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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

In A Reversal, Kevin McCarthy Will Name GOP Members To January 6 Probe; Trump Sues Tech Giants For Censorship, Then Fundraises Off Suit; Former South African President Jacob Zuma Turns Himself In To Police. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired July 08, 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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[05:30:44]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, this is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Laura Jarrett. It's about 30 minutes past the hour here in New York.

ROMANS: All right, it is peak summer travel season. Gas prices, as you probably know, are at a seven-year high, making some Americans think twice about a post-pandemic road trip.

It's time for three questions in three minutes. And for that, let's bring in CNN Business lead writer Matt Egan.

Matt, gas prices here hovering around three bucks a gallon -- more than a dollar -- about a dollar more than they were last year at this time, and Republicans are blaming President Biden. And I always say presidents get too much credit and too much blame for things like this. But it's a moment here where they have to really -- the White House has to be very clear on a strategy because at home, people see gas -- it is their market into -- their economic indicator every week when they fill up.

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS LEAD WRITER: Yes -- I mean, absolutely. I mean, alarm bells should definitely be ringing right now in the Biden White House.

But here's the deal. Gas prices are high because people are driving more. They're flying more as the economy reopens. That's a good thing. The problem is that supply is having a hard time catching up.

And the real issue is that OPEC is still holding back supply. They were supposed to add more barrels. They couldn't do that. They had a lot of drama at their meeting. They were unable to reach a deal. And if they don't pump more oil, then prices are actually going to go higher -- perhaps, a lot higher.

But as far as this debate over blame -- you know, one thing I hear a lot on social media is well, gas prices are high because President Biden killed Keystone -- the Keystone XL pipeline -- and that's just not the case. I mean, one analyst told me that is absolutely nonsense to say that. And that's because the pipeline wasn't actually supposed to be carrying oil -- Canadian oil -- until 2023 at the earliest. So it really doesn't have anything to do with this.

The irony here, of course, is that gas prices would be cheap if Biden's economic and mostly, his health plan was actually failing. I mean, if we weren't all on set together, like all of last year --

ROMANS: Right.

EGAN: -- because the pandemic was out of control, then gas would probably be much closer to $2.00 than $3.00. But thankfully, that's not the case.

ROMANS: Yes. You don't want to be a president taking credit for low gas prices because of a global recession, you know? I mean, that's just --

JARRETT: That can't be your message.

ROMANS: Right.

JARRETT: So then, what should he do here? What exactly is -- what is he balancing, in your mind?

EGAN: Well, so listen, there's no easy answers here and presidents don't have magic wands to just make gas cheap -- at least not in the United States.

Right now, what they have to do is they have to focus on energy diplomacy. I think they were a bit late to see the significance of these OPEC negotiations --

ROMANS: Yes.

EGAN: -- but they're on it now. And that's actually what the White House says they're focused on.

CNN's John Berman asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki about this very topic yesterday and here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're not a part of the OPEC negotiations. The OPEC discussions, which are ongoing, will have a big factor on the price of oil, which has a factor on our gas prices here at home.

We are in touch with a range of entities who are a part of those discussions -- Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and others -- and we want to make sure we're doing everything we can to keep the price of gas low.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EGAN: Now, Biden is probably not going to be blasting OPEC in all caps tweets like his predecessor, but I do think --

ROMANS: I can't even imagine.

EGAN: I do think there's going to be some behind-the-scenes pressure put --

JARRETT: Yes.

EGAN: -- in particular, on Saudi Arabia and the UAE to pump more.

Now, if gas prices do get a lot higher, in theory, it could tap the strategic petroleum reserve.

ROMANS: Right.

EGAN: But that emergency stockpile is really just for emergencies, like a conflict in the Middle East. We're probably not there just yet.

ROMANS: It's not really meant to be for uncomfortably high oil prices simply because of the -- because the economy is roaring.

So why is the U.S. still reliant on OPEC and OPEC Plus -- you know, Mexico and Russia and this big group of petrostate producers? I thought we were pretty energy-independent at this point.

EGAN: Yes. So, OPEC -- just OPEC itself produces about twice as much oil every day as the United States does. And the U.S. is actually pumping two million barrels per day less than before COVID, which really crushed the oil industry.

You know, U.S. oil companies -- they're still in the penalty box with Wall Street because they blew through insane amounts of money, so they're in no rush to come to the rescue by pumping more.

But one last point here is that it is a bit awkward that President Biden has to ask for more oil production, which is exactly the exact opposite of what climate scientists say --

JARRETT: Yes.

EGAN: -- we need to fight the climate crisis.

ROMANS: And what the strategy for climate -- yes.

EGAN: I think it's just another reminder, though, that despite the very real climate crisis, the U.S. economy --

[05:35:02]

JARRETT: We're still addicted -- yes.

EGAN: -- is still addicted to fossil fuels.

ROMANS: And "The Wall Street Journal" editorial board yesterday said basically -- they called this -- "As cognitive dissidence goes, this is a classic." So they dinged Biden on that very point. All right, Matt Egan. Nice to see you.

JARRETT: Thanks, Matt.

EGAN: Thank you, guys.

ROMANS: Appreciate it.

All right, to the labor market now. With help wanted signs across America, new data shows 9.2 million job openings in May as the economy reopenings -- reopens and demand increases. Job openings in services and education rose, but the number of jobs in entertainment and recreation -- those job openings actually fell.

Meanwhile, the number of separations -- this means people who quit their job and workers who were laid off -- fell by nearly half a million.

Now, despite high demand, not everyone is ready to go back to work. Childcare is still a problem for millions of parents. There are health and safety concerns. People are still dying of COVID. Frontline low- wage workers are not rushing back to this bad -- the old normal.

Earlier this week, Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor, said this. "Companies that kept on paying employees during the pandemic aren't facing labor shortages. Those who laid off people are struggling to fill positions and are losing business to those who kept workers on. Compassion is good for business." That, from Mark Cuban.

It's a reckoning in the American jobs market. Workers hold all the cards here and companies are finding they need to pay more to attract and retain workers.

JARRETT: So just who in the United States is getting vaccinated and who is not? The U.S. fell short of President Biden's July Fourth goal to vaccinate 70 percent of adults with at least one dose and to fully vaccinate more than 160 million people.

And a new CNN analysis shows disparities remain here among different populations.

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has new details about the millions of people who remain unvaccinated.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Christine, Laura, a new CNN data analysis shows that there are some disparities in how the COVID-19 vaccines are being taken in the United States. You would expect that it would be even.

For example, about 60 percent of the U.S. population is white and so you would expect that about 60 percent of the vaccinated people in the U.S. are white -- and that is true. But that's not true for all groups.

So let's take a look.

White people and Asian people are being vaccinated in proportion to their population, but take a look at Black people in the United States. They represent 12 percent of the population but only nine percent of the vaccinated population. For Latinos, they represent 17 percent of the population but only 15 percent of the vaccinated population.

Those are two groups that were hit especially hard by COVID. It was really hoped that their vaccine uptake would be very high. The fact that it isn't up to their proportion in the population means that millions of people are not getting vaccinated.

Now let's take a look at a geographic disparity. If you take a look at southern states, these southern states represent 38 percent of the U.S. population but only 34 percent of the vaccinated population. So again, that difference may not seem very big -- 38 to 34 -- but that difference represents millions of people. And so we're seeing these relatively low vaccination rates in the south.

Now, let's hope that various efforts aimed at these groups, whether aimed at particular racial groups or aimed at particular geographic groups, will help increase vaccinations in the U.S. -- Christine, Laura.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: All right, Elizabeth Cohen. Thank you for that.

To Washington now where the top Republican in the House has apparently decided to play along with Democrats' probe of the Capitol riot -- well, sort of. CNN has learned that minority leader Kevin McCarthy is finalizing a list of Republican members to join the House panel investigating the January sixth insurrection.

Now, initially, House Republicans were divided on whether the GOP should simply boycott the probe.

Behind the scenes, McCarthy, you might remember, even threatened to strip members of their committee assignments if they joined the panel. Now, multiple sources telling CNN McCarthy has decided to name GOP members not to get to the bottom of the facts, but so that there will be voices pushing back against the idea that the riot was incited by the former president's efforts to overturn the election.

ROMANS: Kicked off social media and now going to court. Former President Donald Trump is suing tech giants Facebook, Twitter, and Google, and their CEOs for blocking him from their platforms. The former president claims he has been wrongfully censored. Legal experts say these types of claims tend to fail in court.

Yet, it didn't take long for Trump and other Republican congressional committees to fundraise off the suit. Trump's political action committee sent text messages asking for contributions shortly after he spoke. JARRETT: So we know dubious legal claims can get you in hot water in court. Case in point, Rudy Giuliani. The former New York City mayor's law license has now been suspended in Washington, D.C. He's already been suspended in New York State for demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers, and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for the former president.

[05:40:00]

A D.C. appeals court says Giuliani will remain suspended from working as an attorney in Washington, pending the outcome of his suspension in New York.

We'll be right back.

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JARRETT: Welcome back.

Former South African President Jacob Zuma turning himself in to police late Wednesday. Zuma will begin a 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court. This is, of course, related to the corruption allegations there.

The move ended days of speculation over whether the former president would comply with South Africa's constitutional order.

CNN's David McKenzie is live for us in Johannesburg this morning. David, good morning.

Zuma was once known for fighting apartheid. Now, what does his arrest mean for him and the country?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Laura, what a spectacular downfall. Good morning.

These were the scenes just a few minutes before a hard deadline for the police to arrest former president Jacob Zuma.

[05:45:01]

Now, worth remembering, Zuma spent 10 years in jail with former president Nelson Mandela. He's a liberation hero of this country but for many years, he's been rocked by scandals, allegations of corruption graft, racketeering. And for many years, he's avoided any kind of culpability. He's been in and out of courts.

He was supposed to go to a hearing on anti-corruption matters here in the country, part of a commission. He refused to do that and then refused to comply with the constitutional court order. So they are putting him in prison for contempt. Extremely significant that this liberation hero and member of the ruling party spent the night in prison.

There are still some legal wranglings to come but could shorten that 15-month sentence. But it's seen as a very significant moment in South African politics -- a way that the constitution has stood up to immense pressure from those that supported Zuma.

And there could be a number of politicians who are very nervous today, who face similar allegations of graft and trials. It could be a step, say advocates of a free and fair system here, that this could be a moment that will be remembered in South Africa as a turning point -- Laura.

JARRETT: Yes, just a remarkable development there, as you say.

All right. Thanks so much, David.

ROMANS: Tropical Storm Elsa punishing northern Florida and pushing toward Georgia and the Carolinas now. At least one person has been killed and multiple other injuries have been reported.

Karen Maginnis is tracking Elsa for us. She is live this morning from the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta. And the trail of this tropical storm leaving devastation.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Everywhere Elsa goes we see problems. We saw one fatality right around Jacksonville. Also, Kings Bay. That's in the coast of Georgia's submarine base there.

They're saying at an R.V. park about 10 people reportedly injured there. Lots of damage. Those injuries, though, are not considered serious at this time.

Right now, just about over the Midlands of South Carolina. This is where Tropical Storm Elsa exists. Forty mile an hour winds doesn't sound impressive, but still a lot of convection associated with it.

And as a result, about 50 million people up and down the eastern seaboard looking at tropical storm warnings already. We go from Thursday into Thursday night, and into Friday. All the way from areas around Inlet Bay -- the inlet river between North Carolina and South Carolina, towards the Outer Banks. Then into the Chesapeake Bay, and then towards New York City. And yes, New York City could see some pretty heavy rainfall.

Maybe Elsa will increase in intensity by then. Some areas might see as much as five inches of rainfall, some localized flooding, and maybe a pretty heavy surf. There's going to be rip current, if you can imagine, all the way up towards Cape Cod. This is where we're looking at the effects from Elsa.

We take you to the high-risk forecast radar. There you can see right around Raleigh, extending towards Richmond, Washington, D.C. Philadelphia, I think you'll be right on the edge of it. I think those coastal regions -- Atlantic City, New York. And then for Boston, it's going to be a pretty soggy next 24 to 48 hours.

ROMANS: So the next 24-48 hours. What about people who are traveling -- air travel? High winds are you expecting in the I-95 corridor?

MAGINNIS: Along that I-95 corridor, I think winds on the order of 25 to 35 -- ROMANS: OK.

MAGINNIS: -- maybe gusts to around 40. So nothing severe limits, but you'll see some probably minor delays as we go to the busy traffic hours during the afternoon.

ROMANS: All right, good to know. Karen, thank you so much for that -- Laura.

JARRETT: All right.

With all this wild weather, a suspected tornado touching down at the Naval Submarine Base in Kings Bay, Georgia. The base reported multiple issues there with trailers and R.V.s flipped over and buildings damaged. Base officials say there was no damage to any sensitive military assets or submarines, though.

ROMANS: Nine more heat-related deaths in Oregon. That means 116 people have died in the state from this unprecedented heatwave. More than half of the deaths have been reported in Multnomah County, where health officials are classifying the record-setting heat as a mass casualty event.

Those who died range in age from 37 to 97 years old. Many of the victims lived alone and had no one to check on them.

JARRETT: The young woman who recorded the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer now facing a personal tragedy involving the Minneapolis Police Department, herself. Frazier's uncle, Leneal, was killed early Tuesday after police crashed into his car at an intersection while pursuing a suspect they claim was connected to a string of robberies.

Darnella Frazier posted the news on Facebook Tuesday, saying, quote, "Minneapolis police has cost my whole family a big loss."

The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating the crash.

ROMANS: Robert Downey, Sr. has died after a battle with Parkinson's disease. The filmmaker and the father of Robert Downey, Jr. starred in several T.V. series and movies, including "Magnolia" and "Boogie Nights."

[05:50:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT DOWNEY, SR., FILMMAKER-ACTOR, "BOOGIE NIGHTS": That's not an MP. That's a YP -- your problem. Come up with the money and I'll give you the tapes. That's it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Robert Downey, Jr. posted this heartfelt tribute to his dad on Instagram, saying he was a true maverick filmmaker. He remained remarkably optimistic throughout his illness. Downey adding, "According to his stepmom's calculations, they were happily married for just over 2,000 years."

Robert Downey, Sr. was 85.

JARRETT: A little bit of an embellishment there but you can understand if you've been married.

ROMANS: That means a long, long, happy married life.

All right, some frightening moments for a couple in Louisiana who had just put their 5-month-old to bed when his baby monitor captured this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Tree falling through roof of home.

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ROMANS: Oh my gosh, those baby cries.

JARRETT: Oh.

ROMANS: The loud bang was a large oak tree crashing through the roof of the house and into their son's room, covering him in debris falling from the ceiling.

The stunned parents, Courtney and Kale Bucholtz, couldn't believe what they were seeing. They raced in to rescue the baby -- baby Cannon -- from his crib. Thankfully, he escaped without a scratch. The same, however, cannot be said for their home, which Courtney says is now unlivable.

JARRETT: The little baby in his sleep sack -- oh.

And another terrifying ordeal for any parent out there. Look at this. New video shows the harrowing moment police rescued a 6-year-old girl who had been kidnapped in Louisville, Kentucky.

Bodycam footage shows a police officer pulling in behind the suspect's red car and ordering him to get out. Now, the suspect in the red shirt -- you're going to see -- gets on his knees with his hands up. Another office arrives at the scene and opens the suspect's car, finding the terrified little girl in the backseat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER JASON BURBA, LOUISVILLE METRO POLICE DEPARTMENT: Hello.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Crying). I want my daddy.

BURBA: It's OK. Come here. It's OK.

It was -- it was tough.

REPORTER: Why?

BURBA: You have kids. SGT. JOSEFF KEELING, LOUISVILLE METRO POLICE DEPARTMENT: It's overwhelming -- very overwhelming, especially when you -- when you hear her crying and asking for her family. That she's so scared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Oh, just incredible. Thank goodness they found her.

The suspect was charged with kidnapping and booked on a $1 million bond.

ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this Thursday morning.

Looking at markets around the world, Asian shares closed lower. A big drop in Hong Kong there. And European markets have opened down more than one percent as well. Big fears about -- regulatory fears for big tech surfacing here, pulling stocks down around the world.

On Wall Street, you've got Dow futures down one percent here. The Dow finished up about 104 points, still short of a record. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, though, both hit record highs. It was the third-straight high for the Nasdaq.

Investors will turn their attention now to the labor market. The latest jobless claims numbers at 8:30 a.m. We're expecting claims will hit a new pandemic low of 350,000. That would be high in normal times but really, a steady decrease in the number of people filing for unemployment claims as the economy roars back to life.

And the Federal Reserve may have to start pulling back its historic support of the economy maybe a little sooner than expected. Minutes from the central bank's June meeting show officials are talking about -- talking about easing monetary policy. Officials acknowledge that while inflation has been rising faster than expected, the trend is still transitory. There's that word again.

Several Fed officials also emphasized low interest rates were contributing to rising home prices and that might pose financial stability risks. The Federal Reserve expects to raise interest rates in 2023.

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates are giving themselves two years to see if they can co-chair their foundation. When the couple announced their divorce they said they would continue their charity work and that Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation together. But on Wednesday, the foundation's CEO announced a contingency plan.

"If after two years either decides they cannot continue to work together as co-chairs, French Gates will resign her position as co- chair and trustee."

If that happens, Bill Gates would remain in control and essentially buy her out of the foundation. The foundation said Melinda would receive personal resources from Bill for her own philanthropic work. And her work has really focused more recently on gender equality -- JARRETT: Yes.

ROMANS: -- and equality issues, something where she's very, very passionate about equity.

JARRETT: And made a big difference already.

All right. Well, finally this morning, an emotional and heartbreaking moment on "AMERICA'S GOT TALENT."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT MAUSER, WIDOWER OF KOBE BRYANT CRASH VICTIM: (Singing "Take a Look at Me Now").

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Matt Mauser, whose wife Christina died in the helicopter crash -- the same one that killed Kobe Bryant -- paid tribute to her with an emotional performance there.

ROMANS: The show's four judges gave him a standing ovation following his audition.

[05:55:00]

Mauser said he wanted his children to see that in spite of their grief, you have to find joy in life and continue to chase your dreams.

And he talks about his life in such an amazing way. You know, they met -- he was singing in a dive bar.

JARRETT: Yes.

ROMANS: I mean, that -- you know?

JARRETT: Yes.

ROMANS: And talked for hours. Hit it off. Three beautiful children.

JARRETT: And just as a reminder of what the other families, you know --

ROMANS: Sure.

JARRETT: -- who are facing tragedy from that crash --

ROMANS: Absolutely.

JARRETT: -- are still going through.

ROMANS: All right, thanks for joining us this Thursday morning. I'm Christine Romans.

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

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