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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

New Signs American Economy is Roaring Back; Biden in Louisiana: Ambitious Economic Plan Will Aid Middle Class; COVID Cases and Hospitalizations in U.S. Hit 7-Month Low; European Countries Expanding Plans to Allow Summer Tourism. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired May 07, 2021 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:27]

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans.

We match today, somehow.

Good morning, everybody. It's Friday, May 7th.

JARRETT: Always in sync.

ROMANS: I guess, we are.

Happy Friday, everybody. It's 5:00 a.m. in New York.

A great American comeback. New signals the economy is roaring back. A record high for the Dow Thursday, as weekly-jobless claims fell below 500,000 for the first time of the pandemic. You can see there, layoffs slowing as the economy reopens.

And more evidence, coming in just a few hours. One year after the worst job losses on record, economists predict 978,000 jobs were added back in April and look at the jobless rate below 6 percent.

So how do you keep that momentum going?

President Biden is selling jobs, jobs, jobs with his infrastructure plans. He wants to raise taxes on high earners, investors, and companies to pay for it.

Here is J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE DIMON, CEO, JPMORGAN CHASE: I worry about not just the bill. But -- but just throwing money. It doesn't work. So I have always said we need competitive-corporate taxation. I think, the notion you could have, you know, uncompetitive-corporate taxes and you could be a competitive nation is a little crazy.

On the individual side, I think the rich are going to have to pay more. Again, I think that, you know, you can't have capital gains at 39-whatever percent. I think it's going to be very successful.

A lot of wealthy people thought they were lifting up those poor kids in the South Bronx, they would be willing to pay more. But most people don't think shipping money to D.C. is going to be productive. So, you know, we got to earn that little bit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Dimon says the government needs to be clear on how much will be built, how much it will cost, and who is responsible for keeping track.

JARRETT: Christine, he says the rich need to pay more but how much more, it seems, is one of the big questions?

Some CEOs like Jamie Dimon may not love the president's tax plan but Mr. Biden went into the lion's den, a deep-red state to push for it.

CNN's Jasmine Wright is live at the White House, this morning.

So, jasmine, where exactly did the president go and what was his message?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Look, Laura, President Biden dug in, trying to convince voters that raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations is necessary to fund his massive jobs and infrastructure package.

And so, he went into Republican Louisiana, no doubt, to convince its Republican Senate lawmakers that they need to be voting for -- or coming together for a plan, right? That they need to do this because he went to Lake Charles, in front of a decaying bridge, really, compounding the idea that there needs to be investment in this country on infrastructure. And his package is the one to do it.

So, President Biden, yesterday, made a passionate case to raise taxes. Take a listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH R. BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not looking to punish anyone. You know, I come from the corporate state of the world, Delaware. More corporations are incorporated in the state of Delaware than every other state in the Union, combined.

But, guess what? You know, I'm sick and tired of corporate America not paying their fair share. Their taxes used to be 38 -- 36 percent. We all thought that was too high, even in our administration. And we wanted to reduce it to 28 percent. Make it more competitive. Some thought 24.

But it got reduced to 21 percent. And you know what the result is? Of the largest corporation in America, 50 don't pay a penny in tax. Made $40 billion. Don't pay a penny in tax.

If you are a construction worker and your wife's a school teacher, you are paying at a higher-tax rate than corporate America's paying. Not a joke. Not a joke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: So, President Biden, yesterday, that's what he said. But really, Laura, he is looking to make a deal. Yesterday, for the first time, we saw him offer a range on that tax rate.

Remember, he proposed 28 percent. That made moderate Democrats go, eh, we're not so sure. It made Republicans, basically, dismiss the idea. Yesterday, he said he'd be comfortable with 25 to 28, right? We are starting to see where some of those compromises are going to come in.

So, next week, we know that he will be meeting with Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito, who offered that counterproposal that came in at just a fraction of the price of what he initially offered. And we also know that he will be meeting with those big four congressional leaders, all looking to find some type of compromise, Laura.

But as the president and the White House has said for a long time, they want to see something happen. And inaction is not a possibility -- Laura.

[05:05:00]

JARRETT: All right. Jasmine Wright, live at the White House for us, thanks so much.

ROMANS: Turning the corner on coronavirus. Cases and hospitalizations, nationwide, are the lowest levels in nearly-seven months, the fewest deaths since last July. That has Americans hitting the road and the options are booking up real fast here. The U.S. Travel Association offering up projections that are starting to look like pre-pandemic numbers.

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ROGER DOW, PRESIDENT, U.S. TRAVEL ASSOCIATION: Very close to what we normally find. We find, summer, 75 to 80 percent of Americans say they are planning on taking a trip.

JEANETTE MCGEE, AAA: Summer travel's not going to be what it was in 2019. It's going to succeed pre-pandemic levels. It's going to be close.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: It's going be to be close. Yosemite National Park, such a popular destination right now, it's requiring reservations. Gas prices are soaring here, as demand for driving rises. Gas prices up something, like, 60 percent from last year.

JARRETT: Well, speaking of travel, fully-vaccinated Americans will be allowed to visit the European Union this summer. This morning, new details about how that might look.

Scott McLean joins us from London, this morning.

Scott, for a while, most of Europe was really struggling with this vaccination program. But slowly, but surely, it crept up. And now, it's basically the same level as the U.S. and United Kingdom. Look at that.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And as a result, Europeans are getting a little bit more freedom, day by day. I should remind you that, right now, Brits, it's not just discouraged for them to take holidays abroad. It's actually illegal, at the moment. That is expected to change, though, ten days from now.

And today is the day that Brits will find out where they can go on holiday this summer, at least without much of a headache. And so, the U.K. is about to roll out a traffic-light system, green, amber, red, green. Green, no quarantine at all. Red, ten days in the hotel. Amber, somewhere in between.

The travel in this country is not real jazzed about that plan because it still requires people going to green countries to take two tests around their return trip to the U.K. And at least at the moment, the plan does not take into account, your vaccination status.

Meanwhile, Europe, it is preparing to welcome tourists, as you mentioned, in a big way this summer. Greece is already allowing people in the country who can test negative or have had the vaccine. Italy is expected to do the same, very soon. As long as you are vaccinated or have even had the virus in the past, and now have immunity.

German lawmakers have actually just passed legislation, today, that will go into effect this weekend, to give more freedoms, both domestically and to travel abroad for people who have been vaccinated or who have had the virus in the past. Norway, the E.U., the U.K., they are all working on vaccination or immunity passports. The details, though, of those, are still largely being worked out.

But broadly speaking, Laura, things are, pretty much, on track for this summer to be looking reasonably normal, in terms of summer holidays. And that is, in large part, to what you mentioned. The E.U.'s efforts to really ramp up the pace of its vaccination efforts. It's now right on pace with the U.S. and the U.K.

But because they had a very slow start, issues with supply, et cetera, et cetera, well, they are still catching up in terms of their infection rate. And that infection rate for countries will have to come down, and stay down, as well, because British lawmakers, which I should point out, Brits make up a huge proportion of tourists to Europe. British lawmakers are warning Europe that, look, if the infection rate changes, the rules that they've set out, well, they're subject to change on short notice, as well, Laura.

JARRETT: Yeah, all these rules predicated on the cases still going down. Things still going well but that remains to be seen, of course. Scott, thanks so much. ROMANS: All right. Back in the U.S., three battleground states taking

steps to make it more difficult to vote. The new restrictions, next.

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[05:12:43]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Can we move forward, without President Trump? The answer is no. I have always liked Liz Cheney. But she's made a determination, that the Republican Party can't -- can't grow with President Trump. I have determined we can't grow without him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: For many in Washington, like Senator Lindsey Graham, the big lie is their reality. But what do voters on the ground in Wyoming actually think about their Congresswoman Liz Cheney and her future?

CNN's Gary Tuchman reports from Cheyenne.

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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The splendor of Wyoming is plentiful. The number of residents is not. And that's why Wyoming only has one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. So, Liz Cheney represents every person in the state. Like her, or not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Liz Cheney has proved herself to be a lousy representative of the voice of Wyoming.

TUCHMAN: And we spoke with a lot, who are saying not.

Here's what Liz Cheney wrote: The Republican Party is at a turning point. History is watching.

Whose side are you on? Liz Cheney? Or Donald Trump's?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If she runs again, I will vote for her opponent.

TUCHMAN: Conservative groups rank Liz Cheney more politically conservative than Donald Trump. And she has a lifelong Republican pedigree with a father who served as vice president.

A national anti-Trump Republican group has put up this billboard near the state capital of Cheyenne thanking Liz Cheney for, quote, defending the Constitution.

But it all matters little to many in this very red state who consider their Wyoming representative a turncoat and their ex-president from New York City a hero.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she needs to go. TUCHMAN: How come?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just because I don't think she did the right thing for the Republican Party.

TUCHMAN: She says that Donald Trump is lying about the election being stolen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree.

TUCHMAN: Agree with what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree that the election was stolen.

TUCHMAN: There's no evidence of it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, eventually, it might come out.

TUCHMAN: In this dispute, do you think Liz Cheney has the right to be angry with Donald Trump?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

TUCHMAN: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I don't think he's wrong.

TUCHMAN: Do you think the election was stolen?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's possible, yeah.

TUCHMAN: John Curtis remains upset Representative Cheney voted to impeach Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I read in the paper that she said she had to vote her conscience.

[05:15:01]

Okay. Maybe, she's forgotten why she's there. Her conscience isn't why she was elected. She is supposed to be representing the people of Wyoming.

TUCHMAN: But there are plenty of people, we've met here, who very much like Liz Cheney's conscience.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just think she doesn't divide her thoughts along political lines. She speaks her truth, and I appreciate somebody with that type of integrity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely, no doubt in my mind that Liz Cheney has the right answers and Donald Trump has the wrong answers.

TUCHMAN: Van Milbrom (ph) is 95 years old and one of the relatively rare Wyoming Democrats but she admires Cheney.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because she stands for truth and -- at least -- and a better-Republican Party. And we do have to have two parties.

TUCHMAN: The Wyoming Republican Party voted, in February, to censure Liz Cheney. And here, in the state's largest county of Laramie, the county Republican Party also voted to censure her. But that vote was nowhere near being unanimous.

Do you find this discouraging, this dispute?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, I do.

TUCHMAN: Kylie Taylor (ph) is the vice chairwoman of Laramie County Republicans. She was elected her post in March so didn't participate in the censure vote. She stresses the following is her personal opinion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that you got to respect Cheney. And she's got -- she's -- she is telling her truth, and what she believes to be true. She's not backing down. She's not going out quiet.

And I think, for myself as a woman in politics, and watching her as a woman in politics. It's something that I respect.

TUCHMAN: So, does that mean you do not respect what Donald Trump is trying to do to her?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, I guess, you could say that.

TUCHMAN: Republicans have historically been very united in Wyoming. Right now, though, that's certainly not the case.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: Such fascinating reporting. Gary, thank you so much for that.

Well, a trio of GOP-dominated battleground states now on the fast track to rolling back voting rights. Republicans in the Ohio House introduced a sweeping-elections package. It includes this, eliminating a day of early voting, limiting ballot drop boxes to local-election offices, and shortening the window for requesting mail-in ballots, from 30 days before an election, to just ten.

But the measure would also create an online system for requesting absentee ballots.

ROMANS: Texas is pressing ahead with its own far-reaching bill that would make Texas one of the most difficult states, in the nation, to cast a ballot. Among other restrictions, the measure would strengthen the powers of partisan-poll watchers, and bar local-election officials from mailing out absentee-ballot applications.

And all this, after Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis did what amounted to an infomercial on Fox New, signing into law a bill that curbs mail-in voting, imposes stricter voter ID requirements, and limits who can pick up and return a voter's ballot.

JARRETT: A San Francisco area school district forced to apologize, after offering a support circle for white students the day after former Police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd in Minneapolis. White students at Piedmont's two high schools received an e-mail from assistant superintendent, Cheryl Wozniak, offering a time to discuss, quote, the trial, verdict, and experiences related to the murder, and how they were impacting them.

Well, that backfired, badly. With students posting TikTok videos questioning why the school was offering segregated sessions. It turns out support circles were also held for black students and other people of color, but after the backlash, the white session was cancelled. The assistant superintendent promptly apologized and the district superintendent did, as well, noting her poor choice of words. He said the community plans to offer circles, open to all.

ROMANS: All right. A wild-press conference erupting in a brawl. What set boxer Floyd Mayweather off? A "Bleacher Report" is next.

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[05:23:29]

ROMANS: The Texas Longhorns football team mourning the death of one of their linebackers. Sad story there.

Andy Scholes has this morning's "Bleacher Report."

What happened?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well, Christine, Jake Ehlinger, he is the linebacker for the Longhorns and he is also the younger brother of former Longhorns quarterback, Sam Ehlinger. The two were just together over the weekend watching Sam get drafted to NFL by the Indianapolis Colts. And Austin police say that Jake Ehlinger was found dead in an off-campus apartment yesterday afternoon. No cause of death was revealed. But authorities don't believe it was suspicious.

Texas's team putting out a tweet saying our hearts are broken. We love you, Jake. You will be dearly missed but never forgotten. This just another terrible tragedy for the Ehlinger family. Sam and Jake's dad Ross died of a heart attack at just 46 years old back in 2013 while competing in a triathlon. Jake Ehlinger was just 20 years old.

All right. In the NBA last night, injury woes continuing for the Lakers. Anthony Davis left last night's loss with the Clippers with back spasms, but says, I should be able to go tonight.

The Lakers certainly them to. They lost to the Clippers last night, 118-94. LeBron is out resting his ankle. Lakers now the six seat in the West with six games to go. If they fall to seven, they would have to play in those play-in games.

All right. Yankees fans continue to heckle Jose Altuve and the Astros over the sign-stealing scandal yesterday afternoon. But Altuve gets the last laugh in this one, he crushed a three-run, go ahead home run in the eighth inning, silencing the boos, a nice 31st birthday present for Altuve. Astros win the finale of that one, 7-4.

All right. The legendary career of Albert Pujols may be coming to an end. The Los Angeles Angels designating the 41-year-old formally released yesterday. A move that would mean he'll be formally released by the end of the weeks.

Pujols, ten-time all star, three-time MVP, was in the final year of a ten-year, $240 million contract with the angels. The two-time World Series champ has hit 667 home runs. That's fifth on the all-time list. Pujols says he does, still, hope to play again, this season.

All right. Finally, Floyd Mayweather and YouTube sensation turned boxer Logan Paul meeting for the first time ahead of their exhibition bout next month in Miami. But it was Paul's little brother Logan, who is also a boxer, that stole the show. I mean, Logan's little brother, Jake, I should say.

Jake got in Mayweather's face. Had words with him. Then, he said got your hat and ran away like they were on the playground. I mean, that caused a huge scuffle. That carried all the way into the tunnel at Hard Rock stadium.

And you know, Laura, a lot of time these things are staged to try to get attention for fights. And, you know, it might have been staged there, that he was going to steal his hat. But I don't really care because now, I'm actually interested in that fight and I kind of want to see it after all that.

JARRETT: See, the hype works. I was just about to say, that feels like some -- that feels like a little bit of effort to get people interested in that fight. But whatever works.

Andy, thank you. Appreciate it.

SCHOLES: All right.

JARRETT: All right. Free flowers, free cash, free booze. What about a free car? New incentives for people to get vaccinated.

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