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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Militants Attack Pakistan University; Sarah Palin Endorses Donald Trump; Sanders Widens His New Hampshire Lead; Winter Storm Threatens East Coast; Gov. Snyder Apologizes for Water Crisis in State of the State Address; Detroit Teachers Plan Sick-Out in Protest of Poor Work Conditions; New Video of Americans Freed by Iran; Hekmati: "I Feel Extremely Lucky"; Did Mexican Actress Take Drug Money From "El Chapo"? Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired January 20, 2016 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:31:10] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Our breaking news this morning, a deadly terror attack at a university in Pakistan. At least 21 students killed. We are live. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman. 30 minutes past the hour right now. The breaking news this morning, armed militants launched a deadly attack in the city of Charsadda in Northwest Pakistan. There were explosions, the was gunfire on the campus of Bacha Khan University. Officials say at least 21 people are dead. They say four attackers have been killed. Now, as for claims of responsibility, there is now some confusion. One faction of the Pakistani Taliban says they did it. Another says, no way.

For the latest on this developing situation, let's bring in Alexandra Field who has been watching. Alexandra, what do we know?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. There has been a little bit of this back and forth this morning, John. That's because the Pakistani Taliban does, of course, have these different factions. So while you have one faction taking responsibility, you have another completely disavowing the attack and frankly, outright condemning the attack. But the focus right now is, of course, on the attack, itself and making certain that all of the attackers have been found.

We know from Pakistani security forces that four attackers have been killed. They have not yet said publicly whether or not they believe that there could be any additional attackers at large but this all unfolded on a university campus this morning in Northwestern Pakistan. We're told there was heavy fog, which may have helped the attackers in terms of evading the security forces who eventually swooped in but this started with an explosion at a get a outside of the main campus. That's what we are told. Then there were reports of a barrage of gunfire. We know that the security forces descended on this university, battling the attackers from rooftops, taking out at least two attackers with sniper fire.

The number of dead, the number of injured has ticked upward throughout the day here. Right now, officials are saying at least 21 were killed in this morning's attacks. It's fought yet clear how many are injured but we are hearing from local hospitals they are getting many wounded through their doors. We're also told that there could be dead bodies still inside the school itself. There were about 3,000 students who were on campus this morning when this attack started and another 600 guests who were there. John --

BERMAN: All right, Alexandra Field watching the situation for us which hopefully, hopefully, is winding down. Thank you, Alexandra.

ROMANS: Let's try to get some help understanding the significance of this attack. I want to turn to CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton, former member of the joint chiefs of staff, a former deputy director at the NSA. So nice to see you this morning. First of all this dispute about claims of responsibility. One faction of the Pakistani Taliban say they did it, another says, no, condemning it. Is it unusual to see different factions of Pakistani Taliban working at cross references?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Not at all, Christine. It's very typical of the Pakistani Taliban to be divided. So what you're seeing here is a basic public exposition of their internal discord. So you've got, on the one hand, you've got these Taliban who are probably carrying out this attack. On the other hand, you have those who have, for political reasons, a completely different set of tactics and those two factions have maybe the same goal in mind, but very different ways of achieving that goal.

BERMAN: The Pakistani government has been, we are told, cracking down on the Taliban and the terror group in this region of the country, really over the last two years, since they staged a spectacular, horrific attack on a school killing more than 130 people including so many young kids and students. There was public outrage over that. Yet now, some faction of the Taliban does this at a university. What's the strategic aim of the Taliban here?

[05:35:02] LEIGHTON: The basic strategic aim, John, is to divide the (ph) postume population and to pull them away from the central government in Islamabad. What the Pakistani Taliban wants to do is, they want to create an independent area within the Northwest frontier province, the basic tribal areas in that area, which are right along the Afghan border. That becomes a very significant aspect of this because you, in essence are pulling for, at the very least autonomy, but in this case, it's more like independence from the Pakistani central government. So from a strategic perspective, what the Taliban, Pakistani Taliban want to do is they want to pull away and they may also, some factions, want to unite with the Taliban that's in Afghanistan and to create a greater Taliban state across that border.

BERMAN: Cedric, talk to me about talk to me about soft targets, these schools. The young school there and the university today. Is there any way to protect these institutions?

LEIGHTON: Well, there are a lot of measures, John, that can be taken to protect a soft target like a school. What the Pakistanis have done is they've increased the presence of armed guards around schools, universities, hospitals. Soft targets, by their very nature, are very hard to defend because they are supposed to be accessible to the public. So in addition to increasing of the number of armed guards and the visibility of those armed guards at these schools and other institutions, they've also done things like put up walls that have barbed wire on top of them. Many of these walls also have shards of glass on top of them. And so, what they do is they try very hard to increase that physical security. The problem with that is, you can't do it everywhere. There are too many soft targets out there and you really don't know exactly where the Taliban are going to strike next and that's the real problem the Pakistani government has.

BERMAN: Cedric Leighton for us. Thank you so much for helping us follow this. I should tell you right now, a spokesperson for the Pakistani army now says the clearance operation at this university is over. They are done going through. They say there were a total of four militants involved in the attack. All were killed. They also say the attackers threw grenades and entered the university and opened fire. But again, they say it is over. They have cleared the university right now. All four attackers are dead.

All right, back here in the United States -- what a stunning 24 hour period in politics on the republican side of the race, particularly in Iowa. Look at that couple. Sarah Palin, Donald Trump. Palin, of course, an electric republican who has made such a difference in so many races across the country. Overnight, she threw her support to Donald Trump. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: Only one candidate's record of success proves he is the master of the art of the deal. He is beholden to no one but we the people. How refreshing. He is perfectly positioned to let you make America great again. Are you ready for that, Iowa? No more pussy-footing around. Our troops deserve the best. You deserve the best. He is from the private sector, not a politician. Can i get a hallelujah?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Just a little taste of what we saw last night in a free wheeling event in Ames.

Let's talk about this. Joing us now, managing editor of CNN politics, Zach Wolf. Zach, what does Sarah Palin deliver to Donald Trump? I guess, what does she deliver that he doesn't already have?

ZACH WOLF, CNN POLITICS MANAGING EDITOR: I'm not sure she delivers anything he doesn't already have. She might be speaking to some of the same people he does, in that they both sort of are trying to upend the political apple cart. They're both anti-establishment. She could channel some evangelical support for him. I think her support in that community is strong and it's one that he's trying to woo, especially as he squares off with Ted Cruz, his top challenger in Iowa, so she brings that.

[05:40:01] But really, you nailed it. The thing that Sarah Palin brings Donald Trump is electricity. As if the guy needed more. This is a person who can go in and bring people to rallies and try and help him get out the vote. That's really, I think, what she brings him.

ROMANS: Ted Cruz is waking up this morning hoping for a day that doesn't have a two-fer of bad news for him. Yesterday, a very different character than Sarah Palin but the long serving governor, twice serving governor of Iowa, Terry Branstad, a low-key guy, he said, hey, vote for anybody but Ted Cruz because of Ted Cruz's position on ethanol. Let's listen to what Terry Branstad said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRY BRANSTAD, FORMER GOVERNOR OF IOWA: He is the biggest opponent of renewable fuels. He is heavily financed by big oil. So we think that once Iowans realize that fact, they might find other things about him attractive but I think it would be very damaging to our state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So a tea party before, there's a tea party favorite, Sarah Palin, and an establishment republican, Terry Branstad, both, both hitting Ted Cruz on the same day.

WOLF: That's right. And Ted Cruz has said he's not going to compromise on this ethanol issue. It's key and in Iowa, republicans and democrats traditionally go there and buy into the ethanol mandate. I think it expires in 2022 or something and Ted Cruz doesn't want to have ethanol and require ethanol in the fueling anymore. This is a huge issue in Iowa and he's not bought into it. He's warn it as sort of a badge of honor that he's not going to compromise on this. He doesn't think the government should be doing it. That's a gamble on his part. At the same time, Iowa is key to Ted Cruz and his sort of evangelical strain. Those are the people he wants to appeal to. So yes, not a good day for Ted Cruz after the outside person Sarah Palin and the inside person Terry Branstad both came out against him.

BERMAN: So, on the democratic side, Zach, holy wow, there's a new CNN/WMUR poll out of New Hampshire which shows Bernie Sanders at 60, Hillary Clinton at 33. That is a 27 point lead for Bernie Sanders. That's our poll, the CNN/WMUR poll, which I've got to say, is way different than every other poll. Every poll shows Bernie Sanders leading New Hampshire but not nearly by this much.

WOLF: Yes, I don't think there's any doubt that he's leading in New Hampshire. This poll shows him with nearly two-to-one advantage which is huge. And especially considering that back in 2008, New Hampshire is where Hillary Clinton kind of turned her campaign around after losing in Iowa to Barack Obama. That gave her a head of steam to drag out the nomination fight for another couple of months. So it's really interesting. Let's not forget, Bernie Sander's lives right next to New Hampshire so he's kind of the hometown guy and that's something to consider but you wouldn't think that the socialist, democratic socialist senator would be beating Hillary Clinton, the democratic stalwart, by that much, by two-to-one, a couple of weeks before voting starts.

ROMANS: I think everybody thinks she's going to do better when she gets to South Carolina. BERMAN: That is true. I mean one thing is for sure, every day now we just have more big huge news in this campaign that has more and more twists than I've ever seen. So interesting. Zach Wolf, thanks so much. Following breaking news out of Pakistan. A deadly terror attack at a university. At least 21 students have been killed. The army says four attackers killed too.

ROMANS: Plus, Michigan's governor promising to fix a water crisis in Flint, that water tainted with lead for years. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:47:04] BERMAN: Overnight, Michigan governor Rick Snyder apologized to the people of Flint in his State of the State address. The governor promised to do everything in his power to solve the crisis involving the city's contaminated water supply.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK SNYDER (R), MICHIGAN: The government failed you. Federal, state, and local leaders by breaking the trust you placed in us. I'm sorry most of all that I let you down. You deserve better. You deserve accountability. You deserve to know the buck stops here with me. Most of all, you deserve to know the truth, and I have a responsibility to tell the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The governor has become quite a lightning rod for criticism over his handling of the Flint water crisis. He urged all lawmakers, local, state, federal, to step up, too. Lead has been leeching from pipes into the city's water supply since the state emergency manager had the city water supply switched to the highly corrosive Flint River in 2014 in order to save money.

ROMANS: The Michigan governor also addressing another crisis, the ongoing crisis involving public schools in Detroit. Teachers there plan another mass sick-out today to protest what they say are simply deplorable working conditions. Overcrowding, a lack of building maintenance, at least five schools will be closed. Governor Snyder in his State of the State said Detroit schools are in need of transformational change and that the time to act is now.

BERMAN: The coast guard has suspended its search for 12 marines missing since two helicopters crashed off the coast of Hawaii last week. Officials called off the rescue operations after five days of searching for survivors. They did find four life rafts that were onboard the choppers. A widespread debris field was also spotted on the ocean floor but no bodies recovered. The cause of the crash is still undetermined.

ROMANS: All right, 48 minutes past the hour. A major snowstorm heading straight for the East Coast. Let's bring in meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John, Christine, good morning. Yes, winter storm warnings already in place. This is ahead of one storm system that's coming in right now, could bring in some light, some moderate snow showers across parts of the Ohio and also the Tennessee River valley and generally speaking, going to be on the light side, two to four inches. The best we can do, it is going to be short lived. Beyond that, the big story, the attention really turns off towards the eastern seaboard where a storm system is slated to park offshore here Friday night into Saturday. Couple of outcomes we're looking at carefully. Depending on the track weather, either a Northerly track or a Southerly track, it really could play a significant number on the amount of snowfall we get from say, Friday night into Saturday morning. Right now, the European model, historically very accurate, really puts the bulk of the heavy snow showers from areas around Washington slightly to the sound around Richmond, Roanoke, with the potential there of one and a half, maybe two feet of snowfall. Work your way to the north, Philly could get upwards of 10 to 15 inches. New York, maybe six to ten inches. Boston, even lesser amounts down to around five inches, that being the European model. Look what happens with the American model as far as the location of this. It brings the bulls eye, over two feet of the snowfall, right over Washington with limited amounts as you work your way farther to the north but take a look at this -- if this verifies, based on the American or the European models, these amounts of snow totals in a couple of days time will put you in the top three record for heaviest snow maker in Washington D.C. history, guys.

ROMANS: Wow. All right, let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY". Chris Cuomo, he joins us now. Hi, Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Good morning, my friends. We are following breaking news about this deadly attack on a university in Pakistan. This comes amid an increase in militant violence in Pakistan. How does the region's stability affect the global fight against terror? But just in this specific, so many students terrified. They still don't know how many are dead. They still don't know what they're going to do to stop this threat. So we're going to talk about that.

[05:50:47] Also, you've got your big political headline this morning. Sarah Palin's endorsement of Donald Trump. You can you look at the tabloids for yourself to see all the fun people are having with this headline. But what will it mean in Iowa? We're going to talk about that. We're also going to talk about what's happening in Flint because as John and Christine, you guys were talking this morning. This is a big deal. The two people on your screen, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, they chose to just talk about the governor during the debate. Is that the right response of leadership to what's been going on for years there? We'll talk about it.

ROMANS: That flint story, just, it's so tragically a failure of government period. Just real tough. Tough story. We need some answers quickly. Chris, thank you. It's looking like an ugly day for markets around the globe but one stock is set to jump today. You might already own it on this red Wednesday, they're already calling it. An early start on your money, next.

BERMAN: Red Wednesday. Just like "Game of Thrones". (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: New video this morning of two of the Americans freed by Iran in last weekend's prisoner swap. "The Washington Post", they put up this video of its Tehran Bureau Chief, Jason Rezaian, and his wife. So wonderful to see their smiles. Overnight, former marine Amir Hekmati spoke to reporters at the medical center there where he's receiving medical treatment.

Joining now with more is CNN's Phil Black outside the Ramstein airbase. Phil, it was wonderful to hear from Hekmati as well.

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: [05:54:58] Yes, he looked so well, sounded so well. Strong and clear and indeed, he said that's how he's feeling. He didn't want to go into any of the detail about just how hard it was to endure those four years. He's been in custody in Iran since 2011 and he simply said, quote, it wasn't good. We suspect that's something of a stoic understatement, really. He did touch on briefly, what he said was the inhuman pressure that he was placed under at times but what he really wanted everyone to know was just how grateful he is for the efforts that were put in to secure his freedom. He said he felt blessed. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMIR HEKMATI, RELEASED FROM IRAN: I feel extremely lucky. Alive for the first time in a long time, and very humbled at everybody's support from the president to congress to my fellow marines and especially my family, who have really gone through so much throughout this time.

BLACK: What kept him going was his belief in the reputation of the marine corps, not wanting to let down his fellow marines, he says, but also very much the support that he knew he had back in the U.S., he word that he was receiving in the prison of efforts back home to try and secure his freedom. He also very much seemed like a man who was very surprised to find himself here in Germany, to have such a rapid, positive change in his life and circumstance. He says only a few days ago, he expected to be spending up to ten years in an Iranian prison. They came to him, told him to pack his bags. He didn't believe them, he said. It was only once the aircraft had left Iranian airspace that he really started to relax. Now here in Germany with some family members, looking forward to going home and seeing more of his family, he says he feels reborn. John --

BERMAN: He had just come to terms with the fact, he says, that he thought he wasn't going to get out for the full term. Phil Black for us at Ramstein airbase. Thanks so much, Phil.

Actress Kate del Castillo under investigation this morning for allegedly taking drug money from El Chapo. Del Castillo helped Sean Penn track down the drug lord for his recent interview. Now Mexican authorities want to know if cash from El Chapo was used to finance the actress' U.S. tequila business. Suspicions were raised in communications where both parties make references to being in business together. She has been ordered to meet with investigators. She has not been charged with any crime. ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning. Wall Street bracing for a deep drop. This morning, DOW futures plunging more than 300 points ahead of the open. You've got Asia lower, really unbelievable here. Asia seeing a big sell-off. Oil prices are to blame, here. Crude below $28 a barrel right now. In fact, they're already calling this Red Wednesday around the world with less than four hours to go until the opening bell.

Shares of Netflix are set to pop, though, this morning. The company now has 75 million subscribers worldwide. Netflix says 4 million people joined internationally during the fourth quarter of last year. It recently announced plans to expand to 130 new markets. Just about the only place you cannot find Netflix is China. Netflix stock was a best performer in the S&P 500 during 2015, up 139 percent but it's now lost 20 percent from its high last year.

Microsoft is bringing Minecraft into schools, into the classroom. The software giant is launching a new version of this popular game this summer as a part of a deal to acquire an existing teaching platform. That's kind of a way into the classroom. Microsoft bought Minecraft developer, Mojang, back in 2014. The structures can use this new program to teach coding, math, geography, civil engineering -- it will let students work on assignments inside and outside of the classroom.

Big money story today, folks, I got to tell you, is going to be a big sell-off, more than 300 points down on the DOW right now. Big losses all around the world. The concern still is oil. Crashing oil prices, what that means to anybody that's financed oil, anybody that needs oil, good for your bottom line in terms of gas prices, but really tough in terms of global stability right now.

BERMAN: So brace yourselves. All right. A deadly terror attack at a university in Pakistan. "NEW DAY" starts right now.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. We do begin with breaking news. At least 21 students are dead, dozens more injured. Armed militants attacked a university in northwest Pakistan. They scaled walls around the campus, opening fire, setting off explosions. Now, there are conflicts reports about whether this is the work of the Pakistan's Taliban military wing.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: If so, this would be the same group behind that horrific massacre 13 months ago at a nearby army-run grade school that killed 132 children. So let's get right to CNN's senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, who's live in Beirut with all of the breaking details. Nick.

[06:00:05] NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, we are hearing from Pakistani security officials that this clearance operation to flush out what they believe are now four dead attackers from the campus of that university is now over. Now the death toll has been rising. It's said to be over 20 students. They include a assistant librarian and some students and policemen who were there as well. But the clearance operation had been hampered by low visibility and tense fog surrounding. That particular university grounds is in an exposed area of farmlands, too. They had thought, potentially. They had kept the attackers in two main blocks of that area but it's taken a long time to clear them out and of course, now the devastating toll of this attack will slowly become apparent. There could have been as many as 3,000 students there and perhaps 600 staff.