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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Congress To Vote On January Sixth Commission But Republicans Resist; Brown Family Says It's An Insult And Slap In The Face Not To Prosecute Cops; IOC Chief Says Tokyo Summer Games Will Be Safe. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired May 19, 2021 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:30:25]
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. This is EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Laura, it's Wednesday. We made it till Wednesday this week -- a busy week. I'm Christine Romans. Thirty minutes past the hour.
All right, stand up for the truth or develop amnesia. It appears most Republicans in Congress are choosing the latter. Ahead of a House vote today, the GOP is divided over whether to support the independent commission to investigate the January sixth attack on the U.S. Capitol. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is opposed.
JARRETT: Sources tell CNN McCarthy is concerned about the scope of the investigation and the possibility he could be subpoenaed to testify.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): There's already four investigations. You mentioned one. The Department of Justice already has arrested 445 people with approximately another 100 arrests to come. This will just get in the way of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Mitch McConnell now says the Senate GOP is undecided about whether to back the commission but willing to listen to arguments in favor of it.
ROMANS: All right, it's time for three questions in three minutes. Let's bring back our friend, CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston. Morning there, Mark.
You know, we all know this comes down to one man, Trump. A commission would force the party to address head-on whether he bears responsibility -- something Kevin McCarthy already admitted.
Here's one Democrat on McCarthy's about-face.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JIM MCGOVERN (D-MA): Kevin McCarthy is a weak and cowardly individual who is afraid of Donald Trump. I wouldn't be surprised if Donald Trump told him to try to kill this.
This should not be controversial. The only reason why it is is because the QAnon wing of the Republican Party is holding Kevin McCarthy's feet to the fire and Kevin McCarthy is frightened to death over Donald Trump. It is incredibly sad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So, you know, Mark, is there any other reason this commission doesn't move forward?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No, I think that's it. I mean, look, we have seen in the months since January sixth that the Republican Party -- specifically, its leaders -- have really kowtowed to Donald Trump. He continues to run the Republican Party from Florida. He'll do it from New Jersey when he moves up to his country club for his summer residence.
The fact is Kevin McCarthy is trying to protect Donald Trump. By protecting Donald Trump, though, Kevin McCarthy is protecting Kevin McCarthy because Kevin McCarthy wants to be Speaker of the House and he sees Donald Trump as the path there to do that.
JARRETT: Well, Mark, I think that's exactly right. So, McCarthy may be against this commission because he's also a material witness. McCarthy spoke to Trump at that critical time when McCarthy, we all remember, begged Trump to call off the rioters. He refused. He sort of shaded the truth on this whole issue now some months later.
But if he's called to testify, what options does he have? He's under oath, right?
PRESTON: Yes, I don't think he has very many options. I don't know if they'll force him into the corner of having to testify. If that happens I think that any kind of comedy (ph) left on Capitol Hill will probably go away.
But to your point, he is a material witness. He did have a conversation with Donald Trump on January sixth. He allegedly said that Trump told him -- that when he asked him to call off all of these people, Donald Trump said well, listen, apparently they're most upset about the election than you are, Kevin.
I mean, that's astounding that would happen. To hear that from his lips would be really, really devastating to Donald Trump. But I don't think we're going to hear that because I don't think Democrats in the end --
ROMANS: Right.
PRESTON: -- will push him to testify.
ROMANS: You know, Mark, broaden this out. The threat to future elections is real. You've got state Republicans using Trump's lies to pass laws to make it harder to vote. You have this audit thing -- performance art in Arizona -- a recount plagued by wild claims of fraud, like chickens eating ballots and looking for bamboo. Oh, my.
What is the off-ramp here?
PRESTON: The off-ramp, I think -- I mean, I hate to say, is in 20-25 years when historians look back on this and all the folks who helped try to foster this and to allow Donald Trump to run rampant and all over our politics and how our government has been set up. I think that's what the off-ramp is.
In the near term, though, I think that the off-ramp is going to have to be a whole new generation of leaders that come in on both sides that can actually work.
So I hate to say it but we're not the answer, the three of us. It's going to be our kids.
JARRETT: But in the meantime, Republican-led Legislatures all over this country are passing bills right now --
PRESTON: Right.
JARRETT: -- making it harder to vote -- based, in part, on this big lie. So, I mean, 25 years later we don't -- there's no time for that. The time is now.
PRESTON: I agree. There's certainly no question about that in the state Legislatures. But it's a conversation the three of us are going to continue to have for years.
JARRETT: For sure.
[05:35:00]
ROMANS: I also -- I've got to say I have great confidence in all of our children, by the way.
PRESTON: I do, too.
ROMANS: But they're not going to be able to vote for a long time. So I just need them to pick up the towels in the bathroom first. We'll worry about saving the world a little bit later.
JARRETT: Christine, this is not about your personal grievances.
ROMANS: Oh, you're right -- you're right. This is about democracy. I get it. I get it.
JARRETT: Mark, thank you for getting up with us. Appreciate it.
PRESTON: Have a good morning, guys. Thanks. JARRETT: All right, now to this.
An insult and a slap in the face. That is the reaction from the attorneys for the family of Andrew Brown, Jr. after this announcement from a North Carolina district attorney about that fatal police shooting that took Brown's life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW WOMBLE, DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF NORTH CAROLINA: Mr. Brown's death, while tragic, was justified because Mr. Brown's actions caused three deputies with the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office to reasonably believe it was necessary to use deadly force to protect themselves and others.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: The D.A., Andrew Womble, claims Brown, quote, "recklessly drove his car at officers while trying to flee arrest."
Take a look at some of the police bodycam video shown by Womble to make his case here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POLICE OFFICER: Stop, stop. Stop the car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: The three deputies who fired at Brown will be reinstated and retrained.
The Brown family attorney says his clients need answers and will be asking the U.S. Justice Department to intervene here.
ROMANS: All right, historic change on the way in Pittsburgh. Mayor Bill Peduto conceding the primary election to chief challenger Ed Gainey, who would become the city's first Black mayor if he wins in November. Democrat Peduto faced three primary opponents in his bid for a third term. Peduto said he called to congratulate Gainey and wish him well.
Gainey, a five-term state representative, seems all but assured to win in November. Pittsburgh hasn't elected a Republican mayor since the 1930s.
JARRETT: Wow.
A Black homeowner in Indianapolis says her home's value shot up when she had a white man stand in for her during an appraisal.
Carlette Duffy suspected she was being undercut in two separate appraisals. They estimated her home's value at about $125,000 and then $110,000, according to the Indianapolis "Star."
In a third appraisal, Duffy had the white husband of a friend stand in for her. Guess what? The new value, $259,000.
Now Duffy's going to court. She filed a Fair Housing complaint against the mortgage lenders, accusing them of undervaluing her home because of her race. The appraisers deny any wrongdoing.
You're going to hear from Duffy, herself, coming up on "NEW DAY" in the 7:00 hour. Just an amazing textbook case there.
ROMANS: It really is. It sure is.
All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this morning. Looking at markets around the world, a mixed performance in Asia, and European shares have opened lower here this morning, kind of spreading the mood from Wall Street.
On Wall Street, stock index futures -- right now, stock index futures are also down. You know, they ended down Monday, giving up slight gains earlier in the day. The Dow fell 267 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also fell.
You know, it's inflation nervousness again ahead of minutes today from the Federal Reserve. The Fed position has been that price increases -- inflation has been temporary and supplied bottlenecks will ultimately work themselves out. After all, we're coming out of a shutdown from a COVID -- there's no blueprint for this. It will work out, they say.
But Wall Street fears the Fed is underplaying the threat and may have to raise interest rates to cool the red-hot economy.
More earnings today giving insight into the consumer. We've got Lowe's, Target, Cisco, and L Brands to report earnings today.
Overnight, Bitcoin's price fell below $40,000, its lowest level since early February. On Tuesday, the Chinese government banned financial and payment institutions from allowing people to trade any kind of crypto, not just Bitcoin. That, of course, sent prices down.
Prices had been falling after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as payment for its cars due to crypto's massive carbon footprint.
Bitcoin is down about 40 percent from its most recent high.
Americans are spending money on their homes. That's great news for Home Depot. Net sales jumped 33 percent in the first quarter. Online sales rose 27 percent.
Soaring lumber prices and supply shortages put a damp there -- a damper on housing starts, though. Housing starts fell almost 10 percent from March, but building permits for new homes have soared more than 60 percent from April last year. Economists say housing starts could pick up again later this year once again when those supply chain bottlenecks are worked out.
Gas prices are rising and supply shortages are not over yet. Now, the International Energy Agency says the world needs to stop drilling for oil and gas to save the planet -- that's right. The agency says new fossil fuel supply projects need to stop immediately and no coal plants should be approved in order to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Thousands of gas stations, meanwhile, still out of gas nearly two weeks after the cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline. The supply chain has struggled to catch up after the supplier came back online this week.
[05:40:00]
Colonial Pipeline said Tuesday a key communication system that allows shippers to schedule deliveries is back online after an hours' long outage. It stressed the outage was not related to the cyberattack.
JARRETT: Fighting hate crimes. A federal bill to combat anti-Asian hate is on its way to the president's desk. The House vote was 364 to 62. All the nay votes, Republicans.
Anti-Asian crimes have spiked during this pandemic. The bill directs the Justice Department to expedite reviews of pandemic-related hate crimes and increases support for local and state law enforcement to respond.
We'll be right back.
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JARRETT: All right, 44 past the hour here.
A world-famous rock formation has collapsed. This is Darwin's Arch off the coast of the Galapagos Islands before and this is what it looks like now with just those two pillars remaining. Officials say the top of the arch fell as the result of natural erosion. A tourist boating group is said to have witnessed the collapse.
[05:45:04]
The arch is named for Charles Darwin, who developed his theory of evolution after visiting the Galapagos.
ROMANS: Chaos on the streets of Shenzhen, China. Thousands of shoppers fleeing from a 957-foot skyscraper. Oh my goodness. It suddenly began to sway. Social media videos show people screaming and looking back over their shoulders -- you know, the building wobbling there.
Authorities say no abnormalities in the main structure and surrounding environment of the building were found, so the cause of the swaying remains a mystery.
Earlier screenings for a silent killer. Medical experts are lowering the recommended age to begin screening for colon and rectal cancers from 50 to 45. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says everyone from 45 years old to 75 years old should be screened. The recommendation is for asymptomatic people of average risk with no prior diagnosis and no history of colon or rectal polyps. JARRETT: A Florida --
ROMANS: A big change there.
JARRETT: Yes, a huge change there.
A Florida judge has resigned after missing work and making court staffers run his personal errands. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Martin Zilber has been facing discipline after complaints about his behavior. He allegedly had his staff members drive him to events and do his online shopping.
A judicial commission found clear and convincing evidence Zilber misused employees and was excessively absent.
ROMANS: Millions facing the threat of flash floods and tornadoes in parts of the south. About 60,000 customers without power in Texas. That number almost double a few hours ago.
Here's meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Good morning, Christine and Laura.
Yes, a very concerning weather pattern developing here across parts of eastern Texas, western and central Louisiana -- even as far north as Arkansas and into Oklahoma as well. The elements in place here to bring in Gulf moisture. And, of course, we know in recent days, 72- hour rainfall totals here have exceeded 16 inches in a few spots. That is a remarkable amount of rainfall here that has come down.
And unfortunately, the pattern doesn't look to shift much here the next several days. Notice upwards of 30-plus million Americans underneath flood alerts across this region. And then you notice thunderstorms in recent hours. Counting the last 12 hours of lightning strikes, upwards of nearly 50,000 lightning strikes. So it really speaks to the severity and the significance of these storms playing out across this region.
And yes, that is a level-three indicated in red, on a scale of one to four, for the flooding risk in eastern Texas into western Louisiana. And notice the moisture lines up directly towards this region to produce possibly, another round of maybe six to eight inches of rainfall within the next week or so in parts of eastern Texas. So we'll follow this carefully as the week progresses -- guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Thank you, Pedram.
Fentanyl seizures at the border are surging in the strangest places. Agents have found people trying to smuggle the drugs in burritos, fire extinguishers, and vehicle parts. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents have intercepted nearly 6,500 pounds of the synthetic opioid since October. That's more in the last seven months than in the previous year.
The DEA says one kilogram of Fentanyl can potentially kill 500,000 people. Synthetic opioids are the primary driver of fatal drug overdoses in the U.S.
JARRETT: All right. A St. Louis man who made national headlines last summer for pointing his rifle at protesters for police reform -- well, he's running for U.S. Senate.
The video on social media showed Mark McCloskey and his wife brandishing guns -- you might remember that -- as protesters walked by their house. The couple ultimately pleaded not guilty to weapons charges and evidence tampering, and they later appeared at the RNC. McCloskey will run as a Republican.
ROMANS: All right. Bank of America is pledging to raise its minimum wage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN MOYNIHAN, CEO, BANK OF AMERICA: We are going to $25.00 by 2025 as a starting wage in our company. We have not gotten 99 percent of our vendors to $15.00 an hour and we'll get the rest of them through. It will cost us a few hundred million dollars a year, ultimately, as we move up to it but it's just an investment in our teammates.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Investment in the workforce. Look, if you want to get people back in the workforce, especially woman -- if want to retain your workers you need to pay more. Company after company has been doing it. Honestly, it's the free market at work as Congress stalls on raising the federal minimum wage from that rock-bottom $7.25 an hour.
Now, the B of A CEO said raising its wage -- you heard that there -- will cost a few hundred million a year when it happens, which isn't until the year 2025.
Look, B of A can afford it. In the first quarter, the bank earned $8.1 billion and returned $5 billion of capital to shareholders through common dividends and share repurchases, right there in the earnings report. Translation: $5 billion is just three months gifted back to investors, but waiting four more years to raise wages for workers.
And you know, Laura, on the front page of "The Wall Street Journal" this morning, bank stocks on path for their best year. I mean, these banks are doing very, very well. They did all through COVID. They are right now as well. You just look at that sort of disconnect.
[05:50:00]
JARRETT: Yes.
ROMANS: Eight point one billion in earnings, $5 billion back to shareholders, but waiting a few more years before the higher wages. Look, I'm all for the higher wages. JARRETT: Right.
ROMANS: Don't get me wrong --
JARRETT: Right.
ROMANS: -- but they can afford it.
JARRETT: It's fine to give them credit but you have to have the context.
ROMANS: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES GRODIN, ACTOR: Scene from "Beethoven."
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JARRETT: Charles Grodin is being remembered this morning as a brilliant comedy actor. He died Tuesday at his home in Connecticut from bone cancer.
The "Heaven Can Wait" star, famous for his deadpan humor, was a familiar face in movies and T.V. for decades. He also was a much sought-after guest on late-night by Johnny Carson and David Letterman.
Charles Grodin was 86 years old.
ROMANS: All right.
While you were sleeping, a major announcement from Demi Lovato. The singer came out as non-binary and they/them will be Lovato's new pronouns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEMI LOVATO, SINGER: I feel that this best represents the fluidity I feel in my gender expression and allows me to feel most authentic and true to the person I both know I am and still am discovering.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Lovato added that this comes after a lot of healing and self- reflective work.
JARRETT: Calls to cancel the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo growing louder by the day, but the head of the Games insists they will be safe. IOC president Thomas Bach is even offering to provide additional medical staff.
Despite mounting opposition from Japanese citizens, Bach says the Olympic Village is safe. That's something he's going to need to depend on because some towns that committed to hosting the athletes are pulling out now due to COVID concerns.
We get more on all of this from CNN's Blake Essig.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Things were different when Belize's national band last visited Yokoshibahikari.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is unthinkable now. Nobody is wearing masks.
ESSIG (voice-over): That was nearly two years ago. Back then, (INAUDIBLE) threw a party at their resort after inviting the band to celebrate the town's decision to host athletes from the small Caribbean nation in the buildup to the Olympic Games.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a small town and we have very little chance to communicate with people from abroad, so we were looking forward to it.
ESSIG (voice-over): But COVID-19 had other plans. With cases on the rise across Japan and seemingly no end in sight to the pandemic, Yokoshibahikari's mayor was forced to make a choice -- the health of his people or the Olympics.
MAYOR SATO HARUHIKO, YOKOSHIBAHIKARI, JAPAN (through translator): My biggest mission is to protect the townspeople's life and health, so I made this decision without any hesitation.
ESSIG (voice-over): Part of the reason to pull out as hosts, his town has no PCR testing, which is a requirement in the Olympic playbook outlining COVID-19 countermeasures. In addition, he says medical resources are limited and the public hospitals aren't capable of treating patients requiring treatment for COVID-19.
HARUKHIKO (through translator): We hear about the medical collapse in Osaka and I'm afraid the same thing may take place here.
ESSIG (voice-over): While disappointed, Dr. (INAUDIBLE) says he understands the decision was made to avoid potential risk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This hospital is the only inpatient facility in town, so if this hospital was tied up with COVID patients, we cannot operate regular medical care at all.
ESSIG (voice-over): So far, at least 45 out of 528 host towns and Olympic teams have pulled out from participating in the program because of the pandemic, with some official saying more are expected to follow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's putting people at risk.
ESSIG (voice-over): Superstar athletes have started to cast doubt. Recently, medical professionals, business leaders, and a majority of the Japanese population have called for the Games to be canceled. But will it make a difference? Olympic scholar John Horn says it already has. JOHN HORN, OLYMPIC SCHOLAR: I think the criticisms from athletes and from elsewhere do matter because they leave a mark on this Olympics that it's going to be impossible to remove.
ESSIG (voice-over): Reputational damage that Horn says could be amplified if the Games are held.
HORN: We don't want it to happen but say there is a spike in COVID cases as a result of the Games. Well, it will be devastating.
ESSIG (voice-over): An Olympic story that, for now, is dominated by the dark cloud of COVID-19.
Blake Essig, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Struggling with this again a year later. It's just sad that the big feats of humanity --
JARRETT: Yes.
ROMANS: -- that we want to celebrate, we also have a pandemic.
JARRETT: Yes, and they've trained for this for years, but we are still in the middle of a pandemic --
ROMANS: I know.
JARRETT: -- and those Games are close. So we're going to watch this closely.
ROMANS: All right, thanks for joining us, everybody. I'm Christine Romans.
JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.
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[05:59:28]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman alongside Brianna Keilar on this new day.
Breaking overnight, a dramatic turn in the investigation into Donald Trump and his businesses, and a story first reported by CNN. The attorney general of New York declaring the probe is now a criminal one.
Plus, today, a key vote on the bipartisan investigation into the insurrection on January sixth. We're now hearing why Kevin McCarthy is fighting this at every turn.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And just in, we're learning that Israel has twice tried killing the military commander of Hamas as the war intensifies. And new evidence this morning that the coronavirus vaccine not only
works but is keeping people alive.
