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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Donald Trump Digs In; Marines Murdered: New Information; Iran Nuclear Agreement: United Nations Vote; Final Round of Open Championship Underway. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired July 20, 2015 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:03] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump digs in. New insults against Senator John McCain in a new op-ed from the Donald released overnight.
Breaking overnight: New information about the attack that left five people dead in Tennessee. CNN taking you to the Middle East village speaking with the gunman's relatives.
The nuclear deal with Iran put to a vote on a world stage. The United Nations voting today and it's not sitting well with everyone. We're live where the Obama administration has an uphill battle to sell this deal. That's ahead.
Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday, July 20th.
Breaking overnight, Donald Trump escalating criticism of Senator John McCain.
The billionaire Republican candidate already on the hot seat saying McCain is not a war hero. Now, in a "USA Today" op-ed, Trump blames McCain for covering up the V.A. hospital scandal and says the senator, quote, "has made America less safe" and, quote, "sent our soldiers into wrong-headed foreign adventures".
Trump also tears into other Republican candidates who blasted him for criticizing McCain. He writes, "A number of my competitors for the nomination have no business running for president. I do not need to be lectured by any of them. Many are failed politicians or people who would be unable to succeed in the private sector."
National correspondent Sunlen Serfaty has more from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.
Well, Donald Trump is not backing down from his comments and he's been digging in even more offering no apologies and refusing all the calls from other fellow candidates that he should drop out of the race.
Here's what he had to say Sunday on ABC's "This Week." MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC: Do you owe John McCain an apology?
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, not at all. I believe that I will do far more for veterans than John McCain has done for years with all talk and no action. He's on television all the time talking, talking, nothing gets done. You look at what is happening to veterans. They are being decimated, OK?
So, I will do far more for veterans than anybody. I will be able to build them new hospitals. I will be able to build them care centers. I'll be able to help the veterans. John McCain has failed, because all you have to do is take a look which you report on all the time, take a look at the scandal at the Veterans Administration and the disastrous conditions under which our veterans have to live.
And believe me -- I built, with a small group, the Vietnam Memorial in downtown Manhattan. I know what it is to help people and I know what it is to help veterans.
SERFATY: And many have been quickly coming to the defense of Senator McCain and his service to the nation. The senator, a former Navy fighter pilot shot down, put in prison, tortured in Hanoi for five years. He refused early released and later on went to earn the Purple Heart.
But this controversy surely has given an opening to many of the Republican candidates, many who were just waiting for this opportunity to come out more openly and criticize Donald Trump, some saying that this should disqualify him from running for the presidential race.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not just absurd, it's offensive. It's ridiculous. And I do think it is a disqualifier as commander-in-chief.
RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Until Mr. Trump apologizes directly to John McCain and also the veterans of this country, I don't think he has the character or temperament to hold the highest position in this country.
SERFATY: And the RNC took the rare step and responded directly to Trump's comments, saying comments like those have no place in their party. Now, we still have not heard from Senator John McCain. He's been silent since Trump made those comments. But we did hear from his daughter, Meghan McCain. She says that she is horrified and disgusted by Trump's rhetoric -- Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Sunlen Serfaty, thank you for that.
Breaking overnight, new information about the gunman who killed five service members in a shooting rampage last week in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The federal investigation into Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez turning up evidence he suffered from mental illness and had bene abusing drugs. A U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the says family members are telling investigators that Abdulazeez suffered from bipolar disorder, he had been abusing painkillers, sleeping pills, marijuana and other so-called party drugs.
He was few in court for a dui. The official says Abdulazeez had sought treatment from the psychiatrist, the family sent him away to Jordan last year to get him away from friends they believe were bad influences.
Security investigators in Jordan have interviewed Abdulazeez relatives there to see what light they can shed on this time there.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh also spoken to other members of the gunman's extended family in the Middle East. He joins us live this morning from the West Bank.
And, Nick, everyone is really struggling to find out what was the motive, what happened to this young man to turn him from a typical Tennessee college student to a killer.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Very much remarkable change in the tone of what people are looking for in the Middle East from the family statements basically suggesting that yes, he was sent here to get away from the bad influences of the United States.
[05:05:08] Here, Jordanian officials are talking to the extended family as part of the investigation. It's clear that the uncle was the maternal uncle with whom he stayed while he was here last year.
It has been a complex narrative that he would return from the Middle East somehow and devout Muslim because of the fact that he was caught drunk driving in April of this year. That doesn't square with the devout Islamic lifestyle.
But details emerging ten years ago to the West Bank and occupied territory to get his Palestinian card, all about retaining your Palestinian heritage of you're a naturalized in this case. He was there during the Intifada uprising. People described a normal American kid and nothing of note really apart from the feeling in that village of intense shame that his actions brought upon them particularly for his father, Youssuf, who they all described as a man they deeply admired and liked who now has lost his only son. The only chance he had of extending the family line.
So, loss I think for that family who have managed to be made a victim as well. Still the questions, did that visit in 2014 mark an escape from the bad influences of drugs affecting his personality disorder in the United States or was it a time he was, in fact, radicalized?
ROMANS: Nick, let me ask you, quickly, you know, he has been to Jordan many times. Jordan not the kind of location you think of for radicalization. This is a strong deeply ally of the United States.
WALSH: Far from it, yes. It's a minimal ISIS presence here. They are far from popular at all into doing such. In fact, quite the opposite. There are pockets of radicalism here. With a lone wolf, you only need one person online giving somebody messages for the attacks to be inspired. Jordan is low on the list of places you will be worried about, somebody going to be radicalized a very well known transit point for other parts in the Middle East. Great airport here he will use to the Middle East.
ROMANS: Certainly, mental illness and depression and fascination with guns. That is something we have seen many times in these lone wolf cases.
Thank you so much for that, Nick.
Happening this morning, United Nations Security Council vote on lifting the sanctions against Iran -- an end to those sanctions was the main carrot used during negotiations in Vienna that got Iran to agree to limitations on its nuclear program. But the White House decision to let the U.N. vote on the nuclear deal before Congress has Capitol Hill in an uproar.
On Sunday, the administration officially submitted the deal to Congress, starting what looks to be 60 days of no-holds barred debate.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter arrived in Israel earlier this morning. Carter's visit to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Jordan this week comes at what he calls a very important moment because of the Iran deal.
For the latest, I want to bring in CNN's Erin McLaughlin in Jerusalem following the latest for us.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.
Secretary Carter receiving a warm welcome from his Israeli counterpart. When the two met, they immediately began discussing the mutual friendship that exists between the United States and Israel -- a friendship that by all accounts has been put to the test in recent days. Israel is, of course, one of the loudest and most vocal critics of the Iran nuclear deal which the United States helped to broker.
In his flight from Tel Aviv, Secretary Carter addressing those differences, saying even friends disagree.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASH CARTER, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I'm not going to change anybody's mind in Israel. That's not the purpose of my trip. The purpose of my trip is to work on all the things that we do together to guarantee the security of American interests in the region and very importantly, one of those is the security of Israel.
Obviously, we believe that the nuclear deal promotes the security in the region, the American strategy and also the defense of Israel. But as I said, friends can disagree.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLAUGHLIN: Now on Saturday, Iran's supreme leader saying it will not change the stance on the United States as a result of the nuclear agreement -- something that seems to outrage Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who on Sunday says there should be no compromises as long as Iran does not change its behavior.
For his part, Secretary Carter saying that the deal does nothing to prevent the U.S. military option which is part of the reason he says he thinks it's a good deal.
[05:10:00] U.S. officials also saying that they will be discussing on this trip ways of increasing cooperation to address what they say is Iran's destabilizing behavior in the region -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Erin McLaughlin, thank you for that, Erin.
It's opening day for embassies in Washington and Havana, marking a start of a new era in diplomatic relations between the two countries. A diplomatic relations that were severed 54 years ago. Officials say the American flag will not immediately fly outside the embassy in Cuba. That will happen during a formal ceremony when Secretary of State John Kerry visits in August.
Time for an early start to your money. European stock markets are higher. U.S. futures are higher. Last week, strong earnings pushed the NASDAQ to a record high close. The major averages all ended the week with gains, and the S&P snapped a three-day losing streak.
Investors are buying in as worries of Greece fade and it's the first batch of quarterly profit reports have been fairly solid. For the year, the Dow is up 1 1/2 percent. The S&P is up 3 percent. And look at the NASDAQ, huge standout. The NASDAQ up nearly 10 percent so far this year.
All right. New testimony from Bill Cosby revealed the comedian under oath about drugs, sex and younger women. What we're learning, ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: New and graphic details about Bill Cosby's troubling behavior from a deposition he gave ten years ago. Cosby admits he had sexual relationships with at least five women outside his marriage. He admits he gave prescription sedatives to women he wanted to have sex with and tried to hide the affairs from his wife. Cosby also calls himself, quote, "a pretty decent reader of nonverbal clues" that women were welcoming his sexual advances.
The deposition stem from a civil lawsuit by a woman who claimed the comedian drugged and molested her. Two dozen women publicly accused Cosby of sexual assault. One of them, Barbara Bowman, says his admissions under oath come as no surprise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[05:15:02] BARBARA BOWMAN, ACCUSES COSBY OF RAPE: It's classic, narcissistic, psychopathic behavior. It's the ego. It's the control, the diabolical thinking and behaviors. It's classic. It's exactly what was perpetrated upon me. It's the smoking mirrors and it's reverse, you know, pointing the
finger back at the victim, making us all wonder, how did I just get raped? Why did that just happen?
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: The 78-year-old Cosby has never been charged. He denies any wrongdoing. In the 2005 deposition, he claimed the sex and drug taking were always consensual.
Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker on the record whether gays should be banned from being leaders of the Boy Scouts. Scott Walker campaigning across Iowa, where he's leading in the polls.
The Wisconsin governor tells CNN's Dana Bash, it's for the organization, not the government to decide. He also faced questions on the broader subject of homosexuality.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you think that being gay is a choice?
GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R-WI), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oh, I mean, I think that's not even an issue for me to be involved in. The bottom line is I'm going to stand up and work hard for every American regardless of who they are no matter what they come from, no matter what their background. I'm going to fight for people, and no matter whether they vote for me or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Walker also says, contrary to reports, his wife doesn't disagree with his stance on same sex marriage. Walker called the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage, quote, "a grave mistake".
Walker's fellow Republican candidate, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, says the Boy Scouts would be quote better off without openly gay scout masters. His comments coming as the party courts socially conservatives following the Supreme Court same sex marriage ruling.
Former President George H.W. Bush home from the hospital. He was discharged Sunday after four days of treatment for a fractured vertebrae, suffered when he fell at his summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. Bush was fitted for a neck brace. He is undergoing physical therapy. The 91-year-old suffers from Parkinson's disease and is in a wheel chair.
Widespread thunderstorms across the country today. The worst of it in the Midwest. Forecast to be a repeat of Sunday's severe weather pattern.
California hit hard by flash flooding. It was so bad, a bridge over a California freeway collapsed Sunday in the town of Desert Center. A truck was crushed in the incident. Crews worked to free that driver trapped inside. The victim was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
A tragedy in Cincinnati. A pregnant mom and two children child in severe flooding. The intense rain swept away their mobile home Saturday. The family's father and two other sons survived. They were rescued two hours after the home was swept away.
At least six people rescued in Illinois after they were stranded when several levees broke along a creek. Streets submerged in the town of Hill View. Several people when their homes flooded. The town's church opened up for those displaced by the storm.
No relief in the forecast for much of the country. Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam for the latest.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the heavy rain and flooding in Southern California is from what was Hurricane Dolores, bringing in the surge of moisture from Los Angeles into San Diego. You can clearly see it on the satellite loop as well. It continues to rotate across this region. This prompted the National Weather Service to issue flash flood watches and warnings with more rain to come in the Los Angeles and San Diego region. That extends across Las Vegas and Arizona as well.
Not only did San Diego break a rainfall record on Sunday. It also broke a high temperature record as well. Eighty-eight Degrees on Sunday afternoon. Here's the three-day forecast for cities. Phoenix stayed above 100 degrees. The first half of the week work, that is not the only area that will sizzle.
Look at the East Coast and the Deep South. We have heat advisories and warning in effect. Look at Philadelphia, feels like 100 to 110 degrees. But believe it or not, we have relief in the forecast. A cold front will slide through by Tuesday and Wednesday, cooling our temperatures off just a few degrees. New York, you'll top 91 today.
Back to you.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Derek.
A terrifying encounter on the ocean caught on camera. A pro-surfer battles it out on live television. Andy Scholes, wow, has more in the bleacher report coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:23:09] RONMANS: All right. The final round of the open championship is underway. Jordan Spieth is looking to make history. But to do so, we'll have to overtake of the tournament and amateur.
Andy Scholes has more on this morning's bleacher report.
Hey there.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Hey, good morning, Christine.
You know, the story of the British Open other than the weather is the young guys. Everyone expected Jordan Spieth to be in contention on the final day, but amateur Paul Dunne? No one saw this coming. Dunne, he's a 22-year-old from Ireland. He just finished his final year at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. On Sunday, Dunne shot in the 60s, the first amateur in 88 years to hold the 54-hole lead at the open. He's tied for 2010 leader Louis Oosthuizen (ph0.
Dunne is ranked 88th right now. Not in the pro rankings, but amateur. Jordan Spieth put himself in position to make history today. He shot 6 under in round three to move to one shot off the lead. Spieth is looking to become the first golfer to win the first three majors of the year since Ben Hogan back in 1953. Spieth said he is using that as motivation heading in to today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JORDAN SPIETH, PRO GOLFER: To be able to try to go into the last major and accomplish something that's never been done in our sport is something that only comes around to a couple people ever. I'd like to be one of those people to have that happen. So, that's just going to go into my fight.
(END VIDEO CL.IP)
SCHOLES: Spieth tees off at 9:20 this morning.
All right. Just when you thought shark week was over, this happened yesterday off the coast of South Africa. Incredible video.
[05:25:00] During a surfing competition, Mick Fanning gets attacked by a shark on live television. Remarkably, fanning walked away without a scratch. As you can imagine, he was a bit rattled after the encounter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICK FANNING, SURFER ATTACKED BY SHARK: I felt something grab like got stuck in my leg. And I like instantly just jumped like a lion. It just kept coming at my board. I just like kicking and screaming and, boy --
REPORTER: Did you see some teeth? Got some teeth?
FANNING: I just saw fins. I was waiting for the teeth to come at me. I thought --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Amazingly, Christine, the only damage was to Fanning's surf board. They canceled the rest of the competition after this happened because no one else wanted to get into the water.
ROMANS: The look on his face when the jet ski pulls up. He was like get here fast. I have to get out of the water.
SCHOLES: Incredible. That could have gone terribly wrong.
ROMANS: Just another day at the office for that guy, right?
All right. Thanks, Andy.
SCHOLES: All right.
ROMANS: Donald trump digging in, defending his criticism of John McCain and adding new insults in an op-ed published overnight, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Donald Trump digs in. New insults against John McCain in a new op-ed released overnight.
Breaking overnight: new information on the attacks that left five people dead in Tennessee. CNN taking you to the Middle East village speaking with his relatives.
A key vote on the nuclear deal with Iran.
