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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Donald Trump Courts Evangelical Vote; Freed Americans Reunited with Their Families; Eagle's Co-Founder Glenn Frey Dies at 67. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired January 19, 2016 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:35] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump promising a surprise guest on the stump today. That as Ted Cruz says, you, sir, are no Ronald Reagan.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Americans freed from Iran reunited with their families. We are live with the stories they are sharing.

BERMAN: Eagles legend Glenn Frey dead at the age of 67. This morning, fans paying tribute.

What is your favorite song?

ROMANS: All of them.

BERMAN: They're all perfect?

ROMANS: No, it's just such a --

BERMAN: OK, Sarah Palin.

ROMANS: No, thank you. Such a sound. His voice was part of that sound.

BERMAN: Absolutely. It's '70s.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's 31 minutes past the hour.

Let's start with politics. News this morning, battle for both -- battle for souls. Donald Trump with an aggressive push for evangelical votes so crucial in Iowa, which votes less than two weeks from now. Speaking to students at Liberty University in Virginia, Trump tried to quote the school's official bible verse. He drew both applause and I guess some unintended laughter by misattributing the verse, which he should have said was from 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)

ROMANS: Trump also seemed to be adjusting his message to evangelicals with what he chose 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)

BERMAN: All right. Dana, thanks so much.

Overnight, Donald Trump overnight trolling Ted Cruz on Twitter. "I don't think Ted Cruz can even run for president until he can assure Republican voters that being born in Canada is not a problem. Doubt!" And then there's other tweet from Donald Trump, "Ted Cruz is falling in the polls. He is nervous. People are worried about his place of birth and his failure to report his loans from banks."

You know, good for Donald Trump. I can't even get on Twitter this morning. It appears to be down.

Cruz, though, not falling his punches, he told reporters he sees no comparison between Trump's late in life conversion to conservatism and the one time 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)

ROMANS: With less than two weeks until the first votes are cast, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are busy shoring up their political weak spots. Both candidates begun Martin Luther King Day at the same march, same rally in South Carolina. Then they moved on to reinforcing their flanks. Clinton in Iowa, where Sanders is now neck and neck in the polls and Sanders in the south where he is trying to cut into Clinton's stronger base.

[04:35:07] Senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar has the latest from the Sanders campaign. She is 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.

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) BERMAN: All right. Brianna, thanks so much.

This morning, the American prisoners just released by Iran are enjoying time with their families. Three of them including "Washington Post" reporter Jason Rezaian are getting medical treatment at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Student Matthew Trevithick is back home already in Boston. Iranian officials, though, angrily denouncing the brand new sanctions put in place over ballistic missile tests that Iran conducted last week.

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

Fred, these prisoners just released now finally getting to spend a little bit of quality time with their loved ones.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. They finally are. And, you know one of the interesting things, the physicians, John, here at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, which is, of course, one of America's biggest and best outside of the U.S., decided to ease the three men being able to see their family and friends too quickly. They felt it might be something that would overwhelm. So, many took it as a very good sign when pictures did emerge last night of Jason Rezaian meeting his family, of Amir Hekmati meeting his family as well.

Just a couple of minutes ago, I was able to speak to the Representative Jared Huffman who is -- who spoke to Jason Rezaian, who, of course, campaigned for him over the months that Jason has been in detention, and he told me a bit about how Jason is doing and also how he managed to stay fit and healthy when he was still in Iranian detention.

Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JARED HUFFMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: His spirits are terrific. He is feeling good physically. I think he's having waves of complex emotions as you would imagine. But if Iran's goal was to break Jason Rezaian's spirit, they failed miserably. For part of his incarceration, he was in a very small cell, and he describes it as like three feet by three feet. He says he nevertheless made himself do calisthenics, take steps, and count as far as he could as he took those steps and when he lost count start again. That is one way he was able to keep his mind together and keep in some semblance of health.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Now, of course, as we said the three men appear to be in good health, in good spirits. At the same time, there is, of course, a protocol that they have to go through and the hospital says they don't want to rush at all things. It's unclear at this point in time when they will be able to return to the United States. One of the things that Ali Rezaian said, he said, look, Jason wants to

put more time in here to make that effort here so he doesn't encounter bad things down the road, John.

BERMAN: Fred, you've also spent so much time inside Iran and this is such a big week here following lifting of nuclear sanctions, following this prisoner swap. Any sense of the mood there is this week?

PLEITGEN: Well, look, I mean, if you look at the Iranian government and also the majority of the Iranian people, they are all thrilled about the fact that you had the nuclear agreement, you had the prisoner swap. There are the majority of Iranians want better relations with the West. They also want better relation with the U.S.

Now, of course, you also have that very strong faction of Iranian hard liners who are not really thrilled with the nuclear agreement also not very much with the prisoner swap as well.

[04:40:06] And so, therefore, the Iranian government is treading very, very carefully at this point in time as to what sort of messages it sends. It's so interesting to have seen in the past couple of days that on the one had, you have the nuke agreement, you had this prisoner swap. But then you also have the incidents with the sailors of the sailors holding hands over their heads. There are some statements from Iran.

So, by and large, they are in a very good mood. They believe their economy is about to be unleashed. But there are certainly factions in Iran that really very much want to stay in confrontation with the U.S. the statement they put out about their ballistic missile program after the U.S. put those sanctions in place shows they want to remain defiant, John.

BERMAN: All right. Frederik Pleitgen for us in Germany this morning -- great to see you, Fred.

ROMANS: OK. Of course, the situation with Iran is a big deal in the world of money. Time for an early start in your money.

Stock futures solidly higher this morning. Markets in Europe and Asia, they're posting gains. Looks like a bounce, folks. That comes despite official word overnight that China's economy is growing, get this, at the slowest rate in 25 years. GDP there, 6.9 percent. Of course, that envious any place else. That is slow by Chinese standards.

You know, China has not seen higher rates in the past few years, 6 percent, 7 percent, 8 percent. The slowdown has roiled international markets, that's because the Chinese economy is a key driver of global growth. China's government trying to shift its economy away from exports and heavy infrastructure and toward the service sector and consumer demand. Forecasts called for even slower growth this year.

And I would say 6.9 percent is just a hair shy of what people thought, but kind of right in line with what the government has been guiding you to and enough for markets to rally. BERMAN: Not if you believe it. I mean, anytime the Chinese

government puts out figures below 7 percent, you wonder if it's just to say below 7 percent. It could be way below?

ROMANS: Right, right.

BERMAN: Anyway, interesting to see.

This morning, so many fans around the world mourning the passing of Glenn Frey. Co- founder, one of the leaders of the Eagles. Such an iconic bands of the '70s. So many big hits. Frey passed away at the age of 67.

Don Henley, also a founding member of the Eagles put out a statement that said, "Glenn was the one who started it all, the man with the plan."

Frey, Henley and other members started out in the '70s as back up singers for Linda Ronstadt. Frey actually backed up Bob Seger. But Frey comes from Detroit. He backed up Bob Seger before he went out to California for a backup band for Linda Ronstadt with the other members of the Eagles.

Then they started putting out big hits. "Take It Easy" written by Jackson Browne. What a rock scene that must have been. Then, you know, "Hotel California" came out.

ROMANS: "Lying Eyes".

BERMAN: "Lying Eyes." "Desperado" which the Eagles put up but it wasn't a hit until Linda Ronstadt sang it. You know, it was harder for them to pick, but once they hit, man, did they hit big.

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: No, it doesn't. All right. Thank you for that, Sara Sidner.

Forty-four minutes past the hour.

Michigan's governor calling the flint water crisis a disaster. Protesters demand his resignation. New developments, next.

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[04:48:24] BERMAN: New outrage over the lead poisoned water in Flint, Michigan. Hillary Clinton is blasting Michigan Governor Rick Snyder for his handling of the crisis which he admits is a disaster. But the governor is rejecting calls for his resignation. Two new class action lawsuits by Flint residents are expected to be announced today. That as Governor Snyder prepares a major address.

Let's get more now 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)

ROMANS: All right. Sara Ganim for us in Flint. Thank you for that.

The Michigan governor expected to address another crisis in his State of the State Address. The toxic condition of the Detroit's public school facilities. The city is bracing for another day of planned teacher sickouts over the hazardous conditions in many school buildings.

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

BERMAN: 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 says this was a strong courageous stand in solidarity on the Martin Luther King holiday.

ROMANS: 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 in 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.

BERMAN: Brutal cold, harrowing arrival of a late winter. Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, the cold trend here. Look at these readings. Three degrees is what it feels like in New York with the winds, go back towards Chicago, it is minus 14. That is the wind chill across this region. The high temperature trend at least for parts of the Midwest is a warming up. We go up to about 23, eventually up to 28, pretty to seasonal averages.

In New York City also, warming trend takes you to the seasonal normals for this time of year. But the big story is the models. The one-two punch. The first storm system on Wednesday and Thursday, as it does parts of the Midwest, the Ohio valley there, some flurries, some moderate snow showers generally three to five inches.

Enough gulf moisture in place with the next system in line as we work our way toward Saturday into Sunday. The models at this point coming in better agreement as far as the positioning of the storm. Timing is different from one model to another.

But at least the indications right now looking at decent snowfall, some regions are on Washington. Initial estimates could put potentially over a foot or maybe two feet of snowfall throughout the weekend over the areas around D.C. But Philly, New York, Boston, generally, six to 10 inches possible. Again, the timing varies right now, but somewhere between Friday night and Saturday night for the snow to begin rolling in, guys.

ROMANS: All right. We'll take that. Thanks, Pedram.

People can start skiing in the Northeast after a warm, balmy winter.

Investors returning from a long holiday weekend. Will stocks rebound from the worst start to a year ever? We'll get an early start on your money, next.

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[04:55:54] BERMAN: New arrests this morning in the connection with the 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 to CNN's Erin McLaughlin.

Erin, what do we know about this guy?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John.

Well, Attar is, of course, the same age and from the same neighborhood as Saleh Abdeslam, the so-called eighth Paris attacker, now one of the most wanted men in Europe. He's been on the run ever since the Paris attack.

It is believed that Attar in 2013 according to a French source traveled to Syria in the company of Shakib Akrouh. And Akrouh is the man that authorities believed blew himself up in the police raid that followed the Paris attacks.

It is believed that Attar had a relationship was know to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the two apparently met in Syria according to Moroccan authorities. Abaaoud, of course, is the suspected ring leader of the Paris attacks.

It is interesting to note, though, that Attar was known more as a recruiter. He was convicted in absentia in Belgium and sentenced to five years in prison for recruitment of jihadists. I spoke to Belgium's federal prosecutor this morning who told me they are looking into a possible extradition. Although Moroccan authorities do not typically extradite their own nationals, John.

BERMAN: All right. Erin McLaughlin for us following this. (INAUDIBLE) certain level of cooperation across national boundaries. Thanks, Erin.

ROMANS: All right. Let's get an early start on your money this morning.

U.S. stocks set to pop. Global rally, folks. Markets in Europe are higher. Stocks in Asia are higher as well. Investors optimistic that China will act to stimulate the economy after a reading on GDP overnight in China showed the lowest growth for the Chinese economy in 25 years. There's also hope the recent crash in oil prices and brutal start to the year for stocks will force the U.S. Federal Reserve to delay its next interest rate hike or at least only have a couple this year instead of the four that some people thought they would be.

Technology could kill 5 million jobs over the next five years. The World Economic Forum says developments in artificial intelligence, robotics, and bio-tech could disrupt employment in the world's richest nations. It finds as many as 7.1 million jobs could be lost through redundancy and automation. More than 2 million new opportunities in tech, professional services and media will be created. That number could grow if countries invest in transforming their work force to keep up with technology. This is one of many topics at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Twitter is down.

BERMAN: Panic, panic!

ROMANS: John Berman does not do what to do.

BERMAN: It says something is technically wrong.

ROMANS: Something is technically wrong. Outages started 45 minutes ago. No word on a cause or when all users will be back online. They saw there were some outages in Europe. And then John couldn't get on the Twitter and now, he doesn't really know what to do.

BERMAN: Panic, panic. If you are having trouble getting on, tweet us @earlystate.

Get it?

EARLY START continues right now.

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BERMAN: The presidential race. Donald Trump heads to Iowa. He promises a surprise guest on the stump. Ted Cruz on the attack says Donald Trump, he's no Republican.

ROMANS: Americans freed from Iran meet with their families, sharing their stories of how they were treated in detainment. We are live.

BERMAN: And Eagles legend Glenn Frey dead at the age of 67. What a loss.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is Tuesday, it is January 19th. Five a.m. on the nose in the East.

New this battle -- new this morning, the battle for votes and souls. Donald Trump with An aggressive push for evangelical votes, so crucial in Iowa with votes leasing two week from now. Speaking to students at Liberty University in Virginia, Trump tried to quote the school's official bible verse. He drew both applause and some unintended laughter by misattributing the verse which should have come from Second Corinthians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: 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)