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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Israeli Opposition Strikes Deal that Would End Netanyahu Era; Biden Taking More Assertive Stance on Global Stage; Hacks, Sanctions and Provocations Ahead of Biden-Putin Summit; Can Nuclear Deal be Salvaged? Will Iran's New Leader Stand By It?; The Great American Reopening is Here; Fed to Start Winding Down Corporate Assets Program; Biden Offers Lower Infrastructure Price Tag for GOP Concessions; Sen. King Willing to Overhaul Filibuster if GOP Blocks Voting Bill; Blinken: Russia Has an "Obligation" to Stop Ransonware Attacks; TX H.S. Valedictorian Ditches Speech to Slam Abortion Law; Prosecutors Request 30-Year Sentence for Chauvin; Growing Trend of Vaccine Incentives in U.S. New Mexico Unveils 'Vax 2 the Max' Sweepstakes; $5M Top Prize; New Jersey Lifting All Limits on Indoor Gatherings; NYC to Begin In-School Vaccinations for Kids 12-17; Two New NASA Missions to Explore Venus. Aired 5:30-6a ET.

Aired June 03, 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]

NAFTALI BENNETT, YAMINA PARTY LEADER (through translator): And we will see you at the swearing in ceremony. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, (inaudible) would be Foreign Minister and the then the two men would swap jobs in two years.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The small Islamist Party, the United Arab list also joins the coalition. That's a historic first for an Arab Israeli Party, little unites the parties beside their desire to oust Netanyahu. They differ strongly on some of Israel's most pressing and important issues especially relations with the Palestinians. But the deal avoids a grueling a fifth election in two years. It must now pass a vote of confidence in Israel's Parliament.

JARRETT: And that is just one of the headlines we're following around the world today. It's time for three questions in three minutes. Let's bring in CNN Senior International Correspondent, Fred Pleitgen. Fred, --

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: Hi, Fred.

JARRETT: -- great to have you this morning. There is a real trend, I think, emerging within the last week or so. You see President Biden putting his background as the long time head of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee now to good use. Just in the last week or so he has taken a tougher line on Belarus, on Russia. He helped mediate the Middle East conflict. He's calling out China over the origins of COVID. And he seems to also be coming out of his shell a bit domestically more on some major issues and now it looks like the same overseas.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly does. First of all I love this segment. Thank you, guys, for have me on.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

PLEITGEN: And then second of all I think you are absolutely right and I do think that there are few places in the world where that new internationalism is noticed more than here in Europe. I think it's reassuring a lot of the U.S. allies and if you look at some of the statements that have been coming out of the White House but also the State Department recently a lot of them begin with the U.S. is coordinating its response with it's allies and that's certainly something that is being seen.

And I think there's even more than that. In Belarus I think is really a great example of that. Where the U.S. is sort of taking a step back but showing its allies that it still does have their back. When the Belarusian authorities brought down that jetliner, the Ryanair jetliner, and took the activist off that jetliner it was the Europeans that did the first response, talked about sanctions, closing off air space.

But the Biden administration and the State Department did say they support all this, they're going to take measures as well but they are going to let the Europeans take the lead while at the same they do know that the U.S. has their back and that America's muscle is also in that as well.

The big question now I think in all this is going to be what's the Biden administration going to get in return? Are the Europeans going to be willing to take on more responsibility? There's been some talk here in Europe but not that much has happened yet. The big thing that we're looking forward - looking towards middle of June is the NATO Summit whether or not those European countries are going say if they're actually going to spend more on defense, guys.

ROMANS: You know, and also looking forward to this meeting between Butin (ph) - Presidents Biden and Putin. You spent the better part of four years in Moscow, Fred, so you know how much is on the line here when they meet in just a couple of weeks. Cyber attacks, detained Americans, election interference, Alexei Navalny.

A few days ago the U.S. and allies conducted this fly-over of NATO countries to send a message to Putin. What happens when the President -

(CROSSTALK)

PLEITGEN: Yes. ROMANS: -- meets with Putin in person?

PLEITGEN: Yes, look, that is really going to be a difficult one. And I've actually been speaking to some folks in the Russian opposition also (ph) speaking to some analysts here in and around Europe. And one of the questions that keeps coming up is what exactly is the benefit for President Biden in doing this Summit.

A lot of them, that I have been speaking to, say, look, on the face of it the fact that the Summit is taking place, a U.S. President going to a neutral country to meet Vladimir Putin seems like a pretty big win for Vladimir Putin. Just the fact that this Summit is taking place shows how important Vladimir Putin is and how seriously the administration takes him.

And there's also some Europeans that I talked to who said the U.S. did actually seem to do a lot to actually make this Summit happen. You'll recall the Nord Stream 2 pipeline not sanctioning that. The administration said that was because of Germany. But at the same time of course it's a slap in the face of Eastern European allies, there's no doubt about it.

Also have we heard much talk from the administration about Alexei Navalny recently? It's been quite muted. I talked to someone very senior in Navalny's organization who says they really haven't seen anything of that backdoor diplomacy that's allegedly going on. So there are certain benefits obviously of these two leaders meeting; strategic arms talks, things like that.

But the big question is going to be what can actually be achieved. For instance, in the Ukraine conflict but also on human rights which of course is a big thing for President Biden, the situation of Alexei Navalny and of course the situation of Paul Wieland as well.

JARRETT: So much to discuss there. It's going to be fascinating to see how that plays out. Fred, another big event coming up, elections in Iran. It seems like the only options are hardliners but still talks are ongoing to salvage some version of the nuclear deal, if that can happen. If that can happen it will hold under a new Iranian leadership it seems like that's the big question now, right?

PLEITGEN: Yes, I mean I think that if it does happen that it's certainly - that it most probably would hold under a new Iranian leadership. You are absolutely right it certainly is shaping up that after the eight years of Hassan Rouhani in Iran that we are looking probably towards a more hard line and more conservative leadership. Most probably under the leadership of Ebrahim Raisi who is the head of the Iranian Judiciary right now.

The big thing that the nations are still involved in the JCPOA are scrambling towards -

[05:35:00]

PLEITGEN: -- right now is trying to salvage that agreement before the elections. And that's simply because they're going to have a whole different set of negotiators if there is a new administration in Tehran. That could certainly make things more difficult. One of the things that we have to keep in mind in those negotiations is that the Trump administration put in place sanctions on Iran that were specifically designed to make it difficult for another administration to get back into that deal.

JARRETT: Right.

PLEITGEN: Very difficult to work through these things however it certainly does seem as though both the U.S. and Iran wants to salvage that agreement. And difficult but let's see maybe they can make it happen.

JERRET: Yes, can they get to yes in a way that everybody's happy with because that's always a challenge. All right, Fred, thanks so much for popping up for us this morning, appreciate it.

PLEITGEN: Thank you.

ROMANS: All right back to the U.S. now. The great reopening is here, the economy in the U.S. roaring back to life. Gas prices are spiking as Americans hit the road again. That is a - that is a demand story there as the economy recovers. A cyber attack on JBS Foods sounded alarm bells for disruptions to the beef supply chain as people start to barbeque again as the economy reopens for this great American summer.

And at the same time the housing market is exploding here. Homes are selling above asking prices with multiple offers sometimes in cash and the inventory of homes for sale is so low homes aren't on the market very long. Consumers are spending money again and they're saving more too thanks to all that stimulus from Congress.

And after the pandemic forced thousands of small of businesses to close data shows Americans are opening businesses at the fastest rate in more than a decade.

Stocks are soaring, the Dow was up 13 percent this year, the S&P 500 up 12 percent. And we're also seeing wage increases as employers try to attract and retain workers. The economy is hot (ph), the Federal Reserve is slowly starting to pull back its emergency stimulus. The central bank said Wednesday it will start winding down a program that bought corporate assets to help save the economy.

The Fed said it will sell off nearly $14 billion worth of assets over time to keep markets working properly.

JERRET: New overnight, CNN has learned President Biden is offering to lower the price tag on his infrastructure package to $1 trillion, that's pretty much inline with the deal Republicans are offering. But the President has one caveat, he wants quote/unquote "new money" not redirected dollars from funding already approved by Congress as Senate Republicans have been demanding.

Infrastructure not the only issue that has some Democrats considering the once unthinkable, nuking the filibuster. CNN's Daniella Diaz is on Capitol Hill for us this morning. Daniella, good morning to you. There's also police reform, voting. So much right now and some Democrats are now actually talking aloud about nuking the filibuster?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Laura, even though is seems that some more Senators are joining the bandwagon on trying to nuke the filibuster, not every Democrat is on-board. Look some of these Senators have been open to changing their minds on this because of the voting right legislation package that's expected to hit the Senate this month.

And because of this they are worried that Senate Republicans are going to block this legislation and they think this legislation is very important for benefitting the county.

It would rewrite campaign finance and election laws but, you know, one of the these Senators being Independent Senator Angus King, he told our Manu Raju this week that he's is open to changing the rules of the filibuster so that this legislation could pass. He told Manu we have to defend democracy and I'm afraid our colleagues have put us in that position. I'm reluctant to modify the filibuster but I don't feel I can stand by and see our system subverted (ph).

So look even with King being open to nuking the filibuster there are still two Democratic Senators that do not want to see this filibuster nuked. Their 60 vote threshold and in the Senate for legislation to pass; those being Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

And even Manchin, himself, has been very vocal about the fact that he does not want to get rid of the filibuster, he does not want to see legislation pass on party lines through the Senate Which is why even though one Independent Senator, Angus King, who caucuses with Democrats wants to - is now open to nuking the filibuster it doesn't matter because these two Senators do not want to get rid of the filibuster.

JARRETT: Yes, you can't get it done without Manchin and Sinema. The question is what is their redline if any. All right, Daniella, thank you.

ROMANS: All right, 39 minutes pass the hour. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Russia has an obligation to crackdown on cyber attacks like the ones that targeted the JBS Meat Company and the Colonial Pipeline, that both caused supply shortages. Blinken tells CNN Espanol the Kremlin must stop harboring criminal enterprises.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: In the case of the attack on the Colonial Pipeline the enterprise that was responsible for that attack it's a - it's leaders were in Russia - are in Russia. So I think there's an obligation on Russia's part to make sure that that doesn't continue.

We also need countries around the world to make commitments and then make good on those -- [05:40:00]

BLINKEN: -- commitments not to harbor criminal enterprises that engage in these attacks and on the contrary to seek them out and to stop them and to bring them to justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: JBS says it is set to resume production at all of its processing facilities today.

JARRETT: Also revealed in just the last 24-hours, cyber attacks on transportation systems in New York and Massachusetts. On Wednesday a ransomware attacked disrupted Massachusetts' Steam Ship Authority, the ferry service that hauls goods and passengers from the mainland to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

And New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority also revealing it was hacked back in April but the attack did not disrupt operations. These attacks on the ferry and the MTA just the latest in a series as hackers shift their focus away from banks and retailers to new targets often untrained at defending themselves like hospitals, transportation and food.

ROMANS: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:45:00]

ROMANS: All right off script and on a mission. A high school valedictorian in Dallas, Paxton Smith, tossed out her planned speech to tear into a new Texas law banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected as early as six weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAXTON SMITH, LAKE HIGHLANDS HIGH SCHOOL VALEDICTORIAN: As we leave high school we need to make our voices heard. Today I was going to talk about T.V. and media and content because it's something that's very important to me. However under light of recent events it feels wrong to talk about anything but what is currently affecting me and millions of other women in this state.

Six weeks, that's all women get and so before they realize, most of them don't realize that they're pregnant by six weeks, so before they have a chance to decide if they are emotionally, physically and financially stable enough to carry out full-term pregnancy, before they have the chance to decide if they can take on the responsibility of bringing another human being into the world that decision is made for them by a stranger.

A decision that will affect the rest of their lives is made by a stranger. I have dreams and hopes and ambitions. Every girl graduating today does and we have spent our entire lives working towards our future and without our input and without our consent our control over that future has been stripped away from us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: She drew huge applause from her fellow students and on social media where Hilary Clinton was among the many people congratulating her. A school official, as you might imagine, were stunned. They let her finish but they say they'll reassess the rules for future student speeches.

You often have to get them approved by the administration before you give them but once you're up on the stage --

(CROSSTALK)

JARRETT: Yes, anything goes.

ROMANS: -- it is your stage.

JARRETT: Minnesota prosecutors are requesting a 30-year prison sentence now for Derek Chauvin, that former police officer who murdered George Floyd, that is twice as long as the upper range of sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors argue the profound impact of Chauvin's actions on Floyd, his family, and the community necessitate a series sentence here.

Chauvin's attorneys in turn argue he should receive no prison time or far less than the maximum sentence in part because he is the product of a quote/unquote "broken" system. Not sure what that means. Chauvin has sentenced to be sentenced - is set to be sentenced on June 25.

ROMANS: All right Dr. Anthony Fauci says children under the age of 12 will probably have to wear masks during the next school year if community transmission is high. Fortunately right now a CNN analysis shows it is dropping. That transmission is dropping in most of the country.

Meantime a free drink for vaccinated customers at bars and restaurants in Illinois, one of the latest in a growing list of vaccine incentives that includes a new sweepstakes in one of the country's poorest states. Early Start has the pandemic covered coast to coast.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stephanie Elam. New Mexico is launching its "Vax 2 the Max" sweepstakes where it's giving away a total of $10 million to vaccinated New Mexicans. The sweepstakes will begin in mid-June and each week for four weeks the state is going to give away $250,000 to a winner in each of the state's four regions.

Then at the end, on the fifth week there'll be a grand prize of $5 million that can be won by anyone in the state as long as they are vaccinated and they've opted in to the sweepstakes.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alexandra Field. New Jersey is preparing to lift all limits on indoor gatherings on Friday. New Jersey is one of 12 states across the nation that has already reached one of President Joe Biden's goals, to at least partially vaccinate at least 70 percent of its adult population. The state has administered more than nine million doses of the vaccine so far.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jean Casarez. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio is announcing that kids ages 12 to 17 are now going to be able to get in-school COVID-19 vaccinations. The goal is to get as many students vaccinated before the school year ends which is the end of June.

The Mayor says the program will begin with four schools in the Bronx on Friday and expand to all five boroughs in the next few weeks. The Mayor also says that currently about 23 percent of students ages 12 through 17 are vaccinated.

JARRETT: Thanks to Jean and the rest of our correspondents for those updates. Well for the first time in 30 years two new NASA missions said to uncover the secrets of Venus. The agency trying to shed light on why the planet became inhospitable despite sharing many characteristics with Earth. Some scientists believe Venus once had an ocean and a climate similar to Earth but now has temperatures hot enough -

[05:50:00]

JARRETT: -- to metal lead. One of the missions will focus on Venus' atmosphere while the other will map the plant's surface.

ROMANS: All right, let's look at markets around the world here on planet Earth. The Asian markets closed mix and European shares have opened slightly lower here. Data showing activity slowed in China's services sector with weak demand abroad. On Wall Street stock (ph) futures at this moment are also leaning down just a little bit. They loss some steam Wednesday but did mange to close higher. The Dow up about 25 points.

Investors will get another look at the recovery in the job market when the jobless claims data comes out in just a couple of hours. First time claims are expected to fall below 400,000 for the first time since March 2020.

All the meme stocks are back. AMC stock is soaring and its executives are awarding its newest investors. Shares of AMC surged more than 120 percent Wednesday that is a record high. It's become this meme stock as a mob of traders on Reddit boost the stock to hurt the short sellers. AMC announced plans to reward its new retail investors with its AMC investor connect program. The initiative gives investors perks like free popcorn and exclusive screenings and even direct communication with AMC's CEO.

One bank is saying good-bye to overdraft fees. Ally Bank said Wednesday it is eliminating overdraft fees to protect customers disproportionately hurt by overdrafts. Big banks have been scolded over those fees for years especially during the pandemic. One report shows Americans paid more than $12 billion in overdraft fees last year. Ally said all accounts are eligible and there are no requirements for those restrictions.

JARRETT: The head of the Tokyo Summer Olympics is digging in this morning saying it is impossible to postpone the games once again. That's despite mounting concerns about hosting the Olympics while Japan struggles to reign in a new wave of coronavirus cases.

CNN's Blake Essig is live in Tokyo with the very latest. So he says he doesn't want to postpone it but what are they going to do, Blake?

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Laura, well the chorus of voices calling for these games to be cancelled or postponed continues to grow. Organizing officials maintain that the Olympic Games are going ahead as scheduled, Tokyo 2020 president Seiko Hashimoto, is the latest official to hammer home that point when she told Nikkan Sports newspaper that it's impossible to postpone the games again.

Her comments coming the same day that Japan's top coronavirus advisor told the lower House of Parliament here in Japan that it's not normal to host these games under the current situation, of course that current situation being a global pandemic.

How (ph) in part as a result of the pandemic is was announced that 10,000 Olympic volunteers have quit. Officials say volunteers started dropping out in February around the same time that former Tokyo 2020 president Yoshir? Mori resigned after making sexist comments about women.

Now while losing 10,000 volunteers is significant, Japanese government officials say that they still have about 70,000 volunteers signed up and maintain that because of the COVID-19 countermeasures already put in place, which include banning foreign spectators from attending, that the loss of volunteers won't impact the games.

Now volunteers aren't the only Olympic participants dropping out. Some doctors scheduled to be inc-charge of the medical services at competition venues have also withdrawn. These doctors would have supervised medical staff treating both athletes and spectators.

And, Laura, Olympic organizers are now currently in the process of finding replacements with just 50 days to go before the Olympic games begin. Not a lot of time.

JARRETT: All right, Blake, we know you are watching this closely for us. Thank you. Appreciate it.

All right a Louisiana high school teacher coming to the rescue when a senior student was told his shoes violated the schools graduation dress code. So Mr. John Butler jumper in with both feet given his shoes to senior Devarius Peters (ph) so that Peters could walk across the stage and graduate. And because Peters' shoes were two sized too small, Mr. Butler couldn't use his and he had to attend the ceremony barefoot.

All right, finally this morning, allergic to seafood - seafood well do not eat cicadas. Billions of cicadas have been popping up across the East Coast as they do every 17 years. The FDA says the insects are related to shrimp and lobster. Chefs have been getting awfully creative. The cicadas have been marinated, fried, dipped in chocolate, even

enjoyed by our very own Brianna Keilar, John Berman passed. They're considered a sustainable and inexpensive source of protein and not harmful to people who aren't allergic to shellfish.

I think Christine Romans and I will pass on that one.

Thanks so much for joining us. New Day is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:55:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar alongside John Berman on this New Day. President Biden's coronavirus plan is working. The new numbers, the new incentives and how he plans to hit his vaccination goal by July 4th. In the meantime his predecessor is trying to convince his follows that he'll be reinstated as President this summer. It's nonsense but it's sparking fears of more violence.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Plus on the ropes, Israel's Prime Minister closer and closer to being ousted by a team of rivals, a previously unthinkable alliance to take away Benjamin Netanyahu's power.

And -

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: How the hell do we - have you become our Mayor?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:00:00]

BERMAN: Colder than a New York Knicks play-off run. See what happened when the candidates for major squared off in a major debate.