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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Sanders Hits Clinton On Wall Street; Clinton Embraces Obama Legacy at Debate; Clinton Attacks Sanders on Obamacare; Iran Frees Detained Americans, Enters World Market; Three Americans Missing in Iraq; Flint Water Crisis; Search For Marines After Helicopters Crash; Space-X Failed Rocket Landing. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired January 18, 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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[05:31:38] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders ignore the republicans, save their attacks for each other in the final debate before early state voting begins.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Iran releasing three Americans in a prisoner swap as sanctions are lifted and that country enters the world marketplace. We are live where the three Americans are this morning. Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is 31 minutes past the hour. So two weeks from today, the first actual votes of the 2016 presidential contest will be cast in Iowa. And overnight, the last head-to-head face-off between the democratic candidates. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, even Martin O'Malley went at each other in exchanges. They got downright testy. Clinton is trying to blunt a late surge from Sanders in the polls with her attacks on gun control and health care and an embrace to President Obama's legacy.

More now this morning from senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, a lively democratic debate on Sunday night in Charleston, South Carolina. The final debate before democratic voters make their choices in this primary race. Just two weeks from today, the Iowa caucuses, the New Hampshire primary just one week after that. So Bernie Sanders was trying to show that he is in contention for this fight. There is no doubt he is locked in a close race with Hillary Clinton in Iowa, in New Hampshire, but he was on the defensive throughout the debate on health care, on guns. But here are a couple of exchanges that caught my attention throughout the debate.

Senator Sanders likes to point out that he believes Hillary Clinton is too close to wall street.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't take money from big banks. I don't get personal speaking fees from Goldman Sachs. What I would do -- what I would do is understand that when you have three out of the four largest banks today bigger than they were when we bailed them out because they were too big to fail, when you have the six largest financial institutions having assets 60 percent of the GDP of America --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: And by pointing out that Secretary Clinton received speaking fees from Goldman Sachs, boy, that is music to the ears of Senator Sanders' supporters. HE is trying to make the argument she is too close to Wall Street. But Secretary Clinton had an argument of her own to use against Bernie Sanders. It was all about President Obama. She was trying to embrace the president so tightly throughout the whole evening. She said that the reason that she is supporting her health care plan to defend his legacy. She had some strong words for Bernie Sanders about his own questionable support for President Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And President Obama has led our country out of the great recession. Senator Sanders called him weak, disappointing. He even, in 2011, publicly sought someone to run in a primary against President Obama. Now, I personally believe that President Obama's work to push through the Dodd-Frank bill and then to sign it was one of the most important regulatory schemes we had since the 1930s.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Now of course, Secretary Clinton is trying to keep some questions and concerns and doubts alive in the minds of voters, particularly from South Carolina, particularly African-American voters, by saying that Bernie Sanders did not support the president. Well that is one of the strongest things you can say. Now Bernie Sanders came back and said, look, of course I supported this president. Of course I support President Obama. Those were just a couple of exchanges in the course of the two-hour debate. Of course, Martin O'Malley was also on stage there. He is struggling in the polls. So this is a tight contest between Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, both of whom will be campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire this week, two weeks before the voting begins. John and Christine --

BERMAN: All right, Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much. Let us discuss this event and who won.

Joining us now, CNN politics reporter Eric Bradner. He is live from an undisclosed location in Charleston, South Carolina. Eric, I think the people waking up this morning want to know the answer to this question. Who won the debate? Is it easy to say?

ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: It's not easy to say. Hillary Clinton is great in debates. She always performs well in the venute, but Bernie Sanders, I guess you have to call Bernie Sanders a winner because Clinton wasn't really able to stop his momentum. This is turning into a race where the dynamic is purity versus pragmatism. Sanders is representing sort of the anger of an electorate that's eager to throw out just about everything that has anything to do with Washington and how things are done now. People who are liberal and even dissatisfied with some of the policy achievements of President Obama who want an even more progressive champion. So Sanders still looks strong. Iowa and New Hampshire are his best states. Those are the places where the electorate is whiter and more liberal. There's still a question about whether he can expand his appeal more broadly but he definitely didn't do anything to lose any of the momentum that we have seen him pick up in the polls over the last few days.

ROMANS: Eric, we're showing some of the polls now. Democrat's choice for nominee nationally, Clinton and Sanders and how they've been tightening on that. But let's look at another poll. South Carolina, African-Americans, Clinton, 82 percent, Sanders, 11. You know, there is early voting in just a couple of weeks. But then, is Hillary Clinton looking beyond these first two states and looking at South Carolina?

BRADNER: Yes, absolutely. She is trying to build a firewall and South Carolina would be that. Iowa and New Hampshire are, as I said, whiter and more liberal than the democratic electorate overall. South Carolina is the first state that will start to have the sort of African-American population that a lot of these other states will have. And Nevada, of course, is another early voting state with a lot of Latinos. And so Hillary Clinton's strategy is to definitely play up her connections with President Obama who polls exceptionally well among minority voters and basically remind everyone in the democratic electorate of her time in the Obama administration.

The thought there is that that will sort of inoculate her against these attacks from Bernie Sanders. She's looking at South Carolina as a firewall and she's also feeling pretty good about the state of her campaign after those first two states, knowing that the broader electorate does not really look like Iowa and New Hampshire.

BERMAN: Eric, I like your analysis of purity versus pragmatism not just because it's an alliteration but also because it paints this picture of how Hillary Clinton is trying to thread this needle right now and seem interesting and exciting without, while painting contrast with Sanders. In health care last night, after Bernie Sanders released details of his Medicare for all plan, she essentially said the problem with the idea is it's not politically expedient. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I have to say I'm not sure whether we're talking about the plan you just introduced tonight or we are talking about the plan you introduced nine times in the congress but the fact is we have the affordable care act. That is one of the greatest accomplishments of President Obama, of the democratic party, and of our country. Now, there are things we can do to improve it, but to tear it up and start over again pushing our country back into that kind of a contentious debate, I think is the wrong direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: She is not flat out saying she never supported a single payer health care plan, because she sort of did. What she's essentially saying is, we just can't do that now so Bernie's idea's a bad idea.

BRADNER: Yes, absolutely. She can't bash the idea of medicare for all because according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll from December, 81 percent of democrats actually like that idea. So what she's saying is, she's sort of cloaking herself, again, in President Obama, and saying, look, here's what we've been able to achieve. It's not possible to really go any further than that and so, she's casting Sanders as sort of this pie-in-the-sky liberal and saying that, you know, look, if Obama couldn't get it done, what makes you think you could? So yes, it sort of plays into the strategy of really connecting herself with President Obama who is popular with democrats everywhere including African-American voters and even the most liberal members of the democratic party.

BERMAN: Eric Bradner, in Charleston for us. Thanks so much, Eric.

BRADNER: Thank you.

BERMAN: Happening now, three Americans freed by Iran, they are on their way home. Our Brian Stelter has been working the story all weekend, speaking with the media sources who made this all happen, have been following and in contact with these people. We'll have much more right after the break.

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ROMANS: Breaking overnight, three Americans released as part of a prisoner swap with Iran. They have landed at a U.S. air base in Germany putting them one step closer to home. Among them, journalist Jason Rezaian, the Tehran bureau chief for the Washington Post. He was held by Iran for almost a year and a half. Two Washington Post editors flew to Germany to meet Rezaian.

As they waited for that to happen, they spoke to CNN's Brian Stelter. He joins me now with the very latest. These are two editors who, for some time, Brian, have been passionate advocates for their reporter. Imagine trying to put a newspaper to bed every single day knowing that one of your bureau chiefs is in prison. In Evin prison, a notoriously horrible place to be.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: It is a profound example of the risks involved in gathering the news every day. For Jason Rezaian, he did not realize he would be at risk in Tehran. He had taken this job, he had gotten married in 2013. Then in July of 2014, he and his wife were taken into custody by the Iranians. She was later released, he was held for a year and a half, and this is the day the Washington Post has been waiting for for a year and a half. I think it's notable that every one of these prisoners was there for a different reason, doing something different. One was a pastor, this man was a journalist, and each of them had different allies, different lobbyists, different supporters behind them. In Jason Rezaian's case, it was the Washington Post. And here's what the editors Marty Baron and Doug Jehl told me about what it was like to know that he was finally free.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via telephone): I'm relieved but I'm also elated. I remember the morning a year and a half ago when a scratchy cell phone call told me Jason and his wife had been taken from their apartment the night before. We never could have believed that this nightmare could go on so long. But I'm just overjoyed that it's about to be over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Now Christine, they have not been able to actually see him yet, but they've been able to talk to him on the phone overnight. They've also been able to see his family members. So there's a moment here where they'll finally, maybe today, maybe tomorrow, once the medical evaluation is complete, actually be able to see their reporter. And the same is true for the other prisoners. Their families are also in Germany waiting to see their loved ones.

ROMANS: There was so little transparency in the legal process there. For a long time, they didn't know what the charges were. What were the charges? Then there was a guilty verdict, but no one knew what that meant or what the sentence would be. And I think it shows such a profound culture clash. What journalists do is they try to shed light onto power and authority and ask questions that can be uncomfortable to totalitarian regimes. And what we may consider journalism, the Iranians may consider, frankly, espionage.

STELTER: Interference or spying or espionage, these charges were espionage related. There was never any proof of them. The so-called proof that was presented was ridiculous, it was nonsensical. But these chargers were presented. He was convicted in secret back in October and then he wasn't told for how long he would be in prison. Well, now we know these 14-month long secret prisoner swap talks were going on the whole time and that on the same day of the implementation of the nuclear deal, these men would be released. But of course, he didn't know that sitting in that jail cell.

And the editors told me that they were concerned this would take many, many years before he would be released.

ROMANS: Many, many years. And he has, I think high blood pressure.

STELTER: Yes, there were times where he needed medication. There were times where he was held in solitary confinement. The Washington Post was never able to visit him. So that photo we just showed on the screen was the

first photo we'd ever seen of him since had been detained. And there was concern about the condition of each of these men. It seems, however, they are walking on their own, they've been able to get to the hospital in Germany. So they're making their first steps back into normal life. And I think now the steps will be having some private time with their families before saying anything publicly.

ROMANS: A lot of journalists have been pointing out that, don't congratulation the Iranians for releasing them. They never should have been taken in the first place. It's a reminder that we are elated that they are home, but also a reminder of the dangers of doing your job in Iran.

STELTER: Yes, for Jason Rezaian, who was really enjoying his beat there in Iran, not sure if he'll be back covering that story anytime soon. But this is, at least, a happy ending for the Washington Post and for his family.

ROMANS: And for him too. We can't wait. We will continue to watch all the developments and we know you will too. Thanks, Brian Stelter. Three Americans have gone missing in Iraq. There are unconfirmed reports they were kidnapped by gunmen from their Baghdad neighborhood. It is believed they are contractors described as Iraqis who became American citizens. The state department confirming it is working with government authorities in Baghdad to locate these missing Americans.

I want to bring in senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh. He's tracking developments live from Beirut. Nick --

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well at a time when we're hearing of American citizens being released by Iran, here we have a part of Baghdad which, the government is pretty close to the Iranian government, controlled mostly by Shia militia which are close to Iran, in this area, during Friday afternoon, these three individuals, two being dual nationality, Iraqi/American, and one being a fully fledged American, went missing. Now some are using the term kidnap. That's not what you hear from U.S. officials. They say, simply, they're working hard to try, tow work with Iraqi officials to get these people back to freedom but Iraqi security officials talk about how these men, these individuals were in an apartment block in the Dora neighborhood in Southeastern Baghdad. Unclear quite what they were doing there.

They're said to be contractors and that could mean a whole scope of things from the fact they work on security, perhaps there in a private capacity, or involved in communications, even utility supply. They were taken away by a specific number of vehicles in a convoy by unknown armed individuals. That's as little as we know at this stage. The timing, of course, will make some people think it may be playing into this broader standoff between hard liners in Iran and U.S. authorities or it could simply be a local dispute.

But in these first hours of kidnapping, minimal information is often put out. It's the most sensitive time to try and negotiate somebody's release. That's what U.S. officials are urgently doing right now with their Iraqi counterparts. And I think everybody will want to see this episode resolved as quickly as possible.

ROMANS: All right, Nick Paton Walsh for us this morning in Beirut. Thank you for that, Nick. 50 minutes past the hour. Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY". Michaela Pereira joins me this morning. Hi, Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Hello, Christine Romans. Happy Monday to you. It is a Monday and it feels like it, doesn't it? The democratic presidential candidates going toe-to-toe in that final debate before the Iowa caucuses. On "NEW DAY" we're going to look at whether Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders did enough to convince voters that they are the right choice. And you were just talking there about those Americans now free from Iranian prison. Ahead on "NEW DAY", we're going to speak to the brother of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, about how he's coping after such an incredible and trying ordeal. We're also going to speak live with Secretary of State, John Kerry, what this all means for relations with Iran, especially now that those new sanctions are in place. So we've got a busy show on this Monday.

ROMANS: Sure do. All right, thanks so much. Nice to see you, Michaela.

PEREIRA: No problem. You too.

ROMANS: Elon Musk's Space-X launches a rocket into low orbit, mission accomplished. But did it make the landing on a floating platform in the ocean? That's a little trickier. The video you don't want to miss, next.

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ROMANS: Flint, Michigan is getting help from an unexpected source during its ongoing water crisis. Cher is pitching in, donating nearly 200,000 bottles of water to Flint following the discovery of lead contamination in the drinking water. I the meantime, the Michigan attorney general is investigating to determine if the crisis warrants criminal charges. Residents want the governor to answer for it.

We get more from CNN's Sara Ganim.

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SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, the people of Flint continue to demand answers for how this happened and why it took government officials so long to act. There was a rally here in Flint on Sunday where residents were alongside the Reverend Jesse Jackson demanding more accountability and resignation of Governor Rick Snyder. It was Snyder's administration that decided to switch the drinking water source over to the Flint River in 2014. And documents show that state officials knew that lead levels in the water were high long before they did anything about it. Now remember, this had gone on for nearly two years before the national guard came in with bottled water and filters for the residents. Now on Saturday, President Obama declared Flint's water situation a state of emergency but officials here are now also looking into something else. There's a possible link between a spike in legionnaires' cases, a water-borne bacteria, and a rise oin cases here in Flint. Ten people died in the two years where they were drinking Flint River water. The cases nearly quadrupled from the years before. Because of the water borne bacteria, experts tell us they expected this might happen and now they're investigating whether or not it was linked to this water crisis. John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Just a tragedy for those people in Flint drinking contaminated water. 55 minutes past the hour. The coast guard search for 12 marines missing off the coast of Hawaii is now in its fourth day. The 12 were onboard two marine transport helicopters that crashed last week. Rescuers have been working around the clock despite powerful surf that has hampered the search efforts. Initial reports said the choppers had collided, but a marine spokesman say that may not have been the case.

Police in Salt Lake City say a female suspect is in custody in connection with a shootout in which one police officer was killed by a gunman and another seriously wounded. The gunman was also killed. The officers were responding to a traffic accident Sunday when the suspects fled. Police say the woman they arrested matches description of someone who left the scene.

Time for an EARLY START on your money this Monday morning. The stock markets closed today in observance of Martin Luther King day. Markets in Europe are open. They're slightly lower right now. Stocks in Asia finished mixed overnight. The losses come as oil drops below, now, $29 a barrel. The latest chapter in the modern day space race has an explosive ending. An unmanned rocket launched successfully on Sunday and accomplished its primary goal of carrying a satellite into low orbit but its secondary goal ended in a fiery explosion. Look at this. The rocket attempted to land upright on a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean. It looks like it made it and then one of the four pillars doesn't catch. Space-X CEO Elon Musk posted this video of the

botched landing on instagram. It shows the rocket settling down softly but then toppling over and exploding on impact.

Sunday's launch was the fourth attempt by Elon Musk's Space-X to safely land a rocket at sea. Both Space-X and its competitor, Blue Origin, have successfully landed rockets on land. Blue Origin is run by Amazon CEO, Jeff Bazos. The crash in oil prices is saving you money at the pump. The national average for a gallon of regular, now a buck 89. The first reading below $1.90 since the depths of the recession of 2009. Down seven cents in just the past week. Drivers saved about 550 bucks in 2015 because of those lower gas prices. The states with the lowest averages, check out Oklahoma at a buck 60. Missouri, Alabama and Arkansas all seeing prices below $1.70 and if you've got Iran pumping a lot of oil, you're going to see oil prices continuing to trek down to $20 a barrel.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders go head-to-head in the latest democratic debate before early state voting begins. "NEW DAY" picks up that story now.

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CLINTON: We're at least having a vigorous debate about reining in Wall Street.

SANDERS: In terms of polling, guess what? We are running ahead of Secretary Clinton.

CLINTON: I'm the only candidate standing here tonight who has said, I will not raise taxes on the middle class.

SANDERS: We're not going to tear up the affordable care act. I helped write it.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think most people know exactly what New York values are.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not sure he knows what he means, to be honest with you.

CRUZ: What on earth are New York values? I'll tell you, the rest of the country people understand exactly what that is.

TRUMP: He's a nasty guy. Nobody likes him. Very nasty guy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three Americans released as part of a prisoner swap with Iran. They have landed at a U.S. air base in Germany.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rezaian spent 545 days in jail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never could have believed that this nightmare would go on so long.

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ANNOUNCER: This is "NEW DAY" with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

PEREIRA: Good morning. Welcome to your Monday. Your Monday, I was going to say, and welcome to your New Day. It is January 18, 6:00 in the East, as you can tell. Chris and Alisyn are off. John Berman and Poppy Harlow join me this morning. Up first, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton sharpening their tone, getting personal in the final democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses, clashing in Charleston over gun control, health care, and ties to Wall Street. Clinton hitching her wagon to President Obama, promising to build on his successes.

BERMAN: But Sanders with a lead in New Hampshire and now pulling close in Iowa. How close? Just look at the latest CNN poll of polls there. It doesn't really get any closer than actually tied. So that was the backdrop as they took the stage last night. Did anyone make or break their case? CNN's Phil Mattingly joins us now with his take.