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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Sanders Warns of "Messy" Democratic Convention; Trump Versus Clinton: New Attacks; Obama Pushes Trade, Mends Old Wounds in Asia; The War on ISIS: Iraq Fights to Retake Fallujah. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired May 24, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:16] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: The newest ripple in the race for president. Bernie Sanders with a new warning about what could happen at the Democratic convention. It could get messy as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton fire off new attacks against each other.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama pushing better trade in Asia. Overnight, addressing old wounds that have divided the world for decades. We're live with what the president had to say.

HOWELL: Happening now, U.S. forces helping Iraq take back a key city from ISIS. We have the latest from the battlefield. It will be a complicated battle. We will have all the details for you.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm George Howell.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik. It's Tuesday, May 24th. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East.

And this morning, Senator Bernie Sanders vowing to stay in the race even if it means a messy Democratic convention. Sanders defiance coming as Hillary Clinton looks right past her primary challenger toward Donald Trump and the general election, as she pulls out of the debate in California planned for May. Sanders blasting Clinton's decision at a rally last night in Santa Monica.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: George and Alison, as Hillary Clinton is increasingly her urgency a bit and calls for Democrats to unite before the general election, Bernie Sanders is digging in more. He is renewing his promise to take his fight all the way to the convention floor.

In an interview with "The Associated Press", he was asked about the potential for the Philadelphia convention to get messy, to which he replied, "So what? Democracy is messy." But then he added, he will, quote, "condemn and any all forms of violence."

As he barnstorms the state of California, he seems to be taunting Hillary Clinton just a bit, saying he believes she is getting nervous at his chances going forward. Now, meantime, the Clinton campaign will not participate in the debate before the California primary in two weeks. A debate that Bernie Sanders has signed on for and he brought that up in the rally in Santa Monica.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was disturbed, but not surprised to hear a few hours ago that Secretary Clinton has backed out of the debate. I think it is a little bit insulting to the people of California, our largest state. That she is not prepared to have a discussion with me about how she will help the Californians address the major crises that we face.

SERFATY: And the Clinton campaign clearly turning their focus towards the general election again, says that they believe that their time right now is being better spent, campaigning and talking to voters and preparing for the general fight ahead -- George and Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: The war between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is intensifying with Donald Trump firing off a low blow, releasing an Instagram ad on Monday, where you hear a voices of two women who once accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault.

Hillary Clinton for her part, not responding to the personal attacks, instead blasting Donald Trump from the campaign trail, saying that if he becomes president, he could bankrupt the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Trump economics is a recipe for lower wages, fewer jobs, more debt. He could bankrupt America like he has bankrupted his companies. I mean ask yourself, how can anybody lose money running a casino? Really?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Meantime, Donald Trump back on the campaign trail, kicking off a four-day tour of the West, beginning in New Mexico. He's holding a rally tonight in Albuquerque. New Mexico had the highest proportion of Hispanics in the country, 48 percent. So, we're going to be watching to see what his past remarks have on Mexicans and what his reception is like.

Breaking overnight: Donald Trump clarifying his position on whether guns should be allowed in schools after Hillary Clinton accused him of wanting to mandate that every school in America allow guns in classrooms. Trump telling CNN by phone, "I would end gun free zones in some cases. You would have people that would be properly trained. The way Clinton said it meant like every student should be sitting there carrying guns."

Meantime on Monday, Trump meeting with a Senate Republican who many are calling a potential running mate.

CNN politics reporter Sara Murray has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Donald Trump took one more step toward uniting the party on Monday, sitting down privately here at Trump Tower with Tennessee Senator Bob Corker. He is one of the top ranking Senate Republicans, and a bit of a foreign policy expert.

Now, Donald Trump and Corker met to speak with foreign policy. And Corker brushed aside any suggestion that they may have been talking about something else, perhaps the veepstakes.

[04:05:00] SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: I have no reason to believe I am being considered for a position like that. You know, I'll say that until I'm blue in the face. It's just -- I mean, this was a meeting between two people who didn't know each other except over phone calls, getting to know each other.

MURRAY: Now, even though Senator Corker has no reason to believe he is in the running for Trump's V.P., it's still early, and there are many possibilities. And a number of Trump allies tell me that Corker is the kind of candidate who could a little gravitas, especially on foreign policy to the Trump ticket. And all of this comes at a very opportune time from Donald Trump, when national polls show him neck and neck with Hillary Clinton and a much tighter race for the general than many pundits predicted.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Sara Murray, thank you.

Happening right now, President Barack Obama continues his Asia pivot on his way to Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam, more commonly known by Americans by its former name, Saigon. The president just finished a speech in the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi. That message there, stronger trade ties in the Far East, at the same time he tried to heal old wounds that have divided the U.S. and Vietnam for decades.

Following it all, CNN's Alexandra Field is live in Ho Chi Minh City this morning.

Alex, it's good to have you with us.

So, the focus here on security, on better economic ties. But the president did not shy away from speaking strongly about human rights there.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. He has been addressing the past in this country and also the future, and the relationship as it continues to evolve between the U.S. and Vietnam. He remarked on the fact that he is not the first president to visit Vietnam in the post-war era, but he is the first president who came of age in that era.

And he really took some time to remark on what he determined to be the incredible progress that these two nations have made in advancing, in developing a new rapport with one another. Listen to what he told the crowd that gathered to hear him speak in Hanoi this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: At a time when many conflicts seem intractable, seem as if they will never end, we have shown that hearts can change and that a different future is possible when we refuse to be prisoners of the past. We've shown how peace can be better than war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FIELD: President Obama will continue on the second leg of his trip to Vietnam arriving in Ho Chi Minh City today. While he has been praising the economic progress of this country has made in the post- war Iraq, this is a trip that is being closely scrutinized, as you point out, by human rights groups, who have raised tremendous concerns about Vietnam's human rights records, citing issues like jail dissidents and stalled political reforms.

So, the president did take some time to address that crowd of 2,000 people to talk about the importance of human rights, to talk about the importance of what he called universal rights. He said that there are shared values between Vietnam and the U.S. that include freedom of speech and freedom of expression and he said that freedom of thought is what fuels innovation. That's what causes job creation and that's what continues to lead to economic growth, George.

HOWELL: Freedom of thought. Freedom of speech. And we are talking about a nation known for censorship of the media, censorship of speech.

So, as the president gets into these issues of human rights, et cetera, how is he being received there in Vietnam by people?

FIELD: Well, there were 2,000 people who showed up to hear the speech today. And it was a mix of government official and politicians, diplomats and students. You know, the vast majority of the speech was a lot about heaping praise on Vietnam. One for economic growth and then saying the countries will continue the security cooperation. So, of course, that's something else that's being met very positively by people in Vietnam.

But there was a lot of time that was also spent by the president on focusing on the fact that the good relations between these two countries, the normalization of relations between these two countries is a product of the people. And he really credited veterans, the combat veterans of the Vietnam War, both in Vietnam and in the U.S. for leading to the kind of climate that could produce a trip like this today. He specifically named U.S. Senator John McCain and Secretary of State John Kerry and he said these are the people that worked hard to repair the relations between these two countries.

So, while human rights is something that is very in the forefront of this trip, he's focusing a lot on the economic cooperation between these countries and certainly shared security concerns that will move in to the future, George. HOWELL: CNN correspondent Alexandra Field, live in Ho Chi Minh City for us, thank you so much for your reporting today.

FIELD: The TSA's top chief is out. The House Oversight Committee announcing in a tweet, Kelly Hogan has been replaced. Hogan faced blistering criticism at a congressional hearing last month, with three witnesses testifying he had no experience in the intelligence field, but somehow received a $90,000 bonus although security lines at the nation's airports were getting worse.

HOWELL: Well, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Bob McDonald is under fire for downplaying the patient times at V.A. hospitals.

[04:10:05] He told reporters on Monday, delays experienced by veterans seeking medical care are a lot like delays facing guests at Disneyland waiting to get on rides. McDonald said he'd rather instead satisfaction with the experience rather than time spent waiting. Several prominent Republicans, including Donald Trump, are blasting McDonald this morning.

KOSIK: Time for an early start on your money.

Corporate America is hoarding cash and most of it is in bank accounts overseas. U.S. companies held $1.6 trillion in cash last year. That's slightly up from 2014 and more than double the corporate stockpile in 2007, which was right before the great recession. That's according to Moody's investor service.

Who is leading the pack here? Well, tech companies, they're leading the day. Apple, Microsoft, Google, Cisco and Oracle, they've got the largest sums. They hold 30 percent of, get this, $504 billion overseas. Financial companies were not included in the survey.

Seventy-two percent of the cash pile is held overseas. Multinational corporations argue that 40 percent tax rate makes bringing the money back too expensive. That is the appeal with what a lot of what Donald Trump is saying. He is saying, listen, I'm going to offer a corporate tax rate that's going to be more appealing. We can bring that revenue back and put it to work.

HOWELL: To prevent businesses from going elsewhere.

All right, Alison. Thank you.

It is 4:11 here in the U.S. East Coast. And still ahead, Iraq claiming early victories, as they begin a major assault on ISIS, U.S. forces helping in that fight. We are live with the very latest on the battle field, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:49] HOWELL: Welcome back.

The battle for Fallujah is raging on this morning. Iraqi forces backed by U.S. airstrikes engaged in a fierce struggle to take back the city from ISIS. Fallujah is the last major stronghold for the terrorists in Iraq. Liberating that city is expected to take time and cost many lives.

Our senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is following developments live from Rome this morning for us.

Ben, good to have you.

So, as we talk about the fighting there, what about the residents? How are the plans to get these residents out of harm's way?

BED WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to the Iraqi government, George, as many as 70,000 people still stuck inside the city. Is apparently doesn't want them to leave. Clearly wants to use them as human shields.

Now, the Iraqi government has dropped tens of thousands of leaflets on the city, telling people what routes to take to leave, but, of course, that may be very difficult, A, because of ISIS stopping them and, B, because it's an active war zone.

If they can't leave, they have been instructed to stay in their homes and raise white flags. It's an open war zone and, of course, we have U.S. air strikes and Iraqi air force air strikes, you have artillery barrages on the city. So, there will be a large number of civilian casualties. We are already hearing from forces inside Fallujah that as many as ten civilians have already been killed since hostilities began midnight Sunday.

Now, there is additional concern because of the government siege which has been in place around Fallujah for several months, not much in the way of food and medicine has been getting in either. So, regardless of what these people are going to do, the situation is already dire to say the least -- George.

HOWELL: Ben, the coalition that is going there into Fallujah is complicated. Many of them Shi'a fighters heading into a Sunni city. How is that complicating matters?

WEDEMAN: Well, the problem is, of course, that much of the support from ISIS in Iraq comes from the fact that a large part of the Sunni population deeply resents the actions of the Shia-dominated government in Baghdad. And what we have seen in the past, over the last two years, is that there have been operations which were led by Shia militias that resulted in revenge killings and looting and destruction of property.

And therefore, the government this time is trying to be very careful making sure that those units that are supposed to go inside the city where civilians live, where there is civilian property will be Sunni tribesmen who have been armed and trained by the Baghdad government, the elite so-called Golden Brigade, the anti-terrorism unit. It is multi-sectarian, considered to be well-trained and disciplined. So, that -- those sort of excesses that we have seen in past can be avoided and that the civilian population will not be alienated as has happened elsewhere in Iraq during this war against ISIS -- George.

HOWELL: Our senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman following it all from Rome for us -- Ben, thank you so much for your reporting today.

KOSIK: The Pentagon says President Obama ordered the assault that took out Mullah Mansour because the Taliban leader was plotting new attacks on Americans. Mansour was killed in a U.S. drone strike Saturday along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. U.S. military officials say Mansour was planning attacks and posed specific imminent threats to American forces in Afghanistan.

HOWELL: Bill Cosby and his accuser could come face-to-face in court this morning. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for 9:30 Eastern Time in suburban Philadelphia to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to take the felony sexual assault case to trial.

[04:20:00] Andrea Constand claims that Cosby drugged her and assaulted her when she visited home in 2004, his home. Both are expected to attend the hearing.

Time is ticking down to find the black boxes of EgyptAir Flight 804. What caused the plane to crash into the sea? We're live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Crews are up against the clock to locate the black boxes belonging to EgyptAir Flight 804 before the batteries run down on the pinger that will help crews find them. France now joining the underwater search as Egypt rejects a claim by Greece that the aircraft swerved moments before it vanished.

[04:25:06] Let's go to CNN's Ian Lee. He's live in Cairo with more.

Ian, you know, you've got this different claims from Greek investigators, from Egyptian investigators on their ideas of what happened on that plane before it crash. Is that complicating matters on the ground there?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are seeing these two different theories, Alison. There are two different claims. The Egyptians are saying the plane was flying normally at 37,000 feet. It was a minute into Egyptian air space when it disappeared and there was no swerving.

But it really will be determined when they find those data recorders. They do have two submersibles looking for them. The French have one that can go to about 3,000 feet. That's not as deep as they believe the wreckage is which is more around 10,000 feet. But it will be able to detect that ping from the black boxes.

The Egyptians have one as well which can go that deep. It has cameras, it has claws to manipulate the area around it. That is going to really be the crucial piece of evidence to figure out what exactly did, because not only do they record what's happening in the cockpit, but also records what instruments are reading at the time of the crash.

So, these are all very crucial pieces that they hope to find. But as you mentioned, this is a ticking clock. They have about 30 days until the battery dies on the black boxes. So, it is crucial that they get to it quickly. So, right now, that is the main focus of the search.

KOSIK: And so much area to cover as well.

All right. CNN's Ian Lee with the very latest from Cairo -- thanks.

HOWELL: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump with new attacks on each other. This as Bernie Sanders delivers a new warning about the Democratic convention -- next.

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