[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] We can't allow people to get sick, and we can't have our youth be so affected.
[Dave Briggs, Cnn Anchor:] The president vowing to get flavored e- cigarettes off the market to curb a growing epidemic among America's youth.
[Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] Ten Democrats, one stage. The third debate is tonight and we have what to watch for in Houston.
[Briggs:] Breaking overnight, restrictions to dramatically limit asylum seekers at the southern border can take effect thanks to a ruling from the Supreme Court.
[Romans:] And was there a cover-up at last year's Triple Crown? A bombshell report says Justify failed a drug test before winning horse racing's biggest prize. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
[Briggs:] I'm Dave Briggs, 5:31 Eastern time. Also, got our hands on a letter from 145 U.S. executives urging the Senate to do something on gun violence. More on that in a moment. But first, the White House taking a big step to curb the widening vaping epidemic among young people. The Trump administration moving to ban flavored e-cigarettes with specifics expected in the coming weeks. Today's teens are smoking less tobacco, using fewer drugs, and drinking less alcohol, but vaping is a growing concern. Federal health officials find that more than a quarter 28 percent of all high school students use e-cigarettes. That number nearly doubled from 2017 to 2018.
[Trump:] Vaping has become a very big business, as I understand it like a giant business in a very short period of time. But we can't allow people to get sick and we can't have our youth be so affected.
[Alex Azar, Secretary; Department Of Health And Human Services:] So we simply have to remove these attractive flavored products from the marketplace.
[Romans:] The CDC says there have been six deaths and more than 450 vaping-related illnesses across the country. One of those is 18-year-old Adam Hergenreder. He vaped nicotine and marijuana and the habit nearly killed him. And doctors now say his lungs he has the lungs of a 70-year-old.
[Adam Hergenreder, Vaping Illness Patient:] I had the shivers and it and I couldn't control it. So I would just randomly convulse and it was really scary. I knew it wasn't a stroke but I felt like that because I couldn't control myself.
[Romans:] And this week, the FDA warned leading e-cigarette maker Juul against marketing its product as a safe alternative to smoking. More now from senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
[Elizabeth Cohen, Cnn Senior Medical Correspondent:] Dave, Christine, the White House is calling for a ban on nearly all flavored e- cigarettes. These are the flavors that have started this epidemic among young people candy-like flavors, sweet flavors, fruity flavors, mint. That's what started kids vaping and the White House says that they want to stop this. Some important notes here. Companies can still sell tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes. Some people have found that tobacco-flavored e- cigarettes helped them quit regular cigarettes. They say that it's been very useful. Another important note is that after this ban is in effect, companies such as Juul which is, of course, the big player here they can then apply to the FDA to start selling these exact same flavored e- cigarettes again. Some people are concerned about this. Anti-smoking advocates say that they hope the Trump administration makes it clear that the answer to those applications will be no Dave, Christine.
[Romans:] Elizabeth Cohen, thank you for that.
[Briggs:] All right. So that is bold action by the president, which we applaud, but the hypocrisy kind of stood out to a few people that 38 people in the last month have been killed in the gun violence epidemic in this country. Jimmy Kimmel pointed out that hypocrisy last night.
[Jimmy Kimmel, Host, Abc, "jimmy Kimmel Live":] Well, you know, the people who vape are young people, so Trump now wants to ban them to protect children from being harmed or killed. And I think that's good I'm fine with it. Hey, you know what else harms and kills children? Assault rifles do. So maybe if the NRA starts flavoring those he'll ban them, too.
[Romans:] We're starting to hear more from companies. We reported that Publix has said, you know, please do not in states where open-carry is allowed, we don't want you to carry your weapon in our grocery stores. And we've heard more and more from retailers like that.
[Briggs:] That's right. And now, "The New York Times" has their hands on a letter from 145 CEOs big businesses, small businesses, tech businesses, old businesses. Companies like Uber, Twitter, Yelp, Levi, Gap, Dick's, Airbnb 145 CEOs to the Senate, saying, "We urge the Senate to stand with the American public and take action on gun safety by passing a bill to require background checks on all gun sales and a strong red flag law that would allow courts to issue lifesaving extreme risk-protection orders." Bold action. We've often talked about business leading the way.
[Romans:] Yes.
[Briggs:] They are doing that on gun violence.
[Romans:] Let's talk about this. I want to bring in the editor and publisher of "Inside Elections," Nathan Gonzales. He's a CNN political analyst and he joins us live from Washington. Good morning. I mean, you will see these 10 Democrats on the debate stage tonight for three hours in a field that's tightening a little bit. Do you expect guns and gun violence to be a key issue tonight?
[Nathan Gonzales, Cnn Political Analyst, Editor And Publisher, Inside Elections:] Yes, I think it's going to continue to be. I think it's one of the top issues on the minds of Democratic primary voters and so it's going to be one of the top things that these Democratic candidates are going to talk about when they when they're on the stage tonight. You know, I think a lot of this I think this letter from the executives to Congress could shift things a little bit. I think, ultimately, this lies with the president. I think that the president has an opportunity to get something done on the gun issue. Traditionally, and one of the things that's been holding Republicans back on this is the influence of the NRA within the Republican Party, which has been a topic. But I believe the president actually has more influence within the Republican Party than the NRA. And if the president decides he wants to go in a certain direction on this issue and maybe be more moderate or progressive for a Republican on this issue, I think that would pressure Republican lawmakers to do something they haven't been they haven't wanted to do before.
[Romans:] Well, the presidential leadership, though I mean, he's been very clear where he stands on vaping, right? But on guns, he hasn't. Sometimes he says hey, you know, somebody who's got a mental problem should not have a should not have a gun, and then other times he talks about the slippery slope. And the president hasn't revealed what he what his moral compass is on this, right?
[Briggs:] Well, the president did
[Gonzales:] Yes.
[Briggs:] see, Nathan, the polling in the suburbs of North Carolina. That may explain some of the vaping moves there. But this is an eight out of 10 issue universal background checks in the Republican Party. Ninety percent issue in the country right now. Will that lead the way for this president to finally do something?
[Gonzales:] Well, I think the president cares about what people think of him and public opinion. He wants to be popular and well-liked. But it's viewed as a slippery slope within the Republican Party that they give a little bit of ground that all guns are going to be confiscated around the country. And so, that's why it's holding that's what I think that's holding this issue back right now.
[Romans:] Yes. Among Democrats, gun policy, gun violence is the third most important issue wait a minute, I'm looking at that wrong. The gun violence is 51 percent of voters very important to their vote. Let's look at the field of Democrats tonight because you're going to have basically the two liberal front-runners, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, together on the same stage with Joe Biden. Who's the target here? Is Warren the target because she's getting so much momentum out on the campaign trail?
[Gonzales:] Well, I don't know if there's a single target. First of all, it's going to be fun to have everyone on one stage even though it's still going to be a very crowded it's going to be a very crowded stage. But I think every each candidate is making a slightly different calculation. For someone like Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders, they might be still looking above them at Joe Biden because he's the one who is staying above them. For those that are in the second and their tier, they might not be trying to jump up to the first tier but say how can I continue to climb and get above? So they may not be may not try to punch up to the top and just try to get to the middle in a in a progressive way there.
[Briggs:] Yes. When you look at the best of the rest the lower tier if you will they've all had a breakout moment or so we thought Castro, O'Rourke. Certainly, Kamala Harris had that huge moment with Joe Biden Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg. It's not really resonated in the polls, though. How do they break out from the pack? Is that by attacking the top or making some "raise your hand" moment on gun violence or another issue?
[Gonzales:] Yes, that's very important. Tonight, there is going to be a winner that is declared by smart people on this network later. But what matters most is if whoever is declared the winner, they have to use this as an opportunity to gain support with actual voters and that probably means raising money and continuing to make their case. We saw in a previous debate when Sen. Harris had her moment. She did rise in the polls but it wasn't particularly it wasn't sustainable or she wasn't able to sustain it. She slowly came down from that moment. And so it's declaring who's the winner there are different definitions and I think we have to remember that tonight.
[Romans:] Enthusiasm numbers look interesting look at that. Forty- five percent of registered voters enthusiastic about voting for the president. It will be interesting tonight it certainly will.
[Briggs:] And it will be late. Nathan Gonzales, good to see you, my friend. Thank you.
[Romans:] And we'll be up early.
[Gonzales:] No problem.
[Romans:] All right, thanks, Nathan. All right. Breaking overnight, the Supreme Court clearing the way for the Trump administration to restrict asylum seekers at the Mexico border. The new rule dramatically limits the ability of Central Americans to claim asylum if they have not sought protection from another country on their way to the U.S. The move essentially bars people traveling through Mexico from claiming asylum. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented. The ACLU says it will continue to challenge the rule. All right, did the British prime minister lie to the Queen to get approval to suspend Parliament? And if he did, what's in store for him? CNN is live in London.