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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Obama in Ethiopia; Trump Tops GOP Field on Latest Poll; Chrysler Hit With Record Fine; Bobbi Kristina Brown Dead at 22; Louisiana Movie Theater Shooting; Road Rage Captured in 911 Calls; Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired July 27, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:03] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: He meets this morning with the Ethiopian prime minister. At the very top of their agenda, fighting the terror al-Shabaab, the civil war in South Sudan and alleged human rights violations by Ethiopian leaders. The president's visit follows an emotional two-day trip to his father's homeland Kenya.

Let's get the very latest from CNN's Robyn Kriel live on the ground in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia -- Robyn.

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, the reception that the president has received here in Ethiopia is much more measured that the one that he received in Kenya. There weren't nearly as many people on the roads to greet him and there aren't nearly the sort of regalia that we've seen in Kenya. The big post cards and the big placards for Obama. All those people out to greet him. Everyone wearing Obama T- shirts.

It's not really the same but Ethiopia is not very like Kenya. In fact it is much more of a security state. Some will even call it an autocratic regime. And all of these things are due to come up in the president's talks with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, the Ethiopian prime minister. They are meeting right now. What we've heard is that they were smiling broadly at one another as you said, trade and security will top the agenda. So the president is there with the Commerce secretary as well as his National Security adviser Susan Rice. They're due to talk about a number of issues specifically the terror threat in this region, al-Shabaab, as well as increasing trade relations with Ethiopia which is -- which has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, according to the World Bank.

BERMAN: Robyn Kriel for us in Addis Ababa, a big day of talks ahead. Thanks, Robyn.

New polls show that Donald Trump is on top of the Republican field. In the very latest CNN/ORC poll he runs ahead of Jeb Bush. Apparently overcoming a messy dust-up with John McCain. Trump says there is a reason why he is number one.

Let's get more now from CNN national correspondent Sunlen Serfaty.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This poll shows that Donald Trump is not just a hiccup in this race. Right now, he is the national frontrunner among Republicans. Now it's important to note that this poll was done after he made those controversial comments about Senator McCain and shows he's increased his support among Republican voters in the last month.

But beneath the surface here there are certainly some red flags for him. His unfavorability ratings are a problem for him more so than any other Republican candidate. 80 percent of Democrats have an unfavorable view of him, 53 percent of independents and 42 percent, that's still such a big number, among Republicans.

Now despite this, these poll numbers making it clear he is a factor in this race and Trump likely will feel very emboldened by that, saying Sunday on "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JAKE TAPPER" that he believes the leaders of the RNC are starting to warm up to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They view me as an outsider, I guess, and now they are starting to view me not as an outsider because I'm leading in all of the polls. Not just yours. And I think they've been really nice over the last few days. They're starting to see what's happening. I mean, there's a movement going on. This is more than me. This is a movement going on. People are tired of these incompetent politicians in Washington that can't get anything done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And that trademark rhetoric of Trump's clearly is attracting voters. In this poll, he is the candidate that Republican voters say they want to see up there on the debate stage. And here you see that Trump leads well ahead of Bush, ahead of Senator Rubio and ahead of Senator Cruz. The first debate is just 10 days away. Trump has already started, though, to downplay expectations a bit saying he has no debate experience and predicting that the other candidates will come out swinging for him.

BERMAN: All right, Sunlen. Thanks so much.

When it comes to name calling, the Republican Party's top strategist has a not-so-subtle message for Donald Trump. Also his rivals. He says knock it off. This was RNC communications director Sean Spicer on CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN SPICER, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE SPOKESPERSON: I understand it's going to be the nature of any primary for folks to discuss the differences between themselves on policy issues. And I think that's fine. The name calling, however, needs to stop. We've got to remember what Ronald Reagan taught us, his eleventh commandment, thou shall not speak ill of another Republican.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Spicer says Republicans should just keep their eye on the White House. Mike Huckabee facing a backlash for invoking images of the holocaust

to condemn the nuclear agreement with Iran. This is what the Republican candidate told Breitbart News. He said, "This president's foreign policy is the most feckless in American history. It is so naive that he would trust the Iranians. By doing so, he will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven."

The Anti-Defamation League quickly condemned Huckabee's comments. National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said, "Comments such as those by Mike Huckabee suggesting the president is leading Israel to another holocaust are completely out of line and unacceptable."

In campaign events and in a new video on her Web site, Hillary Clinton is promising to put the country on a path to renewable energy that will power every home in the country by the year 2027. If you're keeping score, that will be 10 years after she hypothetically takes office. The former secretary of state also says she will testify before a House committee on Benghazi on October but Republicans claim she is demanding limitations on the questions. And that raises doubts about whether this whole thing will actually happen at all.

[04:35:14] This morning there is no sign of two Florida teenagers who went missing at sea Friday during a fishing trip. The Coast Guard is searching for 14-year-olds Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos. The two friends vanished 12 miles south of Daytona Beach. Their capsized boat was recovered Sunday.

Now their neighbor, the Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath is helping with the search.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE NAMATH, HALL OF FAME QUARTERBACK: We're are all praying and Nick actually wants the folks to know that they are trying to help out that are out there searching, be very careful. We've got a lot of people out on the water and in the air looking. Both families have been hard at work at this and praying. So let's just stay safe and we'll keep on looking until we find them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Families are offering a $100,000 reward to anyone who helps bring the teens home safely.

Later this morning here on CNN you will hear live from the mother and stepfather of one of those missing teens along with Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath. They'll be on "NEW DAY" in the 7:00 hour.

Let's get an EARLY START on your money. Alison Kosik here this morning.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. But an ugly start to the week for stocks. Asian stocks much lower at the moment.

Look at the Shanghai composite. That fell 8.5 percent. What that's doing is dragging down European stocks. U.S. stock futures lower as well.

And you look at stocks in China, they've really been in a tailspin. The government is taking dramatic steps to stop the bleeding but that's not working this morning.

And the big business story this morning, Chrysler is getting slapped with a record fine for mishandling 23 recalls involving 11 million cars. The company admitted to violating federal safety laws and will pay $105 million for it. And that includes the cash penalty plus incentives for drivers to make sure they get their cars fixed. Chrysler will also face federal oversight for three years. And Chrysler will also have to hire an independent monitor.

You know what, John, it is interesting to see federal regulators really cracking down but only after NHTSA was criticized for not doing its job properly in the past.

BERMAN: Better late than never. Sort of.

KOSIK: Exactly.

BERMAN: All right, Alison. Thanks so much.

Extreme heat building across the south this morning ahead of an expected heat wave in the northeast. Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam for an early look at the forecast -- Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John. Unfortunately flooding concerns continue this week for central Florida. Still have stalled out frontal boundary across this region. You can see our high resolution radar. Imagery going forward through the rest of the day today. Showers and thunderstorms will pop up from Tampa Bay through Orlando even southward towards Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.

Now we also have a significant cold front that's moving across the northern plains. That will bring the possibility of severe weather today across the Dakotas, even further southward towards Nebraska and Western Kansas. Damaging winds, large hail and isolated tornadoes possible with this cold front moving through.

Now we have a collision of air masses causing the severe weather. Very warm and very humid across the nation's heartland. Take a look at this, heat indices, Tulsa, you'll top 108 today. That's what it feels like as you step outside. Nashville in the lower 100s as well. That's why we have heat advisories and warnings from Arkansas through part of the plain states.

So this heat will move eastward and look at this, New York, you are also in the warm-up this week. 95 by Wednesday. Back to you.

BERMAN: Yikes. 95. Oh well.

All right. The daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown succumbing to injuries months after being found face down in a bathtub. The tributes are pouring in this morning for Bobbi Kristina Brown.

We have a -- we have a look at her life and its tragic end next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:42:26] BERMAN: Overnight, we learned of the death of Bobbi Kristina Brown. The daughter of the late Whitney Houston and singer Bobby Brown passed away Sunday in Roswell, Georgia, at the age of 22. She spent most of the last six months in a hospital, then a hospice facility after being found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub.

Let's get more on her life and tragic death from CNN's Elizabeth Cohen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the adorable daughter of pop icon Whitney Houston, Bobbi Kristina was thrust into the spotlight at a tender age.

Born in Livingston, New Jersey, in 1993, she was the only child of Houston and R&B singer Bobby Brown. At just 12 years old, her family's drama was turned into reality TV fodder on "Being Bobby Brown."

WHITNEY HOUSTON, POP ICON: I'm watching you, young lady.

COHEN: Then in 2012, tragedy. Whitney died suddenly. Her mother's shocking death sending Bobbi to Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

BOBBI KRISTINA BROWN, DAUGHTER OF WHITNEY HOUSTON: I'm going to make it now. It's going to be good.

COHEN: As Bobbi tried to recover from the loss, cameras went along for Lifetime's "The Houstons on Our Own."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to find this girl again.

BROWN: That girl, I miss her so much.

COHEN: Estranged from her father for nearly two and a half years after Whitney's death, she shared this photo of them reuniting last June. Her parents struggled with addiction and Bobbi, too, faced allegations of drug use.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to do the right thing. All I'm trying to do is guide her to the right place in her life.

COHEN: But Bobbi tried to move forward explaining on "Oprah's Next Chapter" how she was coping with her mother's death.

BROWN: I can hear her voice, you know, and spirit, talking to me, and telling me, you know, keep moving, baby. You know, I'm right here. I got you.

COHEN: As Bobbi Kristina dealt with the loss of her mother, she sparked a romance with Nick Gordon. The relationship raised eyebrows. Days before she was found unresponsive in a bathtub at the home she shared with Gordon, in her last days, she posted these photos on Instagram, and tweeted, "Miss you, mommy, so much. Loving you more every sec."

Now more than three years after her mother's death, the 22-year-old's life also cut short by pain and tragedy.

Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Funeral services will be held today for the two women who were killed in the Lafayette, Louisiana, movie theater last week. Mayci Breaux and Jillian Johnson will be laid to rest.

[04:45:04] Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal says the gunman who took his own life should never have been able to buy a gun because of his mental health issues.

We are learning more about the shooter and possible warning signs that were missed. Let's get more now from CNN's Ryan Nobles.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, we've learned a lot about the police investigation into the background of the shooter, John Russell Houser. And police are starting to believe that this attack here in Lafayette was meticulously planned.

I spoke with the State Police Colonel Michael Edmonson. Listen to what he told me about what police have discovered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL EDMONSON, STATE POLICE COLONEL: We've been continuing to go through his rants and raves that he had on his Internet. He was on several different blog sites. He had several areas where the different groups had had a synopsis of some of the stuff he would say, some comments. We're seeing a lot of writings about people trying to make rhyme or reason of what he did right here. So we're going to continue to go through that.

It's his diary was making comments, but here's one thing that's perfectly clear. This man was certainly of sound mind because you know what? He wrote it down. He said he is coming to this movie theater 7:15 on Thursday night.

What we do believe is it was another theater, whether it was Lake Charles, Lafayette and Baton Rouge, maybe disguised himself and some of the things we've heard about. And then for whatever reason, he is in this theater on that night, at 7:27, and he stands up and he kills two innocent people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: And we also know that police have been looking into Houser's troubled past. Particularly his mental health problems and his run-in with law enforcement. Of course both his daughter and his wife at one point had a protective order out against him.

And Colonel Edmonson told me that his family was concerned about his potential for violence. They never thought he'd attack a place like a theater, but perhaps a government building instead. But they never said anything to anyone.

Today, though, the city of Lafayette hoping to begin that mourning process. The funerals for both Mayci Breaux and Jillian Johnson will happen here today -- John.

BERMAN: Ryan Nobles, thanks so much.

The case of road rage takes a deadly turn. The 911 tapes from the incident now coming to light and they are intense. You will hear them next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:50:55] BERMAN: 911 calls capturing two sides of a deadly Houston road rage in Florida. A man gunned down in front of his own family after going head-to-head with a fellow driver on the road. And authorities say the entire ordeal could have been prevented if the victim had listened to the 911 dispatcher.

CNN's Nick Valencia has the details.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, the 911 tapes are absolutely frightening. The whole incident started last week on Thursday afternoon in Citrus County, Florida, when Robert Doyle and Candelario Gonzalez got into an encounter on the road. Both parties called 911 on each other to report the other's erratic driving. Now on his 911 audio tape, Gonzalez can be heard telling dispatch that he's going to follow Doyle home. They advised him not to go. He does it anyway.

Now once he got outside of Doyle's residence, which was just about five miles from where the incident started, less than two and a half minutes after the whole encounter began, shots were fired. Doyle can be heard on his 911 tape telling police that he has a gun.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT DOYLE, ACCUSED SHOOTER: My gun is already out. It's cocked and locked.

CATHY GONZALEZ, VICTIM'S WIFE: That son of a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) has got a gun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Moments later things turned violent with Doyle shooting Gonzalez five times eventually killing him. Doyle took it a step further by essentially holding Gonzalez's family hostage. Two of those, children in the car under the age of 10 years old.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) C. GONZALEZ: I don't know how many times he hit, but he fired multiple times. The guy just kept charging at him. Please hurry.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: They're coming as fast as they can. Just do whatever he asked you to do, OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: When the police eventually arrived, Doyle was arrested, taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder as well as three counts of aggravated assault. I did ask police investigators with the Citrus County Sheriff's Office if it complicates the investigation that they told the victim not to pursue the alleged shooter. What I was told by the captain is that Doyle had the opportunity to not engage the victim and had the chance to go inside his home.

For now, Doyle has posted his $60,000 bond and is out of police custody. We've called him and his family. They have not returned our calls -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Nick Valencia, thanks so much.

The Boy Scouts of America set to end a long standing blanket ban on gay adult leaders. The 80-member board is expected to ratify the change when it votes today. Under the new policy, church-led scout groups can still limit gays in leadership positions, allowing them to choose adult leaders who, quote, "whose beliefs are consistent with their own."

Hall of Fame in Cooperstown welcoming four Major League greats into the class of 2015. I cannot remember a better class than this. Pitchers Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz, they have 735 career victories, nine Cy Young Awards between them. And there's Craig Biggio, a member of the 3,000 Hit Club. A lifelong Astros. A catcher turned second baseman.

This was the first year that three pitchers were voted in on the first ballot. Of course the best of them is Pedro Martinez. He's there with Juan Maracau holding a Dominican flag right there. They're the only two Dominicans in the Hall of Fame. This was the first time since 1955 that four players made it in all at once. And man, they are four deserving players.

Oil prices sinking, we'll hear some good news on your gas prices next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:57:46] BERMAN: Let's get an EARLY START on your money, which means Alison Kosik is here this morning.

Good morning.

KOSIK: Good morning. We are seeing, though, a sea of red arrows across the board. Asian, European stocks, U.S. stock futures all lower at the moment. Look at this Shanghai benchmark index. That fell 8.5 percent

overnight. You know, it's been really a wild ride for stocks in China this year where trillions of dollars wiped out in a matter of weeks. Dramatic moves from the government that has kept stocks relatively steady for a few weeks, but that calm in China is shattered this morning.

Swiss Bank UBS forced to release its earnings a day early. That usually doesn't happen. They were released early because a Swiss newspaper published an incorrect report. The bank had to correct some misinformation about its earnings but the good news for UBS at least profit climbed more than 50 percent from a year earlier. UBS says it's investigating who if anyone leaked the false report.

Oil prices falling this morning. Crude oil is below $48 a barrel right now. That's the lowest since March. Our oil prices lower. U.S. oil producers increased drilling activity last week. That's adding to the global supply of oil at the moment. So it's bad news for oil companies. Great news if you drive a car. The national average today is $2.71 a gallon.

BERMAN: Wow.

KOSIK: That's actually 80 cents lower than this time last year. And guess what, prices are expected to fall even more in the coming weeks.

BERMAN: That's a really big drop.

KOSIK: It is.

BERMAN: Over just one year.

KOSIK: I'm happy about that.

BERMAN: It will make a big difference, I think, as you know, as people hit the roads in August for road trips and things like that.

KOSIK: It could.

BERMAN: But a lot of jobs being lost in the oil sector as well.

KOSIK: Yes.

BERMAN: All right, Alison Kosik, thanks so much.

EARLY START continues right now.

A moment in presidential history. President Obama now the first sitting president to visit Ethiopia. We are live with new details on this historic visit.

Donald Trump on top. These new polls they just keep coming in showing him as the GOP frontrunner no matter what he says about immigrants or John McCain or really anything. We have new numbers just minutes away. And a desperate search off the coast of Florida. Two teens missing.

Their boat recovered, but no signs of the boys. We have new details on the search overnight.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. It is Monday, July 27th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East. Just about. Christine Romans is off today.

Happening now. History unfolding in Africa. President Obama becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit Ethiopia.