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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Airline And Bank Websites Go Down In Another Major Internet Failure; California Ends Capacity Limits At Most Venues, No Masks For Those Vaccinated; Congress Passes Bill Making Juneteenth A National Holiday. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired June 17, 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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[05:32:36]

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone, this is EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is 32 minutes past the hour this Thursday morning.

And breaking overnight, outages again for several airline Websites. It's the second time this week.

United, Virgin Australia, and Southwest all acknowledged the Website issues. They blame it on the failure of a key piece of Internet infrastructure.

JARRETT: Southwest Airlines told CNN its team worked quickly to restore the systems. As Christine says, this comes just days after a nationwide ground stop for Southwest delayed more than 1,400 flights due to a glitch with a third-party weather data provider. That left air travelers waiting hours for flights, missing connections, or stuck on planes.

ROMANS: Yes. If you're heading to an airport this morning just check -- double-check.

JARRETT: Yes.

ROMANS: With coronavirus on the run, two big states are reopening. California and New York lifting most pandemic restrictions. In both states, 70 percent of adults -- 70 percent have received at least one vaccine dose. But in parts of the south with lower vaccination rates, health officials warn new variants of the virus are a serious risk for unvaccinated Americans.

JARRETT: But California, the first state to shut down in 2020, is looking more and more like its pre-pandemic self.

CNN's Nick Watt is in Los Angeles for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, Christine and Laura, here in California we're getting used to our new normal, which is a little bit like the old normal before the pandemic hit. The state is pretty much reopened.

They are roaming -- the vaccinated, anyway, are roaming maskless at Disneyland right now. Dodger Stadium back up to full capacity -- not quite as it was before because there is a mobile vaccination clinic at Dodger Stadium for fans.

Now, the vaccines work -- we know that. There is more data now to support that.

CNN analyzed the states that have vaccinated more than half of their people. Unsurprisingly, the new case counts -- the average new case counts are lower in those states that are good at vaccinating than in the states that are trailing. It makes sense.

Now, also, Arizona has just said that they are not allowed to -- at public schools and public colleges they are not allowed to mandate vaccinations for students. Here in California, they have just said that they will mandate vaccinations for most students before they can go back to campus in the fall.

[05:35:05]

Back to you.

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JARRETT: All right, Nick Watt. Thank you so much for that.

Jumping overseas now, tensions between Israel and Hamas rising once again after militants launched so-called incendiary balloons into Israel and the military responded with airstrikes in Gaza. It's the first flare-up since that 11-day conflict last month and comes just days after Israel's new government was seated.

Elliott Gotkine is live in Jerusalem with the very latest. Elliott, what is behind this new escalation we're seeing?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, REPORTING FOR CNN: Ostensibly, the pretext from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip was this right-wing Jewish march -- the so-called flag march, which was postponed last month and which was the ostensible spark that lit that round of fighting. That was kind of rescheduled to just a day after the new government was sworn in.

That was the pretext that Hamas used to start sending incendiary balloons over into Israel. In truth, these balloons never really went away. They've been happening for the past three years or so and have burned more than 10,000 acres of farmland and nature reserves in the area around the Gaza Strip.

But this time around what was different is that Israel responded with airstrikes, which it hasn't done in the past in response to these balloons. But in truth, it's not a huge surprise given that the IDF (the Israel Defense Force) has said after the ceasefire was agreed upon last month that any rocket fire or any incendiary balloons or any attacks from the Gaza Strip would be met, in its words, with a powerful response. So we've seen that on Tuesday night.

That said, worth noting that the balloons that came into Israel yesterday, on Wednesday, have not been met with airstrikes, although there are multiple media reports saying that Israel is getting the message to Hamas, by the Egyptians, that if they continue then Israel will escalate its strikes on the Gaza Strip and, indeed, perhaps start taking out Hamas operatives and leaders.

JARRETT: All right. Elliott live in Jerusalem for us. Thank you so much -- appreciate it.

ROMANS: All right. The red hot housing market in the U.S. is desperate for new homes, but shortages and high prices are holding back new construction. Housing starts came in lower than expected in May and building permits fell from the month before.

Expensive materials in short supply are the problem here. For example, lumber. Prices are falling now but they were up a stunning 154 percent in May from the year before. If you were involved in a construction project at home you have seen this firsthand.

The pandemic and low mortgage rates sparked a housing boom as Americans looked for more space. But inventory is low, leading to intense bidding wars, record-high home prices, and cash-only offers 40 and 50 percent above asking price.

But this housing shortage may be years in the making. For the past two decades, the average number of new homes built each year has fallen below historic levels. That's according to the National Association of Realtors. The U.S. is now 5 1/2 million units short of current demand.

The industry group blames this lack of construction and underinvestment in housing for the shortage of affordable and available homes.

JARRETT: A Honolulu police officer faces second-degree murder charges in the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy after a high-speed chase. Two other officers involved in the shooting are also facing attempted murder charges.

We get more now on all of this from CNN's Josh Campbell.

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JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Christine and Laura, yet another controversial incident involving police and the use of force -- this time in the state of Hawaii. One Honolulu police officer has been charged with murder and two others face attempted murder charges in the fatal shooting of a teenage boy following a high-speed pursuit.

Prosecutors say 16-year-old Iremamber Sykap was shot eight times through the rear window of a car that police suspected had been stolen and used in a series of crimes.

Officer Geoffrey Thom was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly firing the shots that killed Sykap without provocation, according to prosecutors. Now, two other officers, Zackary Ah Nee and Christopher Fredeluces, face second-degree attempted murder charges. CNN has attempted to contact the officers for comments but has been unable to determine if they have attorneys.

Prosecutors say body camera video contradicts the officers' claims that Sykap attempted to ram them with his car -- Christine, Laura.

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JARRETT: All right, Josh Campbell. Thanks so much for that. A lot of questions in that case for sure.

We'll be right back.

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[05:43:38]

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REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D-TX): On this vote, the yeas are 415 and the nays are 14. The bill is passed.

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ROMANS: That was Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee making it official. June 19th -- Juneteenth, commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. -- set to become the first new national holiday in decades. The bill sailing through Congress -- sailing through, now heading to President Biden's desk for his signature.

CNN's Ryan Nobles has more from Capitol Hill.

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RYAN NOBLES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): There will be a new federal holiday. This, after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation to make June 19th the day recognized as the end of slavery in the United States a federal holiday.

Now, the Senate passing the bill earlier this week after Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson lifted his block of the bill. It was passed unanimously through the Senate, but in the House, it did meet a bit of opposition. It passed 415 to 14. There were 14 Republicans that voted against it, all white men.

I talked to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York, after the vote and she said that 14 -- those 14 votes show that there is still a lot of work to do in the United States as it relates to racism and its part in our country's history.

[05:45:01] REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): I mean, this is pretty consistent with, I think, the Republican base. And it's -- whether it's trying to fight against teaching basic history around racism and the role of racism in U.S. history to --

You know, there's a direct through-line from that to denying Juneteenth, the day that we -- that is widely recognized and celebrated as the symbolic kind of day that -- to represent the end of slavery in the United States. You know, there's a direct through-line between that denial of our history and wanting to understand the full scope of our history and celebrating the end -- a major end of injustice in the United States.

And I think it's a -- it's a shame.

NOBLES: Juneteenth is Saturday of this week, but Friday could technically be the first national holiday as a result of this bill, should it be signed into law, which could happen as soon as Thursday after President Biden returns from his trip to Europe.

Now, many of the people that pushed for this legislation say that there are a number of other important agenda items that they are dealing with that have to do with civil rights and African Americans, in particular.

The biggest debate right now happening around voting rights. There was some progress in that respect this week. Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat in the Senate, putting out some changes to the bills that are currently blocked in the Senate. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that she has hope that there is a path forward in passing some changes to the voting rights laws sometime during the summer.

Ryan Nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.

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ROMANS: All right. Thank you, Ryan, for that.

So why June 19th? You know, it's not the date of the Emancipation Proclamation. That was September 22nd, 1862. Not the end of the Civil War. That was May ninth, 1865.

Here's what June 19th means. June 19th, 1865 happens to be the day slaves in Galveston, Texas were informed late that they had been freed by those two earlier events.

All right, China taking a big step toward completing its new space station, successfully launching three astronauts into space. The Shenzhou-12 mission is the first crewed mission and the third of 11 total launches planned for construction of China's space station. The three-man Shenzhou crew will remain in orbit for three months, testing life support and maintenance systems.

Texans will soon be able to carry handguns in public without a license or training. The state's Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signing a controversial permitless carry gun bill into law. The measure allows anyone -- anyone 21 or older who can legally possess firearms to carry handguns in public without permits. The legislation is set to go into effect in September.

Let's get a check on CNN Business this morning. Looking at markets around the world you can see Asian shares closed mixed there. Websites for several Australian banks and the Hong Kong stock exchange were down briefly overnight due to the failure of a key piece of Internet infrastructure. Service has since been restored. Several airlines were also affected overnight.

On Wall Street, looking at futures right now, futures are barely lower here. They fell yesterday after the Fed moved up its timeline for a rate hike to 2023. Still a couple of years off but it shows you the Fed is ready to begin that pivot.

Inflation is rising as the economy booms. The Fed expects seven percent economic growth in the U.S. this year, leaving no need anymore for emergency stimulus, eventually. Still, investors don't like higher rates. More expensive borrowing costs could eat into corporate profits.

This morning, investors get the latest look at weekly jobless claims, expected to fall to a new pandemic low -- maybe around 360,000 first- time jobless claims. Also, you don't have the full labor market quite yet, so that's also holding the Fed back from raising rates too soon.

Thousands of victims of for-profit school fraud are getting their loans erased. The Department of Education forgiving $500 million in debt for 18,000 former ITT Tech students. ITT Tech shut down in 2017 for misleading students about future earnings and the ability to transfer credits.

It's the latest effort to clear a backlog of 100,000 claims for students defrauded by for-profit colleges. The Trump administration stalled the program and only starting processing claims after a federal court order.

All right, this one getting a lot of attention this morning. The Morgan Stanley CEO is telling New York employees be back in the office by September.

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JAMES CORMAN, CEO, MORGAN STANLEY: If you can go to a restaurant in New York City, you can come into the office. And we want you in the office.

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ROMANS: If you can go to a restaurant, you can come to work. The CEO added that the company would be flexible for working parents.

But as more Americans are vaccinated, the competitive big banks -- they want their employees back in the office. Goldman Sachs workers returned to the office this week. JPMorgan Chase wants everyone back by early July. The bank said it firmly believes working together in person -- working together in person in the office is vital to its success.

[05:50:01]

All right, San Francisco is experiencing a surge in shoplifting. It's forcing retail chains like Walgreens to close more than a dozen Bay Area stores.

CNN's Dan Simon is in San Francisco for us with more.

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DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shoplifters usually try to conceal their crimes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow.

SIMON (voice-over): Not this one at a Walgreens in San Francisco. The thief grabbing items off the shelves and filling up a garbage bag, even as a security guard observes from feet away. Moments later, he bolts away from the store on a Lyft bike. The guard attempting to grab the bag but the thief gets away with a large haul.

LYANNE MELENDEZ, KGO-TV: It's hard for me as a journalist to say I won't be involved. I can't get involved. I have to be sort of neutral.

SIMON (voice-over): The viral video captured by local ABC reporter Lyanne Melendez laid bare the lawlessness, further eroding the image of one of America's most beloved cities.

MELENDEZ: I live in this city and I see this constantly.

SIMON (voice-over): Indeed, it has happened so constantly that Walgreens says it has shuttered 17 of its stores in San Francisco over the past five years, mainly due to theft.

JASON CUNNINGHAM, REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT, WALGREENS: When you see the amount of theft in San Francisco for some of our average stores in the company, that multiplier factor is really driven by the organized retail crime.

SIMON (voice-over): A Walgreens executive telling elected supervisors last month that theft here is four times the national average, driven by organized crime rings. CVS says it's experiencing a similar surge.

The city has yet to come up with an effective solution.

AHSHA SAFAI, SAN FRANCISCO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: This has been out of control and people are scared to go into these stores -- seniors, people with disabilities, children. And it's just happening brazenly.

SIMON (voice-over): And with few consequences. According to police data, less than three percent of theft cases this year have netted an arrest, which some believe only invites more criminal behavior.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ultimately, we do need more police officers. And it's important to make sure that we have the sufficient staff to walk the beats. There's no easy solution to this.

ADAM MESNICK, SAN FRANCISCO BUSINESS OWNER: I feel like the theft is outrageous and it's obvious that people are taking advantage of the fact that there's zero consequences.

SIMON (voice-over): For business owners like Adam Mesnick, who has been documenting the city's woes, the chronic theft just adds to the despair being felt on the streets, aggravated even more by the pandemic.

Visible homelessness surging as shelters thinned out due to the virus. Open-air drug use and dealing common. Last year, overdoses -- mainly from fentanyl -- resulting in a record 712 deaths, according to city data -- more than doubling those who died of COVID.

MESNICK: There's a high amount of crime, safety concerns, and the quality of life has seemed to shrink tremendously.

SIMON (on camera): As for whether that Walgreens shoplifter has been apprehended, the San Francisco Police Department told us it is aware of the incident circulating on social media and that it's being investigated.

Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.

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ROMANS: Wow, that's a -- what a great story -- a terrible story but thank you for bringing it to us, Dan.

All right. President Biden's tense meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the talk of late-night Wednesday. Here are your Late- Night Laughs.

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JIMMY FALLON, HOST, NBC, "THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON": Once the presidents stepped inside they sat down for another photo op. Take a look at this. They look two dads waiting for their daughters to finish trying on prom dresses. That's looks great, honey.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, ABC, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": This was a little weird. He actually brought a gift for his Russian counterpart. He gave Putin a pair of custom aviator sunglasses.

Hello, Mr. Murderer, I brought a gift for you. Try them on. They're just like mine.

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, CBS "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": Experts had expected a four- to five-hour summit but in actuality, the total running time for the summit was three hours and 21 minutes -- shorter than expected, much like Vladimir Putin. So, what did they -- really, Putin fans here tonight? I did not -- I did not realize.

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ROMANS: Thanks for joining us. Very funny, Stephen.

I'm Christine Romans for Laura Jarrett. Good morning, everybody. "NEW DAY" is next.

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[05:58:48]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman alongside Brianna Keilar.

On this new day, new evidence of the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. Will Republicans step up attempts to whitewash the insurrection?

Plus, President Biden back in Washington and back to work, trying to push his domestic agenda across the finish line.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And an alarming staffing shortage in a critical U.S. law enforcement agency.

Also, a surge in shoplifting in some major cities. Why thieves are getting more brazen.

BERMAN: Good morning to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. It is Thursday, June 17th.

And this morning, the new twilight zone that some Republicans in Congress and some deranged entertainers are trying to create surrounding the Capitol insurrection. A dangerous, deceitful, depraved twilight zone -- one where they try to claim that what we know happened, what we saw happened didn't actually happen. One where they try to claim that the heroes who saved lives -- maybe their lives do not deserve to be recognized as heroes, or in one case, even acknowledged at all.

A twilight zone where they simultaneously say it didn't.