Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

President Biden Starts Series of Summits by Defending Democracy Itself; Russian Court Labels Alexei Navalny Political Organization as Extremist; California Set to Fully Reopen Next Week; Vermont Nears Its Vaccination Goal to End All Restrictions; Carolina Panthers Owner Rejects Dome Stadium Due to COVID; Olympic Athletes May Be Subject to GPS Tracking in Japan. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired June 10, 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: That of democracy. That sets high stakes for his first trip abroad as president. He marks a warning to Russian president Vladimir Putin that Biden plans to raise some sensitive issues during their upcoming summit.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is traveling with the president and she joins us live this morning from Falmouth, England.

Good morning.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. Well, President Biden kicks off his week of meetings with allies here in Cornwall today but it's clear that that upcoming high stakes meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin is top of mind. The president has said part of his goal in meeting with these allies is to show a united front against Russia and yesterday as he arrived here in England he told U.S. troops what he is hoping to accomplish in that meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying he'll hold nothing back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is my first overseas trip as president of the United States. I'm heading to the G7, then to the NATO ministerial and then to meet with Mr. Putin to let him know what I want him to know.

(CHEERS)

BIDEN: We're not seeking conflict with Russia. We want a stable, predictable relationship. But I've been clear the United States will respond in a robust and meaningful way when the Russian government engages in harmful activities. We've already demonstrated that. I'm going to communicate that there are consequences for violating the sovereignty of democracies in the United States and Europe and elsewhere.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP) SAENZ: Now, the president has said he will talk about cyberattacks and human rights violations with Putin, but he is also seeking areas of agreement on things like arms control and climate change. There was some internal debate within the White House about whether the president should proceed with such a meeting with Putin on his very first foreign trip, but ultimately they decided that face-to-face interaction was needed to help gauge the future and pace of the relationship.

Now the president also has another overarching goal to stress that democracies can work. He said yesterday that one of his messages will be proving to people who are saying that the age of democracy is over. But of course this comes as there are threats against democracy not just back home but also abroad. All very hard-hitting issues that the president will be touching over the course of his next week in Europe.

ROMANS: All right. Arlette, nice to see you. And keep us posted. Thanks. Laura?

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: So at the very moment President Biden was sending a message to Vladimir Putin, the Russian president was delivering a message of his own and he used jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny to do it.

Matthew Chance is live for us in Moscow this morning.

Matthew, what's going on here?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's incredible because as President Biden is saying the United States is going -- will stand up to autocracies, Vladimir Putin over here in Russia is actually doubling down on the autocracy that he presides over, and he's done that this time by basically making illegal the political organization of Alexei Navalny.

He is the main opposition leader here. The FBK as its shortened to the initials of the organization are called. They've been designated as an extremist group in this country now. That was a court decision that came through very late last night. And what that means is that the organization is effectively banned anybody who organizes protests, rallies, we've seen a lot of those over the past couple of years, and any other kind of, you know, kind of activity against the government.

They could face arrests and possibly as long as six years in prison. Alexei Navalny, of course the head of the organization, is already in prison for the next two and a half years on violation of parole for an embezzlement case that he claims is politically motivated.

And also it means significantly here in Russia that people who sympathizes with Alexei Navalny and his supporters are not going to be able now by law to stand in the forthcoming parliamentary elections there three months from now in September. Big domestic concern here in Russia with the governing party that they are losing popularity because of the economy, because of COVID, because of perceptions of corruption as well. And so now they've moved decisively to outlaw any opposition from

contesting the parliamentary elections. At the same time sending a powerful message to Joe Biden as well. They're meeting in six days from now in Geneva, Switzerland and as I say Putin doubling down on the way he is running this country.

JARRETT: Yes. The timing of course here just very notable and I should note Navalny's chief of staff is going to be on "NEW DAY" in about 30 minutes. So definitely want to catch that as well.

Matthew Chance, thanks.

ROMANS: All right, an urgent call from investors to world leaders. Make bolder steps to fight climate change now. Hundreds of major investment firms managing trillions in assets signed a letter urging governments to set more ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions and other climate-related actions. The letter warned the countries that drag their feet on climate change are at risk of being left behind by investors who send their money elsewhere.

[05:35:03]

And it's not just investors, major companies are calling for more action. In a separate letter 155 companies including Apple, Uber, Salesforce and others called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to mandate climate disclosures. They argue the information is necessary for investors to assess the risks posed to the economy and specific companies. The chairman of the SEC recently told Congress he plans to introduce new rules around corporate climate disclosures later this year.

JARRETT: A water shortage emergency in the most populous county in northern California. Santa Clara County home to San Jose issuing a mandatory 15 percent water use reduction for its two million residents. The entire state is in the grip of an intensifying drought right now. The county says it will bring in water from out of county storage and purchase it from partners but those supplies are not guaranteed.

ROMANS: All right, to COVID now. Another dose of good news. Philadelphia set to end its indoor mask mandate tomorrow as well as that 11:00 p.m. last call for restaurants. Of course the pandemic is not over especially with only half the population vaccinated, even less when you include kids who are not eligible yet. The U.S. surgeon general says unvaccinated people are increasingly at risk as more variants develop.

JARRETT: Meantime a majority of hospitals in Maryland and Washington, D.C. will start requiring employees to be vaccinated, wading into this politically fraught territory that's led to protests and at least one lawsuit in Texas where nearly 200 nurses are at risk of losing their jobs.

EARLY START has the pandemic, as we do, covered every day coast to coast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Simon in San Francisco. California is set to fully reopen in less than a week. While many states have already eliminated their mask mandates and capacity restrictions, California has taken a more conservative approach but that all changes on June 15th. For the fully vaccinated you won't have to wear a mask in pretty much any setting that of course complies with CDC guidance. And the state will no longer require businesses to have capacity restrictions.

But for big mega events, however, the state is asking organizers to have people show their vaccination cards or a negative COVID test for re-entry. The bottom line is big changes coming to the state next week.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jean Casarez in New York City. Vermont Governor Phil Scott is announcing that his state is within striking distance of vaccinating 80 percent of the eligible population against COVID-19. As of Wednesday Vermont needed just about 2400 more people to be vaccinated. The governor previously announced that the state's pandemic restrictions will be lifted once that vaccination target has been met.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Martin Savidge in Atlanta. The owner of the Carolina Panthers football team says he is no longer interested in building a dome stadium in downtown Charlotte. The reason, COVID-19. At one time David Tepper had talked about wanting a retractable roof stadium in hopes of attracting other big sporting events, but then he saw how coronavirus heavily impacted sports seating.

"There's no way in hell I would build a domed stadium in Charlotte, especially after COVID," Tepper said. He went on to say the weather is too beautiful and COVID-19 shows that there are advantages to having an open-air building.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: All right. Thanks so much to all of our correspondents for those updates.

Representative Byron Donalds of Florida claims he's being denied entry into the Congressional Black Caucus simply because he's a Republican. A spokesman for Donald says the congressman has asked to join but the CBC is giving him, quote, "the cold shoulder." The CBC does not have a single Republican member despite its bipartisan roots. A spokesperson for the CBC would only say in part, quote, "We will work with those who share our values and priorities for the constituents we serve."

ROMANS: All right. The TSA warning that more than 130 U.S. airports face staffing shortages this summer just as travel numbers are expected to surge. There are multiple reports the agency's acting chief sent an internal memo asking office workers to volunteer to assist with line management and other tasks at airport checkpoints. The agency has also offered bonuses, allowed part-time employees to go full time and increased overtime. JARRETT: The U.S. Capitol Police adding a furry new member to the

force, an emotional support dog. In a tweet, the Capitol Police announced that 2-year-old Lila will be their first full time emotional support black lab. Lila joins the force in the wake of those multiple deadly encounters at the Capitol in recent months including the January 6th insurrection, of course, and that barrier ramming incident back this early April. Lila starts her new job on July 5th.

ROMANS: Labs are the best breed ever. You can sue me.

JARRETT: Sounds like you are a little biased.

ROMANS: Sue me. Oh, look.

JARRETT: Wow. Look at that.

ROMANS: That Ring of Fire solar eclipse right now, everybody. If you're on the East Coast in New England.

JARRETT: Check it out.

ROMANS: Walk outside. It's news happening right now.

JARRETT: We'll be right back.

[05:40:05]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. Super cool, the Ring of Fire happening right now. This is the NASA feed. If you live in Boston, New England, Canada.

JARRETT: Maine.

ROMANS: You're going to be able to see this. Maybe Minnesota, right? Minneapolis. Maybe Chicago. Tyler, our meteorologist Tyler Mauldin was telling us that, you know, in that part of the country you can see this. But really cool. Happening right now. So walk outside, folks.

JARRETT: It really is a ring of fire.

ROMANS: It really is. Walk outside and see the solar eclipse, but only after we finish this next block before the commercial break.

Olympic athletes are facing tightening restrictions for the Tokyo Games. Now they are expected to be subject to round-the-clock GPS tracking.

CNN's Blake Essig live in Tokyo with more.

And Blake, what's the goal of this? Is this for contact tracing or is this sort of to warn people, hey, this is not a party, right? You need to be careful with your movements with the general public?

[05:45:04] BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, look, they're trying to keep an eye on everybody and as we've said over and over again there are about 100,000 foreign -- not spectators, but delegates, athletes, support staff coming in. And so what we're looking at here with 43 days to go we're still not sure about what the third version of the playbook is going to look like, which outlines those COVID-19 countermeasures.

We expect that to be released later this month. But organizing officials have started to offer a little insight as to how they plan to monitor Olympic participants. Now we learned earlier this week that foreign media covering the games will be tracked using GPS locators. And just last night organizers said that athletes and support staff are likely to be tracked as well.

Now I just returned from a brief trip overseas and experienced the tracking tool officials will likely be using firsthand. Now after landing I was asked to identify where I'd be staying and during quarantine I was two to three times per day after being asked to download this GPS tracking application, which they watched me download on to my phone, install it and checked it to make sure it was working.

They would message me two to three times per day requiring me to open the app, click a button to submit my location. Now, current athletes -- currently, excuse me, athletes will be required to quarantine for three days instead of 14, but the GPS tracking will likely be required for the first 14 days in country. And games organizers say the real- time surveillance isn't realistic because of the significant manpower needed and would only be used if there's a confirmed case.

ROMANS: Yes. That's a lot of people to track. All right. Blake Essig, thank you so much for that. Laura?

JARRETT: Now to this surprising conclusion from a government watchdog that has found that U.S. Park Police did not clear protesters out of the park next to the White House last June so that the then president could pose for that infamous photo op. The report says Park Police officers helped clear Lafayette Park so that new fencing could be installed around the White House. That conclusion raising a lot of questions obviously, but it of course doesn't change the reality of what happened that day as protesters were hurt and the president used the opportunity as a show of force, and then held up that bible upside down in front of that boarded up church, St. John's, after the park was cleared.

ROMANS: The report also does not track with what Park Police officials said at the time that the goal was to curtail violence by protesters. The inconsistencies can at least partly be explained by the fact that the Interior Department inspector general's report is very narrowly focused on Park Police officials' decisions. Individual officers and other agencies are the subject of other reviews and lawsuits.

JARRETT: More to come on that one for sure.

All right. Attorney General Merrick Garland responding to some fierce criticism that his Justice Department is seeking to represent the former president in a defamation case. Writer E. Jean Carol sued Trump for defamation after he told reporters that she made up a story about him raping her in the 1990s claiming that she, quote, "wasn't his type." The Justice Department under Trump had tried to intervene in the case because he was the president at the time and they were arguing that he was acting within the scope of his office, and so the DOJ should stand in his shoes. Well, Garland says the decision to continue those efforts was based solely on the law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The essence of the rule of law is what I said when I accepted the nomination for attorney general. It is that like cases be treated alike, that there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans. That there not be one rule for friends and another for foes. Now it is not always easy to apply that rule.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Not always easy to apply, but a federal judge has said that the Justice Department is wrong on the law here. Bottom line, who the proper defendant is matters because if DOJ is allowed to intervene in this case and step into Trump's shoes, the case would likely get dismissed because the U.S. government cannot be sued for defamation by a private citizen.

So that's why this I think is raising so much criticism from advocates who are saying, look, if you do this then you can never hold somebody accountable in a case like this.

ROMANS: Right. Interesting.

All right. To the New York City mayoral race. A bizarre twist there as questions are raised about where one of the front runners, Brooklyn Borough president Eric Adams actually lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC ADAMS, NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: This is our small humble kitchen.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: On Wednesday Adams offered reporters a tour of a basement apartment in Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy neighborhood that he calls his primary residence and he says he welcomes rival Andrew Yang's call for the release of his Easy Pass records.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAMS: Yes, of course. Transparency is the key. Done. You know, he can pick up a copy, he can come to Brooklyn Borough Hall and get a copy tomorrow. Done. I would love that. It would already show exactly where I am and, again, you know, my, you know, friends and neighbors and colleagues, they know where I am.

[05:50:10]

I'm a Brooklynite and I'm proud of being a Brooklynite.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Politico recently published a report that questioned whether Adams is a New York City resident claiming he often sleeps in his Brooklyn office and owns a co-op in Fort Lee, New Jersey, with his partner.

JARRETT: OK. An important warning this morning for parents. Popular baby food brand Beach Nut has voluntarily recalled its baby rice cereal after finding it contains high levels of arsenic that exceeds FDA guidelines. Research has shown that even low levels of arsenic exposure can affect a baby's neuro development. Beach Nut says no illnesses have been reported and none of its other products are affected by this recall.

ROMANS: All right. Just about 10 minutes to the top of the hour. So let's get a check on CNN Business this Thursday morning. A look at the markets around the world. A mixed performance in Asia, and Europe has opened narrowly mixed. Here on Wall Street stock index futures also almost directionless.

It was a quiet day for investors Wednesday. The Dow fell 152 points. The S&P and the Nasdaq also down a little bit. The next big event the Consumer Price Index out at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time today. Prices are rising all over the place and some have worried that continued inflation will force the Fed to raise interest rates.

Also out this morning weekly jobless claims, first time claims expected to hit a new pandemic low, layoffs are slowing and hiring is picking up.

More challenges for big tech. According to multiple reports lawmakers are preparing five draft bills on competition and antitrust that could change how companies like Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google operate. Big tech companies have been under pressure from Washington for years over their size, their competitive practices, and how they handle consumers' data. It's unclear when these bills will be formally introduced.

JARRETT: Mets slugger Pete Alonso is taking the debate over doctored baseballs to a whole new level. Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report."

All right, Andy. We know how Gerrit Cole feels about this. What's he saying?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, Laura, you know, we know Major League Baseball is reportedly going to crack down on pitchers using some sticky stuff to improve their grip. Well, Mets' first baseman Pete Alonso, he says he didn't have a problem with what pitchers are using but he is accusing Major League Baseball of manipulating the baseballs as a plot to lower the earning potential for star players. He says they juice the balls when big time pitchers are free agents and then they don't when the hitters are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE ALONSO, NEW YORK METS FIRST BASEMAN: In 2019 there's a huge class of free agent pitchers and then that's, quote-unquote, "the juiced balls" and then 2020 was a strange year with the COVID, the COVID season, but now that we're back to playing in a regular season with a ton of short stops or position players that are going to be -- that are owed -- going to be paid a lot of money like high caliber players, I mean, yes, I mean, it's not -- it's not a coincidence. And I think that if -- yes, that's definitely -- it definitely is something that they do.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes. Major League Baseball declined to comment on Alonso's accusations when reached by CNN.

All right. For the NHL the party on Long Island last night as the Islanders beat the Bruins 6-2 to make it back to the Stanley Cup semi- finals. They get a rematch defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Islanders haven't hoisted the Stanley Cup since 1983.

The Suns meanwhile continuing to shine in the NBA playoffs. Chris Paul dominant in game two. He scored 17 points, dished out 15 assists in the 123-98 blowout win. Suns now up 2-0 in that series. The Nuggets coach Mike Malone saying after the game that his team quit in game two.

All right, LeBron may be out of the playoffs still making some news. According to the Athletic (INAUDIBLE) LeBron switching back to the number 6 next season and ditching 23. LeBron wore the number 6 for the Miami Heat and he's wearing it for the Toon Squad in the "Space Jam" sequel next month.

All right. What a night for Luke Williams in his first career start. The Phillies rookie getting a story book ending, down one in the race, bottom of the ninth, Williams launching the walkoff homerun over the left field fence. His first career homerun. Fans going nuts and look at Williams, he was so excited, as were his teammates. They mobbed him at home plate and then gave him the old water bath during the postgame interviews.

But maybe an even more impressive play happened in San Diego. A ball bounced into the stands during a SA-Padres game and a mom holding her baby snags it out of the air.

Laura and Christine, you can see she was super pumped, jumping up and down. You know, my wife always tells me, guys, moms are the best at multi-tasking.

JARRETT: Yes.

SCHOLES: And that was a perfect example right there.

ROMANS: It is so true. JARRETT: Moms can do everything.

ROMANS: It's amazing what you can do with a kid on your hip. You know, you can do almost anything with a kid on your hip. And that's good.

[05:55:02]

JARRETT: Oh, my gosh. I love it. Andy, thanks.

ROMANS: All right. Nice to see you, Andy.

SCHOLES: All right.

ROMANS: All right, thanks for joining us this Thursday morning. I'm Christine Romans. There is your Ring of Fire, folks.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Brianna Keilar alongside John Berman on this NEW DAY.

President Biden on the world stage vowing to rebuild America's alliances and sending a warning shot to U.S. enemies.