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Violent Protests Rage Outside Trump Rally; Clinton Laser- Focused on Trump; Obama Wraps Up Vietnam Visit; Cosby Facing Possible 30-Year Sentence; Mystery of EgyptAir Flight 804. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired May 25, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:07] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news overnight. Violent protests outside a huge Donald Trump rally. Officers injured. At least one person arrested. The race for president is turning quite intense this morning.

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

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Alison Kosik. It's Wednesday, May 25. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East.

And we begin this morning with breaking news. Hundreds of anti-Trump protesters in New Mexico lighting fires, throwing rocks and bottles at police, injuring officers and smashing a door at the Albuquerque Convention Center where Trump was holding a huge rally. Police using smoke grenades and pepper spray to get control of the angry crowd.

CNN's Dan Simon was in the middle of it all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was quite a dramatic scene in downtown Albuquerque Tuesday night as a group of anti-Donald Trump protesters clashed with police. This is one of the remnants that you find on the street. This is an empty canister of pepper spray that police used on the crowd.

This all began when you had a group breakthrough a barricade that police had set up to keep people from going into the convention center where Donald Trump was speaking. From there, things quickly descended into chaos. You had a number of people who were throwing bottles and throwing rocks at police officers. Police showed remarkable restraint, not really arresting anyone. What they tried to do was to get the crowd to thin out.

They were pushing them back in full riot gear. You had police officers on horseback. Then finally, you had police use tear gas to try to get this crowd to disperse, and ultimately, that's what seemed to work.

It's quite surprising what we saw, given that throughout much of the afternoon, this was a peaceful protest. You had well more than a thousand people assemble here in front of the convention hall, people who were criticizing Donald Trump's rhetoric when it comes to immigration, some of his comments against women. That was a peaceful protest.

Then, you had nightfall come. That's when things spun out of control. Police officers trying to get those protesters to calm down, but you had a lot of people who were just intent on causing trouble. But fortunately, things have calmed down here in downtown Albuquerque.

Dan Simon, CNN, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Dan, thank you. And that was the scene outside the convention center with protests raging against Trump, but inside Trump was cheered by thousands of people. At the same time declared the winner of Tuesday's lone primary in Washington state. That victory puts Donald Trump eight delegates away by CNN's count of clinching the Republican nomination.

In his speech in New Mexico, Donald Trump defended his business practices against Hillary Clinton's claim that he rooted for the economy to crash. And he lashed back at the Democratic front runner. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I will never say this, but she screams. It drives me crazy. I didn't say it. I can't listen.

She goes, and Donald Trump is a terrible person! And he wanted to buy housing when it was at a low point!

Who the hell doesn't? Who doesn't?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton campaigning last night in southern California, laser-focused on Donald Trump, attacking him on every front and acknowledging her primary opponent Bernie Sanders, only to stress that a win in California will give her vital momentum in her general election fight against Trump.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny was at Clinton's rally and has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: George and Alison, two weeks remaining before this California primary, but Hillary Clinton focusing on one man and one man alone, that is Donald Trump. As she campaigned in Riverside, California, on Tuesday night, she focused on Donald Trump from start to finish, going after him on everything from his reputation in the housing industry to climate change to immigration. Throughout her speech, she was talking only about Donald Trump. She also made clear that she still needs to win the California

primary. Mathematically speaking, she may not. She has a big lead over Bernie Sanders, but she believes a win here in California and those other primaries on June 7th would send her to the general election in a much stronger position. This is her message to California voters.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This primary on June the 7th needs to send a real signal that Donald Trump will hear, no matter where he is, that California wants a positive future.

We want to finish strong, and we want to send that message that we're going to fight every day. I will fight for you. I will fight for us every sine day.

ZELENY: So it's clear that Hillary Clinton still wants to beat Bernie Sanders and is trying to beat Bernie Sanders, but her campaign is focusing squarely on Donald Trump.

[04:05:03] They believe that now is the time to begin defining him. Those national polls already showing this is such a close race. They're not wasting any time.

So, it's clearly a two-front war here. Going after Bernie Sanders somewhat, but it's all in on Donald Trump -- George and Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Jeff Zeleny on the campaign trail.

And breaking overnight, Bernie Sanders upping the ante, rolling out a brand new $1.5 million campaign ad in California, a series of ads. Sanders' ads don't mention Hillary Clinton by name, but they do say the Democratic Party needs new direction.

Sanders also campaigning today and last night in California, touting California's crucial role in his plan to seize an upset victory over Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we win here big in California, if we win the other five states that are up on June 7th, we're going to go into the Democratic Convention with enormous momentum.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

We're going to go in with momentum. We're going to come out with the nomination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: And also interesting to point out on Tuesday, Bernie Sanders sought a recount of last week's Kentucky Democratic primary. Clinton won there by less than 2,000 votes, just one half of 1 percent. A Sanders adviser says the campaign has no reason to think that there were any problems with that count. It just wants to, quote, "make sure everything was counted."

KOSIK: President Obama is scheduled to touch down in Tokyo for a G7 summit in less than three hours, after wrapping up a historic visit to Vietnam, that included normalizing ties and dropping a decades old arm embargo. Overnight, the president hosted a town hall in Ho Chi Minh City, raising the thorny issue of human rights violations.

Let's go live to Ho Chi Minh City and bring in CNN's Alexandra Field.

Alexandra, so we know the president is about to touch down in Japan within a few hours for this G7 summit. I'm thinking the highlight of this leg of the tour is really going to be his visit to Hiroshima.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Alison. That's the part a lot of people are going to be interested in watching. He does have the G7 summit. He does have a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

But then he's going to make this historic and symbolic and significant trip in Hiroshima. He'll be the first U.S. president to go visit the spot where the first atomic bomb attack happened. We're told there won't be a large address in that space, but it will be a time of reflection. And certainly, a lot of people will be looking at this as a significant moment.

You know, the senior administration officials have described this as a sort of a moment where the president acknowledges the past and looks toward the future, which is a theme that very much echoes what we saw unfold here in Vietnam over the space of the last few days as he toured both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

He made a very poignant address to the people of Vietnam in front of a crowd of some 2,000 people where he talked a lot about what it's taken to heal the wounds of war that for so long had divided these two countries and that had, you know, brought these two countries together now. He's credited the veterans with really doing a lot of the healing work that's put the president in the position to make a trip like this during which he was able to announce historic things like the dropping of the arms embargo and to also talk about other ways to bolster security and economic cooperation between these countries.

That message, those messages were all incredibly warmly received, Alison, by the Vietnamese people. First of all, his remarks were broadcast live on TV here in Vietnam, which is incredibly significant for a U.S. president, especially since he was taking on tough issues like human rights. And the takeaway from all these, were the headlines in Vietnamese newspapers, the English language papers that say things like this, "Peace better than war." That's quoting Barack Obama and also quoting him, "Hearts can change and a different future is possible".

So, that's really the message people in Vietnam are walking away with, the fact this was a symbolic and significant moment where they feel that the past has been acknowledged and everyone is looking for more cooperation in the future, Alison.

KOSIK: What, Alexandra, what has been the reaction from China with this evolving relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam?

FIELD: Certainly, China is watching this trip as closely, if not more closely than anyone else. They have keen interests in that decision to lift the arms embargo. They also have a keen interest, of course, in the president's remarks about the disputes in the South China Sea, where neighboring count es here have accused China of taking aggressive territorial claims.

So, there was an editorial in one of the state media publications saying this in response to the visit. It is worrying to note the three-day visit has been described by some as a pivotal move in the U.S. strategic rebalancing to curb the rise of China. The president has batted away any suggestion that the dropping of the arms embargo is about countering China's strength.

[04:10:01] But still it's being noted there by "The China Daily", which wraps up its editorial in saying this, "We hope Obama means what he says" -- Alison.

KOSIK: So many headlines coming out of this trip. CNN's Alexandra Field, thanks so much.

And time for an early start on your money. Dow futures pushing higher at the moment. European stock markets, they are up. And we saw Asia finished with big gains overnight. Oil prices are up near $50 a barrel.

And, whoa, what a nice rally for stocks yesterday. The Dow jumping 213 points, or more than 1 percent. NASDAQ with the strongest gain yesterday, up 2 percent. We also saw the S&P 500 rising as well.

What was the big reason behind the rally? Well, new home sales surged more than 16 percent in April. That marks the highest level since January of 2008, which was just before the housing collapse. New home sales are both a gauge of the housing market and construction.

Now, we did tell you yesterday that home values were also rising due to low inventory. So, more new homes being built could help fix that problem as the busy summer buying season gets under way.

It's interesting to watch the housing market because especially with new home sales, you don't really see Wall Street focusing on new home sales because they only make up a small part of the housing industry, 10 percent. But because of those new home sales did so well, you saw the market really react yesterday.

HOWELL: It's just a matter if you're a home buyer. Is the inventory there? Not right now.

So, we continue now, EARLY START. Bill Cosby will face a trial in a decades old sex assault case. What is next for the comedian? We'll look into it, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:42] HOWELL: Four-fifteen on the East Coast. Welcome back to EARLY START.

Bill Cosby is now set to go to trial more than ten years after first being accused of sexual misconduct. A Pennsylvania judge ruling there is enough evidence to move forward with a criminal case against the disgraced entertainer. Bill Cosby faces three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault. If found guilty, he could face 30 years in prison.

More now from our Jean Casarez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alison and George, we can say with certainty that the criminal case against Bill Cosby is now proceeding to trial. That decision was made yesterday by a magistrate judge here in Pennsylvania.

And the preliminary hearing is extremely important because it's the first time that we see the prosecution really show their evidence. The defense can cross-examine, but the point is, is there probable cause that Bill Cosby committed a sexual assault against Andrea Constand, the accuser?

The defense was extremely aggressive yesterday. They wanted Andrea Constand to take the stand. They believe by cross-examining her, they would be able to show this was consensual, so there wouldn't be probable cause. But in Pennsylvania, at this point, you don't have to do that. So, the prosecution put the detective on the stand that took her statement back in 2005.

And the case involved one incident at the home of Bill Cosby. Prosecutors say that Andrea Constand said she went over there one night, January or February in 2004. She was not feeling well because she was changing careers. She couldn't sleep at night. Bill Cosby said, "I can help you take the edge off."

He went upstairs, came down with blue pills. She said in her statement that he gave them to her, she took them because he said they were herbal, had her drink some wine.

And about 20 minutes later, she couldn't even stand up. Her vision was blurred. She had to lay on the sofa. She said she remembers enough to know that she was sexually assaulted.

The defense and cross-examination made a very big point that Andrea Constand had gotten together with Bill Cosby before. She'd gone to his home before. She'd gone out to dinner with him. She went to Foxwoods Casino to meet him after a performance and actually went to his room.

They were really trying to show this was consensual. Bill Cosby, when he walked into the courtroom yesterday, I was sitting in the second row. He was being led in. He stumbled right into my court bench, and it really rocked the bench.

They say he's legally blind. The defense does. This really showed he couldn't see where he was going. But once he was seated, he was extremely professional. Not the comedian this country has grown to know, but very serious, spoke with his attorneys just a little bit, listened to the judge.

Now he has waived his formal arraignment to take place on July 20th. He signed the waiver. The judge said to him, "You voluntarily have signed this." He said, "Yes, thank you, judge, I'm waiving the formal arraignment." And with that, this case proceeds now to trial -- George, Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: All right, Jean. Thanks for that.

And the head of the TSA on the Capitol Hill hot seat this morning. Peter Neffenger set to be grilled by the House Homeland Security Committee about three-hour wait times at airport security check points. Thousands of passengers complaining about missed flights and connections. The TSA is expected to offer up a couple of near-term solutions like an automated baggage bin system and real-time data to keep air travelers informed out wait times at security.

But those ideas aren't expected to have an impact any time soon. Although, the House Committee is considering legislation to correct the problem, but we know how long it takes to get legislation through Capitol Hill. Good luck with that.

HOWELL: The worst thing is when you're already running late for your flight and then you see that line. You're like, I'm out.

KOSIK: Yu run to the front and say, please, please, let me through.

HOWELL: They're like, no.

KOSIK: Exactly.

HOWELL: Well, the final moments of EgyptAir Flight 804. There are now conflicts new messages as time ticks down to find that plane's black boxes. We have the latest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:24:11] KOSIK: The mystery deepens in the disappearance of EgyptAir Flight 804. This morning, there are conflicting reports about the doomed jet's final moments. This as time ticks down to find the plane's black boxes before the locator signal they give off goes silent for good.

Let's go to CNN's Ian Lee live from Cairo following all the events with this.

You know, you think about the agonizing wait that these families are going through, waiting for answers. Was it technical problems? Was it terrorism that brought down this jet?

Are investigators getting any clues at all from the debris they're finding about what brought down this plane?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alison, there are a lot of pieces to this puzzle, but investigators haven't been able to put them all together quite yet. The conflicting report you mentioned earlier comes from the Greek officials saying this plane descended thousands of feet as well as swerving 90 degrees and then 360 degrees.

[04:25:10] Egyptian officials are saying that wasn't the case, that this plane was cruising at 37,000 feet then disappeared from radar.

We're also getting a bit more information about the final moments. A new report we're seeing confirms what we heard earlier about the final moments that there was some sort of problem with a heating element in the co-pilot's window as well as smoke in the lavatory and as well as in the avionics. We're also hearing that the engines, at least initially, to the plate, were operating properly.

But as far as the pieces of the plane, we know that there's 18 groups. That's about as much as Egyptian officials are telling us. We know, though, that they haven't found the fuselage or those black boxes, but a lot of the focus is also turning to the remains.

The morgue here in Cairo told us they have 15 bags of remains. Everything seems to be pretty small, from what they say. That's not necessarily an indication of an explosion. This plane did fall from 37,000 feet, but they're focusing on tests.

What can these remains tell them about the final moments? Is there any residue from an explosion? Also, they're testing to see who is who, trying to get some sort of DNA confirmation so they can return them to their loved ones.

KOSIK: All right. CNN's Ian Lee following all the developments in that EgyptAir plane crash -- thanks very much.

HOWELL: Violent protests erupt outside a Donald Trump rally late last night, hundreds clashing with police, demonstrating against the presumptive Republican nominee for president. The dramatic moments, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)