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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Evidence Church Shooter Planned Bigger Attack; New York Prison Break: How Did the Killers Escape?; Obamacare Survives Court Challenge. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired June 26, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Disturbing new details about the man who killed nine people in a South Carolina church. Was he planning an even bigger attack? This as President Obama travels to honor the victims.

Sleeping on the job, perhaps literally. Troubling new information about the prison where two dangerous killers escaped. That is ahead.

[04:30:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And the president's health care law survives another Supreme Court challenge. But this morning, opponents vowing that the fight, yes, will continue.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman, 30 minutes past the hour. Christine Romans is off today.

Breaking overnight, new evidence that the man who has admitted to killing nine people in a Charleston church may have planned on even bigger killing spree. A Columbia police report says that during a police stop in March, officers found a part for an assault weapon and six 40-round ammunition clips in the killer's car.

Now, the suspect you see right there, the killer, he wanted to buy an AR-15 assault rifle for shooting on a range he said, but he did not have the money. This new information comes as his family is promising to provide answers to the many questions about the attack at some point in the future.

But in a statement, the family says now is not the time. Quote, "After an appropriate time, there will be an opportunity to have questions answered, but we ask that right now, care and attention and support be given to the grieving family members of the victims.

Happening this morning, President Obama and the first lady will fly to Charleston for the funeral of the Reverend Clementa Pinckney. The president will deliver the eulogy for the pastor of the Emanuel AME Church. He was one of nine people murdered in last week's attack.

National correspondent Martin Savidge is in Charleston with the latest for us.

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MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Today is going to be another emotional day here in Charleston. It was yesterday, of course. We had the first two funerals and last night we saw as the Reverend Clementa Pinckney was carried back to the church he led and the church in which he was murdered just over a week ago. In fact, it was a very powerful scene as you watch his casket being carried up the front step of Mother Emanuel Church.

Today, there's going to be just a whole host of dignitaries that will be attending his funeral. First and foremost, the president, the first lady, the vice president, the speaker of the house, and also Secretary Hillary Clinton, that's just naming some of the dignitaries.

The role that the president has to play, of course, he's delivering the eulogy, but he's going to be the comforter in chief. It's a role that he's had to play before, but this one and this time is very, very different. Unlike other national tragedies this one is a racially motivated massacre. He's our first black president, and race is an issue that he's not really wanted to talk about much in the early part of his administration but as we know from just this week, it became a very blunt conversation.

So, it is likely that race will be part of the eulogy. It's also possible that gun control, gun issues could be part of this eulogy as well. This is not just a city that has to heal, but it's a nation that will also be looking to the president, not just for comfort but perhaps for some insight for the issue of race, which as a nation we still grapple with today -- John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: An emotional day in South Carolina.

New information this morning on the help that a New York corrections officer allegedly gave two convicted killers who escaped from a maximum prison nearly three weeks ago. Court documents reveal Gene Palmer told detectives that he unintentionally made their escape easier by providing pliers and a screwdriver to one of the inmates.

Let's get the latest on the investigation and bringing in Alexander Field.

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ALEXANDER FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, the inspector general's office is doing a thorough investigation, trying to determine what kinds of protocol may have been breached to allow the prisoners to successfully complete that elaborate escape plan.

Now, investigators are looking at whether corrections officers on the honor block may have slept during their even shift. That could have potentially left David Sweat and Richard Matt unsupervised long enough to prepare for their escape.

At the same time, a second prison employee has been charged in connection with that escape. Gene Palmer is talking candidly to state police, talking about what was going on behind bars. He even talks about being involved in certain trades with the inmates.

He says that there was an exchange. He was given paintings and information about potentially illegal activity behind bars, in exchange for certain kinds of assistance, including paint and paint brushes, hamburger meat and access to an electrical box in the catwalk behind the men's cells, the same catwalks that they had to move through in order to escape from that prison.

Palmer tells police he had no idea that any of the assistance he was providing would in any way make an escape easier -- John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Thanks, Alexandra.

CNN actually spoke to the accused contractions officer about his actions shortly before his arrest. A CNN producer interviewed Gene Palmer off camera after he gave a statement to detectives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN PRODUCER: There was a sense of despair, sort of, what did I do? And he felt really, really bad. You could see the pain all over his face. At one point he started to cry. When he was thinking about his family and sort of what he did and what life would be like for him now.

[04:35:03] You know, this man was a correction officer for 28 years. He was part of what he called a law enforcement team and never did he ever expect something like this to happen. And he had no intention for this to happen.

You know, I sort of felt that he really sort of that he felt betrayed -- betrayed by the prisoners, by Matt and Sweat, who we befriended at the jail, who were providing him with information and really people he felt, you know, were helping him and he was in some ways helping them and there was nothing wrong with that in his mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Gene Palmer is now out of jail on $25,000 bail. He's still not speaking publicly.

A pilot and eight passengers are dead after small plane crash in Alaska. The eight were cruise ship passengers on a sightseeing tour. Authorities say the plane crashed into a cliff Thursday, some 25 miles from Ketchikan, Alaska.

It's still not known what caused the crash. NTSB investigators are headed to the scene. The eight passengers were taking a seven-day cruise aboard the Holland America ship MS Amsterdam.

This morning, some Republicans are vowing that their fight to kill Obamacare is not over, even though the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that it's legal to subsidize insurance for Americans who buy through the federal exchange. The response to that ruling at the White House can best be described as, you saw it right there, jubilant.

CNN's Michelle Kosinski has the latest.

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MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John.

Well, what we have been hearing from the White House, leading up to this decision, was a lot of confident posturing, saying things like this is an easy case. It should never have been taken up, almost challenging the Supreme Court publicly.

So, then to see this sense of relief around here, the celebration after the decision, tells you that maybe they didn't think it was quite so certain things would go their way. I mean, there were after all two separate speeches written just in case. Then, you see the photos of people full on hugging; the president exuberantly slapping hands there with his chief of staff.

Also, when he went out to the Rose Garden to deliver his speech, he went immediately to legacy, saying that, you know, this is something that had been talked about for a century, debated for decades, but now, health care is the right of everyone. Listen.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Affordable Care Act is here to stay. Some day our grand kids will ask us if there was really a time when America discriminated against people who get sick, because that is something this law has ended for good.

KOSINSKI: So, is the president going to celebrate this? The White House won't say. Does he feel vindicated? They also won't use that word, but they do say that he is pleased.

You know, the White House, as usual, want to frame this in terms of helping the middle class. The president said this is a victory for hardworking Americans. It's a good day for America. He doesn't say it's a good day for himself.

But we all know, but this is a very good day for the White House, one of their best, especially since on the very same day the president's Congress passed these extremely contentious bills that now open the door to his historic trade pact with Asia.

The White House acknowledges, though, that the battles are far from over.

I mean, already Republicans are vowing to keep trying to, quote, "protect" Americans from Obamacare by repealing it. And also, as the trade deal with Asia gets to its final stages, the president could face another showdown with members of his own party.

Keep in mind, five days from now, or four days from now, is the deadline for the Iran nuclear deal and that is going to bring a set of fireworks all its own -- John.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BERMAN: Indeed, it doesn't get any easier for the president. Thanks to Michelle Kosinski at the White House.

The Supreme Court is set to hand down for rulings this morning. Four major cases remain, including drugs use and execution, the cost of cleaning up power plant emissions, the use of nonpartisan panels in congressional redistricting, and really a major decision on whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. There's a decision date today and also Monday, 10:00 Eastern Time. So, stay tuned to CNN, there could be some major announcements coming from the court.

Secretary of State John Kerry heads to Vienna today for the final stretch of Iran nuclear talks. The goal: to reach an agreement that limits Iran's nuclear program for lifting international sanctions. The deadline is June 30th but that could slip.

This as former advisers to the president released an open letter this week strongly warning against a bad deal. The White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest responded to that, he says the president will not sign a deal that falls short.

Breaking overnight: new developments concerning Hillary Clinton's e- mails. The State Department says it received 15 Libya-related e-mails that the former secretary of state did not hand over from the personal account she used while she was secretary of state. The e-mails are between Clinton and her friend Sidney Blumenthal. They reportedly predate the Benghazi terror attack and include few words actually written by Clinton herself.

[04:40:01] The omitted e-mails are already causing controversy and they could spur Republicans to pressure House Speaker John Boehner to subpoena the server in Clinton's home.

Twenty minutes still the hour, which means it's time for an early start on your money. Alison Kosik here with that.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: And good morning. We are starting with some red arrows. European and Asian stocks are lower at the moment. U.S. futures, they look like they are following their lead.

We saw stocks fall yesterday. This is the second day in a row of losses for the Dow, which ended 75 points downside. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 also falling almost half a percent.

It's all because the Greek drama is continuing. Negotiations came to an end without a deal again. Both sides plan to continue negotiations tomorrow into the weekend as the clock winds down. The dead line is coming up to reach its debt deal with creditors. That deadline is Tuesday.

If no deal is reached, it won't be able to pay back the International Monetary Fund, the $1.8 billion that it owes and would make a Greek exit from the European Union more likely. Of course, we have been at this place before. They are going to wait until the last minute. BERMAN: It's high drama, and it's going back and forth and back and

forth.

KOSIK: Absolutely.

BERMAN: Thanks, Alison. Appreciate it.

So, Donald Trump dumped by Univision. The network pulling the plug on the Miss USA pageant. What ignited this controversy and, yes, how Donald Trump is responding. That's next.

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[04:45:01] BERMAN: Newly minted presidential candidate Donald Trump is threatening to sue the Spanish language TV network Univision for dropping coverage of the Miss USA pageant, which Trump co-owns. Univision says it is responding to harsh, some people say offensive words from Trump about Mexican immigrants in his campaign kickoff speech.

This is what some of Trump said earlier this month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They are bringing drugs, they are bringing crime, they are rapists and some I assume are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we're getting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, on Thursday, Trump spoke to Erin Burnett about the lawsuit and what he called his love for the Mexican people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (via telephone): They have a huge legal ability. You know, we're going to be suing them any way because Univision has been, in my opinion, given instructions from Mexico to get me, not to stop so much with the border, but to stop talking about trade with Mexico and other countries, but to stop talking about trade with Mexico, because Mexico is ripping us off so badly.

And again, I love Mexican people. Their tremendous spirit, tremendous -- I have great affection for the Mexican people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Great affection. Now, Trump says Univision is reneging on what he calls an ironclad contract. Meanwhile, both co-hosts of the Spanish language Miss USA telecast have now dropped out.

So, is Chris Christie the next candidate to jump into the presidential candidate race? Or not? The New Jersey governor is disputing reports that he plans to announce his candidacy next week. In a radio interview, Christie said he has absolutely not made a final decision about running. Christie says he cannot be held to account for every bit of speculation by the press. His announcement or not announcement is expected to be next Tuesday, by the way, at 11:00.

A new CNN/WMUR poll with some eye-opening numbers on the current state of the race. On the Republican side, Jeb Bush is leading with 16 percent, followed in number two by Donald Trump with 11 percent. Then, comes Rand Paul at 9, Scott Walker at 8, and Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio each at 6 percent. That's a jump for Carly Fiorina.

On the Democratic side, the surprise is not that Hillary Clinton is ahead but her lead is now in the single digits, actually statistically within the margin of error. She has an 8-point advantage over Bernie Sanders, 43 percent to 35 percent.

New dangerous storms in the forecast today all over the eastern half of the country. Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam -- Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, John, it's actually thanks to this low pressure system moving across the Eastern half of the U.S. that's going to help fire up thunderstorms this it afternoon, specifically from the Ohio River Valley, stretching westward through Tennessee and even eastern Oklahoma, damaging winds and large hail today.

Look out Louisville, Nashville and Memphis, that's our greatest risk. Otherwise general thunderstorms expected to bring a good amount of rainfall. In fact, between 1 and upwards 3 inches locally across the Mid-Atlantic States through the Ohio River Valley. We'll watch out for that for places like Indianapolis and Louisville.

Here comes our cold front providing that collision of air masses, allowing for thunderstorms to develop, but it will also bring us relief from the heat. Take a look at the Big Apple's forecast, 76 today, but 68 by Saturday. A chance of rain showers settling in across that region.

Here's our four-day forecast for a few select cities over the eastern half. You can see that cool down, but I wish I could say the same for the Pacific Northwest, teetering on record breaking Seattle, Portland, and Eugene, Oregon.

Back to you.

BERMAN: All right, Derek. Thanks so much.

So, violence in the streets, this getting very serious. Uber cars attacked, celebrities held hostage. What ignited this mayhem, that's next.

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BERMAN: Really extraordinary sights on the streets of France. Taxi drivers protesting against the online ride service Uber. They turned the streets of Paris really into this bizarre scene blocking roads and attacking drivers they thought were working for Uber. Courtney Love was among the passengers caught in the cross fire. She

tweeted out a picture of her car's smashed windshield, saying, "They ambushed our car and are holding our driver hostage. They are beating the cars with metal bats. This is France? I'm safer in Baghdad."

When they go after Courtney, you know it is serious.

CNN's Jim Bittermann is live in Paris with the developments.

Good morning, Jim.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT: She wasn't the only victim. Quite a few others, thousands of people were inconvenienced yesterday with those taxi blockades around the airports, particularly things are a bit better today. In fact, there's only one real hot spot in Paris where there's some hardliners who are holding out.

But for the most part, the drivers seem to be placated by what the government has promised, which is they are going to go after UberPop drivers and the administration of UberPop if they continue to operate on the streets of Paris.

But just to show you how bad things got yesterday, today, one of the largest taxi unions has declared free taxi day for people coming into the airport here. You get a free ride in their taxis today because they felt the image was so bad yesterday of all these things going on. Of course, the image wasn't particularly great before yesterday.

In any case, the damage was so bad that they want to try to do something to improve that -- John.

BERMAN: Really extraordinary images on the streets of that city. We'll see how long it goes on for.

Jim, I really appreciate it.

So, Taylor Swift is safe. Courtney Love is not. The rift healed between the megastar and Apple. We'll tell you the final result, next.

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[04:52:53] BERMAN: Time now for an early start on your money. Alison Kosik here with that.

KOSIK: Good morning.

Looking a bit of a rough start. Asian markets closed in the red. European stocks and U.S. futures are following in their lead.

The markets nervous about Greece. Yesterday's negotiations came to an end without a deal again. Both sides plan to continue negotiations into the weekend, tomorrow, as the clock winds down. Tuesday is Greece's deadline to reach a debt deal with its international creditors. If no deal is reached, it would make a Greek exit from the European Union more likely.

Well, it finally happened, millennials are taking over the country. That's according to new data from the Census Bureau. Millennials, those born between 1982 and 2000, outnumber baby boomers. They are also the most diverse generation. Did you know almost half are part of at least one minority race?

A couple fun facts. Employers are changing how they recruit new employers to attract millennials. They want flexibility in where and when they work.

BERMAN: Parent's basement.

KOSIK: Yes. A little bit of entitlement going on here, but that's just a sidebar.

One survey even found a lack of flexibility as the top reason that millennials quit jobs.

No more bad blood between Taylor Swift and Apple. Swift said she's happy to stream her album "1989" on Apple Music. The 25-year-old pop star tweeted, "This is simply the first time it felt right in my gut to stream my album. Thank you, Apple, for your change of heart."

BERMAN: A lot of space in the gut, by the way.

KOSIK: The move comes days after she threatened to pull her album from the streaming service. Apple is promoting a three-month free trial of the new service and Swift objected to the initial decision not to pay writers, producers or artists during that time. So, in response, Apple said it would change its policy and pay artists even during the three-month trial period.

She's really one powerful lady.

BERMAN: Yes. Another way to say Apple completely caved to Taylor Swift. But Taylor is streaming her music now. So, everyone wins in the end.

KOSIK: Yes, she does.

BERMAN: Especially us.

KOSIK: And she does.

BERMAN: EARLY START continues right now.

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BERMAN: Breaking overnight, could the Charleston church shooter be planning an even bigger attack? Disturbing new revelations in the case, as the president travels to South Carolina to honor the victims of the massacre.