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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Republicans Debate Goes on Without Trump; Sanders and Clinton, Neck and Neck; More Arrests in Oregon Wildlife Refuge Battle; Panthers' Cam Newton Addresses His Critics. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired January 28, 2016 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:02] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I, I'm Miguel Marquez.
ROMANS: You look kind of John Berman.
MARQUEZ: Well, if only.
It is Thursday, January 28th. 5:00 a.m. here in the East.
Tonight, seven Republican candidates debate each other in Iowa minus Donald Trump. For the first time Trump pulling out of the FOX debate citing bias on the part of co-moderator Megyn Kelly.
Last night Bill O'Reilly urged Trump to reconsidering, making the case that as president Trump would face much tougher adversaries than Kelly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: The terrorists are going to come at you. And it's going to be personal. They're going to do everything they can to diminish you and -- and you have to -- as a president, you have to rise above that, all right, and do what's best for the country. And this exposition that we're talking about today, people are going to say, you know, Trump, he's just too self absorbed to be president.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's got to be something because you set the all-time record in cable history and so did CNN, and --
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: They want to know you.
TRUMP: So there's got to be something going on, Bill.
O'REILLY: They want to know you.
TRUMP: Well, that's fine. And a lot of people do know me --
O'REILLY: But by walking away from this debate -- you're not giving them the opportunity you as well as they would like.
TRUMP: I'm not walking away. I was pushed away. I'm not walking away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Now Trump campaigning late into the night barely mentioning the debate feud.
CNN's Jim Acosta has more.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Miguel, during a rally here in South Carolina, Donald Trump largely steered clear of the controversy surrounding his decision to drop out of tonight's FOX News GOP debate.
His campaign essentially made it official, issuing a press release saying, Trump will appear at a rival event during the debate, an event aimed at raising money for veteran's groups.
Trump would only say very briefly during his rally here in South Carolina that he felt he's been treated very unfairly by FOX News at previous debates.
Here's more of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Can you believe we've already had six debates? Can you believe -- when I did this I never debated before. I create jobs, I do deals, I do buildings, I do stuff all over the world. I never debated. So I get on the stage like a number of months ago for the first debate, I had no idea and it worked out fine. I got a very unfair question from somebody but we don't even talk about that. We don't talk about that. I refuse to -- I refuse to -- I refuse to talk about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Asked whether Trump could appear at both his rally and the debate in Iowa, Trump's campaign manager told CNN that it wasn't feasible as the events are happening at the same time. Talking to some Trump supporters down here in South Carolina, they sound like they'll be watching him later tonight and not the debate -- Christine and Miguel.
ROMANS: All right. Jim Acosta, thank you for that. Now let's break down this debate controversy and all the political back and forth. He's just been checking us on a morning.
Good morning, CNN Politics reporter Tom LoBianco, joins us this morning. Good morning. Let's listen to -- we made a little mash-up for you of what the competitors to Donald Trump are saying about his ducking this debate. Let's listen to that quickly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Apparently, Mr. Trump considers Megyn Kelly very, very scary.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Of all the press is here, 90 percent of their coverage is on this whole thing. Oh, Donald Trump is not going to show up. Ted Cruz is challenging him to a one- on-one, mano-a-mano debate. Interesting sideshow.
JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That just seems kind of weird and the fact that he thinks he's being treated unfairly when he's going to be president of the United States? Life's unfair. You know.
BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And whether you've been treated unfairly or not is really relatively irrelevant.
SEN. RAND PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think he'll be missed.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's a big mistake by Donald and I said that. You know, things don't always go your way. You remember, I got sent down to the undercard debate by FOX Business News. I didn't think it was fair, but I didn't whine and moan and complain and walk away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So one thing we've learned from this election season, Tom, is that when you have a playbook for how it goes in politics, and Donald Trump does something that the playbook says would be bad for him, it's only good for him. So does this move help Donald Trump or does it help any of those men who were just criticizing him?
TOM LOBIANCO, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: I think the playbook here is that always keep the cameras and the attention always trained on yourself. That's what Trump's doing here. I mean, again, it's incredible. Last week he brings out the big endorsement. Pulls the spotlight right back on himself. This week, he says I'm not going to do this debate. He finally delivers. I mean, he's been threatening this multiple times before.
And it's funny the way that he did it, too, was by effecting goading FOX into this. You know, putting up a Twitter poll, saying, who thinks I ought to debate with FOX. And then when they blasted out their statement is when he fired back and said, I'm -- you know, I'm being treated unfairly. So I mean, it's brilliant, the PR strategy, the political strategy. And keeping everything trained on himself. Especially when it most matters. Right now before the Iowa caucuses just a few days away.
[05:05:02] MARQUEZ: It gets a lot of attention. I'm not sure -- it will only be brilliant as well if he wins Iowa. But the CNN poll of polls has Trump at 31 percent, Cruz at 26 percent. Cruz has been trying to make this a two-person race all along.
ROMANS: Yes.
MARQUEZ: Here's what Cruz specifically had to say about Trump's reason for not coming to this debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: And I don't think he's afraid of Megyn actually. And I don't think he is afraid of me. I think he is afraid of the voters. I think he is afraid of the men and women of Iowa because he is campaigning telling people he's a conservative. But his record is directly contrary to what he's saying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Now the bottom line is does this -- it seems a risky strategy. He can look like the cry baby or he can look like the tough guy who's not going to take it. Where does it come down?
LOBIANCO: Well, you know, it's interesting you bring up Cruz because he -- a lot of the thinking is that he would perform much worse in a head-to-head matchup with Cruz. What he really needs is a spread-out field. You know, again, the same dynamic that's at play here is kind of playing out on the Democratic. You know, the difference is the number of candidates that you have in the field right now.
So, you know, as long as he's polling 25 percent, 30 percent in a wide open Republican field, he's winning. If it's a head-to-head match-up that starts to look a lot more tenuous and Cruz's people know that. And that's why they're to go Trump with this head-to-head, come on, you know, bring it. They say they've got the venue booked. You know, that's what they want to do.
MARQUEZ: Yes.
LOBIANCO: Because they know they'd win.
MARQUEZ: Well, for as fascinating as the Republican side is, the Democratic side has gotten interesting as well. CNN poll shows Bernie Sanders besting now Hillary by one point in Iowa. I know this is probably statistically insignificant. But it is really interesting. But because of the way the Democrats caucus in Iowa, when O'Malley's voters don't get to a certain number, are they just going to move over to Clinton and she will handily win Iowa?
ROMANS: Yes.
LOBIANCO: Well, that is one of the key questions here. Right? There's a few -- there's a few questions left on the Democratic side. One is turnout. Clinton and Obama. -- not Obama, I'm sorry, Sanders.
(LAUGHTER)
LOBIANCO: I'm sure the Sanders people would love that slip. They've all said that the new turnout is really huge. And if that drives up numbers, most people see that benefitting Bernie Sanders. The other key question mark here is what happens with O'Malley's people. You've got to get to that 15 percent baseline in each caucus. Otherwise those voters or those caucus goers really become detached and they can go anywhere. And it's -- it kind of a question mark. It can split 50-50.
In some ways, it's like what happened with Biden after he announced he wouldn't run. You know, ultimately those numbers ended up going largely for Clinton at the start, but then kind of splitting 50-50. So those are your two big question marks right now.
MARQUEZ: Turnout. Turnout. Turnout.
ROMANS: All right.
MARQUEZ: On both sides.
ROMANS: Tom LoBianco, thank you so much. I know counting down to Iowa. Thank you, sir.
Time for an EARLY START on your money right now. Can stocks rebound today? Well, Asian shares finished mostly lower. We're watching European stocks and U.S. stock futures turning higher here. A little bit more upbeat.
Here was the problem. The Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy lost momentum at the end of the year. It added a line about how it's watching global turmoil. It seems to be some worry there about slower growth overseas.
Now the Fed kept to its playbook. It did not raise interest rates. And it basically suggested that a March interest rate hike is still in play. But again, the Fed saying that the growth was slowing in the U.S. Something that really concerned folks around the world. And that's what you saw.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average down about 200 and some points there yesterday. Apple was a big problem and also Boeing had an outlook that was negative. So really a sour day all around yesterday. But Facebook shares this morning are soaring. They're up almost 12 percent. The company impressed investors with its profit report.
For the last three months of 2015, Facebook made $1.6 billion. More than doubling a year earlier. It managed to add -- keep adding new people, making more money off of them each time. Mobile ad revenue, that was really key.
MARQUEZ: Mobile, mobile, mobile.
ROMANS: All the analysts this morning -- mobile, mobile, mobile ads. There you go.
MARQUEZ: We've all heard that. I've heard that sound.
Breaking news overnight. The standoff between the FBI and the militiamen in Oregon may be winding down. New arrests as the leader calls for protesters to stand down.
[05:09:36]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROMANS: Breaking developments overnight in that wildlife refuge occupation in Oregon. Three men who had been hunkered down there arrested overnight by the FBI. They turned themselves in after reaching a checkpoint as they headed away from the refuge. This after the so-called protest leader asked his followers to end the nearly month-long occupation following his own arrest Tuesday.
More from CNN's Dan Simon in Oregon.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Miguel, things here at the scene remain very tense as you still have armed occupiers at that refuge and it's unclear when this may come to an end but we should tell you that Ammon Bundy, the leader of the occupation, through his lawyer, is telling everyone who is still there to go home, in his words, they should go home and hug their families.
But right now who knows if they are going to heed that call. Obviously, nobody wants to see a repeat of bloodshed after you had one of the occupiers killed during that traffic stop.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMMON BUNDY, LEADER OF OREGON OCCUPATION: They continued to ignore us and pushed us to the point where we felt we had to make a stand to defend our rights.
BRIANA BUNDY, WIFE OF AMMON BUNDY: We were willing to sacrifice our lives, but the fact that it was someone that we love so much that is not a family member that was also willing to sacrifice his life.
SHERIFF DAVID WARD, HARNEY COUNTY, OREGON: It's time for everybody in this illegal occupation to move on. There doesn't have to be bloodshed in our community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:15:09] SIMON: As things remain fragile here, one particular note is that the federal complaint which was unsealed today, mentions that authorities had reason to believe that the occupiers had explosives and night vision goggles. That's the first time we've heard that. But we should point out that we don't know if officials were actually able to verify the presence of explosives -- Miguel and Christine.
MARQUEZ: Thanks to Dan Simon out in Oregon for us.
Three inmates who escaped from a Southern California jail are still at large, but five alleged gang members have been arrested in connection with the jailbreak. Police are not identifying the suspects or saying why they were taken into custody. Officials believe the three escaped prisoners had help from the outside. A $200,000 reward being offered for information leading to their capture.
ROMANS: Melodie Gliniewicz, the wife of disgraced Fox Lake, Illinois, police officer Joe Gliniewicz, she has now been charged with being an accomplice to her late husband's theft of charitable funds. Prosecutors say the couple used money from the Police Explorer Post for personal expenses. Her lawyers claim she was a victim of her husband's secret actions. Gliniewicz killed himself last year. He stages his suicide to make it appear as if he was killed while pursuing three suspects.
MARQUEZ: And the Justice Department and officials in Ferguson, Missouri, reaching a deal to revamp police operations in that city. It requires all Ferguson officers to be outfitted with body cameras and calls for new FX in training and a more diverse police force. The agreement coming 10 months after a Justice Department report detailed racially biased policing in Ferguson. That report was prompted by the Michael Brown shooting.
ROMANS: The attorneys for two anti-abortion activists who are now facing felony charges for secretly taping Planned Parenthood officials, the attorneys say their clients are whistleblowers and deserve protection, not prosecution. They claimed Sandra Merit and David Daleiden were indicted by a, quote, "runaway grand jury," in Texas. They are asking the D.A. to appoint a special prosecutor to look into this case.
Now the grand jury cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing concerning the sale of fetal tissue, then turned around and indicted those two.
MARQUEZ: Amazing turn of events there.
Now with Michigan lawmakers set to approve $28 million in emergency assistance for Flint, the state's embattled governor, Rick Snyder, says it's not known how many children may have been harmed by the city's lead poison water supply.
The governor spoke with CNN's Poppy Harlow who pressed him on criticism over his handling of the crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The kids were being poisoned by the water they were drinking here. The EPA knew about it. Your spokesman -- your former spokesman knew about it in July, 2015, and sent an e- mail about it, and you didn't declare a state of emergency until January of this year. Why did it take so long?
GOV. RICK SNYDER (R), MICHIGAN: Actually I learned about it in October. And I took action immediately then offering filters, working with people on getting water, on doing water testing. Again, we needed to do more, though. So as soon as I learned about it, we took dramatic action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Now Governor Snyder says it's too soon to determine how long it will take to replace lead pipes in Flint.
ROMANS: All right. Violence erupts at a Detroit school following a student protest in a march. Now two adult activists were arrested outside the English Village Preparatory High School. One of the adults and several students were apparently pepper-sprayed by Detroit public school police. Now they were demonstrating over the state of the city's public schools. Many of the teachers and the students say the schools are simply falling apart. They are no place to be educated. Recent inspections revealed numerous code violations in at least 11 of the district's 90-plus school buildings.
And kids have been out of school because some of the teachers have been walking out.
MARQUEZ: That picture of the mushrooms growing out of the toilet or whatever that was in the bathroom is frightening.
ROMANS: These -- many of these buildings are very old. Some of them from the 1920s.
MARQUEZ: This is -- ugh.
ROMANS: Incredibly expensive to maintain. But remember, Detroit went bankrupt. And when Detroit went through all of its reorganization.
MARQUEZ: Yes .
ROMANS: Schools were left out of that. Schools were left out of that. So even as some people are celebrating Detroit's sort of reemergence, its renaissance.
MARQUEZ: Yes .
ROMANS: The school -- there is no renaissance there.
MARQUEZ: We are hoping for better in Detroit.
ROMANS: We are.
MARQUEZ: Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton getting a jump on the Super Bowl hype with some strong statements about himself. Andy Scholes has this morning's "Bleacher Report" next.
There's Andy. Hello, Andy. See you in a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:23:39] MARQUEZ: Well, an NHL player may be in some hot water despite the ice this morning after a vicious hit he made on an official.
ROMANS: Andy Scholes has the shocking video of this morning's "Bleacher Report." Hey, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Good morning, guys. You know, this hit happened during last night's game between the Calgary Flames and Predators. Let's tell you how it all went down. Flames' veteran defense man Dennis Wideman, he gets checked really hard into the glass right here. Then on his way to the benched, he just hit leveled the linesman from behind, hitting him straight into the ice. Now Wideman did keep going right along, went and sat on the bench. He
was not penalized for the hit. And after the game, he said that it was completely unintentional. Now the NHL believed that this was not an accident. The minimum penalty for Wideman would be a 20-game suspension.
All right. We are now 10 days away from the Panthers and Broncos meeting in Super Bowl 50. Cam Newton is trying to complete a dream season for the Panthers. And Newton has quickly become one of the most polarizing figures in the NFL. Some fans love him for his amazing plays and the way he gives footballs to kids after a touchdown. Others criticize him for excess celebrations. But win or lose, Newton says he's not changing for anyone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAM NEWTON, PANTHERS QUARTERBACK: I'm an African-American quarterback that may scare a lot of people because they haven't seen nothing that they can compare me to.
[05:25:06] And I'm true to my roots. And it feels great. But yet people are going to say whatever they want to say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: For the seventh time in her career, Serena Williams will be playing in the Australian Open Finals. Serena easily beat Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-0 in the first set, struggled a little bit in the second set, but was still able to pull it out 6-4. Next up for Williams is a date with Angelique Kerber of Germany. If she wins she'll match Steffi Graff's open error record of 22 grand slam titles.
All right. And finally, Cavs and the Suns last night. Off this field. Check this out. J.R. Smith going to throw it off the backboard and LeBron right behind him. He throws it down. Look at this young Cavs fan. He was loving all of it. Going nuts the entire game. Beating on his chest. Cavs blew out the Suns, 115-93.
Guys, you know what?
MARQUEZ: My god.
SCHOLES: If I was sitting courtside high fiving LeBron, I think I would be beating on my chest as well.
ROMANS: Totally. I think it should be required. If you have courtside seats you must bring cute little kid like that.
MARQUEZ: That's hilarious.
ROMANS: It makes the game that much more entertaining.
SCHOLES: Absolutely. It's so great.
MARQUEZ: I'm changing my name to Quarterback Cam Newton from now on. I just think it's the coolest name ever. SCHOLES: Quarterback Newton.
ROMANS: Cam Newton.
MARQUEZ: Yes.
SCHOLES: All right.
ROMANS: Thanks.
MARQUEZ: Andy Scholes, thank you.
ROMANS: But can you -- can you play football?
MARQUEZ: I did play a little football horribly. Mostly left out, that position.
Republicans running for president just hours from facing off on the debate stage. But the frontrunner, he won't be there. What Donald Trump will be doing instead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
