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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Northeast Braces for Major Snowstorm; The Race for President: Palin Surprises Trump; Flint Water Crisis: New Emails Released. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired January 21, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:15] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: a monster storm heading for the East Coast. Schools already closing. Drivers warned to stay off the roads. We're live with what you can expect and when.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New overnight: Donald Trump explains why he was surprised during Sarah Palin's endorsement speech.

ROMANS: President Obama calling the Flint water crisis inexcusable as newly released e-mails detail the state's mistakes.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. It is Thursday, January 21st, 4:00 a.m. in the East.

This morning, as many as 65 millions in the eastern half of the country bracing for a humongous winter storm. That means very big. It is a nor'easter. It's set to hit Friday with high winds, extremely heavy snowfall, and potentially record-breaking snow totals.

It looks like Washington, D.C. is right in the bull's-eye. Already, icy untreated roads and a light snow in the D.C. area made for a wretched commute last night. You heard from a whole lot of people. It took them hours just to get a few miles, not to mention all the slips and falls as we try to walk during this mess, and talk on the phone like these people are doing. Not wise, my friend.

Joining with us the latest and the forecast, Pedram Javaheri live in the CNN weather center.

Pedram, this is tough, huh?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is a tough call, absolutely is, guys. And, you know, it's just such an expansive area of land that we're covering here when it comes to the amount of snowfall that comes down that could make the story potentially among the biggest we've seen in a very long time. And you take a look, the heaviest snowfall, as far as the model indication right now really puts it around the nation's capital, points back to the west, parts of Delmarva, Baltimore certainly gets in on this. And we are talking several feet in the forecast there. Now, the track various where the storm moves Friday into Saturday really makes a difference with the sharp cut off line. And right now, that puts New York City in the moderate scale with 4 to 6 inches. So, again, watching that very carefully when it comes to how this plays out. But very impressive to see model after model put snowfall, significant snowfall over Washington, D.C. with the bull's-eye and that's where it sits right now with about 18 to 24 inches.

Notice Philadelphia, about 12 to 18 inches. New York, about six to 10 inches. And some other models, take it up to 12. Some of them bring down the four. So, again, you still have to fine tune the northern fringe.

From that point northward, it really falls off to nothing significant and Boston may not see anything or just a dusting in spots. So, we'll break it all down. And you talk about getting 20 plus inches across Washington.

And in the nation's capital and in the history of records-keeping there going back to the 1890s, this could bring up to 20 plus inches in the region. Look at the wind gusts from Friday night into Saturday morning. Saturday sunrise approaches, 45 to 55-mile-per-hour wind gusts possible. Classic nor'easter and also classic blizzard pattern shaping up.

I want to show you how it plays out. You bring the globe down, and you show the graphic here when it comes to a nor'easter. You parallel the eastern seaboard. Of course, we have a storm surge that will be significant with coastal erosion in place. And the snowfall is going to be coming in at the same time.

So, you look at Washington at this point with around 20 inches. New York, let's go with 6 inches. Around Boston, you get the point as far as traveling to the north, the significance of the snowfall diminishing really quickly.

And something worth nothing, John and Christine, on Saturday morning, we are talking about a full moon in place. You put this together and also plays a role with the storm surge and coastal erosion. That is another element with the full moon and 40 to 50-mile-an-hour winds. A lot of coastal damage possible with the storm as well, guys.

ROMANS: I don't know about you. Are your kids rooting for more than two or six inches?

BERMAN: They are happy with the foot. They want to go sledding. They want to make a jump on the sledding hill this time.

ROMANS: My kids have endorsed the European model.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

JAVAHERI: That's a good model.

ROMANS: They would like a snow day on Monday. But I don't think that's going to happen up here.

All right. Thanks, Pedram. We'll talk to you again very, very soon.

JAVAHERI: Thanks.

ROMANS: Donald Trump is headed to Las Vegas today, this a brand new poll shows him with a huge lead in New Hampshire. In the CNN/WMUR poll, he is at 34 percent, 20 points ahead of Cruz who has surged eight points in a little over a month.

Cruz has had a rough couple of days, right? Sarah Palin endorsed Trump. Republican Governor Terry Branstad urged Iowans to vote for anybody but Cruz. Republican icon Bob Dole warned of cataclysmic losses for the party if Cruz is the nominee.

Overnight, both Cruz and Trump had a lot to say, including interview with our very own Don Lemon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): They don't like him. I mean, he didn't have one senator stick up for him recently because now, people are saying he is a real problem with running because he was born in Canada.

[04:05:05] He was born in Canada and he was a citizen of Canada until 15 months ago. And he said he didn't know that.

So, he didn't about his loans. He didn't know about Goldman Sachs. He didn't know he was a citizen of Canada and now he's running for president.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Republican voters want a conservative. They don't want a deal maker who has written checks and supported Hillary Clinton and Mitch McConnell and John Boehner and Chuck Schumer. They want instead a principled Reagan conservative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. Trump and Palin were together with Trump calling her a, quote, "very special, wonderful person."

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

Well, Donald Trump and Sarah Palin hitting the campaign trail together in Oklahoma, rallying supporters at Christian University Oral Roberts.

And Sarah Palin wasting no time for a lot of red meat to conservatives in the crowd.

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We got a red head from the big red apple running for president and yet, the GOP machine, all of a sudden, they are saying we're not red enough. We're not conservative enough. And I say what in the world do they know about conservatism.

SERFATY: And Ted Cruz trying to recover from a rough 48 hours for his campaign, really taking a triplicate of hits. Not only Sarah Palin's endorsement but her hitting the campaign trail for Donald Trump, also some criticism coming from two Republican leaders, the Iowa governor and now Bob Dole.

Here is how Ted Cruz responded in Hollis, New Hampshire.

CRUZ: Right now, the Washington establishment is abandoning Marco Rubio. They've made the assessment that Marco can't win the race. And the Washington establishment is rushing over to support Donald Trump.

We are seeing that happen every day. And Mr. Trump is welcoming the support of the Washington establishment. Indeed, Mr. Trump said they should support him because he said Ted won't go along to get along. He won't make deals with the Democrats.

SERFATY: And there you saw Ted Cruz really try to cleverly tie both Marco Rubio and Donald Trump in the same hit to the Republican establishment wing of the party. This is a comfort zone for Ted Cruz. One that I think we'll continue to see him argue about on the campaign trail holding himself up and hits up as proof that he is the anti- establishment candidate among all the Republicans -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, thanks so much.

Sarah Palin also surprised a lot of people when she linked her son's arrest this week on domestic violence charges to President Obama and his policies on veterans. Addressing what she called the elephant in the room. Palin accused the president of neglecting veterans, including her son. She says she relates to the family's feeling the ramifications of post-traumatic stress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: But my son like so many others, they come back a bit different. They come back hardened. They come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is that their fellow soldiers and airmen and every other member of the military so sacrificially have given to the country. And that starts from that, at the top.

It's a shame that our military personnel even have to wonder, if they have to question if they are respected anymore. It starts from the top. The question, though, that comes from our own president where they have to look at him and wonder, do you know what we go through?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: CNN's Don Lemon asked Trump about the arrest. He says it was his idea for Palin to address the issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Did you ask her to address her son's address?

TRUMP: I told her it would be absolutely fine. I thought it would be appropriate. There is tremendous press. I think it's something that's very important to discuss, not even for her son, but for so many other sons and daughters coming back from the Middle East where they have, you know, traumatic problems. They have tremendous problems.

And I told here, I actually suggested it. I think -- I said I think it would be a great forum.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Palin's oldest son Track faces assault and other charges. His girlfriend reportedly says he punched her and threatened to use a rifle.

Hillary Clinton in Iowa today. She's brushing off a new report that there was classified intelligence on the e-mail server she maintained as secretary of state. The intelligence committee's inspector general wrote to congressional leaders about several dozen emails on the server, including some concerning the government's most secret intelligence programs.

But Clinton dismissed that with an interview at NPR, calling it a leak aimed at hurting her presidential run. Clinton is trying to keep her focus on that campaign. She is fighting for votes in Iowa.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is with Clinton and has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John and Christine, Hillary Clinton opening a big day of campaigning on Thursday in Iowa. Late Wednesday night in the town of Burlington, she struck a different tone and almost seemed as though that she was urging her supporters to give her a shot, give her another shot.

[04:10:06] She, of course, is locked in a tight fight with Bernie Sanders. He is leading with New Hampshire where he will campaign on Thursday. She is running neck and neck with him in Iowa. But, of course, these states are so closely linked in terms of momentum.

Let's listen to what Hillary Clinton said Wednesday night in Burlington.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know what it's like to be knocked down, but not knocked out. I've had a few hard times. I don't know anybody in this audience who hasn't had their own share, but I've learned and I give my mom the credit for this, that it is not whether you get knocked down, it is whether you get back up.

And I've gotten back up time and time and time again.

(APPLAUSE)

Because I believe that we all have an opportunity to try to keep going and to help others along the way.

ZELENY: So you can clearly tell by the tone in her voice, time is running out. Things are getting tough for her to make this closing argument to voters. She's giving a case of electability, how she would be the most electable Democrat in the race. It's an open question whether those true believers in the Iowa Democratic caucuses, those voters who like Bernie Sanders ideals will actually listen to her argument of pragmatism, to vote for the person they believe is the strongest.

But I can tell you, in the final week and a half of this race, a very close contest here in Iowa. They will campaign throughout the weekend and into next week -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Jeff Zeleny, beautiful Iowa capitol behind him.

Time for an early start on your money. Investors are in need of relief after Wednesday's horrible trading session, dramatic day. Dow futures are lower. Europe is higher. there are steep drops in Asia, though.

Oil is lower today as well. So, that's the cauldron of fear we're dealing with. Financial fear spreading around the globe. Look at this -- the stock markets in red in these countries are now in a bear market, which trader jargon for a 20 percent drop from recent highs. A bear market is a bad thing -- Canada, Germany, England, China and Japan.

The countries highlighted in yellow are in a correction. Trader jargon for down 10 percent from the recent peaks. That includes the United States, Switzerland, Russia, India and Australia. Most are down significantly from the highs over the last year in what is historically, this is a bad start to the year.

BERMAN: In pirate jargon.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: New e-mails revealing critical mistakes over Flint's water crisis. Why complaints to the contaminated water, why they were ignored for so long?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:16:22] ROMANS: There's a blame game in Flint, Michigan, where people are living with a water supply contaminated by high levels of lead. Governor Rick Snyder has apologized for this crisis. He has promised to fix it.

But newly released e-mails suggest top aides were telling him the real responsibility lies with officials in Flint.

Meantime, state lawmakers approve $28 million in emergency funding on a day President Obama was in Detroit and weighed on the situation in Flint.

We get more from CNN's Sara Ganim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, President Obama visiting the Detroit Auto Show on Wednesday commented on the ongoing crisis in Flint.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know that if I was a parent up there, I would be beside myself that my kids' health could be at risk.

GANIM: Also, today, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's office releasing almost 250 pages of e-mails between his staff over the last two years related to this crisis. Those e-mails showing the state did have concerns about Flint's water infrastructure even before this crisis began, but they kept deflecting blame, even at times blaming the people who lived here in Flint.

The governor's former chief of staff saying this in one e-mail, "The water certainly has less than savory aspects like color because of the apparently more corrosive aspects of the hard water coming from the river. Some of the Flint people respond by looking for someone to blame instead of working to reduce anxiety. We can't tolerate increased lead levels in any event, but the city's water system needs to deal with it."

Of course, we now know it wasn't the city. It was the state that was making those decisions. The governor earlier this week admitting that, apologizing for the crisis saying that it was not unfair to call this his Hurricane Katrina -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Sara Ganim in Flint, Michigan.

Public school officials in Detroit are taking legal action in an effort to force protesting teachers to return to work. They're seeking a restraining order to stop mass sickouts. Nearly all Detroit schools were closed Wednesday in a protest that coincided with President Obama appearing at the auto show.

The Detroit teachers claimed deteriorating conditions in school building present health and safety hazards.

ROMANS: A victory for Baltimore Police Officer William porter. Maryland judge rejecting the request by prosecutors to force Porter to testify against three fellow officers charged along with him in the death of Freddie Gray. In all, six Baltimore cops are being tried in the Freddie Gray case. Officer Porter's first trial ended with a hung jury. His retrial is scheduled for June. BERMAN: Prosecutors in Pennsylvania claim Bill Cosby is seeking

special treatment in trying to get the first sexual assault charges against him dismissed. In court documents, they alleged the comedian may have committed similar crimes for decades using a celebrity and fortune to avoid the consequences. Officials also say there was no valid agreement not to prosecute Cosby as a former prosecutor has claimed. The judge scheduled a hearing next month on Cosby's motion to dismiss the case.

ROMANS: All right. Nineteen minutes past the hour. Iran's foreign minister speaks to CNN about the prisoner swap extra freed five Americans and we are learning new information about the Iranians release by the U.S. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:23:30] ROMANS: Iran's foreign minister speaking to CNN about the nuclear deal and prisoner swap that freed detained Americans in exchange for imprisoned Iranians. He says he is happy for Jason Rezaian and other freed Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: People don't know that Iranians, Iranian-Americans actually, lingered in jail in the United States for simply allegations of violation of these economic sanctions. So, I'm happy for all the families.

I'm happy for the family of Jason and the family of Amir Hekmati, and Mr. Abedini, and others who now have the loved ones with them. We believe they had committed acts that were illegal, but the families are happy. I'm happy for the families of other Iranian-Americans who still live in the United States, but now back to the loved ones. I think it was an important achievement that we all made together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: We are now learning that seven of the Iranians pardoned in the swap decided to stay in the U.S. not go back to Iran. Also, the FBI says one American not involved in the swap, Robert Levinson remains in Iran if he's still alive.

We get the latest from CNN international correspondent Phil Black live from Landstuhl, Germany.

Phil, so many developments on this story. Walk us through the story.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good morning, Christine.

Let's start with Jason Rezaian. He walked out of the building here behind me at Landstuhl regional medical center, smiled, waved, didn't say too much.

[04:25:02] His written statement said he is feeling fine, he's grateful for all of the support that he's receiving. He now wants to take time to recover. He wants to catch up on world events. He wants to see the "Star Wars" movie.

He did say with feeling as he stood here that he can't wait to get home. We know one of the other American prisoners here, Amir Hekmati, is also anxious to return to the United States. But it appears the Iranian prisoners released by the United States is part of the prisoner swap are not so desperate to get to Iran. A U.S. official has told CNN, the American government organized a plane to fly them to Iran, once they were release from prison, but none accepted the ride.

Meanwhile, there is an issue over Robert Levinson, a U.S. citizen whose family says was working for the CIA when he went missing on a small island off the coast of Iran nine years ago. He was not included as part of the prisoner swap, but both governments agreed to work together to confirm his location.

The Iranian government has always denied detaining him. The White House says they believe he is not held in Iran, but a U.S. official has told CNN that FBI investigators disagree with that. They say if he is alive, he is likely being held in Iran. The Levinson family said it is outrageous. After all this time, the American government is not on the same page when it comes to securing Robert Levinson's freedom and they believe that achieving that goal has not been treated as a priority -- Christine.

ROMANS: They are upset also that they heard about the prisoner swap on the news. They were given no head's up, they say from the American government. They have been working so hard to get Robert Levinson back and he was not part obviously of that prisoner.

Phil Black, thank you so much for that, Phil.

BERMAN: All right. The northeast bracing for a monster storm, when and where it will hit, right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)