeering of the House floor. It was remarkable and nearly unprecedented spectacle here at the Capitol building. Democrats were really intent on focusing on gun control legislation before the Fourth of July holiday break and sought to use every trick in the book following John Lewis's lead to get there.
They saw Republicans end the session and turn the cameras off.
[05:05:03] And then they pulled their own phones and started streaming their sit-in on Periscope, the video streaming app.
And when Republicans came back, they chanted "shame, shame, shame" at House Speaker Paul Ryan and other leaders trying to force a vote. Now, that didn't happen. The big question is specifically, where do Democrats go from here?
KOSIK: Now, clearly, a lot of this was emotional. Representative John Lewis, some of what he said, really tugged at the heartstrings. We can all relate to that. But Paul Ryan came out and said, look, this was all a PR stunt. Listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: This is nothing morning than a publicity stunt. That's point number one. Point number two is this bill was already defeated in the United States Senate. Number three, we are not going to take away a citizen's due process rights. We are not going to take away a citizen's constitutional rights without due process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: So, it looks like Democrats knew going in to the sit-in, policy-wise, nothing was going to move anyway. That the sit-in was really just to grab attention and go back during recess to go back homes, go back to their constituents and say, look, hey, I had a sit- in for 16 hours. I'm trying. So, then when they come back to Congress, they can say they can try again.
BRADNER: That's right. Democrats have lost the same public policy battle time and time again. They know if they are ever to enact gun control reforms, they likely are going to need to take control of the House and Senate for majority of Republicans in November's elections.
So, Paul Ryan is right. This was about public relations. What Democrats wanted to do was thrust this to the forefront of the American political debate, sort of take at least one day away from Donald Trump, knock him out of the headlines and tops of newscasts and really focus attention on the Orlando massacre and their attempts to enact gun control legislation in the wake of the massacre.
So, what Democrats hope to do is continue to use maneuvers like this to keep this issue hot until November's elections. We have already seen them send out several fund raising solicitations to their top supporters, saying, look, here's what we have done. Look how far we have gotten and look how obstructive Republicans have been.
So, they really see this as a winner for their base. They are focusing rather narrowly on a couple of measures to expand background checks and keep suspected terrorists from buying guns, because they see those and smaller and more widely supported by the American public on what is a fairly divisive topic.
KOSIK: Yes, nothing like a sit-in to get attention that they want.
All right. Eric Bradner, thanks so much for your reporting.
This really was an unprecedented move on today's House floor. I'm talking about what we saw because when the TV cameras were turned off, the phone cameras were turned on. So, after Democrats began the sit- in to protest the gun control legislation, House Speaker Paul Ryan quickly ended the session and that shut off the TV cameras.
But Democratic lawmakers, they said, you know what? No problem here. We will take out our phones and they begun streaming the protest live on Periscope and Facebook. This ignored longstanding rules against photo taking inside the House chamber, rules that predate the Periscope and Facebook Live era. Periscope launched last year and Facebook Live just a few months ago. The two apps actually let users go live and stream video to their social networks from virtually anywhere.
Keep in mind, though, in 2008, Republican legislators, they held a protest on the house floor and the ruling Democrats caused the cameras to be turned off. Back then, protesters could not reach people through social media. This time they have technology on their side.
NOBLES: Yes, the Founding Fathers were not thinking about periscope.
All right. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton providing new insight into how they would fix the economy as president. That's coming up next.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: She believes she is entitled to the office. Her campaign slogan is "I'm with her". You know what my response is to that? I'm with you, the American people.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He has no strategy for creating jobs, just a string of empty promises. Maybe we shouldn't expect better from someone whose famous words are "you're fired".
Well, here's what I want you to know -- I do have a jobs program and as president, I'm going to make sure that you hear, "You're hired."
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
NOBLES: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton launched scathing attacks on each other calling each other liars in high profile speeches Wednesday. They both are also starting to layout some of the most substantive plans they have for the country if they win the White House.
And joining us to discuss the latest political development is CNN political analyst Josh Rogin. He's also a columnist from "The Washington Post".
And, Josh --
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
KOSIK: Good morning.
NOBLES: Good morning to you. Thank you for being up early with us.
We have seen Hillary Clinton in particular spend most of her time in this general election pivot going after Donald Trump. Yesterday, she did start to layout some of her plans particularly for the economy. Let's listen to what she had to say.
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CLINTON: First, let's break through the dysfunction in Washington.
(APPLAUSE)
To make the biggest investment in new good-paying jobs since World War II. Let's make college debt-free for all.
(APPLAUSE)
[05:15:04] Let's rewrite the rules. So more companies share profits with their employees and fewer shipped profits and jobs overseas.
Every American willing to work hard should be able to find a job that pays enough to support a family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBLES: And here are Clinton's ideas. She laid out five specific ideas to fix the economy. Josh, with both Clinton and Trump's unfavorable ratings so high, is this an attempt by the former secretary to turn back the numbers in her direction so that people come out and vote for her as opposed to just keeping Donald Trump out of the White House?
ROGIN: I think that's right. But I think there is something else going. Donald Trump is trying to set the terms of the debate and he's trying to make the debate about Hillary Clinton's time as secretary of state. His entire speech was littered with sort of accusations with the time at the State Department and corruption in the Clinton Foundation and mishandled Benghazi and Libya. Some of them were factual, some of them weren't factual.
And while Hillary Clinton was willing to respond to those, she wants to make sure she I not playing a game on Trump's terms. So, she is trying to reset the debate to the economy. She was in North Carolina. She heavily criticized the government there for not serving the economic interests of the people. She wants to focus on what the people want to hear.
So, yes, she is trying to change the debate and take the focus off herself.
KOSIK: And Donald Trump trying to change the focus and make himself look more presidential. We are seeing a Donald Trump, especially, yesterday, using the teleprompter. He is focusing more on policy and obviously continuing to attack as well. He's also talked about his first 100 days in office. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Here are a few things a Trump administration will do for the Americans. Number one, first 100 days, I'll appoint judges who will uphold the Constitution of the United States.
(APPLAUSE)
I will change immigration rules to give unemployed Americans an opportunity to feel good, really good paying jobs.
We will repeal and replace job-killing Obamacare. It is a total disaster.
We'll pass massive tax reform to create new jobs and lower taxes for everyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: OK. So, this is Trump 2.0. He is trying to look more presidential.
Do you think, Josh, this is working? Is he able to put the Trump train kind of back on track and look more presidential and maybe get some of those voters who were not looking at him before?
ROGIN: He has a tough job to do in changing the trajectory of his campaign. We got off three days of discussing his fired campaign manager. That came after two weeks of his campaign is cash poor. How he made statements that were interpreted by the Republican leaders that were racist and xenophobic and counterproductive after the Orlando attack.
So, he had to do this. He had to show the Republican establishment and Republican voters that he can go a couple days in a row without putting his foot in his mouth. If that takes reading from a teleprompter, then so be it.
Now, the question is how long can he sustain that? He got a lot of praise from Republican leaders after making the speech because it is the direction that they want him to go in. But we'll have to wait and see. It is up to Donald Trump whether or not he continues to go in that direction or whether he continues to freefall, which is frankly what his campaign has been doing in the last two weeks.
KOSIK: Yes, it is hard to forget that those in his base want him more free wielding and being Donald Trump without the prompter.
All right. Josh Rogin, we're going to bring you back in a little bit to talk more. Thanks for coming on.
ROGIN: Sure.
NOBLES: All right. A lot of buzz because of a former NBA MVP is now a starting point guard for the New York Knicks. Is basketball back in the Big Apple? I heard a lot of this yesterday on the streets of New York.
Coy Wire with this morning's bleacher report, coming up next.
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[05:23:50] KOSIK: The city of Cleveland celebrating their first pro- sports championship in over 50 years.
NOBLES: I don't think they're going to stop celebrating in Cleveland.
KOSIK: I agree.
NOBLES: Coy Wire has more in this morning's bleacher report. Hey, Coy.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ryan and Alison.
It turns they're going 1.3 miles through a sea of 1.3 million people is not that easy. Parade started at 11:00 a.m. and lasted about six hours -- 1.3 million people. That's more than three times the population of Cleveland. Doing just about anything, even scaling buildings to get a glimpse of the team who brought their city its first championship in over half a century, especially wanted a glimpse of a man who grew up just about 30 miles from the parade, who promised to bring them a title just two years ago, Mr. LeBron James.
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LEBRON JAMES, CAVS WON 1ST NBA TITLE: I heard a lot of thank you, LeBron's today. Thanks for coming home and thank for keeping your promise. Really should be thanking all the guys up here, to be honest. What's going on is still so surreal to me. It still hasn't hit me. For some crazy (EXPLETIVE DELETED) reason, I believe like I'm going to wake up and it will be game four all over again.
[05:25:02] I'm like (EXPLETIVE DELETED) we're down 2-1, still?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: The New York Knicks must be the NBA's new bachelor, because they just received a rose. Derrick Rose traded from the Chicago Bulls in a blockbuster trade. Rose is from Chicago. He's battled injuries from the MVP season five years ago. He is now a Knickerbocker.
Knicks will be holding a press conference today to announce the deal around 6:00 Eastern. You love it? You hate it? Let us know, tweet us @earlystart.
All right. Knicks and Bulls making those moves just hours ahead of the NBA draft is tonight. The first pick will go to the Philadelphia 76ers, almost certainly taking LSU's Ben Simmons with the number one pick. The six-foot-ten Australian has been working out with LeBron James. Not a bad workout buddy to get ready for the draft.
Duke freshman Brandon Ingram expected to go number two to the Lakers.
We heard a lot of soccer announces over the years, right? Well, this one maybe the Iceland on the cake. Listen to this one after Iceland scores a game winning goal against Austria yesterday at Euro 2016.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
WIRE: Iceland with the population of 320,000 becomes the smallest nation to qualify for a major finals.
Ryan and Alison, if that doesn't get your Thursday party started, I don't know what will.
NOBLES: He was screaming before he even scored the goal. He knew it was going to happen there.
WIRE: He could feel it and oh my gosh. KOSIK: Something tells me the guy doesn't have a voice today.
NOBLES: Yes.
KOSIK: Coy Wire, thanks.
NOBLES: Thanks, Coy.
WIRE: You're welcome.
KOSIK: Congress hijacked. Democrats demanding a vote on gun control. A 16-hour sit-in on the House floor. We are live, next.
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