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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

First Clinton-Sanders One-on-One Debate; Zika Virus Outbreak in Florida; U.N. Ruling: Assange "Arbitrarily Detained". Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired February 05, 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: Sparks fly at the Democratic debate in New Hampshire. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders with their sharpest attacks yet in their first one-on-one match up. Who came out on top?

We are breaking down the night's biggest moments this morning, this Friday morning. Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Berman. It is Friday, February 5th, 4:00 a.m. in the East.

Breaking overnight, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders come out swinging hard. This was their first one-on-one debate, which itself created a different feeling especially from Hillary Clinton. Three days after barely winning Iowa, five days before facing daunting, increasingly daunting odds in New Hampshire, she clearly decided she could not to wait another day to fight back.

CNN politics reporter Eric Bradner was at the debate in Durham, New Hampshire. He has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: John and Christine, we are days away from the New Hampshire primary, and the gloves were off. Bernie Sanders hit Hillary Clinton accusing her of being influenced by Wall Street for taking speaking fees and for taking campaign contributions. Hillary Clinton got angry.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I really don't think these kinds of attacks by insinuation are worthy of you. Enough is enough. If you have something to say, say it directly, but you will not find that I ever changed a view or a vote because of any donation that I ever received. So, I think it's time to end the very artful smear that you and your campaign have been carrying out in recent weeks. And let's talk about the issues.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's talk about why in the 1990s Wall Street got deregulated. Did it have anything to do with the fact that Wall Street providing spending billions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions? Well, some people might think, yes, it had some influence.

BRADNER: It was a risky move for Clinton trying to extinguish the Bern here in a state where Sanders has a 2 to 1 lead, according to a new CNN poll. She is trying to pick up a few points and also stop his momentum nationally.

And during the debate, she flashed anger over Sanders calling her a moderate, saying that a progressive is someone who likes to make progress. She also offered a new response to Sanders' criticism of her 13-year-old vote to go to Iraq, saying that has little to do with fighting ISIS today.

Now, the two talked about the close results in the Iowa caucuses amid reports the Sanders camp might be preparing to challenge those results or ask for them to reexamine. But Sanders took a pass saying that a few votes here and there isn't the biggest deal in the world and they essentially tied -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thanks so much for that, Eric Bradner.

Let's talk about this more and all of the day's political action. Tom LoBianco is here, CNN politics reporter. He's joining us from Washington via Skype.

Good morning, Tom.

So, your headline from last night, a sharpen -- a sharpen attack from Hillary Clinton, a sharpen defense from Hillary Clinton?

TOM LOBIANCO, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Absolutely. That line where she said if you have something to say, say it directly -- that was the clearest, most direct counter to Sanders that we have seen so far. She was basically saying, look, come out, it's time. The race is now.

And he did not do that. I think what was very interesting about that was his response, where he basically went after her again by bringing up the '90s. Every time they bring up the '90s, what he is really talking about is Bill Clinton.

BERMAN: It is interesting. She seems no longer willing to be patient. She would be patient. Wait until it gets to friendlier terrain in this election. But now, she clearly thinks she cannot wait any longer, responding at every turn.

Let's play one more exchange on establishment versus non- establishment thing when Hillary Clinton talked about how if she becomes president, that in itself would be anti-establishment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: Secretary Clinton represents the establishment. I represent, I hope, ordinary Americans. By the way, I'm not all that enamored with the establishment.

CLINTON: Senator Sanders is the only person who would characterize me a woman running to be the first woman president as exemplifying the establishment. I've got to tell you, it is -- it is really quite amusing to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: You know, Tom, we try to read body language in the debates. It seems Bernie Sanders looked a little surprised that Hillary Clinton was going at him as forcefully as she was.

[04:05:06] Nevertheless, he did seem to deviate from his themes.

LOBIANCO: Right. You know, I forget who pointed it out on Twitter last night, but they noted that Sanders' responses really sound like his stump speech cut up. That is basically how he performs at town halls and debates.

For Clinton, it was interesting, though, because what she was doing was really saying -- she was driving a wedge in there, OK? She's not going to get his base, right? She is not going to cut into those folks who think, you know, you really need someone way more liberal than Obama and you need someone who is willing to push the fight. But for her, what she is trying to do is get people on the fence, especially some of those, I won't say younger, but middle aged voters.

When she talks about being a woman, really, that's kind of directed at the baby boom generation. That's getting those people back into her camp.

ROMANS: Interesting. Let's talk about the progressive label. We have been mentioning this for the last couple days, where -- you know, for a long time, the Democratic Party tried very hard. You don't want to say you're a liberal, saying you're a liberal meant that you are not electable, if you are too liberal. And now, suddenly, a fight for the most progressive and making sure you are wearing progressive proudly on your sleeve.

Let's listen to a piece of sound about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I am a progressive who gets that done. The root of that word "progressive" is progress. But I've heard Senator Sanders' comments and it caused me to wonder. Who's left in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party? I don't think it was particularly progressive to vote against the Brady Bill five times. I don't think it was progressive to vote to give gun makers and sellers immunity. I don't think it was progressive to vote against Ted Kennedy's immigration reform.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: She is trying to turn the tables on him on the whole progressive criticism.

LOBIANCO: Absolutely. And you know what? That's been uncorked. It's -- everything is fair game, of course. By going for the liberal/progressive/left purity test, that all comes in to play.

That's something that they are pushing, the Clinton camp was pushing yesterday, the day before. This line about nobody in the Senate really being progressive anymore, if you define it the same way that Sanders does, it's really effective.

BERMAN: It is interesting to me. I mean, talking about guns in New Hampshire indicates to me that she realizes that New Hampshire may be unwinnable, because, you know, New Hampshire, is a gun-owning state. But she sees the polls and the latest CNN/ORC poll has her losing 2 to 1 to Sanders, 31 points. It is astounding five days out she is down 31 points.

I don't want to focus too much on the polls. In fact, I want to shift a little bit to the Republicans because Donald Trump did an interview with Anderson Cooper before the debate last night. It was really interesting, too.

I talk about Hillary Clinton shifting her strategy. Donald Trump clearly shifting strategy with Anderson. It happened on CNN last night. He is not being as aggressive, particularly about Ted Cruz. Listen to what he told Anderson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You basically accused him of fraud, of stealing the election in Iowa. You talk about wanting a new election there. Have you spoken to Republican Party officials about that?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAJL CANDIDATE: No, look, I'm into New Hampshire now. It's just one of those things. It's sort of a lot of strange things. And, you know, I like Ben Carson very much. He got pretty roughed up, frankly, although it affected me more than Ben. I'm so much because I have been here for two days, I'm so much into this, into New Hampshire, that I just -- I don't care about that anymore.

COOPER: Do you think Ted Cruz was intentionally spreading false?

TRUMP: I don't care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I don't care, forget that Twitter storm I live this morning. I don't care right now.

Why is he doing this because it was very interesting?

LOBIANCO: Well, you know, I think the difference between him and Sanders' folks are going back to pressing this recount or -- not recount, but review of the results back there. The difference is on the Democratic side, it is very thin. On the Republican side, it's clear he did not win that. You know, pressing that case wouldn't change that.

So, there's really nothing for him to gain by going at it like that. He really does have to look forward.

ROMANS: All right. So much to talk about. We'll talk to you in a few minutes. We'll talk about Jeb Bush and his mom coming out and campaigning for him. Wonder if that breathes new life into the Bush campaign. Thanks so much, Tom LoBianco, for us this morning in Washington.

BERMAN: All right. This morning, federal officials are calling enrollment for the third year of Obamacare, very successful. New government figure show 12.7 million Americans signed up for 2016 coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

[04:10:01] That beat the Obama administration stated goal, the low end of the goal of 10 million. About 3/4 of those who signed up did through the federal healthcare.gov exchange. The rest through state exchange.

ROMANS: All right. Ten minutes past the hour. We'll take a look at your money this morning. Asian markets mostly lower. Europe markets down. Here in the U.S., futures barely moving.

But a good day on Wall Street yesterday. Stocks closed higher for the second day in a row, thank goodness. The Dow gained 80 points, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ also managed just small gain, very small gain.

One factor that could move the market today, we've got the government's job report. That's out in just a few hours. Here's the prediction from CNN Money, 197,000 jobs added in January. The unemployment rate is expected to go down slightly to 4.9 percent from last month's 5 percent.

One thing to look for if the mild winter hurt or helped jobs. Utility companies are hiring fewer people. Restaurants and retail stores may be hiring more. People are willing to travel and shop in milder winters. We'll see if that affects the makeup of those jobs.

BERMAN: If we get into the fours in unemployment.

ROMANS: Wouldn't that be something? It would be the best since the crisis.

BERMAN: All right. New confirmed cases of the Zika virus in the United States. Florida now expanding its state of emergency. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Welcome back.

Concern is growing over the mosquito-borne Zika virus. Health officials in Brazil report two new Zika cases that were passed on to bloody transfusions.

[04:15:02] The outbreak has cast a shadow on carnival as tourists flood into Rio de Janeiro and other major Brazilian cities. Workers are frantically spraying the streets with insecticide.

We should learn more today from the CDC about the number of Zika cases in the United States. Florida has now expanded its public health emergency.

CNN's Alina Machado has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, we know none of the cases in Florida involve pregnant women. And we also know that the 12 people infected got the virus while traveling abroad. Four of the cases are right here in Miami-Dade County. The rest are in Broward, Hillsborough, Lee and Santa Rosa counties.

At this point, there is no indication that mosquitoes here in Florida or anywhere else in the United States are transmitting Zika. But state and local governments are working to get ahead of the virus. They want to make sure the appropriate resources are in place in case we see an outbreak. And that's why a public health emergency has been declared in the five Florida counties affected.

Here's what the Florida governor has to say about the response.

GOV. RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA: We're going to get ahead of this. We're going to make sure our residents are safe, our visitors are safe. We're going to do everything we can to take care of everybody, everybody in our state. It's the right thing to do, always prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

MACHADO: Well, the state of Florida is also asking the CDC for additional testing kits. They want 1,000 Zika antibody tests. Those tests can tell if someone has had Zika in the past. They also want 4,000 more kits to test active cases. Remember, the mosquito that typically carries Zika is commonly found in Florida and there are already mosquito control plans in place throughout the state -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right, Alina. Thanks so much.

New developments this morning in the investigation into the Flint water crisis. Michigan's attorney general tells the Detroit News he expects the independent probe to reach back 10 years. And now, state government emails reveal senior officials knew about a potential link between lead contaminated water in Flint and a spike in Legionnaires' disease long before Governor Snyder declared a state of emergency last month. On Thursday, the Michigan Senate approved $30 million to help pay the water bills of Flint residents. The bill is expected to pass a statehouse next week.

Also very interesting, it gets to the presidential election. Hillary Clinton just announced she is going to Flint on Sunday, taking a detour from New Hampshire to go to Flint. Interesting in two ways. One shows she is maybe backing off New Hampshire a bit. Second, she wants to draw some attention to that.

ROMANS: All right. Interesting.

All right. Seventeen minutes past the hour.

Some welcome news for residents of Porter Ranch, California. State officials say a ruptured natural gas well leaking since October could be permanently sealed by the end of next week. The gas leak forced more than 4,000 families, 4,000 families had to relocate. The company's SoCal Gas is facing more than two dozen lawsuits now filed by residents and public agencies.

BERMAN: A second Virginia Tech student Natalie Keepers charged as an accessory to the killing of a teenage girl is being held without bail. Thirteen-year-old Nicole Lovell was buried Thursday. Authorities say Keepers and David Eisenhower planned how to kill Nicole and dispose her body during a meal at a fast food restaurant. Prosecutors told the judge Keepers, quote, "was excited to be part of something secretive." Investigators believe Eisenhower had an inappropriate relationship with Nicole and she planned to expose it. He is now charged with abduction and murder.

ROMANS: All right. Police in Chicago working to solve a mysterious multiple murder this morning. They say six bodies, five adults and a child, found in a house Thursday in the city's Gage Park neighborhood. The victims were discovered throughout the homes. Investigators say the bodies had signs of trauma. They may have been stabbed. They are still trying to determine exactly what happened there.

BERMAN: Troubling accusations against quarterback Johnny Manziel. The ex-girlfriend of the NFL quarterback tells police that Manziel forced her into a car, hit her and dragged her by the hair in Dallas last weekend and threatened to kill her and himself. Manziel denies any wrongdoing and has not been charged. His team, the Cleveland Browns, is expected to cut ties with him.

ROMANS: All right. Rain, sleet and snow all along the East Coast this morning. Let's bring in meteorologist Derek Van Dam for that.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John and Christine.

A fast moving snowstorm threatens to bring the possibility of a messy morning commute for some of the major cities along the eastern coastal areas. Today, D.C. to New York as well as Boston.

Let's time this out. Look out for the I-95 corridor connecting these particular cities. We will start to see that snow come to end midday for places like Washington, D.C. and New York City. It will stick around from Providence to Boston. That, in fact is where we anticipating some of our greater snowfall totals in excess of perhaps six to even eight inches of snow.

Look out Portland, Maine. You have possibility of hefty snowfall totals for you. Perhaps the extreme eastern sections of Maine picking up to a foot of snow.

Now, the National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings for much of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and the eastern sections of Connecticut. That includes portions of Long Island with winter weather advisories for New York City.

Look what's coming for the first part of next week. Arctic blast of air will impact the eastern half of the U.S., including New York City.

[04:20:05] We've got a brief warm up this weekend, but look at the temperatures from Monday and Tuesday. New York is not the only place getting cold. Look at Chicago by Monday, only high of 29. Bundle up.

Back to you, John and Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that so much, Derek.

Very news this morning, the U.N. ruling that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is being unjustly detained in London. He has been holed up for years now in Ecuadorian embassy, facing arrest if he leaves. What's he going to do now? We're live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Breaking news this morning. A U.N. human rights body has just ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arbitrarily detained. Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012, trying to avoid extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for questioning in a rape case. Despite the U.N. finding, British police say they will arrest him if he steps foot outside those embassy doors.

I want to go live now to London and bring in CNN senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are watching and waiting, Christine.

[04:25:00] What we do know is that the British government's position has not changed. In fact, they intend to formally contest the findings of the U.N. panel. The U.N. really hasn't held back on this. Its panel of experts not only accusing the British authorities of arbitrarily depriving Julian Assange of his liberty by holding him in isolation, but also the Swedish prosecutor's office are not exercising due diligence and causing, they say, the investigation to drag out, which only further compounded the deprivation of Julian Assange's liberty.

The Brits say that they deny that. That he has voluntarily deprived himself of his liberty, that they do not acknowledge so- called diplomatic asylum, which is what the Ecuadorian authorities are saying is at play here. They also say that they have no problem with Mr. Assange walking down the steps behind me, Christine, but they are obliged under the orders of the Europe wide extradition order to arrest him if he walks down those steps.

Mr. Assange is expected to speak later this morning. The Swedish prosecutor has already been speaking, Christine. He says, well, his office say that as far as they are concerned, their biggest issue now is that the statute of limitations on two of those charges against Julian Assange has expired and one remaining two outstanding charges, the statute of limitations on that, is due to expire in four years in 2020. And what they don't want to happen is for that to run out on the clock as they are putting it -- Christine.

ROMANS: Right. OK. Nima Elbagir, keep us posted of any change on the ground. Thanks, Nima.

BERMAN: Saudi Arabia says it is prepared to participate in a ground operation against ISIS and Syria if the United States and its allies agree to initiate one. That announcement comes one day after the U.N. suspended a new round of international peace talks. Syrian government forces backed by Russian air strikes are advancing on the city of Aleppo and poised now to retake it.

ROMANS: All right. Twenty-seven minutes past the hour.

Tensions erupt on the Democratic debate stage. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders with their sharpest attacks yet on who is the real progressive and who can get things done. That's next.

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