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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Missiles In The Persian Gulf?; Walmart To Raise Prices Because Of Tariffs; Adversity Score Added To SAT Exam. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired May 17, 2019 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:32:07] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: CNN with new information on what the U.S. believes to be missiles on Iranian freighters in the Persian Gulf.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Walmart now says it will raise prices on some items because of President Trump's tariffs on China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a military airplane in our building.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: A fighter jet comes crashing through the roof of a California warehouse after the pilot ejects.
ROMANS: And big changes are coming to the SATs. New scores for students that have nothing to do with academics.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs.
Fascinating changes impacting --
ROMANS: Yes.
BRIGGS: -- the way your kids get into college. We'll talk about that in a bit.
But we start in the Middle East. The U.S. believes Iran is using commercial ships in the Persian Gulf to carry missiles. A U.S. official tells CNN the government has multiple images of Iranian freighters that have been modified. The U.S. claims the pictures show large areas of the decks removed to carry missiles.
CNN has not reviewed the intelligence supporting the U.S. assessment and the government has not provided proof the ships are carrying missiles or other munitions.
ROMANS: President Trump is trying to curb the intensifying conflict with Iran. "The New York Times" reports the president, on Wednesday, told acting Defense Sec. Patrick Shanahan he does not want to go to war. That message also aimed at his more hawkish aides was underscored at a brief White House photo op yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Mr. President, are we going to war with Iran?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hope not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The president apparently searching for a diplomatic way out of this mounting crisis. Are Iranian leaders doing the same?
Let's bring in senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen. He is live again this morning for us in Tehran -- Fred.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine.
Well, the Iranians continue to say that they don't want any sort of escalation in this crisis. They continue to say that they believe it's the U.S. is the one that is escalating things. They say anything that they're doing in the Persian Gulf is defensive in nature.
It was quite interesting because the country's foreign minister, Javad Zarif -- he came out overnight and once again reiterated that at this point in time the Iranians are not willing to hold negotiations with the Trump administration.
The Iranians essentially are saying that before they do that they want to see the U.S. lift some of those punishing sanctions that have been levied against them by the Trump White House before they're going to go into any certain negotiations with the U.S.
They want to be able to sell their oil on international markets. And more so than that, they want European companies and any companies to be able to invest here in Iran without having to face U.S. backlash -- without having to face U.S. sanctions.
One of the things the foreign minister has said in the past is he said he wants the U.S. to go back into the nuclear agreement as well. But, of course, judging by what we're hearing from the White House and some of President Trump's advisers, that does not look like it's something that would be in the cards anytime soon.
Meanwhile, as far as that new intelligence is concerned, we've not heard any denials coming here out of Tehran yet since we found out about that alleged intelligence. However, the Iranian ambassador to the U.N. -- he gave an interview, which has come out on Iranian state media, where he said look, the Iranians are not looking to start any sort of conflict. They're not preparing for any conflict in the Persian Gulf region but they are preparing to defend themselves, they say.
[05:35:20] So the Iranians are essentially saying any sort of moves they're making right now in the Persian Gulf, defensive in nature, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. In Tehran, Fred Pleitgen for us. Thanks, Fred.
BRIGGS: Attorney General Bill Barr says explanations he's been given for the origin of the Russia probe, quote, "don't hang together." Barr telling Fox News during a visit to El Salvador that he has more questions today than when he first started investigating the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BARR, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: People have to find out what the government was doing during that period. If we're -- if we're worried about foreign influence -- for the very same reason, we should be worried about whether government officials abuse their power and put their thumb on the scale. And so, I'm not saying that happened but I'm saying that we have to look at that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: CNN reporting earlier this week that Barr has appointed a top federal prosecutor to look into the genesis of the Russia investigation. Barr has also enlisted the help of the CIA and director of national intelligence.
ROMANS: President Trump announcing his broad plan to reform border security and legal immigration, calling for changes that would favor young, educated immigrants instead of those with family ties to the United States.
The measure calls for a points-based system that would favor highly- skilled, financially self-sufficient immigrants who learn English and pass a civics exam.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Random selection is contrary to American values. Under these senseless rules of the current system, we're not able to give preference to a doctor, a researcher, a student who graduated number one in his class from the finest colleges in the world.
We discriminate against genius. We discriminate against brilliance. We won't anymore once we get this passed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Trump cast the measure as a consensus plan that would solve one of Washington's most stubborn challenges. But the plan faces an uphill battle, even among Republicans. Democrats are all but certain to oppose it, calling the changes drastic and inhumane.
As expected, it does not propose any legal status for so-called Dreamers. Those are the young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. That issue remains unresolved.
BRIGGS: All right. So let's talk about it with "Washington Post" White House correspondent Toluse Olorunnipa. Good morning, sir.
ROMANS: Hi, there.
BRIGGS: Happy Friday.
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE WASHINGTON POST: Good morning. Happy Friday.
BRIGGS: Let's start with that immigration proposal. What actually is it if it doesn't address DACA, and what's the reception among the Republican Party?
OLORUNNIPA: Yes, it's a little bit weird because this is basically a political document. This is something that the president can campaign on in 2020.
But it does not seem to have much support. Obviously, it does not have support from Democrats who have trashed it and said it's dead on arrival in Congress. But even some Republicans are saying it doesn't go far enough to restrict legal immigration. It doesn't do a number of the things that Republicans have called for in restricting immigration overall.
So it's sort of confusing as to why the White House would put this out knowing that it's not going to be able to move through Congress -- knowing that it's basically dead on arrival in a Congress that's led, in part, by Democrats.
And knowing that the president said that he was going to be able to bring Democrats and Republicans together -- bring everyone into a room and solve some of the thorny problems of the country -- it seems like he left Democrats out of the process and he's produced a policy that does not have support from any Democrats, and even is bleeding support from a number of Republicans.
ROMANS: Yes, there's a lot -- a lot they didn't touch there. You know, guest worker programs and DACA in particular, but other things as well.
There is a lot more specificity the president has been putting forward about what he wants his border wall to look like, Toluse.
BRIGGS: Yes.
ROMANS: You guys have some fantastic reporting in "The Washington Post."
For example, that he wants it to be -- he wants it to be painted flat black so it gets really hot. And he's very specific, tell us, about how sharp he wants the points to be and what kind of injuries people could sustain by trying to cross into the United States.
OLORUNNIPA: Yes, the president has been fixated on the design of the border wall. He's really thrown himself into this process in sort of calling for specific designs. He's called for the border wall to be painted back, something that
border officials have said it would be costly and cause the cost of maintenance to go because once you paint a wall, you have to keep going back and repainting it, in part, because the president wants the wall to be intimidating. He wants it to be a deterrent.
He also called for there to be very pointy spikes at the top of this wall so that people would look at it and be afraid that they would get injured. And he's actually said that people would actually be injured as they try to get over the wall and that's something that he supports because he does not want as many people trying to cross the border as we've seen over the past few weeks.
So it's really interesting that the president has thrown himself so fully into the design of the border wall, even causing border officials to scramble, go back and forth, and change the design based on his personal whims. It's clear that the president is heavily involved in this and he's going to continue to be until he sees the wall that he wants.
[05:40:11] ROMANS: Sort of different than designing a golf course or a hotel lobby, but --
BRIGGS: Well, but --
ROMANS: -- he seems to be having that kind of a micromanager aspect.
BRIGGS: Hey, look, 100,000 apprehensions last month. This is, indeed, a crisis.
Let's turn back to the top story this morning, which is the confrontation with Iran. And miscommunication seems to sum it all up, both sides misreading one another.
And, Congress also seemed to be left in the dark at this point. Here's Lindsey Graham.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I'm sure there's a good reason to do what they did. I have confidence in Sec. Pompeo and the national security team.
But I'm in charge of the State Department's funding and I'd like to know why we took the action we did. I think there are a lot of senators who feel like they're in the dark and they dropped the ball on this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Congress clearly left out of the conversation.
And, Toluse, you can't help but think much like the TPP might have helped us confront China with our allies, staying in the JCPOA -- or the Iran nuclear deal -- might have helped confront Iran.
What is the administration's goal here?
OLORUNNIPA: Well, it's not really clear what their goal is because we've heard an inconsistent message from the White House and they've put across an inconsistent message to the Congress. That's why you're hearing so much frustration from even Republican and Democratic members of Congress.
My sense is that the president does not want to be involved in another war, even if some of his advisers are preparing for that. The president has told some of his top officials that he does not want to get into a war with Iran -- that he wants to actually have talks with Iran.
So it may be something similar to what we saw with North Korea where the president sort of increases the tension between the two countries and then tries to have a meeting and then claims credit for staving off a war even if there's no peace deal in the end.
But it's clear the president would rather have diplomacy than war at this point, especially going into 2020. He knows that his base and his voters do not want to be involved in another long-term war in the Middle East.
BRIGGS: Yes.
OLORUNNIPA: So even if his advisers are pushing for that, he seems to be pulling them back from the brink, saying no war with Iran right now.
BRIGGS: And as with a lot of situations, kind of a good cop-bad cop dynamic with John Bolton, in this case, being the bad cop and the president the good cop. Kind of like North Korea, China, and others.
ROMANS: Yes.
BRIGGS: Toluse, good to see you, my friend. Have a great weekend.
ROMANS: Have a great weekend.
OLORUNNIPA: Thank you.
ROMANS: All right, 42 minutes past the hour.
This is what a trade war looks like. America's largest retailer, Walmart, says it will raise prices on some products because of President Trump's tariffs on China.
Its CFO, Brett Biggs, said Thursday, "We're going to continue to do everything we can to keep prices low. That's who we are. However, increased tariffs will lead to increased prices, we believe, for our customers."
He did not say which items will become more expensive but noted Walmart is working with its suppliers to manage the supply chain.
Here's what Kevin Hassett, though -- the president's chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers -- said last night about that Walmart announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN HASSETT, CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: -- on China.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR, "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT": Wouldn't the CFO of Walmart know what he's talking about? I mean, I don't think the CFO of Walmart -- all I'm saying -- is go out and say prices are going to go up unless he looked at it and knew they were going to go up.
HASSETT: You go up and down the aisles, there's a million things. And, of course, there are going to be some products that don't have close substitutes, but a lot of them do. And then in the end, it's an empirical question, which is dominating?
And if you look at inflation in the U.S., it's been decelerating. And so I don't think that you could say that the tariffs have --
BURNETT: So you think he's got it wrong?
HASSETT: -- caused this spike.
BURNETT: OK. So, the president --
HASSETT: Yes, it's not in the data, what he's saying. It's not in the aggregate data, for sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Downplaying, clearly, what everyone says is that at some point, big tariffs get passed on to consumers.
Look, Walmart isn't the only retailer warning that tariffs will hit customers. Macy's also said it will raise prices on some merchandise because of the trade war.
But on the other side of Trump's tariffs, Stanley Black and Decker announced plans to move production of its Craftsman wrenches out of China and back to the U.S., building a new plant in Fort Worth, Texas that will open in late 2020. Stanley said the Fort Worth plant will employ 500 full-time employees.
The company made a big point that it's going to be a more modern, technologically-advanced plant in Fort Worth than the one that it is evacuating, essentially, in China.
BRIGGS: Fewer jobs than --
ROMANS: Five hundred jobs and a lot of technology. And that's -- and with 25 percent tariffs, it now makes sense for them to make that move.
BRIGGS: Very interesting.
Ahead, new changes to the SAT has more to do with where you live instead of our actual academic performance. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:48:41] BRIGGS: An F-16 fighter jet crashing on take-off from March Air Reserve Base near Riverside, California. The plane slamming through the roof of a nearby warehouse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That (expletive) airplane -- that's a military airplane in our building.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Imagine that moment.
Air Force officials say a hydraulic failure led to the jet's crash. The pilot ejected before impact and had no injuries.
The CEO of the company in the warehouse says his employees are all safe, but Air Base officials say five people were injured on the ground. We've reached out for details on their conditions.
Changes are coming to the SAT exam. An adversity score is being added to the test. It will take into account a student's social and economic background.
The College Board that administers the SAT says it will be implementing an environmental context dashboard, which measures factors like the crime rate and poverty levels of a student's neighborhood.
The score will be rolled out to 150 schools this year and more widely in 2020. The idea is to better capture an applicant's resourcefulness to overcome challenges and achieve more with less.
The change comes as colleges face heightened scrutiny over the admissions process and the diversity of their student bodies.
ROMANS: Let's get a check on "CNN Business" this morning.
Global markets mostly lower here as trade tensions round out the week. On Wall Street, futures are pointing down a little bit here as well, which is a third of a percentage point. Stocks rose Thursday for three days in a row.
[05:50:07] The president is sending a delegation to China to resume trade talks. The president punted on global car tariffs, giving a 6- month window here to make that decision.
So, the Dow closed up 215 points. The S&P and the Nasdaq both ended the day a little bit higher as well.
Frankly, a day of no negative trade news is a small win for investors. And take a look -- all three major averages, for the record, are above where they were when this trade war began almost a year ago.
BRIGGS: Wow.
ROMANS: Just up a little bit. It's been up and down and in between but on balance, folks -- up a little bit.
One to watch here today, chipmakers. Nvidia's stock rose after posting strong first-quarter earnings. Stocks of other chipmakers, though, fell after the U.S. banned Huawei from selling telecom gear. Huawei buys chips from many of those companies.
Samsung's 5G phone is officially on the market. Its Galaxy S10 starts at $1,300. It's the first smartphone that can access 5G in the U.S. without an attachment.
Right now, the device is only available for Verizon customers in Chicago and Minneapolis, but it plans to launch phones in more cities on Verizon and work with other carriers.
Samsung now ahead of Apple, which is not expected to debut a 5G iPhone until the fourth quarter of 2020.
All right, do you hate making small talk with your Uber driver? Now you don't have to.
Uber announced new features for Uber Black and Uber Black SUV riders and one of them being quiet mode, describing the feature as, "If you need to respond to e-mails or are in the mood for a nap, make your trip a quieter one with just one tap."
Premium features also include help with luggage, temperature control, and extended pickup periods.
I would like aromatherapy -- a little bit of lavender, eucalyptus, and don't talk to me.
BRIGGS: You'd like to use the mute feature at home and at other places.
ROMANS: And here.
BRIGGS: My daughter does that with me with headphones. That mutes me.
ROMANS: Don't talk to me.
BRIGGS: All right. This week marks the end of a television era on two fronts. More on the finales for two favorites, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:56:37] BRIGGS: The Rolling Stones ready to get back on the road. The band announcing rescheduled dates for its No Filter Tour will kick off June 21st at Soldier Field in Chicago.
The news comes a day after Mick Jagger posted a video of himself rehearsing his trademark dance moves a little over a month after his heart surgery. The procedure forced the Stones to postpone the North American leg of their tour.
ROMANS: So, this week marks the end of a T.V. era.
The finale episode of "GAME OF THRONES" airs Sunday night on HBO with only one of those dragons. And the eighth and final season of the megahit series has been a ratings bonanza. Last week's penultimate episode set yet another record with more than 18 million viewers tuning in.
BRIGGS: And there was laughter and tears during the series finale of "THE BIG BANG THEORY."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM PARSONS, ACTOR, CBS "THE BIG BANG THEORY": I want you to know, in my way, I love you all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: The CBS sitcom ended its 12-season run Thursday with a 1-hour finale that wrapped up several long-running storylines. At 279 episodes, "THE BIG BANG THEORY" is the longest-running, multi-camera series in television history. We'll miss you, Sheldon.
ROMANS: All right. The late-night hosts have some theories about New York Mayor Bill de Blasio's presidential run. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, HOST, NBC, "THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON": Well, you guys, after 12 years, today was the final episode of "THE BIG BANG THEORY" -- yes. Don't worry, it was also the beginning of a brand new comedy, "Bill de Blasio's Presidential Campaign."
SETH MEYERS, HOST, NBC "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today that he is running for president. Come on, Bill, everyone knows the next step after mayor of New York is insane lawyer.
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, CBS "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": Yet another new Democratic candidate pushed his way into the clown car. I'm talking about New York City mayor and Frankenstein's monster's lawyer, Bill de Blasio. You hear the hometown crowd warmly receiving that.
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, ABC "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!": At this point, announcing you're running for president is like announcing you're running a 5K. Good for you, no one cares. Don't post pictures.
There are now 23 Democrats in the race and unless one of these guys has a dragon we don't know about, I don't know how any of them come out of this alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Oh, I like the "GAME OF THRONES" reference. BRIGGS: The hometown papers here in New York not so friendly, either. Here's the "Daily News" -- "Escape From New York -- Leaving New York Even More Rudderless."
ROMANS: And, "The Nation Unites to Oppose Blas for President -- Black Lives Matters, Police, Community Activist, and Whoopi Goldberg."
BRIGGS: Welcome to the race, Bill de Blasio.
ROMANS: Thanks for joining us. Have a great weekend, everybody. I'm Christine Romans.
BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Here's "NEW DAY." See you Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGGS: Was the escalation between the U.S. and Iran one big misunderstanding?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: U.S. officials have images they assess shows that Iranian freighters are carrying missiles.
REPORTER: Are we going to war with Iran?
TRUMP: I hope not.
GRAHAM: They dropped the ball on this.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: People connected to the Trump administration reached out to Michael Flynn, even after Flynn was cooperating.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They know that the president is being investigated for obstruction. He was trying to influence Flynn.
SCHIFF: They are stalling. This is part of a directive to stonewall the Congress.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): They're more interested in subpoenas than solutions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Friday -- it really is.
END
