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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
GOP Candidates Take Voter Questions in CNN Town Hall; Cruz Touts Lead in New Poll; Cruz on Trump's Support of Planned Parenthood; Rubio Speaks Out on Race Relations; Ex-Justice O'Connor: Obama Should Nominate; Obama Won't Attend Scalia's Funeral; Obama to Visit Cuba; Apple vs. FBI; Flint Water Crisis; Deadly Blast in Turkish Capital. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired February 18, 2016 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:31:00] MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Republicans running for president on the CNN town hall stage. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Ben Carson taking tough questions from South Carolina voters. We are breaking down those big moments.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I am Miguel Marquez.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: It's so great to have you on board.
MARQUEZ: It's very nice to be here.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is 31 minutes past the hour. Breaking overnight, Republican presidential candidates making their cases to CNN viewers in the first of two town hall events. This meet the voter town halls -- both of them come as a new national poll shows Ted Cruz edging ahead of Donald Trump by a 2-point margin, something we have not seen this entire race. Now, Trump still holding a commanding lead in the next two states to vote in Nevada and in South Carolina, scene of those back-to-back town halls.
Chief political analyst Gloria Borger is there for us and she's got the latest.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Christine and Miguel, Republican presidential candidates tried to take a break from the heat of the campaign last night here in Greenville, South Carolina. And some of them, like Marco Rubio, actually succeeded when he tried to present himself as the unifier in the Republican Party.
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SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But my promise to you if I'm the nominee is, I'm not just going to unify the Republican Party, I'm going to grow it. We're going to take our message to people that haven't voted for Republicans in a long time.
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BORGER: But it wasn't all sweetness and like. Rubio doubled down on his charges against Cruz as being a liar.
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RUBIO: I said he's been lying because if you say something that isn't true and you say it over and over again and you know that it's not true, there's no other word for it. And when it's about your record you have to clear it up, because if you don't then people say, well then, it must be true. He didn't dispute it. And he's done that a number of times. We saw what he did to Dr. Carson in Iowa, which was wrong. We sawyesterday, Trey Gowdy. Somebody came up with a fake Facebook post saying Trey Gowdy was no longer endorsing me. A very popular congressman here in South Carolina. So, these things are disturbing and they need to be addressed.
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BORGER: And Cruz couldn't resist taking on Donald Trump one more time.
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SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is, quite literally, the most ridiculous theory I've ever heard that telling the voters what Donald Trump's actual record is, is deceitful and lying. And listen, what I said this morning -- I held a press conference where I read his letter to everyone and I invited Mr. Trump. I said, please Donald, file this lawsuit.
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BORGER: And then there was the lighter side of the candidates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: What do you do to relax?
BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Play pool.
COOPER: Play pool.
CARSON: I love to play pool.
COOPER: Are you competitive when you play pool?
CARSON: I like to win.
RUBIO: I actually grew up listening to 90's hip-hop music, especially the west coast stuff, and I really liked it. But the -- in the last few years what's happened with EDM, you've got these electronic disc jockeys, or these D.J.'s, that are taking electronic music and overlaying it with tracks from country music and all sorts of things. So, the lyrics are clean, the beats and music is fine. I've gotten into it. It a lot of fun.
CRUZ: I actually don't sing music.
COOPER: OK.
CRUZ: I mean, I will sing things like oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling, Heiditine --
COOPER: OK, all right.
CRUZ: -- which is really corny. But, you know, I used to do it when she'd put it on speakerphone in her office and embarrass her. Or, you know, I'd kind of do, I just called to say I love you. I just called to say I care. I cannot sing to save my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BORGER: Tonight, Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, and John Kasich take the stage with Anderson Cooper. Back to you.
ROMANS: Thanks, Gloria.
MARQUEZ: Wow, an interesting night. Very revealing.
Now, to assess all the revelations of last night's GOP town hall, we are joined by CNN political analyst Josh Rogin, the toughest guy in Washington. He's in our bureau today. Good morning. Thanks for staying up all night and being with us so early this morning.
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Anytime.
MARQUEZ: That poll -- that NBC-Wall Street Journal poll -- it puts Cruz up by two points, but if you look at the last one they took he was -- Trump was 13 points ahead of Cruz in that last poll. The race in South Carolina, as always, has become down and dirty. Here's -- the attacks that all of the candidates have been taking on Trump seem to be working. Here's what Cruz said about Trump on his conservative credentials last night.
[05:36:32]
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CRUZ: Four days ago on the debate stage, Donald Trump explained how many wonderful things he thought Planned Parenthood does. Nobody who is actually pro-life could stand up on a national stage and sing the praises of Planned Parenthood as wonderful.
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MARQUEZ: It seems this sustained attack on Donald Trump's credentials as a conservative are working.
ROGIN: Right. I think what we're seeing here is that Trump is not invincible, all right? What a lot of people have been looking for is the tipping point. When does the popular fascination with Donald Trump turn on him and turn into real unhappiness for the candidate? That hasn't happened yet. If you look at the South Carolina poll, Trump is still ahead. You still have to say that he's the favorite going into Saturday's vote. But nationally, things are not looking all rosy for the Donald Trump campaign. And when you are the frontrunner everyone's attacking you and the conglomerates -- all of those attacks put together can really start to have an effect. Now, that won't have an effect soon enough for Ted Cruz in South Carolina, but as we go forward into the weeks and months ahead, that chipping away of his national numbers could really make a difference in the later states.
ROMANS: Let's throw up those numbers again because I noticed something interesting that in South Carolina where the Bush family has a long political history and deep political support, Jeb Bush managed to get to 10 percent. He moved up a few points. But then, there you can see, he's up 10 percent now up from six, so he picked up four points. But Marco Rubio picked up five, and Marco Rubio continues to keep pulling in here.
MARQUEZ: His weakness is --
ROMANS: That's right. And Marco Rubio also got the endorsement of Nikki Haley, the South Carolina governor. And he also kind of changed his tune -- not changed his tune, but he talked last night about race. It's something you've heard more about on the Democratic race, not among the Republicans. Let's listen to what he said about race.
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RUBIO: I, personally, know someone who happens to be a police officer and a young African-American male who told me that he's been pulled over seven, eight times in the last few years and never gets a ticket. What is he supposed to think? And here's the bottom line. Whether you agree with them or not, I happen to have seen this happen. But whether you agree with them or not, if a significant percentage of the American family believes that they are being treated differently than everyone else, we have a problem. And we have to address it as a society and as a country.
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ROMANS: Does this help him in South Carolina? Does this help him? Is he looking forward to a general election? What's he doing here?
ROGIN: Yes. I don't think this necessarily helps him in the South Carolina primary, but it helps him establish his narrative -- his case for why he should be president. Marco Rubio's narrative is based on two things. His contention that he can grow the party which has been narrowing, not growing, since 2012. And that he matches up best against Hillary Clinton demographically. You're going to see him reinforce that as much as he can.
It's also a chance for him to, sort of, humanize himself. But one of the great benefits of this town hall format is that we're learning about Marco Rubio's bounced checks. He lived paycheck-to-paycheck. He had student loans. He's trying to relate to as many people as possible so that when people go to the polls they can say, oh yes, I feel that guy understands me. And that's also an advantage Marco Rubio has over some people like Jeb Bush and Donald Trump, who have experiences in life that not everybody can relate to directly. Let's put it that way.
MARQUEZ: So, as we start to separate the wheats from the political chaff, how does this break down? Once we get past South Carolina, I think it will be much clearer, certainly for Jeb Bush. That seems to be the big question mark out there. Will any of those other votes move to Trump, or is it really Rubio and Cruz that are looking to pick up the votes of those candidates that drop out?
ROGIN: Right. We're still looking at three tickets coming out of this weekend's events. One will go to Trump, one will go to Cruz, and one will go to an establishment lane candidate. Jeb Bush has enough money to stay in, but if he doesn't come in either third or very close to third, he'll face a lot of pressure from the establishment donors, from the party, to step aside and let Marco Rubio assume the mantle of the establishment lane. And those numbers in the latest poll -- 4 percent nationally? That's not a good look for the Jeb Bush campaign. If they don't beat expectations and really either come close to or beat Rubio on Saturday, they're going to be in pretty bad shape, and I think they know it.
ROMANS: Jeb Bush, I think he invited his mother to the town hall thing.
ROGIN: He's running out of relatives.
ROMANS: Yes.
MARQUEZ: Thank you very much, Josh, the machine, Rogin. You've been amazing. Thank you.
ROGIN: Let's do it tomorrow.
ROMANS: All right.
MARQUEZ: We will. One more CNN Republican town hall live event tonight from South Carolina. John Kasich, Jeb Bush, and Donald Trump. They will answer directly to voters. Coverage begins tonight, 8:00 p.m., only on CNN.
[05:41:32]
ROMANS: A Republican heavyweight -- a legal heavyweight -- speaking out in favor of President Obama getting the chance to name Antonin Scalia's replacement on the Supreme Court. Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor says, "We need somebody in there to do the job and just get on with it." Meantime, conservatives are slamming the president's decision not to attend Justice Scalia's funeral on Saturday. The White House is not giving any reason for the decision, but says the Obamas will pay their respects as Scalia lies in repose tomorrow.
MARQUEZ: Now, happening today, the White House will officially announce President Obama's plan to visit Cuba next month as part of a trip around Latin America. The Cuba visit comes as the U.S. rebuilds ties with the communist nation after a half-century of sanctions and estrangement. At CNN Republican town hall last night, Cuban-American candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz both criticized the president's plan, saying he should push, instead, for a free Cuba.
ROMANS: Time for an EARLY START on your money, and for the first time all year people aren't going to be mad at me. Stocks have cut this year's terrible losses in half in just three days.
MARQUEZ: And we owe that all to you.
ROMANS: I have nothing to do with it. I'm just the messenger. Dow futures are holding on to some slim gains this morning. You've got crude back up above $31 a barrel. Stock markets in Europe, you can see, are mixed right now. Asia's closed. You had strong results in Tokyo last night. This is the first time this year the Dow and the S&P 500 have managed to put three higher days together, and those were really big days. The Dow up 794 points in just those three days. A week ago the Dow was down 10 percent for the year.
With this rally the Dow is now just down 5.6 percent. When a red arrow doesn't feel so terrible. Some analysts are saying the worst may be over, at least for this quarter. Driving the rally, oil prices are climbing after two big players said they would freeze production. Also, the U.S. economy holding strong here. Fears of a recession fading, at least for now. Suddenly, the Fed is more cautious. Yes, the Fed is concerned about the global market chaos. It's a bad thing, but it's a good thing if it makes you think the Fed is not going to keep raising interest rates aggressively. The question now is, is this a bottom or just a short-term pop. I have to get my magic eight ball to find that answer.
MARQUEZ: Get to work. We want to know. Thank you. Good news, Romans. A showdown over the locked iPhone owned by the San Bernardino terrorists. Why Apple doesn't want to help the U.S. government open it up. New reaction coming right up.
[05:46:48]
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[05:48:10]
MARQUEZ: New support coming in overnight for both sides in Apple's fight against a court order that requires it to help the FBI gain access to a terrorist's iPhone. The judge says Apple must help law enforcement bypass the password on San Bernardino gunman Syad Rizwan Farook's phone. All three Republican presidential candidates at CNN town hall said Apple should cooperate.
And Google's CEO tweeted his support for Apple chief Tim Cook, saying the court order sets a troubling precedent. And, new this morning, the Justice Department revealing it only wants Apple's help disabling a non-encryption function that would lock the terrorist's phone after 10 failed attempts to enter a password.
We get more from CNN Justice Reporter, Evan Perez.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Christine and Miguel, the battle lines are drawn between Apple and the Justice Department in one of the most important battles over privacy and national security. In the coming days Apple plans to appeal a court order that would require it to help the FBI break into the iPhone that was carried by one of the terrorists who killed 14 people in San Bernardino in December.
CEO Tim Cook says the government wants the company to build a backdoor in its operating system. In a letter to customers Cook says, "The government is asking Apple to hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers." But the Obama administration says that the court order only applies to this one phone. And they say all Apple has to do is help the FBI get around a security feature that destroys data if someone enters the passcode incorrectly 10 times.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest defended the FBI's position.
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JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This case doesn't require Apple to change their -- to redesign some element of their software or to create a new backdoor. It's a very specific request the Department of Justice has made and the judge agreed with them."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PEREZ: And you can see why Justice Department chose this case to fight this issue. We're talking about a terrorist attack that killed 14 people. The phone is owned by his employer, the county government, which has given consent to the FBI. And the terrorist is dead. All of this could help the government's case as this fight goes through the courts. Christine and Miguel?
ROMANS: All right. Thanks so much for that Evan. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell travels to Flint, Michigan today for a firsthand look at the federal response to the city's water contamination crisis. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, under pressure to take quick action, is giving outside engineers a month to locate the underground pipes that have been leaching dangerous lead into Flint's water supply. At the same time, the mayor of Flint announced the city intends to begin replacing water pipes next week.
MARQUEZ: Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY". The lovely Michaela Pereira. She joins us live. Hello, love.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": That's very kind of you, Miguel. That is so nice of you.
ROMANS: You don't call me love.
PEREIRA: Oh, well, you two work that out -- hug it out and I'll tell you what's coming up on "NEW DAY". How about that?
MARQUEZ: Thank you.
PEREIRA: Carson, Cruz, and Rubio getting down and dirty in the first of two Republican town halls that will be held here on CNN. One last night, one tonight. Policy and their personal lives, seemingly all fair game two days ahead of South Carolina's primary. Now, the governor of that state -- of South Carolina -- offering up a big endorsement. Will it tip the scales on Saturday? You're going to hear from a top Trump advisor on what the Donald expects when he takes the stage tonight.
[05:52:28] Also, another story that we've been watching very closely. A big battle shaping up between Apple and the FBI over the cell phone data -- or the cell phone access of the San Bernardino terrorist. Would helping unlock one cell phone really set this terrible precedent Apple warns of opening a veritable Pandora's Box? We're going to explore that today.
ROMANS: I know. We've been talking about that.
MARQUEZ: She's on it.
ROMANS: No, we've been talking about this in every break. We look at each and say, so, how could you --
PEREIRA: I know. It's really complex.
ROMANS: It's just, you want to understand the technology of it, but --
MARQUEZ: But I'm not paying attention because I'm on my phone.
ROMANS: Yes, exactly. Thanks so much, Michaela. Nice to see you this morning.
PEREIRA: You, too.
ROMANS: Stocks in rally mode. Oil jumping. The Dow's losses for the year cut in half in just three days. I'll tell you why when we get an early start on your money, next.
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[05:55:44]
MARQUEZ: Breaking news this morning. Kurdish forces denying accusations that they're responsible for a deadly explosion in Turkey's capital city. Nearly 30 people were killed and dozens more wounded after a military convoy was hit near the Parliament building there.
CNN's senior international correspondent Arwa Damon joins us from Ankara with the details. The fact that the Kurds are now making this claim that they didn't do it certainly adds a level of complexity and underscores just how torn Turkey is by the strife in Syria.
AWRA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, and also just how potentially volatile this whole situation really is. Now, this attack happening down the street just behind us as that military convey carrying servicemen and others was waiting at a stoplight. Turkey saying that it has detained around 14 people at this stage. That they were part of some sort of a network. They are also saying that the person directly responsible for the attack was a Syrian national, a member of the YPG.
Now, that is the Kurdish fighting force inside Syria that is America's main ally when it comes to their efforts in the fight against ISIS. But, it is also an entity that Turkey has long considered to be a terrorist organization directly linked to the separatist group, the PKK, that Turkey has been battling within its own soil. Now, the YPG itself, as well as its political branch, have come out and said that they are not responsible for this and that they believe that Turkey is just looking for an excuse to try to invade Syria and take over Kurdish lands there.
Now, Turkey has, for quite some time, been wanting to see a buffer zone be set up inside Syria and has been launching artillery strikes to try to prevent the YPG's advances in Syria. But when it comes to Turkey's perspective this is one battlefield and they do not differentiate between those they are fighting in Turkey and those they are fighting in Syria, even if that entity inside Syria is a key American ally. So you can just imagine the potential military and political ramifications of all of this.
MARQUEZ: All of this against the backdrop of a cessation of hostilities set to take place tomorrow. Awra Damon for us in Ankara. Thank you very much.
ROMANS: All right. Fifty-seven minutes past the hour.
Let's get an EARLY START on your money. The terrible losses in stocks this year cut in half in just three days. Dow futures are higher after the first 3-day rally all year. Higher oil price is a big reason, along with minutes from the Federal Reserve yesterday showing concern about the global market chaos which could lead the Fed to hold back from raising interest rates. European stocks, you can see, mixed there. And, Tokyo closed higher.
Let's talk about oil. All of this depends on oil. When oil rises so do stocks, and oil roared higher when two big OPEC players said they would freeze production. But the world's newest oil player, Iran, may not play ball. Iran's oil minister says the country supports that agreement by Saudi Arabia and Russia to cap production at January levels. That news sent oil pricing surging this week and helped the stock market.
But, it doesn't mean Iran will do it, too. After years on the sidelines, Iran wants to get as much oil into the marketplace as possible so it can make money so it can gain market share. That works against the oil market and OPEC, which is dealing with too much supply and very low prices. So, a very big 3-day rally. A lot hinges that what happens in oil, and also about recession fears. Are recessions fears fading? That's going to be critical for stock investors.
MARQUEZ: Yes, and the U.S. economy. Certainly a turning point.
Thank you very much. Republicans running for president, answering questions from the voters on the CNN town hall stage. "NEW DAY" starts right now.
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RUBIO: So, if you say something that isn't true, there's no other word for it.
CRUZ: Whenever anyone points to their actual record, they start screaming liar, liar, liar.
CARSON: The American people are smart enough to understand bluster and rhetoric versus truth.
CRUZ: It was the act of being born that made me a U.S. citizen.
CARSON: I wish the government would read the constitution.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will work harder than anyone.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people are not going to give up.
CLINTON: I am a progressive who believes in making progress.
SANDERS: Enough is enough.
CLINTON: I won't make promises I can't keep.
PEREIRA: A deadly explosion in Turkey.
DAMON: At least 28 people have been killed. At least 61 more wounded. The Turkish government is, effectively, blaming a key U.S. ally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your new day. It is Thursday, February 18th, 6:00 in the east. Alisyn is off. J.B. is over here, and we have a lot of news this morning. Just two days to go until the South Carolina Republican primary. Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio explaining their positions to voters at CNN's town hall. Another moment in the race. Frontrunner Donald Trump, he wasn't on the stage. He's going to be there tonight. But that did not stop the mudslinging.
PEREIRA: Oh, yes. The race in South Carolina getting nastier and more negative in this final stretch. Cruz daring Trump to sue him over his abortion ad and vowing to run it more frequently.
