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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Civil War in the GOP; Sanders Versus Clinton; Deadly Tornadoes Rip Across Plains. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired May 10, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:13] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, voters hitting the polls in West Virginia and Nebraska. But Donald Trump already has this Republican nomination locked up. His only hurdle: as a war brewing within the GOP. Will upcoming meeting release the tension?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton might be the Democratic frontrunner, but is she an underdog today in West Virginia? Can she pull out a win there? And does it even matter in the long run?

ROMANS: At least two dead, homes destroyed, cars overturned. Tornadoes tearing across the plains. The destruction left in their wake.

All right. Good morning and welcome to EARLY START, everyone. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: Nice to see you this morning. I'm John Berman. It is Tuesday, May 10th, 4:00 a.m. in the East.

Breaking overnight, at least two people are dead after tornadoes tore across Oklahoma, destroying homes and entire neighborhoods. Look at this chilling video. Look how close that twister is to those cars driving down. So many towns, so many people told simply to take cover and fast. We have been collecting new information all night. We will have an update from the scene in just a few minutes.

ROMANS: But first, in hours, voters from both parties head to the polls in West Virginia and Nebraska. Republicans will cast ballots in the states now uncontested primary. This morning, Donald Trump is likely getting ready for his big meetings on Capitol Hill. That's up for Thursday.

Trump supporter Ben Carson has gone from surgeon to advance man. He has requested a preliminary meeting with Paul Ryan before Trump sits down with the House speaker. Both Trump and Ryan now seem to be trying out a more conciliatory tune. This after Ryan first stated he is not ready to support Trump and then Trump suggested he is open to the notion of dumping Ryan as chairman of the upcoming Republican convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've always liked him. He called me not so long ago, I don't know, a number of weeks ago, but he called me and he was very supportive, was very nice. I thought everything was fine and then, I got blindsided. So, we'll see. I mean, look, I'll see what happens.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: If he is the nominee, I'll do whatever he wants with respect to the convention. The point is, we just need to get to know each other and my goal is to help put together a unified party that sticks to our principles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Trump is getting a chilly reception of lawmakers returning to Capitol Hill for the first time. There's been a Republican -- presumptive Republican nominee.

Let's get to CNN's Sara Murray.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, John and Christine.

Well, West Virginia and Nebraska have their Republican primaries today. But it's a whole lot less exciting on the Republican side as Donald Trump is the only candidate left in the race. Now, as he settles in to becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, he is still giving some members of the Republican Party heartburn, economists and experts sort of raised their eyebrows as Donald Trump has taken a number of different positions on debt lately, at one point suggesting that maybe the U.S. wouldn't make debt payments in full if you were president. He flipped up on the minimum wage and said there's plenty of room to negotiate when it comes to his tax proposals.

INTERVIEWER: Do you want taxes to go up or down?

TRUMP: They will go up a little bit and they may go up, you know --

INTERVIEWER: But they are going down in your plan.

TRUMP: No, no, in my plan, they're going down. But by the time, it's negotiated, they'll go up.

If I increase for the wealthy, that means they are still going to be paying less than they pay now. I'm not talking about increasing from this point. I'm talking about increasing from my tax proposal.

MURRAY: Now, all of this could make it tougher for Donald Trump to reach unity within the Republican Party. And as of now, the next chapter of that will come later this week. He's schedule to meet with Paul Ryan on Thursday in Washington, D.C. Who knows? Maybe the debt and the federal budget will be at the top of this list. We know that has been high on Paul Ryan's priority.

Back to you guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Sara Murray, thanks so much.

Donald Trump tells "The New York Times" that he is happy that London has elected its first Muslim mayor. He says Mayor-elect Sadiq Khan could be an exception to his proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering United States. Trump's enthusiasm does not seem mutual. Khan told "TIME" magazine right after his election, "If Donald Trump becomes, I'll be stopped from going there by virtue of my faith, which means I can't engage with American mayors and swap ideas."

ROMANS: More insight coming later today on CNN on this war between Trump and the GOP establishment.

Jake Tapper is set to interview Marco Rubio who says he definitely does not want to be Trump's running mate. That's on "THE LEAD" today at 4:00 Eastern..

BERMAN: We also don't know really where Marco Rubio stands on the whole issue of Donald Trump right now if he will support him. So, that will be a fascinating interview. If he goes the Ryan way or goes the way that Mitch McConnell saying that he will endorse Donald Trump.

New attacks from Donald Trump directed at Hillary Clinton over Bill Clinton's infidelity. Trump suggests that she has no credibility to question his own treatment of women.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He was impeached. He was impeached, and then he lied about it. He said nothing happened with Monica Lewinsky.

[04:05:02] And then he said, sorry, folks, it actually did happen. And the guy was impeached for lying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Hillary Clinton is firmly rejecting any effort to draw her into a discussion about this. This as she keeps up her battle against Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination. Clinton enters today's primary in West Virginia as an under dog after a CNN town hall last month when she said she was going to, quote, "put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business."

Jeff Zeleny has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, another election day. Today, West Virginia, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders still facing off head to head. But Hillary Clinton focusing on a different Virginia, the northern suburbs of Virginia, a key election battle ground in the fall campaign.

She's already looking forward to the general election battle with fall against Donald Trump. Now, Donald Trump has been trying to engage her. He's called her an enabler. He said that she was actually disrespectful of women some 20 years ago. Of course, all those women form Bill Clinton sex scandals, the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Now, Hillary Clinton not being drawn into this at all. We caught up with her on Monday in northern Virginia to ask how she'll respond.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm answering him on what voters care about. I'm answering him on the differences between our records, our experience, what we want to do for our country. How important it is to try to unify the country and I have been very clear that a lot of his rhetoric is not only reckless, it's dangerous.

ZELENY: Repeatedly, Hillary Clinton saying she has nothing to say about that. She wants to focus on issues alone.

Of course, the audience for this: women voters. Pivotal women voters, the most critical piece of this electorate.

Now, Donald Trump believes this is the way to win over women voters. Democrats disagree. The Clinton believes this is playing into the Democrats hands. They believe it emboldens her and enhances her. That, of course, is an open question here.

But Hillary Clinton not responding. The question we don't know is, how will Bill Clinton respond? Will he be engaged in this? Will he be able to stay out of the fray on this? That's something we'll have to watch for as he is campaigning.

But all eyes tonight on West Virginia to see if Bernie Sanders will continue his most recent winning streak. Again, it doesn't matter, though, the delegate fight is in Hillary Clinton's favor -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much.

Facebook under the microscope this morning for alleged political bias. An anonymous former contractor for the social media giant told the tech site Gizmodo that he witnessed co-workers suppressed stories about popular conservative topics from Facebook's trending topics section. Facebook rejected the charge in a series of statement, saying it takes allegations of bias very seriously and that there is no evidence of what that was the former worker described actually happened. If it did, it would have violated company guidelines.

ROMANS: All right. Donald Trump's evolving comments on his economic policies and specifically America's debt getting a lot of attention this morning. Here is what economic experts and my sources in the bond market are calling these policies reckless, dangerous, clueless, chaotic. American debt is the gold standard invested coveted around the world. When the U.S. borrows money, its word is its bond. That is what the American economy is based on.

Now, last month, Trump proposed he could wipe out all $19 trillion in just eight years. One economist calls that widely implausible at best. You cannot cut taxes for everyone and pay off debt. Last week, Trump told CNBC the country more money now and negotiate

payment terms later if the economy crash. Now, that might work for struggling businesses like hotel companies maybe or casinos, but it doesn't work with the U.S. government. One analyst says Trump, quote, "doesn't have a coherent idea what he is talking about." Others warned it would amount to a default on debt and call into question the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Again, the full faith and credit of the U.S. government economy is built on.

Then, yesterday, Trump clarified that stance, saying the country wouldn't default because it could just print more money and buy back the debt at a discounted rate. Now, experts agree that would be disastrous for the American economy, causing rapid inflation, high interest rates and it would hurt Americans who hold bonds as savings.

And the other point, the president did not hold those powers. It is the Federal Reserve that sets monetary policy. The president appoints the Fed chief.

A lot of -- there was first amusement, I think from bond market participants and now concern, I would say, as people are trying to get a handle on what it is Donald Trump is proposing. If these are policy prescriptions or just musings on television?

BERMAN: Yes, it's not all clear that he's proposing anything, it is also not at all clear that he fully understands exactly what the machinery is at the president's disposal, dealing with debt and the economy. So, it will be interesting to see now he keeps on reacting to that.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: Deadly tornadoes hitting the plains leaving just major damage behind. Look at these pictures. More severe weather set to hit the region. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:14:13] ROMANS: At least two people dead this morning after this tornado outbreak tore across the Great Plains. I want to show this chilling video. You can see this twister carving its way through Elmore City, Oklahoma.

BERMAN: Doesn't it look like those cars are driving toward it? Doesn't that seem like a bad idea?

ROMANS: I just -- look, those pictures are terrifying. Elmore City is one city where forecasters declared a tornado warning, meaning a tornado had been spotted. The destruction devastating. You can see neighborhoods ripped to shreds.

You know, I've actually seen tornadoes on the horizon like that in the Midwest. You can follow it along the highway and see where it is moving. That looks close to me.

BERMAN: And can should are two different things here. ROMANS: Right.

BERMAN: Is there more severe weather ahead for today?

[04:15:02] Let's get straight to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, yes, this is a multi-day event. So, certainly, the threat for severe weather is there, not only today but also tomorrow.

And you take a look at some of these images coming out of Lincoln, Nebraska. I have never seen anything like this when it comes to a golf course, and the hail that it's left behind. Incredible when we have baseball sized hail come down in Lincoln. Of course, this is one of almost 100 reports of severe hail on Monday afternoon, 21 reports tornadoes. You saw some of the them getting to incredible strength there when it comes to just the rotation and the wedge shape of these tornadoes on the surface.

But here is the severe weather threat. Central Texas over the frontal boundary here, this afternoon, another area of concerned right across northern Tennessee, and it's Kentucky that we're watching carefully. The main threats here are going to be for wind and hail. Don't see mot much in the way of severe weather causing tornadoes by this afternoon, certainly could see a few isolated but nothing widespread.

The concern does pick up on Wednesday for more in the way of tornadoes. That is in places like Oklahoma City, Joplin, Kansas City and St. Louis in line for the highest threat. On a scale of one to five, that would be a two for the concern and notice again, this afternoon, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., we see some of these storms fire up across the Tennessee Valley, guys.

ROMANS: All right. Pedram Javaheri, thank you for that.

Firefighters in Alberta, Canada, still struggling to contain a devastating wildfire that's already destroyed 2,400 buildings and homes. Four hundred thousand acres of have burned. More than 90,000 people evacuated.

Daytime temperatures are cooling and the humidity is up, giving firefighters a fighting chance. It is little comfort for thousands of evacuees. They're not being told when they can return or whether they still have homes. Authorities say 10 percent of the town of Fort McMurray is gone, burned to the ground.

As of last night, the fire there is classified. John, zero percent contained, and some of these blocks, block after block, our Dan Simon is going, you know, there is no water. There is no infrastructure even. I mean, the homes are gone. There's just no sign left of a town.

BERMAN: In the long-term outlook, for the summer, it's bleak. They're very, very nervous. The summer is just getting started there. If the fire has subsided a little bit in the last few days, it is because the weather has backed off and it could easily get bad again. And these fires just aren't out.

All right. New dueling lawsuits between the federal government and North Carolina over the state's divisive new bathroom law. Attorney General Loretta Lynch says trying to force transgender citizens to use public restrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificate is civil rights struggle of the era. She calls the measure state- sponsored discrimination.

And North Carolina's public university system is splitting with its own state government and defying the state's bathroom measure. It told the Justice Department it intends to do business in compliance with federal law.

More now from CNN's Martin Savidge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Good morning, Christine.

You know, Monday was supposed to be the deadline when the state of North Carolina was to remedy the violations the U.S. government said it found in the so-called bathroom law. North Carolina didn't make any kind fix. Instead, they filed a lawsuit against the federal government.

They are specifically asking for clarification here. The U.S. government says that that law is a solution of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. North Carolina says that is a gross overreach of federal power here. They believe the transgenders are a kind of protected class. Thereby, their rights aren't being violated by this law. Well, that was how the state filed it suit.

Now, later in the day, we have the U.S. government come forward and file action against North Carolina. And they are basically seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction to prevent what they call further violations of federal law and to grant such additional relief, well, essentially, to give the Justice Department a blank check to do whatever it needs to do to bring North Carolina into following the federal law.

Two different opinions here, clearly going to be decided in a federal court. But how high will it go? Some suggested it may go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and that the implications go far beyond North Carolina -- John and Christine.

BERMAN: All right. Martin Savidge, thanks so much.

Parades in North -- excuse me, North Korea. North Carolina and North Korea, it gets confusing at 4:19. North Korea celebrating the end of the major political meeting and CNN got inside access to for the very first time. Fascinating perspective. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:23:56] ROMANS: Kim Jong-un has a new title. The North Korean leader named chairman of the Workers Party, in a rare congressional session.

CNN's Will Ripley was one of only a handful of journalists granted access to the first political events of its kind in North Korea in nearly four decades. He joins live this morning from Pyongyang.

Will, tell me what that must have been like. You know, very rare to get a look inside the showmanship and stage craft, if you will, of political process as it is in that country. What did you see?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We have been pushing for access for last several days, Christine, because the only updates we were getting on the party congress were through state media. So, North Korea took a handful of us, put us on a bus and drove us in what we thought was a press conference. Then, we had a 90-minute security check. That's when I realize we might be going somewhere else.

And sure enough, there were the secret service, the North Korean version of the secret service agents all around the Workers Party congress building. They drove us with the police export. We walked in right as Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader, got that brand new title that was created for him going from first secretary to chairman.

And to stand in that cavernous auditorium with the 5,000 people who unanimously voted to promote him, which is unsurprising, of course.

[04:25:08] Those votes are always unanimously. It really gave us clues into what this system was like. And then out on the streets today, huge parade this morning and another parade happening this evening. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out beginning at 5:00 a.m. and they are still at their day jobs today after performing in the huge group choreography type event in North Korea, so famous for, you know, government officials say it is voluntary and people love to do it.

But everybody was there, and they got a lot of instructions about the appropriate way to show their devotion to their leader who is even more powerful with this new title -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Will Ripley, thank you so much for that, that insight. And great work there.

One of the rare reporting assignments, Pyongyang, not often you get invited to go.

BERMAN: Look, Will Ripley has done great reporting over the last couple of years from Pyongyang. One of the few U.S. reporters to get there.

Breaking overnight: a deadly knife attack in a train station near Munich in Germany. One man is dead. Three others injured. Authorities are investigating reports that the suspect shouted Allahu Akbar, "God is great" in Arabic. The motive is unknown. The suspect, a young man, is in custody.

ROMANS: All right. Turmoil in the GOP. Donald Trump on the defensive, getting a frosty reception from Republican leaders. We've got that for you, next.

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