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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Will Donald Trump to Rule Out Third Party Run?; Biden Testing Presidential Waters; Cop Killed: Manhunt Widens; U.S. Open: Serena Wins Despite Early Struggles. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired September 03, 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: Joe Biden fueling new speculation that he may enter the race for president.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And investigators following new leads this morning, searching for three men suspected of killing an Illinois police officer.
Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is Thursday, September 3, exactly 5:00 a.m. in the East.
Good morning, everyone.
Up first, the Republican Party trying desperately to force Donald Trump to toe the party line. The GOP frontrunner and all the other Republican candidates are being asked to sign a loyalty pledge vowing their unconditional support for the eventual nominee, an ruling out an independent or a third party -- a pledge Trump has rejected in the past.
But he is meeting in New York today with RNC chairman Reince Priebus. Sources tell CNN all signs indicate Trump will sign the document and he'll be holding the news conference this afternoon.
BERMAN: That's right. What Trump gets out of this is a news conference, folks, a big news conference with the RNC chairman. He will sign a pledge that is not enforceable. Also going on, Trump and one of this Republican rivals, Jeb Bush, they're escalating their feud and it's getting personal.
Trump told Breitbart News, "I like Jeb. He is a nice man. But he should set the example by speaking English while in the United States." Jeb Bush speaks fluent Spanish, speaks Spanish at home by the way.
The former Florida governor has fired back. He's taking some digs at Trump in an online quiz, appearing on his campaign's Facebook page. If you fill out the quiz, all answers, basically, is either Trump or Bush. In one answer, Trump is described as the candidate with clear Democratic tendencies. Bush also makes fun of Trump for being a germaphobe. So, you know, you know this is getting strange.
ROMANS: And the quiz is in English, if you're wondering. He calls him a germaphobe in English.
Vice President Joe Biden testing the political waters for a potential White House run. I mean, he spoke at Miami-Dade College Wednesday. You know, I have to say, he sounded like a candidate there, touching on subjects like affordable, higher education, immigration reform and the economy. Afterwards, a few reporters asked about his plans. No response.
We get more from CNN's senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.
After a summer of closed-door meetings and quiet strategy sessions, Vice President Joe Biden is hitting the road. And a wave of speculation followed him from Washington, all the way here to Miami, where he's taking a two-day trip. He seemed to relish in all these presidential size attention.
Look what he said during a middle of a speech here at Miami-Dade College.
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look at the attention we attracted. Their interesting community college has impressed me greatly. And I hope that's what they're going to write about.
ZELENY: Now, the vice president did not say if he planned to run, but he gave a few hints of what the campaign message might be if he decided to go ahead with the race. He focused hard on middle class, income inequality, raising wages -- of course, all themes of this Obama administration.
But it also raises a challenge. Are voters ready for a third term of this administration? Or are they simply in the mode to move on?
But he first needs to take the temperature of Democrats. He was doing that at a fund-raiser on Wednesday night in Miami. Of course, a key and critical battleground state.
The fund-raiser was for Senate Democrats. But many of these donors would also be key if he would decide to go forward.
He is still mulling this over. He's going to decide, I'm told, within the next three weeks, by October 1st at the latest -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: All right. Jeff Zeleny for us, thank you so much. The Iran nuclear agreement all but a done deal at this point. Still the White House trying to sell it more. The vice president in Florida will pitch Jewish leaders there this morning.
President Obama has enough votes now to make sure that the Senate cannot block this deal. Thirty-four senators publicly block the agreement. Still, he is sending out heavy hitters to lobby for even more support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: It is our belief, deeply, that this will make Israel safer. It already has made Israel safer. The amount of time to produce enough fissile material for one bomb was down to two months. We will now stretch that out. We've already stretched it out. We've reduced their stockpile. We have limited their centrifuges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So the White House has 34 votes on its side. What it wants is 41 votes. What does that mean in the Senate? It means that the Iran bill will never actually come to a vote even? Which means that the president will not have to use his veto pen, which is something the White House very much likes.
ROMANS: All right. The House panel investigating the deadly to 2012 Benghazi attacks, set to interrogate two of Hillary Clinton's top aides, while she was secretary of state. Former chief of staff Cheryl Mills in the hot seat. Former aide Jake Sullivan facing questioning tomorrow. Sources tell CNN Mills wanted this hearing conducted in public, but was denied. She is expected to be interrogated by internal investigations by Clinton and her top staffers.
Another former State Department employee who worked on Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server, Bryan Pagliano, he has informed Congress he will invoke the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying before that House Select Committee on Benghazi.
[05:05:05] BERMAN: The V.A. system for tracking medical care for veterans is so unreliable, it is impossible for the department to know how many veterans need treatment or how many are still alive. This is according to a new report by the V.A. inspector general that found that of the 847,000 vets waiting for care in the V.A. medical enrollment system, 307,000 have died. That's morning a third, and as many as 10,000 applications by veterans for treatment have actually been lost in the last five years.
President Obama winding up his Alaska visit with the taste of arctic. He visited a tiny whaling island on a barrier island. Look at this, he took some time now to dance with local children. Did he dance well? Tweet us @earlystart.
He liked it, though.
The 400 residents of the island could be forced to move away because melting ice is raising sea levels. The president warning that the time to act on climate change is now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, the good news is we made a lot of progress in the last six years. But I'm here to tell you we've got to do more. We've got to move faster. We're not moving fast enough. And for the sake of our kids, we've got to keep going. America has to lead the world in transitioning to a clean energy economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The president is the first sitting president to cross the Arctic Circle. The first sitting president to dance above the Arctic Circle. He is pushing for an international agreement to reduce carbon emissions.
ROMANS: All right. Time for an early stock on your money this morning. Stocks are moving higher.
Look at this video of the celebrations going on right now, this is in China, to commemorate to end of World War II. Because this is happening, it means the stock market is closed for two days. That's why these pictures are good for your 401(k). It's giving investors around the world a break from the scary selloff happening. European stocks are higher this morning. So are U.S. stock futures.
Stocks surged on Wednesday. The Dow up 293 points. Stocks have been getting all the attention, with these wild swings lately. About half of Americans have exposure to the stock market.
There are other things that are happening in your pocketbook that are looking up. Home prices are rising. A new report from Zillow shows fewer homeowners under water because home prices have been going up. And the ADP employment report, it's a private sector payroll gauge, showing solid job growth this month. We're going to get a better look at that tomorrow when the august jobs report comes out. I think they are looking for maybe 200,000 jobs growth again.
BERMAN: Keep that streak going.
ROMANS: That's right.
BERMAN: Happening now, investigators following new tips in the search for three men suspected of killing a police officer. There is new information overnight, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:10:49] BERMAN: Three suspected killers on the loose this morning even as thousands of people turn out in Fox Lake, Illinois, in a pair of vigils to remember Police Officer Joe Gliniewicz. The officer affectionately known as G.I. Joe was less than a month from retirement when he was shot and killed by three suspects who are still at large.
The authorities acknowledge the killers could be out of town or out of state. There are no hard leads. More than 100 tips have come in by phone and social media. Authorities hoping surveillance video could provide some answers.
Let's get the very latest more from CNN's Ryan Young.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, you can feel the emotions in the city. You can really feel it. As you look behind us and see all the balloons and everything left for the guy they call "G.I. Joe". We actually went to the candlelight vigil where over 100 people showed up to show respects to an officer who served so much time in the community.
But one thing was for sure, we heard over and over how the search will continue and how it has changed. In fact, we went up in a helicopter and we look from above, more than 500 feet above to see what officers would be dealing with, difficult terrain. You had inlets. You had marshland. You also had lakes.
And there's a heavy wood line area here. So, you can tell it would be very easy for someone to hide. But they have changed the way they are looking for the suspects. They have taken down the hard perimeter and now they are broadening that search with more than 100 investigators on the case.
So, throughout the day, we know that there is a 17-minute period where officers are really analyzing all the information they got. In fact, they are looking at surveillance video to try and see if they can get digital images to see if they can get a better description of these suspects -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Ryan, thank you for that.
Authorities in San Antonio, Texas, focusing now on a second video of a police shooting. The victim here, 41-year-old Gilbert Flores, appears had his hands in the air when the deputies fired the fatal shots. The new video could shed light on why the officers acted so decisively at that moment.
We get more from CNN's Ed Lavandera.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, the way that 41- year-old Gilbert Flores was shot and killed by sheriff's deputies here in San Antonio has been described as disturbing and troubling. Investigators are taking a much closer look to determine if it was a justified shooting.
Now, the video that we have all seen is incredibly dramatic and disturbing to watch, but investigators and prosecutors say that there is a second video from a closer and clearer angle. And the sheriff says they believe that Flores had a knife in his hand at the time he was killed by two sheriff's deputies. That video image has been sent for further testing and enhancement to determine exactly what was in his hands at the time.
Could you tell it was a knife?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have an opinion on the view of the video. I have not dissected that video. We need clarity and closer shots. It needs to be enhanced. We're going to do that. I have an opinion, but I want clarity before I make a serious decision.
LAVANDERA: When you say dissection. The video needs to be enhanced?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Enhanced, closer view. Watch it over and over again. This is not something you watch one time like you're watching a sporting event and then have an opinion. This is something that really deserves clarity.
LAVANDERA: However, when we asked the sheriff with a knife was found at the scene, they would not confirm if that indeed had had happened. A source close to the investigation who had seen the second video says that Flores can be heard acting wildly aggressive toward the officers there at the scene. But they say it's hard to make out exactly what he is saying.
At one point, you hear the voice on the videotape. It's not clear that it's the officers' voice. But someone on that tape saying that it appeared that Flores was trying to get himself killed -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: All right, Ed.
Six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray will stand trial. The judge denied the defense motion to dismiss charges against the officers. He also rejected their request to move Maryland State Attorney Marilyn Mosby from the case. The judge ruled the six Baltimore officers will be tried separately. The charges range from misconduct to involuntary manslaughter.
[05:15:03] Twenty-five-year-old Gray died of spinal injuries while in police custody.
ROMANS: The police response to unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, is a lesson in how not to mass demonstrations. That Justice Department report on the violent aftermath of the Michael Brown shooting last summer. The report released today cites poor community police relations, ineffective communications among dozens of law enforcement agencies and military-style tactics that simply antagonize demonstrators.
BERMAN: In South Carolina the Governor Nikki Haley discussing race relations at the National Press Club in Washington Wednesday and she really took the Black Lives Matter movement to task.
She says the strategy of yell and scream has gained national attention, but made also it part of the problem. Those were her words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. NIKKI HALEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Most of the people who now live in terror because local police are too intimidated to do their jobs are black. Black lives do matter and they have been disgracefully jeopardized by the movement that has laid waste to Ferguson and Baltimore.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Ms. Haley says South Carolina can be a model for easing racial tensions. She led the charge to take down the confederate flag outside the state capitol following the Charleston church massacre.
ROMANS: The family of the women shot and killed on a San Francisco pier allegedly by an undocumented immigrant is speaking to CNN after filing a lawsuit over her death. Kate Steinle's parents believe the police and sheriffs played a role in the tragedy. Steinle's father says even after his daughter's death, little is being done to fix the broader problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM STEINLE, KATE STEINLE'S FATHER: The silence has been deafening. We have not heard any steps of any kind being taken by any of these offices, federal, state and local, to try to correct what happened so another human being doesn't end up like our family and Kate.
LIZ SULLIVAN, KATE STEINLE'S MOTHER: She's fun, fun girl. We're getting ready to go on a camping trip and we're going to miss. I -- we're hesitating because it was just so wonderful. The fun we all had as a family. We always had done so many family things. She will just be deeply missed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Steinle's alleged shooter was on the streets despite having been deported to Mexico five times.
BERMAN: Kentucky clerk Kim Davis will be in federal court to answer a contempt citation for failing to issue marriage licenses. Davis refuses to do so on religious grounds calling it a heaven or hell decision for her. On Wednesday, another couple was turned away from her office in Rowan County, Kentucky.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM DAVIS, ROWAN COUNTY, KENTUCKY CLERK: We are not doing marriage licenses today. Because --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why? DAVIS: I'm not doing marriage license today. We're pending appeal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Under what authority? Under what authority?
DAVIS: Under God's authority.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God's authority. I knew you would say that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Davis could be fined or jailed if she continues to defy the courts.
Oppressive heat is going to stick around on the East Coast. Parts of the country, though, lucky, experiencing colder weather, even mountain snow.
Let's get the latest from meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John and Christine. It is incredible to think this time last week we were talking about cooler temperatures in Georgia. Now some of the warmer-like heat is coming, in fact some of the warmest weather for parts of the country. Chicago in particular for the first week of September, in about 25 years' time.
But there we go, middle of July, that is where you expect the hottest time of year. Not September. But massive high pressure in place. It doesn't look like it will weaken much in the next week or so. So, we'll call for temperatures into the low and mid-90s. When you factor in the humidity, Chicago will feel like 92. Down around Alabama and Georgia, into the mid-90s as well.
How about this? Ninety-nine straight days in El Paso, Texas, temperatures hit 90 degrees or warmer. All time record was 80 prior to this year. Day 100, Day 101, still in the forecast in the coming days.
On the other side of the story, we are talking about cool temperatures, wet weather and snow showers above 6,000 feet in the Olympic Mountains of Washington state. So, good news when it comes to cooler weather for the firefighters.
How about a frost advisory in southern Oregon with temperatures in the 30s. We leave you with this. People ask what dictates a hurricane or typhoon? Well, it's the same thing just the International Date Line, if they're eastern side of it, we're talking about hurricanes. Hurricane kilo in the past couple of days. It has now crossed over, only the 17th storm to do this. It is now Typhoon Kilo, pretty cool story, in Hawaiian islands, guys.
BERMAN: Pretty cool story. Pedram, he knows how to party.
The U.S. Open in full swing. Players smashing rackets, dancing with fans. Andy Scholes dancing with us on the bleacher report, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:23:32] BERMAN: Serena Williams survived somewhat of a scare in her round two match in the U.S. Open. And because she survives, her dreams of a grand slam is still alive.
ROMANS: Andy Scholes has more on this morning's bleacher report.
Hey, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, guys.
Yes, Serena does not have her "A" game against Kiki Bertens in the second round, he was down 3-5 in the first set, and 4-0 in the tie break. But she made the comeback. This is the set point for Serena. She gets a little help from the net. Bertens going to hit long. Serena would win, 7-6, 6-3. Her next opponent will be Bethanie Mattek Sands.
Sands beat CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-2, 6-1 in round two, and CoCo not very happy about it. She took her frustration out on her racket. The crowd watching it loved it and cheering her on the entire time.
Now, the men's top Djokovic in a much better mood than CoCo. Djokovic cruised to a second round win. And afterwards, he invited the fan known for dancing at the U.S. Open, came to the court for a dance party. The fan's name is Cameron Hughes, and he and Djokovic had fun before sporting "I love New York" t-shirts.
All right. Dodgers and Giants continuing their battle for the N.L. West last night in L.A. Clayton Kershaw was unhittable on this one. He struck out 15 giants. He has more than 250 strikeouts this season. The first Dodger to do that since Sandy Kofax in 1966.
[05:25:00] L.A. sweeps the Giants, getting the 2-1 win. They are now 6.5 game lead in the N.L. West.
Ohio state quarterback Cardale Jones was taken to the emergency room last night. He was treated for a severe headache. Jones' mom told the Toledo newspaper that he is expected to be OK. Jones, right now, is competing for J.T. Barrett for the Buckeyes job.
The college football season begins tonight. Three ranked teams in action, including second ranked TCU taking on Minnesota. All 32 NFL teams will be in action tonight in the preseason as that comes to an end.
As we get ready for the regular season, be sure to tune in with CNN's "Pro Football Preview" with Rachel Nichols. She will be joined by special guest host Dan Marino. They'll break down everything about the upcoming season. That's Sunday afternoon, 3:30 Eastern, right here on CNN.
And, guys, I'm sure they will break down Judge Berman's deflategate ruling, whenever we end up getting that.
BERMAN: As soon as today. Thanks, Andy. Appreciate it. SCHOLES: Anytime will be nice. All right.
ROMANS: Is Donald Trump just hours away from pledging his loyalty to the Republican Party? Refusing to run as a third-party candidate if he doesn't win the nomination? New information this morning ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Donald Trump on the verge of a pledge of loyalty to the Republican Party, pledging he won't run as an independent if he doesn't get the eventual nomination. Could he do that? New details ahead.
BERMAN: Joe Biden fueling speculation this morning that he could enter the race for president.
ROMANS: And investigators following new leads overnight.
