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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Russian Plane Crash: Was There A Mid-Air Explosion?; The Race for President: Trump Attacks, Clinton Rises; Heads of Taiwan and China to Meet. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired November 04, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:13] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New clues emerging this morning in the final moments of the doomed Russian jetliner, 224 people onboard killed. Was a mid-air explosion to blame? We have team coverage breaking down these new details.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump fading in the polls, and on the attack, calling for his opponents to drop out of the race, as Hillary Clinton edges Bernie Sanders in a key state.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.

BERMAN: Nice to see you.

I'm John Berman. Wednesday, November 4th, 4:00 a.m. in the East.

Intriguing clues this morning, but few answers on what brought down a Russian airliner flying from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, to St. Petersburg, killing all 224 people on board. An American official tells CNN that a heat flash detected by a military satellite, it happened midair. That leaves open the possibility of a bomb on board that flight MetroJet 9268.

But there are some reports in Russian media, the bodies of victims uncovered so far show no sign of explosive impact. So, that might point more toward engine or structural failure as a cause. But adding to all the confusion, other media reports say some bodies did show evidence of an explosion.

This morning, investigators have finished their field work. And Egyptian officials say data is already being recovered from the plane's black boxes. That could be more answers and more answers soon.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin is live in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Good morning, Erin.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. That's exactly what we need, more answers. We have been getting bits and pieces of information but it's unclear how all this fits together.

Now, Egyptian officials have been very tightlipped. Most of the information we have been getting has been from Russian media reports. The latest of which, Russian state media reporting that the tail of the plane was found some three miles away from the wreckage and it didn't have any signs of burns.

And that's potentially significant because in 2000, we know -- 2001, rather, we know that the very same plane's tail clipped the runway in Cairo and was repaired him some experts say if those repairs are done incorrectly to be -- it could have negative consequences for the plane later down the line. But the airline insists the plane has all of its maintenance checks, that it was in pristine condition.

Now, Egyptian officials are urging people not to speculate. (AUDIO GAP) number of interviews, British media reports, saying that reports of the plane went down by a bomb or a missile are speculative, calling, ISIS' claim of responsibility to be complete propaganda, they are unclear when we're going to be getting those results -- John.

BERMAN: No, competing national interests and perhaps corporate interests as well here. It may get in the way of getting those answers fast.

Erin McLaughlin for us in Sharm el-Sheikh -- thanks so much.

KOSIK: An outpouring of grief in Russia this morning, over the 224 victims of the crash, all but a handful of them Russian. Officials in St. Petersburg say 33 bodies have identified so far.

Today, Russian nationalists called a rally to mourn the victims on the country's annual days of national unity.

For the latest from St. Petersburg, let's turn to international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, another tough day for the families of victims. The process of identifying the bodies continues. What they are hearing in Russian media at the moment, two different versions of potentially what killed their loved ones.

Did the plane break apart in the air, because the tail section fell off, because of a faulty repair after a tail strike, an accident a few years ago, or was it because of a bomb onboard?

A St. Petersburg newspaper, the oldest newspaper here in St. Petersburg, widely respected, reports that the injuries fall into two categories, those in the fronts of the aircraft, they say have got burns and trauma-type injuries, indicative of falling from the sky. Those they imply at the rear of the aircraft have explosive trauma injuries, pieces of metal fragments in the body. They're quoting their sources, here in St. Petersburg, the forensic teams are examining the body. The potential there for information being provided.

The TASS news agency here says, however, what they understand from their sources is that there has been no explosive residue found on the bodies, there has been no indication of explosive damage to the bodies. So, what people hearing in Russia and what would be very painful for the families right now is not knowing precisely what brought down that aircraft. Two different possibilities -- John, Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:05:03] KOSIK: OK, Nic, thanks for that.

Time for an early start on your money. We have seeing a lot of green arrows this morning. Asian and Europe markets are higher, so are U.S. stock futures.

Yesterday, stocks closed higher. The Dow climbed 89 points. The S&P 500, that closed up as well, almost erasing all of its summer losses. So, it's just 21 points shy of its record highs.

Volkswagen troubles got a little bigger, reeling from the diesel emission scandal. The German automaker now saying it set carbon dioxide missions too low when certifying some models. About 800,000 vehicles were affected and some of the cars were gasoline powered, moving violations beyond Volkswagen's diesel fleet for the first time.

Volkswagen says it regrets the error and will begin ways to fix the issue with relevant authorities. But we are seeing how this scandal has legs.

BERMAN: Oh, yes.

KOSIK: It's now affecting Audi. It's affecting Porsche. Porsche announcing it's going to stop selling most of the popular models, meaning the Cheyenne, its most popular SUV.

BERMAN: When you stage a massive deception over a long period of time, it does have ramifications, to be sure.

KOSIK: Absolutely.

BERMAN: All right. Donald Trump on the attack, new insults against his opponent, as Hillary Clinton doing well in a state where she had been behind. We have new developments in the race for president and new election results overnight, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Donald Trump taking a timeout from "Saturday Night Live" rehearsals for a quick visit to New Hampshire today. And while he's there, Trump will officially file to appear on the ballot for the first in the nation primary. Then, he's going to head back to New York to prepare for this weekend's "SNL" hosting duties, as protesters plan to deliver half a million signatures, calling on NBC to dump Trump from the show.

The Trump camp also keeping an eye on a troubling trend in the polls.

[04:10:01] Let's get more from CNN politics reporter, Sara Murray.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Alison and John, more good news this morning for Dr. Ben. In a head-to-head matchup against Hillary Clinton, he could be the most formidable contender. A new "Wall Street Journal"/NBC News polling shows, if you pit the two against together, Clinton and Carson are tied.

Now, compare that to how Clinton fared against Donald Trump. In that potential matchup, she beats Trump by about 8 points. Now, Trump was here in New York yesterday releasing his new book, "Crippled America". And he did not hold back against his Republican contenders, slamming Marco Rubio for his immigration belief, and calling Ben Carson low energy. He even went so far as to say it's time for his fellow Republicans to give up the fight.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Do I think that it's time for some of the other Republicans in the race that are registering zero in a couple of cases, they have zero with an arrow pointing left, which I assume is a mistake, because that's less than zero. I assume that's not happening.

Do I think it's time for some of the other Republican candidates to drop out? Yes, there are too many people. Well, I don't want to get personal, but you can look at the poll numbers.

MURRAY: But there is no sign Trump is giving up. He's going to be back on the campaign trail in New Hampshire, where he will officially file to appear on the ballot.

Alison and John, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: OK. Sara, thanks for that.

Keep it right here on CNN for the best political coverage on television. At 7:00 Eastern this morning, you're going to want to catch Donald Trump live on "NEW DAY".

BERMAN: All right. Jeb Bush is in New Hampshire. This is the "Jeb can fix it" bus tour. The former Florida governor trying to resurrect his sagging presidential campaign right now.

Jeb Bush reacted to calls from Donald Trump to get out of the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's run for president twice and quit and I've run for governor in the biggest swing state and won twice. I know how to win. I've done it. I actually know how to govern, which is going to be an attribute when we get closer to the election.

JAIME GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: So for the record, for Donald Trump, you are not quitting?

BUSH: No. I mean, what, do we have to talk about Donald Trump? No, I'm not quitting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. Jeb Bush continuing his attacks on Marco Rubio and the senator's voting record. I should say that Marco Rubio will also be in New Hampshire campaigning today. Big day in the Granite State.

KOSIK: All right. Moving to the Democrats, Hillary Clinton enjoying a significant surge in the latest polls. The former secretary of state campaigning in Iowa, where voters seem to be warming up to her. She promised a Clinton presidency will include a swift hike in the minimum wage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I favor a $12 an hour minimum wage at the federal level and the reason is, that would be setting it at a level that would be equivalent to the point in our history inflation adjusted terms, that was in 1968.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: More positive polling news for the Clinton camp. Voters in New Hampshire are suddenly taking a second look after leaning heavily for Bernie Sanders for months.

We get more now from CNN's senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John and Alison, Hillary Clinton is wrapping up a campaign in Iowa. You can see her behind me here, shaking hands, signing pictures. She's answering so many questions here, trying to sign up people to her campaign.

But it's actually New Hampshire where she has her eye on. For the first time in weeks, she is leading Bernie Sanders at least by a razor's edge in a new Monmouth University poll out on Tuesday. She is leading Senator Sanders by some three percentage points.

Now, that is a reversal from a lead that he held last month at more than seven points. In national poll, she is leading by significantly more. She's over Bernie Sanders by some 31 points in "The Wall Street Journal"/NBC poll out this week. But it is Democrats rallying to her aid. She still has strong negative ratings as well in those national numbers. That's why her campaign is facing the state by state polls.

All eyes will be on the New Hampshire as all candidates go and sign up for office to register to get on the ballot. Bernie Sanders is there Thursday. Hillary Clinton goes next week -- John, Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right, Jeff, thanks so much.

We have breaking election news overnight: A huge win for Republicans in Kentucky. That is millionaire businessman Matt Bevin. He was just elected governor. This is the second time in four decades, only the second time in four decades that a Republican will sit in the governor's office in Kentucky. Bevin drove through the state in his old Cadillac Escalade. He drew a lot of comparisons to Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT BEVIN (R), KENTUCKY GOVERNOR-ELECT: This is a great night for the Republican Party in this state of Kentucky. I'm also grateful for the fact that, even more importantly, this is a great night for conservatives in the state of Kentucky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:15:06] BERMAN: A Tea Party favorite right there. Again, a big win for Republicans. He had not been leading in the polls and almost any poll leading into election night.

The incumbent governor of Mississippi, Republican Phil Bryant, he easily won reelection there.

We will not know who is the next governor of Louisiana will be until later this month. There's a run-up election between Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter and Democratic State Representative John Bel Edwards. That will be held on November 21st. Lately, Edwards had been leading in the polls over Vitter. As I said, a Kentucky Democrat was leading there in the polls until election night. So, we will see.

KOSIK: Also breaking overnight, a ballot proposal to legalize marijuana goes down to defeat in Ohio. Voters soundly rejecting the initiative that would have legalized recreational and medical use of pot in one fell swoop, but would also have limited commercial growing rights to a group of investors, actually ten, that included former boy band star Nick Lachey. Recreational marijuana sales are already legal in four states, and Washington, D.C. Ohio would have been the first in the Midwest to do so.

BERMAN: It was a weird measure, because it included that monopoly.

All right. Another big news from Houston. Voters there repeal an ordinance designed to protect lesbian, gay and transgender people from discrimination. The Equal Rights ordinance offered broad protections, covering housing, employment and other areas. The measure had drawn national attention. Hillary Clinton endorsed it last week as did the White House.

Opponents said it would allow men claiming to be women to use the women's bathroom, and pose some kind of a risk there. No men in women's bathroom became a rallying cry for the repeal campaign. That campaign won by a lot in turns out. KOSIK: President Obama planning to take action on the Keystone oil pipeline before he leaves office, even though the company behind the project wants a final decision delayed. TransCanada is asking the State Department to suspend its year long evaluation of the pipeline. The White House suggests that request is nothing more than politics at play, because the president is widely expected to reject the proposal as soon as this month.

All right. Breaking overnight, a historic meeting between China and Taiwan. The first time a meeting like this can happen since the Chinese civil war. We're talking 1949 here. This has huge international relations, not to mention economic implications. We'll have all the details coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:21:03] BERMAN: All right. Breaking news, an investigation into the death of a northern Illinois police officer. This death sparked a huge manhunt has determined he apparently committed suicide. The Lake County sheriff's office called a news conference for later today.

A law enforcement source tells CNN that the sheriff will announce that Lieutenant Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, or Joe Gliniewicz died from a self inflicted wound. Gliniewicz was a U.S. Army veterans known by friends and colleagues as G.I. Joe. He radioed for backup on September 1st, telling dispatchers he was chasing three suspicious men. His body was later found about 50 yards from the squad car.

KOSIK: A Georgia inmate is back behind bars this morning after escaping while being transferred between jails. Jim Edward Lowery used his leg shackles to smash out a patrol car window. About He was charged with felony murder in June when an officer crashed his patrol car in hot purchase.

BERMAN: Thick fog likely in parts of the county.

Let's go to meteorologist Allison Chinchar.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Many folks this morning are going to be waking up to a lot of fog. Take a look overnight in Atlanta, you could barely see the top half of a lot of buildings out there just because of how bad the fog actually was.

It's not just Atlanta. We are talking Nashville, Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago, also dealing with incredible low visibilities. It's not just for this morning. We're also going to be looking at bad fog again on Thursday. This time, it shifts to another few cities, Indianapolis, Detroit, New York, even around D.C.

Now, temperature-wise, things are nice and warm, we are talking almost 20 degrees above normal. For Minneapolis, Chicago, and also into Cleveland. We have a lot of that warm moist air in the eastern half of the country. Western half, it's quite the opposite.

Now, one perk to that is they have been a little cooler than normal. We are giving folks a break. Phoenix averaged 81. It will be 75 by the end of the week. Normally 56 in Salt Lake City. In the 40s today for high temperatures.

One perk, however, guys, is the snow pack that's been able to fall. It's been great, especially since a lot of the ski resorts are going to be opening up in the coming weeks.

KOSIK: OK, Allison, thanks for that.

An historic development set for this weekend as China and Taiwan seek to ease tensions. Their leaders plan to meet for the first time that's happened since, what, for 56 years now? Taiwan has been ruled separately since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Chinese officials say the presidents will not sign any agreements when they sit down Saturday in Singapore, but they will discuss peace and economic development.

Let's turn to CNN's Matt Rivers. He is live in Hong Kong for this one.

You know, these are two rivals with big political differences and with already we expect nothing concrete to come out of this. Is this more of a break the ice kind of meeting?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, these two leaders have, as you mentioned, never met before. So, we're not really sure what's going to come out of these meetings. We do know the news was broke by state media in Taiwan. It took many people here in Asia by surprise.

But really, it's the latest in Chinese President Xi's diplomatic whirlwind tour that you remember started in the U.S. weeks ago. Then it transferred into the United Kingdom. And yet, this meeting, this upcoming meeting, may be his most symbolic meeting yet.

Taiwan and China both -- the governments of Taiwan and China both claim to be the legitimate government of the country of China and that has created tension between the two for decades now. That said, they do have quite a substantial economic relationship. China is Taiwan's number one trading partner. And so, what we could see coming out of this meeting is a bolstering of those economic ties.

KOSIK: But you talk about that tension, why hold the meeting now? Talk a little about the timing of this.

RIVERS: Well, on the record, these officials will tell you, there is no time better than the present.

[04:25:02] But you wouldn't be wrong to speculate that there are upcoming national elections in Taiwan that are playing a part here. President Ma in Taiwan, his party is not doing too well in the polls. And so, what they're hoping is this meeting will bolster his party's numbers.

That said, there are many, many people in Taiwan wary of a growing Beijing influence in their country. And so, it could backfire. So, that might have something to do with why this meeting is taking place now, how this meeting will affect Taiwan's national elections, remains to be seen. KOSIK: Ah, to be a fly on the wall for this meeting this weekend.

Matt Rivers, live from Hong Kong, thanks so much.

BERMAN: All right. New clues bringing new questions on what caused a Russian jetliner to fall from the sky. We have new information right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Breaking news, investigators expanding their search, trying to figure out what caused a Russian jetliner with 224 people onboard to crash? We are breaking down the new clues.

BERMAN: Donald Trump is on the attack. He's telling his competitors it's time to drop out of the race. All the details ahead.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

KOSIK: And I'm Alison Kosik, it's 30 minutes past the hour.

Intriguing clues but few answers this morning, on what brought down a Russian airliner flying from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to St. Petersburg, Russia, killing all people onboard. A U.S. official tells CNN that a heat flash detected by a military satellite happened in midair. That leaves open the possibility of a bomb onboard MetroJet Flight 9268.

But there are some reports in Russian media that the bodies of victims recovered so far show no signs of explosive impact.