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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Climbs on Terrorism Fears; California Terror Attack: FBI Searches Lake; Cardinals Top Vikings, Clinch Playoff Spot. Aired 5- 5:30a ET

Aired December 11, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: It is twin girls for Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and her husband. The girls are healthy and were born early Thursday morning. During her last pregnancy, critics slammed her for setting a precedent for working moms.

[05:00:02] You know, she worked from home during the leave and went back to the office just two weeks after giving birth. Mayer says she plans on doing the same this time.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Congratulations to here and here's for work/life balance.

EARLY START continues right now.

(MUSIC)

KOSIK: Donald Trump increasing his lead in the race for president, but a new poll could show problems for the Republican frontrunner.

ROMANS: Were the San Bernardino shooters planning an even bigger attack? New information surfacing as investigators comb the bottom of a lake for new clues this morning.

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

KOSIK: And I'm Alison Kosik. It is Friday, December 11th. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East.

And fear of terrorism is boosting Donald Trump in the polls this morning, a new CBS News/"New York Times" survey putting Donald Trump nearly 20 points ahead of its closest rival, Ted Cruz. The percentage of people calling terrorism, America's most important problem, more than quadrupling to 19 percent. Trump soaring even though most Americans disagree with his proposal to bar Muslims from entering the U.S.

That may not matter in the primaries, though. The same NBC News/"Wall Street Journal" poll finds the Republican electorate evenly divided on the Muslim exclusion plan. Trump campaigning late into the night Thursday, boosting his tough on crime credentials as he accepted a police union's endorsement.

The latest from CNN's Sara Murray in New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and Alison.

As the poll shows, Republican primary voters are sharply divided on whether they support or oppose Donald Trump's call to ban Muslims here in the U.S. His supporters here in New Hampshire are sticking by him, even if they don't necessarily agree with all of the details of his proposal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Statue of Liberty said, bring us your huddled masses and your poor yearning to be free. It didn't say bring in radical terrorists trying to kill us. So, until we can sort that out, I believe that we should close our borders. We were here first, we need to do some internal repairs and then we can have our country back.

MURRAY: Now, Donald Trump spoke here in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, last night, at an even that's a little bit different than the ones we normally see him at. He got the endorsement of a Policemen Benevolent Association and speaking here, he once against sought to cast himself as the toughest Republican in the field, calling for a mandatory death penalty on anyone found guilty of killing a police officer.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Anybody killing a police officer, death penalty. It's going to happen, OK? You can't go -- we can't let this go.

MURRAY: Now, Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail today. He'll be holding an event in Iowa. We are sure to get a better sense of that on how his proposal to ban Muslims is playing out in some of these other early voting states.

Back to you, Christine and Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Sara Murray, thanks for that.

Helping us sort through all things politics and all things Trump this morning, CNN politics reporter Tal Kopan from our Washington bureau.

Happy Friday morning.

I've got to tell you, that's a commanding lead sitting right there on the top of the polls. Donald Trump, no matter what he does, no matter what he says, the people who support him continue to support him. And now, word from sources telling CNN that a monthly Republican leader dinner, the discussion turned to a brokered convention.

Is it too early for the political wonks to get excited about something that never happens?

TAL KOPAN, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, it's really interesting. The field this year is so diverse, you have so many different candidates, and all of them are picking up support in different places. Yes, Donald Trump is pretty much the leader across the board in most of the states you're looking at in those early races, but if you look at the second and third place level, there are some really interesting sort of neck and neck races, duking it out for the really important second and third spot. In different states, those individuals are different.

So, what party members are concerned about and sources have told CNN at the dinner, it was discussed, but wasn't raised as sort of the primary concern. But what people are concerned about is the possibility that a clear winner will not emerge even as we get very deep into the primary season. And then you start to see difficulty where if you don't have someone start to roll, start to roll to win many of those early states, what are they going to do? How are they going to pick someone in the end?

KOSIK: But, I mean, you look at what the Republican establishment would be looking to do, looking basically to block Trump if he sails through all of these primaries. But in order to block him, they have to offer a decent alternative. Are Republicans ready to do that? Who do they have on deck?

KOPAN: Well, that's the $1 million question. That is why the second place race is so important. You know, if Donald Trump wins one of the early primaries and starts to pick up a little momentum, people are going to be watching who is the alternative that emerges.

[05:05:05] So, the second and third place finisher in some of the races, even if Trump wins, that candidate really could suddenly see a coalescence around them as people start to look for that alternative. So, that's why you see so much jockeying.

KOSIK: So much jockeying, and now, you even have, you know, Ted Cruz who's doing well again in Iowa, doing well now in Iowa, with 53 days before the Iowa caucuses. He's doing well.

And, you know, he as "New York Times" got some audio of him where he is talking about the arc of the frontrunner and Ben Carson. Listen, listen, to what Ted Cruz said.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Both of them I like and respect, both Donald and Ben. I do not believe either one of them is going to be our nominee. I don't believe either one is going to be our president. I think both of them, their campaigns have a natural arc. And, with both of them, I think gravity is pulling them down. We have seen that. Carson is further in that descent.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROMANS: He is working hard. He is sounding confident. All of those candidates are working hard. There has been an assumption at some point, Donald Trump's candidacy will implode. It has not yet.

But Ted Cruz appears to be really hoping for that momentum.

KOPAN: Well, what the candidates are looking at the flip side of that 35 percent. So, 35 percent of Republicans right now say they support Trump. That leaves 65 percent up for grabs. It's sort of what they're thinking.

So, if Donald Trump hits a ceiling and some people start to peel away from him, Cruz from the beginning, has been looking to position himself as that alternative, for people who like Trump who think strength is appealing and anti-government feeling, Ted Cruz has really from the beginning tried to capitalize on that. He is thinking if he can peel some of the Trump voters away, if he can pick up some of the undecided and build on his support, suddenly, he is right in it and that's what he's looking to do.

KOSIK: Hillary Clinton, remember her? Gosh, we have not talked about her in forever, right? Well, she actually made headlines last night. Let's go to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, NBC)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have to say, Seth, I no longer think he's funny.

SETH MEYERS, COMEDIAN: Yes. I will say I started to realize that.

(CHEERS)

CLINTON: You know, I think for weeks, you and everybody else, we are just bringing folks to hysterical laughter and all of that. But now, he has gone way over the line. What is he saying now is not only shameful and wrong, it's dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: So they may be friends, Hillary and Donald, but she certainly is coming out directly against him and very clearly.

KOPAN: Candidates have been struggling this entire race to figure out how do they combat Donald Trump. There is a really interesting focus group that was conducted this week that several publications were invited to and wrote about. And that focus group found that when they played negative ads about Donald Trump, his voters who supported him actually strengthened how much they like him. It's been clear from the beginning that it's difficult to go on attack.

And so, you see candidates trying different tactics. In the beginning, it was dismissing him as an entertainer, saying he wasn't serious. And there's been a realization among many of the candidates that in some says that he is deadly serious.

That he presents a serious challenge to their candidacy and I think you are seeing Hillary Clinton start to evolve a new way of approaching criticizing Trump, really trying to send the point home it is not about laughter, it's not about entertainment. It's a serious election.

ROMANS: We know that next week, she's going to layout her protecting America plan is. She's going to focus on domestic radicalization when she speaks in Minnesota next week. We know there is a debate, a Republican debate, Tal, less than five days away. They're going to focus on, you know, how the next president can keep America safe.

Tal Kopan, thank you so much. We'll talk to you in a little bit. That's next Tuesday night, right here on CNN, that debate.

All right. Breaking overnight. Investigators combing the bottom of the lake looking for new evidence in the California terror attack. We bring that to you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:13:18] ROMANS: This morning, divers resume searching a lake in San Bernardino. They are looking for evidence in the terror attacks that killed 14 people. The FBI now believes the male gunman, Syed Rizwan Farook, had ties to a group of local jihadists. Four of those men arrested in 2012 for trying to join al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Now, officials tell CNN Farook was in the social circle of one of the men, Sohiel Kabir, a jihadist recruiter now serving 25 years in prison. Also, there is new information about some of the guns used in the attack. A federal source tells "The L.A. Times" that Farook asked his name neighbor Enrique Marquez to buy the two long guns because Farook feared he wouldn't pass a background check. The AR-15s were bought in 2011 and 2012, around the same time Marquez said he and Farook were considering a terror attack.

More on the FBI investigation now from CNN's Kyung Lah in San Bernardino.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alison and Christine, FBI dive teams have painstakingly searching this lake bit by bit. There is a report that the two killers were spotted here at this park on the day of the massacre. The FBI not specifying whether that report was before or after the massacre, but they say they will search this lake looking for any evidence.

A law enforcement source telling CNN that what they are looking for are any missing items, items that were not in the apartment that they are curious about, specifically a hard drive that is missing, that is one item they are looking for. They spent several hours here expected to resume the search at daybreak -- Alison and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: OK, Kyung, thanks for that.

The governor of Connecticut will sign an executive order today banning the sale of guns in his state to people on government watch lists.

[05:15:07] The measure needs federal approval. Governor Dan Malloy's order will require Connecticut state police to review all potential gun buyers for suspected ties with terrorism. It would also revoke gun permits from people's whose names turn up on terror watch lists.

ROMANS: Members of a Muslim advocacy group on Capitol Hill say they are living in fear after someone sent a hate letter containing white powder to the headquarters. The building had to be evacuated, but the substance turned out to be harmless. Officials with CAIR, that's the Council on American Islamic Relations, say the letter that came with the powder read, "Die a painful death, Muslims." A CAIR office in Santa Clara, California, also had to be evacuated Thursday after receiving an envelope with white powder.

KOSIK: Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl speaking out for the first time about his decision to walk away from his outpost in Afghanistan.

Bergdahl speaking with filmmaker Mark Boal for the popular podcast "Serial." He says he was trying to reach another outpost to report a failure in leadership in his outfit. He admits he was trying to be something of a super soldier.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SGT. BOWE BERGDAHL, U.S. ARMY: What I was seeing from my first unit all the way up into Afghanistan, all I was seeing was basically leadership failure to the point that the lives of the guys standing next to me were literally, from what I could see, in danger of something seriously going wrong and somebody being killed.

Doing what I did was me saying I am like Jason Bourne.

MARK BOAL: Right, the character in a book or whatever, a character.

BERGDAHL: Yes.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KOSIK: Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban 20 minutes after leaving his post. He is facing desertion and misbehavior before the enemy charges. It still hasn't been determined he could have faced court martial proceedings.

ROMANS: Seventeen minutes past the hour this Friday morning. Time for an early start on your money.

Markets mostly lower around the world. The low price of oil weighing down stock markets. Here in the U.S., stock futures are slightly lower right now. Yesterday, stocks broke a losing streak. The Dow added 82 points.

The U.S. going after ISIS money. The ISIS money machine fueled by oil fields, farming and mining and extortion. First, the government has gone after banks and shutdown 90 banks that had been operating in ISIS controlled territories.

Next, sanctions against ISIS-linked financiers. This cuts off the group's access to international financial channels.

Finally, sealing national borders. The U.S. wants to make it more difficult for ISIS to make international transactions.

A CNNMoney investigation found is raked in more than $2 billion in revenue last year. In some cases, you have ISIS controlling the flow of oil and turning around and selling the oil through middle men back to legitimate governments, legitimate local authorities who need the oil to run their cities. So, it's a really dangerous situation.

KOSIK: This was a great investigation on CNNMoney. You want to check it out.

The Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings battling down to the wire in the key Thursday night match up. Oh, yes, this one looks like it was headed for overtime until a critical turnover in the final seconds. Andy Scholes has this morning's bleacher report, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:22:54] KOSIK: So, tell me, did you stay up late to watch Thursday night football? If not, you missed the good one, between the Cardinals and the Vikings. I personally didn't stay up and watch it.

Andy Scholes, I went to bed. But you've got more in this morning's bleacher report. Good morning.

ANDY SCHOLES, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. Good morning, guys.

Believe it or not, we are already in week 14 of t the NFL season. Just four games left for teams to make the final playoff push. The Cardinals could clinch a spot in the post season with a win over the Vikings. Check out the block by Larry Fitzgerald right there. Wow. That gave Arizona a 17-10 lead.

Under 20 seconds to go. Vikings down three in field goal range. Teddy Bridgewater gets sacked. Cardinals recover. They get the win, 23-20. He earned an extra $200,000 for that game winning sack.

All right. Christine Romans, fourth ranked Iowa State Cyclones were down 20 before rallying to win. 83-82. The fans storming the court after the final buzzer. And during the chaos, "Des Moines Register" said Randy Peterson suffered a broken tibia and fibula, according to the paper.

Peterson, who's covered sports in Iowa for four decades, tweeted from the hospital, one word, "Ouch". He is scheduled to have surgery later today. We, of course, wish him well.

All right. The Golden State Warriors back on the court tonight, going for their 24 straight win to start the season. Dating back to last season, the team has now won 27 games in a row. Just six away from the record set by the Lakers in 1972.

Here's a look at the warrior's upcoming schedule. Tonight, they play at the Celtics and then finish up that seven game road trip in Milwaukee before returning home for five straight. Of course, the game everybody has on the calendar is the Christmas Day match up against LeBron and the Cavs.

Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker is not just one of the best in the business in kicking field goals, he is also the best opera singer in the NFL. Take a listen.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

[05:25:16] SCHOLES: That was tucker. Amazing, right? That was a charity concert in Baltimore, sold out because everybody wanted to see Tucker sing. He said he gets more nervous singing than he does kicking in front of 70,000 fans on Sunday.

KOSIK: Well, you know, if things don't work out with the Ravens for him, he's also got opera singing.

SCHOLES: Absolutely. He's got a future, right?

KOSIK: Absolutely.

Thanks so much, Andy Scholes.

SCHOLES: All right.

KOSIK: Trump leading in the new national poll, but there are some signs this morning that GOP leaders are getting nervous, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Donald Trump on top in a new poll. But his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States putting him at odds with voters.

KOSIK: Were the San Bernardino shooters planning a bigger terror attack? The FBI turning its investigations to the bottom of a lake this morning.