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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Hundreds Protest New Mexico Trump Rally; Candidates Stump In Golden State; Clinton Skips Sanders As VP On Ellen Show; Obama To Land In Japan For G7 Summit; Conflicting Reports On EgyptAir Flight 804's Final Moments; Twitter Stretches 140-Character Limit. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 25, 2016 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:29:00] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. Hundreds of anti-Trump protestors in New Mexico lighting fires, throwing rocks and bottles at police, injuring officers. Even smashing a door at the Albuquerque Convention Center where Trump was holding his 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 protestors 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 break through 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 1,000 people assembled here in front of the convention hall. People who were criticizing Donald Trump's rhetoric when it comes to immigration, some of the comments he's made against women. That was a peaceful protest.

Then you had nightfall come and that's when things spun out of control. Police officers trying to get those protestors 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)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Dan Simon, thank you. What a night. To talk about all of this let's bring in CNN political analyst and columnist for "The Washington Post", Josh Rogin, live for us. Josh, good to have you.

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.

HOWELL: So, I want to talk about the protests that we saw overnight there in Albuquerque. Again, a state that is very important considering that it has a very high Hispanic population. But again, you get a sense of how polarized things are in this election cycle. You look at these images of so many protestors, and Josh, we've seen this before. We saw it in Chicago, we saw it in Southern California, and now we're seeing it here.

Here's how Donald Trump responds. Listen to this from a Donald Trump tweet. He says, "Great rally in New Mexico. Amazing crowd! Now in L.A. Big rally in Anaheim." Here's another tweet from Trump's senior advisor, who says, "Watching thugs and punks in Albuquerque en route to California. They don't even know what they're protesting."

Again, we're talking about a very polarized election cycle, so is the Trump campaign responding in the proper fashion, do you think?

ROGIN: Right, George. Well, I think you've put your finger on the two big issues here. One is that this is not the first, nor will it likely be the last, of these protests which, although they haven't resulted in major injuries and major violence, they have the potential to do so. It's just a matter of time.

If this pattern is allowed to continue there's a real risk of somebody getting really hurt or worse. And the question is, does the Trump campaign have a responsibility to do whatever it can to make sure that doesn't happen?

And if you believe that they do then the Trump campaign is falling woefully short of that responsibility by either ignoring, or dismissing, or mocking these protestors. It's simply not a strategy that's going to lead toward some sort of resolution or path towards preventing political violence, which is really a loss not just for the campaign and for the electorate, but for the country now.

On the other issue that you mentioned, which is the broad dissatisfaction amongst Hispanic-American voters with the Trump campaign's rhetoric and with Donald Trump himself, that's a problem for the Trump campaign going forward, especially in those southwestern states which have high Hispanic populations.

Again, the response from the Trump campaign has been dismissive and that is a very odd and puzzling choice. I mean, they can continue to discount this large group of voters in all of these key states that are really calling for Donald Trump to say something a little bit different, a little bit more respectful, a little bit more responsible about their issues. But they show no signs of doing that and that, for some unexplainable

reason, seems to be their policy going forward.

HOWELL: It's interesting.

KOSIK: And in New Mexico yesterday we saw Hillary Clinton, of course, on the campaign trail in general. We saw Donald Trump, as well. We also saw Donald Trump speak out against Hillary Clinton's sort of new strategy about attacking Donald Trump and his business practices. Let's first hear what he had to say and then we'll talk to you on the back of it.

ROGIN: Sure.

(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)

[05:35:00] KOSIK: OK, whether or not that's effective, that's the question there. But something to think about. You know, when the housing market collapsed Donald Trump wasn't the only investor who made money off the backs of those who were suffering. It's the reason why you see people in the stock market buy low and sell high. It's just the nature of business.

Then you had Hillary Clinton, the day before, saying look -- questioning Donald Trump's business acumen. So which is it?

ROGIN: Well, Alison, I think you make a good point here which is that Donald Trump was acting as a businessman and not as a public servant.

But that feeds into the Clinton narrative and the Clinton strategy, which is to point out that Donald Trump has not been working in the best interest of voters and Americans and has really taken positions and actions over the years that have enriched himself and not looked out for the benefit of the majority now.

The Clinton campaign, as part of this effort, is rolling out surrogates. They've got people on the House floor making speeches. This is a very coordinated operation by the Clinton campaign to point out that not only did Donald Trump sort of root for the fall of the economy but also, at the same time, his employees at Trump University were dismissing the idea that the housing collapse was a real thing.

So he seems to have been profiting off of both scenarios, which seems disingenuous at best, if not fraudulent. So I think there's a lot there. I think the Trump campaign is being forced to react to it. They're still sorting out that reaction.

Whether or not the Trump supporters care is doubtful. Whether or not the non-Trump supporters that are now going to be sought after in this general care is really the important issue.

HOWELL: Josh, I want to talk about Trump and support of women. Specifically, let's talk about Donald Trump last night in the rally. His comments at that rally, number one. I also want you to listen from a sound clip from a surrogate -- from David Chavez, who set up the rally. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I keep hearing about this women thing. I think I'm doing really well with women, but what do I know? What do I know? I can tell you this. Much less exciting to me, fellows, they say I'm setting records with men. Ah, that's so unexciting to me. I want to set records with women, not with men. The hell with the men, right? The hell with the men. I want to set records with women.

DAVID CHAVEZ (R), FORMER NEW MEXICO STATE REPRESENTATIVE: I've heard people say I don't know who to choose, Trump or Hillary. Even Bill Clinton chose other women, so you should, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: So, Josh, when it comes to getting support of women is this the right play?

ROGIN: Well, George, I think we have to look at the numbers here. If you look at straight polls of female support they show that Donald Trump's disapproval among women is about 60 percent versus 21 percent approval.

Hillary Clinton's support is about 48 negative versus 35 percent approval. So, his claim that he's doing very well with women just isn't supported by the facts. Now, if you drill down a little bit further you find that women who prioritize security issues actually like Donald Trump the best. Women who prioritize what we define as women's issues actually like Hillary Clinton the best.

Now, it doesn't seem that Donald Trump is really reading or caring much about those polls, right? It does seem that, as he said, his support is very high amongst men, especially white men, and that's simply not going to be enough for him to win the presidency.

So, this is Donald Trump's response when these things come up. When he has a problem with Hispanics he says I love Hispanics. When he has a problem with women he says I'll be the best for women. That is genuinely how he -- what he thinks and what he believes. It's just not supported by facts.

And when the poll happens in November, Donald Trump will either be proven right or wrong and that will make a huge difference in who becomes the next president.

KOSIK: OK, so one of the struggles for Hillary Clinton has been in trying to show her human side. I think she's trying to do this. Today she's going to be on "Ellen". The episode was taped yesterday. I'll show you a snippet here. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELLEN DEGENERES, HOST, "THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW": Mark Cuban or Joe Biden?

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oh, Joe.

DEGENERES: All right, we're picking Joe.

CLINTON: Oh, got to go with Tony.

DEGENERES: Tony. Jeff Probst?

CLINTON: Got to go with Tony.

DEGENERES: Tony. Bernie Sanders?

CLINTON: Got to go with Tony.

DEGENERES: Tony. Kanye?

CLINTON: I've got to go with Tony.

DEGENERES: Yes.

CLINTON: What can I say?

DEGENERES: George Clooney?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: OK, so clearly they were playing a game of who would you rather. This is helping to show she can have a little fun here. Bernie Sanders, she didn't go with, though.

[05:40:00] ROGIN: Right. I think, first of all, Tony plays a president on "Scandal" who's charming, cheats on this wife, and then the wife becomes a senator and then runs for president. I can see why that might appeal to Hillary Clinton. And let's face it, that guy can act, OK?

KOSIK: Yes.

ROGIN: So I can't quibble with her choice there. I think Hillary Clinton has an uphill battle in humanizing herself to the voters. It's just not her strong suit and it's not something that she's been very practiced in, having been in the public eye for so long and out of daily life that most Americans can relate to for so long. But, she's trying and we'll see how that goes.

KOSIK: All right, Josh Rogin, thanks so much for coming in. We loved your analysis.

HOWELL: Thank you.

ROGIN: Anytime. HOWELL: President Obama landing in Japan in just over an hour in a visit that is creating headlines. We're live, next.

[05:41:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:45:00] KOSIK: President Obama scheduled to touch down in Tokyo for a G7 summit in about an hour after wrapping up an historic visit to Vietnam that included normalizing ties and dropping a decades-old arms 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 now to Ho Chi Minh City and bring in CNN's Alexandra Field. So, we are waiting on President Obama to touch down, as I said, in Tokyo, but it's really his stop in Hiroshima that's consideredsignificant.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. He's got the meeting with the G7 summit leaders. He's also got a meeting Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe. But yes, as you point out, the real significance in this visit to Japan will be that visit to Hiroshima. It's the first time that a U.S. president has been to the site, a place where the first atomic bomb attack happened.

We know that this is something that President Obama has expressed a desire to do. Certainly it's a decision that will be regarded as controversial by some. The president has no intention of making any apology for U.S. actions in Hiroshima, but his advisors say that this is about acknowledging the past. It's a recognition of the past.

And it's very much really in line with what the president actually did here in Vietnam, where he spent a lot of time reflecting on the history between these two countries, Vietnam and the U.S.

And he actually also spent a lot of time remarking on how quickly these two countries were able to heal those war wounds in this post- war era, crediting veterans for really doing a lot of the work in uniting these two nations and putting them in a position where they could work to boost greater economic cooperation and greater security cooperation, which were the key elements of his time in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

He also had an opportunity before leaving Ho Chi Minh City, after making a big case on his trip for the TPP, the Trans-Pacific trade deal, and after announcing the drop of the decades-long arm embargo. He had some time before leaving Vietnam to spend with young people in this city.

He held a town hall where people were able to ask him some questions. He fielded a number of questions. It was sort of a lighter, more humorous side of President Obama that people got to see here, including one moment where he decided to beatbox with a young rapper. So he left this trip on a high note. Now more serious business as he heads to Japan, Alison.

KOSIK: Beatbox, huh? That must have been fun to see. CNN's Alexandra Field, thanks so much.

HOWELL: Now, to the head of the TSA in the hot seat on Capitol Hill this morning. Peter Neffenger is set to be grilled by the House Homeland Security Committee about three-hour wait times at airport security checkpoints.

Thousands of passengers are complaining about missing 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 about those wait times at security lines. But, those ideas are not expected to have any impact anytime soon. The House Committee is considering legislation to correct the problem.

KOSIK: French police raid Google's offices in Paris looking for evidence of money laundering and tax evasion. Anti-corruption officers and tech experts took part in this search. This is according to the state prosecutor.

French officials began investigating Google last June. The prosecutor's office says the preliminary inquiry is looking into what it calls aggravated financial fraud and organized money laundering. The French government reportedly believes that Google owes $1.6 billion Euros in unpaid taxes. That works out to about $1.8 billion here in the U.S.

Google said in a statement following the raid that it is complying with French law and is "cooperating fully with the authorities to answer their questions". Big story there.

A big change coming to Twitter, but will it be enough to turn the company around. We're going to get an EARLY START on your money next.

[05:49:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:53:20] The mystery deepens in the disappearance of EgyptAir flight 804. This morning there are conflicting reports about that doomed plane'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.

Following it all, CNN's Ian Lee, live in Cairo, Egypt this morning with us. Ian, what's the latest that you've learned on this investigation?

IAN LEE, CNN REPORTER: Well, George, what we're hearing this morning is reconfirming what we heard early on in this investigation about the final moments of this plane that there was a problem with the heating sensor. That was detected, as well as smoke in the lavatory and the avionics.

We're also hearing that the engines, at the beginning of the flight, were operating normally. The pilot signing off before the flight that as far as he was concerned and what he saw the plane was fit to fly. But today, the investigation still very much in the Mediterranean as they do try to locate those data recorders.

They have about a month window here where the battery inside the data records will be sending out a signal, something that they could detect. Once that battery dies it will be far more difficult to locate the data recorder. So, a ticking clock there.

They're also trying to look for the fuselage. Any sort of evidence that could help them piece together exactly what has happened because as of now really all options, all causes are open. Here in Cairo, though, at the morgue, officials are saying that they've finished the DNA testing of everyone. All the family members who've come.

They have -- they're also working on today the DNA of the French family members. This is to ensure that once they're done with the remains that they are able to return them to the appropriate family members. But also, with those remains -- there's 15 bags worth.

[05:55:00] We are told by morgue officials that no piece weighs more than two pounds. Quite some gruesome work there as they try to determine if there's any evidence on these remains that point to what actually happened in the sky. So, this investigation still very much open and underway.

HOWELL: CNN international correspondent Ian Lee, live in Cairo for us. Ian, we appreciate your reporting.

KOSIK: All right, let's get an EARLY START on your money. We are watching Dow futures pointing higher at the moment. Stock markets in Europe and Asia posting nice gains overnight. Oil prices climbing close to $50 a barrel.

One stock we are going to be watching today, Hewlett Packard Enterprises. Its shares are up 11 percent in pre-market trading. The company is spinning off its Enterprise services unit and actually merging it with Computer Sciences Corporation and that stock currently up 21 percent in pre-market trading. One interesting note here. Both companies were formed by spin-offs last year.

Shares of GoPro are getting a big boost from Red Bull. GoPro shares jumped almost five percent yesterday after it announced a deal with the energy drink company. But the stock is down 45 percent this year and 90 percent below its all-time high. Now, the two are going to be partnering on content distribution and international events.

Red Bull is going to be scoring some GoPro stock as part of the deal as well. But you know, GoPro really needs a comeback here. Sales have spiraled, the company lost more money than expected last quarter. Still, this deal really seems to make sense because Red Bull has an online video network focused on action sports and many of them are shot with GoPro cameras. That is an adrenalin deal.

All right, if you use Twitter the change you've been waiting for is here. The social media site changing the 140-character limit on tweets. It's still going to apply to texts but now when you add pictures, and video, and polls, and handles -- all that stuff is not going to count against the 140-character limit. Twitter says it will make conversations easier.

It's also going to be looking at making additional changes in the coming months. Now, Twitter has 300 million users but its growth really has stagnated lately. Its stock getting crushed this year. Look at that -- down almost 40 percent.

In an attempt to boost Twitter's popularity the company has been looking for lots of ways to make its service easier to use, while also matching some of the richer features offered by many of its competitors. So, you're seeing Twitter really becoming creative in trying to get more users onto its Website.

HOWELL: But will it work?

KOSIK: Yes, it will work.

HOWELL: We'll have to see. Following the breaking news this morning. Violent protests outside a Donald Trump rally. CNN's "NEW DAY" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anti-Trump protesters have taken to the streets.

CLINTON: He actually said he was hoping for the crash.

TRUMP: I'm a businessman. That's what I'm supposed to do.

CLINTON: We're not going to let him bankrupt America.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we get the nomination, Donald Trump is toast.

GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY: The court found that there was sufficient evidence to require Mr. Cosby to stand trial.

BRIAN MCMONAGLE, ATTORNEY FOR BILL COSBY: There was no crime committed here. This case should end immediately.

KEVIN STEELE, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA: We want to seek the truth. We're here to serve justice.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It has been confirmed that he is dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A major change in Taliban leadership.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mansour's replacement could be even more deadly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, May 25th, 6:00 in the east and Ana Cabrera is here with us. Good morning to you. ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's like A-squared here.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: It feels great.

CABRERA: A-C squared.

CUOMO: It feels great.

CAMEROTA: It may be confusing but you'll handle it.

CUOMO: Just like every day.

CAMEROTA: Exactly. We do have some breaking news to get to because overnight a chaotic scene outside a Donald Trump rally in New Mexico. Anti-Trump protesters turning violent and clashing with police, even breaking through police barriers to disrupt Trump's speech. Several officers were hurt in this melee.

CUOMO: Nevertheless, the presumptive GOP nominee easily won another state -- the Washington State primary just last night. Trump is now only eight delegates away from officially clinching the nomination. Remember that magic number, 1,237?

On the Democratic side, the turmoil in the party taking another turn. Now, the party's chair is in the crosshairs. The question remains, what will bring Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders together? We have the race covered the way only CNN can.

Let's begin with Jason Carroll, joining us with more on these protests last night -- Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Chris, and good morning to you. You know, before much of the unrest Trump said during his speech last night that he was doing great with Hispanics, going on to say that he was going to win them over.

The reality is he's not doing well with Hispanics. Many of them upset over those comments he made calling illegal immigrants rapists and drug dealers, and they took their anger to the streets.