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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Rescue Crews on Scene After Florida Building Collapse; Senators Set to Meet With Biden After Making Infrastructure Deal; Britney Spears Pleads Her Case in Court. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired June 24, 2021 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:31]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, a building collapse near Miami, almost 100 rescue crews at the scene.
A critical test today for the Biden agenda, a bipartisan infrastructure deal on the table. Can the White House get enough Democrats on board?
And what did Britney Spears, the top U.S. general and federal judge have in common? All of them making impassioned pleas for common sense.
Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It's Thursday, June 24th. It's 5:00 a.m. in New York. Laura has the day off.
We begin with breaking news this morning. A residential building collapse they're Miami Beach, dozens of rescue units on the scene. We're heading there right now. This happened just in the past few hours.
We know something like 100 units from Miami rescue are on the scene there trying to dig through this partial building collapse. If you know Miami, this is 88th and Collins, the village is called Surfside. Again, we'll bring you live details as we get them this morning.
All right. The next 24 hours is hugely critical to the Biden agenda. Senators from both sides of the aisle will meet with the president today after shaking hands on a bipartisan infrastructure deal. They are also staring at a fast approaching deadline on police reform. And Democrats under pressure to act after voting rights failed in the Senate. All that on the table this morning,
CNN's Daniella Diaz live in Capitol Hill for us.
Daniella, what are they doing as the clock ticks down?
DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, it's pretty critical that they actually reached a deal on this bipartisan proposal on infrastructure and they are going to the White House today to meet with the president on this. This is a significant breakthrough on an issue that they have been negotiating for months.
But look, even though they have reached this proposal, this bipartisan group of lawmakers, there is still a lot of obstacles ahead. We don't know a lot about this plan, but here's what we do know. We know the price tag is much smaller than what the president initially proposed he wanted. The total cost is going to be $1.2 trillion over eight years with $579 billion in new spending.
And this challenge for bipartisan group of lawmakers has been that the White House holds a defendant view on how to pay for this. They've been drawing red lines, including any new user fees like indexing the gas tax, to inflation, to charging drivers of electric vehicles for using America's roadways. But the bigger picture here is that President Joe Biden always said that he wanted to compromise with Republicans and Democrat on infrastructure.
But, look, they are hopeful that ten Senate Republicans will sign on to this legislation for it to pass through the Senate. But will all 50 Democrats seen on to this, that remains to be scene. And some Democratic senators expressed reservations yesterday on this proposal.
Take a listen to what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Well, my sense is that that deal right now has 20 votes, not 60 votes. We're going to have to take a deep dive into the agreement that they have reached and square it with the needs of our voters.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): Now, they may be voted separately, but it is one infrastructure deal. I can't vote for some small subset that, you know, the infrastructure train leaves the station and child care gets left on the platform, green energy get left on the platform, billions don't have to pay gets left on the platform. It's that all of the pieces have to move because ultimately it's one deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAZ: Of course, these negotiations on infrastructure come on a day that is the deadline for police reform negotiations. You know, this bipartisan group of lawmakers, bicameral group of lawmakers have been negotiating on police reform for months and they still have not reached a deal, which really shows the fragile state of bipartisan negotiations in Congress right now.
But Republican Senator Tim Scott says he is optimistic that they will reach a compromise.
So the bottom line here is these negotiations continue on Capitol Hill to try to reach bipartisanship through Congress -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Daniella, thank you so much for bringing us up to speed. Nice to see you this morning.
An outpouring of love and support this morning for Britney Spears, the 39-year-old pop star in court Wednesday speaking out for the first time in more than two years about her father's control over her money and her life.
[05:05:07]
Her plea to end his conservatorship raised a lot of interests after the release of "New York Times" documentary "Framing Britney Spears" galvanized her fans.
Here's the director.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMANTHA STARK, DIRECTOR, "FRAMING BRITNEY SPEARS": Today she said I didn't know that I could file a petition to end the done conservatorship. Can you imagine? Thirteen years has gone by and her layer, they said she is incapable of hiring her own and the one they assigned to her does not communicate to her that that's a possibility, even though we know from the documents we uncovered --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unbelievable.
STARK: -- that she has the capacity to end it for years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Well, Thursday in court, Spears begged the judge for 24 minutes to help her saying: I've lied and told the whole world I'm OK and I'm happy. It's a lie. I thought just maybe I said that enough.
Because I'm I've been in denial. I've been in shock. I'm traumatized.
The pop star went on to say she's embarrassed and demoralized. She didn't speak openly about her situation because she didn't think anybody would believe her.
Stephanie Elam outside the courthouse in Los Angeles with more for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Britney Spears was palpably angry when she spoke before the Los Angeles court remotely. She made it clear that she wants control of her life back and that she no longer wants to deal with this conservatorship, something that she's been living under for nearly 13 years, saying, quote: I'm traumatized. I'm not happy. I can't sleep. I'm so angry, it's insane.
What conservatorship does is that it leaves her father in control of almost every aspect of her life. Something Spears spoke emotionally about, saying, quote, I want to be able to get married and have a baby. I was told I can't get married. I have an IUD inside me, but this so-called team won't let me go to the doctor to remove it because they don't want me to have any more children.
This conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good. And she also said that she feels like everything is being controlled
about what she does, she had to go on tour. She was told that she had to keep working. All of this supporting the people around her who are benefitting off of her work yet controlling what she does.
She went on to say after speaking her mind that to find her own lawyer because she's been working with a court-appointed lawyer, and that she wants the conservatorship to end and that she doesn't think that she needs do another psych evaluation to make that happen.
She also said through her lawyer that she believes that now that she has spoken her mind and the world has heard her that all of the court proceedings should be sealed -- Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Stephanie.
You know, Britney Spears also telling the judge that her father, quote, should be in jail for punishing her. Jamie Spears through his lawyer says that he loves his daughter and misses her very much.
Britney Spears' pop star fame, of course, came with a heavy price. For years, she was demonized. She was hunted by paparazzi and says that she suffered mental health issues as a result.
Actress and activist Rose McGowan can relate and she's speaking out in support of Britney. On Fox last night, McGowan railed against what she called the monsters in power who control the puppets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSE MCGOWAN, ACTRESS/ACTIVIST: Fame in Hollywood and the media machine are rotten to the core. And they do hurt and they do damage. What happened today is literally a cultural landmark moment. It is a cultural reset. She got to speak for the first time I believe in her life honestly and openly. And what has been done to her is horrific. And I know it seems like why should we care about a rich pop princess, right? But I think it is deeper than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Many other celebrities are supporting Britney, including her ex, Justin Timberlake, who tweeted: After what we saw today, we should all be supporting Britney at this time regardless of our past, good and bad, and no matter how long ago it was. What's happening to her is just not right. No woman should ever be restricted from making decisions about her own body.
All right. Much more ahead on that building collapse in Florida. Plus, 3,000 empty chairs at a fake commencement speech, a powerful message on guns from a family that knows the pain.
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[05:13:31] ROMANS: Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to the U.S./Mexico border tomorrow. She has been asked by President Biden to tackle the root causes of immigration in Latin America. Harris has spent weeks deflecting question about why she has not visited the border. Five days after her arrival, the former President Donald Trump will also visit the border accompanied by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Republican lawmakers.
The Biden administration is also planning to overhaul the U.S. Border Patrol, forcing Rodney Scott out as head of the agency amid a 20-year high in illegal border crossings.
As he rolls out his strategy for tackling gun violence, President Biden is warning the nation to be prepared for a more pronounced crime spike this summer. Violent crime is up around the country, and it's not just a big city or state problem. Now the White House has been proactive on an issue that's been politically difficult for Democrats.
President Biden is pressing for an assault weapons ban while targeting rogue gun dealers.
Kaitlan Collins has more for us this morning from the White House.
(BEGIN VIEOTAPE)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Christine, you're seeing how this recent uptick in violent crime across the U.S. is now a central issue for the White House, having an entire day's event essentially dedicated to it yesterday, where President Biden did meet behind closed with the attorney general and mayors of several cities and they came out and gave these remarks, essentially saying that he's viewing this all through the lens of gun violence and talking about ways that he wants to crack down on gun regulations, essentially tightening them by directing the ATF to strip those who are selling guns to people they know should not be buying them, maybe bypassing those background checks that are, of course, required by law that they would strip them of their licenses on a first offense basis.
[05:15:12]
He also talked about giving more money to police departments, letting them use them some of the COVID relief funds from the bill he signed into law earlier this year to staff up, to pay overtime to officers all as a way to crack down on what he says could get worse in the coming months.
BIDEN: Crime historically rises during the summer, and as we emerge from this pandemic with the country opening back up again, the traditional summer spike may even be more pronounced than it usually would be.
COLLINS: And, Christine, you've already seen Republicans tie the uptick in crime to calls from progressive Democrats to defund police. Of course, that is something that President Biden was always opposed to on the campaign trail. Clearly it could become an issue if this is something that continues on. And President Biden said he's not viewing this through a Democratic or Republican lens but through an American one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Kaitlan, thank you for that.
A former president of the NRA duped into making a powerful statement about gun violence. David Keene and gun rights activist John Lott, they were invited to rehearse a high school commencement speech. What they didn't know, the graduation, it was a fake, staged by the parents of a student who died in the Parkland massacre and their organization called Change the Ref.
Keene was actually addressing 3,000 empty chairs representing the estimated number of students who should have graduated this year but were instead killed by gun violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Those are the images. No comment from Keene so far. Lott tells "BuzzFeed," that he didn't know it was a setup.
The founders o Change the Ref, Manuel and Patricia Oliver, whose son Joaquin died in Parkland, they will be on NEW DAY in the 8:00 hour.
All right. Breaking overnight, a building collapse in Florida, a huge pile of rubble there, rescuers on the scene. The latest details live from Miami.
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[05:21:45]
ROMANS: All right. Welcome back.
Trae Young and the Hawks upset the Bucks in game one of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals.
Andy Scholes has this morning's "Bleacher Report."
Hey, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Christine.
You know, one thing is for sure about Trae Young and these Atlanta hawks, they don't feel the pressure playing on the road. They actually thrive in hostile environments. And Trae was just amazing in game one of the Eastern Conference Finals. Doing it all.
Here off the glass for the alley-hoop to John Collins. Trae had 11 assist and a career playoff high, 48 points. And check him out a little later in the game, a little shimmy before knocking down the wide open three.
Now, this is a tight game the entire way. The Bucks had a chance to tie it in the closing seconds, but Khris Middleton's three doesn't go. He was 0 for 9 from three for the game. The Hawks steal the win in game, 116 to 113.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRAE YOUNG, ATLANTA HAWKS GUARD: We put too much work in. We've gotten too far. We've gotten to far to get here and to stop believing in each other. That's what we've got to keep doing. We're going to keep fighting until this over with and like I said, I believe in this group.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Game two of that series is tomorrow night.
NHL, meanwhile, defending Stanley Cup champion, Tampa Bay Lightning, now going to face elimination for the first time in the past two seasons. The Islanders forcing a winner-it-all game seven after a thrilling 3-2 overtime win last night. Anthony Beauvillier blasting the game winner and getting just dog-piled by his teammates. The fans going wild, throwing some empty beer cans on the ice on what could be the final game at the coliseum there. Game seven with a spot in Stanley Cup finals tomorrow night in Tampa.
Finally, most pitchers, they've not been very happy about MLB's crackdown on sticky substances but not the Angels star two-way star Shohei Ohtani. He was actually kind of smiling when the umpire checked his hat, glove, belt for a possible foreign substance after he finished the second inning.
The Nationals having fun with the whole situation after what happened at Max Scherzer on Wednesday. They were jokingly joking with the ump, to check Bryce Harper's flowing hair for foreign substances.
So, Christine, everyone having a night laugh about that whole situation. But some pitchers obviously are not happy with what's going on. It's going to be fascinating to watch how it continues throughout the summer.
ROMANS: Yeah, some of them do not like the scrutiny at all.
All right. Andy Scholes, nice to see you, Andy, thanks.
SCHOLES: All right.
ROMANS: All right. Twenty-four minutes past the hour.
A huge piece of a building in Florida has collapsed. Details are still coming in here, but this is Miami's Surfside, 88th and Collins, if you know the area. Rescuers are still getting to work here. We've got the details live from Florida, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [05:28:43]
ROMANS: A Trump supporter who spent ten minutes inside the U.S. Capitol during the January 6th insurrection sentenced to probation. Anna Morgan-Lloyd became the first rioter to learn her punishment in the riot investigation. The Indiana woman pleaded guilty in federal court, of one charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol building.
She told the court she has since educated herself by reading some books and watching movies like "Schindler's List", a Stephen Spielberg's 1993 portrayal of the Holocaust. What's also notable here is the judge, Reagan appointee Royce Lambert, did not hold back, going after Republicans for downplaying the Capitol attack.
He said this: I'm especially troubled by the account of some members of Congress that January 6 was just a day of tourists walking through the Capitol. I don't know what planet they were on. This was not a peaceful demonstration. It was not an accident that turned violent. It was intended to halt the very functioning of our government. He noted the newly released videos from the attack will show some congressmen attempted to rewrite the history is, in his words, utter nonsense.
EARLY START continues right now.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
ROMANS: All right. Good Thursday morning. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. Laura Jarrett has the morning off. Twenty-nine -- almost 30 minutes past the hour.
We're going to begin with that breaking news this morning. A residential building collapsed near Miami Beach.
