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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

The Race for President; Freed Americans Reunited with Their Families; Eagle's Co-Founder Glenn Frey Dies at 67. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired January 19, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:16] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: With less than two weeks before voting begins, the 2016 presidential race, candidates are pulling out all the stops. Donald Trump shifting the strategy. And which voters Bernie Sanders thinks he can take from Hillary Clinton.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Americans freed from Iran. They are now meeting with their families, sharing their stories of how they were treated in their years behind bars.

ROMANS: Eagles legend Glenn Frey dead at the age of 67.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: And I'm John Berman. It's Tuesday, January 19th, 4:00 a.m. in the East.

New this morning, the battle for votes and souls. Donald Trump with an aggressive push, maybe too aggressive for evangelical votes which can be so crucial in Iowa, voting in less than two weeks. Speaking to students at Liberty University in Virginia, Trump tried to quote the school's official bible verse. He drew applause and maybe when some intended laughter when he said the verse was from 2 Corinthians and not Second Corinthians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Two Corinthians, right, 2 Corinthians 3-17, that's the whole ball game, "Where the spirit of the Lord, right? Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The whole ball game. Trump also seemed to be adjusting his message to evangelicals with what he shows not to say.

Chief political correspondent Dana Bash has more on that from New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, usually when we are reporting from Trump rallies, or this case, the remnant of a Trump rally, talking about what he said, things that are controversial or things that are kind of making waves across the conservative movement or even across country, but this time, I'm going to tell you the news is what Trump didn't say. After the weekend, he spent going after Ted Cruz, calling him nasty. He had a Twitter tirade and a whole host of issues. Here in New Hampshire, earlier in the day in Virginia, not one word about Ted Cruz at all.

Now, we don't know why. I asked his campaign manager and I didn't get an answer. But it could perhaps be because Donald Trump is getting blowback from influential conservative voices, talk radio hosts who conservative voters here in New Hampshire and Iowa and elsewhere really listen to. They have been saying, hold on a second, Donald Trump, be careful not to go after Ted Cruz too much because from their perspective, Cruz is one of them. He is a genuine conservative and if Trump continues to do that, Trump could risk alienating voters that he might need and could potentially get.

So, it is a different dynamic we have seen over the past six months when Donald Trump went after Lindsey Graham, it hurt Lindsey Graham. When he went after Jeb Bush, it appeared to hurt Jeb Bush. But Cruz is a different situation because the two of them are going for similar voters and have voices who are important to both of them.

So, it will be interesting to see later today if Trump continues to kind of zip his lips, if you will, when it comes to Ted Cruz -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Dana Bash for us this morning -- thank you, Dana.

After Trump finishes events for the day, I turned the heat up on Cruz back up to medium with this pair of tweets. "I don't think Ted Cruz can even run for president until he can assure Republican voters of being born in Canada is not a problem. Doubt and a miss."

"Ted Cruz is falling the polls. He is nervous. People are worried about his place of birth and failure to report his loans from banks!"

Cruz, though, not pulling his punches, telling his reporters he sees no comparison between Trump's late in life conversion to conservatism and that of one time Democratic union boss, Ronald Reagan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm pretty sure that Ronald Reagan didn't write a huge check to Rahm Emanuel in December of 2010. After, by the way, the big Tea Party wave. We need a leader who is prepared to do whatever is needed to keep this country safe. And that typically doesn't include spending your time on Twitter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: On the Democratic side, both candidates began Martin Luther King Day at the same march and rally in South Carolina. Then, it was time to address some vulnerabilities. Clinton in Iowa where Sanders is surging and Sanders in the Deep South where he is trying to cut into Clinton's stronger base with minorities voters.

Senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar with the latest from the Sanders campaign in Birmingham, Alabama.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

Bernie Sanders here in Birmingham, Alabama, trying to knock a hole in Hillary Clinton's southern firewall. He is trying to get the attention of black voters who are so important to a Democratic candidate in this late February and early March southern contests.

[04:05:06] But noticeably, this crowd that he was speaking to at this Martin Luther King rally was still overwhelmingly white.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton in Iowa trying to convince caucus-goers that she is more electable than Sanders as he stresses boldness and big changes.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have the front row seat as to what it takes to be in that cauldron because a president doesn't get to pick or choose. You have to work with the Congress and I'm ready to do that.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What this campaign is about and what the political revolution is about is what we are seeing here tonight, is we are seeing folks coming out, beginning to stand up and to demand that we have a government that represents all of the people. Not just a handful of billionaires.

KEILAR: But Bernie Sanders continues to threaten Hillary Clinton's big win in Iowa that she was banking on to get started in the early contests in a couple of weeks. He will wake up in the Hawkeye state for two days of campaigning -- Christine and John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Brianna, thank you this morning.

The American prisoners newly released by Iran are enjoying time reunited with their families, three of them, including "Washington Post" reporter Jason Rezaian are receiving medical treatment at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Student Matthew Trevithick is already back home in Boston. Meantime, Iranian officials are angrily denouncing brand new sanctions put in place over ballistic missile tests Iran conducted last year.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen joins us now live from that air base with the very latest.

Hi, Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine. And there certainly were some encouraging signs on the first day that these three men were in freedom, were outside of Iran and were here at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Jason Rezaian was able to meet with his family.

His brother Ali Rezaian told us that he met with Jason inside one of the side houses here called the fisher house of the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. He said that Jason is in very good spirits.

It's interesting because I also just spoke to Representative Jared Huffman, who is Jason's representative here at this welcoming delegation that came to Landstuhl. He also said that Jason appears to be in good health. That he apparently attempted to keep himself fit in the tiny jail cell that he's had by just trying to walk around and around and counts his steps. He tried to stay both mentally and physically fit.

Amir Hekmati, he also appears to be doing well, at least from a physical standpoint. However, one of the things people keep telling us here is that while these men seem to be in good spirits, in good health, it is still going to take a few days for this reintegration process to happen. It's not something that they want to rush. They say a little bit of effort will help them down the road to not possibly have to deal with something bigger than.

But from the first day, it seemed as though everything is going very well here and people that we're speaking to are just absolutely ecstatic that these three Americans are now out of custody and here at the regional medical center -- Christine.

ROMANS: Absolutely. What about that reaction from Iran about those new sanctions over its missile technology? Those sanctions were very carefully implemented or slapped on them just after those Americans were already coming home.

PLEITGEN: Well, they absolutely were. You are absolutely right. One of the things the administration said is that these sanctions were put in place after the Americans had been flown out of Iranian air space, to make sure that prisoner swap was not jeopardized.

Now, the Iranians for their part, they came out with a statement last night that was carried on the semi-official Fars News Agency, where they show themselves very defiant. They were very critical, of course, of these new sanctions that were put in place, and at the same time said that they would continue to develop their ballistic missile program in spite of the sanctions. One of the things that we have seen in the past couple weeks, the Iranians have not only done ballistic missile tests, but actually also put online and on TV pictures of their underground missile bunkers that they have where they store a lot of these long and medium-range missiles that they have.

So, certainly, at this point, they say they're not backing down, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Frederik Pleitgen for us this morning at Landstuhl, thank you for that.

BERMAN: There are new details this morning on Iran's detention and release of 10 U.S. sailors. The Navy's new preliminary timeline says the only gear missing from the vessels were SIM cards from two satellite phones. The report says the sailors were dealing with mechanical trouble and, quote, "deviated from their planned course". It is unclear if they knew they entered Iranian waters.

[04:10:01] The Navy says it is still investigating Iran's treatment of the sailors, including whether they were interrogated.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money this morning. Stock futures are higher. Markets in Europe and Asia up as well. Look at that, it's a rally around the world, folks.

Investors returning from the long holiday weekend with plenty to think about.

First, the world's second largest economy, China, is slowing. New data out this morning shows its worst annual growth rate in 25 years.

Second is oil. Prices stabilized this morning after dropping below 29 bucks a barrel for the first time since 2002 on Monday. But with Iran now adding to the glut of oil, crude prices likely to stay under pressure.

Finally, corporate earnings, how will the so-called report cards fare with China's economic decline, the strong U.S. dollar, the crash in oil? So far, these factors have been a nightmare for stocks. Check out the Dow in 2016, down 8 percent in just ten trading days.

BERMAN: All right. This morning, the music industry and millions of Eagles fans are remembering Glenn Frey. Co- founder and one of the leaders of the rock group died Monday at the age of 67. Don Henley, another founding member of the Eagles, who wrote many of the biggest hits with Frey said in a statement, "Glenn was the one who started it all, the man with the plan."

CNN's Sara Sidner has more on Glenn Frey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, we're inside Amoeba Record Store, which is the largest independent record store in all of America. And they are certainly here feeling very sorrowful that Glenn Frey has died.

There are a few records up there. You know, "Take It Easy" on the record. You look at his history and it is absolutely amazing. He is an icon.

And if you talked to anyone who worked with him, they will tell you he was a perfectionist's perfectionist. I mean, there was zero room for error. He wanted things to be perfect, so when he went on stage and the Eagles performed, the fans got everything they wanted and expected. And he was very serious about the business. But he apparently was also a joker. He was the guy that liked to joke and do a lot of pranks on some of his members of the band. It turns out according to his publicist, that he died from complications from several things, including pneumonia and acute ulcerative colitis. He has certainly lived a rock star's lifestyle, if you ask anyone who knew him.

But his loss is a great loss for the industry itself because he brought so much. He was not only a guitarist, he wrote many of the songs, he sang on many of the songs. He was lead vocalist on some of the songs. He was, you might not notice, an actor. He acted actually in "Miami Vice", had an incredible career. Dying at 67 doesn't seem right, especially to his fans -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Sara Sidner, thank you for that, Sara.

BERMAN: Yes, one of the towering figures of the '70s really.

ROMANS: Yes.

All right. New calls for Michigan's governor to step down over that water crisis in Flint. Water tainted with lead for years. New developments, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:16:41] ROMANS: Anger over tainted lead poisoned water in Flint, Michigan, that may have been in the water supply for more than a year is being felt now in the campaign trail. Hillary Clinton is blasting Governor Rick Snyder for his handling of this crisis which the governor actually there actually admits is a disaster. But he is rejecting calls for his resignation.

Meantime, new two class action lawsuits by Flint residents are expected to be announced today. Governor Snyder prepares a major address.

We get more from CNN's Sara Ganim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Governor Rick Snyder is speaking tonight at his State of the State address is expected to address potential solutions to this Flint water crisis. On Monday, he told "The National Journal" it's not unfair to call this his Hurricane Katrina. He called it a lack of trust between himself and people of Flint because of this issue, saying this, "Trust is something that once you lose it, it is much harder to earn it back. So, that's the point we're at." That's something we hear from residents we talk to them.

Continued protests on Monday in Flint and city of Ann Arbor, where the governor has a residence. Protesters are not just calling for his resignation, but also calling for his arrest. They are angry with how this played out and angry that they continue to have to pay for the water that they say is not safe to drink. Most of all, what we are hearing from people when we talk to them on the ground here in Flint is they want to hear how the governor plans to fix this.

They are hoping for the solutions tonight -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Sara Ganim for us in Flint, Michigan.

The Michigan governor is expected to address another crisis in his state during the State of the State address. The toxic condition of the Detroit's public school facilities. Another planned day of teacher sickouts over the hazardous conditions in school buildings.

The Detroit school officials are working on the complaints and plan to inspect all of the schools. Teachers, support staff, and parents say the cycle of neglect as they call it has a devastating impact on students.

ROMANS: The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has now reopened following a protests against what demonstrators called police brutality. The bridge was shutdown for a time on Monday. California Highway Patrol arrested 25 demonstrators. They chained themselves and their vehicles across all five westbound lanes freezing traffic for about a half hour. The spokesperson for the group said this was a strong courageous stand in solidarity on the Martin Luther King holiday.

BERMAN: This morning, the so-called affluenza teen Ethan Couch is still in Mexico, fighting his return to the United States. At a hearing this morning in Texas, prosecutors will argue for his case to be moved from juvenile to adult court.

Couch violated probation on a drunk driving crash that killed four people. He fled to Mexico with this mother. Tonya Couch is charged with helping his escape. She is out on bail.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving plans to present a petition with 40,000 signatures demanding that Couch be held accountable as an adult.

ROMANS: The Motion Picture Academy facing new criticism over a lack of diversity. Filmmaker Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith announcing plans to boycott the Oscar Ceremony next month. It comes after the 2016 Oscar nominations revealed an all-white slate of major nominees the second year in a row.

In statement, Lee said, "40 white actors in two years and no flavor at all. We can't act? WTF?"

[04:20:03] Smith in a Facebook video said she will not watch the Oscar ceremony on TV. Her husband Will Smith was among the black actors in prestige pictures who were not nominated.

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs who is African says she's disappointed by the nomination and promises big changes to address the diversity issues. She said that in the '70s, there was a real push to make the membership of the academy more diverse to include young people because they wanted to keep it fresh and current. It may be now, the push has to be a kind of diversity push in the Academy. Again, they did it in the '70s. They could do it again, she said.

BERMAN: All right. A new terror arrest in Europe. A man believed to be connected to the Paris attacks. We are live with new information this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: A new arrest this morning in connection with November's terror attacks in Paris. A Belgian man of Moroccan descent was taken into custody in Morocco. French and Moroccan authorities have identified as 26-year-old Gelel Attar.

I want to get right to CNN's Erin McLaughlin.

Erin, what is known about this man?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Moroccan authorities are saying that he knew the Paris attackers well.

[04:25:03] They say he was actually from the same Brussels neighborhood as Salah Abdeslam, the so-called eighth Paris attacker, Europe's most wanted man on the run ever since the terrorist attacks.

French source with knowledge of the investigation say that in 2013, it is believed that he travelled to Syria in the company of the man named Shakib Akrouh (ph) and Akrouh is the man that authorities believed blew himself up in that police raid that followed the Paris attacks.

It's also believed that Attar knew Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the so-called ring leader of the Paris attackers.

So, what we're seeing here with his arrests is officials working to unravel what is a very complicated web of relationships surrounding these Paris attackers. Interesting to note, that Moroccan authorities say that while he was arrested in Morocco, they say he actually made his way from Syria to Turkey to Germany and Belgium and then to the Netherlands before getting to morocco. So, real questions by authorities as to how he was able to make that journey undetected.

ROMANS: Yes, and how to fund it all, too. I know they are looking into that part of the story as well.

Erin McLaughlin for us this morning in London, thank you.

BERMAN: New details of the security surrounding El Chapo shows that Mexican prison officials are taking absolutely no chances -- this time at least. The newspaper "El Universal" reports the drug lord is being guarded by dogs trained to detect his scent. There are also hundreds of cameras and no blind spots like the ones that helped facilitate his escape over the summer. Motion sensors that can detect underground activity are also in place.

That's all great as long as you can trust the people inside guarding him.

ROMANS: Absolutely, absolutely.

All right. Twenty-six minutes past the hour.

The race for president intensifies, less than two weeks until early states voting begins. The new strategies being used on the campaign trail to lure in undecided voters. That's next.

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