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EARLY START

Harris, Warren Climb in Post-Debate Poll; Iran Nuclear Deal Crumbling; CNN Exclusive: Dems Investigating Pompeo Security; What Killed Tyler Skaggs?. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 2, 2019 - 04:00   ET

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


[04:00:19] DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: A major shift in the 2020 Democratic race. Big movement after the first debate. Who's up, who's down? A new CNN poll just moments away.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN ANCHOR: The president says Iran is playing with fire, exceeding limits in the now crumbling nuclear deal. Is Tehran beyond the point of no return?

BRIGGS: Uber Eats with guns. Our Michelle Kosinski has learned exclusively House Democrats investigating how the secretary of state and his family are using their security detail.

KOSINSKI: And tragedy hits Major League Baseball. Twenty-seven-year- old Tyler Skaggs, the pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels, dies suddenly in Texas.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and now around the world.

BRIGGS: Yes.

KOSINSKI: This is great. This is EARLY START. I'm Michelle Kosinski.

BRIGGS: Good morning to you. Good morning, everyone. I'm Dave Briggs, Tuesday, July 2nd. It is 4:00 a.m. here in New York, 4:00 p.m. in Hong Kong.

We begin with that 2020 race. It is early in what will be a very long race, but we have now proof that one debate can certainly make a difference. A new CNN poll showing initial voter reaction for the first Democratic debate, it has big moves up and correspondingly down. The top tier now plainly clustered into four leaders -- Biden, Harris, Warren, and Sanders. The numbers include some big gains for both Harris and Warren.

KOSINSKI: One noteworthy result though for Biden. Despite coming under scrutiny on civil rights issues, support for the former vice president remains strong among black voters. The poll also has some interesting opinions on health care. More on that in a moment.

First, we begin with Phil Mattingly in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michelle, and Dave, you saw the first debates. Now, we're seeing the first poll in the wake of those debates and it shows a dramatically tightening race. Joe Biden, the lone frontrunner, has seen his lead dwindle, to now just five points, losing ten points from a CNN poll conducted in May, now just leading the field at 22 percent.

Two other Democratic senators skyrocketing to some degree. Kamala Harris on the heels of that major debate seeing her numbers shoot up nine points from the May survey, putting her in second place. Elizabeth Warren seeing a bump of her own, eight points on her side in the wake of that debate.

Bernie Sanders also seeing not unlike Joe Biden, a drop of his own, falling four points and now coming fourth, at least according to the polls. Pete Buttigieg rolling out there, really closing out the top five at a much lower level of 4 percent.

What this all underscores, one, is that the race is fluid, the race is early and Joe Biden who for a long time had been a double digit frontrunner simply isn't at least at this point. Now, it is a snapshot of time. This does not mean the be all or end all in this Democratic primary, which still has months to go, but it does raise a lot of questions in the wake of Joe Biden's performance in that debate, which is widely panned, had some advisers concerned.

Now, you're seeing numbers to back up that there is a rise with some of his competitors. One of the big questions now is not just the polling, but also the finances. On June 30th, that was the last day for the finance deadline. We should see numbers rolling out soon. We've already seeing the first, that coming from Mayor Pete Buttigieg, recording almost $25 million raised in the second quarter. That's more than triple what he raised in the first quarter, 290,000 individual donors.

What that means for Pete Buttigieg who when you put it in context, nobody even knew who he was. Even though the poll numbers might not be there right now, financially, he is there. And he's certainly now the financial wherewithal, with more than $22 million cash on hand, to extend himself throughout the course of this primary.

Will the numbers follow that? That remains an open question.

As this new CNN poll shows, obviously, things are very fluid and clearly changing depending on the day -- guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: And very early. Phil, thanks.

There is a glaring contradiction when it comes to health care in this new CNN poll. Only 30 percent of potential Democratic voters want a national program like Medicare-for-All to replace private insurance. But 29 percent favor a national program while keeping private insurers too. So, almost half want both in play when it comes to which candidate can best handle the health care issue, Bernie Sanders comes out on top with 26 percent.

KOSINSKI: Wow.

BRIGGS: Now he strongly backs Medicare-for-All and wants to see the end of private insurance.

KOSINSKI: And on the topic of health coverage for undocumented immigrants, all 10 Democratic candidates raise their hands to support it during the second night of debates last week. According to CNN's poll, that is not a popular position, 59 percent of all voters are against it while only 38 percent support it.

Six in ten potential Democratic voters favor health coverage for the undocumented.

[04:05:02] BRIGGS: Whatever remains of the Iran nuclear deal appears to be crumbling. On Monday, the Iranians declared they have exceeded the stockpile limit for low and enriched uranium, allowed because Europe has not been able to mitigate the impact of U.S. sanctions. President Trump was asked if he has a message for the Iranian regime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They know what they're doing. They know what they're playing with and I think they're playing with fire, so no message to Iran whatsoever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: U.K. Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt insists if Iran breaks the nuclear deal, Britain is, quote, out of it as well. But Iran claims it has not violated anything.

Nick Paton Walsh has some answers for us live from London.

Nick, good morning.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The technicalities, Dave, incredibly hard to get to the bottom of. But basically, what Iran has done is exceeded the amount of uranium that it's allowed to have under the deal, 660 pounds, 300 kilograms of uranium to 3.6 percent, useless, frankly, if you want to make a nuclear bomb, but that is the first violation of the deal they have made.

It is entirely symbolic, frankly, and it comes after months of trying to get European powers to come up with a mechanism that means that they, Iran, can somehow still benefit from some kind of sanctions relief or trading with the outside world. It hasn't worked. It's unlikely to work. So, what you have now instead is a series of escalatory moves.

The U.K. saying, well, maybe, we have to get out if you're going to start breaking terms. And, of course, hardliners in Iran saying, well, what's the point of being in this pact if we simply agree to stop on nuclear capabilities as we agree to honor the deal, but everyone else seems to get away with what they want to do.

It really does nothing to calm tensions in the region here. There are threats of enriching further. Remember, you have to get to 20 percent enrichment of uranium for people beginning to worry about the breakout towards a nuclear weapon. That's far in the distance. What's much closer here is this escalating rhetoric and now as you saw with tankers in the Persian Gulf being targeted and U.S. and others blaming Iran for that, that makes concern they could be stumbling into a conflict, however much Donald Trump has made it clear he doesn't want a war with Iran -- Dave.

BRIGGS: All right. Nick Paton Walsh live in London for us this morning, 9:07 a.m. there, thank you, Bick.

OK. A check on CNN Business now. The U.S. is heating up its trade fight with the European Union over aircraft subsidies, just as tension with China begins to slowdown. The U.S. is proposing new tariffs on the E.U. worth $4 billion. The tariffs cover 89 products, including meat, cheese, pastas, fruit, coffee and whisky, according to the tariffs on E.U. exports worth $21 billion announced in April.

Washington has been locked in a dispute with the E.U. over -- E.U. for years over Boeing and Airbus. The Trump administration has already imposed tariffs on European steel and aluminum. The E.U. responded with tariffs on U.S. goods worth more than $3 billion.

Trump has also threatened to slap tariffs up to 25 percent on cars coming into the U.S., a move that could hit European automotive powerhouses like Germany and France. There will be a public hearing next month to discuss the proposal. Before the news broke, stocks rose on trade optimism. The S&P 500 set a new closing record. Investors will be looking closely to see if stocks can hold on to those gains.

KOSINSKI: CNN has learned exclusively that Democrats on a key House committee are investigating the use of taxpayer-funded diplomatic security by Secretary Mike Pompeo and his family. According to a whistle-blower who sparked this investigation, against say at times they felt like Uber Eats with guns, because there have been multiple issues over a period of months with special agents at times being asked to carry out tasks that they feel are questionable for the Pompeo family.

In April, for example, one agent was asked to pick up Chinese food, and the whistle-blower claims on another occasion a special agent was asked to pick up the family dog from a groomer.

Lon Fairchild is the special agent in charge in Diplomatic Security Service. He did not deny these tasks were asked to carry out. And he released a statement about Secretary Pompeo.

At no point during my service did he or any member of his family ask me or any member of my team to act in any way that would be inconsistent with our professional obligation.

But a former senior diplomatic security official tells CNN such tasks would not be appropriate, especially without the secretary himself in the car.

BRIGGS: OK. The shocking death of Tyler Skaggs rocking the sports world and its fans mourning this morning. The 27-year-old Los Angeles Angels pitcher was found unresponsive in his South Lake, Texas hotel room on Monday. The Angels were in town to play the Rangers.

Texas manager Chris Woodward says everyone was shaken by the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WOODWARD, MANAGER, TEXAS RANGERS: There were a lot of pretty emotional guys in there. You could tell it -- some guys knew him.

[04:10:03] Some guys -- you know, I think Chavy actually played with him in L.A. Some guys that didn't know him were pretty visibly shaken. You could tell. Like I said, this is something that we don't deal with on a daily basis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Police tell the "Los Angeles Times" they do not suspect foul play nor suicide.

On Sunday, when the team touched down in Texas, Skaggs posted this photo on Instagram, of all his teammates wearing cowboy hats. You can see Skaggs on the right side there, black cowboy hat.

The young pitcher was just married at the end of 2018. December 31st Instagram post shows him with his wife along with the words "2018 was the best year yet".

Back in Anaheim, Angels fans mourned outside the stadium. One of them wore a jersey bearing the name of Nick Adenhart, an Angels pitcher who was killed 10 years ago in a car crash. Moments of silence and tributes around the Major Leagues last night. Monday's game between the Angels and Rangers was postponed because of Skaggs death. The rest of the series expects to continue as scheduled today. Skaggs teammates reeling from the loss.

Mike Trout of the Angels tweeting: words cannot express the deep sadness we feel right now. Our thoughts and prayers are with Carly and their families, remembering him as a great teammate, friend and person who will forever remain in our hearts.

And Yankee slugger Giancarlo Stanton who lost a friend to a boating accident in 2016 said this: Trying to focus and understand how important your strength is for his family, all of your supporters and anyone looking for the power to overcome something, they're looking at you for guidance, so all you really need is each other right now.

KOSINSKI: Heartbreaking story.

BRIGGS: Yes, hopefully, some answers today or later this week on exactly what happened.

KOSINSKI: Right. It was a shock yesterday but when you saw his age, if you weren't familiar.

BRIGGS: Yes.

Twenty-seven years old, so much ahead of him. Tragic for the community.

KOSINSKI: Well, cleanup is just beginning after protestors stormed the legislative building in Hong Kong, but trouble runs much deeper than broken glass. A live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:16:46] KOSINSKI: Divisions among dissenters are sharpening in Hong Kong after an angry core of protesters stormed the legislative building. The demonstrators themselves taking this footage. The president of Hong Kong's legislative council calling the building a big crime scene now with security systems damaged and spray paint used to vandalize the chamber.

Overnight, Beijing weighing in calling the protests, quote, an undisguised challenge to the one country, two systems policy.

Here to explain the high stakes, CNN's Anna Coren live in Hong Kong.

How do people feel about the momentum of this, about the likelihood that these protests will continue at this level?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michelle, the protestors themselves are deeply divided as to what they should do now. We saw that division yesterday when they were deciding whether or not to storm the legislative council building where I am, and you can see the damage -- the smashed doors, the smashed windows. It was -- they were incredible scenes that we witnessed yesterday when these protesters spent hours ramming those doors, finally getting access and making their way all through to the chamber. They graffitied the walls, they defaced public property. There is deep division as to whether they should have taken that action.

Obviously, the Hong Kong government and Beijing, as you say, have condemned this as violent action carried out by extremists. We should stress, Michelle, that these were a small group of protesters, too, 500,000 people took to the streets in a peaceful march yesterday to commemorate the anniversary of the Hong Kong handover from Britain's mainland China back in 1997.

So, the people here of Hong Kong, the protesters that we saw carrying out these violent acts, they say that it was a last resort. It was an act of desperation because the Hong Kong government isn't listening.

Let's now take a listen to what Carrie Lam had to say after hundreds of riot police dispersed the hundreds of thousands who protested here overnight. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARRIE LAM, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF HONG KONG: Nothing is more important than the rule of law in Hong Kong, so I hope community at large will agree with us that with these violent acts that we have seen, it is right for us to condemn it and hope society will return to normal as soon as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Michelle, arrests are expected. We've already heard that from the Hong Kong government. There is a real fear that this has played into the government hands, played into the hands of the Chinese government giving them an even better reason to tighten their grip of Hong Kong, which has been a semi-autonomous region for the past 22 years, Michelle.

KOSINSKI: Daily evolution. Thanks for bringing it to us, Anna.

BRIGGS: OK. The White House looking for the next steps to take following President Trump's historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the DMZ over the weekend. Senior officials tell CNN that working level talks will restart in the next few weeks.

[04:20:03] For the latest on what to expect next, let's bring in will Ripley in Seoul, South Korea.

Will, obviously, the context here is that "New York Times" is reporting that the U.S. is considering a nuclear freeze for North Korea.

Is there an apparent split between John Bolton and President Trump?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. "The New York Times" reporting seems to have laid bare, Dave, this division within the Trump administration over the right way to approach North Korea this time around, because remember, diplomacy has been at a stand still ever since President Trump walked out of a summit talks in Hanoi Vietnam without the deal and without the sanctions relief that Kim Jong-un so desperately wants.

This time, around "The Times" has said that there are some elements of the administration more diplomatic, less hawkish members of the administration who want to see the administration consider compromise, a nuclear freeze, that would allow at least temporarily Kim to keep his nuclear arsenal, which is believed to include dozens of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles, that could potentially deliver them to the U.S., keep that arsenal in place, at least for now, in exchange for partial sanctions relief in the hope that down the road North Korea would be willing to eventually disarm completely once they feel their security has been sufficiently guaranteed.

But then you have the hawks, and the most vocal is the national security adviser John Bolton who actually tweeted about "The New York Times" article. He was clearly furious, taken by surprise, or at least taken by surprise by the fact that people who support this plan have spoke to "The New York Times." He accused it as being an attempt to box in President Trump, to force President Trump to compromise when Bolton and others believe that Kim should give up all his nukes or get nothing in terms of sanction relief. But, of course, here in South Korea, the belief held by many is that

that diplomatic approach over the last year just hasn't worked. In fact, it's been a non-starter for North Koreans who threatened to throw all diplomacy out the window if the U.S. didn't change its position. It should be interesting to see what happens when those working level talks resume in the next couple of weeks -- Dave.

BRIGGS: Will, to you, what's the first step for the U.S.? Is it a full accounting of what nukes they have and where they are?

RIPLEY: That would be nice, but at this stage, North Korea hasn't even agreed on a definition of denuclearization. That's the problem. These working level talks have resulted in zero progress.

You know, the top-down diplomacy, Kim and Trump, they seem to get along just find as we saw on display off the demilitarized over the weekend, that big, historic moment. The photo op and President Trump took 20 steps into North Korea. But then when officials from both sides have actually sat down at the table, they have not been able to make any progress about even the most basic definition of denuclearization or time line or accounting of the arsenal North Korea possesses.

BRIGGS: Great context there. Will Ripley life for us in Seoul, South Korea.

It's amazing, Michelle, round three beginning. And still, to Will's point, no agreeing definition.

KOSINSKI: Right.

BRIGGS: No accounting. Essentially nothing.

KOSINSKI: Yes, we've been talking about this for the long time with the same results.

BRIGGS: Most say that should have proceeded a first summit and now we're approaching a third.

KOSINSKI: Yes, the administration originally said that there needs to be happening before the meeting.

BRIGGS: That's right.

So, anyway, a big upset at Wimbledon. A 15-year-old player beating a player she idolized from afar.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:28:11] BRIGGS: Two major upsets on opening day at Wimbledon.

That is 15-year-old Cori "Coco" Gauff beating one of her idols, five- time Wimbledon champ Venus Williams. Gauff became the youngest ever to qualify for Wimbledon. She says Venus and her sister Serena were the reason she picked up a racket, so this is a bit surreal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: What did you say to Venus at the net, Cori? You seemed to be almost apologetic?

CORI GAUFF, DEFEATED VENUS WILLIAMS IN THE OPENING ROUND AT WIMBLEDON: I wasn't apologizing, I was telling her thank you for everything she's done for the sport. She's been an inspiration for many people. I was really telling her thank you. I met her before but I didn't really have the guts to say anything. I was like now or never.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Congrats to Coco. The other big day one upset. Japan's Naomi Osaka, the world's number two ranked player lost in straight sets to unseeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.

KOSINSKI: The U.S. women's national team just two wins away from a straight second World Cup title. Of course, first for the U.S., a semifinal match against England later today.

CNN's Amanda Davies joins us live from France with a preview.

So, this is nonstop excitement in these matches. Tell us about what's up today.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Oh, Michelle, good morning. This is a big day and it is one where I've got to admit, I'm struggling to maintain my professional neutrality just a little bit. It's a biggest game for both of these sides. The USA is looking to book their place in the final for a record fifth time. They're definitely the favorites up against an England side hoping to get there for the first time.

It's been Meghan Rapinoe who's been starring in the last two games, but you wonder if this is going to be Alex Morgan's moment. We saw her having a wander around on the pitch, barefoot actually on her own Sunday. She was really taking it all in because she's used to winning here in Lyon, having helped the club side to a treble of trophies when she played here.

END