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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Iowa Newspaper to Trump: Drop Out Now; Chattanooga Shooting: New Details; Dozens Dead in Suspected ISIS Bombing. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 21, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:16] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight: New calls for Donald Trump to get out of the presidential race. Iowa's largest newspaper with the stinging op-ed this morning, calling him unfit to be president.

New insight into a gunman who murdered five U.S. servicemen in Tennessee. What he told a friend about ISIS, ahead.

Dozens dead in a suicide bombing believed to have been carried out by ISIS. We're live.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It is Tuesday, July 21st. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East. Good morning, everyone. John Berman has the morning off.

Iowa's biggest newspaper calling for Donald Trump to get out of the race for president just as the presidential candidate is rising to the top of the Republican polls. "The Des Moines Register" calling Trump the distraction with traction. The paper's editorial board writes that with his, quote, "attempts to demonize immigrants and his initial assertion that John McCain is not a war hero, quote, "Trump has proven himself not only unfit to hold office, but unfit to stand on the same stage as his Republican opponents."

This as Trump pulls to the head of the Republican pack a new ABC/"The Washington Post" poll, with 24 percent of the Republican voters, 24 percent. Trump has nearly twice the support of his nearest rival, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

One warning sign for Trump, a plunge in support for the billionaire on the last day pollsters were making calls, which was the first day the McCain controversy was in the news.

Trump's competitors for the nomination adding new fire to their criticism of him. Here is Lindsey Graham speaking to CNN's Kate Bolduan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That he's a jackass.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Really? GRAHAM: That he's bringing his name down and he's not helping the process and he shouldn't be commander-in-chief. If you want to be commander-in-chief of the armed forces, you need to understand that John McCain and all like him, not just John, are truly American heroes.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know -- I'm not into the process side of this. I know that John McCain is a legitimate hero for this country. He serves with distinction. And Mr. Trump ought to reappraise what his thoughts are on this subject.

The guy -- I mean, the guy was in the POW camp for five years and could have gotten out early, but wanted to stay to show respect for the other POW members. This is -- this is a legitimate hero that has served his country in lots of ways. Mr. Trump knows that. He should just apologize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Donald Trump insisting on Bill O'Reilly show that he has already clarified his belief, that yes McCain is a war hero, but adding that McCain needs to do a better job in the Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS: And I want you to be honest, you do think McCain is a hero. I know you do.

TRUMP: I do. And I had -- and by the way, I said it. I actually said it four times. I said it immediately after I went off stage because I was asked the question.

O'REILLY: Well, because I want everybody to know --

TRUMP: I have respect for Senator McCain. I used to like him a lot. I supported him. I raised a lot of money for his campaign against President Obama. And, certainly, if there was a misunderstanding, I would take totally that back. But hopefully I said it correctly. And certainly, shortly thereafter, I said it correctly.

I would like him, however, to do something with the 15,000 people that were in Phoenix about illegal immigration. They are being decimated. These people are being decimated. I would love to see him do a much better job taking care of the veterans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Today, Trump is back on the campaign trail for the first time since the war hero controversy began. He starts his first visit to South Carolina with a rally at 11:00 a.m. in the city of Bluffton.

This morning, the Ohio Governor John Kasich makes it official, what was already pretty clear. He is running for president. He will be the 16th Republican vying for the nomination. The Kasich for America campaign kicks off with a speech at Ohio State University. That's the candidate's alma mater. This is Kasich's second White House bid. He first ran back in 2000.

All right. New details this morning about the Tennessee gunman who killed four marines and a sailor in Chattanooga. Investigators discovering Mohammad Abdulazeez spent time in Qatar last year during a seven-month trip to visit his family in Jordan. Not clear what he was doing here.

We're also getting new insight into the shooter's state of mind from a friend who spent time with him in his final days.

CNN special investigations correspondent Drew Griffin has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT REPORTER: Christine, a confusing picture here in Chattanooga as the investigators continue to probe the background of Mohammad Abdulazeez. At the same time, we are hearing about old writings that rail against U.S. policy and possible suicidal thoughts, one friend is coming forward and saying no.

[04:05:07] (voice-over): James Petty considered Abdulazeez's spiritual supporter in his recent conversion to Islam, constantly texting each other, they hiked the Appalachian Mountains, played sports, even slept over at Abdulazeez's home. He says he never once saw Abdulazeez angry and the only conversations they had about radical Islam was to oppose it.

JAMES PETTY, ABDULAZEEZ'S FRIEND: ISIS mainly. Groups, any terror groups like ISIS.

GRIFFIN (on camera): What did he say?

PETTY: It was a stupid group and it was completely against Islam, and not to even think about going towards them. And I felt like it wasn't in kind of a sense I'm with their group so I don't want you to do like me. It was more like, just stay away. This is not where you should be going toward.

GRIFFIN: You felt he truly believed in his heart at that moment that what ISIS is doing was wrong?

PETTY: Yes, sir.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Petty describes Abdulazeez as more American than he was and the self described redneck Muslim also liked to shoot guns.

PETTY: One day, he said he had a gun. And he was showing me pictures on his phone. I never shot a gun before. He's like, do you want to shoot this one? And I said sure. Like I don't see why not? I have never shot one.

GRIFFIN (on camera): And, Christine, Petty says the Achilles heel that Abdulazeez had was his marijuana use. His family bothered him about it all the time. He was apparently trying to quit. His parents would call him every 30 minutes, according to Petty, just to see where he was, trying to keep tabs on him.

But it didn't make him depressed according to James Petty. It made him mellow and happy. In the last week when he saw him, he was the happiest he had ever seen him -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: What a complicated picture emerging. All right. Drew, thank you for that.

This morning, the U.S. is condemning an apparent suicide bombing in Turkey that killed at least 31 people and wounded at least 100 others. Now, this bomb went off in the Turkish town of Suruc, at a rally organized to call for more help rebuilding Kobani, right across the border in Syria, which was the scene of an intense battle to dislodge ISIS. Senior international correspondent Arwa Damon joins us now live from Turkey.

Arwa, what do we know about who did this and why?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

And we are at the scene where that horrific attack took place. The Turkish government saying it was the work of the suicide bomber. Now, we do have to warn our viewers this video we are about to show you is increasingly disturbing and graphic. We are showing it, however, as indication of just how barbaric and inhumane and horrific the attack was.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

DAMON: And we are now on this scene of where that attack took place. Around 24 hours later, people have gathered here mourning and they have also at the very scene where the explosion happened, put these toys symbolically, because those who gathered were trying to debate and bring attention to the Kobani reconstruction, they had gotten boxes of toys, books, colored pens, for the children of that devastated town just across the border.

The Turkish government at this stage is saying it is going to be beefing up security. People very angry, feeling as if the government should have done more to protect this country from the threat posed by ISIS. ISIS has not officially claimed responsibility for this attack, but the Turkish government has alluded to the fact that they believes that ISIS is responsible.

People are also a bit aggravated at the fact that the Turkish government has not yet declared this as an official time of mourning. But coming here has not stopped anyone at this stage, nor has the potential threat. People are being searched very carefully as they do enter. One of the elderly women here as we were coming through, apologizing to us, for the need to go through our belongings, by saying, if only they had taken these precautions yesterday, perhaps this horrific violence could have been avoided -- Christine.

ROMANS: Just horrible, that video just horrible.

Arwa Damon, thank you for that in Turkey this morning.

Nine minutes past the hour.

History made in Havana and Washington. The Cuban flag is now flying over Cuba's embassy for the first time in 54 years as these two countries formally resume diplomatic relations.

[04:10:00] U.S. embassy in Havana also opened Monday. Now, Secretary of State John Kerry, he will attend a similar flag raising ceremony in Cuba's capital next month.

The family of a woman fatally shot on the San Francisco pier will be in Washington, D.C. today to push for immigration reform. Kate Steinle's father will testify before a Senate committee as it takes a closer look at sanctuary city policies. The policies restrict public employees from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

Five-time deportee Francisco Sanchez ahs admitted on camera to firing the shot that killed Steinle, but he says it was an accident. Sanchez was on the street because San Francisco released him from jail after drug charges against him were dropped.

Time for an early start on your money. European stocks down a bit. Asian stocks, U.S. stock futures, though, are higher. NASDAQ closed at a record high yesterday, the third one in three days. Why? Companies are opening their books and investors like what they see. So far, 72 percent of companies reported stronger earnings than expected.

There is more to come today. Verizon will report before the bell. And later today, we'll hear from the world's most valuable company, Apple.

Stunning details on how two dangerous killers broke out of the New York prison. The now captured inmate sharing more of his story. We'll bring that to you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: There are stunning details this morning about the brazen escape of two inmates from an upstate New York prison last month. "The New York Times" revealing more of what David Sweat told investigators about the months of planning and the keys to their escape. Sweat was caught after three weeks on the run. Fellow escapee Richard Matt was shot and killed by police.

We get more this morning from CNN's Miguel Marquez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, interesting details in this "New York Times" account of how David Sweat and Richard Matt escaped from that Maximum security prison upstate New York, saying that Sweat was free for months unto the tunnels under the correctional facility. At 11:30 p.m., the last head count of the night, he would go down to the tunnels, he would return by 5:30 a.m., the first head count of the next morning.

[04:15:06] One of the more interesting bits is that once he got down there, he had to figure out how do I get out? He started chipping away at the concrete wall of the prison itself using a sledgehammer and hand tools. Then, he caught a lucky break, says "The New York Times". They turned off the steam to the steam pipe that was providing heat to the prison on May 4th. He was able to short circuit the process basically by cutting through that steam pipe with a hacksaw. It took him over a month to do it.

Also interesting detail, that they hit a sewer pipe at one point. They thought they could get through that ala "Shawshank Redemption". That's how the character in the "Shawshank Redemption" did that. One other detail they have in there is that the two joked about the fact that the "Shawshank Redemption" main character took 20 years to escape from that fictional prison and it only took 10 to escape from the real one.

There was the question all along is who was the mastermind here. Richard Matt had escaped twice before, one successfully. So, it was assumed that he was the mastermind. But investigators telling "The New York Times" that it was in fact David Sweat. That the planning started in earnest in January 2015 when Sweat was moved next to Matt's cell. That he cut a hole in his cell first and into Matt's cell.

Another inmate at one point heard the sawing and asked Matt about it. And he said, "I was just stretching canvasses." Matt known to draw pictures and paint pictures and giving them to prison guards -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Miguel, so interesting. Thanks for that.

Prosecutors say the death of Sandra Bland is being treated as a murder investigation. Police claim the 28-year-old Illinois woman hanged herself with a plastic bag in a Texas jail cell last week after she was arrested for allegedly kicking an officer during a traffic stop. Bland was in Texas to interview for a job at Prairie View A&M University.

Her sister insists there is no way she committed suicide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help me understand how her failure to signal a lane change out of a courtesy to the state trooper who seemed to zooming up on her caused her to be out of her vehicle on the ground and in jail over the weekend, and now, no longer with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Bland supporters claim she was a victim of police brutality. An independent autopsy ordered by her family was completed Sunday. The results have not been released.

Graphic testimony during a court hearing for Washington, D.C. murder suspect Daron Wint. Wint is accused of killing a family of three and the housekeeper inside their Washington mansion. Police detective testifying, two of the four victims were strangled and that Wint could not have acted alone. The judge ruling there is enough evidence to hold the suspect on first-degree murder charges.

The California freeway bridge that collapsed after torrential rains was given an "A" rating just last year. According to federal records, the bridge over Interstate 10 had one of the highest possible flood safety ratings, meaning it should have withstood the heaviest rainfall. More than 5 inches of rain fell in the desert on Sunday. The bridge collapse cut off the primary route between southern California and Arizona.

No let-up in the steam heat wave. Eleven million under heat advisories today.

For the forecast, let's bring in meteorologist Ivan Cabrera.

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it has, Christine. Temperatures into the mid-90s. But remember winter of 2015? We were not supposed to complain about these temperatures because winter is coming at some point here.

So, hang in there. If you don't like mid-90s, we're going to do low 90s today and eventually here in the Northeast, we don't stay in the 90s too long. And that's not going to be the case. We're going to get back into the 80s in the next few days.

Case in point here, New York, Wednesday, 86 degrees. That is certainly where we should be this time of year, into the mid-80s. We have been running a good 10 degrees above average. Same thing with the forecast for the nation's capital.

Now, the heat warnings continue here for the southeast. We are talking about highs in the 90s. And with the humidity and dew point into the 70s, well, that's going to make it feel like it's about 100 to 105 degrees once again later this afternoon. What will save us here will be a few showers and afternoon thunderstorms -- Christine.

ROMANS: Wow, those are hot temperatures. All right. Thanks, Ivan, for that.

The buzz around Harper Lee's new novel "Go Set a Watchman" has paid off. It has already sold 1.1 million copies in just one week, making it the fastest selling book in the history of its publisher, Harper Collins. "Watchman" has sparked controversy over its portrayal of Atticus Finch, the beloved heroic lawyer in Lee's first book "To Kill a Mockingbird", portraying him in this book as a segregationist.

The White House working overtime to smooth things over with Israel, following that Iran deal -- nuclear deal. The Pentagon chief meeting with the country's prime minister this morning. We are live after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:23:32] ROMANS: Happening now: Secretary of Defense Ash Carter meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day after the U.N. Security Council voted to endorse the nuclear deal with Tehran and begin lifting a decade of sanctions against Iran. Now, this is a deal, Israel, of course, fiercely opposes this deal and has lobbied against.

That makes Carter's primary mission to reassure Netanyahu of America's commitment to Israeli security.

Joining us with the latest from Jerusalem, CNN's Erin McLaughlin.

I cannot imagine that Benjamin Netanyahu is holding back on his criticism to the defense secretary in person. But how are they doing in terms of the U.S. doing in terms of reassuring the Israeli leader?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, Christine, we understand the meeting is still underway. It is a closed-door meeting. So, we are not privy to what is going on there.

But we do know going into the trip, Secretary Carter was very clear in saying that his goal in all this was not to try and sway Israeli opinion. He said that his goal was to focus on the military cooperation between the two countries. And that cooperation was very much center stage topic of discussion at a joint press conference that he gave with his Israeli counterpart Moshe Ya'alon. Both men saying that any disagreements over the Iran nuclear deal would not have a negative impact on the military cooperation saying both countries still share the same objectives.

(BGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:25:03] ASH CARTER, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: There's no disagreement about the ultimate objective. We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. And there's no disagreement about the threats Israel sees every day, from Iran's destabilizing activities, from terrorists like Hezbollah, Hamas and ISIL.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: And those so-called destabilizing activities a focus on this visit.

But, of course, the question becomes, well, what more are they going to do about those activities. We know that U.S. officials have said that they are open to consultations with Israeli officials about potentially increasing the amount of military aid the United States gives Israel every year. We know that they give some $3 billion every year towards military aid. There has been talk of increasing that.

But so far, Israeli officials say it is too soon to have the consultations. Their focus is to still quash the deal at the congressional level over the next two months. It was something that Minster Ya'alon was asked about yesterday in

that press conference. And he said that, right now, what they are focusing on in Israel is assessing the impact of the Iran nuclear agreement on the strength of Iran, its proxies, as well as the military capabilities of other countries in the region. He said that assessment will be complete at the end of the year, perhaps hinting there that that is when Israel is going to be open to talking about potentially talking about increasing aid from the United States -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Erin McLaughlin in Jerusalem for us this morning -- thank you, Erin. Let us know what you find out about that meeting when it concludes. Thank you.

All right. Iowa's largest newspaper calls Donald Trump a feckless blowhard and says he should drop out of the presidential race. He is not fit to be commander-in-chief. A stinging new op-ed published overnight. We'll bring you the details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)