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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Hillary Clinton's Campaign to Open in Iowa; Marco Rubio Announces Run for President; Iraqi Prime Minister Meeting with Obama. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired April 14, 2015 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The 2016 presidential race -- it's just April 2015 and it's on. That is Senator Marco Rubio launching his campaign. Yesterday is over, he says.
As far as he's concerned, yesterday is on the road right now. That's Hillary Clinton eating at Chipotle. Unnoticed. A burrito bowl. Anonymous.
She's beginning her low key listening tour with her first official campaign event. We'll break down all the developments.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Not that we know she had beans and chicken in that bowl.
BERMAN: I know. But I didn't know until after. How can you serve Hillary Clinton and not know it's Hillary Clinton? We'll discuss.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Tuesday, April 14th. Oh, one more day to get your taxes done, John. Four a.m. in the East.
But, first, happening this morning, Hillary Clinton has made it to Iowa where she is prepared to kickoff her presidential campaign. This afternoon, it is her second run for the presidency, but for the long cross country drive in the so-called Scooby Doo van to the series of events opening the campaign, it is clear this run will be different from the one in 2008.
More this morning from senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Hillary Clinton is holding the first official stop of her presidential campaign today in Iowa. But don't look for a big rally or even a public one. She'll actually be holding an education round table and meeting with local officials and party activists. Now, these small, down-sized events will be the hallmark of her campaign, at least for now, as she tries to build a connection with voters. She spent the night in Iowa, after arriving late last night at the end of a 1,000-mile road trip from Chappaqua, New York. She stayed in Pittsburgh on the first night, aides said, stopped at a Chipotle restaurant outside Toledo, and made one stop in Illinois before finally reaching Iowa.
Now, the campaign is already well underway in Iowa. Potential Democratic candidates like Martin O'Malley and Jim Webb have already been in the state. That's why she says she needs to fight for every vote and she may have to.
Some Democratic activists we talked to say they still have questions about what she stands for. Now, Clinton will get a chance to answer some of those questions today at her listening tour, which is similar to what she did when she first run for the Senate 15 years ago in New York.
But this listening tour will continue for a few weeks as she visits other early voting states of New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada, and, of course, starts those fund-raising trips.
At the end of May, she intends to give a bigger presidential announcement to give a broader outline on what her platform actually is -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you, Jeff.
With Hillary Clinton freshly on the campaign trail now, her former boss and one time opponent, President Obama, he says it is early to endorse her for the Democratic nomination. The president did have a few words of praise for Secretary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think she will do great. I have known her for a very long time. We had a really tough primary in 2008. I saw first hand how tenacious and determined and compassionate she is when it comes to the issues facing the middle class and she was an outstanding secretary of state. So, I'm not going to do any political prognosticating. That's your job. But I will tell you that she'll be an excellent president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: That's about as close to an endorsement as you can get without officially saying "I endorse".
There are developments on the Republican side of the race this morning. Florida Senator Marco Rubio is in. He opened his bid from Miami's Freedom Tower, an iconic Cuban-Americans like Marco Rubio. His speech made references to a generational divide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, the time has come for our generation to lead the way towards a new American century.
(CHEERS)
That is why tonight, grounded by the lessons of our history, but inspired by the promise of our future, I announce my candidacy for president of the United States.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Our chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash was in the room for the announcement. She has the very latest from Miami.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, 43-year-old Marco Rubio tried to turn his youth and relative inexperience compared to older candidates into a plus by saying, time and time again in his announcement piece that this should be a time for a generational change, that the candidates of yesterday are just that and that there needs to be somebody for tomorrow.
Now, at one point, it was pretty clear he was explicitly talking about Democrat Hillary Clinton. But at another, it seems as though he was alluding to Republican Jeb Bush -- by talking about the fact that some people are telling Rubio to wait his turn, but he feels like he has to start now, that now is his time.
And we are hearing some mutual friends of Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are saying just that to him. That they wish he wouldn't run right now, that there is a generational difference that benefits Jeb Bush, that it is his time, and not Marco Rubio's.
[04:05:01] So, Rubio talked a lot about his personal history, his family history, the fact that he comes from Cuban exiles and the fact that he has an American dream story that really is palpable for him, it drives his world view as a hawk on the world stage, and also here in the United States, his conservatives ideals, small government and lower taxes.
The question, though, of course, just like the other two Republicans freshman senators who announcement before him, whether or not their youth and inexperience is too reminisce for some Republicans of Barack Obama -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: All right. Our thanks to Dana for that.
From Miami, Marco Rubio wasted little time taking a swipe at Hillary Clinton, but maybe Jeb Bush, too. Just 43 years old, which is my age, it makes me feel insignificant. The freshman senator will likely be the youngest candidate in the race, decades younger than Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUBIO: Just yesterday, a leader from yesterday, began a campaign for president by promising to take us back to yesterday. Yesterday is over.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: He is talking about Hillary Clinton there. But make no mistake about it. You can slip Jeb Bush in there too, and the message could mean the same thing.
Democrats, they're already slamming Senator Rubio. The DNC released a memo calling the senator a champion for the failed economic policies of the past that devastated hard working middle class families.
ROMANS: I think the American flag above the "I" is a really nice touch in his logo.
BERMAN: They do a whole, you know, like deep on the symbolism of all their names.
ROMANS: I know, I know. There's been a lot of funny things online about the Hillary, the arrow, and what that could mean.
All right. Dr. Ben Carson could become the next Republican candidate to enter the race for president. The retired physician is planning a major announcement on May 4th in Detroit. His camp will not confirm he's running, insisting the campaign is still in the exploratory phase.
BERMAN: His symbols would all be written with stethoscopes and scalpels.
ROMANS: Nice, nice. Prescription for America.
BERMAN: Other news, Secretary of State John Kerry appealing to Congress to give him a little space so he can finish negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran. The secretary held a classified meeting with House members last night, urging them not to pass legislation that could derail the talks. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will brief lawmakers today on the scientific and economic elements of the emerging deal with Iran.
ROMANS: Finalizing that nuclear deal just got a little more dicey now that Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved the delivery of an elaborate $800 million air defense system -- air defense missile system to Iran. That is straining ties between Moscow and Washington and threatening to undermine the nuclear talks because that missile system would make it more difficult for the U.S. or Israel to attack Iran's nuclear infrastructure if the Iranians violated any agreement in the future. BERMAN: The prime minister of Iraq is in Washington this morning,
making his first official visit to U.S. since taking office. Prime Minister Haider al Abadi will meet with President Obama at the White House this morning, before a closed door session tonight with Secretary of State John Kerry. Abadi will be looking for more help from the White House to fight ISIS.
How is that fight going?
Let's bring in our senior international correspondent Arwa Damon live from Baghdad this morning.
Good morning, Arwa.
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
And it did seem after the fall of Tikrit that there was a morale boost for the Iraqi security forces when it comes to taking the battle to ISIS. But over the weekend, some significant gains for the terrorist organization, managing to breach the outer perimeter of the country's largest oil refinery in Baiji. Their clashes, we do believe, are still taking place. The Iraqi security forces sending reinforcements to that area before ISIS wrecks too much damage on this vital piece of infrastructure.
And to the west in al-Anbar province, ISIS is also making gains on a number of fronts, taking over three villages, sending residents fleeing on foot to safer ground in this city of Ramadi. And here in the capital of Baghdad, some of the violence that Iraqis have fortunately gotten all too used to, a car bomb exploded in of all places a hospital parking lot, killing at least two people and wounding -- three people, sorry, and wounding another ten.
And it is against this backdrop that the prime minister does go to the United States. Haider al-Abadi has one key request, he told reporters before getting on that plane, and that is to ask America for more weapons and more military assistance and more air strikes.
He is, however, very aware of the sensitivities that lie when it comes to the dynamics of Iran, the dynamics that Iran plays into when it comes to the battle against ISIS. He knows he has to alleviate some of America's concerns about the role that Iran is playing here.
[04:10:02] He is walking a delicate tightrope at this stage as he tries to navigate those two countries, America and Iran's competing interests, but interests that align when it comes to Iraq. But he is expected to have a series of meetings, pressing the cause for more American and international assistance when it comes to Iraq's battle against ISIS here, John.
BERMAN: Arwa Damon in Baghdad for us this morning -- thanks so much, Arwa.
ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money.
U.S. stock futures are up. Wall Street has a lot to think about corporate earnings coming in today. Big players like Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Intel, plus a look at retail sales last month.
And oil prices a big story this morning, they're up this morning. U.S. crude is up $52 a barrel right now. You can see, John, that chart is unbelievable. That's compared to over $100 last summer. Don't expect prices anywhere that high anytime soon.
According to Rystad Energy, U.S. oil production will average 9.65 million barrels a day this year. That will break the previous record set in 1970. Record set in 1970. Supply glut has sent prices tumbling, and causing layoffs and spending cuts. That means the U.S., Russia and Saudi Arabia would be the three largest producers of oil in the world.
BERMAN: Times changed.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: A new police officer, a white volunteer, charged with shooting an unarmed black man. The disturbing video, this officer's explanation, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: A volunteer Tulsa County deputy is now facing a manslaughter charge in fatal shooting of a black suspect during an undercover gun operation. Prosecutors say 73-year-old Robert Bates was negligent for shooting Eric Harris with a gun instead of the taser earlier this month. Police are standing by the deputy, saying the shooting was an accident.
Let's get more from CNN's Ed Lavandera.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, the shooting death of Eric Harris earlier this month is under a great deal of scrutiny, especially now that the reserve deputy accused of carrying out that shooting, 73-year-old Robert Bates, has now been charged with second degree manslaughter.
[04:15:09] Sheriff's officials here in Tulsa and Bates' own attorney says that this shooting was excusable, that it was an accident of misfortune, and that Bates should not be charged of any kind of criminal conduct. That he was acting within his duty as a reserve deputy in this case.
His attorney spoke with us and made that case.
SCOTT WOOD, ROBERT BATES' ATTORNEY: He is very upset about what happened. He feels badly. The incident completely took him by surprise. He has all the requisite training. He's taser certified. If you watched the video, you know he was quite shocked when his gun went off. LAVANDERA: Sheriff's officials say that Robert Bates inadvertently
grabbed his handgun, a small 357 revolver, instead of his bright yellow taser that was attached to his chest. Now an attorney for the family of Eric Harris says they don't know how a mistake could happen in this situation.
And, of course, there are a lot of questions as to exactly why Robert Bates was involved in an operation like this. We're told by sheriff's officials that he was there in a back-up capacity.
But the attorney for the family of Eric Harris alleges that Robert Bates paid his way to being a police officer after making thousands of dollars of donations and equipment to the sheriff's department here in Tulsa. Sheriff's officers here in Tulsa say that is definitely not the case. They say that he had gone through training and was well- equipped to be involved in a situation like that -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Ed Lavandera, thanks for that, Ed.
A series of new developments this morning in the shooting of a fleeing man by South Carolina Police Officer Michael Slager. A shooting caught on video that now has Slager facing murder charges. First, we now know the name of the man who remained in the car when Walter Scott took off running. He is Pierre D. Fulton. He released a statement through his lawyer, saying simply, "I'll never know why he ran, but I know he didn't deserve to die."
We also have a new audio recording of Officer Slager after the shooting laughing. As he said, his adrenaline is still pumping. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER: By the time you get home, it'd be a good idea to kind of jot down your thoughts about whatever happened, once the adrenaline stops pumping and stuff.
OFFICER MICHAEL SLAGER: It's pumping.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Meanwhile, a man tasered by Officer Michael Slager last year is filing a lawsuit. Julius Wilson claims Slager violated his civil rights and used excessive force during that arrest, this arrest you're seeing right there last August after Wilson initially refused to get out of his car.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFFICER: Back up. I'm going to tase. Back up. I'm going to tase.
(EXPLETIVES DELETED)
OFFICER: Turnover! You're going to get hit again.
JULIUS WILSON, FILING LAWSUIT OVER TASERING: During my lifetime, I've witnessed violent acts by police officers, with proof of acts, the word of police officers is taking over the word of the victims (INAUDIBLE) to endure these violent acts. As the video shows, I myself have been a victim of such force by the police.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The spokesman for the North Charleston Police Department declining to discuss Wilson's case.
BERMAN: Jurors in the murder trial of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez, they will begin the sixth day of deliberations this morning. They've already spent more than 27 hours trying to reach a verdict in the 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd. If Hernandez is convicted on the first-degree murder charge, he could get life in prison without parole.
ROMANS: Jodi Arias will spend the rest of her life in prison. A Phoenix judge sentencing Arias Monday for the fatal stabbing and stabbing of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander back in 2008. She had escaped the death penalty when jurors at her sentencing retrial were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether Arias should be executed. In court Monday, Arias expressed remorse saying she was disgusted and repulsed by her actions.
BERMAN: An Alaska Airlines ramp agent has a lot of explaining to do. Officials say he fell asleep and got stuck in the forward cargo hold before Flight 448 took off from Seattle bound for Los Angeles. The plane was in the air, he was caught inside in the air for 14 minutes.
The agent apparently started banging and screaming which the pilot heard before returning to Seattle for an emergency landing.
Listen to the audio of the moment the pilot realized something was going on here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALASKA 448: We don't have to dump fuel or anything like that. I think we have -- we're hearing noise from the baggage compartment. May be a person in there. So, we're going to have to come back around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So the good news for the cargo agent is that the cargo hold is pressurized and temperature controlled.
[04:20:01] He was taken to a hospital as a precaution. He passed a drug test and was later released. It is a bad place, probably, to take a nap.
ROMANS: Wow, that is something. Explaining that to all of the people on the plane, oh, by the way, we are going back to the airport and we're going to do this all over again.
All right. One year since hundreds of school girls were kidnapped by terrorists in Nigeria. But Boko Haram didn't stop here. We're live with the latest on its reign of terror in the region, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: One year after Boko Haram abducted more than 200 school girls in rural Nigeria spawning the bring back our girls campaign. The threat of kidnappings remains a scary reality there still. Amnesty International reporting more than 2,000 women and girls have been taken by the terror group since the start of 2014.
Nigeria's president-elect pledging to crush the insurgency. Can he deliver, though?
CNN's Christian Purefoy is in Abuja, at the site of a vigil for the abducted.
#bringbackourgirls, the hashtag around the world, 200 of those girls still missing.
CHRISTIAN PUREFOY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine, (INAUDIBLE) are gathering behind us as you can see. And I think there's two things. One is, you know, they're still the shock of the scale of this campaign --
ROMANS: All right. We're going to go back to Christian Purefoy in Abuja, Nigeria, a little bit later.
But again, as you recall, it was a year ago, those 200 girls were taken and Amnesty International, John, saying more than 2,000 women and girls have been taken by the terror group over the past year. It's just really shocking.
BERMAN: It is so sad. And Boko Haram is still on the rampage.
ROMANS: In a country where people -- you know, people want their government to fix this, and the government so far has been unable to.
BERMAN: A new contender in the Republican race for president. He says yesterday is over and he will wait for no one. That's the man on the right. The person on the left -- well, you may know her, but apparently people in Chipotle don't, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right. Set your clocks. Happening now: the 2016 presidential race has begun, ramping up. Senator Marco Rubio announcing his bid, adding to a quickly growing field as Hillary Clinton blends in on her way to Iowa, testing out a very different kind of campaign.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: Great to see you today. I'm John Berman. About 30 minutes past the hour right now.
And happening this morning -- news flash: Hillary Clinton has made it to Iowa where she has her first official campaign event this afternoon.
She has been on a 1,000-mile road trip in a van she nicknamed Scooby, after the mystery machine from the Scooby Doo cartoon. She got to ask and right there, she ate at Chipotle, though they did not recognize her. She's just like all of us -- at least that is what her campaign wants you now to think. It is a far cry from her first presidential campaign eight years ago.
Our senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny has the very latest -- Jeff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: Good morning.
Hillary Clinton is holding the first official stop of her presidential campaign today in Iowa. But don't look for a big rally or even a public one. She'll actually be holding an education round table and meeting with local officials and party activists.
