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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Hillary Clinton Enters the 2016 Race; Marco Rubio Presidential Announcement; North Charleston Remembers Walter Scott; Sen. John McCain Criticizing Iran Nuke Deal; Pope Calls Armenian Massacres "Genocide". Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired April 13, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:20] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is now official. Hillary Clinton running for president.

You can see it right there. She's driving to Iowa right now. That's a picture taken at a gas station.

Republicans are already on the attack.

So, can the former secretary of state avoid the mistakes of 2008? This as a new Republican heavyweight is set to announce his candidacy later today.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. Great to see you this Monday. I'm John Berman.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday, April 13th, 4:00 a.m. in the East.

Have you driven to Iowa?

BERMAN: I have actually.

ROMANS: I have too.

BERMAN: It's a long drive man.

ROMANS: It is. It's about 14 hours of wonderful.

All right. This morning, Hillary Clinton somewhere on the road meeting, greeting and trying to connect with potential voters between her home in New York and Monticello, Iowa, her first campaign stop after officially announcing that she is running for president. Now, taking these pictures of people she is meeting along the way.

Polls show the former first lady, senator and secretary of state enters this race, a prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination. Even so, her first order of business is giving rationale for her run.

More on that this morning from senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

The speculation is over. Hillary Clinton is now finally a presidential candidate.

She formally entered the race on Sunday afternoon in a video message to her supporters. Now, there are no big policy proposals. No lofty campaign promises, but rather what she calls the beginning of a conversation she hopes to hold with voters. It was far less about her own presidential aspirations than about fighting for those voters.

Let's take a listen.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm getting ready to do something, too. I'm running for president.

Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times. But the deck is still stacked at favor of those at the top.

Everyday American needs a champion. And I want to be that champion. So, you can do more than just get by. You can get ahead and stay ahead, because when families are strong, America is strong.

I'm hitting the road to earn your vote. Because it's your time and I hope you'll join me on this journey.

ZELENY: Now, she will hit the road on Tuesday in Iowa doing the stop in Eastern Iowa, spending the night and doing another stop in central Iowa on Wednesday. Then, she's likely to visit New Hampshire later in the week.

Of course, those are those two critical early voting states that she's focusing so much on on the so-called listening tour. She's doing these small sessions with voters, meeting people one-on-one, trying to win over the people she'll need in this primary fight.

Now, she intends to travel to other states as well. South Carolina, Nevada, and other states before delivering a more formal announcement speech in May.

So, now that we know she finally is running for president, she must explain to voters why she wants to be president. That, of course, is her burden -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: And she's doing that as we said, as she drives to Iowa as we speak. That's what Hillary is doing right now.

So, what about Republicans who want to run against her?

Jeb Bush, he's been actively exploring a bid for president right now. He criticized what he called the Obama/Clinton foreign policy. He put out a YouTube video. There it is right there.

A video from Ted Cruz warned that a Clinton victory would amount to a third Obama term.

And on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION", Rand Paul said he could not think of a single thing that Clinton did as secretary of state that he approved of.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Is there an area where you think Hillary Clinton was successful as secretary of state?

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY), REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDER: I think really that the issue in Benghazi is an enormous issue, because it's whether or not as commander-in-chief, she'd be there for the 3:00 a.m. phone call. I think Benghazi was a 3:00 a.m. phone call that she never picked up. She didn't provide the security not just that day, for nine months. Dozens and dozens of requests for more security, all completely ignored by Hillary Clinton.

BASH: The question is, was there something that she did that was good?

PAUL: So, I was trying to think. I was getting through the things I remember that aren't so good and trying to think of something good. I'm not so certain of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: During her launch, Clinton mostly quiet on the economy. She did talk about income inequality, hinted that the deck is stacked against working people.

During her 2008 campaign, she hammered George W. Bush on jobs, wage growth and income inequality. Inequality arguably worse now. Wage growth is the sore spot. The problem, an outgoing Republican president was much easier punching bag in 2008.

She will have to find a way to deliver her message without distancing herself from this president's achievements. And in fact, she, in her talking points, has actually pointed out that the economy has created 11 million jobs while she has been working with President Obama.

[04:05:04] She also gets millions from Wall Street, but she'll try to distance herself. Will she this time around? She has been -- you know, she has a recipient of Wall Street cash.

There is a perception about the bankers who helped Hillary Clinton in 2008. Other Democrats like Elizabeth Warren want more bank reforms and could push Clinton in that direction. So, the Wall Street from the money point of view, what will be her relationship with Wall Street? What do you think?

BERMAN: I think she'll resist getting into specifics anytime soon on that. I think she'll focus on the inequality part without getting into issues like banking reform for as long as she possibly can.

Some other news now, beyond the world of Hillary, happening today, a new Republican contender is expected to make it official. Florida Senator Marco Rubio is expected to run for president from Miami's Freedom Tower, a landmark for the Cuban exile community there. Two other Republican senators, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, have already officially jumped in.

CNN will have live coverage of Senator Rubio's remarks tonight at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

ROMANS: All right. Developing this morning in South Carolina, a small group of protesters from Ferguson, Missouri, has arrived. "The Charleston Post and Courier" reports that they are in North Charleston to help plan a series of peaceful protests against police brutality, the first one later today outside North Charleston city hall.

The protests are a respond to the fatal shooting caught on video of an unarmed African-American man fleeing a police officer. That officer, Michael Slager, sits in jail right now, facing murder charges. This comes as North Charleston remembers the shooting victim, 50-year-old Walter Scott.

More now from national correspondent Polo Sandoval.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, it was a weekend full of tributes for the family of Walter Scott. It all started on Saturday morning with some very emotional moments as they gathered to lay their loved one to rest.

And then, Sunday, separate tribute. There was a memorial service for Mr. Scott, as well as a vigil at the location of the shooting itself.

Sunday, we also got to hear from the mayor of North Charleston, for the first time since he made those comments following the shooting itself. He maintains he is still appalled after seeing those images that we are all now very familiar with.

KEITH SUMMEY, MAYOR OF NORTH CHARLESTON: In a 2.7 second time, destroyed the lives of two families.

SANDOVAL: And the mayor also went on to say that he is now waiting for that report that will eventually be put out by state police. You recall that local authorities here in North Charleston actually handed over the investigation to SLED after the shooting. That's the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. They wanted to make sure that this investigation will be fair and also impartial.

Now, as former Officer Slager, he remains isolated behind bars ahead of his bond hearing that may be held here very soon. Also, his case could potentially end up in front of a grand jury as early as next month -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BERMAN: Thanks, Polo.

This morning, the White House is defending the framework nuclear deal reached with Iran after Senator John McCain questioned how honest Secretary of State John Kerry has been about the details of that agreement. McCain's criticism triggered a response from President Obama.

CNN national correspondent Sunlen Serfaty has the latest from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine and John, the bickering between President Obama and Senator John McCain stems from these two differing and competing interpretations of what's actually in this nuclear deal with Iran. Iran's supreme leader is saying one thing. U.S. officials are saying the other. They are at odds over key details, like sanctions and about inspections.

So, Senator McCain is highlighting these differences, saying in a radio interview that's calling into question Secretary of State John Kerry's honesty, saying that Kerry is delusional for trying in his words to sell what he called a bill of goods about this deal.

Now, those comments seem to strike a chord with President Obama. Here's what he said at a press conference in Panama over the weekend.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I hear some like Senator McCain recently suggest that our Secretary of State John Kerry, who served in the United States Senate, a Vietnam veteran, who's provided exemplary service to this nation, is somehow less trustworthy in the interpretation in what's in a political agreement than the supreme leader of Iran, that's an indication of the degree to which partisanship has crossed all boundaries.

SERFATY: And Senator McCain quickly responded posting this tweet to Twitter, saying, quote, "So President Obama goes to Panama, meets with Castro and attacks me. I'm sure Raul is pleased."

Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile, he pushed back on ABC's "This Week."

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: I think President Obama spoke very powerfully to Senator McCain yesterday. And I'll let the president's words stand. I also stand by every fact that I have laid out.

[04:10:00] It's an unusual affirmation of our facts that come from Russia, but Russia has said that what we've set out is reliable and accurate.

SERFATY: This back and forth sets up what likely will be a very testy week ahead for President Obama and Congress. They are back today for their first session since the deal was announced -- Christine and John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Sunlen.

Turning now to the conflict in Yemen, the United States expanding its role in the Saudi-led mission to stop Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from taking over the country. The U.S. now vetting military targets for air strikes and also searching ships, trying to intercept Iranian arms headed for Yemen. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the air strikes. The Obama administration now growing concerned those casualties could turn the people of Yemen against the Saudi mission.

BERMAN: This morning, ISIS is on a rampage in Iraq. They released new video of their fighters apparently destroying the ancient Nimrud archaeological site near Mosul last month. The footage shows breaking down walls with sledgehammers, knocking over artifact, blowing up. Nimrud is the former capital of the Assyrian empire and those relics, those buildings, those artifacts date back some 3,000 years.

ROMANS: All right. The Pentagon protesting what it calls an aggressive, unsafe maneuver by a Russian fighter jet over the Baltic Sea. U.S. officials say an air force reconnaissance plane was flying in international air space when it was intercepted last week by a Russian SU-27. The Defense Department calling the incident unprofessional and careless, warning these kind of actions could escalate tensions with the two countries. Russia accuses the U.S. of approaching its air space with an electronic transponder signal.

BERMAN: Eleven minutes after the hour, her son guilty on all charges, but Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's mother is not buying it. So, who she blames for her son's crime? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:03] BERMAN: A Boston jury will reconvene next week to determine whether convicted Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should face the death penalty.

Tsarnaev's mother back in Russia is expressing her anger over the guilty verdict, 30 of them, saying both of her sons are innocent. She calls Americans the terrorists.

CNN's Matthew Chance is live in Moscow for us.

Interesting to hear her comments, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, these comments from Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, which is the name of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's mother, appearing on a Russian social web site from Russia. She lives in Dagestan, in southern Russia, which is a support page for the Tsarnaev family.

The remarks are quite lengthy. They're quite rambling. They've been attributed to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's mother, following his -- the verdict that was handed down by the court in Boston.

But before the sentencing, obviously, which as you said is going to take place next week, she's very much defending passionately, it's a bit of a run, but she's very much passionately defending both of her sons, basically alleging that they're not responsible for these attacks, saying how can a mother feel whose sons are in the claws of a predator -- she's talking about the United States there -- who are preparing to tear him to pieces like meat, a reference to the upcoming sentencing. She also says that the United States are the real terrorists and that they will pay for the killing of her sons and for the sons of Islam permanently.

So, again, it's a bit rambling, but she is basically saying her sons are innocent and the United States will kill Muslims and will ultimately pay the price for that, John.

BERMAN: The jury in the United States not supposed to listen to comments like that. If they were ever to reach the environment of the jury, not possibly helping her son's cause there.

Matthew Chance in Moscow, thanks so much.

ROMANS: Jury deliberations resume today in the Massachusetts trial of Aaron Hernandez. The panel has spent nearly 20 hours so far deciding the fate of the former NFL star. He is charged in the shooting death of Odin Lloyd. If convicted on the first degree murder, Hernandez could be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

BERMAN: Two Troy University students are charged with raping a woman on a beach in Panama City, Florida. Police say the alleged assault took place last month in broad daylight, just steps away from crowds of spring break revelers. Investigators believe the 19-year-old victim had been drugged. A third person is still being sought in connection with the attacks. The accused students have been suspended from Troy University.

ROMANS: A close call for actor Ryan Reynolds. Police in Vancouver say he was the victim of a hit in run in a hotel parking lot but was not injured. According to this publicist, Reynolds was struck by a car driven by a member of the paparazzi who then fled the scene. The incident happened Friday. The publicist says Reynolds is OK. He's been in Vancouver shooting a film for the past several weeks.

BERMAN: Flash flooding danger across the south today. We want to bring in meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for an early look at the weather -- Pedram.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, good Monday morning to you. Hope you had a fantastic weekend. Look at the perspective this morning as far as active weather really stretching across the central and southern portion of the country, just calculated nearly 700 lightning strikes this morning across the Central Plains and Southern states.

Some flood warnings and watches in place just north of Corpus Christi to New Orleans, Tallahassee, watching these areas of the potential for significant rainfall in the forecast today. You see why, looking at the moisture content and the mid and upper levels of the atmosphere, and they are plentiful out across Texas. And that is the same stream of moisture that eventually exits out of San Antonio towards Houston by sunrise. Three to four p.m., it gets to New Orleans and then Panama City gets into the action towards the later portion of the day.

So, hopefully for spring breakers out of this region now with all this moisture left in place. But the warm, humid air really locked in across the eastern half of the country. Would you believe possibly up to seven, maybe nine inches of rainfall at the end of the week toward some of the areas around East Texas, and also southern Louisiana. Temperatures should be pretty seasonal. Upper 70s, which is what we expect for this time of year, stunning weather across the northeast for Monday with the 60s and 70s -- guys.

BERMAN: We'll take the stunning weather. Thank you, Pedram.

ROMANS: Thanks.

BERMAN: All right. So, what did you accomplish by age 21?

ROMANS: I had some really good bangs.

BERMAN: Yes, exactly.

Well, Jordan Spieth, he won the Masters. He pulled off a stunning wire-to-wire, absolute stunner of a performance. The Texan became the second youngest ever to capture a green jacket.

ROMANS: Tiger was the youngest, right?

BERMAN: Tiger is the youngest. But this guy, you know, nearly as young and pretty much just as awesome. He shot a record tying 18 under par. He beat Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose by four strokes.

He set a record, Spieth did, for the most birdies, 28. He reached 19 under par during one point during the final round, something no one else had done ever at Augusta. This was as dominating a performance over four days as I have ever seen at Augusta. And he is 21 years old.

[04:20:02] ROMANS: You really liked how he looked on the way and you had a good call.

BERMAN: He's good. And this is no -- I don't think this is a one and done thing. I think this guy is going to be around for the next 20 years or so. So, get used to hearing that name, Spieth.

ROMANS: OK. Twenty minutes after the hour.

A controversial new message from the pope, accused by some of rewriting history, but praised by others for fighting -- righting years of wrong. We're live with the details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Pope Francis opening a century old wound by using the word genocide to describe the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. It came during a service commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian massacres. Turkish officials are angry, accusing the pope of inciting hatred and summoning their Vatican ambassador for consultation.

CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman live in Rome.

Tell us about this.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What happened yesterday, there was a mass at the Vatican where Pope Francis spoke about the 100th anniversary at the beginning of the massacres of Armenians during World War II while they lived under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

He described it as the first genocide of the 21st century. But, of course, he was really just re-quoting a statement made by Pope John Paul II, made in September 2001.

But for the Turks, this is a very sensitive topic.

[04:25:02] They insist the death of as many as 1.5 million Armenian Christians during the First World War were the results of intercommunal tensions and violence between Muslims and Christians.

But the pope seems to believe, as along with many historians as well, that this was part of a systematic campaign by the Ottoman empire to exterminate Armenian Christians within its boundaries. Now, it was at a time, of course, when Western powers and Russia were trying to undermine the Ottoman Empire, which was fighting alongside Germany in the First World War. And therefore, the Ottoman government looked upon Christians, particularly the influential Armenian community, as in a sense of the fifth column.

So, when Pope Francis brings this up, obviously, the current government of Turkey, which does sort of have Ottoman ambitions of their own, certainly become very angry. They not only recalled their ambassador to the Vatican, they also summoned the Vatican ambassador to Turkey to express their unhappiness over the statements by Pope Francis -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Ben Wedeman live in Rome for us. Thank you for that, Ben.

BERMAN: Protesters packing the streets and cities across Brazil and promising there will be more to come. They are calling for the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. Police estimates that 275,000 demonstrators marched in Sao Paolo on Sunday. Anti- government anger fueled by a corruption scandal that's implicated politicians in that ruling party.

ROMANS: European diplomats will try again to establish a lasting peace in Ukraine. Foreign ministers from Germany and France are meeting today with counterparts from Russia and Ukraine, in an effort to turn the shaky cease-fire into something more durable, a more durable peace deal. Political disputes have slowed progress implementing an agreement signed in Minsk in February aimed at ending the nearly year-long conflict. BERMAN: Hillary Clinton is officially running for president. And get

this -- there she is on the way to Iowa. She's driving there, a road trip overnight, snapping photos at a gas station. We'll tell you all the latest details of the rollout, including this new information overnight. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)