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Republicans Debate Goes on Without Trump; Sanders and Clinton, Neck and Neck; More Arrests in Oregon Refuge Battle; Iranian and French Presidents Meet Today; Zika Virus Could Become Pandemic; Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired January 28, 2016 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:18] MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN ANCHOR: In just hours, Republicans running for president face off on the debate stage except for the frontrunner. What Donald Trump will be doing instead?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in a dead heat in Iowa. Their new strategies to bring in undecided voters.
MARQUEZ: Breaking news overnight. New arrests in the Oregon militia standoff. Details ahead.
Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Miguel Marquez.
ROMANS: Nice to see you this morning. Welcome aboard.
MARQUEZ: Thank you very much. Good to be here.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's Thursday, January 28th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.
Tonight seven Republican candidates debate each other in Iowa minus Donald Trump for the first time. Trump pulling out of the FOX News debate citing bias on the part of co-moderator Megyn Kelly.
Last night Bill O'Reilly urged Trump to reconsider, making the case that as president Trump would face much tougher adversaries than Kelly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: The terrorists are going to come at you. And it's going to be personal. They're going to do everything they can to diminish you and -- and you have to -- as a president, you have to rise above that, all right, and do what's best for the country. And this exposition that we're talking about today, people are going to say, you know, Trump, he's just too self absorbed to be president.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's got to be something because you set the all-time record in cable history and so did CNN, and --
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: They want to know you.
TRUMP: So there's got to be something going on, Bill.
O'REILLY: They want to know you.
TRUMP: I'm trying.
O'REILLY: But by walking away from this debate -- you're not giving them the opportunity you as well as they would like.
TRUMP: I'm not walking away. I was pushed away. I'm not walking away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Trump campaigning late into the night, barely mentioning the debate feud.
CNN's Jim Acosta has the latest.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Miguel, during a rally here in South Carolina, Donald Trump largely steered clear of the controversy surrounding his decision to drop out of tonight's Fox News GOP debate.
His campaign essentially made it official, issuing a press release saying, Trump will appear at a rival event during the debate, an event aimed at raising money for veterans groups. Trump would only say very briefly during his rally here in South Carolina that he felt he has been treated very unfairly by FOX News at previous debates.
Here's more of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Can you believe we've already had six debates? Can you believe -- when I did this I never debated before. I create jobs, I do deals, I do buildings, I do stuff all over the world. I never debated. So I get on the stage like a number of months ago for the first debate, I had no idea and it worked out fine. I got a very unfair question from somebody but we don't even talk about that. We don't talk about that. I refuse to -- I refuse to -- I refuse to talk about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Asked whether Trump could appear at both his rally and the debate in Iowa, Trump's campaign manager told CNN that it wasn't feasible as the events are happening at the same time.
Talking to some Trump supporters down here in South Carolina, they sound like they'll be watching him later tonight and not the debate -- Christine and Miguel.
MARQUEZ: Thank to Jim.
Trump's Republican rivals kept up their relentless ridicule of his decision to withdraw from the debate. Listen to them dish it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Apparently, Mr. Trump considers Megyn Kelly very, very scary. And you know, Donald is a fragile soul. I mean, she might ask a mean question and who knows what could happen? I mean, his hair could stand on end.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Of all the press is here, 90 percent of their coverage is on this whole thing. Oh, Donald Trump is not go to show up. Ted Cruz is challenging him to a one-on- one, mano-a-mano, debate. Interesting side show.
JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That just seems kind of weird and the fact that he thinks he's being treated unfairly when he's going to be president of the United States? Life's unfair. You know.
BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And whether you've been treated unfairly or not is really relatively irrelevant. I've certainly have been treated unfairly with all these lies that have all been disproven. But nevertheless, you know, that goes with the territory. That prepares you for the White House.
SEN. RAND PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think Donald Trump's main addition that he's brought to the debate this year has been silliness, bombast and empty rhetoric and, you know, calling people names and so I don't think he's added much of substance the whole year so I don't think he'll be missed.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's a big mistake by Donald and I said that. You know, things don't always go your way. You remember, I got sent down to the undercard debate by FOX Business News. I didn't think it was fair, but I didn't whine and moan and complain and walk away. I went to the debate. I argued my points. That's what a leader does. You go in and you fight to reverse it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Now Carly Fiorina, who is on the undercard debate, not the main stage, tweeted a challenge for Trump to debate her one-on-one at his own event.
"Upping the ante, I'm free tomorrow at 8:00 p.m., Donald Trump. My campaign will give $2 million to veterans' causes to debate at Drake University."
ROMANS: All right. On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in a dead heat in Iowa polls with just four days to go until voters head to the caucuses.
[04:05:07] Clinton pivoting away from the attacks she's been aiming at Sanders recently, offering instead a positive upbeat message that also borrows a little Sanders populist funder. Sanders rising in the polls saying he believes he will win Iowa if there is a big voter turnout. Senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar has the latest on the
Democratic race from Iowa.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Miguel, Bernie Sanders began his day meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office just days after the president gave such high praise of Hillary Clinton.
Bernie Sanders giving the opportunity to say that the president was putting his finger on the scale for Hillary Clinton, but he didn't. He said he thought the president and the vice president are being fair.
Meanwhile here in Mason City, getting a little star power from Susan Sarandon as he riled up his supporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN SARANDON, ACTRESS: He is consistent, that he is principled and that he is incredibly brave.
(CHEERS)
SARANDON: I've come here because for me gender is not what's important. Issues are what's important.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think anybody who objectively and fairly looks at our campaign versus our opponents' campaign, knows that the energy, the enthusiasm, the momentum is with us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton spent the evening fundraising on the East Coast. Bernie Sanders tried to draw some contrast about tweeting out Bernie Sanders speaking tonight in Mason City, Iowa. Hillary Clinton at investment firm fundraising in Philadelphia. She was at a fundraiser with Jon Bon Jovi a multi-billion-dollar firm, handing the baton to her husband Bill Clinton to campaign here in Iowa. Actually across town from Bernie Sanders right here in Mason City -- Christine and Miguel.
ROMANS: Right there in Mason City. OK. Thanks for that, Brianna.
Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning. Asian shares finished mostly lower. Shanghai Composite down another 3 percent. But really carefully watching European stocks and U.S. stock futures right here. They're kind of bouncing around but now they're looking a little bit more upbeat.
The Federal Reserve yesterday said the U.S. economy lost momentum at the end of the year. The Feds also adding line about global economic and financial stress and uncertainty. And that was something that really got attention on Wall Street.
The Fed didn't raise interest rates. Everyone thought it would. But it's stopped short of saying volatility this January will change its plan to raise rates later this year. The Dow plunged on this news, by the way, closing down 223 points.
That acknowledgment from the Fed that U.S. economy slowed at the end of last year really caught investors off guard.
Facebook shares are soaring this morning. The company impressed investors with its profit report. For the last three months of 2015, Facebook made $1.6 billion. More than double a year earlier. Facebook also managed to keep adding new people and is making more money off of everyone of you at the very same time. And that's what's important, making money off of its users is what drives the bottom line, right?
MARQUEZ: Amazing how the business is changing.
ROMANS: Yes.
MARQUEZ: And how quickly it turns around for them.
ROMANS: Yes.
MARQUEZ: Fantastic.
Breaking news overnight. The standoff between the FBI and militiamen in Oregon may be winding down. New arrests as the leader calls for protesters to stand down.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:11:52] MARQUEZ: Breaking developments overnight in that wildfire refuge occupation in Oregon. Three men who had been hunkered down there arrested overnight by the FBI. Turning themselves in after reaching a checkpoint as they headed away from the refuge. This after the so-called protest leader asked his followers to end the nearly month-long occupation following his own arrest Tuesday.
More from CNN's Dan Simon in Oregon.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Miguel, things here at the scene remain very tense as you still have armed occupiers at that refuge and it's unclear when this may come to an end but we should tell you that Ammon Bundy, the leader of the occupation, through his lawyer, is telling everyone who is still there to go home, in his words, they should go home and hug their families.
But right now who knows if they are going to heed that call. Obviously, nobody wants to see a repeat of bloodshed after you had one of the occupiers killed during that traffic stop.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMMON BUNDY, LEADER OF OREGON OCCUPATION: They continued to ignore us and pushed us to the point where we felt we had to make a stand to defend our rights. BRIANA BUNDY, WIFE OF AMMON BUNDY: We were willing to sacrifice our
lives, but the fact that it was someone that we love so much that is not a family member that was also willing to sacrifice his life.
SHERIFF DAVID WARD, HARNEY COUNTY, OREGON: It's time for everybody in this illegal occupation to move on. There doesn't have to be bloodshed in our community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: As things remain fragile here, one particular note is that the federal complaint which was unsealed today, mentions that authorities had reason to believe that the occupiers had explosives and night vision goggles. That's the first time we've heard that. But we should point out that we don't know if officials were actually able to verify the presence of explosives -- Miguel and Christine.
ROMANS: Certainly a dangerous situation. Thanks for that, Dan Simon.
Three inmates who escaped from a Southern California jail, they are still at large, but five alleged gang members have been arrested in connection with that jail break. Police are not identifying the suspects or saying why they were taken into custody. Officials believe the three escaped prisoners had help from the outside. A $200,000 reward is being offered for information leading to their capture.
MARQUEZ: Now Melodie Gliniewicz, the wife of disgraced Fox Lake, Illinois, police officer Joe Gliniewicz, is now charged with being an accomplice over her late husband's theft of charitable funds. Prosecutors say the couple used money from the Police Explorer Post for personal expenses. Her lawyers claim she was a victim of her husband's secret actions. Gliniewicz killed himself last year staging his suicide to make it appear as if he was killed while pursuing three suspects.
ROMANS: The Justice Department and officials in Ferguson, Missouri, reaching a deal to revamp police operations in the city. It requires all Ferguson officers to be outfitted with body cameras, calls for new FX training and a more diverse police force. The agreement coming 10 months after a Justice Department report detailed racially biased policing in Ferguson. That report was prompted by the Michael Brown shooting.
MARQUEZ: Attorneys for two anti-abortion activists now face felony charges for secretly taping Planned Parenthood officials. Say their clients -- they say their clients are whistleblowers and deserve protection, not prosecution. They claimed Sandra Merit and David Daleiden were indicted by, quote, "runaway grand jury," in Texas and are asking the D.A. to appoint a special prosecutor to look into the case.
[04:15:12] The grand jury cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing concerning the sale of fetal tissue.
ROMANS: With Michigan lawmakers set to approve $28 million in emergency assistance for Flint, the state's embattled mayor or governor, rather, Rick Snyder, says it is not known how many children may have been harmed by the city's led-poisoned water supply. Doesn't know how many children were affected. The governor spoke with CNN's Poppy Harlow. Poppy pressed him on the criticism over his handling of the crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The kids were being poisoned by the water they were drinking here. The EPA knew about it. Your spokesman -- your former spokesman knew about it in July, 2015, and sent an e- mail about it, and you didn't declare a state of emergency until January of this year. Why did it take so long?
GOV. RICK SNYDER (R), MICHIGAN: Actually, I learned about it in October. And I took action immediately then, offering filters, working with people on getting water, on doing water testing. Again, we needed to do more, though. So as soon as I learned about it, we took dramatic action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Governor Snyder says it is too soon to determine how long it will take to replace lead pipes in Flint.
MARQUEZ: Violence erupts at a Detroit school following a student protest in March. Two adult activists were arrested outside the English Village Preparatory High School. One of the adults and several students were apparently pepper-sprayed by Detroit public school police. They were demonstrating over the state's -- over the city's public schools. Recent inspections revealed numerous code violations in at least 11 of the district's 90-plus school buildings. Amazing.
ROMANS: All right. Severe weather today and a possibility of another big snowstorm next week. Want to bring in meteorologist Derek Van Dam for the latest.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Christine and Miguel.
(WEATHER REPORT)
VAN DAM: Back to you.
ROMANS: All right. Derek, thank you for that.
A new warning from scientists this morning about the Zika virus. Why they believe the mosquito borne disease could be turning into a pandemic.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:22:10] ROMANS: The president of Iran meeting this morning with his French counterpart in Paris. The next stop on the Iranian delegation's five-day European tour aimed at reasserting Iran's place in the global marketplace. It is President Hassan Rouhani's first trip abroad since signing the
nuclear deal that ended tight economic sanctions. There's talk the French visit could lead to a big passenger jet deal with Airbus. But with Iranian elections fast approaching, there is also concern that a change in political winds could blow shut Iran's new open door to world trade.
Senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen is standing by live in Tehran with the latest. And just remarkable President Rouhani in Europe trying to do some business deals.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. And there was one that was also just announced, Christine, literally a couple of minutes ago that apparently French automaker Peugeot, which has about 30 years experience working here in Iran is going to come back to Iran. They apparently inked a $400 million deal to have them produce cars here which is something that they have done in the past.
But you're absolutely right. A lot of people here are quite concerned about the political situation. There's a very key election coming up here in Iran in a little under a month's time on February 26th that moderates here say that a lot of moderate candidates who wanted to participate in these elections were disqualified. They see this as the conservatives here in Iran trying to cement their power after the nuclear agreement.
I've actually been able to speak to conservatives as well. They let us into the Iranian parliament. And they say that is not true, these candidates were disqualified because they had some sort of other issues where they might have been in trouble with the law. However, there is some concern about these elections because they are going to be very important elections.
Many people here see the upcoming parliamentary elections in Iran as a referendum on Iran's way forward after the nuclear agreement. Will they continue to open up towards the West or could there be more confrontation in the future -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Keep us posted, Fred. Thank you so much for that in Tehran.
MARQUEZ: Now the Zika virus has the potential to become an explosive pandemic. That's the word from two U.S. based scientists. They've called the World Health Organization to convene an emergency meeting on the virus. The mosquito-borne illness believed to be linked to severe birth defects in Brazil. A recent study finds the virus could spread across the U.S.
CNN's Shasta Darlington picks up the story.
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. Good morning, Miguel. We're here in Recife, this is ground zero for the pandemic sweeping across the Americas. It's the first place the Zika virus was detected. It's also the first place where doctors first made a link between the virus and a sudden surge in birth defects. I'm talking about microcephaly. Babies born with small heads and
underdeveloped brains. In fact, more than 4,000 babies have been born with microcephaly here in Brazil, a third of them in this state, to the point the doctors and health officials are urging women to put off getting pregnant if at all possible.
[04:25:10] And talking to the mothers here, many of them teenagers, you really get a sense of the heartache and the financial burden that they're facing. There are no vaccines, no cure, efforts are really focused on trying to eradicate the mosquito that transmits the virus. So they're sending 200,000 soldiers, door-to-door here in Brazil, to educate families, eliminate the pools of standing water where mosquitoes breed. And of course fumigate.
And with the Olympics just six months away, officials in Rio de Janeiro are also trying to minimize risks. That means inspecting Olympic venues on a daily basis. The problem is, experts say they're probably just looking at the tip of the iceberg -- Miguel, Christine.
ROMANS: Experts was asking the WHO to really look into this. And --
MARQUEZ: It's terrifying.
ROMANS: It really is. And the warnings for pregnant women, I mean, or anyone who thinks they could get pregnant and the kinds of birth defects we're talking about here are pretty scary.
All right. 26 minutes past the hour. Republicans running for president just hours from facing off on the debate stage. But the frontrunner, he will not be there. What Donald Trump is doing instead. Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: In just hours, the next GOP presidential debate will take place without Donald Trump. What the presidential frontrunner will be doing instead. And what his competitors have to say about it.
MARQUEZ: Itching to know. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders locked in a dead heat in Iowa. Their new strategies to win over undecided voters.
ROMANS: Breaking overnight, new arrests in the Oregon militia standoff --
