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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

George H.W. Bush Hospitalized After Fall; Selling the Iran Nuclear Deal; Caitlyn Jenner's Emotional Message; Greek Parliament Accepts Bailout; Emotional Moment at ESPYs. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired July 16, 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: A California judge wants Uber to pay $7.3 million and be suspended from operating in the state. The problem? The judge says Uber is not reporting required data about its rides. That is against state laws put in place to make sure passengers are treated fairly regardless of who they are or where they live. Uber says it will appeal that decision.

EARLY START continues right now.

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ROMANS: Breaking news overnight: President George H.W. Bush hospitalized after a fall. What we know this morning about his condition.

President Obama selling the Iran nuclear deal at home and around the world, fighting back at critics. Team coverage breaking down the very latest this morning.

Plus, an emotional Caitlyn Jenner accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs with a powerful message.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It is Thursday, July 16th, 5:00 a.m. in the East. John Berman has the morning off.

Breaking overnight: a major scare for former President George H.W. Bush. He is hospitalized this morning in Portland, Maine, after a fall at his home in Kennebunkport. His spokesman Jim McGrath, tweeting, "He fell at home in Maine today and broke a bone on his neck. His condition is stable, he is fine, but he'll be in a neck brace."

The spokesman also says the 91-year-old former president is not expected to have a long hospital stay. The elder Bush suffers from Parkinson's disease.

Beginning this morning, a new day of campaigning by the White House for the Iran nuclear deal. Vice President Joe Biden meets with Democrats on a Senate Foreign Relations Committee later today. That follows Biden's sit down with House Democrats on Wednesday. And a news conference, a feisty news conference by President Obama all aimed at corralling enough support to keep the hard won agreement limiting Iran's nuclear program on track.

CNN's Jim Acosta has the latest from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine, answering a chorus of critics, President Obama came out swinging, insisting his nuclear deal with Iran was never designed to solve every problem with Tehran. The president brushed off the celebrations of the deal as a victory in Iran and even in Syria. And he hit back at opponents in Congress, demanding that they read the agreement.

Mr. Obama also bristled at one question on why Americans currently detained in Iran were not freed as part of the deal. He said that would have complicated their release. And he touted the agreement's controversial inspection process, dismissing doubts that Iran would get away with cheating.

Here's what he had to say.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If, in fact, we're counting the amount of uranium that's being mined, then suddenly some is missing on the back end, they got some explaining to do. This is not something you hide in a closet. This is not something you put on a dolly and kind of wheel off somewhere.

ACOSTA: But the president knows he has more explaining to do, which is why he sent his vice president up to Capitol Hill to convince skeptical Democrats. Meanwhile, the deal's toughest critic, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, argues Iran will never change. To his detractors, including Netanyahu, the president asked, where's their alternative? Christine?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that, Jim.

That exchange Jim mentioned about Americans held by Iran came as one of the rare moments when the president lashed back at a reporter. CBS White House correspondent Major Garrett, he asked about those four Americans, including "Washington Post" reporter Jason Rezaian, four Americans who Iran is holding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJOR GARRETT, CBS NEWS: Can you tell the country, sir, why you are content with the fanfare around the deal to leave the conscience of this nation, the strength of this nation, unaccounted for in relation to these four Americans?

OBAMA: I have to give you credit, Major, for how you craft those questions. The notion that I'm content, as I celebrate with American citizens languishing in Iranian jails -- Major, that's nonsense. And you should know better. I've met with the families of some of those folks. Nobody's content.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The administration also scrambling to convince leaders around the world that the nuclear deal is a good deal. This morning, Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister. And next week, Defense Secretary Ash Carter heads to the Middle East to meet Saudi officials on their home turf and later to meet with Israeli officials.

"The New York Times" reporting the White House trying to soften fierce Israeli opposition to the deal. Unnamed administration officials telling 'The New York Times" the U.S. is offering to increase the U.S. military aid package to Israel.

And one unexpected side effect of the nuclear deal, producing a slight thaw in relations with Moscow. President Obama calling President Putin to thank him for his help with the negotiations.

Joining us now with the latest on the global sales effort, senior international correspondent Atika Shubert -- Atika.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Christine. This Iran deal is reshaping the political landscape in this region. Israel is a major concern as an ally of the United States.

[05:05:04] We have spoken to the spokesperson for the prime minister. He confirmed that a telephone conversation did take place between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama, but would not say what specifically was said in that conversation. He said the focus of Israel remains the loopholes in the deal as Israel sees it, which is that with all of the limitations in the agreement, Iran can still develop a nuclear weapon within 10 to 15 years, but also because of the lifting of sanctions, Iran will now be able to fund its military allies in the region like Hezbollah and Hamas. That, of course, is a huge concern for Israel.

But it's not the only that's concerned, of course. Saudi Arabia equally wants reassurance from the United States. And even before this deal was done in May, President Obama have met with Saudi leaders and officials to try and assure them they would get the military aid they needed from the U.S., such as missile defenses.

So, there is a lot of diplomacy that has to be done assuring Saudi Arabia, Israel and other allies in the region that even with the bolstering ties with Iran, U.S. still stands by its steadfast allies.

ROMANS: All right. Atika Shubert, thank you for that, Atika, in London for us this morning.

New details this morning on Donald Trump. We have always known he is rich. He said he's rich and successful. How rich? Well, we did not know until he filed campaign disclosure forms with the Federal Election Commission. In a press release with those forms, the candidate has defied critics who said he's now defied critics who said he'd never disclose his personal finance. And the polls are giving him more good news as well. CNN's Dana Bash has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, just how rich is Donald Trump? Well, he now says he has a net worth of more than $10 billion. And he says he made more than $362 million last year alone.

And with classic Trump hubris, his campaign calls his wealth so vast that it was hard to fill out the Federal Election Commission form because if a building owned by Mr. Trump is worth $1.5 billion, the box checked is only for $50 million or more.

But it's important to note that Trump did not make the details of this financial disclosure public yet, so we can verify things like claiming that he made $213 million over the 14 seasons that he was on the reality show "The Apprentice."

Now, the other thing that Donald Trump has to talk about and has been certainly talking about it a lot is the fact that he is doing well in the polls. Just for one example, "The Washington Post"/ABC poll just showed that 57 percent of Republican voters say that they have a favorable view of him. That is a big jump, almost double from what it was in just May.

So, those are the kinds of things you are hearing from Donald Trump and you'll probably hear a lot more.

One other interesting note is that he had a meeting with one of his competitors late yesterday. Ted Cruz, who -- you think they would be competing for the conservative vote particularly on immigration. But Ted Cruz understands Trump mania I think as much as anybody else, he's been very complimentary. So, we'll see how long that bromance lasts -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Dana, also, he showed some of his stock picks in that report. Interesting stuff.

Time for an early start on your money. Stocks up around the world this morning. European stocks on a six-week high after the Greek parliament approved tough economic reforms needed to secure any bailout. That means Greece will overhaul the pension and tax systems to cut spending and bring in more revenue. It's causing a lot of anger on the streets of Athens. Protests in front of parliament building turned violent overnight. Protesters threw Molotov cocktails. Police responded with tear gas. Greece still has to approve some reforms and a handful of countries still need to approve those new funds.

Here in the U.S., stock futures are higher. Yesterday, stocks dipped slightly after the Fed chief Janet Yellen said the Federal Reserve is still on track to raise in interest rates this year. All right. The annual ESPY Awards honor the year's best achievements

in sports. But the highlight of Wednesday night's ceremony may have been a former Olympic champion now known as Caitlyn Jenner who was honored with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award and made an emotional flee for accepting people for who they are.

CNN's Stephanie Elam was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, the ESPYs were at times heartbreaking, while at the same time, they were inspiring. There was a story of Danielle Green, the war hero who came back to work with other veterans, this after she lost her arm in battle. She received the Pat Tillman Award.

There was award for Lauren Hill, the young woman who wanted to play her one college basketball game. She lost her battle with cancer. Her parents were on hand to accept that award.

And then, there was also Devon Still. His daughter is battling cancer. His speech really moving the crowd as well as he toasted everyone for their support of him while he has been battling this so he can stay strong for his young daughter.

[05:10:00] Of course, the one person everyone was waiting to see was Caitlyn Jenner, who took her turn in the spotlight to focus on the struggle and challenges that so many young transgender people face not just in the United States, but around the world.

CAITLYN JENNER, ARTHUR ASHE COURAGE AWARD WINNER: If you want to call me names, make jokes, doubt my intentions, go ahead, because the reality is I can take it. But for the thousands of kids out there, coming to terms with being true to who they are, they shouldn't have to take it.

(APPLAUSE)

ELAM: I talked to several people on the red carpet. For the most part, the people I spoke to were supportive of Caitlyn Jenner winning the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Now, a few who just tempered what they had to say about it, not really giving an opinion either way.

But when Caitlyn Jenner was done with her speech, which at times did get a little bit emotional, she definitely got a standing ovation from the crowd and her family was on hand to watch her give the speech. And you could see that a couple of his children had tears in their eyes -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Stephanie Elam for us in Los Angeles, thanks, Stephanie.

CNN with an inside look now at how a powerful Mexican drug lord broke out of prison. Our crews inside El Chapo's cell. What we found after the break.

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ROMANS: Thousands of Mexican police and soldiers are searching right now for El Chapo. Still no sign of the elusive drug kingpin who slipped into a tunnel beneath the shower stall in his prison cell and simply vanished last weekend.

Twenty-one prison guards are being questioned about his escape. The intelligence chief of Mexico's federal police force has been fired. And now, we are getting an inside look at El Chapo's cramped prison sell and the hole in that shower stall that led to his freedom.

[05:15:00] Here's CNN's Nick Valencia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a maze of checkpoints that led us here inside the Altiplano maximum security prison. This is cell 20, once home to the world's most notorious drug traffickers. On this cell of eight prison cells, Mexico's most ruthless criminals, El Chapo, the most infamous.

You can see here, these are some remnants of what he left behind -- the sink that he used to wash himself, the bathroom he used to relief himself. And this here was the blind spot that provided him access to this tunnel that led to his escape: a small hole -- a very small hole with a deep drop down there.

You could see here this block of concrete was placed over hiding this access point to the tunnel. It is that security camera that had that blind spot here behind that allowed him to escape. This is the bed that El Chapo slept on here. Underneath, not much space here. This is what he called home.

The one time billionaire, used to lavish parties and lifestyle was reduced to this. This is where he kept his belongings in the surveillance tape we saw. This, his only access to the outside, a small window here just a slight breeze coming through here as nights fallen, very small and tight space. Incredible when you consider this man is one of the richest men in the world, and certainly one of the most influential in Mexico.

That's the access point that El Chapo used to escape outside of the maximum security prison. This wall providing a blind spot for that 24-hour surveillance camera that missed his exit. He was able to escape undetected by prison guards.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Nick Valencia, thank you for that inside El Chapo's prison cell.

It is day two of jury deliberations at the trial of Colorado movie theater gunman James Holmes. On Wednesday, the nine women and three men, they asked for the notes taken by prosecution and defense psychiatrists who examined Holmes. The case hinges on his mental state at the time of the 2012 shooting that killed 12 people and wounded 70. Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors have asked for the death penalty.

President Obama says he cannot revoke Bill Cosby's Medal of Freedom because there is no mechanism for doing so. At his news conference, the president said he could not comment on a case where criminal or civil charges could be brought, and then he proceeded to comment with a definition of rape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: If you give a woman or a man for that matter, without his or her knowledge, a drug and then have sex with that person without consent, that's rape. And I think this country, any civilized country should have no tolerance for rape.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Cosby received the Medal of Freedom in 2002 from George W. Bush.

Emotional night at the ESPY Awards that included a football player who accepted the award on behalf of his daughter battling cancer. Andy Scholes has the details in the bleacher report, next.

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[05:22:12] ROMANS: Caitlyn Jenner was the highlight of the night at ESPYs, but there are plenty of other emotional moments.

Andy Scholes has more of those in this morning's bleacher report.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning.

Yes, the ESPYs is a great award show. It not only let's us relive the greatest moments in sports from the last year, but let's us honor those in sports, you know, who have a rough time recently.

And last night, the Jimmy V Perseverance Award went to Devon and Leah Still. Leah has been battling cancer the last year. She wasn't in attendance due to doctor's orders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEVON STILL: I want to thank you. You motivated me to be the man I am today. I am proud of you. My daughter could not be here, but she had a message for everybody.

LEAH STILL: Sorry, I couldn't be there, everybody, but thank you for supporting me while I have cancer. I love you, daddy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: The award for best sports moment of the year went to the late Lauren Hill. Hill's dream was to play college basketball. Hill raised more than $1.5 million before she died in April. Her mother and father were in attendance to accept the award.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lauren's season was about more than basketball. It was life lessons and most importantly, living in the moment. Nothing would be better tribute to Lauren and her spirit, a spirit I hope you never, ever forget. Thank you for the bottom of my heart and never give up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Dallas Cowboys fans letting out a sigh of relief yesterday afternoon. The team finally coming to terms on a long-term deal with Dez Bryant. Dez threatened to sit out games next season of he didn't get a long term. But instead, he got a brand new. Five years and $70 million was the contract.

The Broncos also coming to terms with their star wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, a five year deal as well. Hhe also cut $70 million.

But big winner yesterday was Chief line backer Justin Houston. He got six years and $101 million, that's the richest contract in Kansas City Chiefs history. Houston is getting more guaranteed money than JJ Watt.

All right. The open championship now getting underway in Scotland, Christine. Jordan Spieth already 2 under as he looks to win his third straight. Tiger Woods, meanwhile, he hit it in the water on his first hole. Not the start he was looking for, trying to get off to.

ROMANS: Poor Tiger.

All right. Thanks so much, Andy Scholes.

SCHOLES: All right.

ROMANS: Breaking news overnight: President George H.W. Bush hospitalized after a fall. We have the very latest on the former president's condition right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Breaking overnight: President George H.W. Bush hospitalized after a fall. What we're learning this morning about his condition ahead.

President Obama lashing back at critics of the Iran nuclear agreement. The White House working overtime to sell this deal around the world. We've got team coverage breaking it all down ahead.

And Caitlyn Jenner's powerful and emotional message as she accepts the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It is 28 -- 29 minutes past the hour. John Berman has the morning off. Nice to see you everyone. Breaking overnight: a major scare for former President George H.W. Bush. He is hospitalized this morning in Portland, Maine, after a fall at his home in Kennebunkport. A spokesman says the 91-year-old Bush broke a bone on his neck, but the injury is not life threatening. Bush is said to be in stable condition and the spokesman says they are not expecting a long hospital stay. He will be treated in a neck brace. The elder Bush suffers from Parkinson's disease.

Beginning this morning, a new day of campaigning by the White House for the Iran nuclear deal. Vice President Joe Biden meets with Democrats on a Senate Foreign Relations Committee later today. That follows Biden's sit down with House Democrats on Wednesday and a news conference by President Obama, all aimed at corralling enough support to keep the hard won agreement limiting Iran's nuclear program on track.

CNN's Jim Acosta has the latest from the White House.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine, answering a chorus of critics, President Obama came out swinging, insisting his nuclear deal with Iran was never designed to solve every problem with Tehran. The president brushed off the celebrations of the deal as a victory in Iran and even in Syria. And he hit back at opponents in Congress, demanding that they read the agreement.