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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Democratic Debate Tonight on CNN; U.S. Drops 50 Tons of Ammo to Syrian Rebels; N.Y. Mets Rout Dodgers, 13-7. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired October 13, 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: News isn't supported in your current region. That means censorship most likely. No word from Apple if it's voluntarily blocking the app in China or if the Chinese government is doing it. The issue highlights a broader challenge foreign businesses, especially technology and information media business face when doing business in China.

The government there frequently censors information. Google and Facebook are blocked online.

All right. Five o'clock in the morning here in the East. EARLY START continues right now.

(MUSIC)

ROMANS: In just hours, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders head-to- head for the very first time in the CNN Democratic presidential debate. Who will come out on top? Who will come out swinging or will they? Will there be a breakthrough from a lesser known candidate? We are live.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START this morning. I'm Christine Romans at the anchor desk in New York.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Berman on the Las Vegas strip. It is Tuesday, October 13th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East, which means it is 2:00 a.m. here, which means we are just getting started.

It has arrived. The first Democratic presidential debate of the entire election cycle. Tonight, here behind me at the Wynn Las Vegas only on CNN.

The frontrunner Hillary Clinton, she's on top of the polls. So, she is center stage. Bernie Sanders, who is leading in New Hampshire, right next to her. The big question: can he make a wider audience feel the Bern?

Martin O'Malley, Lincoln Chafee, Jim Webb, they all want to make some kind of impression. They have to breakthrough tonight?

We have already one surprise here in Las Vegas. Hillary Clinton at a cameo rally at a union rally, the key culinary union here in Las Vegas, at a Trump Hotel. A doubly advantageous moment for Hillary Clinton. She could bash the GOP frontrunner Donald Trump and appeal to organized labor. That is a group she needs here in Nevada, and across the country.

Senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

Hillary Clinton arrived here in Las Vegas and almost immediately went to where? The Trump Hotel. That's where she joined union workers who are picketing outside of this hotel co- owned by Donald Trump. The Culinary Union has been trying to unionize employees there. So, Hillary Clinton joining them and really making a splash as she came into town.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, some people think Mr. Trump is entertaining. But I don't think it is entertaining when somebody insults immigrants, insults women. That is just unacceptable behavior.

And so, when we are here together in solidarity to organize, we also want to send a message to Mr. Trump. If you are going to run for president, then you should represent all the people of the United States and that includes hardworking people.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And you should not stand in the way of the right to organize because that's what built the middle class of America.

KEILAR: She has been preparing for this debate in earnest. She's been working with a team of litigators who have a lot of experience with debate prep. Some of them helped President Obama in 2012, as well as a number of other candidates in other cycles.

Her goal, one of her top aides tells me, is to cut through the politics. She has been dealing with this e-mail controversy and her aides, her campaign is hoping that this will give her a chance to change the subject, to really talk substance and get attention of so people who will be watching this debate.

Bernie Sanders, her closest competitor taking a different approach. His camp says that it's a little more low key. Of course, remember, those always some expectations management going on. You often have teams that are downplaying just how prepared their candidates are. But they say that he has been reading up on the issues, that has been doing some Q&A, but not full on mock debates, like we expect Hillary Clinton has done.

His goal, one of his top aides says, is to show that he is a serious candidate and that he has mainstream ideas. He is a self described Democrat socialist and certainly, he wants to make sure that Hillary Clinton can't portray him as politically extreme -- John and Christine. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Our thanks to Brianna Keilar for that.

I want to show you a live picture inside the debate hall because a debate hall never sleeps. Look at that. It's 2:00 a.m. here in Las Vegas. That room is lit beautifully waiting for the five candidates to take the stage. What does each one need to do to leave Las Vegas successfully? What topics might cause the greatest controversy there?

Joining us now, CNN political commentator, Democratic strategist Maria Cardona.

Maria, great to have you her with us.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, John.

BERMAN: You won the jackpot.

CARDONA: I did.

BERMAN: You won the jackpot, 2:00 a.m. in Las Vegas.

I want to ask you before we talk about the debate, what happened late here last night, overnight, Hillary Clinton did this rally.

[05:05:03] She appeared at the Donald Trump Hotel, which is right over there, for a culinary union rally. It's a strong picture here in Nevada. And that union, that controls Democratic politics in the state.

CARDONA: I thought it was an incredibly brilliant move on her part. It was sort of a surprise. It kind of took people by surprise. I think it focuses on two blocks of voters that are important here in Nevada. Labor as we mentioned, but a big component of that labor union is Latino workers.

And so, I think for her, it was a way for her to demonstrate her commitment to labor, as well as her understanding of the flight of the immigrant worker, that not just an issue here in Nevada, all over the country, and the contrast with the way the Republicans have been dealing with it, especially Donald Trump, I think it was a brilliant contrast for her to make right before the debate.

BERMAN: So, what does she do before she gets on the stage? How does she deal with Bernie Sanders, very much on her left, representative of a big part of where the Democratic Party now is?

CARDONA: I think that's right. I think what she does, she is the frontrunner. And the strategy for the frontrunner is never to go on the attack. But at the same time, as the frontrunner, she goes in with a big target on her back.

So, I think the way that she deals with Bernie Sanders and, frankly, I think the other gentlemen on the stage, looking to have breakout moments, who will go after her, is to frankly have ways ready to go back after them, but focus on policy, focus on ideas, and focus on substance. I think that's how she does.

BERMAN: Just curious. You know, Bernie Sanders is a self-described Democratic socialist, which I think will be interesting I think to a lot of viewers who may not know that much about him.

Do you think that she will ever use the "S" word? Is that something she will ever bring up or discuss?

CARDONA: I doubt it, because I think for her, this is gong to be an opportunity and her campaign talked about this. This is going to be an opportunity for her to have a more direct conversation with the American people with a much broader audience that she has been able to in the summer, perhaps without some of the noise that has been, you know, part of the recent she hasn't been able to breakthrough.

BERMAN: She will do a lot more looking to the camera rather than right or left than the other candidates. What about Bernie Sanders? Because his people overnight, they were telling CNN, you know, they're not going to go after Hillary Clinton at all unless she goes after him first. He may not even mention her name.

CARDONA: Well, I think what he will probably do, and he's actually pre-viewed some of this, is to compare where he has been on the issues for many years, versus where she has come to be on the issues probably more recently than he has. And I think that will be a contrast he will make. It is a fair contrast for him to make. It will be a good opportunity for her to explain why she has come to some of the decisions that she has made recently, the Keystone pipeline and the TPP, for example, on trade.

So, I think for her it is an opportunity to explain more broadly and more deeply to voters where she is and where her vision is, in terms of what she will do if she's given the task of being president of the United States.

BERMAN: And Bernie Sanders, leading in New Hampshire, he's going to find a way to extend that to a broader audience, to keep them at whatever momentum they may get from there beyond that.

What about the three other guy, you know, Martin O'Malley and Lincoln Chaffee and Jim Webb? Not a lot to lose here, and that I think might make them a little bit more dangerous if you're Hillary Clinton.

CARDONA: I think you're right. Martin O'Malley, for example, needs a breakout moment. I think he does have a tremendous resume that has been very understated. He hasn't been able to breakout from the bottom of the polls.

But, for example, in terms of the issues that are important to labor, that are important to Latinos, he is very strong on these issues. As governor of Maryland, he was able to pass the DREAM Act. He was focused on very progressive immigration reform policies for very, very long time. Those are issues he will go after Hillary Clinton on. He's already previewed some of his lines as well, where, you know, essentially, I've been here for a very long time, Hillary, you just got there. But that's focused on issues. That's focused on policy. And I think that's going to be the big difference, and the big contrast with what has been the clown car debacle of the Republican Party debate.

BERMAN: All right. Maria Cardona, I will let you get back to the tables right now. Thanks so much for waking up for us. Really appreciate it.

CARDONA: Thanks so much, John.

BERMAN: And you all need to stay with CNN for big coverage of the first Democratic presidential debate. Tune in tonight. Coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time here on CNN.

But there's a lot before that, 15 more hours of exciting analysis. Christine Romans, you do not want to miss a single second.

ROMANS: No, we won't miss a single second. And exciting analysis indeed, pre-game and post-game. I can't wait. It will be fodder for most of the week.

John Berman, thanks for that.

You know, you can expect tonight to hear from Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders on income inequality, taxes, making college more affordable. Here's where they stand on these kitchen table issues for you. The minimum wage, Clinton wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $12 an hour. Bernie Sanders wants $15 an hour.

[05:10:04] The federal minimum right now, $7.25. It hasn't been raised since 2009.

On taxes, Clinton says she will close a loophole for the wealthy. Loopholes for the wealthiest. She wants to crackdown on the loophole to let hedge fund managers to list their profit to something called carry interest instead of income, those carried interest earnings have a top tax rate of only 20 percent instead of close to 40 percent.

Sanders wants all income above $250,000 to be subject to the Social Security payroll tax. He wants to slap a 10 percent surtax on billionaires.

And affordable college, it's a cornerstone of both of these candidates' domestic agendas. And it's a play for the millennial vote quite frankly. Clinton wants two years of free community college like her boss, the president. Sanders wants to give state grants to make all public schools free. Public four-year college education free, paid for in part by a tax on high frequency traders, by a tax on Wall Street.

Our coverage of CNN's Democratic presidential debate continues all morning long.

But, first, the U.S. with new help for Syrian rebels fighting the Assad regime and Russia. We are live with new developments this morning, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: U.S. military cargo planes have successfully dropped 50 tons of ammunition to anti-Assad rebels in northern Syria. It's the first step in the new White House plan to support rebel forces in the region.

[05:15:03] In fact, Moscow's intervention in the Syria's civil war is prompting rival groups to team up, presenting a more unified front against President Assad's troops.

Let's go live to Moscow and bring in Jill Dougherty. She's a researcher for the International Center for Defense and Security and a long time expert on the region.

Jill, bring us up to speed on this new dimension here. The U.S. trying to arm these rebels and dropping ammunition behind the lines for these rebels. At this time, you've got Russia actively supporting, aggressively supporting the Assad regime.

JILL DOUGHERTY, RESEARCHER, INTL. CENTER FOR DEFENSE & SECURITY: Right. On the American side, what they are doing is they have identified leaders that they believe they can trust and they will supply those weapons and equipment to them. They in turn would equip their own people.

But this already from the beginning has been very questionable whether you can supply that type of equipment and not have it end up in the hands of ISIL. So, there was grave concern and remember the training missions that the United States carried out to the tune of $500 million. That really failed. They had to stop those.

So, that's the quandary for the United States right now. How do you support these people? How do you hopefully meld them into some sort of fighting force?

And then on the other side, you have the Russians carrying out air attacks that are in terms -- excuse me. Let me change this sound here. The Russians carrying out air attacks in order to make it possible for Assad's forces to come in on the ground.

It's -- I would say, Christine, we have been saying it all along, it is dangerous because both sides are carrying out air attacks. They are both in the skies and, in fact, at one point, a U.S. plane had to carry out an avoidance maneuver. That's why they are talking.

That's why the Defense Department and the Pentagon are speaking. They are trying to find at least, very technical, but how they communicate in the skies so that there would not be any type of collisions.

ROMANS: Absolutely a tricky situation. A couple of very technical phone calls to make sure they know how to talk to each other to avoid disaster, but two militaries operation within very close proximity and sometimes at odds with each other.

Thanks so much for that. All right. Nineteen minutes past the hour, 17 minutes past the hour,

rather, how do Mets fans spell revenge? W-I-N. The Mets beating up on the Dodgers, moving on to the brink of the league championship series. Coy Wire has the details in this morning's bleacher report, next.

By the year 2100, there could be more than 10 billion people on planet earth. Entrepreneur Elon Musk isn't worried about that. He says more people are necessary for civilization's survival, but more people puts a strain on resources like food.

Rachel Crane says how pond scum could be part of the answer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELON MUSK, CEO, TESLA AND SPACEX: When you have an inverted demographic pyramid, the social safety net will not hold. If the full gravity of this is not well understood, but it will become a severe issue in the next few decades.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Which is why the need for alternative food sources has never been greater. A possible solution, edible algae oil.

PETER LECARI, CTO, SOLAZYME: When the population continues to grow, we're going to need new sources of protein. We can start from a single cell and generate hundreds of these vials, so we have an endless supply of oil from a single.

CRANE (on camera): From a single cell. So, you don't have to worry about the quantity, where you're finding these algae cells.

LECARI: That's right.

MARK BROOKS, SENIOR VP FOOD INGREDIENTS, SOLAZYME: So, we have a bunch of different products. Some of what we have is just dried algae. You can see it is just a beautiful yellow color.

CRANE: Yes, it's not green.

BROOKS: It's not green.

CRANE: When I think of algae, I think of green.

BROOKS: It's yellow because it contains Lutein. We are trying to replace food and empty calories with great nutrition.

CRANE (voice-over): In order to reach those who need great nutrition, SOLAZYME will have to jump two major hurdles. One, set up these algae fermentation tanks in remote areas of the world, and, two, get people to find algae oil appetizing.

BROOKS: Innovation in food is very, very rare. With these, we can up the nutrition value.

So, if you're looking at billions more people, you need a step change to break through an ingredient. And this is the world's oldest source of nutrition repurposed to solve today's problems.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: It's the hottest ticket in New York. Mets hosting the Dodgers at Citi Field. Mets fans have one thing on their minds, sweet revenge.

Coy Wire has more on this morning's bleacher report.

Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

Those Mets fans are upset about Dodgers Chase Utley's controversial slide, which broke Ruben Tejada's legs in game two last Saturday. They let Utley know about it from the very start. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Number 26, infielder, Chase Utley.

(BOOS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Major boos for Utley. Tejada, though, he gets a hero's welcome, as he leans onto the field with this cane.

Once the action got started, the Mets were all fire from the plate. Curtis Granderson tied them at playoffs record with five RBIs, including this base's loaded double in the second. Then, in the fourth, it was Younis Cespedes. When you do it, do it like you are doing it for TV and the playoffs, a three-run homerun. Mets win, 13- 7, setting up a franchise post-season record in the process for runs that is.

Now, if you liked all the hitting in the Mets game, and your name is Christine Romans, you're probably going to love what the Cubs did at Wrigley last night. That's against St. Louis where they had a six- home run game.

You heard me right, a six-home run game against the Cardinals. Six homers by six different players. That is an MLB playoff record. Cubs win, 8-6. One win away from advancing for the first time in 12 years.

First pitch for game four at 4:37 Eastern today. And the Mets get the chance to finish off the Dodgers at 8:00 Eastern. You can watch both of those games on TBS.

Steelers at Chargers on Monday night football. Mike Vick filling in for the injured Ben Roethlisberger. Vick struggled all game until crunch time, trailing 36 seconds to go. Nowhere to throw.

Let me test the wheels out. Yes, still got it. The field goal range for the Steelers. They're down just three. Five seconds to go, but forget about the field goal. Direct snap to the workhorse (INAUDIBLE) barrels and bullies his way into the end zone.

[05:25:06] Touchdown, game over. Steelers win, 24-20.

Now, according to multiple reports, South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier told the team he is retiring effective immediately. A shocker at this point in the college football season. The 70-year-old former Heisman winner, he won a national title with Florida in '96. And he's now South Carolina's all time winningest coach.

The guy's a living legend, Christine. He is expected to make an announcement today at his weekly press conference at noon. Tough news coming for South Carolina fans for sure.

ROMANS: Yes, we wish him the best. Wish my cubbies the best at 4:37 p.m. Eastern Time.

WIRE: That's right.

ROMANS: Try not to get too excited. Cubs fans are understated.

WIRE: They're looking good, Christine.

ROMANS: Coy Wire, thanks so much.

WIRE: You're welcome.

ROMANS: We are hours away from the CNN presidential debate. How are the candidates preparing? Will Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders target each other for the very first time? We are live in Vegas right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Democrats running for president facing off for the very first time. CNN's presidential debate hours away. Hillary Clinton taking the stage with Bernie Sanders. That is a live picture of that debate stage.

Who will come out on top? We are live.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

I love how the stage is lit, John Berman, right now, the middle of the night for you. And already, Vegas is ready, baby.

BERMAN: It's just like the Strip, right? You never sleep in Vegas. A debate stage never sleeps. I'm John Berman. It is 30 minutes past the hour.