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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Tropical Storm Bonnie Soaks Carolinas; Trump Addresses Rolling Thunder Rally; Cincinnati Zoo Mourns Death of Gorilla; Migrant Crisis in Mediterranean Continues; Veterans Develop a Weapon of Peace. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired May 30, 2016 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Stormy holiday weather drenching the Carolinas and now heading up the East Coast. Millions could see flooding and dangers at the beach to end the long weekend. And now trouble at one of the nation's busiest airports. We'll tell you where.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Team Trump is warning ongoing talk of a third party candidate could hurt the Trump campaign and now the Libertarians have their nominee. Could he play spoiler in November?

ROMANS: Serious questions this morning for zoo officials in Cincinnati. An endangered gorilla is shot and killed to save a boy who climbed into their enclosure. We'll tell you why zoo officials say that force was necessary.

Hard to watch.

KOSIK: It really is.

ROMANS: Welcome back to this special holiday edition of EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

KOSIK: Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik. It's 30 minutes past the hour. Happy Memorial Day.

Tropical Storm Bonnie slams into the Carolinas wrecking the holiday weekend for many with heavy rain and widespread flooding along coastal South Carolina. Now Bonnie is headed north. Whose Memorial Day will Bonnie disrupt next?

Our team coverage begins with CNN's Jennifer Gray in South Carolina.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Christine and Alison, what is now left of what was Tropical Storm Bonnie being very stubborn across South Carolina. In fact, practically stalling out, leaving flooding rains across some areas in the state. In fact, Sunday, portions of I- 95 completely shut down.

And as we know, I-95 is that major interstate that a lot of people use to get to the coast. And with it being Memorial Day weekend, lines of traffic with people stuck in their cars for hours as they slowly exited the interstate and had to detour around the flood. And so conditions are expected to improve over the next couple of

days. However, off and on showers could linger across South Carolina as we go through Memorial Day, and then as the storm continues to push to the north conditions will improve across South Carolina -- Alison and Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Jennifer. Thanks for that.

So now we're talking about remnants, right, of this Tropical Storm Bonnie. Where is that expected to head next? Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has that for us.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, Christine and Alison, the timing with this storm system couldn't be worse coinciding with the Memorial holiday weekend.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VAN DAM: Back to you.

ROMANS: All right, Derek. Thank you for that.

All right, delays but not weather related. Officials at New York's JFK airport are warning of delays and huge lines this morning with operations drastically slowed by a computer crash Sunday afternoon. Now that server crash affects Terminal 7 and the airlines that operate there. That's British Airways, British Airways, Qantas, Iberia, Cathay Pacific, some others. At the delay's peak, some 1500 customers were waiting to be checked in manually.

KOSIK: A headache city.

New this morning, apparent shark attacks on both coasts inserting moments of terror into seaside holiday celebrations. In Neptune Beach, Florida, a 13-year-old boy paddling on his surf board was bitten on the leg by a shark estimated at five feet. This bystander witnessed the boy's rescue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDIN PEREZ, WITNESSED RESCUE: He was screaming. He was like, it hurts. It hurts. And we could just see the trail of blood leading over here. When we came in, there was blood all over the sand and there was a little boy sitting down over there and when he got closer, we saw that he had gotten bitten by a shark.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: So scary. The teen was taken to the hospital with injuries deemed serious, but not life threatening.

Meantime in Southern California, a woman swimming in a wet suit bitten off Carona del Mar. She was brought to shore by a lifeguard rescue boat. Officials could not confirm it was a shark that bit her, but they say the victim was alert and talking as she was taken to the hospital. [04:35:01] ROMANS: All right. Today Donald Trump is off the campaign

trail for Memorial Day. But we have new details on his hunt for a running mate. Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski says the vice presidential search is now down to a very short, short list. Lewandowski is heading up the VP search, told "FOX News Sunday" his team is now vetting the few who remained what he called a very small list.

This as Trump gave a speech Sunday at the Rolling Thunder motorcycle run honoring POWs. Trump promising that tomorrow he'll give a full accounting of money brought in at his veterans' fundraiser earlier this year.

CNN's Scott McLean has more on that.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alison, Christine, Donald Trump delivered what was a pretty typical campaign speech in a pretty atypical setting. Thousands of bikers were there to pay respect to and raise awareness of POWs and soldiers missing in action. Now this was not a Trump campaign rally and so there were a lot of people who were just passing by, but many of them were veterans.

Trump got a pretty warm reception from the crowd. He slammed Hillary Clinton, saying if she were elected, POWs would not be coming home. He also hit all of his usual talking points, trade, the Second Amendment, rebuilding the military, and of course, veterans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Our veterans have been treated so badly in this country. You have a secretary that last week said no, the wait time doesn't matter. Forget about wait time. I know people, and I've gotten to know so many vets, and we just raised almost $6 million for the vets because I didn't do a television show. I said, let's do this. And we're announcing on Tuesday all of the groups that we put up this money, and we raised this tremendous amount of money because we love the vets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: Now that money he mentioned was raised when he skipped a FOX News debate a few months ago. Since then he has been dogged by questions about where the money went. So as you heard he's planning a full accounting of the funds raised tomorrow to try to put that issue to bed.

But Trump is also facing new questions about comments he made about Senator John McCain last year, saying he was only a war hero because he was captured in Vietnam. This weekend on CNN, former Senator Bob Dole, who is a Trump supporter and a decorated World War II veteran himself, said he would push Trump to apologize for the comments.

We asked Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, whether Trump plan to apologize. His response was, "not that I'm aware of" -- Alison, Christine.

KOSIK: All right. Our thanks to Scott McLean for that.

Donald Trump blasting any suggestion that a third party conservative presidential candidate may be imminent. Pundit and never Trump leader Bill Kristol seeming to predict or maybe promise as much in this cryptic tweet here, "Just a heads up over this holiday weekend, there will be an independent candidate, an impressive one, with a strong team and a real chance."

Trump lashing back in a series of tweets himself, saying, "If dummy Bill Kristol actually does get a spoiler to run as an independent, say goodbye to the Supreme Court." And also this, "The Republican Party has to be smart and strong if it wants to win in November. Can't allow lightweights to set up a spoiler indie candidate."

ROMANS: On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders says it is on Hillary Clinton to win over his supporters if he loses his fight for the nomination. Sanders telling "Meet the Press" that he's still fighting to win but that if he does not, Clinton must make her own case to his supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: At the end of the day, whether it's Secretary Clinton or Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump or anybody else, the way you gain support is through the candidate himself or herself.

So my job is to make sure that Trump does not become president. And I will do that. But it is -- if Secretary Clinton is the nominee, it is her job to reach out to millions of people and make the case as to why she is going to defend working families and the middle class, provide health care to all people, take on Wall Street, deal aggressively with climate change. That is the candidate's job to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Sanders also warning Clinton against picking a running mate who is too cozy with corporations or Wall Street.

Clinton has no events scheduled today. She is back on the trail tomorrow with events and fundraisers this week in New Jersey. The other big state holding its primary next Tuesday. Also California -- California primary is next Tuesday as well.

KOSIK: All right. The Libertarian Party now has its presidential ticket. It took two ballots at the Libertarian convention in Orlando. But delegates finally settled on former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson. And for vice president they picked former Massachusetts governor, Bill Weld.

Libertarian activists believe their ticket could play a pivotal role in 2016 with both Clinton and Trump viewed unfavorably by large numbers of voters. Their nominee directed much of his fire directly at Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GARY JOHNSON, LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm taking him on, on the fact that he wants to deport 11 million illegal immigrants. Taking him on on wanting to build a fence across the border. That's nuts. Taking him on when he says that Mexicans are murderers and rapists when -- and it's incendiary as a border state governor. It's incendiary to 50 percent of the population of New Mexico that he's talking about Hispanics and Mexicans in this way when the absolute opposite is true. To call him out on what is really racist. It's just racist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:40:15] ROMANS: All right. In Houston police still don't know why a gunman randomly opened fire on innocent bystanders with a high- powered rifle on Sunday killing a man as he sat in his car. A total of seven victims were shot before police killed the suspect. The gunman also fired on police cruisers and shot at a police helicopter hitting it several times. Two injured officers were treated and released. Another armed man, described as a possible suspect, was wounded by officers.

President Obama will be joined by Defense Secretary Ash Carter at Arlington National Cemetery later this morning to pay tribute to America's fallen soldiers. He will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns for the final time as president after hosting a Memorial Day breakfast honoring military service organizations.

KOSIK: Did officials at the Cincinnati Zoo really have to gun down a gorilla after a boy climbed into its enclosure? Many are crying foul. We're going to have the zoo's side of the story coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:19] KOSIK: Welcome back. Heartbreak and anger over the decision to shoot and kill a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo in order to save a 4-year-old boy. At first, Harambe, a 17-year-old lowland gorilla, appeared to be trying to protect the boy who somehow fell into a moat inside the habitat. Incredible video here. But then the situation took a terrifying turn and zoo officials felt they had no choice but to bring in their dangerous animal response team.

We get more now from CNN's Jessica Schneider.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alison and Christine, visitors here at the zoo are wondering just how this could have happened. Zoo officials say a 4-year-old boy went under a rail, through protective wiring, and then over a moat wall dropping 15 feet into the water below.

Zoo officials say the situation was so urgent that they had to act quickly. They took the gorilla's life, killing him, they say, in order to save that little boy. They say that they had no option. They said any use of tranquilizers just would have taken too long.

That little boy was in the moat for about 10 minutes. The gorilla tossed the boy and, at times, stared at the boy. That was until the dangerous animal response team took action and killed the gorilla.

The zoo director, Thane Maynard, said it was the only option and he also released this statement, saying, "We are heartbroken about losing Harambe, but a child's life was in danger and a quick decision had to be made by our dangerous animal response team."

Harambe was 17 years old, 450 pounds. That response team moved in after they tried other options. They did try getting the gorillas out of the exhibit, but when only the female gorillas responded they had to take that action against Harambe.

The little boy was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. He's actually home from the hospital now. But here at the zoo, there's a mix of emotions. People are sad, they're angry, and they're confused about how this could happen. In fact, there's a growing memorial inside the zoo itself with flowers around a statue of a gorilla just outside the Gorilla World exhibit.

And we even saw some people out here today saying justice for Harambe. They had signs. But again, zoo officials saying killing that gorilla was the only option -- Christine and Alison.

ROMANS: All right, thank you so much for that. Ten minutes in that enclosure.

KOSIK: Seems like an eternity in there.

ROMANS: Unreal. All right, 47 minutes past the hour. A spike in the number of migrants dying as they try desperately to find a better life. Hundreds perishing in just the last few days. We're live in Europe with an update on that crisis next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:52:09] KOSIK: Breaking overnight. The Iraqi military launching an operation to storm the ISIS stronghold of Fallujah. A military spokesman says Iraqi forces with the help of Shiite militia have already retaken several villages north and west of Fallujah from ISIS. Hundreds in Fallujah most of them women and children now fleeing as Iraqi forces make major gains. Security forces evacuating about 760 people. But the U.N. refugee agency says tens of thousands are still caught in the middle of intensified bombings.

ROMANS: A deadly week for desperate migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe. A series of shipwrecks leaving dozens dead with hundreds more missing and feared dead. Three days some 700 death toll. Three ill-fated boats. These people trying to flee countries like Somalia and Sudan.

CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman tracking the very latest developments live from Rome.

Do we know why there has been this dramatic increase in fatalities here?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, it all has to do with the weather. The last week in the Mediterranean, it's been relatively calm as it becomes -- as we get closer to the summer, the seas are much calmer. Prior to that, we had several weeks of rough seas. We know from officials both in Libya and here in Italy that there are hundreds of thousands of people from Sub-Saharan Africa waiting to make this dangerous crossing.

So as soon as the weather clears up, the human traffickers basically bus them on, bus them to the shore, put them on these boats that are barely seaworthy. I mean, for instance, you're talking about vessels that are perhaps 60, 70 feet long designed to take a few dozen people crammed to the gills. One of the boats that went down with about 670 people on board was just a small ship that went out to sea without even a motor. It was towed by another similar vessel equally crammed with people.

And it's important to keep in mind that the intention of these traffickers is not to deliver these people peacefully and safely to the shores of Italy. They just send them out far enough into the Mediterranean so a distress signal can be sent and the Italian Navy, the coast guard and other vessels will pick them up. A very cynical game with a very high human toll -- Christine.

ROMANS: Cynical game indeed. Ben Wedeman for us in Rome this morning. Thank you for that, Ben.

More uncertainty clouds the peace process in Syria. The chief negotiator for Syria's main opposition group says he's quitting because talks so far have failed to end the civil war. A ceasefire set in February all but fell apart. Last month's peace talks in Geneva broke down after two weeks. A new round of talks was planned, but so far no date has been set.

KOSIK: The World Health Organization dismissing calls for the Rio Summer Olympics to either be moved or canceled.

[04:55:06] WHO officials argue holding the games in Brazil will not alter the spread of the Zika since the virus is already present in 60 countries. That assessment brushing aside the concerns of a coalition of doctors and scientists. They fear holding the games in Brazil may lead to new outbreaks in places like Africa and South Asia.

ROMANS: All right. American rookie Alexander Rossi, a 66 to 1 long shot, is the winner of the 100th Indianapolis 500. He's still not quite sure how he pulled it off. Rossi took a big gamble and decided to pass up a late pit stop. And he wound up running out of fuel just -- just as he crossed the finish line. His engine was actually sputtering in the final lap and his car had to be towed to the victory party.

Congratulations to him.

KOSIK: At least he made it.

ROMANS: Sure did.

KOSIK: Well, it all comes down to tonight's win or go home game between -- go home game seven between the Warriors and the Thunder. Golden State trying to complete a comeback after being down three games to one in the Western Conference Finals. The Warriors coming away with a big win in game six in Oklahoma City. Klay Thompson's record setting 11 three-pointers helping sent the series back to Golden Gate. Tip-off is tonight 9:00 Eastern. The winner faces LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.

ROMANS: On this Memorial Day, some veterans are trying to use their combat experience to make a difference. What you might call a weapon of peace. A multipurpose system packed into a shipping container that can be dropped in a conflict area to provide food, power and clean water.

Our Cristina Alesci reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE HANES, U.S. MARINE CORPS VETERAN: I think that was is the most horrendous invention mankind has ever come up with.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mike Hanes is a decorated combat vet. A former reconnaissance Marine who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. But since he's come back to the U.S., he's taken on a new mission.

(On camera): You weren't thinking about farming.

HANES: I wasn't thinking about farming. I was just thinking -- I was really questioning what was going on with warfare in itself. We kind of have a predominant mentality right now that we're going to drop bombs and that's going to solve the problem. So instead of making things worse, instead of dropping bombs, then how about let's drop some food. You know, let's give people the tools that they need to rebuild their community.

ALESCI (voice-over): One solution he says is a Helical Outpost. A hydroponic green house and power station. It's wired with satellite Internet access and it filters 2,000 gallons of water a day. Basically an industrial sized Swiss Army knife.

Dylan Ratigan helped start Helical. You might recognize him from TV.

(On camera): Where did the idea come from?

DYLAN RATIGAN, CO-FOUNDER, HELICAL SYSTEMS: This is an idea that was brought to me by people like Mike Hanes, combat veterans who I'd say, what does the world need, and they have this sort of militaristic world view of this integrated equipment functionality and they say, we don't just need a power station. We don't just need a communications hub. We don't just need a farm. We need all of those things working in an ecosystem that can then build capital and people.

ALESCI (voice-over): And helical says you can drop an outpost in the middle of nowhere.

(On camera): Who came up with the idea of putting it in a shipping container?

HANES: In the Marine Corps, we unpack those things, pack them, unpack them, pack them, unpack, pack them, day in and day out. So the shipping container was definitely the ideal shell for this thing to work. You can push these out of airplanes and parachute in pretty much anywhere in the world.

ALESCI: You're going all around the world.

RATIGAN: The international application at its best is areas that are in crisis, but have yet to go to conflict. So think Turkey. Think Nigeria. Think Kenya. Any place that has limited penetration of basic resources.

ALESCI (voice-over): The only obstacle to shipping outposts everywhere? Funding.

RATIGAN: The financing challenge, which we're making progress on. The nice thing is this thing makes money. It's like you're financing a farm that has a cash stream on the back end of it.

ALESCI: Right now only one outpost has been sold. Will farm 65 miles outside of Washington, D.C. Its mission? To train returning soldiers for cutting-edge agricultural jobs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the jeep of greenhouses. This row of nursery, and we can see it in the back there, is the spring and Asian mix.

ALESCI: Ned is one of a dozen veterans already trained on the technology. For Helical, that's just the start.

HANES: When combat veterans are coming from a scenario of death, pain, destruction, to get back into working with plants, you kind of shift to becoming a creator and a nurturer. It's more of a healing thing as well. So it's a positive win-win all the way around.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Interesting story.

All right, EARLY START continues right now.

Dangerous holiday weather stocking the Carolinas and barreling through north -- barreling north now, threatening to end the holiday on a wet and stormy note for millions. And now trouble at one of the nation's busiest airport to tell you about. We'll tell you where.