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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Clinton & Sanders Debate Tonight; GOP Presidential Battlefield Moves to South Carolina; Warriors Scorch Suns, Off to Record NBA Start. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired February 11, 2016 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:00:00] JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, this morning, the focus is turning to Milwaukee and pivotal debate there tonight between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. It's so important because the former secretary of state lost momentum in the drubbing she took in New Hampshire, she is already trying to make changes to her campaign to appeal to younger voters.
Bernie Sanders is going to try to build on his fund raising success, as well as the big win in New Hampshire to show he is not a one-state wonder.
So, a lot riding on the debate. At the same time, the candidates are looking toward the next time the voters actually go to the polls. The pivot to South Carolina is a challenge for these candidates because of the demographics. African-American voters with big influence there.
But interesting Bernie Sanders didn't just fly to South Carolina after his big win. He went to Harlem to meet with Reverend Al Sharpton. And Sharpton wasn't issuing any endorsements at least at this point. He is waiting to meet with Hillary Clinton.
In talking with someone familiar with Sharpton's thinking, he has apparently got concerns about both candidates. There continue to be questions about whether Sanders can actually do the things he's talked about on the campaign trail. My understanding is while it all sounds good, there is skepticism about whether Sanders can deliver.
And also misgivings about Hillary Clinton, too. Though she polls well with minorities, there are questions about things Bill Clinton did as president that could affect Hillary's campaign. The wounds have not healed over the rhetoric and that sometimes divisive battle in the South Carolina primary in 2008. Bill Clinton seen as going a little too far at times.
There is also his signing of the welfare reform bill while he was president and crime bill that led to higher rates of incarceration. Bill Clinton has said he regrets that, but the source said the question is whether the African-American community is going to take "oops, I'm sorry" for an answer.
But today, the focus on Milwaukee and the latest face-off between the candidates and that debate -- John and Christine.
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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. That faceoff, that Democratic presidential debate sponsored by PBS, it airs tonight here on CNN and on your local PBS station live at 9:00 p.m.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, don't miss that.
All right. The Republican presidential field is smaller by two this morning. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and business executive Carly Fiorina, they dropped out of the race or suspended their campaigns in technical terms. Now, more Republicans have quit the race than remain.
Today, John Kasich, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Ben Carson, they will all be in South Carolina. That is the scene of the next primary on February. Following Donald Trump's big win in New Hampshire, his rivals have nine days to bring him down.
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JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump who is an extraordinary politician, apparently, and a great actor and entertainer. It is entertaining until you get, you know, insulted. Not so entertaining if you are a disabled person. That's a sign of weakness in my mind or if you disparage women or Hispanics.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We cannot nominate the candidate who has the same health care plan of socialized medicine as Ben Sanders.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think we still need to remember -- 75 percent of the voters yesterday in New Hampshire chose someone -- 65 percent chose someone other than Donald Trump.
And the question is, how long will it take before, you know, we've got to a narrow enough field for that voter to consolidate?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Trump is the only major Republican candidate not in South Carolina today. He is headed it to Louisiana for a rally in Baton Rouge.
CNN's Jim Acosta is along for the ride.
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JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Donald Trump literally took a victory lap on the stage behind me as he was savoring his landslide win in the New Hampshire primary. Trump tipped his hat to Carly Fiorina and Chris Christie who dropped out of the race. And even though Trump has been attacked by nearly all of his rivals,
the real estate tycoon rarely talked about his GOP candidates at this event here in South Carolina. Just a couple of lines on Jeb Bush, that's it.
But he did spend sometime sounding like a general election candidate, hitting Hillary Clinton as somebody who can't even beat Bernie Sanders. Here is how Trump put it here in South Carolina.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's got to get through this wacky socialist guy, Bernie. I -- listen, no, no, last night, last night, before I made my speech, I said I don't want to make it while he is making it. I let him go. He went on forever. He wants to give the country away.
ACOSTA: The Trump campaign is planning to stick with its strategy, holding big arena style rallies up and down the campaign calendar. Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told me he believes his candidate has a major advantage over the other GOP contenders in this field. Lewandowski said the campaign has staff and volunteers in 20 states. And Trump will not just be in South Carolina in the coming days, he'll be in Louisiana and Florida heading into the weekend -- John and Christine.
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ROMANS: Now that will be in my head the rest of the morning. I keep hearing it.
OK. Joining us this morning to break down the shift of the scene of the action to South Carolina, CNN politics reporter Tom LoBianco.
[05:05:03] Good morning. Good morning. How are you?
TOM LOBIANCO, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, guys. How are you?
ROMANS: We're great, we're great. We love to be up this early.
Let's talk about Ted Cruz here. Talk about how this is a two-man race. I want you to listen to something the candidates said last night.
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CRUZ: I think at this point it is becoming more and more a two-man race between me and Donald Trump. What we're seeing is conservatives uniting behind our campaign. If conservatives continue to unite, we will win the nomination and that's also how we win the general.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: It's still technically a seven-man race. There's still a lot of people in that field.
BERMAN: She's giving credit to Jim Gilmore right there. ROMANS: There are seven in there.
He wants it to be a two-man race, doesn't he?
LOBIANCO: That's right. It seems like the more people drop out after each contest, the more clear it becomes how crowded this race still is.
Cruz needs it to be a two-man race, although it very clearly is not. I mean, he did not place well. He placed OK in New Hampshire. You know, walking out of New Hampshire, there was, you know, more than a few tickets. I mean, he could have easily cleared the field had he come in a strong second. He got mixed in with Bush and Rubio and right in the third tier, if you will, kind of the muddy third place finish.
BERMAN: Not a two-man race.
LOBIANCO: So, it's very clearly not a two-man race.
BERMAN: Yes. South Carolina is not a two-man race, but two-lane race, right? You have Donald Trump and Ted Cruz perhaps competing exclusively for that conservative, maybe more religious evangelical voter in South Carolina. Then you have the establishment lane which narrowed as John Kasich and Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.
But they could have crossed over there, too. I was surprised that Jeb Bush is still talking really mostly only about Donald Trump. Listen to him last night.
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BUSH: He attacked my mother for campaigning for me. I mean, we're reaching a point in our country where you can't even have your mom show up to campaign for you in New Hampshire? It's pretty funny, actually.
Of course, they're going to campaign for me. They love me. I love them. I'm proud of being a Bush. So, if Donald Trump wants to go after my brother, man, I think that won't be helpful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Well, it's interesting. Jeb Bush is also talking about the dynamic of George W. Bush who will be going to campaign for him in South Carolina.
Tom, the risk or reward for that decision?
LOBIANCO: Well, you had to play that card at some point and now is the time. You know it does seem like with the number of folks that have dropped out already and with his reasonably strong performance considering in New Hampshire, he didn't get the second place spot, but Bush did OK. This breathed some new life into his campaign.
In South Carolina, they said this before. It seems to be true now. It's kind of do or die for him. He needs a strong showing there. You know, he may not need to win, but he's got to do well down there. That could -- that could revive his campaign at this point.
ROMANS: Those candidates appearing on FOX last night.
On our air, on CNN yesterday, Jay Carney breathing a little bit of insight into who the president would prefer to see as the nominee. Listen.
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JAY CARNEY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I don't think there's any doubt that he wants Hillary to win the nomination and believes she would be the best candidate in the fall and the most effective as president and carrying forward what he's achieved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: There we go. We were wondering if the president would favor his vice president coming into the race. That looks like a solid endorsement of Hillary Clinton.
LOBIANCO: It sure sounds that way, right? That's in line with that podcast that Obama did. He later had to tamp it down a bit in the private meeting with Sanders.
You know, the president will more than likely stay out of the primary contest formally. But all signs point to at least him and his top staff like Clinton. Look at that. That points right to her strength, experience and readiness to take on the job.
It seems little more pressing now following New Hampshire with that Sanders 20-point-win there, and talk she might not even be able to hold on to Nevada. So, this is, you know, there's a point behind Carney coming out now and saying that.
BERMAN: There's nothing subtle about the White House support and support from President Obama for Hillary Clinton. It just hasn't been loud.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: It will be interesting to see if they turn up the volume. If that from Jay Carney was deliberate yesterday and message of the White House is sending, particularly as this race move south, particularly as you start to see more minority voters weighing in on the Democratic side. We will be watching that for sure.
Tom LoBianco, great to have with you us. Thanks so much.
LOBIANCO: Thanks, guys.
BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight: the State Department says it could release 550 of Hillary Clinton's remaining e-mails on Saturday. This after a judge scolded officials for continuing delays. [05:10:02] About 3,700 of the emails remained out of the tens of
thousands that Clinton kept on a private email server, creating that controversy that has really dogged her presidential campaign. The government's original timeline would have had it releasing the e-mails the day before Super Tuesday.
ROMANS: All right. Breaking overnight: the FBI moves in on the remaining protesters occupying that Oregon wildlife refuge. We've got those details, next.
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ROMANS: The nation's top health officials testify today at a Senate hearing where lawmakers are considering a request from President Obama for $1.8 billion in funding to fast track a vaccine for the Zika virus. The Centers for Disease Control now confirming it has identified the virus in the tissue of two babies who died in Brazil from microcephaly. This is the strongest link yet between Zika and these heartbreaking birth defects.
BERMAN: The six-week standoff at Oregon wildlife refuge, it could soon be over. The FBI surrounded the compound with the last four occupiers remained holed up.
[05:15:04] This happened overnight. It appears the armed protesters planned to exit the refuge and surrender to federal agents in the coming hours.
Now, Cliven Bundy, the father of the protest leader, was arrested overnight at the Portland airport. This happened just hours ago. The FBI arrested him. It's not known what the charges are, but a post on the Facebook page for the Bundy's Nevada ranch says that he's on his way to the scene of that standoff in Oregon.
ROMANS; Police in Maryland say they believe the suspects who gunned two sheriff deputies Monday was targeting police officers. Two deputies were killed in a shootout at a busy shopping center in Abingdon, Maryland, about 30 miles from Baltimore. The alleged shooter described by police as a vagrant, he was also killed.
The federal government is suing Ferguson to force reforms in the police department and court system. It comes in response as the ejection of the deal with the Justice Department, a deal negotiated after a report found widespread racial discrimination throughout Ferguson's law enforcement. The city became a symbol of problems after the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown back in 2014. The officer involved was not charged.
BERMAN: The Flint water crisis front and center on Capitol Hill, as House lawmakers held a hearing Wednesday. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder declined to testify. He asked the state legislature for a new infusion of $195 million in funding for Flint. The city of Flint is now under a boil water advisory after a water main which could have allowed bacterial contaminants to enter the water system.
ROMANS: Time for an early start on your money. Dramatic losses for stocks around the globe after the deep drop in oil. Dow futures down more than 200 points right now. Huge declines in stock markets in Europe and Asia. Oil crashed. Strong U.S. dollar, chaos in global market. The Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, she is talking about that in her semi-annual testimony to Congress.
So, did the Fed raise interest rates too soon?
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JANET YELLEN, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRWOMAN: While there is always some risk of recession and I recognize and just stated that global financial developments could produce a slowing in the economy, I think we want to be careful not to jump to premature conclusion about what is in store for the U.S. economy. So, I don't think it's going to be necessary to cut rates.
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ROMANS: By one market measure, investors put the probability of another rate hike this year at zero. Something else she said is interesting. They think the job market is pretty strong. That is a really interesting development. They think wages are going to rise. They forecast wages to keep rising.
BERMAN: That is great to see as well. I'm not just talking about us personally.
ROMANS: John needs a raise.
BERMAN: All right. What does Kobe Bryant hate about his NBA farewell tour? Well, the Lakers stink. Cleveland and LeBron James got to say good-bye last night. Andy Scholes with this morning's bleacher report, next.
ROMANS: Your child's breakfast is getting a makeover. One major cereal brand is hoping better ingredients leads to better sales. CNN Money's Cristina Alesci goes inside the test kitchens to find out for more.
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CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cereal, America's go-to breakfast food for decades. Sales are slipping and now, companies are cutting sugar and replacing artificial colors. But are these changes making cereal less processed?
That question led me to a test kitchen in Minneapolis. This tiny kitchen is where a multibillion dollar business experiments with cereal.
Kate Gallagher is on the team that's reengineering Trix. For the first time in 50 years, colors come from natural sources. But why go through all that trouble?
KATE GALLAGHER, GENERAL MILLS: We had to start a number of years ago as we heard from consumers they not like what they were seeing on our ingredient facts.
ALESCI: The backlash against highly processed foods with artificial ingredients has started to hit cereal makers where it hurts: the bottom line. The industry answer? Ditch artificial colors for natural ones.
JIM MURPHY: What we are seeing today is very different than consumers telling us they wanted 25 years ago. They wanted it to taste different and brighter colors.
ALESCI (on camera): So, parent said, I want my cereal greener?
MURPHY: I think kids were telling us that. Parents, that wasn't on their radar screen back in the day. Now, things have changed.
GALLAGHER: Definitely, I feel better with the new recipe and part of it is not because I think the old recipe is unsafe or bad, but because I really value teaching my kids where food comes from.
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[05:24:26] BERMAN: All right. Riddle me this. Are the Golden State Warriors the best NBA team ever? If you go by the first half, then yes, they are.
ROMANS: Andy Scholes has more in this morning's bleacher report.
Hey, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, guys.
You know, most teams hit the all-star break. The Warriors are 48-4. That's the best first half start in NBA history. They were in Phoenix last night, closing out the first half.
Check this out. Two Suns players get into a shoving match three minutes into the game. The Warriors will do that to you. Check out Steph Curry in this one in third quarter. Behind the back pass to Klay Thompson. He knocked down the three. Warriors win this easily, 112-104.
They are one win ahead of the '96 Bulls pace the year they won 72 games.
All right. Kobe and LeBron meeting for the final time ever last night in Cleveland. The crowd chanting "Kobe, Kobe" throughout the night. First Laker possession. Kobe knocking down the jumper.
This one's all LeBron after that. He took over. The Cavaliers won 120-111. Kobe left the game with 40 seconds left. Watch Kobe and LeBron embracing on the court one last time.
Peyton Manning on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" last night. Peyton did not give any hints on whether he was retiring, but had fun with Magic Johnson in a game of egg Russian roulette.
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PEYTON MANNING, DENVER BRONCOS QB: Good to see you, buddy.
(LAUGHTER)
MAGIC JOHNSON: I'm felling, I don't know.
(LAUGHTER)
JIMMY FALLON, COMEDIAN: There you have it. Magic Johnson is the egg Russian roulette --
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SCHOLES: You know, guys, I think this would be a great game for you two to play one morning.
BERMAN: Absolutely. She cheats, first of all. She cheats.
I have to ask, do you think the Golden State Warriors are the best team of all time?
SCHOLES: Man, they're the most fun team to watch of all time. I'll tell you that. You know what? If they go 73-9, John, they will be the best team of all time.
BERMAN: I agree with your answer. I never had so much fun watching a non-Celtics basketball team in my life.
(LAUGHTER)
Andy Scholes, great to have you. Thanks so much.
SCHOLES: All right.
ROMANS: All right. Something else to watch: politics. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders just hours from taking the debate stage. How their face-off could change the race for president, that's next.
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