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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

New Landscape for GOP Race: Trump's Foreign Policy Speech: New Reaction; Cruz Names Fiorina As His Running Mate; Sanders Lays Off Hundreds of Staffers; DEA Investigates Prince's Death. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired April 28, 2016 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:32:04] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Republican race for president like nothing we have seen before. Yes, Donald Trump gives a foreign policy speech. The world reacts to that and the unprecedented move by Ted Cruz, months before the convention and a deep second place, he names a running mate.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: After a string of losses, Bernie Sanders cuts hundreds of jobs on his campaign staff.

BERMAN: Breaking overnight, the DEA investigating Prince's death. Did prescription painkillers play a role?

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is 32 minutes past the hour.

A whole new look and feel to the race for president this morning, following Donald Trump's sweep of Super Tuesday number four, as candidates the next battleground of Indiana, a more polished, presidential style Trump has reemerged, delivering a major foreign policy speech.

This as Ted Cruz begins his first full day campaigning with his brand new vice presidential Pick Carly Fiorina. Last night, Trump mocked Cruz's decision to name a running mate so early.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He has set a record, though. He is the first presidential candidate in the history of this country who's mathematically eliminated from becoming president who chose a vice presidential candidate, OK? It's a record.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has the very latest from the Cruz campaign in Indiana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

Well, Senator Cruz making another Hail Mary pass, making the very unusual move to name his vice presidential pick before he is even the nominee -- a move very widely seen as one that was intended to refocus attention on his campaign after a string of bruising losses. Now, the move was meet with immediate criticism from frontrunner Donald Trump who said that this is just a sign of desperation on the part of the Cruz campaign and said that Senator Cruz should not even be wasting his time choosing a VP given that he has no mathematical path forward towards the nomination without a contested convention.

Well, Senator Cruz addressed that criticism head on in his announcement speech. Here's what he had to say.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is tradition that the nominee is announced at convention. It is unusual to make the announcement as early as we are doing so now. Well, I think all would acknowledge this race, if anything, it is unusual.

SERFATY: Meantime, Carly Fiorina also addressed Donald Trump's criticism. The fact that Donald Trump was bringing up her past criticism when she was rivals with Ted Cruz, statements that she made in the past saying that Ted Cruz will do anything and say anything to get elected.

Well, I asked her about that. Here's how she responded.

CARLY FIORINA (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, of course, Donald Trump would do that. The guy who practices saying anything to get elected is actually Donald J. Trump, because all of the stuff he's talking about now -- you know, I'm going to fight the system, he's not going to fight the system.

[04:35:05] He is the system. He has benefitted from the system all of his life. So, you know, see you out on the campaign trail, Donald.

SERFATY: And Senator Cruz and Carly Fiorina will hit the campaign trail together. Today, they'll be barnstorming the state of Indiana together. The state certainly holds an oversized importance for their campaign. Now, the stakes have been significantly raised -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Sunlen. Carly Fiorina sits down for a live interview on CNN during "NEW DAY's" 7:00 hour.

BERMAN: New reaction this morning to Donald Trump's foreign policy speech. He used a teleprompter, he stuck closely to the script. Trump said his foreign policy would put, as he said, America First. He called for building up the U.S. military, overhauling NATO, and he lashed out at President Obama and Hillary Clinton, blaming their policies for worldwide confusion and disorder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Our foreign policy is a complete and total disaster. No vision. No purpose. No direction. No strategy.

If President Obama's goal had been to weaken America, he could not have done a better job. The legacy of the Obama/Clinton interventions will be weakness, confusion and disarray -- a mess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joining us with the international response to the speech, CNN's Nic Robertson in London this morning.

Nic, you know, it was not full of specifics.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It wasn't, John, and for that reason, it really leaves more answers -- more questions rather than it provides answers. You know, he talked about remaking the relationship with NATO, making an issue of the fact that the vast number of NATO nations do not contribute 2 percent of the GDP to the expense as they agreed and expected to. Some of them are just too poor to do it and haven't done it.

So, he's reexamining the relationship, he says he was to reexamine the relationship with NATO. Right now, the NATO allies, U.S. included in that. I sat down earlier this year with the supreme military commander of Europe, the military commander of NATO, a U.S. four star general, Phillip Breedlove, he told me that right now, they see -- NATO sees Russia as the biggest threat to security and stability in the region.

At the same time, you now have Donald Trump saying that he will relook at the relationship with Russia and President Putin as the only leader around the world who's praised Donald Trump so far, calling him talented. So the questions that will remain in Europe at the moment, what does this mean? Redoing the relationship with NATO at a time when Russia is the big enemy? What does it mean? Redoing the relationship with Russia at this time?

It will raise questions about Ukraine, the economic sanctions on Russia, because of that, the annexing of Crimea, all these things.

So, without the detail to know how he makes the relationships, that's leaving a lot of questions. In the Middle East, Trump very, very hard on Iran, on the nuclear deal, all bad on the Iran's expansionist role and view in the region. That's going to sit well with the Saudis and Gulf states; his previous statements about banning Muslims from the United States, notwithstanding. That will perhaps draw some of the Gulf countries back toward the United States a bit where they have been drifting away under President Obama.

But the reality here, it's a lot of information that's very helpful. It doesn't give the specificity that politicians in this part of the world really to get a grip on what it would mean if Trump is in the White House -- John.

BERMAN: Just to be clear, Nic, I mean, people and leaders around the world are watching this race closely and watching Donald Trump closely at this point.

ROBERTSON: And there's political outfall from it. I mean, look at the most recent things that David Cameron here in Britain has said about Donald Trump. He accused him -- Donald Trump on this policy, this initiative to ban Muslims from America for the period of time. He said that was divisive, stupid and wrong.

You know, David Cameron was given a chance to roll back on that. He didn't. Leaders here do watch what Donald Trump is saying. They have to play to their constituents at the moment.

There is fragmentation in Europe over the issue of immigration. That is interlinked in people's minds with Muslims in Europe and terrorism. All of this is interlinked.

So, when Donald Trump says something, there is political reaction already around the world. Worlds are put on the record by leaders. So, yes, they are watching. What they heard last night is not going to give them perhaps any better understanding of what this would mean, a Trump presidency would mean.

But it is giving them now something more to sort of cause for concern, pause for concern.

BERMAN: Nic Robertson for us this morning in London -- thanks a lot, Nic.

ROMANS: On the Democratic side, big changes that may herald a new phase in that race, in the wake of Bernie Sanders tough night in the Acela primary. He lost four of five states. His campaign now laying off more than 200 workers, more than a third of his current staff.

Senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar is with the Sanders campaign in Indiana. She's got the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Bernie Sanders is making it clear he isn't going anywhere, but it certainly seems that much of his staff is. Downsizing, we are told, from a peak number of about 1,000 staffers earlier this year, all the way down to 325 or 350 staffers.

Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver telling me this is the natural evolution of any campaign, there are fewer states going forward. But many observers are looking at this as a sign that the writing is on the wall. And if a campaign saw a pathway to the general election, they wouldn't be doing this.

And while Bernie Sanders is still critiquing Hillary Clinton, he is always more conciliatory.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And our job, whether we win or whether we do not win, is to transform not only our country, but the Democratic Party to open the doors of the Democratic Party to working people and young people and senior citizens in a way that does not exist today.

KEILAR: Meanwhile, the Clinton campaign is welcoming this news. They are hoping that they will be able to spend more time in the coming weeks with Hillary Clinton defining herself, talking her plan and defining Donald Trump instead of exchanging broadsides with Bernie Sanders -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Brianna Keilar, thanks so much.

New calls this morning to eliminate the statute of limitations on child sex crimes. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan making the case, comes a day after former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced to 15 years in prison in a federal hush money case. He pleaded guilty Wednesday to violating banking laws while trying to pay a man millions of dollars to conceal sex abuse. Prosecutors say the abuse happened decades ago when Hastert was a teacher and a wrestling coach. They say too much time had passed to bring charges for the abuse itself.

ROMANS: Time for an early start on your money this Thursday. Dow futures are lower. Investors are unhappy for a bunch of bad corporate earnings. Oil down slightly. European stocks dropping.

Look at that huge lose in Tokyo overnight. Central bank said no to more stimulus. Corporate earning season in one word, terrible, except for Facebook. The social network says profits surged 200 percent from this time last year. Facebook's reach gets bigger. Now, 1.65 billion people use Facebook each month.

Facebook stock is up 4 percent this year. It's jumping another 9 percent in pre-market trading. That rise and fall came after the earnings report. So, if you own Facebook, you are in gains.

BERMAN: I feel bad. If there are like 1.4 billion users and I only get like 80 likes when I post a photo, that's not a got rate.

ROMANS: You need to be more provocative.

Breaking news overnight, new information on Prince's death investigation. Was the music icon addicted to prescription painkillers? What is the focus of the investigation? Next.

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[04:47:32] BERMAN: Breaking overnight: a source tells CNN that prince had opioid medication on him at the time of death. A law enforcement official says the prescription pills were also found inside his Minnesota home. The source tells us prince was treated for a potential overdose for pain medication a week before he died.

Investigators have brought in the Drug Enforcement Agency to help with their probe. An official cause of death has not yet been released. Investigators are still waiting on the autopsy and toxicology reports. ROMANS: A Baltimore teenager is recovering after a police officer

shot him as he ran with a replica handgun. Authorities say the 13- year-old took off when he was spotted with what looked like a semiautomatic pistol. Police said he held on the gun and he was chased on foot, rounding a corner. That's when an officer opened fire hitting the teen.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis says he does not believe the officer acted inappropriately.

BERMAN: The man who admits to opening fire inside a Colorado Planned Parenthood killing three people has a date in court today. The hearing will focus on Robert Dear's mental health. A doctor who conducted the 57-year-old's competency exam and a police detective may testify during outburst in court. Dear has declared himself, quote, "a warrior for the babies" and said he was guilty.

ROMANS: Tennessee now has a new law on the books that critics slam as anti-LGBT. The legislation allows counselors refusing to treat patients based on their religious or personal beliefs, the counselor's religious or personal beliefs. The state's governor says he supports the measure since it requires therapist to help people who are in eminent danger to themselves and also patients' referrals to other counselors. Critics say it would be make it harder for gay and transgender patients to get help.

BERMAN: The American Airlines flight was forced to land just minutes after takeoff. The plane was heading to Dallas from Seattle when it hit birds. The pilot quickly alerted air traffic controllers and returned to the airport. The impact was intense.

Look at this. The nose of the plane was badly damaged. All 150 passengers and six crew arrived safely. You see the indentation in the nose.

ROMANS: Interesting.

All right. More than a dozen tornadoes hit the Midwest yesterday. Where is the severe weather threat today?

Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John and Christine.

Seventeen tornado records in total on Wednesday. Now, that same storm system moving slowly to the east, more of a weakened fashion. Still a marginal risk of severe weather today from Atlanta to Raleigh.

[04:50:03] We're going to start focusing our attention on the area of low pressure spinning up across Texas and Oklahoma panhandle, and you guessed, bring in another chance of severe weather later today and through the early parts of the weekend.

Here are some rain showers moving through the greater Chicago area. You want to plan a few extra minutes to get to work this morning. The band of rain showers extends all the way to the Mid-Atlantic States, the cooler air to the north and warm summer air to the south. The low pressure will spin up and bring the chance of the severe weather and to the Oklahoma City region.

Take a look at temperatures for the day today. This is more indicative of June and July across the Deep South. And to the north, the Great Lakes, the temperatures you would experience for middle March. Highs for New York, 60 for the afternoon. Enjoy. Back to you.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that, Derek.

Donald Trump promising a new relationship with Russia in a foreign policy speech. The response from Moscow, next.

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[04:55:08] BERMAN: New reaction this morning to Donald Trump and his foreign policy speech. One of the most talked about moments was the apparent outreach by Donald Trump to Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I believe an easing of tensions and improved relations with Russia from a position of strength only is possible -- absolutely possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, Trump says he is ready to walk away from the table if the Russians are not reasonable. He promises his foreign policy will always put America first. A lot of people look at those as loaded words.

Joining us now live from Moscow with the latest, CNN's Fred Pleitgen.

Fred, what are the Russians saying about Donald Trump?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are happy with what he said last night in that speech. You know, it's one of the things that the Russians have been saying for a long time, is that they want closer cooperation with the U.S. And it seems as though, at this point in time, Donald Trump says he believes that that is very possible.

Now, one of the things that will certainly worry a lot of America's allies, especially in Eastern Europe is that while Trump is hat he believes that better relations with Russia are very possible, that there could even be a friendship. You never mentioned the crisis in Ukraine, where the crisis in Ukraine, where, of course, the U.S. and others are accusing Russian of funding and supporting rebels against the Ukrainian government. That has a lot of powers in Eastern Europe worried.

The other interesting thing, John, that Trump also said, is that he said the Russians themselves have also felt the influence of Islamist terrorism here on their home soil. He said that is something the U.S. and Russia have in common. That's strongly indicated that he would want to work more closely with Russia in terms for instance of fighting in Syria. That's, of course, something that the administration also at this point doesn't want to get too close to Russia because of air support for Bashar al Assad.

So, on the whole, the Russians very pleased with the things that Trump said. I have an interesting statistic for you, John. There was a survey was done in all G-20 countries. In every single country, the people there said, they were prefer Hillary Clinton to be America's next president over Donald Trump, except in Russia where Donald Trump is ahead by a landslide. I went out yesterday to speak to some ordinary Russians here and everybody that we spoke to said they like Donald Trump, John.

BERMAN: So much has been made of Donald Trump praising the leadership style of Vladimir Putin. Now at least in the speech, the discussion of actual outreach as a policy was very interesting to see.

Fred Pleitgen, great to see you this morning. Thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. Let's get an early start on your money. Dow futures lower. Investors wait for another round of corporate earnings. Most have been disappointing.

Oil is down slightly. Stock markets in Europe are down, adding to the gloom. Look at that, Japan's Central Bank announcing it won't do anymore to stimulate the economy. That sent shares in Tokyo down almost 4 percent overnight.

BERMAN: That's a big drop.

ROMANS: Great news for travelers. Airfares are dropping. The average ticket fell to $363 in the fourth quarter of last year. The lowest since 2010 and 8.3 percent annual drop. It's partly because of the crash in oil prices. But analysts say they base prices on profit, not oil.

So, the press fuel press take some time to trickle down to consumers. That means even lower fares could be on the way. Experts say increased competition from low cost carriers is forcing airlines to match competitors' low prices.

Verizon says it's investigating 57 instances of network sabotage or intentional damage to its equipment. All the incidents have taken place since 36,000 workers walked off the job a couple of weeks ago. Company careful not to accuse union members of these crimes.

Verizon put out this picture of on the severed cables in Pennsylvania. You can see, it was cut. Verizon says this can cause thousands of customers to lose service. It's expensive to repair. It sees a handful of such incidents in a normal year, but there have been 57 of these incidents in two weeks. Representatives for the union, tell CNN Verizon executives are looking to blame workers for their shortcomings, with maintenance and customer service.

BERMAN: Hmm, interesting. EARLY START continues right now.

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BERMAN: The Republican race for president unprecedented moves. Yes, Donald Trump with a major foreign policy speech and Ted Cruz with some major strategic maneuvering. He picks a running mate months before the convention, and while he is running a distant second.

ROMANS: And on to Democrats. Bernie Sanders laying off hundreds of campaign staff after his string of losses to Hillary Clinton.

BERMAN: And breaking overnight. DEA now involved into the death of Prince. Was the music legend addicted to prescription painkillers?

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Thursday, it is April 28th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East, not Friday yet.

A new look at feel to the race for president this morning following Donald Trump's sweep of Super Tuesday number four as candidates target the next battleground state, Indiana. A more polished presidential style Trump has reemerged, delivering a foreign policy speech. This as Ted Cruz starts begins his first day campaigning with a brand new vice presidential pick, Carly Fiorina.