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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Charleston Church Shooter: Planning a Bigger Attack?; Investigating Prison Break; Obamacare Survives Court Challenge; Record-Setting NBA Draft. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired June 26, 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] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: 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.

So, were prison guards sleeping on the job? Talking literally. New information this morning on how two dangerous killers might have escaped.

And the president's health care plan upheld by the Supreme Court. But, oh, no, the fight is not over. Some opponents say more still to come.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman. It is Friday, June 26th. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East. Christine Romans is off this morning.

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

Now, he told officers he wanted to buy an AR-15 assault rifle for shooting on a range, but did not have the money.

This new information comes as his family is promising to provide answers to the many questions about the attack in the future. But in a statement, the family says that now is the 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."

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

Our national correspondent Martin Savidge in Charleston with the latest for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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: It will be an emotional day today. Thanks, Martin, for that.

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

Let's get the latest in the investigation and bringing in CNN's Alexandra Field.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA 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)

[05:05:01] BERMAN: Just staggering how much was going on inside that prison.

Now, CNN actually spoke to the accused corrections officer about his actions shortly before his arrest. Interviewing Gene Palmer off camera after he gave his 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, 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 out of jail on bail. He's 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, about 25 miles from Ketchikan, Alaska.

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

CNN's Michelle Kosinski with the latest -- Michelle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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: Thanks, Michelle.

The Supreme Court is not done yet. They're going to hand down more rulings this morning. Four major cases remain in the docket, covering drugs, use and executions, the cost of cleaning up power plant emissions, the use nonpartisan panels in congressional redistricting and really, a major decision, very highly anticipated, whether same- sex couples have a constitutional right to marry. Some of those decisions coming down at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

Please tune in to CNN. We will keep you posted.

Secretary of State John Kerry, he goes to Vienna today for the final stage of Iran nuclear talks. The goal is to reach an agreement that limits Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting international sanctions. The deadline is June 30th, though that could slip. This coming as former advisers to the president released an open letter this week strongly warning against a bad deal.

[05:10:00] White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest responded, he says the president will not sign a deal that falls short.

U.S. intelligence officials are investigating whether Chinese hackers were behind the theft of millions of personnel records from the federal government. National Intelligence Director James Clapper says China is the leading suspect right now. It's not clear how many people have been affected by the hack, but investigators say or believe as many as 18 million Social Security numbers could have been compromised. Beijing has repeatedly denied being involved.

Breaking overnight, new developments concerning Hillary Clinton's e- mails. The State Department now says it's received 15 Libya-related e-mails that Hillary Clinton 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. The omitted e-mails could spur to pressure House Speaker John Boehner to subpoena the server in Clinton's home. They're already controversial.

Ten minutes after the hour. Time for an early start on your money. Alison Kosik here with that.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: And good morning, looks like a lower start to the trading day. Asian markets closed on the down side. It looks like European stocks and U.S. futures are following their lead. Stocks ended lower after another day of Greece debt talks ending without a deal. This is the second day in a row of red arrows for the Dow, which lost 75 points yesterday. The NASDAQ and S&P 500, they also fell almost half a percent.

But there was one bright spot in the market. Health care stocks jumped after the Supreme Court upheld tax subsidies in the Affordable Care Act. It was the only sector in the S&P 500 to end the day in positive territory, gaining half a percent. Hospitals were the biggest winners because more of their customers will have insurance, which should make hospitals more profitable. Shares of some hospital operators jumped anywhere from 9 percent to 12 percent. So, investors won in this as well.

BERMAN: Yes, could cause even more deals in the insurance industry.

All right, Alison, thanks so much.

Donald Trump faces a big backlash this morning over controversial comments he made on immigration. Some offensive comments, some people say, that he made about Mexicans. This has Univision dropping the Miss USA pageant and cutting ties with everything Trump. We'll give you the very latest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:15:22] BERMAN: Newly minted presidential candidate Donald Trump is threatening to sue Univision for dropping coverage of the Miss USA Pageant, which Trump co-owns. Univision says it's responding to harsh, some say offensive words from Trump about Mexican immigrants in his campaign kickoff speech.

This is a sampling of what 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: On Thursday, Trump spoke to Erin Burnett about this lawsuit and what he calls 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: Trump says Univision is reneging on what he called an iron- clad contract. 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 Republican presidential race or not? The New Jersey governor is disputing reports that he plans to announce his candidacy next week. In a radio interview Thursday, 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. That announcement may or may not be happening on Tuesday, 11:00, by the way.

A new CNN/WMUR poll with eye-opening numbers in the state of the race in New Hampshire.

Look at that, Jeb Bush leading with 16 percent on the Republican side. But look who's second? Donald Trump. Then comes Rand Paul at 9 percent, Scott Walker at 8, Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio each at 6 percent.

On the Democratic side, the surprise is not that Hillary Clinton is ahead, but her lead is actually now in the single digits. It's within a margin of error. Just an eight-point advantage over Bernie Sanders. That's 43 percent to 35 percent.

Day two of the defense case in the trial of Colorado movie theater gunman James Holmes. A defense psychiatrist testified Thursday that Holmes was severely mentally ill and unable to tell right from wrong when he opened fire inside an Aurora movie theater in 2012, killing 12 people and wounding 70. Attorneys for Holmes claim he was legally insane at the time of the shooting. Prosecutors have asked for the death penalty.

Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is waking up this morning in a federal prison in Florence, Colorado. Tsarnaev was transferred there after a federal judge in Boston formally sentenced him to death for killing three people and injuring 264 in the marathon attack. Tsarnaev will remain at the Colorado facility until the appeals in his case are exhausted. That could be sometime.

He is number one: 19-year-old Karl-Anthony Towns, a freshman sensation at Kentucky with a huge wingspan. The top pick in the NBA draft. Coy Wire, our number one pick for the bleacher report, next.

This week end, CNN Films presents "Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me". This is a portrait of the country music legend as he faces Alzheimer's disease with an emotional 151-show good-bye tour. "Glen Campbell, I'll Be Me" airs Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. It's fascinating. Here's a sample.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUDDY JEWELL, MUSICIAN: In a way, it's a blessing for his fans because, we know that on down the line, we're not going to be able to go and -- and see him. And watch him perform and so now, is our opportunity to get out and to be able to see a living legend.

JOSH CARTER CASH, MUSIC PRODUCER: Glen and my dad were friends. And his music filled the house, the Cash house.

Music magically makes a difference in everyone's life. I mean, it's the fire that drives us on. Get us through our rougher, harder times. SHERYL CROW, MUSICIAN: I still cling to the fact that music does

something to the molecules. I think that music is one of the only things that really collectively can change the molecules in all of us. And, gosh, what a -- what a -- an immense blessing to be able to have that impact on people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:35] BERMAN: I was up way too late watching the NBA draft. It started out predictably enough. The first overall pick -- no surprise. But after that, wow. It went off the charts weird.

Coy with more on the bleacher report.

Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Good morning. Happy Friday, John.

Yes, your Celtics got R.J. Hunter.

All kinds of records were broken. The 13 college freshmen selected. The Kentucky Wildcats tied North Carolina's record for most players chosen in a draft when they saw four of their ballers get picked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: The Minnesota Timberwolves select Karl-Anthony Towns from the University of Kentucky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: There you have it. The Wildcats leading things off. Karl- Anthony Towns.

Now, pretty much every expert had that big dude going number one, and he did. He's going to join a young and talented group in Minnesota.

Now, number two, the Lakers selected Ohio State point guard D'Angelo Russell. That was a surprise to a lot of people, but Russell's draft stock had been soaring in recent weeks. A lot of analysts say that Russell has the most potential of anyone in the draft, the kid can shoot, he's got more handles than a liquor store. Tremendous upside, too.

You know what else is upside? Check out the Ohio state-colored suit. The young fella out there representing.

Now, a lot of people thought the Lakers would take duke big dude Jahlil Okafor. When they didn't, that opened the door for the 76ers to take him with the number three pick.

[05:25:02] Okafor won that national championship this season with Duke. He's got the 7'5" wingspan. The dude holds a basketball makes it look like a tennis ball. He's the most advanced low post player to come out in quite some time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SILVER: The New York Knicks select Kristaps Porzingis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: You got to love this little dude, crying, a little Knicks fan, and taking a selfie at the same time. Death, taxes, and Knicks fans booing their draft picks. This time, it was 7-foot Latvian big man Kristaps Porzingis. Kristaps took it on a stride, though. He said he plans on turning those boos and jeers into cheers real soon.

USA, USA -- the women's national team has a huge match tonight as they take on China in the World Cup quarter finals. It's a rematch from the 1999 final when the U.S. won their first World Cup in front of 90,000-plus fans at the Rose Bowl. Can't wait for that one. I'm going kick 'em up, relax, take that in. It starts at 7:30 Eastern.

Big John, I got to know. What did you think of the fashion choices in the draft? Did they rock it or dumb jock it?

BERMAN: I love it, man. I love -- I once went shopping with Amare Stoudemire, by the way. Basketball fashion, there is nothing better. Those guys know how to dress. I love the draft.

Thanks so much, Coy. Appreciate it.

WIRE: I'm with you. All right, John.

BERMAN: We have some troubling new information about the Charleston church shooter. Was he planning a bigger attack? Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Disturbing new details on the man who killed nine people in a South Carolina church.