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Driver Plows Down People on Las Vegas Strip; Trump Calls Hillary Clinton a Liar; Air France Bomb Scare; Dozens Missing in Chinese Landslide; Airstrike Kills Hezbollah Operative; Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 21, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:10] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning. Horror on the Vegas Strip. A driver plowing through a crowded street killing one, injuring dozens more. And police believe she did it on purpose.

Good morning. And welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Boris Sanchez. It is Monday, December 21st, 4:00 a.m. on the East Coast. And we begin with breaking news out of Las Vegas.

Right now we know a female driver is in police custody after mowing down more than 30 pedestrians on the Vegas Strip right on the sidewalk in front of the Paris Hotel. Police say a 3-year-old child was also in the car. Officials say one person died and 37 people were hurt. Six of them in critical condition. People who witnessed the entire thing were in disbelief as authorities say it appears the suspect did it on purpose.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what we have at this point is a -- we have a black female in her 20s with a child in the car, 3 years old. She was driving a 1996 Oldsmobile four-door vehicle with Oregon plates. She went up off the street on to the sidewalk two or possibly three times. And based on the evidence and information from our fatal investigators, at this point we are treating this as an intentional act.

She is in the detention center right now. She is speaking to detectives. They are drawing her blood. And she will be -- I expect her to be charged in a few hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The car drove right in front of me. By the time I looked over to the right, all you could see is her driving away and people are like bouncing off the front of the car. You can hear the windshield was smashed at this point and she rode the sidewalk. She came to the stop right here at the Paris intersection. And then she like people were punching the window trying to get the child out of the backseat. And she accelerated again and just kept mowing everyone down. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the car up on the sidewalk coming toward

us. And there was a lady in it, an African-American lady. And it looked like she wasn't even trying to stop the car. She had both of her hands on the wheel and was looking straight forward. And there were men running after her trying to stop the vehicle. And they couldn't get to her. They were yelling stop, stop, and she just wasn't trying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Such a bizarre scene. Officials have ruled out terrorism, though. As soon as we get more information, we will bring it to you.

ROMANS: All right. New Hampshire school officials forced to close more than a dozen schools this morning after receiving a threat of violence. And at this point they have not described the exact nature of the threat, but they say it is specific and extends to a pair of schools in the Nashua district.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it was a threat that was received via e-mail that had specific directions toward the two national high schools with specific threats of violence, which is why we're taking it kind of seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: New Hampshire's governor says the state is working with local authorities and the FBI to determine if this threat is credible. Schools in the district are expected to reopen on Tuesday.

SANCHEZ: Donald Trump returning the favor to Hillary Clinton. During the Democratic debate, Clinton claimed that Trump's proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the U.S. is being used as a recruiting tool by radical jihadists. Trump blasted back on the Sunday shows saying there was no proof of Clinton's claim calling her a liar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We also need to make sure that the really discriminatory messages that Trump is sending around the world don't fall on receptive ears. He is becoming ISIS' best recruiter. They are going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists. So I want to explain why this is not in America's interest to react with this kind of fear and respond to this sort of bigotry.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nobody has been able to back that up. It's nonsense. It's just another Hillary lie. She lies like crazy about everything. Whether it's trips where she was being gunned down in a helicopter or an airplane. She's a liar. And everybody knows that. I mean -- but she just made this up in thin air.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: The other hot topic at the Democratic debate, the data breach of Clinton campaign computer files by staffers at Bernie Sanders' campaign. What many expected to be the subject of a brawl on the debate stage had an unexpected twist.

The latest now from CNN's Chris Frates in Washington.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Boris and Christine. After days of smack-talking, the debate stage was set Saturday night for the top Democrats to throw down over accusations that Bernie Sanders exploited a software glitch to access confidential information about Hillary Clinton supporters. A move Clinton's campaign called below the belt.

Clinton goes for the jugular, "Politico" trumpeted, signaling that Clinton was ready to throw some mud in Saturday night's debate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[04:05:06] SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I apologize.

FRATES (voice-over): Wait, what?

SANDERS: Not only do I apologize to Secretary Clinton, and I hope we can work together on an independent investigation from day one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: OK. But Clinton is not going to let him off that easy, right?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I very much appreciate that comment, Bernie. I don't think the American people are all that interested in this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Instead, it seems Clinton thought Americans wanted to hear how she would take on the Republicans, including Donald Trump. And a few hours later, the GOP frontrunner took heat from leaders of his own party. Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said Trump's proposals to ban Muslims from entering the country would go nowhere in his chamber.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MAJORITY LEADER: We're not going to follow that suggestion that this particular candidate made. It would prevent the president of Afghanistan from coming to the United States. The king of Jordan couldn't come to the United States. Obviously we're not going to do that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: So Trump taking incoming from both Democrats and Republicans this weekend -- Boris and Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Chris. Thanks. You know, Donald Trump once again backing up Vladimir Putin. Defending the Russian president against well-documented claims that Putin ordered the assassination of journalists. Last week, Putin called Trump, quote, "bright and talented." Trump returning the favor telling ABC's George Stephanopoulos that Putin should be held innocent until proven guilty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm saying when you say a man has killed reporters, I'd like you to prove it. And I'm saying it would be a terrible thing if it were true. But I have never seen any information or any proof that he killed reporters.

George, you're just saying he killed reporters. You and other people tell me he killed reporters. I don't know that he killed reporters. I haven't seen it. If he did, I think it's despicable. I think it would be horrible. But you're making these accusations and I don't -- I don't see any proof. And by the way he totally denies that he kills reporters. He totally denied it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Meantime, Vladimir Putin says Russia will continue to develop nuclear weapon systems. Even though he says it does not intend to use them. In a documentary aired on Russian state television overnight, Putin said, quote, we have never brandished or will brandish this nuclear club. But our military doctrine allocates it a place and a role.

In the Mideast, Iran slamming changes to a U.S. visa waiver program change saying they violate the landmark nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers. The new rule signed into law by President Obama Friday now require anyone who traveled to Iran, Syria and Sudan in the past five years to obtain a visa to enter the U.S. Iran says it would dampen foreign investment interests and is threatening to go to the commission overseeing implementation of the nuclear deal.

Meantime, Secretary of State John Kerry is trying to tamp down concerns saying the waiver changes will not at all affect the deal.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an EARLY START on your money. Monday morning, Christmas week edition, Asian markets mostly higher. European markets are, too. And U.S. futures are higher, thank goodness, after a really horrible day, Boris, on Friday. The Dow fell 367 points. That was the worst day for the Dow since September. Wall Street's initial enthusiasm over the Fed's interest rate decision simply vanished. And the very cheap price of oil continues to weigh markets down.

"I will prevail." That's the message from Martin Shkreli, the former CEO of a company called Turing Pharmaceuticals. He took to Twitter saying, "I am confident I will prevail. The allegations against me are baseless and without merit." Who is this guy? He is best known for jacking up the price of a drug

used to treat AIDS patients, among other patients, by 5,000 percent. He's now been indicted on criminal charges that he bilked another company out of millions of dollars. Officials say he ran that company Retrophin like a Ponzi scheme, using its assets to pay off old unrelated debts. Shkreli faces up to 20 years in jail if found guilty. And he is often referred to as the most reviled CEO in America.

SANCHEZ: Someone called this karma.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: We'll see. All right.

SANCHEZ: We're following some breaking news this morning. A driver plowing through a crowd street on the Las Vegas Strip, killing one, injuring dozens more.

ROMANS: Plus this. A bomb scare on board an Air France flight. Plane diverted after the suspicious device, contracption found in the bathroom. Who did it? New developments next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:13:00] SANCHEZ: We're following breaking news out of Las Vegas this morning where a driver is in custody after mowing down nearly 40 pedestrians. Police say she drove up on the sidewalk and through the entrance to the Paris Las Vegas Hotel. At this point we know at least one person is dead and six are in critical condition. Officials say it appears to be intentional, but that this is not an act of terrorism.

ROMANS: A toddler in the car with her. Just unbelievable.

Hundreds of passengers who had to evacuate an Air France jet in Kenya are on the way home this morning after an apparent bomb hoax forced an emergency landing of their flight bound from Mauritius to Paris. Now four passengers are still in Kenya being questioned about a suspicious device found in the plane's lavatory.

We have CNN's David McKenzie live with us from Nairobi for the latest.

And David, it's such an odd story. Disturbing and odd. Does it sound as though this device, whatever it was, was planted after the plane took off? Tell us what you know.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, good morning. Yes, it does seem like this device and this really odd story, as you say, was planted in the restrooms of that packed 777 en route from Mauritius in the Indian Ocean Islands to Paris.

Now a passenger went to the bathroom. They found this device behind a cupboard. And it looked like a bomb. So they quickly diverted, brought the plane down in emergency landing in Mombasa, Kenya. Terrifying moments as the Kenyan bomb squad went into that plane, retrieved the device and then it took several hours for them to decide that this in fact wasn't an explosive device.

The CEO of Air France calling it a nasty joke, saying this was a hoax of some kind. And because security would have been tight in the airport going through, it doesn't seem to have been some kind of a security lapse because the device itself was made of cardboard, had a timer of some kind. On top of it obviously made to look like a bomb. But there was no metal, no explosives on it, so they didn't pick it up.

[04:15:03] And so it seemed yes, it was placed on the plane after takeoff. And they are questioning several passengers. We do expect word from Kenya's Interior Ministry soon on any progress in that investigation -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. David McKenzie, certainly an odd story. And they'll be investigating every single person on that flight, I'm sure, and the crew.

Disturbing details emerging about the female terrorist in the San Bernardino mass shooting. How she entered the United States. The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee says U.S. immigration officials, quote, "sloppily approved Tashfeen Malik's visa application." The materials in the file apparently did not show that Malik and her future husband, Syed Farook, had met in person while in Saudi Arabia. A meeting face-to-face is a requirement for a fiance visa to the U.S. Of course the pair gunned down 14 people at a health department training event earlier this month.

SANCHEZ: The neighbor accused of buying the rifles used in that terror attack will learn where he's going to spend the holidays today. A judge will hear arguments for granting bail to 24-year-old Enrique Marquez. Marquez faces a laundry list of federal charges including providing material support to terrorism. The last three memorial services for victims of the attacks were held over the weekend.

ROMANS: Former President Jimmy Carter coping with the sudden loss of his grandson. The 91-year-old made the announcement during his regular Sunday school lecture in Georgia. He said his 28-year-old grandson Jeremy had told his mother he simply wasn't feeling well. He went to lie down for a while but never woke up. Doctor said the young man's heart stopped beating. It is unclear what caused his death.

SANCHEZ: So sad considering he had recently gotten the good news.

ROMANS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: That he was free of cancer.

ROMANS: That's right.

SANCHEZ: Well, it's that time of year. Millions are set to travel and millions will be facing weather delays as they move around for the holidays. Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROMANS: Oh man, Pedram.

SANCHEZ: Shorts and flip flops on Christmas.

ROMANS: I was going to say get rid of the ugly Christmas sweater and get on your Hawaiian shirt.

SANCHEZ: Hot there.

ROMANS: Hawaiian shirts for this week.

SANCHEZ: Well, everybody is talking about this. A royal mess at this year's Miss Universe Pageant. You can see the two final contestants. They're embracing on stage and that's when host Steve Harvey dramatically announces that Miss Colombia has won the prestigious title. Seems all good. Right? No. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE HARVEY, HOST: Miss Universe 2015 is Miss Colombia. Hey, folks, there's -- I have to apologize. The first runner up is Colombia. Miss Universe 2015 is Philippines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: That's hard to watch.

SANCHEZ: You can't watch that and not cringe. Steve Harvey later tweeted his apologies to Miss Philippines and Miss Colombia, saying, quote, "It was a terribly honest human mistake and I am so regretful."

Speaking of human mistakes, I hope you noticed he misspelled Philippines and Colombia. He's since deleted that tweet.

You can't take this too seriously. I think this is just kind of funny and over time Miss Colombia will come to see it as something funny.

ROMANS: Had that not happened, do you think there'd be headlines about the pageant?

SANCHEZ: Very, very brief headlines. This obviously made more news.

ROMANS: All right. It is 19 minutes past the hour.

A massive landslide in China. Dozens feared dead this morning. We are live with the latest next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:23:20] SANCHEZ: Devastation strikes in southern China. Dozens of people are missing after a huge landslide hits the city of Shenzhen. Hundreds of people now furiously digging through debris looking for any signs of life.

Let's get right to CNN correspondent Matt Rivers live in Hong Kong.

Matt, we understand this wasn't really a natural formation, the source of this landslide. A manmade pile caused this. How did this happen?

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Boris, this was very much a manmade disaster. That according to Chinese state media in Shenzhen right now. The city is actually located just north of Hong Kong in the southern part of China. It's an industrial city.

We know that this landslide happened Sunday late morning local time. We know that 91 people remained missing, 59 men, 32 women. They were all inside 33 different buildings inside this industrial park. Thirteen people hospitalized so far. Three of whom in serious condition. But those numbers likely will rise. No deaths had been reported as of yet.

But as you mentioned, there are hundreds if not thousands of people combing this rubble right now looking for survivors in this landslide. The area that this takes up is 380,000 square meters. So just an enormous area. Fourteen people have been rescued so far. Hopefully that number goes up.

And as for that how this happened, this was, as you say, a manmade pile that was construction waste. According to Chinese state media, construction trucks would come into this area every day, dump their waste there. At some point, this pile was up to three stories high.

What caused it to come down, we're still not sure. The investigation still has to play out but right now the focus certainly is on trying to find any survivors -- Boris.

[04:25:05] SANCHEZ: Matt, 91 people still missing. We hope they make progress and find some survivors soon. Thank you.

ROMANS: All right, a Hezbollah operative who Israel freed in a controversial swap has been killed in an airstrike in Syria. In this 2008 exchange, Samir Kuntar was traded for the bodies of two captured Israeli soldiers.

CNN's Oren Liebermann live for us in Jerusalem with the very latest. And Israel very reluctantly released this man back in 2008. What do we know now?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was a very controversial swap because of Samir Kuntar was convicted of doing back in 1979, which is to say he was convicted of killing three Israelis and a horrific murder including a 4-year-old girl whose head he bashed against the rocks.

Now Israel hasn't either confirmed nor denied the air strike that is attributed to them by Syrian and Lebanese media, that killed Samir Kuntar in Damascus. But again it is that foreign media from Syria and Lebanon blaming Kuntar's death on the Israelis. Kuntar for that murder spent 30 years in prison. He's released in 2008 in that prisoner swap for two bodies of Israeli soldiers killed in the Lebanon war just two years prior.

Bow it is Israel's assessment and we've spoken with a former national security adviser who says Kuntar was working in Syria to open up another front against Israel from there. So that perhaps explains why there's a strike attributed to the Israelis there.

Now the question is, what is the response? We've already seen three rockets land in northern Israel from southern Lebanon. Israel responded to that with artillery fire. But that is not Hezbollah's response. That is not the response of the men who Kuntar was working. The question is, what will that response be.

Kuntar's funeral is this afternoon in Beirut. Hezbollah's leader Nasrelli is scheduled to give a speech later on today where it's very much expected that he'll address this and perhaps even lay out what his vision is for their response to this airstrike that is attributed to the Israeli -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Oren Liebermann, thank you so much for that.

SANCHEZ: We are following breaking news this morning. A driver hitting more than 30 pedestrians on the Las Vegas Strip. A deadly crash that investigators now believe was intentional. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)