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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Leads GOP, Rubio and Cruz Battle Behind him; Ted Cruz Stumping Hard in Nevada; Search for Kalamazoo Shooting Motive; New ISIS Attacks Syria Ahead of Agreed Ceasefire; United States Pushing to End Korean War? Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired February 22, 2016 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:01] JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Talking about trade, talking about border security, as he typically does.

But, Donald Trump didn't really bring in his current rivals, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, who came in second and third place in South Carolina. He did, however, bring in one of his former rivals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll give you a story. One of the candidates, I won't say who yet, but you can find out. One of the candidates -- the head of a major, major -- and the owner of a major, major pharmaceutical company is in charge of his campaign, right? You know that, right? In charge of his campaign. Raises hundreds of millions of dollars. They've raised a fortune. They have a fantastic, like, a lot of money. Pharmaceuticals.

So a friend of mine comes up to me, a doctor. He says, Donald, I don't understand it. The United States is the biggest purchaser of drugs in the world. They don't negotiate price. They're not allowed to. And I said, what are you talking about? They're not allowed to. So I said, that can't be but let me check it. As soon as I checked it I realized why. He's right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: That, of course, is one of the lines Donald Trump has consistently used when he talks about Jeb Bush and the influence of special interests. However, Jeb Bush now out of the race, dropping out on Saturday night after a poor showing in South Carolina. But it looks like Donald Trump, who has consistently used Jeb Bush as his foil on the campaign trail, may be missing him a little bit.

John and Christine, back to you.

ROMANS: All right. Jeremy, thank you for that.

Ted Cruz has a new message and a new target as he tries to recover from a surprise third place finish in South Carolina. Now the unofficial count has Cruz trailing Marco Rubio by about a thousand votes out of more than 700,000 cast. Cruz is calling that a tie for second. And Cruz is now training all his fire on Marco Rubio making the case that in the long run, only he can beat Donald Trump to win the nomination.

We get the latest now from CNN's Sunlen Serfaty. She is traveling with Cruz in Nevada.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine. The Cruz campaign is really trying to present the image that they are still on track and charge ahead here in Nevada. The senator will have a series of eight events working into caucus night tomorrow night. But so much of the discussion out here on the campaign trail is still centering around the postmortem of his South Carolina loss. Why he didn't do better among evangelicals to Donald Trump? Why he came in third to Marco Rubio? And what all of this means for and the challenges in his campaign going forward? What red flags he could take from that?

And he was asked about that here yesterday and quickly pivoted to his new favorite target, Marco Rubio. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And he was asked, what state can you win? You weren't able to win in Iowa. You weren't able to win in New Hampshire. You weren't able to win in South Carolina. When can you win a state? And the answer he gave is, he said, well, I think we could win Florida on March 15th.

Now that's a fairly amazing admission that they don't believe they're going to win here in Nevada. Apparently they don't believe they're going to win any states on Super Tuesday. They are writing off March 5th, they're writing off March 8th. And they're trying to wait apparently until March 15th to finally win a state and I would point out even in Florida, his home state, he's right now polling in third place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: So Ted Cruz here on the ground in Nevada wasting no time really laying into Marco Rubio. And this will be a key part of their messaging going forward. They will argue and question where Marco Rubio can actually win and argue in opposition to that that Ted Cruz has been the one, the only one thus far that has been able to beat Donald Trump -- John and Christine.

BERMAN: Our thanks to Sunlen Serfaty.

And of course as long as Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz go after each other, it is good for Donald Trump.

As that's going on, an Illinois voter gets his day in court on Friday to explain why Ted Cruz should be disqualified from running for president. Lawrence Joyce agrees with Donald Trump. He questions whether Cruz who was born in Canada to an American mother is a natural born citizen as required by the Constitution. Joyce says he fears the chaos that would ensue if Democrats get Cruz disqualified if he has already been chosen as a Republican nominee. ROMANS: Ohio governor and Republican presidential candidate John

Kasich has signed a bill effectively blocking more than $1 million in state funding for Planned Parenthood. The Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards charges the bill will have devastating consequences for women across Ohio. The spokesperson for Governor Kasich says the Planned Parenthood money will be redistributed to other health services groups.

With Jeb Bush out of the race, that leaves five -- one, two, three, four, five, right there. Five Republicans running for president. All of them will meet head-to-head in the next GOP debate this Thursday night in Houston, Texas. Our very own Wolf Blitzer will moderate the CNN Republican presidential debate. It begins at 8:30 p.m. Thursday night only on CNN. Big week this week.

BERMAN: Yes. A huge week. And that is a big moment. These debates have been so important. And that will come in just a few days before the huge March 1st primaries.

All right. The Democratic race, this morning Hillary Clinton trying to consolidate her return to frontrunner status. She enjoyed a close, but comfortable five-point win in Nevada over Bernie Sanders.

[04:35:04] Now the Clinton team rejects the claim from the Sanders camp that it won big among Nevada Latinos. The Clinton campaign argues the precinct data is more reliable than the exit polls that Sanders is citing. The battle for minority votes now continues as the Democratic campaign move to South Carolina. That primary is next Saturday.

Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders spoke to BET about what they would do for African-Americans. They admitted the Democratic Party has not done enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The white community, including myself, have not been as sensitive as we should be to what goes on in black communities in terms of policing issues. So it is -- I plead, you know, guilty to the fact that I think I have not been as sensitive to that issue. And it's an issue that we have got to be sensitive to.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am well aware that some of the decisions that were made during the eight years of my husband's presidency that we have to learn lessons from. And I'm very clear about that. Yes, I supported my husband's policies. My opponent, Senator Sanders, voted for them. I did not have a position where I could express myself independently. He did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now another huge moment in this campaign. Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, they will come face-to-face with the voters of South Carolina for the last time. It is this Tuesday night right here on CNN. A Democratic town hall live from Columbia, South Carolina. That is 8:00 p.m. Tuesday night. Moderated by Chris Cuomo. Only right here on CNN.

ROMANS: All right. A somber day ahead at the U.S. Supreme Court as justices return to work for the first time since the death of Antonin Scalia. The court is scheduled to hear two cases this morning. Scalia was a conservative force. Now leaving the court with an ideological tie, four liberals and four conservatives. If the judges deadlock on any ruling, they could take the cases up again once the Senate confirms Scalia's replacement.

One million walmart workers this week are getting a raise just as Bernie Sanders is ratcheting up his criticism of a system he says enriches the elites and hurts working people. The minimum wage at walmart now $10 an hour in the U.S. The average wage at walmart now up to $13.38 an hour. Bashing walmart has been standard stump fare for Bernie Sanders. He often claims the Walton family who founded walmart is to blame.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: And the reason that the workers in walmart are on Medicaid, food stamps and subsidized housing is because the Walton family refuses to pay their workers a living wage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: He makes comments like this just about every single stump speech. You know, I asked walmart executives about his slams against the company. They declined to comments specifically on Bernie Sanders or the political process. But they said in addition to raising wages, walmart of offering paid time-off and more predictable schedule.

So they are raising wages right now. But it is still resonating -- really resonating among people who are feeling the burn out there.

BERMAN: Yes. No one wants to be the target -- no corporation wants to be a target of an entire presidential campaign. So it's got to sting a little bit.

ROMANS: All right. Thirty-eight minutes past the hour. A stunning killing spree in Michigan. Six people dead. An Uber driver accused of picking up and dropping off passengers in between his attacks. We've got details on that story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:42:13] ROMANS: Welcome back to EARLY START. In just a few hours, the alleged shooter in the Kalamazoo killing spree will be formally charged at a court arraignment. The 45-year-old is suspected of murdering six people at three separate locations on Saturday night allegedly in between picking up fares. He was working as an Uber driver. Authorities say the shootings appear to be random and investigators at this point are at a loss for a motive in this case.

We get more from CNN's Nick Valencia.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, it is just sickening when you consider the details. Investigators saying that this suspect, a 45-year-old man from Kalamazoo, was casually carrying out this shooting spree and in between each shooting he was still picking up passengers, working as an Uber driver. He was eventually taken into custody at about 12:30.

Investigators seized a semi-automatic handgun from him and in their search of his residence discovered even more weapons. They're working on figuring out if any of those weapons were used in the commission of any of these crimes.

Now investigators are really scratching their heads. What's unsettling, particularly to them, is that this suspect was, for all intents and purposes according to the police chief, an average Joe with no criminal history, no criminal record, or certainly no indication that he would have the capability of carrying out something like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF GETTING, KALAMAZOO COUNTY PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: That, you know, he was aware of what was going on, he was able to carry on his normal routine. These were very deliberate killings. This wasn't hurried in any way, shape, or form. They're on video. We've watched the video with law enforcement. They were intentional, deliberate, and I don't want to say casually done -- coldly done is what I want to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Six people left dead as a result of that shooting rampage. Two people are also wounded, still in the hospital recovering from their wounds. A mother of three children was the first to be shot. She's still recovering in a hospital, as is a 14-year-old girl. Investigators are really worried and concerned about her outcome. She was in surgery early Sunday morning, but still is in very, very critical condition.

As far as that suspect, he's expected to face murder charges and will make his first court appearance sometime Monday afternoon -- John, Christine.

BERMAN: All right. Nick Valencia, thanks so much.

At a hearing in Connecticut, a judge is expected to decide if a lawsuit brought by families of the victims in the Sandy Hook massacre can go forward. The suit seeks damages from companies who manufacture and sell the AR-15 rifle. The weapon the killer there used in a 2012 attack that 20 first graders and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. The case hinges on whether the companies are shielded by a federal law that protects the gun industry from legal claims.

ROMANS: Apple now has until Friday to present its appeal of a judge's order that will compel it to help investigators gain access to the encrypted data on an iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook in the San Bernardino shooting. FBI director James Comey trying to downplay the dispute. He says no

precedent would be set if Apple goes along with what the FBI wants here.

[04:45:05] In a statement, Comey said the FBI is not out to, quote, "break anyone's encryption," but he added decisions involving protection from terrorists should not be left in the hands of corporations that sell stuff for a living.

BERMAN: A federal judge has rejected a last ditch legal attempt to stop a deposition this morning by Bill Cosby's wife, Camille. Lawyers for Cosby has been trying to shield Camille from being deposed by attorneys for eight women who sued the comedian for defamation. They claimed Cosby allowed his defense team to plant them as liars -- paint them as liars after they came forward with accusations of sexual assault.

ROMANS: To Flint, Michigan, now. Residents and business owners hit by ongoing water crisis there get to meet members of Congress today. A delegation led by Michigan Representative Dan Kildee will hold a small business round table and visit a water distribution site. Flint's mayor is opposed to the governor's choice of an engineering firm assigned to a no-bid contract to assess lead-contaminated pipes.

You know, for people who live in Flint this has just been an ongoing nightmare but, you know, the news also last week that Flint, Michigan, residents were paying the highest water rates in the country but water that was undrinkable. It's just the whole thing just stinks.

BERMAN: It's awful.

All right. Severe storms heading for the south. Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with the latest.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, good morning, guys.

(WEATHER REPORT)

BERMAN: All right. Pedram, thanks so much.

New details are emerging this morning about the mosquito-borne Zika virus. Doctors say a surge in the sometimes deadly paralysis condition may be linked to Zika. Cases of the condition have been on the rise in countries like Columbia and Brazil, two of the hardest hit by Zika. Zika has already been linked to birth defects.

ROMANS: All right. 47 minutes past the hour. Stocks had the best week of the year. But what does that say? It is a terrible year. But a very big week. I'm going to tell you why and where we go this week. We're going to get an EARLY START on your money next.

BERMAN: Take it?

ROMANS: I know. I know.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:51:01] BERMAN: All right. New developments this morning in Syria. Secretary of State John Kerry says a ceasefire there could begin in a few days. The truce put together by more than a dozen nations including the United States, it was supposed to go into effect Friday. But that did not happen. The violence has raged on. ISIS has claimed responsibility for several attacks over the weekend that left more than 120 people dead.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is in Amman, in Jordan with more details. Good morning, Jomana.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Devastating violence that we saw in two major Syrian cities on Sunday. In the city of Homs, two cars packed with explosives detonating in a busy commercial and residential area. In the center of Homs there, more than 30 people killed in that attack. The same neighborhood, this is an Alawite neighborhood that is same minority sect to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs. This is the fourth such attack on this neighborhood in three months. All these attacks claimed by ISIS.

Later on in the day, John, we saw attacks taking place in the capital Damascus in the southern outskirts of Damascus in a predominantly Shia area. There is a major Shia holy shrine in that area that has been targeted in the past there. A car bomb detonated and as first responders and crowds gathered at that scene, two suicide bombers struck there. More than 80 people killed in that attack and more than 100 others injured.

Now we have seen several attacks also in that area. The last one we saw was about three weeks ago. Repeated attacks also again claimed by ISIS. This coming on the same day as we saw Secretary of State John Kerry here in the Jordanian capital speaking saying that Russian and American officials have reached what he described as a provisional agreement in principle for that cessation of hostilities.

As you recall, they had agreed earlier this month to implement the cessation of hostilities on Friday. Something that did not happen. But this time, more cautious optimism we are hearing from Secretary Kerry saying that this cessation of hostilities could go into effect in the coming days. The next step we are going to see, he says, President Obama speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree on the details of this temporary truce before it goes into effect.

But again Secretary Kerry saying it's not a done deal yet. But they have some sort of a provisional agreement. And of course, John, this kind of violence that we saw unfold in Syria on Sunday is unlikely to cease anytime soon. Violence that is claimed by ISIS and the al Qaeda affiliate there, Jabbath al-Nusra. Two terrorist organizations that are not part of any peace talks or cessation of hostilities agreements -- John.

BERMAN: You know, and given that ISIS and al-Nusra are not part of the ceasefire or cessation of hostilities agreements, what hope does that give the agreement to work. If the goal is to get people the aid who need it, how are they going to get that aid there if ISIS and al- Nusra are still fighting?

KARADSHEH: Absolutely. It's a very, very complicated situation. If you look at the aid deliveries that took place over the past week or so, they mostly reached areas that are either besieged by the regime or besieged by rebels. These are areas in Damascus and in Idlib in the north.

But one major area that is under siege, John, that is Deir ez-Zor, in the eastern part of the country. And that is besieged by ISIS. 200,000 people in that city and they have not yet received aid. The United Nations was looking at possible air drops to get them aid.

We also heard from Secretary Kerry addressing that point about ISIS saying that it's not going to be a military solution to have an effective way of dealing with ISIS. It's going to have to be a political solution reaching political transition in a government. As we've heard from the U.S. over and over again that does not have Bashar al-Assad at its head. Something that is very complicated and of course as we know they are far from reaching any agreement when it comes to that political transition -- John.

[04:55:09] BERMAN: All right. Jomana Karadsheh for us in Jordan. Thanks so much.

The Pentagon is now increasingly concerned about the growing ISIS threat in Libya. The "New York Times" reports that ISIS commanders have been sent from Syria to Libya to establish what they call a new caliphate. ISIS says an estimated 6500 fighters inside Libya right now. Late last week, U.S. officials said airstrikes killed dozens of suspected jihadists believed to be training for new attacks against Western targets.

ROMANS: This morning there are conflicting reports on potentially historic negotiations to formally end the decades-long Korean War. The "Wall Street Journal" reports preliminary talks were under way, but when the U.S. calls for North Korea's nuclear weapons program to be part of those discussions, Pyongyang balked and days later conducted its latest nuclear bomb test . But the State Department says it was the U.S. not North Korea who pulled out because the nuclearization is not -- is a non-negotiable condition to begin talks.

Let's bring in CNN's Paula Hancocks. She is live for us this morning in Seoul, South Korea with the latest. What do we know about this?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, what we know from the State Department is interesting. The fact that North Korea and the United States were in contact to talk peace. Now it didn't go very far, but responding to the "Wall Street Journal" report that you mentioned, the State Department's spokesman John Kirby said that Pyongyang had proposed discussing a peace treaty.

Washington have said that denuclearization had to be a part of that discussion. Pyongyang refused, according to the State Department, and that was the end of it. North Korea then carried out this nuclear test on January 6th.

Now back in 1953 when the Korean War ended, it ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. So North and South Korea are still technically at war. And we have heard from the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in the past. Recently he has been saying he wants to discuss a peace treaty but he has certainly given no indication that he wants to give up on his nuclear ambitions. In fact quite the opposite we have seen over recent -- the recent months since that nuclear test.

And it's unlikely that we are going to see any potential talks between the two sides in the near future. Kim Jong-Un just over the weekend had military drill. We know that in the next couple of weeks, the U.S. and South Korea will be having their joint military drills. These big annual drills which every single year without fail anger Pyongyang. Pyongyang says that -- it believes that they are dress rehearsal for an invasion.

But Washington and Seoul said that's simply not true. They are defensive in nature. So it is unlikely that we are going to see any closer coordination between the two sides in the near future. And remember of course there was that satellite launch earlier this month, again, angering the international community, and Washington and Seoul.

And meanwhile, we also know that there's a new military chief in North Korea. According to state run media, his named is Ring Yong-Su. And he accompanied Kim Jong-Un to the military drills. His predecessor was executed according to a South Korean official, they say, for factionalism and corruption. A claim of course we cannot independently confirm.

John and Christine, back to you.

ROMANS: Yes. It is so -- so many things still happen in the dark there. And those executions -- a spate of recent executions really getting a lot of attention. Thank you so much for that, Paula Hancocks for us in Seoul this morning.

Let's get an EARLY START on your money right now. Hey, what's the biggest weekly rise for stocks in three months? Thank goodness, Dow futures set to pop again this morning. European share are up. Oil boosting markets here and around the world. As you know oil and stocks have been moving in lockstep. Stocks in Asia closing higher overnight as well.

OK. Let's talk politics and money. New numbers this morning. Just how much cash the presidential candidates have to spend. Ted Cruz tops all GOP candidates with so-called cash on hand. He has $13.6 million ready to spend. Marco Rubio has $5 million. Ben Carson has just over $4 million. Donald Trump has $1.5 million but he is funding much of his own campaign. Frequently gives loans to himself. His financial picture is a little different here. He is not relying just on that cash on hand.

BERMAN: A lot different.

ROMANS: A lot different. John Kasich is last here, at $1.4 million cash on hand.

Let's look at the Democrats. Hillary Clinton, she started February with a stunning $32.9 million. That is more than all the Republican candidates combined. Bernie Sanders has less than half of that at $14.6 million, though he says they've been raising money at a pretty brisk clip among small donors in recent weeks.

OK, let's talk about when it comes to spending. Bernie Sanders unloaded $34.9 million in campaign funds during January. Hillary Clinton spent about $20 million. Ted Cruz spent the most over at the GOP field, $12.6 million in January. Donald Trump, Marco Rubio finished close behind with more than $10 million each. Ben Carson, John Kasich, trail them significantly.

January was a huge month for campaign spending. Why? Candidates raced through Iowa, they raced through New Hampshire. But with Super Tuesday now just more than a week away, presidential hopefuls are entering very busy and very expensive period in the campaign.

BERMAN: Yes. It's so expensive. And you can't spend as much. You know, you can't saturate markets like they did in South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa. Cost way too much. And they're going to pick and choose. All non-Donald Trump candidates are going to have to pick and choose where they compete.

ROMANS: That is what it comes down to?

BERMAN: Yes.

ROMANS: It's Donald Trump and all the non-Donald Trump candidates?

BERMAN: That's exactly right.

ROMANS: All right.

BERMAN: All right. EARLY START continues right now.