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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Clinton, Sanders Face Off In Debate; Clinton Leans On Obama's Legacy; Cruz Pulls Ad Featuring Porn Star; Last Four Oregon Refuge Protesters In Custody; Crisis In Syria; Kasich Scores Billionaire Endorsement. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired February 12, 2016 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:29] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight, the Democratic presidential debate. Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, tense moments, new strategy. How does this change the race heading into Nevada and South Carolina? Welcome back to "EARLY START", everyone. I'm John Berman.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is 30 minutes past the hour. Overnight, Hillary Clinton doing her best to blunt Bernie Sanders' New Hampshire surge at that Democratic debate in Milwaukee, a debate that was way more than about Milwaukee. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders turn their focus to the racially diverse states of Nevada and South Carolina and Hillary Clinton turned her attention to stopping the post-New Hampshire momentum of Bernie Sanders. She repeatedly said his promises are not realistic and that he is not leveling with the American people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Last week in a CNN town hall, the senator told a questioner that the questioner would spend about $500 in taxes to get about $5,000 in health care. Every progressive economist who has analyzed that says the numbers don't add up. And that's a promise that cannot be kept.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Secretary Clinton, you are not in the White House yet. And let us be clear that every proposal that I have introduced has been paid for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: For more on the debate, let's bring in CNN's Jeff Zeleny. He's in Milwaukee for us.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, a civil but contentious Democratic debate here with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders really showing their differences on several issues from foreign policy to immigration to health care. But the person who was not on stage but talked about the most was President Obama. Hillary Clinton hung tightly to him, his legacy. She said that she's the true keeper of his flame, of his legacy, of his administration on all of those issues. Throughout the course of the debate, she mentioned President Obama and questioned senator Sanders' loyalty to this president. It's a way for her to point out that he is not a Democrat, at least a registered Democrat, in name. The whole point of this strategy is to look ahead to South Carolina. The South Carolina primary in just about two weeks time is filled with African- American voters. Some 55 percent of the Democratic electorate is African-American. Secretary Clinton was trying to make the case that she is closer to President Obama. Listen to this exchange near the end of the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: Today, Senator Sanders said that President Obama failed the presidential leadership test and this is not the first time he has criticized President Obama. In the past, he's called him weak. He's called him a disappointment. And I just couldn't disagree more with those kinds of comments. I don't think he gets the credit he deserves for being a president. It is a -- the kind of criticism that we heard from Senator Sanders about our president, I expect from Republicans. I do not expect from someone running for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Obama.
SANDERS: Madam secretary, that is a low blow. I think it is really unfair to suggest that I have not been supportive of the president. I have been a strong ally with him on virtually every issue. Do senators have the right to disagree with the president? Have you ever disagreed with a president? I suspect you may have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: Of course, Senator Sanders pushing back on the notion he is not supportive of the president. Now at the end of this nearly two-hour debate, it's hard to imagine what may have changed in the minds of the Sanders supporters. If you came into this debate as a Sanders supporter, you likely left this debate a Sanders supporter, likewise on the Clinton side. But what this did do for the Clinton campaign is reset her candidacy after that stinging defeat in New Hampshire and this campaign continues now, the Nevada caucuses just eight days away, South Carolina the following week. John and Christine --
BERMAN: Jeff Zeleny for us in Milwaukee. Let's discuss this debate, a big moment in this campaign. Joining us from Washington, "Wall Street Journal" White House correspondent, Colleen McCain Nelson. Colleen, great to see you. They were in Milwaukee, focused on Nevada and South Carolina, but in some ways, Hillary Clinton trying to make this the Barack Obama primary.
[05:34:41] COLLEEN MCCAIN NELSON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Absolutely. More and more, she sounds like a candidate who is running for Barack Obama's third term. She's making an argument at every chance she gets that she's going to continue Obama's legacy, that she's going to build on his programs, and she points out every chance she gets where Bernie Sanders has disagreed with Obama. And she interjected him -- the president, into the conversation repeatedly . He wasn't part of the question, he wasn't part of the conversation, but she took every chance she could to say, Barack Obama's health care plan is the better health care plan and that she would build on that. She brought up his policing commission. She talked about his progress on race relations. And her message was, I will continue the good work that Obama has done. It's important to note as they look ahead to South Carolina where a majority of the electorate is likely to be African-American, Barack Obama is still hugely popular with black voters and so she has her eye on winning the South Carolina primary and is proceeding strategically in that way.
ROMANS: Colleen, I can play some sound for you, and example of what you're talking about here. She was talking about Super PACs and the influence of money in the race and even then she brought up Barack Obama. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I debated, then senator Obama numerous times on stages like this and he was the recipient of the largest number of Wall Street donations of anybody running on the Democratic side ever. So let's not in any way imply here that either President Obama or myself would in any way not take on any vested interest.
SANDERS: Let's not insult the intelligence of the American people. People aren't dumb. Why in God's name does Wall Street make huge campaign contributions? I guess just for the fun of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Just for the fun of it. The Wall Street is sort of like this unnamed other candidate or anti-candidate in both parties, frankly. Do you think that's going to continue to resonate?
NELSON: Well, Bernie Sanders obviously thinks this is going to resonate. He wants to talk about this every chance he gets. And that was one of his better moments in the debate. And so he keeps pushing on this and pointing out her Wall Street contributions. It was interesting, she had a different answer this week than she did last week. She tried to argue basically that the Super PAC supporting her that's received $14 million in contributions from Wall Street, she said well that's not my Super PAC. It was created originally to support Obama and it just made the decision eventually to support me, and basically said, this isn't a Super PAC that I created, but in fact it's closely aligned with her. It exists now to support her and it has in fact received millions of dollars in contributions from Wall Street. But she did continue to make the argument that that doesn't influence her decisions. As you showed, she said, Barack Obama received these contributions also. They didn't influence his decisions and they don't influence mine.
ROMANS: Let me ask you about women. A couple of times, there were a couple of different ways she answered the question about women and, you know, she would be the first woman president. Let's listen to how she positioned that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I have spent my entire adult life working toward making sure that women are empowered to make their own choices even if that choice is not to vote for me. I believe that it's most important that we unleash the full potential of women and girls in our society.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: She's definitely acknowledging what is a huge enthusiasm gap among young women who -- like 70 points ahead -- they prefer Bernie Sanders.
NELSON: Right. She's testing out some new lines here trying to figure out what might work so that she can get traction with women. As you know, Bernie Sanders not only won young women in New Hampshire, but he also won women overall in New Hampshire. This was supposed to be a cornerstone of Hillary Clinton's coalition. And so it's been a surprise to her campaign that she's had to fight so hard for the women support. She got a question last night about Madeleine Albright's statement that there is a special place in Hell for women who don't help other women and she kind of sidestepped that question and just kind of went back to her argument that she's the most qualified candidate and that she's not just asking people to support her only because she is a woman.
BERMAN: Let's turn quickly to the Republican race because many people waking up to news this morning, that only happens in presidential politics. Ted Cruz had an ad in South Carolina. It was an anti-Marco Rubio ad. It had a bunch of actors sitting around that was supposed to be a support group. It turns out that that woman, apparently named Amy Lindsey -- she has some experience in the performance world, apparently performing in some adult films with titles such as "Private Sex Clubs", "Carnal Wishes", "Insatiable Desires", and when this was pointed out to the Cruz campaign by Buzzfeed, they pulled the ad. Only in America.
[05:39:51] ROMANS: Only in politics do you have to vet your actress. You have to vet your stock actresses. Well, they were quick to take down the ad and blame the casting company. They said that the casting company hadn't bothered to vet her but you can bet that Marco Rubio will have a little bit of fun with this on the campaign trail.
BERMAN: Of course, Ted Cruz running more on values and social issues than any other candidate. I don't think he wants to have a porn connection, as it were, in South Carolina.
ROMANS: That is correct.
BERMAN: Thanks so much. Great to have you with us, Colleen.
NELSON: Thank you.
ROMANS: You had too much glee when you named the films.
BERMAN: Do you want to know something? And I don't know that anyone is going to remember this -- he's not the first candidate for president, and not even the first Texas senator running for president who's had issues with porn. Phil Graham, who ran for president in 1996 -- I'm not making this up -- it turned out had invested somehow in some kind of soft porn film years before, he had to explain that away. It's one of these things that keeps coming up in presidential politics and it just, America.
ROMANS: Just, America. All right, 40 minutes past the hour. The protest in Oregon wildlife refuge is over. After 41 days and a deadly confrontation with the FBI, we have the new developments, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:45:07] ROMANS: This morning, the last four protesters who occupied an Oregon wildlife refuge are in custody and they will make their first court appearance today. They surrendered Thursday after hours of tense negotiations, bringing an end to the six-week standoff with the FBI. Felony charges related to the armed occupation are pending. The four had refused to leave even after protest leader Ammon Bundy and others were arrested. One protester was killed by police.
A bloody scene inside a Columbus, Ohio restaurant. A man with a machete was shot and killed by police after randomly slashing several customers and an employee. Police say they've identified the suspect but they are not releasing his name yet. At least four people were injured. One of the victims needed surgery and is now in stable condition.
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency defending its response to the Flint water crisis. At a house hearing Thursday, EPA chief Gina McCarthy was asked why the agency didn't act sooner after learning last year about the lack of proper treatment to prevent the Flint river from leeching lead into the city's drinking water. McCarthy has focused blame for the crisis on the state. Two officials at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality have been suspended or fired over the handling of the water contamination in Flint.
Time for an EARLY START on your money. Stock futures are higher, thank goodness, this morning. Oil climbing back above $27 a barrel. European markets also posting some solid gains but, look at that. There were huge losses again in Tokyo overnight. Here is the bigger picture. Look at that. The Dow has been in a major slump. Check out the past five trading sessions. Over that span, the Dow has lost 757 points. The losses could have been worse. The Dow was down more than 400 points for a short time yesterday. The volatility has been extreme. That losing streak looks bad but these numbers are even worse. Here's where the three major averages stand from their highs over the past year. The Dow and S&P 500 both down more than 14 percent now. The NASDAQ is nearing a 20 percent drop. That would mean it's a bear market if it goes a little bit further down here.
Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY." Alisyn Camerota joins us this morning. Happy Friday, Alisyn.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You, too, Christine. Thanks so much. Now if you did not stay up last night to watch the whole debate, don't worry. We have all the highlights for you. We will analyze which candidate scored higher with minority voters ahead of their next contests in Nevada and South Carolina, and who landed more blows? Clinton or Sanders? Supporters of both candidates join us with their analysis. Also, the Republicans are sharpening their claws in South Carolina. Donald Trump says his campaign will take a more positive tone, but he's still slamming his rivals. And Ted Cruz doing some damage control over a new attack ad. Wait until you hear who was in it. That and so much more ahead on "NEW DAY". We'll see you in a few minutes.
ROMANS: That is a really interesting story.
CAMEROTA: John Berman loves that story.
ROMANS: I know. He's been doing a lot of research this morning about that story. Thanks, Alisyn.
The U.S. and Russia agreeing to stop the bombing in Syria as tens of thousands try to escape that violence. CNN takes you live inside Syria with our team coverage right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: The United States, Russia, and other world powers have agreed to a cessation of hostilities deal for Syria. It could facilitate the distribution of desperately needed humanitarian aid to thousands of Syrian civilians. People forced to flee their homes, but not everyone is optimistic the deal will hold. Right now, Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air strikes, are advancing rapidly on Aleppo and other rebel strongholds triggering a huge refugee crisis at the Turkish border. CNN has every angle of this important developing story covered starting with Nic Robertson in Munich where that deal was hammered out. Good morning, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Good morning, Christine. This deal, if it gets up and running and comes into effect, would hold that offensive around Aleppo. Russian air strikes would continue but they would only target ISIS and al Quaeda inside Syria. What's going to happen today, a humanitarian access effort begins. Seven places in the country are being located and targeted. Three will require air drops because they are so cut off. Four, they can be resupplied by road. But this is an effort to reach government supporters where they're cut off, but also opposition members in towns and villages where they're cut off. They start with this idea of just seven locations and then hopefully spread it across the whole country. That's overseen by the U.N. That begins right now. In a week's time, there is what's called a cessation of hostilities. This is, think of it as a pause in the fighting. It's not like a complete cease-fire, but if they can bring the cessation into place, then that will bring confidence. And the idea is, and we've heard this from the opposition already, saying that if these points are carried out on the ground as detailed in the agreement here last night, then that will get them back to the negotiating table very quickly. That's what the U.N. was trying to achieve here. So right now, the indications are that these are potentially positive steps that can work, but everyone here last night stressed it is up to the people in Syria to follow through on what was agreed here in Munich. Christine --
ROMANS: All right, Nic for us this morning, thank you. While world powers triy to find a diplomatic solution to the bloodshed there in Syria, the Assad regime's forces have been making significant advances in towns and villages where rebels have been entrenched for years. And CNN is the first international network on the frontlines. I want to go to live to Damascus, bring in CNN's Frederik Pleitgen. Fred, bring us up to speed.
[05:54:55] FREDERIK PEITGEN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, good morning, Christine. Yes, we went to several places inside the town of Aleppo but also in the north of Aleppo where that offensive is taking place and there were several things that were significant and very remarkable when we were there. First of all, there is the degree of devastation which is just plain sad. Aleppo used to be one of the most beautiful cities in the Middle East. Now the old town, which is a UNESCO world heritage site, is in complete ruins. The other thing that we found very remarkable was the confidence of the pro-Assad soldiers that we spoke to. They said they feel that they are on the verge of dealing the opposition a crushing blow. Very few of them have said that they believe that diplomacy could have a chance at this point in time. We managed to go through several villages outside of Aleppo which the are that the Syrian regime is trying to take at this point to cut off the rebels from their supply lines that go into Turkey and what we saw there was also a lot of power wielded by Hezbollah, by Iran, and by Russia. There's a lot of houses out there with posters of the Iranian supreme leader on it, also with the head of Hesbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, and when you speak to a lot of Assad soldiers there, they will tell you that it was really Russian air strikes that have been making the difference and continue to make the difference for them on the battle field. They say, of course, on the one hand, because of the air strikes themselves, but also because of the Russians are providing aerial surveillance as well which helps the Assad regime more pinpointly target a lot of the rebel groups that they've been fighting there. So at this point in time, a lot of confidence of the part of pro-Assad soldiers. It will be very interesting to see if this cessation of hostility really comes into place and whether or not it will really hold. Christine --
ROMANS: And they desperately need to get those supplies to so many of those suffering people, people who've been suffering for so long. All right, thanks for that amazing access. Thanks for all your reporting there from the frontlines.
All right, let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning. Urgently needed relief in global stock markets this morning. U.S. stock futures, European stock markets are higher. Asian markets fell sharply, reacting to that huge loss in U.S. stocks and cratering oil prices. Crude prices now rebounding a bit, they're back above $27 a barrel. That's why you're seeing some relief in global markets. The mayhem in the oil market is a big win for consumers. The national average for a gallon of regular is below $1.70 nationwide. That's down 26 cents in just a month. More than $1 below peak prices last summer. The drop in gas prices is like a tax break for drivers. Puts hundreds of extra dollars in their pockets this year. Great for main street, terrible for investors and for Wall Street and frankly for global stability. Oil company bankruptcies up 379 percent in the last 12 months. Big banks are bracing for losses from loans they made to oil companies. It's also hurting America's oil independence as some firms are starting to reduce or halt production. That's what Middle East oil producers want. They want to scoop up that market share while prices are low. A lot of our allies in the Middle East are pumping oil like crazy, hoping that the U.S. will pump less.
John Kasich's presidential campaign just scored an endorsement from a billionaire mega donor. Ken Langone, who had backed Chris Christie, is now supporting Kasich. That's according to a top adviser. Langone is the co--founder of Home Depot, reportedly worth $28 billion. Langone reached out to Kasich's campaign, offered to help with finances and making connections to the business community. Before Christie dropped out of the race, Langone donated the maximum $2,700 to his campaign and gave $250,000 to America Leads, that's a Super PAC supporting Christie.
All right, heated moments at the Democratic presidential debate. "NEW DAY" picks that story up right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: The kind of criticism that we heard from Senator Sanders about our president, I expect from Republicans.
SANDERS: Madam seetary, that is a low blow.
Let's not insult the intelligence of the American people. People aren't dumb. Why in God's name does Wall Street make huge contributions?
CLINTON: Once I'm in the White House, we will have enough political capital.
SANDERS: Secretary Clinton, you're not in the White House yet.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is no one left in the Republican field who has more experience than I have.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Don't listen to any of the campaign rhetoric.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I won't use foul language. I'm just not going to do it.
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How are you going to bring people together when all you're doing is trashing somebody else?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.
CAMEROTA: So we're told it's 13 degrees outside.
BERMAN: 13 degrees. A nice, lovely, cold day here in Manhattan.
CAMEROTA: It's going to be like that all weekend. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Friday, February 12, 6:00 in the East. Chris and Michaela are off this morning. John Berman joins me. Great to have you here with us. Well, deeper divisions emerging between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in last night's debate. Clinton delivering her most forceful argument yet that Sanders is too critical of President Obama. Sanders clashing with her over foreign policy and who can best lead a divided country.
BERMAN: The debate was full of brand new attack lines. Clinton ended the debate by slamming Sanders for being a single-issue candidate. Now, on the other side, Republican front-runner Donald Trump is vowing to play nice --
