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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Republicans Block Senate Democrats' Sweeping Voting Rights Bill; Biden To Roll Out Gun Crime Prevention And Public Safety Strategy; Britney Spears Set To Speak At Conservatorship Hearing Today. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired June 23, 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]

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For conspiring to collude with foreign forces.

Well, Amnesty International calls the closure of "Apple Daily" the blackest for media freedom in Hong Kong's recent history.

The newspaper's founder, Jimmy Lai -- he's been in jail since December of last year. He's also being charged under the NSL and is facing a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

At least 114 people have been arrested under the national security law and more than 60 have been charged.

The city's chief executive Carrie Lam, interestingly, maintains that this is not an attack on press freedom but rather the protection of the national security law -- Laura.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you so much for laying all of that breaking news for us, Anna -- appreciate it.

EARLY START continues right now.

Good morning, everyone. This is EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is 30 minutes past the hour this Wednesday morning.

Senate Republicans dealing a death blow to Democrats' sweeping voting rights bill. Democrats needed 60 votes to advance the bill to debate. The hope was to override the dozens of new voting restrictions in GOP- led states. But as expected, Republicans held together and the test vote failed 50-50 along straight party lines.

Ahead of the vote, a series of Democrats warned that the fate of American democracy here is on the line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BOB CASEY (D-PA): Today was just the beginning. Today was very clear that one party unanimously wanted to protect the right to vote and the other party didn't even want to debate it.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): We are not giving up. And I favor abolishing the filibuster and I came to that decision after years of inaction. After seeing how important legislation on things like climate change and immigration reform -- things were there was even bipartisan agreement got stopped because of an archaic procedure. And I don't think our colleagues on the other side should be able to tyrannize us, basically, and the country and hold the country hostage. I don't think you should be able to filibuster our democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: That brings us to three questions in three minutes. Let's go to our senior political analyst John Avlon joining us --

ROMANS: Good morning, John.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.

JARRETT: -- on the set, which we love.

AVLON: (INAUDIBLE).

JARRETT: All right. John, it seems to me this is really about senators in red states blocking voters in blue states from voting. It's about power. Isn't it that simple?

AVLON: It's always about power but the underlying point is a really important one, which is this is about an anti-majoritarian impulse that's being expressed not only through the legislation but through the body itself.

Remember, Republican senators, 50 votes -- 50 votes -- evenly split right now. So Democrats have got to recognize that reality. Represent 43.5 percent of the votes. So what you have here is, in many states, them passing laws -- Republicans -- to try to suppress the vote, in part because they are concerned about demographic change.

Democrats are responding by saying look, we want to make it easier to vote. We need to therefore have federal standards in place. And they've put forward this big bill, which is much more transformative than just voting rights.

JARRETT: Right.

AVLON: Republicans say compromise all you want on the details -- we're not even going to have a vote. They invoked the filibuster.

So then, the question is what's next? But Mitch McConnell is saying there's no problem with democracy -- we're doing just fine. We don't need this. He's arguing implicitly we don't need the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would (INAUDIBLE) next.

And then there's the question of Joe Manchin's compromise bill where he basically concedes voter I.D. to Republicans and still can't seem to get support -- anything resembling that filibuster (INAUDIBLE). JARRETT: Well -- and I think there's also a question about whether the White House did enough to push on this, you know? Obviously, the president has had a lot of other priorities on his plate, but I think that there is going to be some pushback this morning on -- AVLON: Yes.

JARRETT: -- whether Biden recognized the moment enough on voter -- we'll see.

AVLON: I -- you know, I think there's a lot of criticism his way. There are a lot of competing parties that are going to put economics first.

That said, Kamala Harris, vice president, on the floor yesterday.

JARRETT: True.

AVLON: They've been rhetorically nodding to this.

There's just the reality that this bill, which is a massive bill -- HR1, now S1 -- For the People Act -- hugely popular among Democrats -- components popular, overall. But it was never looking likely it would be able to pass a filibuster, which raises the question of filibuster reform.

ROMANS: Let's talk about New York City. You cut your teeth in New York City politics --

AVLON: I did.

ROMANS: -- and we know that it will be --

AVLON: My fangs are sharp.

ROMANS: Yes. It'll be weeks before we know the result, but we know that Eric Adams is in the lead. Progressive candidate Maya Wiley is second.

Are there any takeaways here for the broader national picture from what we're seeing in New York?

AVLON: Yes, I think -- I think several.

First of all, New York City is deep Democrat and it's a seven to one Democrat-Republican registration advantage; 1.1 million Independents. People might look from the outside and say you know what, New York City is extremely liberal. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez obviously representing one of the New York congressional districts.

One of the things that this race shows us is that actually, a majority -- the vast majority, frankly, of candidates doing best last night were from that centrist lane. Now, it may mean different things in different places.

But Eric Adams in first place, no question. Not enough to avoid the rank-choice voting, which I think is a great innovation even though it will be badly administered by the Board of Elections, predictably. Is an ex-cop who ran on being tough on crime.

[05:35:00]

Not saying we don't need police reform but that says a lot about where voters are, not only because of rising crime in New York City and elsewhere but because if you look at where voters are -- and Kathryn Garcia, by the way, I should say, and Andrew Yang who fill three of the top four, also in that decidedly center lane.

Now, Maya Wiley representing the progressive wing -- the far-left -- with AOC's endorsement.

But it really is important to remember nationally and even in New York that a majority of Democrats actually are not on the far-left. They may be the loudest. They may be disproportionately representative of the Twitter-verse but when it comes to being mayor, an executive position, folks really want someone who is going to deal with some of the difficulties with crime and other areas where it actually involves management and not just wish lists.

JARRETT: Yes. I mean, we won't know the results, as you said --

ROMANS: Right.

JARRETT: -- for weeks because of rank-choice.

AVLON: Because of the Board of Elections -- the one who defends rank- choice. It --

JARRETT: Well, because the -- yes. Yes, yes -- I know you're a fan.

AVLON: New York City's Board of Elections is uniquely incompetent, it seems. Rank-choice, I think, creates a more representative result.

JARRETT: Well, but speaking of national issues, we've also got an interesting race in Buffalo --

AVLON: Yes.

JARRETT: -- where a woman who -- India Walton, who is a self- proclaimed openly socialist candidate --

AVLON: Yes.

JARRETT: -- appears on track to win. CNN hasn't called the race yet.

But what does that say to you? Obviously, again, New York might be different, but does it have national implications or speak to something?

AVLON: Look, I -- you know, we haven't had a self-proclaimed socialist, to put it simply --

JARRETT: Right.

AVLON: -- attacked that way by Republicans -- mayor -- I think -- you know, since someone in Milwaukee a half-century ago.

JARRETT: Right.

AVLON: So it's significant in that regard.

Buffalo is a great city. I highly recommend its wings and God bless Tim Russert and the Buffalo Bills.

That said, it's obviously less representative but it does speak to being able to pull off a win in a big city like that says OK, that far-left can actually put a player on the board. Now let's see how they administer because violent crime up dramatically in Buffalo as well.

And this is one of those issues -- you know, Fiorella La Guardia, Republican socialist fusion (ph) mayor of New York City, once said there's no Democrat, Republican, or socialist way to clean the streets.

ROMANS: Yes.

AVLON: One of my favorite quotes about being mayor. Let's see if that's true when we've got a socialist being mayor. It's clearly a POV that voters in New York City have.

But it's also a question of turnout. New York City turnout, abysmal. You know, you're going to -- they end up probably 800,000 out of 3.7 million Democrats in a city of eight million.

ROMANS: Wow.

AVLON: Buffalo much smaller.

ROMANS: Wow.

JARRETT: That's really interesting.

ROMANS: All right, John Avlon. Nice to see you.

JARRETT: Thanks, John.

AVLON: Good to see you guys in person.

ROMANS: Thanks for dropping by.

All right, 37 minutes past the hour.

One of the major issues in that New York City mayoral race is the spike in gun violence. The White House is eager to show the president on top of that situation nationwide. And later today, President Biden will roll out a new public safety strategy.

The Justice Department also creating a so-called strike force to crack down on illegal guns that flow into New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay, and Washington, D.C.

We get more this morning from CNN's Phil Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Christine and Laura, White House officials have been listening with alarm as they've heard from multiple local officials, law enforcement officials, about a surge in violent crime. It's something that's been ongoing now for more than a year and maybe even 18 months, but it has certainly been exacerbated by the reopening of the country as the pandemic starts to wane.

And it's an issue that really is a dual-prong issue. Obviously, public safety is a priority for any administration, but it's also a potentially politically damaging issue as Democrats have made clear to the White House that they have concerns about the direction things are going.

And, President Biden plans to address that head-on, on Wednesday. He's going to meet privately with a group of stakeholders, law enforcement officials, and public officials as well, and some other groups that are involved in trying to mitigate this issue. And then he's going to speak publicly and lay out a package that he believes will serve as an effort to address what has been a rise in gun violence and just overall violence over the course of the last several months and even longer than that.

It's something White House press secretary Jen Psaki addressed on Tuesday. Take a listen.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: So, yes, we believe that a central driver of violence is gun violence and is the use of guns. We're seeing that statistically in a lot of areas. But he also believes that we need to ensure that state and local governments keep cops on the beat and that we're supporting community policing, and that's a key part of it as well.

MATTINGLY (on camera): Now, White House officials acknowledge, guys, that there's no silver bullet here and that nobody's totally sure exactly how to get to the bottom of what's going on right now. But you will hear the president, as his press secretary laid out, really focus on the issues of gun violence. It's been something that's been regularly addressed throughout the course of his time in office.

We've seen several mass shootings -- several very high-profile mass shootings since President Biden has been in office. And he will, once again, call on lawmakers to do something to change federal gun laws to add restrictions that so far, up to this point, not just during President Biden's term but multiple administrations prior to President Biden's have not been able to get over the finish line due to Republican opposition.

Now, there's no sense inside the White House that there's going to be any change on that front. But the president clearly trying to address an issue that he knows is recognized throughout the country and certainly, recognized by local officials and law enforcement. It's something the White House feels like, at this point, it needs to get a handle on -- guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

[05:40:00]

All right, to the economy now. Layoffs are slowing, the economy is adding back jobs, but not every worker is eager to jump back into the job they left. There are a record number of open jobs -- 9.3 million in April. And more people are quitting their jobs now than any time in the past 20 years. It seems workers are confident they can find new, better, higher-paying jobs.

For business, it's a crisis. A shortage of workers ready to fill open jobs.

My colleague Alisyn Camerota asked the Chamber of Commerce's Neil Bradley how do you fix it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL BRADLEY, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Because there is not one single cause, there's not one single solution. So we believe that getting rid of the $300 enhanced benefits does make a difference.

We actually polled the unemployed and we asked them, what's holding you back? Sixteen percent of them told us that the enhanced unemployment benefits meant that they didn't feel the need to look for work. For others, it was the lack of affordable childcare. For others, it was a continuing concern about COVID.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Sixteen percent -- that means a vast, vast majority -- it's not the benefits that's holding them back. He says 13 percent of the workers polled said they never expect to come back to the labor force -- 13 percent.

We're also heading into a new kind of normal here trying to figure out how to transition from this work-from-home environment.

"The New York Times" reporting Morgan Stanley will require all its employees and visitors be vaccinated before they can enter its New York offices next month. According to an internal memo, the "Times" wants its employees to return to the office at least three times a week and some to come in for the full five days starting in September.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:45:48]

JARRETT: A big shift could be coming for the handling of sexual assaults in the military. The Defense secretary says he supports removing sexual assault for prosecutions from commanders' hands. The Pentagon review panel recommended that such prosecutions be handled by independent authorities.

A Defense Department survey estimates there were more than 20,000 sexual assaults in the military in 2018, but the number of assaults actually reported was just a fraction of that.

ROMANS: All right, the clock is ticking down to the Summer Olympics in Japan. They are not just one month away and organizers are pushing full speed ahead despite growing pressure to pare back or cancel the Games.

Blake Essig live in Tokyo outside the new Olympic stadium. Good morning, Blake.

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Christine.

Look, for months, we've heard a chorus of voices calling for these games to be canceled or postponed. But with just one month to go, this stadium behind me is set to host the opening ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games during a pandemic.

And while there are people excited about it -- and we've seen them here throughout the day -- there's no question that these games remain deeply unpopular with the majority of the people who are understandably concerned for their health and safety.

Now, part of the concern and unpopularity for these games stems from the fact that many people feel that the IOC and Japanese government have ignored the will of the people who don't think it's safe to hold these games, especially in a country where just shy of eight percent of the people have been fully vaccinated.

Now, these Olympic Games are proving to be a logistical nightmare for organizers. We're learning of new rules and regulations almost on a daily basis. Earlier this week, it was announced a max of 10,000 local spectators would be allowed to attend events.

And today, we learned that alcohol would not be served inside venues. That's to go along with requests from organizers for spectators not to cheer and to go home immediately after the event is finished.

Now, there's no question this is one of the most complex sporting events in the world and organizers are working around the clock to sort out logistics. This effort is clearly taking its toll as Tokyo's governor was hospitalized overnight from exhaustion. Officials say she's been putting in a lot of hours trying to prepare Tokyo to host the games and deal with the ongoing COVID-19 issues here in Tokyo -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, no drinking, no cheering. Oh my gosh, it's going to be an Olympics like no other.

Blake Essig, thank you -- Laura.

JARRETT: Record heat ahead this weekend for the Pacific Northwest. It's expected to drag into early next week with temperatures in some areas as high as 110 degrees.

This historic drought out west is causing water in Sacramento, California to -- get this -- taste like dirt. City officials insist the water is still safe to drink. Their advice to residents, just add lemon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That would go up rather quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: You saw that bone-dry branch there. Severe drought conditions and wildfire threats in Utah are prompting Salt Lake City to ban fireworks ahead of the Fourth of July. The mayor says the city is a tinderbox, warning a single spark could ignite a devastating fire.

And in Arizona, extreme fire danger forcing three national forests to close to the public.

JARRETT: All right, I don't think this was about the drought but quite a sight in one Southern California neighborhood. A herd of at least 20 cows stampeding through the streets of Pico Rivera, cutting through people's yards and trampling bushes. The cows, apparently channeling Monty Python, ran away after getting loose from a slaughterhouse in the area.

Sheriff's deputies were called in to round up the wandering herd. One of the animals was shot and killed by deputies after it injured someone.

ROMANS: All right, let's take a look at markets around the world this Wednesday morning. You can see Asian shares closed narrowly mixed, and European shares have opened mixed as well this morning. On Wall Street, stock index futures -- it looks like they going to try to add on to yesterday's gains.

It was an up day on Tuesday after the Fed chief Jerome Powell -- he reiterated his notion that price increases will be temporary. And he said it is unlikely inflation will hit those levels we saw in the 1970s.

The Dow closed up 68 points. The S&P 500 finished just below a record high. The Nasdaq did manage a new record high.

[05:50:00]

All right, to housing now. The housing market is still red hot but sales are slowing down. We may be seeing signs of a peak here, folks. Existing home prices hit another record high in May. They are up, Laura, 24 percent from last year. That's just incredible. But higher prices and a really record low inventory here are shutting potential buyers out of the housing market. The National Association of Realtors says supply is expected to improve but should ease prices and give buyers more options.

Data on new home sales out at 10:00 a.m. eastern time today.

Travelers are returning to the skies and fees are returning to airline ticket prices. Frontier quietly added a COVID recovery charge last month. The airline known for discount tickets said the fee offsets the cost of COVID safety measures and PPE for its employees.

Last week, Frontier stopped temperature checks for passengers before each flight. It was the only U.S. airline to take passengers' temperatures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRITNEY SPEARS, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Singing "Stronger."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Britney Spears expected to break her silence today at a court hearing in this ongoing battle over her conservatorship. Spears has not been in control of her finances for more than a decade.

Her father and others claim the conservatorship was a smooth-running machine that rescued Spears from a low point in her life. But according to confidential court records obtained by "The New York Times," Spears has tried for years to end this arrangement, saying it's become an oppressive and controlling tool against her.

Now, the world is watching, waiting for what Britney will say.

We get more on all of this from CNN's Chloe Melas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHLOE MELAS, HLN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER (voice-over): Britney Spears isn't shy about sharing with her fans on Instagram. But for the first time, the world may hear from Britney regarding her court-ordered conservatorship in a hearing on Wednesday.

Britney has yet to address the court since her court-ordered attorney filed to suspend her father, Jamie Spears, as the conservator of her $60 million estate last year. The singer's father has been overseeing her finances since the conservatorship began in 2008, following a series of health issues that played out publicly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened, Britney?

MELAS (voice-over): Everyone is wondering what Britney might say. And conservatorship attorney Lisa MacCarley, who does not work on Britney's case, has been vocal about the court having had appointed Samuel Ingham as her attorney. LISA MACCARLEY, ATTORNEY: There is no legitimate reason why Britney Spears was deprived of an attorney of her own choice. What I am hoping that she will say is -- and all she really needs to say is I want to hire an attorney of my own choice to talk about my options. That is something that they have steadfastly refused to allow her to do.

MELAS (voice-over): Spears' attorney had no comment, citing pending litigation. CNN has also reached out to two judges who have issued rulings on this case over the years. Both declined to comment to CNN.

Members of the "Free Britney" movement plan to demonstrate outside of the courthouse. They want the "Gimme More" singer released from the conservatorship but they say this is bigger than Britney and want an overhaul of a system that they believe has widespread potential for corruption.

LEANNE SIMMONS, #FREEBRITNEY MOVEMENT: We know that conservatorship abuse is much bigger than just Britney Spears, and that's what this has evolved into.

Of course, this movement started because we're Britney fans -- a lot of us. It has evolved into a global movement now. There are activists and advocates from across the globe, some of whom are not Britney fans -- who are family members or victims themselves of conservatorship abuse.

So this is much bigger than just Britney.

MELAS (voice-over): As for an end in sight, this legal battle is far from over with another hearing scheduled for mid-July.

MELAS (on camera): It feels like the entire world is watching to see what will Britney Spears say during the hearing. We have no idea if this hearing is going to end up being closed because she might talk about some very sensitive subjects that require the judge to actually clear the courtroom.

Also, many people wondering will Britney ever take the stage again to perform? Well, she just posted a video on Instagram the other day saying that she doesn't know. She's still taking time for herself. So in the meantime, all we can do is sit back, wait, and watch.

Christine, Laura, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Thank you so much for that, Chloe.

You know, this "Free Britney" movement is so fascinating. I was looking into that the last couple of days --

JARRETT: Yes.

ROMANS: -- and it's just so interesting to me. A 39-year-old mother of two -- she's not a child star. Having your --

JARRETT: Such a good point.

ROMANS: -- finances not in your hands -- a 39 -- a grown woman.

JARRETT: Well, that's why the documentary -- I don't know if you've seen it. You really --

ROMANS: No.

JARRETT: It's great. It lays out how this all came about but how things changed. And also, how oppressive it becomes, especially when you're not even allowed to pick your own lawyer. I mean, it's --

ROMANS: Interesting.

JARRETT: -- really, really interesting.

ROMANS: Well, we will learn more about this today.

JARRETT: Yes -- look forward to hearing what she has to say.

ROMANS: Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

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

[05:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPEARS: Singing "Stronger."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

On this new day, Senate Republicans refusing to even debate a voting rights bill, leaving Democrats trying to plot a new way forward.

Plus, breaking overnight, results from the heated New York City mayoral race. And a socialist pulls off a stunning surprise.