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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Clinton And Sanders Battle In Iowa; Biden On Clinton's Struggles; Trump Takes Aim At Hillary; Explosion Rocks Istanbul's Main Tourist Hub; New Video Of "El Chapo" Raid; Biden Shares Story Of Obama's Generosity. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired January 12, 2016 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman. It's 30 minutes past the hour right now. A Democratic face-off deep into the night in Iowa. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders at a candidate forum in a state where the polls are surprisingly close this morning.
Hillary Clinton with just the tiny three-point lead in the latest survey, which perhaps explains why now she is going directly after her opponent on issues ranging from gun violence to electability.
CNN's Brianna Keilar has the very latest from Iowa.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both here in the Hawkeye state as the race tightens. In the polls, they are at a statistical tie. Something that Bernie Sanders is thrilled about and as you can imagine, the Clinton campaign is not.
Both candidates trying to draw a contrast with each other as the Brown and Black Presidential Forum where they answered questions about the unique challenges facing African-Americans and Latino-Americans.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clinton has been criticizing you. Have you noticed lately that she's been getting more aggressive with you?
BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is that?
SANDERS: I don't know. It could be --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You tell me.
SANDERS: -- it could be the inevitable candidate for the Democratic nomination may not be so inevitable today. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Final question. Can you say categorically tonight that Senator Bernie Sanders cannot win the presidency?
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Anybody can win. Who would have thought Donald Trump would be leading in national polls. I mean, for those of you ever thought about running for president, take heart.
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KEILAR: Guns have been playing very large in the Democratic race here in the final weeks. Hillary Clinton taking aim at Bernie Sanders over his more moderate record. Bernie Sanders, for his part, saying that he is open to reconsidering his stance on immunity for gun makers and for gun store owners should weapons they producers sell be used in a crime -- John and Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Brianna Keilar, thank you for that. Helping us break down the race is Zachary Wolf, managing editor of CNN Politics Digital. Good morning again, Zach. It's so nice to see you this morning up bright and early.
I want to start with something that Joe Biden said. I'm fascinated by this piece of sound from Gloria Borger's interview with the vice president talking about income inequity and authenticity of Bernie Sanders on income inequality. Listen to what he said.
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JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There used to be a basic bargain. If you contributed to the profitability of the enterprise, you used to share in the profits. That's been broken. Productivity is up and wages are (inaudible).
GLORIA BORGER, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary is talking about that now.
BIDEN: Well, it's relatively new for Hillary to talk about that. Hillary's focus has been on other things up to now. That's been Bernie's -- no one questions Bernie's authenticity on those issues.
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ROMANS: Zach, what do you make of that?
ZACHARY WOLF, MANAGING EDITOR, CNN POLITICS: It is befuddling. It's pretty interesting to hear the vice president talk that way about Bernie Sanders, you know, and especially since Clinton, you know, she hasn't been endorsed obviously by anyone in the White House and they will not endorse anybody, I don't think, in this primary fight.
But to hear him say something, you know, sort of layout her struggles. You wonder if Joe Biden is thinking about how he might have done things. He said recently he regretted not running for president.
Now the other thing at play here I think could be that the White House recently, President Obama had this "New York Times" op-ed, saying, he wouldn't campaign for anyone who didn't share his opinion on guns.
A lot of people thought that was maybe a message to Bernie Sanders who's sort of dialed back a little bit of his moderate stance on guns. So maybe they are giving a little bit to Bernie after sending that message on guns.
Maybe Joe Biden really does sort of -- you know, maybe he really is into what Bernie has been selling. It is interesting, though. I'll tell you that.
BERMAN: Yes, in Brooklyn, they have you saying, come on, Vice President Joe Biden. Can you say anything nice? Can you say anything nice about our candidate?
[05:35:06]One candidate they don't expect to say anything nice to Donald Trump who was on "The Tonight Show" last night. He was kind of stirring the pot talking about the close Democratic race right now. Listen.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think she is having a tough time. She has some guy who should be easy to beat. I mean, how can you lose like this? He really isn't even a Democrat. He said he is a socialist. I think he may be a step beyond a socialist. She's not doing well. She's about tied in Iowa. She's losing New Hampshire, which is sort of amazing.
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BERMAN: Donald Trump clearly enjoying himself, Zach, right now. You can talk about these new polls on the Republican side, too, but right now, Trump is the frontrunner by a lot nationally and by a lot in New Hampshire. He has a real shot in Iowa as well.
WOLF: That's kind of surprising actually. We thought it appeared from a lot of recent polling that Ted Cruz would surge in Iowa, but some recent polls out in the last couple days show Trump is back on top in that state.
You know, if he has a commanding performance in Iowa and a commanding performance in New Hampshire, you can see Donald Trump winning the first two states. From there, what's next?
BERMAN: Warm up the bus.
ROMANS: Warm up the bus. Look, Rand Paul will not be on the debate stage with the shakeup. You have to think three weeks out, is the Republican field going to win? I expect it to happen before now. It really hasn't happened. What is the next catalyst for the big Republican field? Is it debate? Not until voting in Iowa or New Hampshire? What is it, Zach?
WOLF: If you are in it at this point, I have to think that you are in it at least through the voting in those first two states, maybe Iowa, probably New Hampshire. You have to put in the time. You know crisscross the state. So if you can have keep going on fumes and whatever money you've got left, I think the people probably want to get there.
BERMAN: We are hearing that Jeb Bush is drawing bigger crowds now, though, right. He used to be drawing a couple of hundred people. Now he's getting 300 to 500 people. Is there a crowd, a Jeb momentum as they say, for Jeb Bush do you think?
WOLF: You know, our reporter, Brianna Keilar, noticed this that Jeb has had trouble getting crowds. It hasn't been represented in the polls recently. You know, the most natural fit for him is to make a play in New Hampshire. We will have to see if it happens. The crowds are a leading indicator. We have not seen the pudding yet, though.
BERMAN: Zach, let me ask about the state of the union. The White House says it is not laying out specific policies, talking in broader terms about bringing America together.
What I always find interesting at this time of election cycle is all of the candidates who will in the audience watching, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Bernie Sanders, all those senators and elected officials.
They'll be there watching. You know, I have to imagine people are watching for their reactions.
WOLF: Yes. I can guarantee you that the cut-away cameras will give us plenty to look at there. It is always fun to see them go. You know, no matter if you are running to replace the guy or not. Everybody shows up for the state of the union.
ROMANS: The new speaker of the House behind the left shoulder of the president.
BERMAN: One or the other.
ROMANS: Right shoulder on TV, the left shoulder in real life. All right, Zach, nice to see you. Thank you so much for getting up early for us.
WOLF: Thanks.
ROMANS: You can tune in for CNN's live coverage of the State of The Union tonight beginning at 7:00 with Erin Burnett "OUTFROUNT" followed by a special edition of "AC360" and President Obama's address at 9:00 pm. The Republican response given this year by South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
BERMAN: We do have breaking news this morning. A deadly explosion in Istanbul, Turkey. The province governor announced at least ten people are confirmed dead by a blast this morning at least 15 wounded. This happened in the area which is really the tourist hub of that city.
I want to bring in senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon, live on the phone for us right now from Istanbul. Arwa, what are you learning? ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): The explosion happened at about 10:15, 10:20 in the morning. Just about when this particular area would begin to see that tourism traffic. This is the very heart, the very center of Istanbul's historic tourist district.
It is among the top, if not the top sites and the areas for those who are visiting the country to go to. Now we do not yet know the nationalities of those who were killed. Local media is, however, reporting that there were some foreigners among those casualties.
[05:40:07]No claim of responsibility just yet. A lot of speculation, though, that this is an act of terrorism. This is a country that has faced sadly devastating attacks over the last seven months with 30 killed in the bombing along the Turkey/Syria border and the biggest attack with the suicide bombings that targeted a rally in the capital of Ankara.
Those attacks were according to the Turkish government were the work of ISIS. Since then, for the last few months if not longer, Turkish security forces have conducting massive rounded up hundreds of individuals with suspected ties to terrorism and also uncovering various suicide vests.
Turkey is in a precarious situation at this time. It is battling the spillover of the effects of ISIS. It is battling against the PKK, the pro-Kurdish separatists that are in the southeastern portion of the country.
And at this stage, though, we do not yet know exactly what caused the explosion, but this is going to most certainly be an issue if it is confirmed a terrorist attack, causing widespread fears.
In fact, Germany is already warning to stay away from crowded areas and stay away from tourist areas. I was saying this is a terrorist attack, given the location it took place.
It is not only going to devastate those who have loved ones here, but potentially for the country's tourism industry and that will have a devastating effect on the economy.
BERMAN: Arwa Damon for us in Istanbul this morning, the latest figure 10 people killed as many as 15 wounded in a bomb blast this morning in the Sultanahmet Square, one of the main tourist squares in that city. Arwa Damon, thanks so much.
ROMANS: All right, we will continue to follow that story this morning. Also following your money today, futures are lower at this hour. Global stock markets are mixed ahead of corporate earnings season.
Tonight, the president has his final chance at a big audience to tell the state of the economy. The presidents get too much credit and too much blame for what happens in the economy during their tenure.
That said, though, here is the Obama economy in three simple charts. First, unemployment. Jobless rates spiked above 10 percent during Obama's first year in office. Since then, it has been cut in half, more than 9 million jobs have been added.
Here is the issue. Working Americans are not making as much. Median household income has yet to rebound. What did rebound? The stock market, oh my, how it rallied. Since Obama took office, the S&P 500 is up 126 percent.
BERMAN: A lot.
ROMANS: Really is. All right, dramatic new video capturing that military raid on Mexican drug lord El Chapo's hideout. We have the pictures for you next.
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ROMANS: New video this morning of the bloody early morning raid that led to the capture of Mexican drug lord, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman.
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ROMANS: Mexican authorities storming El Chapo's safe house in Sinaloa, Mexico, guns blazing. The most wanted drug fugitive in the world captured hours later after somehow slipping away during the government operation. We get more from CNN's Martin Savidge.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Good morning, Christine. Late yesterday afternoon, a CNN crew was able to gain access to that safe house in Los Mochis. That belonged to El Chapo. Remember this is where the raid took place.
No surprise when they got inside, they found the place in absolute shambles because essentially it was a miniature war that took place as a result of the raid by Mexican authorities, but it was eventually successful.
One of the things that's very interesting about this video is that it reveals the escape mechanism by which El Chapo was able to get out of that house. Apparently in a closet, secreted small set of stairs that gets him down into the sewer system.
And the sewer system gets him away from the home. All of that is really kind of revealing as to the kind of detail and planning that he had.
Then we get to the Sean Penn interview. A lot of controversy about that. The Mexican authorities have said that interview was essential to the capture of El Chapo.
They don't go into great detail as to why, but it is clear the interview in October somehow led them in the direction of several months later, a safe house in January.
But still you have to give credit to the Mexican Special Forces. They made the entry and conducted it safely. They only had one slightly wounded soldier. There were five gunmen killed, but no one on the street, no innocent person was injured in any way -- John and Christine.
BERMAN: All right, thanks, Martin. Lawyers for Bill Cosby were asking a Pennsylvania judge to dismiss sex assault charges against the actor. They claim the DA violated the 10-year-old agreement not to prosecute Cosby in a case brought by Andrea Constand back in 2005.
Charges were filed against the comedian just weeks before the 12-year statute of limitations expired. The lawyers claimed the prosecutor used testimony. Cosby gave Constand's civil suit as the basis for the criminal charges.
ROMANS: Tonya Couch, mother of the so-called affluenza teen, is expected to be released this morning after posting bail in Texas. A judge lowered her bond from $1 million to $75,000.
Couch accused of helping her son flee to Mexico after he violated probation in a drunk driving crash that killed four people. Ethan Couch remains in custody in Mexico fighting efforts to bring him back to the U.S.
BERMAN: Let's take a look at what is coming up on "NEW DAY." Alisyn Camerota joins us now from Iowa.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, guys. Great to see you. It is zero degrees here in case you are wondering. I am in Ames, Iowa. Talking to voters ahead of the caucuses, now just 20 days away.
[05:50:03]Also what can we expect from the president at the state of the union tonight? We will get a preview from our White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.
Also lots of developments on the campaign trail, including a shakeup for the next GOP debate. Who makes the cut and who is threatening to boycott?
So on NEW DAY, we will speak with Senator Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren, and also Republican candidates, Ben Carson and John Kasich. We will see you at the top of the hour.
BERMAN: Big day. John Kasich surging in the polls in New Hampshire. All right, Alisyn, thanks so much.
ROMANS: This man whispered potentially as Hillary Clinton's running mate. For now, he is happy being President Obama's housing chief. Why he thinks 2016 is a strong year for home buyers when we get an EARLY START on your money next.
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BERMAN: New this morning, a rare glimpse into the deep personal relationship between Vice President Joe Biden and President Obama. The vice president sat down with CNN's Gloria Borger and opened up about the death of his son, Beau. Biden says when Beau had to step down as Delaware's attorney general, the family faced financial concerns. The president offered to step in.
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JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was having lunch with the president and he is the only guy other than my family that I can confide in everything that was going on with Beau because I felt responsibility to do that so he knew where I was in my thinking.
I said, you know, my concern is if Beau resigns, he has no -- there's nothing to fall back on, his salary. I said I worked it out. Jill and I will sell the house. We will be in good shape. He said don't sell the house. Promise me you won't sell the house.
He will be mad at me for saying this. I'll give you the money. Whatever you need. I'll give you the money. Promise me. I don't think we will have to. He said promise me.
[05:55:09]Then I'll never forget the eulogy he delivered for Beau. When Beau had his stroke and it turned out it was the glioblastoma. He came running down the hallway. He said Joe, is he OK?
His love of family and my love of family. His two children are my granddaughters are best friends. His number two daughter and my girls vacation together. It is personal. It's family.
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ROMANS: All right, thanks Gloria for that.
Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning. Stock futures now pointing higher after a pop in European stock markets. Asia finished mixed overnight. Oil prices tumbling near $30 a barrel right now.
New this morning, Hillary Clinton wants to separate multi-millionaires from their money. Her newest proposal is a fair share surcharge on top earners. Here's how it works.
Americans making at least $5 million a year, would pay a 4 percent additional tax on that income. All other taxpayers unaffected. The Clinton camp says it is expansion on the Buffet rule named after Warren Buffet who blames the tax code for his rate lower than his secretary.
One whispered running mate for Hillary Clinton if she secures the nomination, President Obama's housing secretary, Julian Castro. He was on the late show with Stephen Colbert last night, but he sat down with me first. He told me GOP candidates have alienated Hispanics and people of color.
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JULIAN CASTROL, SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT: All of the people from backgrounds, wherever they are from, who hear about a deportation force and that goes contrary to who we are as Americans. We have been a nation of immigrants. Yes, if some people came over here and they didn't do it the right way, they are undocumented, then that needs to be dealt with. You need to deal with it in a way that is humane.
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ROMANS: And he went on, John Berman, to layout the immigration proposal and minimum wage proposal. A lot of things are in lock step with Hillary Clinton. He knocked Donald Trump his ideas of competing with China like a trade war. We need to create good jobs in the middle. Talking tough with China is not the way.
BERMAN: He in the keynote. He is rumored as a VP pick from before Hillary Clinton announced she was running. This is something he is keenly aware of.
ROMANS: He is aware of it. He is flattered and focused on the job he has right now. He said it is too early to talk about vice presidential picks. We are here in the early days. Not so early anymore. I asked about Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. I asked him whether their policies appeal to Latino voters. He said no. Not about the person but the policies.
BERMAN: All right, a deadly bomb blast in Turkey this morning. Breaking news from there, "NEW DAY" starts right now.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the polls, they are at a statistical tie.
SANDERS: The inevitable candidate for the Democratic nomination may not be so inevitable today.
TRUMP: If I win and she wins, it's going to be the largest voter turnout in the history of the country.
CLINTON: He was basically a Democrat before he was a Republican.
BIDEN: If Donald Trump gets the nomination and wins the election, he will regret having said the things he has said and done.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I don't think I have ever been more optimistic about a year ahead than I am right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president will deliver an unconventional speech tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Instead of a laundry list of priorities, President Obama will instead outline his vision for the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alabama on top of the college football world.
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CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. Chris and Michaela are in New York. I'm in Iowa this morning where later I will interview Hillary Clinton.
The Democratic frontrunner battling it out in the Hawkeye state with Bernie Sanders as the two are locked in a virtual tie here. Sanders saying the Clinton campaign is, quote, "in serious trouble."
He insists that the inevitable candidate is no longer inevitable and she is stepping up attacks against him because she realizes she might lose. We will talk to her about that.
We will talk to Vice President Joe Biden and Republican presidential candidates, Ben Carson and John Kasich, about the 2016 race and President Obama's final state of the union address tonight.
So I will have more on all of that in a moment, but first we want to go back to New York and Chris where we understand there is breaking news.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we'll be back with you a second, Alisyn --
