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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Cheney: What Trump Did "Is A Line That Cannot Be Crossed"; Elevated Subway Line Collapses In Mexico City Killing At Least 23; Israeli Prime Minister Faces Midnight Deadline To Form Coalition Government. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 04, 2021 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Laura Jarrett. About 29 minutes past the hour here in New York.

And we begin this half-hour with a plea for sanity.

Quote, "We can't embrace the notion the election is stolen. It's a poison in the bloodstream of our democracy. We can't whitewash what happened on January six or perpetuate Trump's big lie. It's a threat to democracy. What he did on January six is a line that cannot be crossed."

These are all things that are straightforward. They shouldn't be controversial. And yet, Congresswoman Liz Cheney behind closed doors with a passioned plea for fellow Republicans to move past Trumpism and all the lies that it stands for.

ROMANS: It's nothing less than a GOP identity crisis and it is entering a dangerous new phase for Republicans who refuse to embrace President Trump's big lie or rewrite history. Denial of the 2020 election results is now a litmus test -- a loyalty test for the Republican Party.

Multiple GOP lawmakers and aides say that Cheney is on shaky ground internally and whether she can hang on to her post as third-ranking House Republican in a secret ballot election is highly uncertain.

JARRETT: All right, so it's time for three questions in three minutes. Gabby Orr covers Republican politics for CNN. Good morning to you, Gabby.

ROMANS: Morning.

JARRETT: So great to have you on EARLY START.

So, this isn't just about what happens in Washington, D.C. It's about what people believe across the country. In a CNN poll released Friday, 70 percent of Republicans said that Biden did not legitimately win enough votes to be named president. It's just mind-boggling.

But what are you hearing from GOP base voters about what's going on in the Republican Party? Do people care about what's happening to Liz Cheney?

GABBY ORR, CNN REPORTER (via Cisco Webex): Well, I think if you take a look further into that CNN poll that was released on Friday it really does show how divided this question is among partisan lines. And Republican grassroots voters, right now, are driving the conversation on voting rights and what they claim is problems with election integrity.

There is really a movement among Republican voters, primarily these Trumpian conservatives, to reform election laws, and we're seeing that take foot in so many different states across the country right now. Obviously, there's legislation making its way through states like Arizona, and Texas, and Georgia, but there's also places like Kentucky and Michigan that are also currently taking up bills like this.

And I was talking to a Republican fundraiser last week who said that when he goes out and he meets with donors across the country and with grassroots voters he's primarily, for the past few years, been talking about tax and spend issues and things that would normally be very core to the Republican base. But all that these donors want to talk about -- all that the grassroots voters want to talk about is voting reform laws and what they claim was a stolen election.

And so that's been really frustrating for him because it's obviously not a topic that he wants to be talking about because, quite frankly, he doesn't believe that is the case and that this is -- that this is a big issue for the country.

ROMANS: Well, it's like the "grand old party" moving to the party of Trump. It's away from small government, and free markets, and religious freedoms and instead, moving toward this new Trumpism.

You know, former President George Bush again criticized what he sees as a Republican Party that simply is not inclusive enough. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, it's -- it -- to me, that basically says that we want to be extinct. But I know this, that if the Republican Party stands for exclusivity -- you know, it used to be country clubs; now, evidently, it's white Anglo- Saxon Protestantism -- then it's not going to win anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Will it move the needle with the Republican base or is it too late to be hearing from the former president now?

ORR: You know, first of all, it's remarkable to hear the former president speaking with such candor because this is rarely something that George W. Bush does. But, you know, I think the days of the Republican base, at least, listening to people like former President George W. Bush or his vice president, or Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House right now -- those days are numbered.

And as you mentioned, Trumpism has really taken root inside the Republican Party. It's driving a lot of the conversation. It's really guiding what Republican lawmakers are prioritizing in terms of their policy positions and policy initiatives.

And I think the broader theme here is really going to be the question of is there room for somebody like Liz Cheney in the Republican Party? Can her message of -- that sort of echoes the compassion and conservatism of the Bush era take foot inside the Republican Party or are those days over? Is Trumpism here to stay for this party?

[05:35:04]

JARRETT: Gabby, I want to go back to something you said about voting rights because it seems to me the most serious consequences of going along with this big lie is, of course, what happened on January sixth, right? Police officers were badly hurt. They had their eyes gouged out. Officer Sicknick died.

But the attack on voting rights in this country, even when it doesn't show up with riot gear at the U.S. Capitol, has repercussions for generations to come and it is a story that has been going on far longer than former President Trump.

So I wonder sometimes are some Republicans that you talk -- donors that you talk to -- are they happy to have the left more focused on Trump, more focused on the big lie, more focused on whatever happens to Liz Cheney because then the focus isn't on what's happening to Black voters in places like Georgia and Florida?

ORR: Well, I think many Republicans are frustrated with the way that the party has handled questions on race relations for a while and the voting reform question is certainly one that brings up those topics. And so any time that the attention is away from those issues that do spark difficult conversations for the GOP it can be a positive thing, particularly for Republican fundraisers and those who are trying to raise money for a lot of candidates.

At the same time, however, I think what we've seen around these conversations that have taken place in states like Georgia indicate just how much influence there is by Trump in this party.

I mean, when the -- when the conversation about the voting reform law that was backed by Republicans in Georgia took place and you had a number of corporations and companies come out and criticize Senate bill 202, instead of going after or defending the legislation you had Republicans going after those corporations and saying we're going to get rid of the tax breaks that you enjoy, and things like that. We're going to punish you. We want to hold these corporations accountable.

So you can really see the ways that the rhetoric of the Trump era has taken foot inside the Republican Party and how it drives the reactions when issues like voting reform do come up in the national conversation.

JARRETT: Yes. So great to have your analysis this morning.

ROMANS: Thanks, Gabby.

JARRETT: Great to have you at CNN. Thanks so much.

ORR: Thank you.

ROMANS: Gabby Orr.

All right. New overnight, a subway train derails in Mexico City killing at least 23 people, including children. CNN's Matt Rivers live in Mexico City. What do we know this morning, Matt?

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we know that 23 people, as you mentioned, is just the starting number, unfortunately, Christine. That number could rise because we know that 65 people has been -- have been hospitalized as a result of this incident.

I can show you the scene behind me. We're a little bit far away at this point but what you're looking at right there is the bottom of a subway train that fell down to the ground after this overpass that it was going along on collapsed underneath it. It's a pretty dramatic scene. It happened right around 10:30 p.m. local time here in Mexico City.

Rescuers, police, firefighters came out here as quickly as they could. Hundreds of people showed up very quickly to try and free people who were trapped inside and take those who were injured to the hospitals. That is where they remain at this point.

Now, obviously, the focus remains with those who are in the hospital at this time. We know that no one is still trapped. This has turned into more of a -- an operation where they're trying to stabilize that train in order to be able to remove it and reopen things here.

But the big question that will be asked in the days and weeks to come is how did infrastructure that was built just within the last 10 years or so here fail so spectacularly that nearly two dozen people, so far, have lost their lives? That is the question being asked right now in Mexico City and one that investigators are only just starting to dig into.

ROMANS: Yes, important questions there -- all right. In Mexico City, Matt Rivers. Thanks, Matt -- Laura.

JARRETT: Just terrible.

All right, to coronavirus now. So what happens if the U.S. doesn't reach herd immunity? It's a growing concern in medical circles as some experts worry about lethal new variants emerging during a COVID resurgence this winter. You've heard us say every day the country needs to be around 75 to 80 percent vaccinated for everyone to be protected. But at the same time, 25 percent of Americans simply will not get this vaccine.

So, Republican Gov. Jim Justice pleaded with vaccine-hesitant residents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JIM JUSTICE (R), WEST VIRGINIA: Do you think there would be one person today in India that wouldn't line up to take the vaccines? They'd all line up as far as you could go because today they don't have the ability and absolutely, the right to have the vaccine that we have here. And yet, they would run to line up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:40:00]

ROMANS: More incentives offered now for people who do get vaccinated. West Virginia is already offering $100 savings bonds for younger adults. Now, Maryland offers $100 to any state employee getting the vaccine. And New Jersey, a shot and a beer. Free beer for anyone over 21 who gets vaccinated.

New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut lifting almost all their pandemic restrictions on May 19th.

JARRETT: Cases are down, vaccinations are up, offering a chance to jumpstart the recovery in the region that became a center of the global pandemic last spring. Governor Andrew Cuomo lifting all of New York City capacity restrictions on May 19th in restaurants, concert halls, bars, museums, and theaters, including Broadway.

New York will also bring back 24-hour subway service on May 17th.

ROMANS: Not throwing away their shot -- the vaccine shot.

Now to the big "i" in business -- inflation -- the downside of a hot economy. The pandemic disrupted supply chains and consumer behavior. Working out kinks in distribution is causing shortages and price spikes from lumber to steel to rental cars.

Add in the historic stimulus to keep the coronavirus recession from becoming a depression. More people have money in their pockets and they are chasing after higher prices as the economy reopens.

If you haven't felt it yet it is coming. Higher prices for toilet paper, diapers, soft drinks, plane tickets, and a tank full of gas. Whirlpool is raising prices of some of its appliances by up to 12 percent.

The oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, said he sees substantial inflation if 85 percent of the economy is in, quote, "super-high gear" right now. Fed officials are reluctant to taper stimulus or raise interest rates before Main Street, though, has truly recovered. The Fed chief Jerome Powell says while there's been progress in the economy there's still work to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: The economic downturn has not fallen evenly on all Americans and those least able to bear the burden have been the hardest hit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Only time will tell how long higher prices will last, but the practical effect of inflation on your budget, every dollar you have buys a little bit less.

JARRETT: Well, that is not a good thing.

Well, some big changes could be on the way for the military and how it handles sexual assault. Joint Chiefs chairman Mark Milley says he's open to removing the military chain of command from such investigations.

In an interview with CNN, he acknowledged the Pentagon has not moved the needles with previous efforts until now. Milley has said that sexual assault is, quote, "a leadership issue and should stay under the chain of command."

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:46:40]

ROMANS: Can Israel avoid a fifth election within two years? It's crunch time for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's mandate to put together a new coalition government.

CNN's Hadas Gold live for us this morning from Jerusalem. Hi, there.

HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine.

Yes, the clock is ticking. Midnight is the deadline for Netanyahu to prove that he can form a governing coalition. So far, we haven't seen evidence of that.

Yesterday, in a last-minute offer, he went to the leader of a small right-wing party, Naftali Bennett, and he offered him a deal. He said I'll let you be prime minister for one year, then I'll be prime minister for the following years. Quite a deal for the leader of a party that only won seven seats in the last election.

However, Naftali Bennett did not seem to accept the offer. And even if he had, Netanyahu still would not have necessarily had enough seats for a majority in Parliament. So what happens tonight at midnight if Netanyahu does not somehow in

the next few hours pull this off? Now, he can go to the Israeli president and ask for an extension. But the Israeli president, when he first gave Netanyahu the mandate, didn't seem too keen to even give Netanyahu the mandate because of Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial.

The Israeli president can also offer it to the leader of another party -- say, the next biggest party in Parliament is the Centrist Party led by Yair Lapid. Yair Lapid has spent the last two weeks trying to cobble together a coalition of pretty much anti-Netanyahu parties that run the gamut from left to right.

Or the Israeli president can turn around and offer this back to the Parliament. But still, Israelis don't seem to have any sort of clear picture right now of what their next government would look like.

But I want to be clear, Christine. Even if tonight at midnight Netanyahu has not pulled this off and does not have a government coalition, he will still remain prime minister. He will still remain in power until a next government is formed -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Hadas. Thank you so much for that in Jerusalem -- Laura.

JARRETT: Back here in the U.S., severe weather battering the southeast. Two people confirmed dead in Georgia after a tornado touched down in the Atlanta area.

Many states across the southeast facing double the normal rainfall over the last month, so now even one to two inches of additional rain could lead to flash flooding. Today, hail, heavy downpours, high winds, and possible tornados threaten much of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee.

ROMANS: The man suing actor Kevin Spacey for $40 million, alleging sexual abuse, must reveal his identity for the civil case to move forward. A federal judge in New York has given the plaintiff, who was 14 at the time of the alleged assault, 10 days to reveal himself. The judge ruling there's a legitimate public interest in knowing the name of the accuser. The plaintiff argues the identity of those making sexual assault allegations should be kept private so they aren't deterred from coming forward.

JARRETT: A South Carolina man who was forced to work more than 100 hours a week at a restaurant for years without pay has been awarded more than a half-million dollars in restitution. Court documents say John Christopher Smith, who is Black, endured years of beatings and threats from Bobby Edwards, that man on your screen. He's the restaurant manager who took advantage of Smith's learning disability and kept him isolated from his family.

Edwards pleaded guilty to forced labor charges back in 2018 and is serving a 10-year sentence.

ROMANS: All right. Incidents involving unruly airline passengers are on the rise. The FAA reports -- get this -- 1,300 cases since February, many of them stemming from refusal to wear masks. A spike in cases of unruly behavior even though fewer people were flying because of the pandemic. Normally, there are just over 100 incidents a year with a lot more travelers.

[05:50:09]

JARRETT: Well, the iconic roast duck will soon be a thing of the past at Eleven Madison Park. The Michelin-starred New York restaurant is going vegan when it reopens next month. Every dish on the menu will be plant-based from now on. Chef and owner Daniel Humm believes the future of restaurants is meat-free.

The move reflects a growing trend in the food industry toward more sustainable ingredients and food practices.

ROMANS: Let's look at markets around the world in business this morning. Asian stock markets are closed for the day and have closed mixed. Europe has opened mixed, with London just more than six-tenths of a percent higher.

On Wall Street, stock index futures also very narrowly mixed here. It was a mixed start to the month, actually. The Dow finished up 283 points. The S&P 500 closed higher but fell short of a record high. The Nasdaq slipped.

Verizon closed higher after it announced it's selling Yahoo and AOL for $5 billion. It had bought them for $9 billion. Remember, Yahoo and AOL were early Internet pioneers. Yahoo was once worth $125 billion.

Earnings season continues. Investors will get reports from Pfizer, CVS, and Lyft.

Companies are taking the lead and pushing vaccinations to get back to normal. Many employers are offering incentives to get vaccinated -- days off and cash bonuses.

And this new survey found 60 percent of employers will require their employees show proof they have received the shot. Thirty-one percent say they will just encourage vaccinations. Getting people vaccinated is just another piece of the post-pandemic workplace. Employers also said mental health and employee burnout is another major concern.

Now is a great time to sell your old car. Used car sales are soaring. The global chip shortage is making it hard for shoppers to find new cars as automakers suspend production while they wait for important computer chips. That's causing buyers to turn to used cars and that's driving up prices.

Analysts say cars that are a couple of years old with low mileage are now selling for up to 80 percent of their original sticker price. In a more normal year, those cars would have sold for 70 percent of the original price.

Just another way COVID has sort of changed business --

JARRETT: Yes. ROMANS: -- and really shaken up the supply chain.

JARRETT: Yes, totally different.

All right, Rome's iconic Colosseum getting a little bit of a makeover. A new arena floor is being designed to give visitors a better idea of how the ancient structure looked when the gladiators fought there. Guests will be allowed to walk on the new floor to the center of the Colosseum. The floor will also serve as a stage for cultural events. And visitors will be able to see the monument as it was until the 19th century.

ROMANS: Oh, that's cool.

All right, a blessed event onboard a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Honolulu last week. But get this -- the new mother who gave birth to a baby boy, just 29 weeks, had no idea she was even pregnant. Lucky for Lavinia Mounga there were three neonatal intensive care nurses on and a doctor on board to help. They sprang into action delivering the baby, even using an Apple Watch to monitor his heartbeat until the plane landed.

JARRETT: Can you imagine? I just --

ROMANS: That's what you call a surprise landing -- a surprise everything.

JARRETT: I love your puns this morning. You're on a roll.

All right, get this. A congressional subcommittee hearing on energy and water development on Zoom is riveting, of course. But on Monday, it had a special surprise soundtrack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(House Appropriations Subcommittee Zoom meeting interrupted by audio or the Village People's "In the Navy" and audio of the movie "Galaxy Quest.")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I also ask this committee to support full funding for two important hydropower incentive programs within the U.S. Department of Energy's water, power, and technology office and establish the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Section 242 --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: I love how she just doesn't miss a beat and she keeps going. "In the Navy," by the Village People was piped into the meeting because of a technical glitch. And there was more from the movie "Galaxy Quest."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(House Appropriations Subcommittee Zoom meeting interrupted by audio or the Village People's "In the Navy" and audio of the movie "Galaxy Quest.") UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To ensuring northwest Indiana residents (INAUDIBLE) unparalleled longstanding partner when it comes to facilitating economic development --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: This has got to be a prank, right, Christine? The hearing continued for nearly minutes before it was finally recessed to fix the technical difficulties -- 20 minutes.

ROMANS: I mean, what happened? Was a lawmaker like watching a movie in the middle of the thing and the audio came -- I don't know what happened.

JARRETT: You know there's a backstory there. We have to investigate it.

ROMANS: And, "In the Navy" -- "YMCA" gets all of the attention, right, in the wedding party circuit? But, "In the Navy" is a good song.

JARRETT: It is.

ROMANS: All right, thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(House Appropriations Subcommittee Zoom meeting interrupted by audio or the Village People's "In the Navy" and audio of the movie "Galaxy Quest.")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) and technology. It also has the ability to interact with the Department of Education --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:59:27]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar in Washington, alongside John Berman in New York.

On this new day, a significant turn in the race to vaccinate a nation. What the data is set to approve that could change the game.

Plus, Liz Cheney declares war on her own party, making it clear if she's going down for criticizing Donald Trump and the big lie, she's going down swinging.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: D.C. apparently bans dancing at weddings in COVID restrictions. We'll speak with a bride-to-be who is holding out for a hero. And, Bill Gates could lose half his wealth in his divorce and still be

rich enough to own -- well, everything. We'll examine the billion- dollar breakup.