Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

The President Defends Gun Control; South Korea Heightens "Defensive Posture"; Terror Fears in Paris; Record Cold Predicted for Seahawks-Vikings. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired January 08, 2016 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:01] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: So, you are telling me you will not buy one Powerball ticket?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I was going to ask John Berman if he wanted to go in on an office pool, and he said he never goes in an office pool. He has done stories about the lawyers who litigate office pools. So, he's not going to -- so, I'm not going to. I'm just a Debbie Downer.

KOSIK: All right. EARLY START continues right now.

(MUSIC)

ROMANS: Imaginary fiction. President Obama in the live town hall. President Obama slamming opponents of gun safety in a live CNN town hall debate. Did he make his case for gun violence and convince law-abiding Americans, no, he's not going to take your guns away?

KOSIK: South Korea taking its first serious actions against North Korea after the reclusive regime claims it tested a hydrogen bomb. How will North Korea react?

ROMANS: New terror fears in Paris this morning. A knife- wielding man found with an ISIS flag is filled outside a police station. Important new evidence just uncovered in a Brussels apartment.

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

KOSIK: Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik. I'm in for John Berman. It's Friday, January 8th. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East.

ROMANS: President Obama taking on gun control opponents face- to-face at a town hall last night right here on CNN last night. The president answered questions from a gun executive, a sheriff, a rape survivor and a widow who all oppose his executive actions on gun violence announced this week.

The president pushed back against the claim that he wants to somehow take guns away from law abiding Americans. He called that an imaginary fiction. The president also took questions from people who agree with his plan to expand background checks. Among them, gun safety advocate Mark Kelly, the husband of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords who was gravely wounded in the 2011 shooting.

KOSIK: The president's campaign for gun safety continues in this morning's "New York Times", with an op-ed that looked ahead to election season. And in it, he says, quote, "I will not campaign for, vote for or support any candidate, even in my own party, who does not support common-sense gun reform."

All the Democrats running for the White House support stricter gun laws. So, the statement seems aimed at Democrats running in tight races for Congress who may want the president's support.

For the latest, let's bring in CNN's Jim Acosta at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Alison, President Obama confronted critics of his executive actions on gun control at a CNN town hall last night. Gun rights supporters told the president they're worried those new executive actions aimed at expanding the nation's background check systems could prevent law- abiding citizens from buying firearms.

The president insisted his moves won't interfere with those rights and the president went off on the nation's top gun lobby, the NRA, accusing the group of skipping the town hall so it can continue to mislead gun owners about his record. He also blamed the NRA for skyrocketing gun sales around the country. Here's what he had to say.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our position is mischaracterized. And by the way, there's a reason why the NRA is not here. They are just down the street. And since this is the main reason they exist, you'd think that they'd be prepared to have a debate with the president.

ACOSTA: The president insisted he supports the right to bear arms in the Second Amendment. The president also recounted his meeting with the family members of the children killed in Sandy Hook school shooting three years ago, adding it was the only time he'd seen the Secret Service cry on duty -- Christine and Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: All right. Jim Acosta, thanks for that.

And while the president was making a case for tightening gun restrictions, Donald Trump was promising to get rid of some. At a rally in Burlington, Vermont, Trump vowed to get rid of gun free zones at schools and military bases. He called gun free zones bait for sickos with weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need our guns. We need the guns. Whether we like it or not, we need our guns.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: OK. Keep in mind that Burlington is Bernie Sanders' territory. Not only is Vermont is the state he represents in the Senate, he was once mayor of Burlington itself, which made it challenging turf for a Trump event.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Alison, Donald Trump is used to loud and raucous rallies, but the one in Burlington last night certainly topped most of them. Throughout the evening, he was interrupted by protesters again and again. Many of them were wearing Bernie Sanders shirts.

Take a listen to some of the action.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not Vermont! Trump ruins Vermont.

(CHANTING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get Trump out!

ZELENY: It was clear as the evening went on, Donald Trump was agitated how long it took security to remove some of the protesters.

TRUMP: OK, security, move a little faster please. Thank you, security.

[05:05:01] Get them out of here.

ZELENY: But after most of the protesters left, Donald Trump talked about guns. He said he is against gun free zones in America. He also delivered sharp criticism of his Republican rivals, as well as the Democratic candidates.

From here, Donald Trump goes to South Carolina on Friday for another rally and kicks up his campaigning in Iowa over the weekend -- Christine and Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you for that.

Let's talk more about the political action. Let's talk about last night's town hall. Let's bring in CNN digital political reporter Tal Kopan.

I want to start with the president's town hall, remarkable, sitting down and answering questions from critic, people who don't agree with him. Explaining why this whole -- he calls it imaginary fiction, this idea that the president is somehow, the Democrats are going to somehow come and take away your guns.

Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We put out a proposal that is common sense, modest, does not claim to solve every problem, is respectful of the Second Amendment. And the way it is described is we are trying to take away everybody's guns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Do you think he will convince people who are afraid of tyranny from their government, that expanding background checks, more money to treat people who are mentally, that that does not someone is not coming in the dead of night to steal your gun away from you?

TAL KOPAN, CNN DIGITAL POLITICS REPORTER: Well, you have to remember who President Obama was speaking to specifically with the town hall. I'm not sure who he was really trying to convince were people utterly sure that the government is taking their guns away. But he really was presenting a reasonable demeanor. He kept very calm. He seemed very smart about the issues.

And so, who he was speaking to was the undecided voter in the middle who sort of may see the points on both sides and looking for someone to convince them that they are the reasonable voice in the room. So, I'm not sure, as he put them, conspiracy theorists. I'm not sure he reached those individuals.

ROMANS: Right.

KOPAN: But people who might have been on the fence, who might have been swayed by the rhetoric on the other side, that's who really trying to compel.

ROMANS: I thought it was interesting, the back and forth with Taya Kyle whose husband Chris Kyle.

KOPAN: Absolutely.

ROMANS: You know, it's just the sad story, the American sniper. I mean, she is someone who -- you know, she wants to make sure law abiding citizens, not conspiracy theorists, but law abiding citizens do not have any restrictions on their guns.

And he talked about how it's like seatbelts and air bags. It is about gradual safety. This is a consumer product that is a fact of life and should have safety measures. Not gun control. Sometimes you hear gun control and people have a set of ideas, but gun safety, Tal.

KOPAN: Yes. Yes. You know, it is something you don't see a president do very often. Not just President Obama, but here was an instance where he had no control over the people who were asking him questions. I mean, he had to interact with people on the other side of the issue from them. He took another question from the woman who survived a brutal sexual assault and asked also, why she shouldn't be allowed to have guns for her protection.

And again, as you mentioned, he said that's not what I'm trying to do. I don't believe you shouldn't have a gun for your protection, what I want to do is implement sort of common sense modest proposals. Those are words he used over and over again. It is a message he is trying to drive home.

But all he is looking for is something akin to, as you mentioned cars and other consumer products. He is really trying to tamp down some of the pitch rhetoric that accompanies this debate.

KOSIK: So, how do you think this will play into the upcoming election? There's a new CNN/ORC poll showing 67 percent of Americans polled favor the president's action. But when you break it down by party, 85 percent Democrats support, 51 percent of Republicans support.

How much do these numbers surprise you?

KOPAN: Actually, they don't surprise me quite that much. We have seen in polling for some time now that when you break it down into certain measures, there is broad support for some of the things that have been proposed over the years.

What is really interesting about poll numbers in this particular area is they don't seem to translate into legislative action very easily. And even though it seems you could make a compelling case that 2/3 majority of the American public support something like this. It hasn't given legislatures the cover they feel they need to push something like this through.

So, as much as I'm not surprised by the poll numbers and they seem to be quite strong, I'm also not convinced anything is going to change in Washington. This is a debate that has raged and raged and not calmed down despite a lot of people's best efforts.

KOSIK: And then you have, of course, this big dichotomy unfolding as President Obama was discussing his executive order on CNN. You had Donald Trump rallying against gun control and gun free zones and his rally in Vermont. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know what a gun free zone is to a sicko?

[05:10:02] That's bait. That's like gun free zone.

I will get rid of gun free zones on schools and -- you have to, and on military bases. My first day, it gets signed, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: It's bait for sickos. It is interesting. We have looked at the research on those gun free zones. They go back to the '90s. Joe Biden, then a senator, introduced some of the legislation, signed by George H.W. Bush, bipartisan support for keeping schools in particular free of guns.

KOPAN: Yes, this is something you heard from Donald Trump before. Not in quite such colorful language, but it is something you heard him say and others on the right as well. This notion that people are sitting ducks is one of the words you hear if they don't have guns to protect themselves.

And, you know, he said after the Paris attack and other attacks, if only people in the room who are under attack had had weapons. It is something the left and President Obama disregarded last night as well and said it is not necessarily something that automatically makes people safer. And, of course, this legislation is designed to prevent people from doing things like bringing guns to school and into churches. Now people like Donald Trump are questioning whether it actually achieves that goal.

I think the American people aren't decided on how they feel like that goal will be achieved, which is part of why you don't see a lot of action on the issue.

KOSIK: All right. Tal Kopan, thanks so much for waking up knowing you sat and watched that town hall last night.

ROMANS: She's had a long night. Thank you so much, Tal. We will talk to you again very soon.

KOPAN: Thank you.

KOSIK: And breaking overnight: tensions on the Korean peninsula ratcheting up. South Korea heightening defensive posture with the border near the North and increasing its cyber security defense following the North's claim it tested an H-bomb. Also overnight, South Korea renewing its propaganda broadcasts, blasting messages across the DMZ on loud speakers. It's something the North regards as an act of war.

Let's go to CNN's Will Ripley in Pyongyang.

You just got back from a tour of the North Korean science center. What did you learn there?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting, Alison, because this science center just opened up a few days ago. And then, of course, this week, we have the announcement that North Korea's fourth nuclear test in the last 15 years. I was talking to people, students mostly, who are doing research at the science center. I asked what they thought about the nuclear test and universally, everybody was very enthusiastic, saying that they were overjoyed by their accomplishment of their country.

When you walk through the science center, which has the centerpiece of the whole thing is a missile in the center of it. The missile that was launched in 2012 to send a satellite in orbit, but some in the international community may have developed to carry mini nuclear warheads. There were replicas of North Korean tanks and planes and helicopters, various weapons throughout the research center. There was a nuclear section in the library.

You can see why people feel so proud about their nation's achievement because this is something that they are taught as an important thing and, in fact, a vital thing for their country to do. I talked to a young medical student who said if North Korea didn't have nuclear weapons, he believes, the country would be invaded by the United States. So, that is the mindset. Still waiting to see how the North will respond to those provocations, those loud speakers blasting propaganda across the border, sending a very different message.

KOSIK: We will see what the fallout could be.

Will Ripley, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. An early start on your money this Friday morning.

The Dow makes history, posting the worst four-day start to the year ever. The Dow dropped 392 points on Thursday. It is now down more than 5 percent for the start of the year. Something we have never seen before.

Both the Dow and NASDAQ in official correction for them. That means there's a 10 percent drop from the highs last summer. The S&P 500 has a way to go.

Futures are rather higher. Markets in Europe are up. Asia finished mixed.

This is a relief, folks. What you are seeing on your screen is a relief from the selling we have seen all week. China has ditched circuit breakers that halted trading twice this week. The rule was meant to calm investors down after a steep drop. It's like a speed bump. But really, it just added to the uncertainty around the globe. Some analysts are unhappy with the Chinese regulators. They say regulators, they just don't have a plan to shore up the market there just yet.

KOSIK: Let's see if the green arrows carry over to the close.

ROMANS: Yes.

KOSIK: All right. Increased security in Paris this morning after a knife wielding man was shot dead outside a police station on the anniversary of the "Charlie Hebdo" massacre. Is French security prepared to handle an increase in lone-wolf style terror attacks?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:18:08] ROMANS: Eighteen minutes past the hour. Welcome back to EARLY START.

We have breaking news this morning, new information, brand new information about the November Paris attacks. Prosecutors in Belgium revealing the fingerprints of a Paris fugitive Salah Abdeslam were found in a Brussels apartment. All this on top of the terror attack yesterday on the Paris police station, a man brandishing a meat cleaver. He tried to enter that station just as the country was marking the anniversary of the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks. He was shot and killed by police.

I want to get more from CNN international correspondent Erin McLaughlin. She is live for us in Paris. I want to start with this breaking information out of Brussels, fingerprints of France's most wanted fugitive found in an apartment. What can you tell us?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Christine.

Information coming from the Brussels prosecutor this morning. According to the prosecutor, on December 10th, authorities raided a house inside Brussels. In that house, they found what authorities have characterized as a bomb-making factory that they believe was used to plan and carry out the Paris attacks on November 13th of last year.

Inside that house, they found explosives, specifically TATP, which is highly explosive, three handmade suicide belts, as well as other materials, including perhaps most interestingly, the fingerprint of the eighth Paris attacker, Salah Abdeslam, the man who has been on the run ever since the attacks have been carried out. The area in which this house was found, all this material was found, is the last known location of Salah Abdeslam. It will be interesting to see if authorities can determine the last time he was in that actual apartment.

[05:20:04] Remember, on November 13th, that is the date which the attacks were carried out. They raided this house on December 10th. So, authorities are still looking for him.

Also, of course, here in France, this morning still trying to identify the attacker from yesterday's failed attack on the police station. Authorities here characterizing that as a lone wolf attack -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Still, a lot of questions about that attack yesterday. Thank you so much for that, Erin McLaughlin.

KOSIK: Two Iraqi refugees living in the U.S. are in federal custody this morning, facing terrorism related charges. The arrests, one in Houston, and the other in Sacramento, do not appear to be directly related. Authorities say the Texas man is charged with trying to provide material support to ISIS. Both are accused of lying to immigration officials about alleged ties to terror groups. Federal officials say there were also arrests in Milwaukee related to one of the suspects.

ROMANS: In Oregon, a sheriff plans to meet with protesters trying to resolve peacefully resolved the armed occupation of a building on a national wildlife refuge. Harney County sheriff David Ward, he met with the leader of the group Thursday, offering them safe passage out of the county, but Ammon Bundy refused. The group took over the building last weekend. They're protesting they say federal land use rules and they have shown no signs of leaving. Oregon's governor says they, quote, "need to decamp immediately and be held accountable."

KOSIK: Sunday's playoff match up in Minnesota between the Vikings and Seahawks is expected to be one of the coldest in NFL history. Andy Scholes has the latest in the bleacher report coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:25:05] ROMANS: All right. The NFL playoffs will kickoff this weekend and that game between the Vikings and Seahawks is expected to be one of the coldest games in league history.

KOSIK: Andy Scholes, four degrees? Is that what the temperature is going to be? Tell me more in this morning's bleacher report.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It's going to be worse. It's going to be worse.

Good morning, guys.

You have to be a big time Vikings fan if you are going to the game. It's going to be below zero right before kickoff on Sunday.

Let's take a look at the forecast for this game because it is ridiculous. It's only going to be 3 degrees when the game kicks off. And look at wind chill, negative 18. It's going to be below zero for the majority of the game likely. Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, well, you know, he wants fans to be there. He wants the fans to be loud and he has an idea of how they can stay warm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ZIMMER, VIKINGS HEAD COACH: We need our fans to make an advantage for us. They need to be loud and make sure they have some tailgating before they come out so they stay warm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now, the Vikings are going to try to help out the fans as much as they can this weekend. They're going to help them stay warm pre-game by letting them hang out in a nearby arena. They're also going to give out free hand warmers and free coffee.

All right. It looks like Coldplay will have company in the halftime show. According to multiple reports, Beyonce will join the band during their performance, presumably to sing the song "Hymn for the Weekend", which she is featured in. Beyonce was the headliner for Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans. Bruno Mars is also reportedly going to join Coldplay on stage for a song or two. He headlines Super Bowl XLVIII in New York.

All right. Celtics head coach Brad Stevens did not attend his team's game against the bulls. In order to be with one of his former players battling cancer. Andrew Smith diagnosed with lymphoma in 2014. Smith played for Stevens during Butler's final four run in 2010 and 2011.

All right. The last time we saw Will Ferrell on the sports team, he was playing for ten major league teams on the same day. Now, he is new the co-owner of the soccer team coming to Los Angeles, and this is for real.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL FERRELL, JOINS L.A. FOOTBALL CLUB OWNERSHIP GROUP: This is not a joke. I have never been a part owner of anything. So I'm still part owner of an '84 Toyota Camry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: The team is going to start playing in 2018, guys. And can you imagine the inspirational halftime speeches that Will Ferrell will be able to go down there and give to this team?

KOSIK: I would love to be a fly on the wall.

ROMANS: I love it when he says this is not a joke. Everyone bursts out laughing. He could say it is Friday and everyone would start laughing.

Will Ferrell is a very funny, guy. Good luck to him.

All right. Thanks for that, Andy Scholes.

President Obama defending his executive action on guns in a live CNN town hall. Did he make his case? Did he convince law abiding Americans his plan is not to take away your guns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)