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New Day

N. Korea Fires Missiles into Waters Off Japan; Iraqi Troops Closing in on ISIS on Mosul; Venus Fights Back Tears at Wimbledon; Fact Checking President Trump's Economic Claims. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 04, 2017 - 06:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:34] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We are following breaking news from the Korean peninsula. North Korea hailing its first successful launch, it says, of an intercontinental missile. President Trump now suggesting that China put a, quote, heavy move on North Korea to stop it.

Let's discuss with two reporters on the frontlines of this situation. We have CNN international anchor and correspondent Andrew Stevens, and journalist Kaori Enjoji.

Thank you both for being here.

Andrew, what have we learned this morning?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, we've learned that China is not changing its tone at all since the launch of that missile ICBM, if it is indeed that. China's ministry of foreign affairs coming out with a statement this afternoon saying that China is doing everything it can to restrain North Korea and it's urging other people, particularly the United States, to engage in dialogue with North Korea, not in economic leverage, because Donald Trump as we know has been putting pressure for China to try to put some sort of economic sanctions or increase economic sanctions on North Korea.

And it can do that. I mean, it's got 90 percent of North Korea's foreign trade goes through China. So, it does have that leverage to do it. China says it's not doing that and the reason it's not doing that because it doesn't want to destabilize the country of 25 million on its doorstep. So, pretty much, China's mind it's sort of business as usual.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And, Kaori, you know, this missile test landed some 200 miles off the coast of Japan, pretty close, after overnight president Trump said how much longer will Japan stand for this? Really, what are the range of options for Japan in this situation?

KAORI ENJOJI, JOURNALIST: Well, I think the options are very limited, and it's very clear that Japan is in an extremely vulnerable situation, which is highlighted in the comments from the prime minister here in Japan who said that the threat from North Korea is increasing. I think really what people are talking about right now is that the only option that Japan has in order to do something on its own is to engage in diplomacy, in trying to use the upcoming G20 meeting not to just talk to Korea, not just to talk to the U.S., but try to engage better with China and Russia to try to bring them to the table to take some kind of constructive action, is what the prime minister said.

Because frankly, abandoning the diplomatic route for Japan would have dire consequences, and frankly, I think a lot of people here say the other options are probably not feasible for Japan, the ramping up of the military is not possible under the Japanese constitution, and it would have grave consequences to the stability of the region as a whole. And I think the other option of perhaps upgrading its defense system so that it perhaps buys something like the THAAD missile system for the U.S., the defense minister has said that they might consider that.

But, I mean, China was very upset with the South Korean deployment of the THAAD missile system. Imagine what their response would be if Japan did the same?

CAMEROTA: Andrew, what do you think this means for U.S./China relations?

STEVENS: Well, as we heard earlier on the show, Alisyn, U.S./China relationships are already strained or becoming increasingly strained. The Chinese have reacted very badly to the fact that the U.S. is selling $1.4 billion of arms to Taiwan, the U.S. naval warship in the disputed waters in the South China Sea. The fact that U.S. went after a Chinese bank which had dealings with North Korea.

These are all brought up by the Chinese President Xi Jinping as far as we're aware in that conversation with Donald Trump, a little more than 24 hours ago. So, as far as leverage from the U.S. president on a personal basis with the Chinese president, it's getting more and more difficult because the relationship is widening rather than getting closer.

BERMAN: The G20 will be fascinating with all these leaders in the same cases in same room at the same time.

Andrew Stevens, Kaori Enjoji, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

Up next, ISIS on the run. U.S.-backed forces close to driving the terrorists out of two key cities. How intense were the battles right now? We're going to speak to a top ranking member of the U.S. anti- ISIS coalition, with a special July 4th edition of NEW DAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:01] CAMEROTA: The fight against ISIS rages in Mosul. Iraqi forces are locked in an intense battle with a small pocket of terrorists remaining in the city.

So, joining us now from Baghdad is the spokesman for the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, U.S. Central Command, Colonel Ryan Dillon.

Colonel, happy Independence Day.

COL. RYAN DILLON, INHERENT RESOLVE SPOKESMAN: Thank you very much, Alisyn. How are you?

CAMEROTA: I'm well. Thanks so much for being with us.

What is the status of what's happening in Mosul today?

DILLON: So, in Mosul today, the Iraqi security force this is last week had a significant push into the old city and the final kilometer, square kilometer remains in the old city before total liberation of Mosul can be declared by the government of Iraq.

CAMEROTA: How do we know there is only a small pocket, a, quote, small pocket of terrorists left there?

DILLON: We are able to track, through many different means, the progress from the Iraqi security forces, and then also just keep in mind that we have advisers from the coalition that are with Iraqi, throughout the fight. So, we have a very good picture and definition of what the battlefield looks like and what remains before total liberation can be called.

CAMEROTA: We know that this has been a hard-fought battle for Mosul. This has been very important for the coalition. Why? What -- once this small pocket of terrorists is eradicated as it looks like they will be, what does Mosul mean?

DILLON: Well, one of the biggest things to recognize is that Mosul has been the largest city that ISIS has ever held control of. It is also considered their capital of their so-called caliphate in Iraq. So Mosul holds a great significance to them. It is exactly three years to the day that Abu Bakr al Baghdadi announced from the al Nuri mosque, which was captured this week by the Iraqi security forces.

[06:40:04] But three years ago to the day is when Abu Bakr al Baghdadi announced to his so-called caliphate. So, it is very symbolic, and while that is one of the two twin capitals over in Syria, the de facto capital of ISIS is also being taken from them every single day.

CAMEROTA: And just tell us a little bit more about the great mosque of al Nuri, the significance of getting that back.

DILLON: So the al Nuri mosque is a symbolic, not just for Iraqis and those from Mosul, because it stood for over 800 years a symbol of faith for the Iraqis and the Muslawis, but also is symbolic for ISIS. And this goes to show that their so-called caliphate has been a false caliphate, and they destroyed it themselves, when the counterterrorism service rolled in to within 50 meters of the al Nuri mosque, ISIS destroyed that, so that the Iraqis, the Muslawis from that area would not be able to have it.

This is similar to many of the other types of atrocities that we have seen from ISIS throughout the last three years. CAMEROTA: Colonel, tell us how our troops today are celebrating July

4th overseas.

DILLON: Well, I can say that any soldier, airman anywhere in any deployment is always going to find a way to celebrate and whether that be the Fourth of July or Christmas, we just always find a way.

But just right outside of my office here, Old Glory is flying throughout this installation, probably 100 flags are waving in the Iraqi breeze right now. So, we will always find a way. But another thing I would like to highlight is that this coalition, a true coalition with 23 partner nations that are contributing forces, it's not often that or not often, it's almost every week we can celebrate something. Canada day was just on the 1st of July, so we can celebrate pretty regularly here.

CAMEROTA: That's good to know, 23 partners is important. I'm glad you're highlighting that.

And thank you very much. Happy Fourth of July. Thank you very much for your service, Colonel.

DILLON: Thank you, Alisyn. Have a good one.

CAMEROTA: You, too.

BERMAN: It's great they're getting a chance to celebrate there.

All right. Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis called it a good day. That's a pretty big understatement. It started with the birth of his daughter. We will tell you how it ended in "The Bleacher Report", that's next.

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[06:46:30] BERMAN: Venus Williams in tears after her match at Wimbledon yesterday. The American tennis war was asked about a fatal car accident that she was involved in early last month in Florida.

Coy Wire has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John.

Let's get caught up really quickly. According to a police report, Venus is responsible for the car accident in which a 78-year-old man was severely injured, he later died. Police say Venus violated the right of way at an intersection where her car was T-boned. She is being sued by the family in a wrongful death suit.

Venus was overcome with emotion when she was asked about that accident after an opening round match at Wimbledon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VENUS WILLIAMS, 5-TIME WIMBLEDON SINGLES CHAMPION: There are no words to describe how devastating and -- yes. I am completely speechless. It's just -- yes. I mean, I'm just -- maybe I should go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WIRE: Venus won her first match in Wimbledon over unseeded Elise Mertens. But clearly this tragic accident weighing on her emotions, took the best of her after this match.

All right. Phillies player Freddy Galvis had quite a day yesterday. He arrived at the hospital at 3:00 a.m. with his wife Anna, when she went into labor at about 6:00 a.m. They were blessed with the birth of their second daughter Nicole. The two decided Freddy should go to work so the Phillies posted this photo on the JumboTron congratulating the new parents saying, our family grew today."

Then, with the hospital band still on his wrist, on a couple hours of sleep, he swung at the first pitch he saw and hits the home run. He marches around those bases as Phillies go on to beat the Pirates 4-0. But Galvis delivering a home run and his wife delivering them a baby girl -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: I guess it's a good thing he went to work that day. That's great.

Great story, Coy. Thank you.

WIRE: You're welcome.

CAMEROTA: All right. So, there's a surging job market, strong job numbers. President Trump taking credit for both. We're going to fact-check the president's claims on these, next.

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[06:52:16] BERMAN: All right. From job creation, to surging stock prices, President Trump is quick to take credit for a strong economy. He wrote this yesterday: Really great numbers on jobs and the economy. Things are starting to kicking in now and we have just begun.

Don't like steel and aluminum dumping? Dow hit a new intraday all- time high. I wonder whether or not the fake news media will so report?

Let's breakdown the numbers and look at how much credit really goes to the president. Joining us now is CNN chief business correspondent, star of "EARLY START", Christine Romans, and CNN global economic analyst, Rana Foroohar.

Rana, I want to start with you.

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Yes.

BRIGGS: Let's listen to what the president says about jobs here. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Probably seldom has any president and administration done more or had so much success early on, a record number of resolutions to eliminate job-killing regulations and we see it all over the country where jobs are starting that would never have started ever under any circumstances.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And, in fact, the unemployment rate is historically low here.

FOROOHAR: It is.

BERMAN: But is the job situation any better under President Trump than it was at the end of the Obama administration?

FOROOHAR: Absolutely not. I mean, the most important thing is we're actually at the end of a recovery cycle. I mean, we have been in economic recovery for almost a decade, believe it or not. It may not feel like that always but jobs have been created for a long time and it's true, unemployment at near record lows in the post crisis era.

Unfortunately, wages haven't really ticked up and that's what people really feel in their pocketbooks. And that's why a lot of people are saying, where is the recovery? Either way, under Obama or under Trump.

BERMAN: And, in fact, if you look at the last three months, aside from the unemployment rate, the job growth is slower.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's slower than it was the last couple years. This is just February to May. We're going to have a new jobs report on Friday and it's expected to show wages maybe 1.3 percent wage growth.

The president has promised wages will start to come back. So, he has made that promise. We don't know exactly how. It has been a tremendous recovery in terms of the number of jobs created, over the past few years and now, it seems to be stalling a bit.

BERMAN: Things are good. Things are pretty good right now. They're just not markedly better than they were before, which is what the president was claiming and that gets to the stock market here, which is something the president says that we don't talk about. I happen to know because I used to sit next to you every morning for a long time. You talk about it every day.

ROMANS: I talked about it every day. This is the Trump bump -- but look, the S&P 500, that's 500 stocks, the broadest gauge of the American stock market, up 16 percent almost since the president was elected. That's really remarkable.

Now, I want to show you that on top of the last several years. This is what it looked like before the president came into office and you're going to see it in one second. The Trump bump is a little bit on the end of what has been a very long and robust rally there.

[06:55:04] That puts it in context. What is so interesting to me is this president of the United States takes credit for that red line, but gives no credit to anybody else for the blue that gets up to that point.

BERMAN: More than that, he ran against it.

ROMANS: He did. He did.

FOROOHAR: Also, I mean, you know, if you wanted to say who is in charge of the stock market boom, Janet Yellen, you know, it's really, the head of the Fed, they kept interest rates low, they pumped $4 trillion into the markets over the last few years. Really it's neither Obama or Trump that deserves credit.

ROMANS: Talking about that chart too that I find interesting is that shows an investor class that has been enriched under this presidency and the prior administration.

FOROOHAR: Yes.

ROMANS: So, the investor class has done very well.

Donald Trump, the president, has not shown he can connect the investor class to the working class. Working class voters except for low gas prices which also the White House has to get credit for, that's the real --

BERMAN: Let's talk about the low gas prices right now, because the average, today is, what, it's $2.23 per gallon, which is really low.

ROMANS: Good.

BERMAN: It's as low as it's been since 2005. Again, this is undeniably good, and I'm more than willing to give whoever is in office credit but then everyone else deserves credit as well.

FOROOHAR: I mean, if you want to talk about low gas prices, you can talk about China. China's slowing down. That's one of the reasons the demand in the global economy for oil and for gas is actually decreased. I mean, it really has nothing to do with the administration global markets price oil and gas.

BERMAN: Romans, gas?

ROMANS: I think prices are going to start to go up a little bit but look, you have a supply glut, weakening demand and you got very low gas. What is funny to me is every four years, candidates campaign on I can low he your gas prices and none of them really can. It is a global market.

ROMANS: But I think that for the working class voters who voted for Donald Trump in particular, the number one indicator are those lower gas prices. And I haven't seen a big change in the jobs situation for those workers yet, and he's promising that's going to come. BERMAN: There is an interesting economic numbers out just today this

week, which may be a little bit of a warning sign and that has to do with auto sales.

ROMANS: Yes, you're seeing auto sales start to stall here, and really six months in a row stalling auto sales. At the time -- these are big manufacturing jobs, right? This is the big part of the manufacturing base of the United States, and it's a cyclical industry, right? So, now, we're at the end where things are starting to taper off.

Another interesting point about auto sales is the average car loan right now is 69 months and people are getting -- that's a long time. I think that shows a little bit of distress for so many of the people who have been buying record numbers of cars.

FOROOHAR: And, you know, one of the areas the people are actually defaulting on these days has been auto loans. So, there's a little bit of trouble in that market. Student loans, too. We haven't talked about that.

ROMANS: Even as the president is talking about having these companies, make more of their cars here, sell their cars here, starting to see that slowdown.

BERMAN: So, I have two questions, leading questions. Bottom line, is the economy pretty good right now?

ROMANS: Yes.

FOROOHAR: Relative to what it's been, you know, pre-crisis, yes. But if you think about over the long haul, every recovery since the '90s has been longer and weaker than the one before. So, we're dealing with big, long-term problems in the economy, that really have nothing to do with this president.

BERMAN: So, I was going to say, the other question the follow-up question, does he deserve, the president deserve any more credit than any other president does for this type of situation?

ROMANS: I think presidents get too much credit and blame for what's going on in the economy.

FOROOHAR: I agree with that.

ROMANS: You know, the numbers, the irony for this president, the numbers he absolutely did not agree with a year ago now he is calling his own, right? So that's --

BERMAN: And he says he's not a politician but in fact that is the epitome of politics.

Rana Foroohar and Christine Romans, thank so much. Appreciate it.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

BERMAN: All right. Thanks to our international viewers for watching. For you, CNN NEWSROOM is next. For our U.S. viewers, a special July 4th edition of NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: North Korea claimed a successful test of an ICBM, an intercontinental ballistic missile.

TRUMP: The nuclear and ballistic missile programs of that regime require a determined response.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The real key to this has got to be China. They're the ones of that the power to influence the behavior in North Korea.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All options are on the table. We want to bring Kim Jong-un to his senses, not to his knees.

BERMAN: The president is preparing for a crucial international trip that could reshape the global political landscape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: German Chancellor Angela Merkel warning ahead of the G20 she's going to be publicly confronting Donald Trump on very big policy issues.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to a special Independence Day edition of NEW DAY. Chris is off today. And John Berman joins me this morning.

Happy Fourth.

BERMAN: Happy Fourth.

CAMEROTA: Great to have you here.

So, we do have breaking news for you. North Korea claims it's hit a frightening miles, its first successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile. This launch potentially a potential major advance from the regime's efforts to build nuclear weapons capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.

BERMAN: President Trump responded with a statement on Twitter. He seemed to be mocking the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He said, does this guy have anything better to do with his life?