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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
"Des Moines Register" to Trump: Drop Out Now; Chattanooga Shooting: New Details; Dozens Dead in Suspected ISIS Bombing; Jordan Spieth 1 Stroke Short of History. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired July 21, 2015 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: EARLY START continues right now.
(MUSIC)
ROMANS: Breaking overnight, a new call for Donald Trump to get out of the presidential race. Iowa's largest newspaper with a stinging op-ed this morning. Details ahead.
Inside the mind of a killer. A friend of the gunman who murdered five U.S. servicemen shares what the shooter thought about terrorism.
Dozens dead in a suicide bombing believed to have been carried out by ISIS. We go live to the Syrian/Turkey border.
Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It is Tuesday, July 21st. Five a.m. in the East. John Berman has the morning off. Nice to see you this morning.
Developing this morning, Iowa's biggest newspaper calling for Donald Trump to get out of the race, calling him a feckless blowhard who has polluted the political waters to such an extent that serious candidates can't get their message across to voters.
"The Des Moines Register" calling Trump the distraction with traction. The editorial board writes that with his, quote, "attempts to demonize immigrants and is initially assertion that John McCain is not a war hero, quote, "Trump has proven himself not only unfit to hold office, but unfit to stand on the same stage as his Republican opponents."
This as Trump pulls to the head of the Republican pack a new ABC/"The Washington Post" poll, with 24 percent of the Republican voters, 24 percent. Trump has nearly twice the support of his nearest rival, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
One warning sign for trump, a plunge in support for the billionaire on the very last day the pollsters were making calls, which was the first day the controversy with John McCain was in the news.
Trump's competitors for the nomination, well, they're adding their own criticism to this whole thing. Here is Lindsey Graham speaking to CNN's Kate Bolduan. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That he's a jackass.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Really?
GRAHAM: That he's bringing his name down and he's not helping the process and he shouldn't be commander-in-chief. If you want to be commander-in-chief of the armed forces, you need to understand that John McCain and all like him, not just John, are truly American heroes.
JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know -- I'm not into the process side of this. I know that John McCain is a legitimate hero for this country. He serves with distinction. And Mr. Trump ought to reappraise what his thoughts are on this subject.
The guy -- I mean, the guy was in the POW camp for five years and could have gotten out early, but wanted to stay to show respect for the other POW members. This is -- this is a legitimate hero that has served his country in lots of ways. Mr. Trump knows that. He should just apologize.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Donald Trump fired back and insisted on Bill O'Reilly show that he has already clarified his belief that McCain is a war hero, but he said that McCain needs to do a better job in the Senate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS: And I want you to be honest, you do think McCain is a hero. I know you do.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do. And I had -- and by the way, I said it. I actually said it four times. I said it immediately after I went off stage because I was asked the question.
O'REILLY: Well, because I want everybody to know --
TRUMP: I have respect for Senator McCain. I used to like him a lot. I supported him. I raised a lot of money for his campaign against President Obama. And, certainly, if there was a misunderstanding, I would take totally that back. But hopefully I said it correctly. And certainly, shortly thereafter, I said it correctly.
I would like him, however, to do something with the 15,000 people that were in Phoenix about illegal immigration. They are being decimated. These people are being decimated. I would love to see him do a much better job taking care of the veterans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. Today, Trump is back on the campaign trail for the first time since the McCain war hero controversy began. He starts his first visit to South Carolina with a rally at 11:00 a.m. in the city of Bluffton.
This morning, the Ohio Governor John Kasich makes it official, what was already pretty clear. He is running for president. He will be the 16th Republican vying for the nomination. The Kasich for America campaign kicks off with a speech at Ohio State University, the candidate's alma mater. This is Kasich's second White House bid. He first ran back in 2000.
New details this morning about the Tennessee gunman who killed four marines and a sailor in Chattanooga. Investigators discovering Mohammad Abdulazeez spent time in Qatar last year during a seven-month trip to visit his family in Jordan. It is not clear what he was doing there. We are also getting insight into the shooter's state of mind from a friend who spent time with him in his final days.
CNN Special Investigations correspondent Drew Griffin has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT REPORTER: Christine, a confusing picture here in Chattanooga as the investigators continue to probe the background of Mohammad Abdulazeez. At the same time, we are hearing about old writings that rail against U.S. policy and possible suicidal thoughts, one friend is coming forward and saying no.
(voice-over): James Petty considered Mohammad Abdulazeez's as spiritual supporter in his recent conversion to Islam.
[05:05:04] Constantly texting each other, they hiked the Appalachian Mountains, played sports, even slept over at Abdulazeez's home. He says he never once saw Abdulazeez angry and the only conversations they had about radical Islam was to oppose it.
JAMES PETTY, ABDULAZEEZ'S FRIEND: ISIS mainly. Groups, any terror groups like ISIS.
GRIFFIN (on camera): What did he say?
PETTY: It was a stupid group and it was completely against Islam, and not to even think about going towards them. And I felt like it wasn't in kind of a sense I'm with their group so I don't want you to do like me. It was more like, just stay away. This is not where you should be going toward.
GRIFFIN: You felt he truly believed in his heart at that moment that what ISIS is doing was wrong?
PETTY: Yes, sir.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Petty describes Abdulazeez as more American than he was and the self described redneck Muslim also liked to shoot guns.
PETTY: One day, he said he had a gun. And he was showing me pictures on his phone. I never shot a gun before. He's like, do you want to shoot this one? And I said sure. Like I don't see why not? I have never shot one.
GRIFFIN (on camera): And, Christine, Petty says the Achilles heel that Abdulazeez had was his marijuana use. His family bothered him about it all the time. He was apparently trying to quit. His parents would call him every 30 minutes, according to Petty, just to see where he was, trying to keep tabs on him.
But it didn't make him depressed according to James Petty. It made him mellow and happy. In the last week when he saw him, he was the happiest he had ever seen him -- Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Wow, what a confusing picture of the shooter. Thank you for that, Drew Griffin.
This morning, the U.S. is condemning an apparent suicide bombing in Turkey that killed 31 people and wounded 100 others. The bomb went off in the Turkish town of Suruc, at a rally organized to call for more help rebuilding the town of Kobani, right across the border in Syria, which was, of course, the scene of an intense battle to dislodge ISIS.
Senior international correspondent Arwa Damon has the latest from Turkey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And we are at the spot where the blast took place, Christine. We do have to warn at the States that the video we are about to show you them of the attack is incredibly disturbing. We are however choosing to broadcast it to show just how brutal and merciless and horrific the attack was.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
DAMON: And we are now on the scene about 24 hours later. This is what it looks like at the spot where we believe the suicide bomber detonated the explosives. There have now been toys placed. And that is because those who had gathered here as part of their Kobani reconstruction effort, they were sending in boxes and boxes of toys, books, pencils to the children. You can also see the damage still that has been done to the building.
People gathering around here to pay their respects, to mourn, even though the country has not officially declared a three-day mourning period. The Turkish authorities have however said that they will be beefing up security along the border.
ISIS has not yet claimed responsibility for this attack, but the government does believe that this was the work of ISIS and it is in retaliation for the government's effort in the war on terror, over last few weeks, having rounded up hundreds of individuals believed to have been affiliated with ISIS, coming into this location today, people understandably still very shocked, very somber and everyone being very thoroughly searched. An elderly woman apologizing to us, saying, if only these types of
things have been put into place, these measures have been put into place yesterday, perhaps this attack could have been avoided -- Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Arwa Damon, thank you for that, Arwa.
History made in Havana and Washington. The Cuban flag is now flying over Cuba's embassy for the first time in 54 years as these two countries formally resume diplomatic relations. The U.S. embassy in Havana also opened on Monday. The Secretary of State John Kerry will attend a similar flag raising ceremony in Cuba's capital next month.
The family of a woman fatally shot on the San Francisco pier will be in Washington, D.C. today to push for immigration reform. Kate Steinle's father will testify before a Senate committee as it takes a closer look at sanctuary city policies. The policies restrict public employees from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
Five-time deportee Francisco Sanchez ahs admitted on camera to firing the shot that killed Steinle, but he says it was an accident. Sanchez was on the street because San Francisco released him -- released him from jail after drug charges against him were dropped.
[05:10:00] Time for an early start on your money. European stocks down. U.S. stock futures barely moving.
NASDAQ closed at a record high yesterday, its third in three days. NASDAQ is up 10 percent so far this year.
So, what's driving those records? Companies are opening their books and investors like what they see. So far, 72 percent of the companies have reported stronger earnings than expected.
Today, Verizon will report before the bell. And later today, we'll hear from the world's most valuable, Apple. Apple shares up about 17 percent this year.
Stunning details on how two escaped prisoners broke out of a New York prison. The now captured inmate sharing more of his story, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: There are stunning new details this morning about the brazen escape of two inmates from an upstate New York prison last month. "The New York Times" revealing more of what David Sweat told investigators about the months of planning and the keys to their escape. Sweat was caught after three weeks on the run. His fellow escapee Richard Matt was shot and killed by police.
Let's get more this morning from CNN's Miguel Marquez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, some really interesting details in this "New York Times" account of how David Sweat and Richard Matt escaped from that Maximum security prison upstate New York, saying that Sweat was free for months unto the tunnels under the correctional facility. At 11:30 p.m., the last head count of the night, he would go down to the tunnels, he would return by 5:30 a.m., the first head count of the next morning.
One of the more interesting bits is that once he got down there, he had to figure out how do I get out? He started chipping away at the concrete wall of the prison itself using a sledgehammer and hand tools. Then, he caught a lucky break, says "The New York Times". They turned off the steam to the steam pipe that was providing heat to the prison on May 4th. He was able to short circuit the process basically by cutting through that steam pipe with a hacksaw. It took him over a month to do it.
Also interesting detail, that they hit a sewer pipe at one point. They thought they could get through that ala "Shawshank Redemption". That's how the character in the "Shawshank Redemption" did that.
[05:15:01] One other detail they have in there is that the two joked about the fact that the "Shawshank Redemption" main character took 20 years to escape from that fictional prison and it only took 10 to escape from the real one.
There was the question all along is who was the mastermind here. Richard Matt had escaped twice before, one successfully. So, it was assumed that he was the mastermind. But investigators telling "The New York Times" that it was in fact David Sweat. That the planning started in earnest in January 2015 when Sweat was moved next to Matt's cell. That he cut a hole in his cell first and into Matt's cell.
Another inmate at one point heard the sawing and asked Matt about it. And he said, "I was just stretching canvasses." Matt known to draw pictures and paint pictures and giving them to prison guards -- Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Miguel, thanks for that.
Prosecutors say the death of anti-police brutality activist Sandra Bland is being treated as a murder investigation. Police claim the 28-year-old Illinois woman hanged herself with a plastic bag in a Texas jail cell last week after she was arrested for allegedly kicking a police officer during a traffic stop. Bland was in Texas to interview for a job at Prairie View A&M University.
Her sister insists there is no way she committed suicide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARON COOPER, SANDRA BLAND'S SISTER: Help me understand how her failure to signal a lane change out of a courtesy to the state trooper who seemed to zooming up on her caused her to be out of her vehicle on the ground and in jail over the weekend, and now, no longer with us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Bland supporters claim she was a victim of police brutality. An independent autopsy ordered by her family was completed Sunday. Those results have not been released.
In recent months, Bland posted videos on her Facebook page describing depression and PTSD, calling it, quote, "a daily test". Bland was a social media activist spoken out against police brutality.
Graphic testimony during a court hearing for Washington, D.C. murder suspect Daron Wint. Wint is accused of killing a family of three and the housekeeper inside their Washington mansion. Police detective testifying, two of the four victims were strangled and that Wint could not have acted alone. The judge ruling there is enough evidence to hold the suspect on first-degree murder charges.
The California freeway bridge that collapsed after torrential rains was given an "A" rating just last year. According to federal records, the bridge over Interstate 10 had one of the highest possible flood safety ratings, meaning it should have withstood the heaviest rainfall. More than 5 inches of rain fell in the desert on Sunday. The bridge collapse cut off the primary route between southern California and Arizona.
No let-up in the steam heat wave. With 11 million people under the heat advisory today.
For the forecast, let's bring in meteorologist Ivan Cabrera.
IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it has, Christine. Temperatures into the mid-90s. But remember winter of 2015? We were not supposed to complain about these temperatures because winter is coming at some point here.
So, hang in there. If you don't like mid-90s, we're going to do low 90s today and eventually here in the Northeast, we don't stay in the 90s too long. And that's not going to be the case. We're going to get back into the 80s in the next few days.
Case in point here, New York, Wednesday, 86 degrees. That is certainly where we should be this time of year, into the mid-80s. We have been running a good 10 degrees above average. Same thing with the forecast for the nation's capital.
Now, the heat warnings continue here for the southeast. We are talking about highs in the 90s. And with the humidity and dew point into the 70s, well, that's going to make it feel like it's about 100 to 105 degrees once again later this afternoon. What will save us here will be a few showers and afternoon thunderstorms -- Christine.
All right. Thank so much for that. The buzz surrounding Harper Lee's new novel "Go Set a Watchman", wow, it's paid off. Look at this, it already sold 1.1 million copies in just one week. That makes it the fastest selling book in the history of its publisher, Harper Collins. "Watchman" has sparked controversy of Atticus Finch. He's the beloved heroic lawyer in Lee's first book, "To Kill a Mockingbird." In this book, he is portrayed as a segregationist.
Jordan Spieth's quest for golf's elusive grand slam ending in disappointment at St. Andrews. So who took home the claret jug at the British Open? Andy Scholes has that in the bleacher report, next.
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[05:23:04] BERMAN: It took an extra day and four extra playoff holes, but American Zach Johnson is the new British open champion and Jordan Spieth's dream of three straight majors has come to an end.
Andy Scholes has more in this morning's bleacher report. Hey, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Christine.
You know, a lot of people were pulling for Jordan Spieth. The 21- year-old was looking to make history and win his third major. But he fell one stroke short of making the four-hole playoff. Spieth, he was tied for the lead heading into the final two holes, but he would push this putt right on 17 for a bogey. That means he had to birdie 18 to make the playoff. But he would just miss that long putt right there.
Spieth pretty upset with himself as he would finish in fourth place. The door was open for someone else to win and Zach Johnson certainly earned it. He has a roll-in to get in the playoff. You have to love his caddie's reaction with the ball drop into the cup. In the four- hole playoff, Johnson, he held off Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman to win his second major, the first coming at the Masters back in 2007. After the round, Johnson choked back the tears while talking about what this win means to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZACH JOHNSON, 2015 BRITISH OPEN CHAMPION: I feel honored to be part of this history of the game and to don my name on that trophy, especially with the names before me, is -- humbling and surreal are two words that come to my mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: The NBA's first female summer league head coach made history again last night. Becky Hammon led the San Antonio Spurs to a championship, beating Phoenix Suns 93-90. The Spurs lost their first game and won six straight en route to the title. Last year, Spurs made Hammon the first female full time assistant coach in NBA history.
And I'll tell you what, Christine, if she keeps finding success at this rate, Hammon could very well be the first female head coach in NBA history.
[05:25:05] ROMANS: That's cool, very cool. All right. Best to them.
Thanks so much for that, Andy.
SCHOLES: All right.
ROMANS: Iowa's largest newspaper calling for Donald Trump to drop out of the presidential race. They called him a feckless blowhard. I'm going to give you more on this new stinging op-ed published overnight, ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Breaking overnight, Iowa's largest newspaper tells Donald Trump to get out of the race, calling him a feckless blowhard and tells him to get out of the race. The stinging op-ed, ahead.
New insight into the mind of a gunman who murdered five U.S. servicemen in Tennessee, drug abuse, depression, and what he told a friend about terrorism, ahead.
Dozens dead in the terror attack in Turkey. ISIS believed to be responsible. We'll show the aftermath.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans, 29 minutes past the hour. John Berman has the morning off.
Developing this morning: Iowa's biggest newspaper calling for Donald Trump to get out of the race, calling him a "feckless blowhard who has polluted the political waters to such an extent that serious candidates can't get their message across to voters."
"The Des Moines Register" calling Trump "the distraction with traction". The paper's editorial board writes that with his, quote, "attempts to demonized immigrants" and his initial assertion that John McCain is not a war hero, quote, "Trump has proven himself not only unfit to hold office, but unfit to stand on the same stage as his Republican opponents."
This as Trump pulls to the head of the Republican pack in a new ABC/"Washington Post" poll. Look this -- 24 percent of the Republican voters. Trump has nearly twice the support of his nearest rival, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
