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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
U.S.-China Trade War Escalates; Parent Warned Officials About "Another Columbine"; Heavy Flooding in Houston; Racist on the Road?; Sixers Dominate Raptors to Force Decisive Game 7. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired May 10, 2019 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:01] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: That's potentially a cool 65,000 bucks.
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JEFF BEZOS, AMAZON FOUNDER: It's time to go back to the moon, this time to stay.
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BRIGGS: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announcing a historic mission to the moon. The rocket venture Blue Origin would be the first commercial moon landing ever. Right now, the plan to do it is by the year 2024. Bezos said establishing a manufacturing base on the moon is a good idea since the gravity is 1/6 of that on earth.
EARLY START continues with a trade war Friday.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They renegotiated the deal. They took many, many parts of that deal and they renegotiated. You can't do that.
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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A trade war that could hit your wallet. The White House raising tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods. China vows to retaliate.
BRIGGS: Months before the deadly school shooting in Colorado this week, a parent warned school officials pressure cooker conditions could lead to another Columbine.
ROMANS: Extreme flooding in and around Houston, dozens of water rescues, rivers over their banks, 100,000 customers in the dark.
BRIGGS: And a school bus driver takes off with a student's backpack caught in the door. Why the teen's mom says it was intentional and racist.
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs. ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Friday, May 10th. It's 5:00
a.m. in the East, everyone. It's 5:00 p.m. in Beijing.
And we start with tariff Friday. It wasn't a bluff. President Trump jacked up tariffs on thousands of goods, dish washers, frozen fish, baseball caps, right now, about half of the products China sells to the U.S. now carry an import tax.
How did we get here? Three rounds of tariffs last year. First, the U.S. put tariffs on all foreign steel and aluminum, including from China. In July, the U.S. then singled out Beijing, slapping tariffs on $50 billion of high-tech Chinese exports. China hit back with tariffs on $50 billion in U.S. goods, mostly ag products, devastating American soybean farmers.
But the biggest round yet, the biggest round yet came in September, $200 billion in Chinese goods. We're talking consumer goods like luggage, handbags, and hats. Beijing hit back with $60 billion of its own. That was in response, another retaliation. Now, that $200 billion in September, that was originally taxed at 10 percent.
Today, today, at midnight, it's now 25 percent. Now, remember, it's U.S. importers, not China that pay these tariffs.
And experts warn there could be an economic hit here. It will disrupt smaller American companies in particular. One analysis finds it could cost the U.S. about 900,000 jobs and raise prices for the average family of four by $767 per year.
And this trade war, this trade war is not over. You know, President Trump is threatening to tax nearly all Chinese imports and he also has until May 18th to decide whether to impose global imports on tariffs which will likely make cars more expensive.
So, what do global markets think about this? You got European markets have opened higher, bouncing back after several days of gains. But Dow futures in U.S. markets still look a little soft at the open, Dave.
Dow futures just a little soft. Don't you expect a heavier hit?
ROMANS: They have been planning for this for several days, right? We have had four days down here, and they are still meeting today. You know, the U.S. is still meeting with China's negotiators today.
There's also a feeling among Trump supporters at least, that in a $20 trillion economy, they want to see how much of this pain is passed on to consumers and how much maybe is just borne by companies.
BRIGGS: And if manufacturers shift out of China.
ROMANS: And we are seeing that. Camera makers are moving to Cambodia. Supply changes are trying to move out of China and that's what the president wants.
BRIGGS: Right. Sure, it does. OK, Christine Romans, thank you, my friend.
Takes two to have a trade war. Beijing has threatened to retaliate for the tariff increase.
CNN's Matt Rivers standing by at Tianjin Port in China.
Matt, what would retaliation look like in this case?
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dave, it could take a couple different forms, but you can rest assured THAT China will be retaliating. It could be in the next couple of hours. It could be tomorrow. We're not sure yet. The commerce ministry here hasn't specified.
But when they retaliate, it will take a couple different forms. Of course, number one, it's going to be tariffs of their own. They already have put tariffs on the vast majority of American imports that come through ports like the one behind me here in Tianjin.
But what they could do is take the rates on those tariffs and move them even higher. That would mean Chinese buyers could look to buy other products instead of buying form Americans. That could hurt the U.S. economy.
Then you have other things they could do, let's say market access issues. You're a pharmaceutical company from American trying to get a licensed product here in China, well, they could delay that.
[05:05:03] And there's other more informal things like if you're an agricultural exporter, and you're sending perishable goods to docks like the one behind me -- well, maybe they set the perishable goods sit on the dock for two weeks, it rots, and then you lose money. So, there's a number of China could hit back here. Some formal, some informal, but they are going to. They will try and hurt the U.S. economy in the same way that the U.S. is hurting the Chinese economy. That's what a trade war is all about.
BRIGGS: Yes, the president said he got a beautiful letter from Xi Jinping, what will the message be today? We shall see.
Matt Rivers, good stuff. Thank you.
President Trump none too pleased about the subpoena his Don Jr. received from the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee.
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TRUMP: I was very surprised so see my son, my son is a very good person, works very hard. The last thing he needs is Washington, D.C. I think he'd rather not ever be involved.
He's now testified for 20 hours or something, a massive amount of time. The Mueller report came out. That's the bible. The Mueller report came out, and they said he did nothing wrong.
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BRIGGS: From witch hunt to bible. Fact checking that, though, several people have contradicted Don Jr.'s claim under oath that he only told two people about his impending Trump Tower meeting with the Russians in June of 2017. It's not clear whether the president's son will comply with the subpoena. Not show up, plead the Fifth or choose another option entirely.
ROMANS: Members of the president's inner circle are upset with Senate Intel Chairman Richard Burr, a fellow Republican. They believe his decision to serve Don Jr. with a subpoena gives Democrats a valuable talking point, and the chair does not want to discuss it.
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REPORTER: The White House is taking a big swing at you, nothing, Senator Burr.
SEN. RICHARD BURR (R-NC): Nothing.
REPORTER: You made a big move.
BURR: No, nothing. We don't talk about any engagements we have in the committee, we never have. We're not going to start today.
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ROMANS: CNN has learned in a closed door Senate Republican lunch Burr explained the back story of the subpoena and he defended his committee's investigation. And Mitch McConnell is supporting Burr, we're told in private, even though just days ago the Senate majority leader said case closed on the Mueller investigation.
BRIGGS: Add James Comey's name to the list of people who believe President Trump obstructed justice. The former FBI director was asked about the Mueller report in a CNN town hall live event last night. The report had several examples of possible obstruction by the president but Attorney General Bill Barr decided not to bring charges because he could not determine the president's intent.
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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN MODERATOR: Do you think he had criminal intent based on what you see now in the Mueller report?
JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: It sure looks like he did in connection with a couple of episodes, the direction to Don McGahn to get the special counsel fired is to my mind a flaming example of --
COOPER: Of corrupt intent?
COMEY: Yes, a corrupt intent.
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ROMANS: We recently learned Mueller and his team took issue with how AG Barr summarized their findings. So does Comey.
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COMEY: I think he acted in a way that's less than honorable the way he described it in writing and described it in a press conference and continues to talk as if he's the president's lawyer. That is not the attorney general's job.
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ROMANS: Comey went on to say he would like to hear Robert Mueller testify to explain why he left the matter of obstruction up to Barr. The House Judiciary Committee is still trying to secure a date for the special counsel's testimony.
BRIGGS: Flash flood warnings in effect for the Houston metro area, rain so intense, the excess underground was pushing up that manhole cover. About 40 people trapped by flood waters with rainfall rates of two to three inches an hour reported. Emergency crews saved a person trapped in the car that flipped and submerged in a flooded ditch. Hail and frequent lightning also part of the mix here.
ROMANS: The flag pole is even wobbling with the roof closed at Houston's Minute Maid Park. Several creeks, rivers and bayous in the area have reached their banks, with water flowing into homes and businesses. More than 100,000 customers were without power at the height of the storm. Schools are closed in Fort Bend, Lamar, Huffman, Montgomery and New Caney school districts. More than 20 million people in Southwest Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi are now under a flood watch.
BRIGGS: A startling revelation out of Colorado months before the deadly school shooting in STEM School Highlands Ranch near Denver. An anonymous parent said she was afraid another Columbine would happen there. The school board did ask for an investigation after the complaint. Now the woman who says she's the anonymous parent is talking exclusively to CNN.
Here's what she told Scott McLean.
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ANONYMOUS PARENT OF STEM SCHOOL STUDENT: When you mix a pressure cooker environment where students are stressed out and overworked and they don't get enough sleep, and they feel suicidal or they feel aggressive towards one another and are not being disciplined for it, when you don't listen to parents' concerns, when you don't support teachers' concerns, when you don't give teachers the kind of training that they need or the support that they need -- those are the elements that we need for the perfect storm.
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[05:10:15] ROMANS: The woman says she wants to stay anonymous because she fears retaliation. But CNN confirms, she does have a student at the school. She speaks of kids who had a rigorous math and science-based academic
program, little sleep, and started acting out aggressively.
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ANONYMOUS PARENT OF STEM SCHOOL STUDENT: I also saw violence against themselves happening with students and threats of suicide, cutting, attempted suicide, drug use that was getting pretty serious. You know, numerous reports from my children as they witnessed it and experienced it firsthand, and other students that witnessed it or experienced it firsthand. So, the pattern was pervasive.
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BRIGGS: The woman does say teachers were well-intentioned. The school's executive director told CNN through a PR firm, the school found no evidence to support the allegations made by the parent.
In a statement, she said, quote: Like with any school with more than 1,800 students, we received complaints, all of which we take seriously and investigate promptly.
The suspects in the shooting are due in court today.
ROMANS: All right. The cofounder of Facebook wants the social network broken up. What Chris Hughes now says about Mark Zuckerberg and the company they created.
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[05:16:09] BRIGGS: A North Korean cargo ship seized by the United States for alleged sanctions violations. Tensions are already high between the U.S. and North Korea, and this likely to increase them following the failure of the Hanoi summit.
The Justice Department says the vessel was being used to haul coal from North Korea that was sold to other countries including China to fund its weapon program. The seizure of the ship comes one day after the North launched two short range missiles, its second launch in a week. The president now says he doesn't believe North Korea is ready to negotiate.
ROMANS: A call to break up Facebook now coming from a cofounder of the social network. Chris Hughes who helped Mark Zuckerberg launch Facebook from a dorm room penning a "New York Times" op-ed. Hughes says Facebook should be forced to reverse its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
He says Zuckerberg has unchecked power and influence, and, quote: I'm worried that mark has surrounded himself with a team that reinforces his beliefs instead of challenging them.
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CHRIS HUGHES, FACEBOOK CO-FOUNDER: Every single time there's some new headline about a privacy scandal or an election that's going on, I do feel a sense of responsibility. I'm angry at Mark, and I'm angry at a lot of Facebook's leadership for taking something that held so much promise and could have been so amazing and sacrificing the quality, security, stability, for clicks.
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ROMANS: Hughes left Facebook in 2007, sold all of his stock in 2012, pocketing half a billion dollars.
Facebook responds, it accepts that with success comes accountability but you don't enforce accountability by calling for the breakup of a successful American company.
BRIGGS: A San Francisco teacher on medical leave battling breast cancer is being forced to pay for her own substitute at Glen Park Elementary School. All district teachers get ten days of medical leave paid each year. They can get another 100 sick days, but the cost for the substitute teacher is deducted from the teacher's salary. In San Francisco, that's more than $200 a day. The teacher in question has chosen to remain anonymous but parents are speaking out.
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ABBY HIPPS, PARENT: She's wonderful. She's a beautiful, lovely great teacher. She's one of the best teachers.
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BRIGGS: A GoFundMe page for the teacher that has now stopped accepting donations has received $13,000.
ROMANS: Troubling video out of Utah, a bus driver closes the door on a student trapping him and dragging him by his backpack for about 20 seconds. The 14-year-old coming dangerously close to the tires. Now, the student's mom says the driver did it because her son is biracial.
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BRENDA MAYERS, STUDENT'S MOTHER: Something fell, they have a responsibility when I put my kids, them off to school, they have a responsibility to make sure they're safe.
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ROMANS: The suit argues the driver has a history of misconduct against kids of color. According to CNN affiliate KSTU, the driver John Naisbitt says he retired three days after this incident to avoid being fired.
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REPORTER: Would you say that you're racist?
JOHN NAISBITT, BUS DRIVER: Not at all, no. Look at my dog, he's black as can be.
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ROMANS: Nesbitt says the incident was staged because he had disciplined the boy's brother. He says it was all staged.
In response to the suit, the district says any claims of discrimination are being investigated. I have no words.
BRIGGS: Wow. Black dog, yes, OK.
Ahead, the Sixers and the Blazers back from the brink in the NBA playoffs. Coy Wire with the details ahead in the "Bleacher Report".
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[05:24:39] BRIGGS: A pair of NBA teams on the brink in the playoffs, but they won't go down without a fight.
Coy Wire has more in the "Bleacher Report".
Good morning, my friend. A very good night in the NBA.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Dave. Like Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, there's no place like home and that proved to be true in the playoffs.
Last night, Toronto with their chance to close out the series in Philly, but Philly fans know a thing or two about underdogs, and fighting back, wearing dog masks from their Super Bowl run.
[05:25:06] Eagles players Chris Long and Lane Johnson bring that ceremonial Liberty Bell before game six.
And the Sixers answered the bell. Their backs against the wall, they showed no fear. Jimmy Butler and Ben Simmons, two keys guys who had underperformed in the previous back-to-back losses, stepped up big time to combine for 46 points.
Philly wins 112-101, forcing a winner take all game on Sunday night in Toronto.
This is why Portland's four-time all star Damian Lillard is being called Logo Lizard on social from way downtown, nearly touching the half court logo, Lillard drops a game high of 32 on Denver, and Blazers on the brink of elimination. Denver puts a finger in Steph Curry's face and a mosh pit in Portland. They weren't going to let the Nuggets come into their house and shove them around. Blazers win 119-108.
A juicy game seven back in Denver on Sunday. It will be Damian Lillard's first career game seven.
Golden State star Kevin Durant is out for tonight's game six in Houston tonight with a strained calf from Wednesday's game. Up 3-2 in their series, the warriors can advance with a win, and coach Steve Kerr says he hopes Durant can play if the Warriors advance. Tony Romo going from Cowboys to Eagles, the former pro bowl QB turned
broadcaster, chips for an eagle at the Byron Nelson Classic. Romo is trying to qualify for the U.S. Open and with shots like this, maybe, maybe there's a chance.
The crowd was loving this. He was fist pumping and all that. A brilliant shot indeed, but you need more than just flashes of brilliance to be great. We'll see if he can make the cut. He finished five over, tied for 148. He's 13 back of the lead.
BRIGGS: I'm starting to dislike this guys, Coy, because we're only supposed to be good at one thing. The dude became the best broadcaster in the business like that, and now he's going to make the PGA Tour? That's not likable.
WIRE: He can do it all. He's kind of like you, Briggs. You know, you stepped up your suit game, you're rocking the beard. You're crushing it every morning then.
BRIGGS: I'm still searching for my one talent, Coy Wire. But thank you, my friend. Appreciate it. Have a great weekend, buddy.
WIRE: You too.
BRIGGS: What's coming up?
ROMANS: All right. Things you buy every day could start costing more. New trade tariffs now in effect on billions worth of Chinese goods. Beijing vows to retaliate, how it affects you, that's next.
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