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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; Turkey Calls for Rare NATO Talks; Bobbi Kristina Brown Dead at 22; Louisiana Movie Theater Shooting; 2015 Baseball Hall of Fame Class Inducted. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired July 27, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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[05:00:01] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: 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. You're looking at pictures in from just a few minutes ago. He is meeting with the Ethiopian prime minister. At the top of their agenda, fighting the terror group al-Shabaab, the civil war in South Sudan, also will come up in the talks end human rights violations by Ethiopian leaders. The president's visit follows an emotional two-day trip to his father's homeland in Kenya.

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

Good morning, Robyn.

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Those bilateral currently underway. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and President Obama also in that meeting. Commerce secretary and the National Security adviser Susan Rice which is really signaling I believe what will be the top of the agenda, trade between the two countries as well as security cooperation, further security cooperation in terms of South Sudan, the civil war there, as well as fighting al-Shabaab, the militant group.

And of course, al-Shabaab attacked a hotel yesterday in Mogadishu which is just neighboring Ethiopia. We're not sure if that was a clear signal to President Obama or exactly what was behind or what the reason was for that attack. It was a very upscale hotel. The Jazeera Hotel, Jazeera Palace Hotel. A number of people were killed. And it's a -- it's really a target against Westerners. There are a number of internationals that stayed including several embassies are based there including the Kenyan embassy, Chinese and Qatari embassy, as well as Egyptian we understand.

So this was really a target against the heart of Somalia's progress, the progress that they've been allowed to make since al-Shabaab was pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011 by African Union forces. There has also been a number of -- a lot of fighting in Southern Somalia which the U.S. -- the United States has been involved in as well providing cover for African Union troops in terms of airstrikes, providing direct cover for those troops as they try to take al-Shabaab strongholds and have taken a number of al-Shabaab's strongholds from the militant group including the town of Dinsoor which was al- Shabaab's headquarters really which they've housed for the last seven years.

BERMAN: Robyn Kriel, for us, for these meetings just taking place right now in Ethiopia. Thanks so much, Robyn.

New polls show Donald trump on top of the Republican field. In the latest CNN/ORC poll he runs ahead of Jeb Bush apparently overcoming a messy dust-up with John McCain, among others. 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: Sunlen Serfaty, for us, downplaying expectations. It shows Donald Trump knows a thing or two about politics at least. How about name calling? When it comes to name calling, the Republican

Party's top strategist has a not-so subtle message for Donald Trump and 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)

[05:05:05] BERMAN: Spicer says Republicans should keep their eye on the White House.

Mike Huckabee is facing 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 that country -- this country, I should say, on a path to renewable energy that will power every home in the U.S. by the year 2027. 2027 would be about 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 questioning. So this raises doubts whether it will actually happen at all.

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 on Sunday.

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: The families are offering a $100,000 reward to anyone who helps bring these teens home safely.

And later this morning you will hear live from the mother and stepfather of one of those missing teenagers along with Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath. They will be on "NEW DAY" in the 7:00 hour.

The city of Lafayette, Louisiana, is mourning this morning, of course, following the deadly shooting at a movie theater last week. Funeral services will be held today for the two women who were killed, Mayci Breaux and Jillian Johnson.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal says the gunman who took his own life should never have been able to buy a gun. He had a history of legal problems as well as mental health issues once prompted his former wife to remove guns and weapons from their home. Houser was denied a permit in 2006 against carry a concealed weapon.

Bobbi Kristina Brown has died. 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 in a hospice facility after being found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub.

Let's get more now 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 Brown 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."

[05:10:04] 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: Sad.

All right, stocks are plunging in China this morning. Alison Kosik here with that.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we are seeing red arrows across the board, John. Asian stocks, European stocks, U.S. stock futures all lower right now. Look at Shanghai's benchmark index. It fell 8.5 percent. And it really has been a wild ride for China stocks this years with trillions of dollars wiped out in a matter of weeks. But the market has been relatively calm for a few weeks after the government took dramatic steps to prop up the market. But we're not seeing that as the case this morning. With big worries over China's economic growth slowing down.

And the biggest business story of the morning, Chrysler will pay a record fine for recall mistakes. Officials will slap the car company with a $105 million bill. They say it botched 23 recalls involving 11 million vehicles. That includes a recall of 1.5 million Jeeps with gas tanks that can leak after severe rear impact.

And some of the issues with Chrysler at this point are that they failed to notify car owners in a timely manner. Also making it very difficult for car owners to actually get their cars repaired.

BERMAN: Interesting. It's a lot of money.

KOSIK: It is.

BERMAN: Hope they will change their practices in the future. Thanks, Alison.

Extreme heat building across the south this morning ahead of an expected heat wave, an unwelcomed heat wave in the northeast.

Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam for an early look at the forecast.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John. A line of showers and thunderstorms could create some slick spots on the roadways for your morning commute. From D.C. to Baltimore and Philadelphia and the big apple. But the good news is, this will move on rather quickly early this morning and will start to dry the roads off by lunchtime.

Now we're also monitoring a significant cold front dropping south out of Canada. That's going to spark off the possibility of thunderstorms today that could lead to damaging hail, also stronger winds and even an isolated tornado from the Dakotas southward through Nebraska and parts of Kansas.

We've got lots of warm air streaming ahead of this particular cold front. Of course we get that collision of air masses and we start to see the possibility of stronger storms. The hot weather that we've experienced across the nation's heartland starting to slowly shift eastward. This time including parts of the Great Lakes by the middle of the workweek. Still heat advisories and warnings from Arkansas southward.

Take a look at these heat indices easily soaring past 100 degrees from Memphis and Little Rock. Look at the temperatures warming up for the East Coast. Middle 90's by Wednesday for New York. Back to you.

BERMAN: All right. Derek, thanks so much.

A dramatic development in the war against ISIS. Turkey enters the fights and calls for a rare NATO meeting. So why the sudden move? We're live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:15:56] BERMAN: Dramatic developments in the battle against ISIS. Turkey is calling for a rare emergency meeting of NATO nations tomorrow. This follows a suspected attack by ISIS that killed 32 Turkish civilians last week.

This is only the fifth time in NATO history that members will meet under Article 4. That's a provision that allows countries to call for consultations when their territorial integrity is threatened.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh live in Amman, Jordan, this morning.

And Jomana, Turkey has resisted this move for so long, but now they are in and even calling this rare NATO session. JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John. Very dramatic

events taking place in Turkey over the past week. This violence that we have seen shaking that nation. As you mentioned, now Turkey is calling for that NATO meeting that will convene in Brussels on Tuesday as we have heard.

As you mentioned this is an Article 4 meeting. A very rare kind of meeting. It's only happened, this is the fifth time it would happen during the history of the organization. And four of those times in the past have been called for by Turkey. Once in 2003 over Iraq and then over Syria in 2012. And usually member nations call for these meetings when they feel that their territorial integrity or their security is under threat.

And that they usually do is they brief other NATO members on what action they are taking. What military operations in this case are taking place and also have consultations with other NATO members.

Now it's unclear if Turkey is expecting any sort of outcome out of this meeting. If it will be asking for anything. But really not much of a surprise considering the dramatic change in Turkey's position over the past few days when it comes to the battle against ISIS. Of course Turkey, for the first time, launching those airstrikes against ISIS positions in northern Syria and also opening up its airbases to the U.S.-led coalition for the first time. Something that the U.S. and other nations have been calling for, for some time.

And at the same time, it is fighting on another front. Also in the past few days after several attacks, Turkey launching airstrikes against the Kurdish Workers Party, the PKK, in northern Iraq, in their stronghold of the Qandil Mountain. Turkey and the PKK have a long bloody history. Three decades of fighting that ended with a ceasefire in 2013 and now with these changes in the situation that ceasefire is over.

A lot of concern here, John, that Turkey's aggressive action in this case, against both ISIS and the PKK, could lead to retaliatory attacks by both groups.

BERMAN: It will be interesting to see how they respond over the coming days.

Jomana Karadsheh for us, thanks so much.

So what do you get when you combine a killer bee, the big unit and two of the craftiest righties of all time? The Major League Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2015. I say one of the best ever.

Andy Scholes has the details from the "Bleacher Report" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:22:44] BERMAN: The Hall of Fame in Cooperstown welcoming four Major League greats into the class of 2015. I mean, really, really greats.

Andy Scholes with it all in the "Bleacher Report." Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Hey, good morning, John. You know, this is one of the best Hall of Fame classes ever. And I'm not just saying that because of one of my favorite players ever, Craig Biggio, was a part of it. Biggio, going into the hall along with pitching greats John Smoltz, the Big Unit Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez. And during the ceremony you heard the phrase, "only player to ever do this" quite a bit.

And this was the first year three pitchers were voted in on the first ballot and the first time since 1955 that four players made it into the Hall of Fame in one year. It was definitely a great ceremony.

Future Hall of the Famer Mike Trout had himself quite a day yesterday against the Rangers. Trout homered in the first, up here again in the sixth with the bases loaded. That's a grand slam. And check out where the ball lands -- into a giant Trout net that a fan was holding. That's awesome. Trout joked after the game that he's been trying to get it in that net for quite a while. Angers beat the Rangers 13-7. Trout was 4 for 4 with 5 RBIs in that game.

All right,. As we await Roger Goodell's decision on Tom Brady's appeal of his four-game suspension, the NFL is taking steps to make sure that deflategate never happens again. According to multiple reports, the NFL will implement new football procedures for games this season. Officials will now document the pressure of the game balls before kickoff and then there will be random rechecks at halftime and post game. The footballs will now remain under the watch of the officials the entire time before the game instead of being in the hands of the ball boy.

And finally one lucky horse better had himself quite the weekend at Saratoga. A New Jersey man won $471,000 with a 50 cent bet. Now he won the massive amount in the Pick Five contest. Saratoga Mischief held on by a neck to win Saturday's fifth race to give the better the huge payday and since he was the only better to pick all five horses correctly, he got the entire pool payout.

And, John, you know, he reportedly made $675 worth of these 50 cent Pick Five bets. So, you know, he wasn't just in there with only 50 cents, but still so impressive to come away with $471,000.

[05:55:13] BERMAN: It is. Romans isn't here today to help me with the math but I still think that's a good return on your investment.

SCHOLES: Absolutely.

BERMAN: Andy, you were saying -- you were saying Craig Biggio was your favorite player. Pedro Martinez one of mine. This class was amazing. And it was so much fun to see them up there, you know, interacting with each other.

SCHOLES: Absolutely. And for people in my age, you know, in your 30s, this was the first Hall of Fame class that, you know, I watched each and every one of these guys' careers between, you know, Pedro ending the Red Sox's World Series drought with the Big Unit, I mean, he, you know, we've seen him pitch perfect games and then win a World Series with Diamondbacks. And like I said, Craig Biggio, my absolute favorite growing up with killer bees. You know, watching him and Biggio and Bagwell in the '90s was incredible.

And to see them re-live that yesterday was just so awesome. I can't forget John Smoltz, you know, John. As I said, throughout the day we heard that phrase, you know, "only player to ever do this." You know, John Smoltz, you know, won 200 games as a starter then -- had more than 150 saves as one of the best closers in baseball. Just one of the best classes ever all around between hitting, pitching and just doing it all.

BERMAN: And Randy Johnson talked about giving up his mullet as he gets into Hall of Fame. That was nice to see as well.

Andy Scholes, great to see you this morning. Thanks so much.

SCHOLES: You too. Bye.

BERMAN: All right. The president of the United States in Ethiopia. This is a first for a U.S. president. It is part of a crucial African trip. It has already featured some diplomacy and also some tough love for one nation.

We're live with more on the president's visit next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:30:07] BERMAN: A presidential first. President Obama in Ethiopia. Becoming the first sitting commander-in-chief to visit.