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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Clinton Wins Kentucky, Sanders Takes Oregon; Trump Inks Joint Fundraising Deal; Trump Would Engage North Korea Directly; Nevada Dem Convention Fight Sparks Worry; Deadly Suicide Bombings Rock Baghdad; Overtime Rules Expanded For Millions. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 18, 2016 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:31:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, each scoring new election victories but the battle for the Democratic nomination is still far from over.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And Donald Trump winning Oregon's primary overnight but not without creating some new controversy. What else is there?

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Boris Sanchez.

ROMANS: So nice to see you this morning. I'm Christine Romans. It's 31 minutes past the hour. Breaking news this morning. War brewing in the Democratic race for president. Overnight, Hillary Clinton barely edging past Bernie Sanders to victory in Kentucky.

Sanders, as expected, takes Oregon by a solid margin. But the win in Kentucky brings Clinton to now within 100 delegates, including superdelegates, of clinching the Democratic nomination, though Sanders remains confident that he has a path to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It will be a steep climb. I recognize that. But, we have the possibility of going to Philadelphia with a majority of the pledged delegates. Before we will have the opportunity to defeat Donald Trump, we're going to have to defeat Sec. Clinton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The latest now from CNN's Jeff Zeleny with the Sanders campaign in California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Boris, Bernie Sanders making clear that he is going to keep going in this final month. After winning in Oregon and narrowly losing in Kentucky he's making the case to his supporters, as defined as ever, that he is going to make sure that every voice, every vote is counted.

Now, he did not necessarily tell his big crowd of supporters last night in California how difficult the math is. He did acknowledge that he has a steep hill to climb, but he said we've had a steep hill to climb this entire campaign. He said it's important to defeat Donald Trump, but he also said that Hillary Clinton should be defeated. But this is the case he made going forward for why he's staying in this race.

SANDERS: There are a lot of people out there. Many of the pundits and politicians -- they say Bernie Sanders should drop out (BOOING). The people of California should not have the right to determine who the next president will be (BOOING). Well, let me be as clear as I can be. I agree with you. We are in until the last ballot is cast.

ZELENY: Bernie Sanders clearly making the case he's going forward, even as the Clinton campaign shifts almost entirely to Donald Trump. Now, Bernie Sanders knows that mathematically speaking it's an uphill climb for him. He didn't exactly level with his supporters how difficult this is.

That going forward in the last final month, the unity in the Democratic Party much more of an open question than ever before and that's something that Bernie Sanders barely addressed in his victory speech Tuesday night in California -- Christine and Boris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: All right, Jeff, thank you. Donald Trump, of course, the only Republican still running for president, winning Oregon's primary easily. This, as Trump moved to unify the Republican Party under his control with a deal that will have Trump raising money for down ballot GOP candidates.

The presumptive nominee raising eyebrows, though, with new comments over North Korea and its nuclear program. CNN's Jim Acosta has more from Trump Tower in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Boris and Christine, as he is closing in on clinching the GOP nomination, Donald Trump is assuming more control over the Republican Party. Trump and the RNC announced joint fundraising agreements last night that will allow the real estate tycoon to raise money for other GOP candidates.

But Trump is still capable of stirring up controversy. The latest example, his comments to Reuters that he would speak with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and those remarks set the stage for a big foreign policy meeting Trump will have later today with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

The other big headline from the presumptive GOP nominee is that he has also filed his personal financial disclosure form with the Federal Election Commission. Trump says he reported an income of nearly $560 million and a net worth of $10 billion.

The Clinton campaign responded that Trump's PFD is no BFD and that he should release his tax returns, something he says he will do after he is no longer under an audit -- Boris and Christine. [05:35:00] ROMANS: All right, Jim Acosta, thank you so much. Joining us to break down the primary results and all the day's political action, CNN politics reporter Eugene Scott in our Washington bureau. Good morning.

Let's first talk about these results last night. Hillary Clinton, a razor-thin margin, winning by less than 1,923 votes in Kentucky. They are splitting those delegates there. Look at the math for me, though. The twentieth win in Oregon now -- the twentieth win for Bernie Sanders, but the math still really favors Hillary Clinton here.

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: It very much does and it shows just how important the delegate race is. We know that Clinton is leading by about 280 delegates and that's going to be a hard gap for the Sanders campaign to make up before the convention that would put him -- that would be enough to put him in the front-runner status.

SANCHEZ: Now, state conventions typically don't make national news, Eugene.

ROMANS: You're right.

SANCHEZ: But this one in Nevada a couple of days ago has really captured a lot of attention for the way that Bernie Sanders' supporters are responding to the proceedings there. (Video playing) You see the chaos. I want to play a voicemail that one Bernie Supporter left Roberta Lange. She's the chairwoman of the Nevada State Democratic Party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Roberta Lange. This is a citizen of the United States of America and I just wanted to let you know that I think people like you should be hung in a public execution to show this world that we won't stand for this sort of corruption.

I don't want kind of money they are paying to you, but I don't know how you sleep at night. You are a sick, twisted piece of "bleep" and I hope you burn for this. You cowardless "bleep" running off the stage. I hope people find you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: So, things clearly got out of hand there. Bernie Sanders put out a statement on the chaos in Nevada, writing "If the Democratic Party is to be successful in November, it is imperative that all state parties treat our campaign supporters with fairness and the respect that they have earned. At the (Nevada) convention, the Democratic leadership used its power to prevent a fair and transparent process from taking place."

Senator Sanders has caught a lot of flack for that response, hearing from Sen. Harry Reid and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the head of the DNC. Here's her response on CNN yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, DNC CHAIRWOMAN: The senator's response was anything but acceptable. It certainly did not condemn his supporters for acting violently or engaging in intimidation tactics, and instead added more fuel to the fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: In light of all of this chaos that we really didn't expect to see from the Democratic Party --

ROMANS: Right.

SANCHEZ: We might have expected to see it with the "Never Trump" folks and the chaos in the Republican Party. What does this mean moving forward toward Philadelphia? Does this party seem like it can still come together and rally those supporters that were so against Hillary Clinton?

SCOTT: I think it's possible, but I think what this really shows is that unifying this party is an all hands on deck operation. I think many people once thought it was Hillary Clinton's job to be more welcoming to Bernie Sanders supporters. It was Bernie Sanders job to encourage his supporters to get on board with whoever the nominee eventually is.

But, it's clear that there are a lot of the people that can be talking to a lot of people about uniting the party, and whether or not that will be done it remains to be seen. But it's necessary if the Democratic Party is going to be victorious over Donald Trump in November.

ROMANS: How does all this portend for the conventions here? I mean, you've got -- we're running out of time, really, for a show of unity here. And I also think for Hillary Clinton, really, to kind of reach out and try to bring those Bernie Sanders supporters into her fold.

SCOTT: Well, yes, time certainly is of the essence, and so there will need to be a level of intentionality and focus and strategy that the Clinton campaign will need to use that will shift some people from, as we saw, throwing chairs to eventually voting for Hillary Clinton.

But, Bernie Sanders can help with that and he can speed that process up. He has a very loyal fan base, very loyal supporters. If he encourages his supporters to change their direction and their tactics and actually address them, which he did not do in that statement, perhaps we can see a different outcome before November.

SANCHEZ: Sure. Very quickly here, Eugene, we have to talk about this agreement for Donald Trump to help raise funds for down ballot candidates in the GOP. A lot of these down ballot candidates, many of them in hotly-contested states, have tried to shy away from Trump because of his controversial remarks.

They fear that his presence may hurt them. Does this, him helping raise funds for some of these Republicans, endear him to more people in the party? [05:40:00] SCOTT: It really depends on which states we're talking about, right? I mean, there's certainly voters out there who are very for Trump, even if their elected officials don't seem to be. And these votes will be needed to elect people down party, even.

And so, whether or not a candidate is a big fan of Trump, they need to look at their voters and their electorate and decide what those people want. If it is victory that they ultimately want they're going to have to figure out ways to get those people on board. And one of the ways that that may happen is by supporting Donald Trump, or at least accepting his support.

ROMANS: All right, Eugene Scott, nice to see you this morning --

SCOTT: You, too.

ROMANS: -- getting up bright and early for us. Thanks.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Eugene.

ROMANS: All right, time for an Early Start on your money. Futures down slightly right now. Stock markets in Europe and Asia are down following the U.S. route yesterday -- U.S. oil prices, rather, back above $48 a barrel.

Fears of an interest rate hike from the Fed are back and they took down the stock market yesterday. The Dow fell 181 points. Check out the volatility over the past five sessions. Stronger oil prices mixing with some bad corporate earnings, and now, new worries the Fed might raise interest rates at its next meeting in June.

Those concerns grew because of this number, 0.4 percent. That's how much consumer prices increased in April. It's the biggest monthly rise in three years, driven by higher gas, rent, and food prices.

SANCHEZ: We've got new reaction from around the world after Donald Trump promises to do what no sitting U.S. president has done before -- hold direct talks with North Korea's dictator. We're live in Seoul, next.

[05:41:35]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:45:45] SANCHEZ: Donald Trump opening up a fresh new can of foreign policy worms, announcing that if he becomes president he'd have no problem sitting down with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. That is a radical departure from current U.S. policy. Trump says he would try to convince Kim to kill his nuclear weapons program.

Let's bring in CNN's Paula Hancocks. She joins us live from Seoul this morning. Paula, after years of harsh economic sanctions and essentially isolation against North Korean that hasn't done much, how are Asian leaders welcoming this potential shift?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONALCORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, it's interesting. Officially, South Korea is staying out of this. They've basically said, through a senior foreign ministry official -- said to me that they can't comment on this specific remark from a U.S. presidential candidate.

But they also mentioned in the same breath that if there were talks, then the denuclearization of North Korea had to be a priority. But it's said to be met with some surprise by many observers here, questioning whether or not it is prudent at this time considering the intense nuclear missile testing we've seen from Kim Jong Un in recent months.

But others have also questioned whether or not it should be considered, considering the policy the Obama administration has at the moment. The strategic patience hasn't necessarily worked so well. You consider over the last eight years that even though progress may have been slowed by Kim Jong Un and his father, certainly they have made progress in their nuclear and missile programs.

And, of course, remember that Mr. Obama, himself, said something very similar just nine years ago when he was campaigning for president. He said that he would be willing to talk to leaders of hostile countries like Syria, Iran, and North Korea, and there was some controversy about that statement back then, as well.

But it's not the first time Donald Trump has mentioned North Korea. He has called Kim Jong Un, in the past, a maniac and has also said that he actually deserves credit for being able to eliminate his rivals so successfully -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Quite an interesting approach from Donald Trump. Paula Hancocks reporting live from Seoul. Thank you.

A bill that would allow families of 911 victims to sue Saudi Arabia passed a key hurdle in the Senate. Lawmakers gave unanimous approval to the legislation that could make the Saudi government liable for any part it may have played in the terror attacks.

The Obama administration has lobbied against the bill. Fifteen of the 19 9/11 hijackers were Saudi citizens but Saudi Arabia denies any involvement.

The Senate has approved a $1.1 billion compromise bill to combat the Zika virus. President Obama asked for $1.8 billion in emergency funding three months ago. House Republicans have introduced their own measure to fight the virus calling for just over $600 million in funding, a figure that the White House calls woefully inadequate. The president is now threatening to veto that measure.

It took eight months but the Senate, last night, finally confirmed the nomination of an openly-gay man as Secretary of the Army. Eric Fanning becomes the first out-gay leader of any branch of the U.S. military. The milestone comes five years after the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that barred gay and lesbian troops from being open about their sexuality.

And the South Carolina legislature passing a restrictive abortion bill that bans the procedure after 19 weeks. Similar laws are in effect in 12 other states. The bill is now headed to South Carolina Gov. Nikki Hailey. Back in March, Hailey said she'd almost certainly sign it but she says she needs to look at the details once it finally reaches her desk.

Now, let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY". Alisyn Camerota joining us this morning. Alisyn, always a pleasure to see you.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": You too, Boris. Thank you very much for that greeting. So, we have another night of primaries but no clear winner yet of the nomination on the Democratic side. And now there are big concerns for the party.

The Sanders campaign and the DNC sparring over Sanders' response to violent threats from his supporters. Could it be the Democrats' convention that is the one that descends into chaos? We will ask Sanders' campaign manager and the chair of the DNC.

Also, an interesting foreign policy statement from Donald Trump. He says that he would be willing to talk to Kim Jong Un of North Korea. The billionaire also reaching a deal to take donations rather than continuing to self-fund his campaign. So, how much can his supporters now donate each?

[05:50:00] We have details on that and so much more at the top of the hour. See you then, Boris.

SANCHEZ: I'll see you then, Alisyn. Thank you.

A billionaire making a big bet against the U.S. stock market. We'll tell you why he's doing it, next.

[05:50:25]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:54:30] SANCHEZ: More bombings and bloodshed in Baghdad. Explosions ripping through three neighborhoods in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday killing at least 46 people and wounding more than 100 others. ISIS is claiming responsibility for one of the attacks.

CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon is monitoring the latest developments live from Istanbul. Arwa, good morning to you. In the past week, more than 200 people have died in Baghdad and officials say this is a sign that ISIS is getting weaker, but is that really the case?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what U.S. officials are saying, Boris, and that is what the U.S. military is saying at this stage. That this uptick in attacks is a by-product of ISIS being put under pressure in other parts of the country and that this is them being on the back foot and lashing out going after these soft targets.

[05:55:00] Now, this type of attack is not necessarily something new when it comes to an entity like ISIS. It's previous incarnation, back in the days when it was al Qaeda and Iraq, they constantly were going after soft targets.

They constantly were trying to go after the Shia community to try to sow even more tensions between the country's Sunnis and Shias. And given today's political chaos and vacuum that exists in Iraq, this is something they could perhaps be trying to exploit once again.

The other issue here is that when one looks at an entity like ISIS -- an entity that historically has proven time and time again its ability to morph and emerge even stronger than before, to try to define it as being an organization right now that is on the defensive or is on its back foot is perhaps a little shortsighted.

But the U.S. has always had a tendency to try, to a certain degree, give what's happening in Iraq something of a rose-colored image and not necessarily confront the realities that exist on the ground. And that is part of the reason why we are finding ourselves in this situation.

ISIS is an entity unlike anyone, whether it's the Iraqis or the Americans, has faced before and it most certainly is one that has proven that it is willing to fight until the bitter end, Boris.

SANCHEZ: It's certainly hard to see those images painted with a rose- colored lens, as you said, Arwa. Thank you so much.

ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on your money. Dow futures, little change this morning after a rough day yesterday. Worries about Federal Reserve interest rate hikes spreading across Wall Street. We'll get more details on how the Fed feels about the economy later today when it releases minutes from its most recent meeting.

A billionaire investor seems to be bracing for a storm in the stock market. George Soros invested $264 million in Barrick golds during the first quarter. It's the world's largest goldminer. He also acquired 1.1 million options to buy a popular ETF which mirrors the price of gold.

Gold, of course, is seen as a safe haven so investors could park their money there if stocks fall. Soros is known for his big bets against highly-valued assets, cashing in when they drop. Goldman Sachs also just downgraded the U.S. stock market to neutral for the next 12 months. It says if corporate profits don't grow faster stocks look overvalued.

Millions more workers will become eligible for overtime pay later this year. The Labor Department expanding mandatory overtime pay to workers who make less than about $44,000 a year, about $913 a week. That's roughly double the current threshold. Right now, just seven percent of salaried workers are automatically eligible for overtime.

Under the new rules, 35 percent will become automatically eligible, according to the Labor Department. In 1975, 62 percent of salaried workers in the total workforce was eligible for overtime pay. The change will start December 1st. It's expected to affect retail and restaurant workers the most. Some business groups say it's too drastic an increase.

SANCHEZ: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders each pick up a new election win overnight, but is their primary battle badly bruising the Democratic Party? "NEW DAY" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: There is never a place for violence and intimidation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a pretty unfair process.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The election was stolen.

SCHULTZ: Senator Sanders should, outright, condemn that specific conduct.

JEFF WEAVER, BERNIE SANDERS CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We obviously do not condone any kind of violence or threats.

SANDERS: This campaign is listening to the American people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I get threats every one to two seconds.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have too much divisiveness in America.

SANDERS: We are in until the last ballot is cast.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would speak to him. I would have no problem speaking to him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will not be disadvantaged by anybody in North Korea.

ACOSTA: The Trump campaign is announcing, along with the RNC, that it has agreed on these joint fundraising agreements.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We're having the kinds of conversations that are necessary to make sure that we are unifying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your new day. It is Wednesday, May 18th, 6:00 in the east. Up first, Hillary Clinton dodging a major blow. The Democratic front-runner narrowly wins Kentucky's primary, and we mean really narrowly. We'll take you behind the numbers and you'll see just how true that is.

Bernie Sanders wins big in Oregon, vowing to stay in the race, saying he thinks he can win California. The results, however, overshadowed by this fight heating up between Sanders' supporters and the party establishment. Some Democrats now worried about violence at their convention in July.

CAMEROTA: On the Republican side, presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump picking up one more win.