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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Driver Mows Down 37 People in Las Vegas Strip; President Defends ISIS Strategy; Trump Calls Hillary Clinton a Liar; Bomb Hoax Forces Emergency Landing in Kenya; Dozens Missing in Chinese Landslide; Airstrike Kills Hezbollah Operative; Tempers Flare Between Giants and Panthers; Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired December 21, 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] BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Just imagine the merchandising, all the action figures especially during the holidays.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I know.

SANCHEZ: Lunch boxes, et cetera, et cetera.

ROMANS: I know. Some thought it might cheapen the franchise to have, you know, basically "Star Wars" toilet paper available at your local -- but, you know, it hasn't, I don't think.

SANCHEZ: Think George Lucas has one at his house?

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: He sold for a cool $4 billion. That guy is out.

SANCHEZ: He's sad.

EARLY START continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

SANCHEZ: Breaking news this morning. Horror on the Vegas Strip. A driver plowing through a crowded street. Killing one, injuring dozens more. Police believe she did it on purpose.

Good morning. And welcome to EARLY START. I'm Boris Sanchez.

ROMANS: Nice to see you this morning, Boris, this Monday morning.

I'm Christine Romans. It's Monday, December 21st. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

Let's begin, though, with that breaking news out of Las Vegas. Right now we know a female driver is in police custody after mowing down more than 30 people on the Strip, 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 with her. Officials say one person died, 37 people hurt. Six of them are now at this hour in critical condition. People who saw this whole thing are in disbelief as authorities say it appears -- it appears to them this suspect did this on purpose. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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 drove 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)

ROMANS: Officials say they have ruled out terrorism. They are talking to the suspect now. But they are -- they think she did this on purpose. As soon as we get more information, we're going to bring it to you.

SANCHEZ: It's hard to watch.

Now New Hampshire school officials forced to close down more than a dozen schools this morning after receiving a threat of violence. At this point, they haven't described the exact nature of the threat, but they say it is specific and it 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)

SANCHEZ: New Hampshire's governor says the state is working with local authorities and the FBI to figure out if the threat is credible. Schools in the district are expected to reopen tomorrow.

Now you may recall last week both the New York and Los Angeles School Districts received threats. Later officials deemed that the threat was credible and they shutdown schools for one day.

ROMANS: All right. New this morning, President Obama says the media's saturation coverage of ISIS is a key reason Americans are so worried about the terror group. But the president also concedes in this interview with NPR that his administration could do a better job explaining its strategy for containing ISIS.

Senior White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is following the president on vacation in Hawaii.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Boris and Christine, right. The first family is now officially on vacation. The president has already played some golf and done some hiking. But before he left he did this wide-ranging interview with National Public Radio. Especially on the subject of ISIS. And despite all the criticism that's been out there during this political season, even some coming from his own party, despite polls showing many Americans do not agree with current ISIS strategy, the president again defended it and at length.

And when asked why so many might be dissatisfied with it, he cited not only ISIS' own propaganda machine, but the media, saying that when people turn on their TVs, he's not surprised that they become concerned. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you suggesting that the media are being played in a sense here?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, the media is pursuing ratings. This is a legitimate news story.

[05:05:02] I think that, you know, it is up to the media to make a determination about how they want to cover things. There is no doubt that the actions of ISIL are designed to amplify their power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: The president says he does think it is a legitimate concern and maybe the administration hasn't done enough to fully explain all that they've done against ISIS and that it's their goal to better inform people. He also hit out at his critics. There's a few out there who proposed specifics that they would do that the administration is not doing like Hillary Clinton and he actually mentioned Lindsey Graham by name. Things like sending a small number of American ground troops or establishing a no-fly zone.

And he explained why he thinks those methods wouldn't work. But he said for the most part, the criticism is non-specific and it's along the lines of simply bombing more -- Boris and Christine.

ROMANS: Michelle Kosinski in Hawaii. I love those gigs every year.

SANCHEZ: So wonderful in following the president.

ROMANS: Whoever gets to go.

SANCHEZ: Donald Trump giving as good as he got from 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 is no proof of Clinton's claim and he called 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: And joining us to break down all the political back and forth, CNN Politics reporter, Eric Bradner.

Eric, good morning. If this is going to be a preview of the general election, things are going to get pretty nasty, right?

ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICS DIGITAL REPORTER: Yes, it's a little ironic for Donald Trump to be fact-checking someone else. It's sort of --

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: It's rare. It is entertaining and rare.

BRADNER: Right. It is. But he's not really wrong here.

ROMANS: Right.

BRADNER: There have been a number of high-ranking national security officials, including people in President Obama's administration, who have warned of the dangers of Donald Trump's comments, saying that they could be used as a recruiting tool. That his rhetoric does back up sort of the broader argument that ISIS is making. ISIS' appeal. But there aren't any specific incidents that we're aware of that have been publicly reported at least of what Hillary Clinton is describing here. So yes, I mean, if it's Clinton versus Trump, we can expect a nasty

general election.

ROMANS: Yes.

BRADNER: And this is just a preview of what's to come.

ROMANS: You could hear that debate, you could the Democrats positioning themselves as if Trump were the candidate -- were going to be nominee on the other side. And that seemed like a kind of new angle here. Until now they've been talking about Republicans. Now they're talking about Donald Trump. And even when you look at that debate and you look at the rivalry within these -- the frontrunners at least, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side, anyone looking for some fireworks there over the database-gate didn't get it. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Not only do I apologize to Secretary Clinton, and I hope we could work together on the independent investigation from day one.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So they're friends. So they're trying to keep the drama between Democrats and Republicans, not within the Democratic Party.

BRADNER: Right. Yes. Two losses to take from that. One is that Hillary Clinton is a candidate who's already focused on the general election. She's not looking past Bernie Sanders. But she does not want to get bogged down in a messy intra-party fight here when she is leading by almost a 2 to 1 margin in a lot of national polls. She's already sort of trying to set herself up to take on the Republican and doesn't see much to gain from this fight.

Now Bernie Sanders' strategy was revealing, too, because his campaign has been really sort of stoking this thing behind the scenes on Twitter, in conversations with reporters. That kind of thing. So what they seem to be saying is they see an advantage with, like, activists who are really tuned in to every little development here, but not with the broader general public. This is not something that they want Sanders himself pushing at the beginning of a national debate. They don't see a broad appeal in pushing this fight either. So yes, it was a kumbaya moment when a lot of people expected fireworks.

[05:10:09] SANCHEZ: Yes. It echoes Sanders' remarks during the first debate saying that nobody cares about Hillary Clinton's e-mails.

I want to get back to Donald Trump. President Obama speaking out kind of a new focus on the source of Trump support. Listen to what he said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Particularly blue-collar men have had a lot of trouble in this new economy where they are no longer getting the same bargain that they got when they were going to a factory and able to support their families on a single paycheck. You combine those things and it means that there's going to be potential anger, frustration, fear. Some of it justified, but just misdirected. And I think somebody like Mr. Trump is taking advantage of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Some would also say that a lot of Trump supporters are frustrated with government in general and they feel disconnected from Washington. How does Trump take advantage of this and does it get him to the White House?

BRADNER: Well, the argument that President Obama is making is actually a lot like what Jeb Bush has been saying on the campaign trail lately. Some people who are, I guess, trying to be nice to Trump supporters perhaps. Trying to explain his 40 percent in the polls in a way that sort of calculates in their brains. It's what they're saying. And it's -- that Trump is taking advantage of an opening created by just anger and resentment over a still lagging economy, and everything like that.

So Obama's rhetoric and Jeb Bush's rhetoric match up part of it. But no, a lot of Trump supporters are indeed, as you say, angry at government. It's not about how they're being treated by the economy. It's sort of raging against this machine that they have been angry at for decades. It's, you know, being tired of feeling like they need to be PC. Like they need -- to only say the things that are considered sort of appropriate. And Donald Trump will just say what's on his mind. And they love that about him. They love that he's willing to say the things about government that they have been thinking for a long time.

ROMANS: It's fascinating to hear the sitting president of the United States just talk so coolly about the man who calls him all kinds of things.

SANCHEZ: So many things, yes.

ROMANS: And has -- you know, stirred even conspiracies about this president, to hear what he thinks who these people are who are supporting Donald Trump.

So nice to see you, Eric. We'll talk to you again very, very soon. And again that was an interview with the president on NPR. So we just got that just a few minutes ago.

Thirteen minutes past the hour this morning. We are following breaking news this morning. A driver plowing through a crowded street on the Vegas Strip. We've got one dead in that incident. Dozens more injured. SANCHEZ: Plus a bomb scare on board an Air France flight. The flight

diverted after a suspicious device was found in the bathroom. New developments next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:16:43] ROMANS: 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 the suspect 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, six people are in critical condition. Officials say it appears to be intentional, they think. They're talking to this driver right now. They think this driver did it on purpose but it was not an act of terrorism.

SANCHEZ: 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. The four passengers are still in Kenya being questioned about a suspicious device found in the plane's lavatory.

CNN's David McKenzie is live for us in Nairobi with the latest.

David, it appears that this device was planted after the plane took off. What other information are you learning this morning?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, that's right. Good morning. You know, the sense is that this device was put there after the plane took off because they would have checked the plane very thoroughly particularly after the Paris attacks and the recent incidents with Air France airlines particularly in the U.S. So the question is, who did this? And they are still questioning people here in Nairobi according to the Interior Ministry and potentially could question those arriving in Paris who were taken late Sunday from Mombasa where that plane diverted dramatically in the middle of the night, and did an emergency landing after they found that device.

The Air France CEO angry saying to the public and to the press that it was a device, a box of some kind with a timer on it. Rigged to look like explosives. So some kind of horrible joke or hoax. But in fact, it contained no explosive material and so it wasn't actually a danger to those passengers.

But as I said, there have been several incidents. At least four in recent weeks where Air France planes have been diverted and of course, they have to take all precautions when something like this happens -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Had to have been a startling moment for the passengers. David McKenzie in Nairobi, thank you.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning. Will there be relief after that horrid stock market performance Friday? Well, it looks like it right now. Asian and Europe stock markets are higher. So are U.S. futures. Friday was the worst day since September. The Dow crumbing 367

points. Wall Street's enthusiasm over the Fed's interest rate decision simply vanished. Replaced by the drama over a bear market in oil.

This morning there are renewed hopes that crude may be bottoming out. It's about $35 a barrel right now.

"I will prevail." That's the message from this guy, Martin Shkreli, former CEO of a company called Turing Pharmaceuticals. Now he took to Twitter, saying, quote, "I am confident I will prevail. The allegations against me are baseless and without merit."

Let's talk about those allegations. Of course he is best known for jacking up the price of a drug used to treat AIDS patients. He raised it by 5,000 percent. He's now been indicted on criminal charges separately that he bilked another company out of millions of dollars. Officials say he ran that company, a company called Retrophin, like a Ponzi scheme, using its assets to pay off old unrelated debts. Shkreli faces up to 20 years in jail -- in prison rather if found guilty.

[05:20:05] And, you know, he's not talking to media. He gave one interview to the "Wall Street Journal" which is pretty instructive where he says that this wasn't a Ponzi scheme. He blasted the authorities saying that they just want to get him. They just want to get him. And that he also admits he needs to tone down his personality.

SANCHEZ: He probably does. He did an interview with a hip-hop blog a few weeks ago. Bombastic, kind of outrageous statements. He had to pay $5 million to even be on the street now. Maybe used some of that Wu Tang money he leased out the CD.

ROMANS: Right. Right.

SANCHEZ: It's $2 million for that CD.

ROMANS: He bought that. He bought that.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

ROMANS: $2 million.

SANCHEZ: A single owner.

ROMANS: Anyway. All right.

SANCHEZ: The undefeated Carolina Panthers blowing a huge lead against the Giants. Did the Panthers lose a shot at perfection and why did Odell Beckham lose his cool?

ROMANS: Andy Scholes has the morning's "Bleacher Report." That's coming up, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: The Carolina Panthers still undefeated after surviving a scare against the Giants yesterday. It was a wild game with fireworks on the field.

ROMANS: It sure is. Andy Scholes has more of this morning's "Bleacher Report." Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Yes, good morning, guys. You know, coming into this game, the match-up everyone was excited to watch was Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. against cornerback Josh Norman. And to say this was a battle probably an understatement. After nearly every snap, these two would basically just start brawling.

Check this out. The officials never put a stop to any of this. And on one play, Beckham runs at full speed and dives at Norman's head. That's probably going to drive hefty fine from the league. The Giants went out big in this game. They came storming back. And they would tie it on this Beckham touchdown reception late in the fourth. But Cam Newton who had five touchdown passes in this game said, I got this. He would lead the Panthers down for the game-winning field goal as Carolina wins it 38-35 to improve to 14-0. And after the game, Beckham and Norman, they were still trading jabs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH NORMAN, PANTHERS CORNERBACK: Like Michael Jackson, go around and dance, and (INAUDIBLE), and not be a football player and not train the way you're supposed to train. It goes to show. And I hope I pulled back the face of what the dude really is.

ODELL BECKHAM JR., GIANTS WIDE RECEIVER: We're competing. You're a competitor. I'm a competitor. We're always going to go at it. Everybody who's had played sports, you know, you're competitor. You're going to go as hard as you can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: The Cardinals are the champions of the NFC West after absolutely beating down the Eagles last night in a primetime game. David Johnson ran all over Philly, racking up three touchdowns, go along with 187 yards and this touchdown run right here very impressive. Cardinals now quietly 12-2. They can clinch a first round bye with a win over the Packers next week.

It was pretty much a must-win game for the Steelers yesterday against the Broncos. Things are not looking good in this one. Denver had a 17-point lead at one point. But the Steelers would score 21 unanswered with under four to go. Ben Roethlisberger going to find Antonio Brown right here for the game-winning score. The Steelers come back to win, 34-27. They are now 9-5.

And guys, they're going to be fighting with the Jets and Chiefs for the last two wild card spots in the AFC. It's going to be interesting last two weeks of the season with all these teams still fighting for playoff spots.

ROMANS: Awesome.

SANCHEZ: It's been wide open towards the end of the season. A lot of teams are still in the hunt. Now it's kind of narrowed down but still should be exciting.

SCHOLES: Yes.

ROMANS: All right, Andy, thanks for that.

SCHOLES: All right.

SANCHEZ: Breaking news this morning. A driver mowing down more than 30 pedestrians on the Las Vegas Strip. A deadly crash that investigators now believe was intentional.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)