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EARLY START

U.S. Withdrawing From Paris Climate Accord; Warriors Dominate Cavs in Game 1 Blowout. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired June 2, 2017 - 05:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, we're getting out, but we will start to negotiate and we will see if we can make a deal that's fair. And if we can, that's great. If we can't, that's fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: This announcement represents a seismic shift in the U.S. role on the world stage. President Trump pulls out of a landmark climate accord. The move has the rest of the world asking, what is America's future in global affairs?

[05:00:02] EARLY START's coverage begins right now.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Victor Blackwell, in for Dave Briggs.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Friday, June 2nd. It is 5:00 a.m. in the east.

Nice to see you all this morning.

BLACKWELL: Good to be here.

ROMANS: Nice to see you, Victor, this morning.

The United States no longer a global leader combating climate change. President Trump announcing he is withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, a process now that will take until November 2020 to complete. What's going on in November 2020?

The sweeping move fulfills a campaign promise, but it is prompting sharp backlash from nations around the world.

BLACKWELL: Speaking from the Rose Garden, the president said he wants to renegotiate key parts of the agreement, but there are stark warnings this morning that the U.S. is ceding a leadership role held shaping world events since World War II.

Our coverage begins with Jim Acosta at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christi and Victor, key U.S. allies are telling President Trump they are not willing to renegotiate the Paris climate agreement. Leaders from France, Germany and Italy are all telling the White House there will be no renegotiations in response to the president's comments that he would like to strike a better climate deal. The president made it clear during a speech at the White House that he's thinking more about key voters in states like Pennsylvania than the U.S. allies that are now disappointed that the U.S. is withdrawing from the deal.

Here's more of what he had to say.

TRUMP: It is time to exit the Paris accord and time to pursue a new deal that effects the environment and our companies, our citizens, and our country. It is time to put Youngstown, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, along with many, many, other locations within our great country before Paris, France. It's time to make America great again.

ACOSTA: The president's daughter Ivanka had been pushing the president to stay in the climate agreement. She and her husband Jared Kushner did not attend the president's speech. A White House official said they were observing a Jewish holiday in the morning, but the official noted Kushner opted to keep a prescheduled meeting at the White House rather than attend the president's speech -- Christine and Victor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. You heard Jim mention France, Germany, Italy, all swiftly pushing back against the president's intention to renegotiate parts of the climate deal.

CNN's Melissa Bell is in Paris for us this morning. I want to bring her for more on the response from key European allies.

Good morning, Melissa. You know, the French papers this morning withering in their assessment of the president's move.

MELLISA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Withering is the right word, Christine. There is this real sense of anger. I've just been speaking to the man who was the architect of the Paris deal, France's former prime minister, who said that Donald Trump had really demonstrated a great deal of arrogance, that was his word. I think that is the bitter taste that has been left in the mouth of many European leaders this morning with Emmanuel Macron. It was quite late last night when this announcement was made European time.

And yet, the French president still spoke -- chose to speak from the palace at just before midnight, really choosing his words carefully to reflect those chosen by Donald Trump just a few hours before. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: We all share the same responsibility: make our planet great again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: There is this sense that really this move by the United States has galvanized the determination of the rest of the world to act together. We're going to hear later on today from Brussels, joint statement between the European Union and China that they intend to not only keep up their commitments to the Paris deal, but actually to accelerate their cooperation, so really what will see is a pivot away from the United States by Europe, away from what has been a historic and essential ally to other potential allies as European leaders look ahead, not just to the global challenge that is posed by climate change, but to many of the other global challenges going ahead, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Melissa Bell for us this morning in Paris. Love the Champs Elysees -- nice to see you, thank you.

BLACKWELL: To China this morning, reaffirming its commitment to fight climate change, promising to be a, quote, responsible party after the U.S. bailed. One European leader warning if America steps off the world stage, the Chinese are in prime position to fill the vacuum.

Let's bring in CNN's Matt Rivers for more on Chinese plans. He's live in Beijing.

So, what are the plans?

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the plans are to kind of be the de facto leader of the Paris climate agreement now and why is that? Whether the Chinese want that or not, China is the biggest greenhouse gas emitting country in the world and they are the largest economy that remains in the Paris agreement. And so, whether China likes it or not, other countries around the world are going to be looking at what the Chinese do when it comes to sticking to this agreement. How far are they willing to go to fight climate change?

And other countries will be following China's example because China, as the biggest greenhouse gas emitter, as the biggest economy that remains in the agreement, they have the biggest ability to create change when it comes to fighting climate change.

[05:05:11] And so far, it does appear that the Chinese are willing to do quite a bit. They have already said that they're going to commit 360 billion U.S. dollars to develop clean energy projects over the next three or four years. And they've already shut down about 105 coal power plant projects scheduled to be built this year. So, it does appear they're putting their money where their mouth is.

As to commenting specifically on the United States, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not criticize the U.S. specifically, saying only that China would remain in the agreement, but a state-run tabloid newspaper called "The Global Times" called the U.S. withdrawal reckless and said it is an example of how the U.S. can sometimes be selfish and irresponsible -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Matt Rivers giving us the view from Beijing, thank you.

ROMANS: So, these critics, you've been hearing them from around the world. They say America's influence on world events is now diminished and America could find itself taking a backseat on other critical global issues.

I want to go live to London right now and bring in CNN's Frederik Pleitgen.

And, Fred, talk us through sort of the ramifications for other issues, trade issues, other diplomatic issues of importance because of the U.S. move on the Paris climate deal.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, trade issues, security issues, political issues, of course, as well, international alliances also. I think especially with the European allies, you're going to see many of them look to different partners for many things, especially when you're speaking about things like international trade, which, of course, also is kind of embedded into the whole climate change complex as well, because so much of it involves putting together new industries and new concepts as well to try and create infrastructure for the future.

So, there are a lot of European allies that are already doing that. And then all this, of course, bleeds into the political realm as well, Christine, where in the future, if you have a dispute between the U.S. and China, for instance, be it a trade dispute, a political dispute, you know, a regional dispute perhaps in the Pacific region, where for instance are the Europeans going to stand if they have deeper political and economic ties with the country like China or could be a country like India or perhaps even Russia if you're talking about European affairs.

So, certainly, this does stand to have very big ramifications and it is one of the things that European leaders have been saying, for instance, the European Commission, you know, just coming out yesterday and saying he believes that China could fill a vacuum if indeed the U.S. did what it has now done and exited the climate deal.

ROMANS: Yes, China this morning actually vowing that it will be the responsible player on the global stage, clearly taking that public relations gift -- thank you so much for that, Fred Pleitgen, for us this morning in London.

BLACKWELL: So, President Trump here explaining his decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We don't want other leaders and other countries laughing at us anymore. And they won't be. They won't be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Were other nations laughing at us? Are they now? What business leaders think, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:12:11] ROMANS: President Trump says the Paris accord is a raw deal for American business, business leaders -- well, they don't agree with this president at all. Top CEOs expressing disappointment over the president's decision to withdraw. Big names like General Electric CEO Jim Immelt, Apple's Tim Cook, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla founder Elon Musk and the Disney chief, Bob Iger.

They went so far -- they quit the president's business council. It even inspired Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein to send his first tweet ever. The guy doesn't tweet, but he did yesterday. He wrote, the decision is a setback for both the environment and the U.S. leadership position in the world.

Hundreds of companies in every industry support this deal. I mean, not just lefty tech. We're talking finance, consumer products, oil companies. That's because corporate America says this president is looking backwards. Clean energy and tech is the future.

Climate change, they say, is real, and they want to be leaders on adapting to it. They don't want to cede the competitive edge to China, Russia or Europe. Now, the president and his -- the critics of the deal say this Paris deal was simply a jobs killer. But job growth in clean energy is outpacing any old school energy sector. For example, last year, the solar industry grew 17 times faster than the average. Solar employs more than twice as many Americans as coal. Trump would like to get that coal number up again.

Climate change is a business risk and companies already made plans based on lowering carbon emissions, those CEOs are saying they're not going to change course now. Overall, frankly, business leaders are outraged. You will not find that outrage, though, in the opinion pages of "The Wall Street Journal". This sort of standard bearer of the business view actually applauding the president's move, calling the Paris deal a pledge of phony progress.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's talk about this now.

Joining us this morning, political economist Greg Valliere. He's chief strategist at Horizon Investments.

Good morning to you.

ROMANS: Hi, Greg.

GREG VALLIERE, POLITICAL ECONOMIST: Hey, guys.

BLACKWELL: You got former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers calling this the biggest foreign policy error since entering the Iraq war. David Gergen calling it one of the most shameful acts in U.S. history.

You say what?

VALLIERE: Well, I think there say lot of hyperventilating over a deeply flawed treaty. I was particularly stunned to hear David Gergen say it was one of the most shameful acts in U.S. history. Really? Like compared to slavery? Or Japanese internment? Or treatment of Americans?

So, I mean, the rhetoric has been pretty heated. When you look at the treaty, it has tons of loopholes. It's not enforceable. The alleged progress would be minimal.

So, I mean, I'm hardly a huge supporter of Trump. But I do think there's a lot of flaws in this treaty.

ROMANS: So, assuming there are flaws in this treaty. I mean, to get 195 countries to agree to any one thing, you can only imagine the kind of horse trading that went on.

VALLIERE: Yes.

ROMANS: Let's talk about the symbolism here, though. When you have all of the world leaders from capitals around the world saying the president made the wrong move, and he is distancing himself from this global community that has been the standard post-World War II, doesn't that concern you about what this means for the U.S. role in other issues?

[05:15:19] VALLIERE: I think it is intentional, Christine.

ROMANS: I think you might be right.

VALLIERE: I think this administration and Steve Bannon want to isolate the U.S., fortress America, let's disengage from all of these global conflicts, nation building, things like that. So I think it is a consequence of what happened, but I think it is an intended consequence.

ROMANS: Yes. We're showing sort of who wanted to stay in it, who wanted to leave the deal, and clearly, we were told -- Dana Bash's reporting that this president was 10,000 percent sure that he needed to do this, that his base -- his base are those coal miners, are those old heavy industry neighborhoods.

You know, he mentioned Pittsburgh, he said he wants to -- he did this for Pittsburgh and not Paris. I was struck by that, because in 2012, Pittsburgh hosted the G-20 and it was held up as the model of the post-carbon economy.

VALLIERE: Right.

ROMANS: Steel cratered there, and now it is the center of the hub for technology for autonomous cars, diverse base, niche manufacturing, but also with tech and startups. Using Pittsburgh, I found, was not the right example.

VALLIERE: Fully agree. I mean, e has a view of Pittsburgh that is about 50 years old. But, you know this dystopian view of things falling apart, that's all part of the Steve Bannon line.

But let's get realistic here. If Trump runs again and he may run again, he's got to put together the same Electoral College map. So, it's not a coincidence he mentioned Youngstown, Pittsburgh, he has to win Ohio, has to win Pittsburgh -- Pennsylvania. These are voters who feel ignored: blue collar, white voters, who abandoned Hillary Clinton. That's who I think the message was intended for.

BLACKWELL: And you see here on the screen, this is a tweet from Bill Peduto, the mayor of Pittsburgh, who was on with Wolf Blitzer yesterday. He says here, Hillary Clinton received 80 percent of the vote in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh stands with the world and will follow Paris agreement.

Let me also go to this issue of playing to the president's base and this being a domestic message. The president set up this dichotomy between jobs and the environment. But aren't those jobs, this green tech sector that is blossoming, those jobs now are vulnerable to be shipped off to Asia, to China, to India namely?

VALLIERE: Well, I think, Victor, the two are not exclusive. You can have jobs, you can have environmental controls. I think this is one of the many flaws in his talk.

And there were many things in his talk, as usual, that were challenged by the facts. So, you would have to say that this could be a problem.

But there is nothing in what he said yesterday that would not preclude U.S. cities, U.S. states, U.S. companies, from meeting emissions standards and I think they will.

ROMANS: Are you surprised, Bob Iger, I sat down with Bob Iger, asked him about his role on the advisory panel with the president. And he told me, Greg, he said, well, I haven't been in one of the meetings yet, which kind of raised my interest that he wasn't fully committed really to maybe Team Trump here. But he -- you know, he's putting that advisory panel, what do you make of the high profile moves from CEOs?

VALLIERE: Well, a lot of it is about public relations. Do they really want to tell their customers they favor pulling out of the Paris accords? It sounds like killing the Easter Bunny or something. Nobody wants to -- nobody wants to fess up to that.

But, again, I would just reiterate, guys, if you look at this treaty, it is a really flawed treaty. And by the way, the full Senate would never approve this deal.

ROMANS: Oh, yes, as it stands today, no, I don't think you have -- would not be ratified.

VALLIERE: Yes.

BLACKWELL: All right. Greg Valliere, we'll continue this conversation next time. Thanks so much.

ROMANS: Get a cup of covfefe and come back to us in about 30 minutes.

VALLIERE: OK. BLACKWELL: The NBA finals are under way. If the rest of the series goes like game one, this could be over pretty quickly.

Coy Wire with highlights in this morning's "Bleacher Report", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:26] BLACKWELL: The Warriors still with another W, remain perfect in the NBA playoffs now, taking down the Cavaliers in game one of the finals blowout.

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

Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. And, Victor, good to see you.

Thirteen and O, the Warriors are now. This is one of the most anticipated NBA finals of all time. Warriors versus Cavaliers for the third straight year. Last night's game one, a dunk fest, establishing dominance was the mission.

LeBron James getting it started early, throwing down with authority, the Cavs overcame that 3-1 series deficit to shock Golden State last year. But the Warriors didn't have this guy, Kevin Durant, NBA MVP, future hall of famer, stepping into the spotlight on basketball's biggest stage, a game high 38 points. Warriors roll 113-91.

Here is Durant after the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN DURANT, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: This is your dream as a kid, to play at that highest level. It is hard to do, you want to do, it is hard to, you know, stay like that for 48 minutes.

LEBRON JAMES, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: You cannot simulate what they bring to the table, no matter how many days they have to prepare. We made a lot of mistakes, they capitalize and we get an opportunity to get a couple of days to see what they did, to see what we did wrong and how we can do better in game two.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Music star Rihanna believes in LeBron, sitting court side. She made her presence and allegiance to the Cavs felt. Social media blowing up after she yells brick during the game during Kevin Durant's free throws. Durant had the last glare, staring RiRi down after burying this three-pointer.

[05:25:02] Here it comes.

Durant, what were you thinking?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REPORTER: Was that on purpose or do you remember that or --

DURANT: I don't remember that.

REPORTER: Well, just let you know, social media is buzzing about it.

DURANT: Really?

REPORTER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't get in that trap.

DURANT: I'm not getting in that. I'm cool. Have fun with that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: I want to share this shining example of sportsmanship and respect from the second round of the French Open. Juan Martin Del Potro, seeing his opponent Nicolas Almagro, writhing in pain in frustration, a knee injury forcing him to quit, Del Potro saying he just wanted to do what his heartfelt, later tweeting: I can imagine how you feel, be strong.

Finally, I'm not sure if you can call it a rain delay, but there were some sprinkles during yesterday's A's-Indian game in Cleveland. Sprinklers in the outfield at Progressive Field, Christine.

Isn't this outstanding? It was a sixth inning sprinkle. Somebody forgot to change the timer. But it couldn't cool off Cleveland. They would go on to win 8-0 in this game -- guys.

ROMANS: Where is the timer? Where is the timer?

BLACKWELL: Every face there just says, are you serious? Are you serious?

ROMANS: All right. Thanks. Nice to see you.

BLACKWELL: Thanks, Coy.

ROMANS: We also want to note, of course, Dave isn't here today. That's because Dave will be co-hosting an NBA finals special tomorrow afternoon. Dave and Turner Sports analyst Steve Smith, a former NBA all-star, they're going to have an in-depth look at the Cavs/Warriors matchup. "All Access at the NBA Finals," a CNN "Bleacher Report" special at 2:30 Eastern tomorrow afternoon.

All right. Near global condemnation for the president's decision to bail out of the Paris climate accord. Here is former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY SUMMERS, FORMER TREASURY SECRETARY: This is the biggest U.S. foreign policy error since entering the Iraq war. The United States did a lot to forfeit its claim to be a leader among nations. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So, who are the leaders among nations? Live coverage from around the world, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)