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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Cruz Fires Top Aide, Trump Attacks; CNN Town Hall: Clinton & Sanders Fight for Minority Votes; Uber Driver Admits Role in Shooting Spree. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired February 23, 2016 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:14] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Ted Cruz fires a top campaign aide for circulating a big lie. Donald Trump unleashes a new level of attacks as Republican voters in Nevada get ready to caucus.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders on stage in South Carolina. They will face the voters in a CNN town hall. They each have new strategies, new pointed strategies in play to try to win votes before South Carolina.
ROMANS: An Uber driver admits to having a role in a deadly shooting spree while he was working. Why police are calling his rampage baffling.
Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: Nice to see you this morning. I'm John Berman. It is Tuesday, February 23rd. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.
Nevada, you are on the clock. In just a few hours, Republicans in caucuses across your state. Donald Trump way out in front in the latest polling, but he is still working it hard. Overnight, he held a raucous rally in Las Vegas, taunting protesters, but more importantly taunting Ted Cruz, calling him the biggest liar in politics, a basket case, and calling him sick.
CNN's Jim Acosta with the very latest from Nevada.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, on the even of the Nevada caucuses, Donald Trump delivered one of his most fiery speeches to date. The main focus of his lines of attack was Ted Cruz, following up on the resignation of Cruz communications director Rick Tyler over a dirty trick, Trump branded the Texas senator a rally at this rally time and time again.
Here's what he had to say.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll tell you, so the evangelicals did not vote for him. You know why? Because they don't like liars. They're really smart people. They don't want to vote for a liar. But it is true. I have an ad running right now. It's a Cruz ad,
something to do -- and a couple of people told me this -- that I am backing the federal government to keep the land that's currently owned by the federal government, and we should give that land to everybody and divvy it up.
I'm saying to myself, well, it's not a subject I know anything about. It's a hell of an ad. This is a Cruz ad.
This guy is sick. There's something wrong with this guy.
ACOSTA: But Trump also sounded off on the pope who criticized the GOP frontrunner last week for proposing a wall on the Mexican border. Trump said he wants to use the walls at the Vatican as his model. He also went off on a protester on the crowd here saying he wanted to punch the man in the face -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. This morning, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio both campaigning in Nevada ahead of this evening's caucuses. Now, Cruz is trying to move past that bizarre campaign kerfuffle. You know, he fires communications director Rick Tyler, as you heard Jim Acosta say, for circulating this video right here that falsely portrayed Marco Rubio as belittling the bible.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
ROMANS: Now this video is subtitled incorrectly. Rubio actually says all the answers are in that book. Rubio slammed the Cruz campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For them to take a video and transcribe words on it that are complete opposite of what I said is incredibly disturbing. I mean, you guys have to be saying, it's now every single day, something comes out of the Cruz campaign that's deceptive and untrue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has the very latest now on Cruz's efforts to recover.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.
Well, Senator Cruz moved very quickly on this, to fire his communications director Rick Tyler. Very clear he wanted to get out front, out front of the controversy over this. And really the life span of this story, this controversy, was very minimal at first. Twenty-four hours from the time Rick Tyler originally tweeted out the link to that article which fraudulently misquoted Senator Rubio, then he was fired by Cruz himself. Here's Senator Cruz explaining why he called for his resignation.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If other candidates choose to go into gutter, we will not do the same. Rick Tyler is a good man. This was a grave error of judgment. It turned out the news story he sent around was false. But I'll tell you, even if it was true, we are not a campaign that is going to question the faith of another candidate.
SERFATY: And that was notable. Senator Cruz really trying to insert himself into this controversy, saying he looked into the investigation of what went wrong and he called for Rick Tyler's resignation, trying to take a little control over this situation and what's going on within its campaign right now.
Now, the Cruz campaign has grown increasingly sensitive and very aware of the fact that there is this narrative that's building around their campaign, of course, pushed by many rival campaigns that their campaign is one that engages in dirty tricks and tactics.
[04:05:04] Of course, going into caucus night, this is exactly what the Cruz campaign does not want to focus on -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: All right. Sunlen, thanks so much.
This morning, Marco Rubio going hard after establishment endorsements and money. His campaign just purchased the e-mail list of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie which includes donors and supporters. Christie dropped out of the presidential race after the poor finish in the New Hampshire primary, but not before he mulled Marco Rubio in a debate there. Christie insists the sale of the email list does not constitute of Marco Rubio.
ROMANS: All right. Another Republican candidate John Kasich apologizing this morning for a remark that has drawn charges of sexism. The Ohio governor recalled that in an early statehouse race, women, quote, "left their kitchens to support him", drawing rebuke from a woman in the crowd. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESDIENTIAL CANDIDATE: I went to Washington following my mother's advice. I've been in the legislature before that at the age of 26. And how did I get elected? Nobody was -- I didn't have anybody for me. We just got an army of people who -- and many women who left their kitchens to go out and door-to-door and put yard signs up for me all the way back, you know, when things were different.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First off, I want to say your comment earlier about the women coming out of the kitchen to support you -- I will support you, but I won't come out of the kitchen.
KASICH: I got you, I got you. Of course, I'm more than happy to say I'm sorry if I offended somebody
out there but it wasn't intended to be offensive. If you hear the whole thing, you understand the context of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The context would have been, John, what, it was 1978?
BERMAN: He was talking about 1978. It's still, it is pretty funky language these days.
ROMANS: Yes, it was funky. In the meantime, Kasich is denying reports that figures of the Republican establishment urged him to drop out, clearing the field for Marco Rubio so that Donald Trump doesn't walk off.
Kasich tells CNN he is signing up new fund-raisers and, quote, "doing fine".
BERMAN: He's got the big money guys behind him, picked up Tom Ridge's endorsement, Bill Welch's endorsement yesterday.
ROMANS: And there he is, among those five. The five remaining candidates meet head-to-head in the next GOP debate. This Thursday night in Houston, Texas. Wolf Blitzer will moderate this one.
It's the CNN GOP presidential debate. It begins at 8:30 p.m. Eastern, Thursday night, only on CNN.
BERMAN: That's big.
All right. Let's talk Democrats. This morning, Hillary Clinton making a big push for African-American votes before the South Carolina primary. She will speak today alongside five mothers in the Black Lives Matter movement. The Clinton campaign rolled out a new ad carrying the same message narrated by Morgan Freeman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CLINTON CAMPAIGN AD)
MORGAN FREEMAN, ACTOR: She says their names, Trayvon Martin.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Trayvon Martin, shot to death.
FREEMAN: Dontre Hamilton.
CLINTON: Dontre Hamilton, unarmed.
FREEMAN: Sandra Bland.
CLINTON: Sandra Bland did nothing wrong.
FREEMAN: And makes their mothers' fight for justice her own. She speaks for a city poisoned by indifference.
CLINTON: We need action now. FREEMAN: And stands with the president against those who would undo
his achievements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right. Bernie Sanders busy hitting states that vote on Super Tuesday next week. Today, he's in Virginia. Yesterday, it was Massachusetts where he claimed Hillary Clinton has been stealing his ideas, even his rhetoric.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am delighted that Secretary Clinton month after month after month seems to be adopting more and more of the positions that we have advocated. That's good. And, in fact, is beginning to use a lot of the language and phraseology that we have used. In fact, I think I saw her TV ad, I thought it was me, but it turns out it was Secretary Clinton's picture in the end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Talk about big. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders come face-to-face with the voters of South Carolina tonight right here on CNN. It's a Democratic town hall live from Columbia, South Carolina. It's 8:00 p.m., moderated by Chris Cuomo. Again, it's a big deal, and it's only on CNN.
ROMANS: All right. Two moderates are breaking rank over President Obama's eventual pick for a new Supreme Court justice. Senator Susan Collins of Maine says the president's nominee should receive a proper hearing. And Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois is taking matters a step further by insisting on a vote.
GOP leaders in the Senate are vowing to block any Obama pick. They are now citing a 1992 speech by then-Senator Joe Biden by the president submitting a Supreme Court nominee during an election year.
BERMAN: All right. An Uber driver accused in a shooting rampage while he was working. He admits to some of the murders. Police called this case baffling. Who he is, we have new information, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:13:06] ROMANS: This morning, the man accused of killing six people in the weekend shooting spree in Kalamazoo, Michigan, he is being held without bail. Forty-five-year-old Jason Brian Dalton formally charged Monday.
According to prosecutors, Dalton confessed to two of the murders and acknowledged being present at the scene where five other people were shot. Four of those victims died. A 14-year-old girl is clinging to life this morning. Her family spoke to reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VICKI KOPF, MOTHER OF KALAMAZOO SHOOTING VICTIM: She is alive and she is fighting for her life. I want everybody to understand that. Abigail is strong and she is a vibrant beautiful young lady and did not deserve this. And neither did her grandmother or those other victims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Investigators still have no clear motive for this rampage. They say Jason Dalton was taking fares for Uber. He was driving Uber in-between the shootings.
We get more from CNN's Nick Valencia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL REPORTER: John and Christine, the Kalamazoo shooting suspect made his first court appearance since being charged with six counts of first-degree murder. He was charged with 16 counts in all, including attempted murder of a minor. That's perhaps the only time he showed any expression is when the judge read that charge.
He appeared video conference wearing an orange jump suit, glasses. He had his hands resting in his lap. He said only just about ten words. When asked if he wanted to make a statement to the court, he said he would prefer to remain silent.
But in a probable cause hearing, right before the arraignment, detectives said that even after being read his Miranda rights, he admitted to, quote, "taking people's lives."
Investigators seized 11 weapons from his home.
In conversations we had with neighbors, they told us that he liked guns and cars, but mostly kept to himself. What investigators still don't know is motive. Those details may come out in his next court scheduled for March 3rd -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Nick, thank you for that. Just incredibly sad.
You know, after that shooting, Uber now facing new pressure on its background check process.
[04:15:03] Uber executives in charge of safety say the suspected Kalamazoo shooter passed a background check for Uber. And because he had no prior criminal record, there were no issues.
Also, Uber says the driver had a 4.7 rating out 5 from passengers. Experts say even high level government background checks have serious flaws and that in person interviews and cross referencing applications, that's how you raise red flags, but no system is perfect. Uber points to several technology features it says makes rides safe.
Shareable GPS tracking, customer ratings of drivers, a policy against having firearms in vehicles. Obviously, none of that helpful here.
Those cover a lot of employees. At the start of the year, Uber had more than 160,000 drivers, John, in the U.S. Uber adding about 40,000 new drivers each month. The company yesterday had a call about safety. They have been writing about safety on their blog, trying to -- just trying to quell what is a public relations disaster for them.
BERMAN: I think you never want your name associated with something like. But I'm not sure this story really is about Uber, is it? Even though there are maybe questions about safety in Uber and other places.
ROMANS: Right, 40,000 new drivers a month. That number surprised me.
BERMAN: That's a lot, that's a lot.
All right. Protesters will be out in force later today. Dozens of Apple stores across the country supporting Apple's fight against the federal court order requiring the company to help the FBI unlock an encrypted iPhone used by San Bernardin terrorists Syed Rizwan Farook. Apple has until Friday to present its appeal.
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg told the World Mobile Congress in Spain that he supports Apple.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZUCKERBERG, FACEBOOK CEO: If we have opportunities to basically work with government and folks to make sure there are not terrorist attacks, we will obviously take those opportunities and we feel pretty strong responsibility to help make sure that society is safe. So, we care about that. That's a big deal. We take that seriously.
I don't think requiring back doors in encryption is an effective way to increase security or is really the right thing to do for just the direction that the world is going in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: There is a schism of sorts among tech giants. Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and former CEO, says that Apple should unlock the iPhone for the FBI.
ROMANS: A Connecticut judge is now deciding whether a lawsuit against the gun maker brought by relatives of Sandy Hook victims should go forward or be dismissed. The wrongful death suit targets the parent company of Bushmaster firearms, which made the AR-15 rifle used by Adam Lanza to kill 20 children and six adults in 2012. The case appears to hinge on a federal law designed to shield gun makers from liability from misuse of its products. The judge intends to issue a ruling in the next two months.
BERMAN: Camille Cosby giving a sworn deposition in her husband's defamation suit against her husband by several -- she gave a deposition. The women claim the comedian defamed them by publicly denying their allegations of sexually assaulted. Lawyers for Mrs. Cosby tried to block the deposition. She will answer more questions under oath when the deposition resumes next month.
ROMANS: President Obama asking Congress for $1.9 billion to combat the Zika virus, in Latin America and the U.S. He is also asking for the leftover $2.7 billion that has been earmarked to fight Ebola. The president wants to use the money to invest in research new vaccines and better tools to diagnose the disease.
BERMAN: New developments in the Flint water crisis. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced his office will release thousands of e- mails dating back to 2011, all of them sent or received by his staff and related to the water supply contamination in Flint. Snyder says the e-mails will be released soon after review by state lawyers.
I should tell you, check out "The New York Times" this morning. They have an interesting story about Legionnaires' disease and a possible connection to the water. More problems coming up.
ROMANS: And the analysis there of the sponsor from -- or lack of response from the officials there.
Senator Claire McCaskill expects to make a full recovery from her battle with breast cancer. The 62-year-old Missouri Democrat says she learned she had the disease through a routine mammogram. McCaskill is returning to St. Louis for three weeks of treatment. She says she plans to submit questions in writing for any hearing she might miss. We wish her well and her colleagues in the Senate have been wishing her well all evening.
BERMAN: South Carolina Governor Dennis Daugaard plans to meet with a group of transgender students today before deciding whether to sign a landmark bill into law. That bill would require school children to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender at birth. Schools will have to make what they're calling reasonable accommodation for transgender kids. The governor has not said publicly if he intends to sign that measure.
All right. A lot of weather to talk about. Severe thunderstorm threat in the South that could bring tornadoes. Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, good morning, guys. Yes, the severe weather outbreak here in the works that potentially could be one of the largest ones of the year, of the season as well. And you notice the potential extends to southern Louisiana and eventually Mississippi and on into Alabama by the afternoon and evening hours. It could be a large scale tornado outbreak, but also has a wintry side back behind this for Wednesday and Thursday.
[04:20:05] But the Storm Prediction Center not missing around. On a scale of one to five, they've issued a four, for the intensity of these storms, very likely to be significant around portions of Mobile. Strong tornadoes again forecast across parts of these areas.
In February, among the quietest time of year. We get about 29 tornadoes and it picks up quiet rapidly from March into June and July. The concern for this particular event that we could easily spawn several tornadoes by tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night. And the storm eventually pushes off towards portions of the Midwest and unto mid-Atlantic.
A lot of snow could back behind us as well. That would be for Wednesday into Thursday, and it looks something like this as far for the snow accumulations. The heaviest amounts look to take place across portions of Michigan by Thursday afternoon, guys.
ROMANS: All right. Pedram, thank you for that.
BERMAN: All right. Some big news from Syria. The ceasefire, a cessation of violence agreement between the United States, Russia and some of the party's involved there. We have the major developments, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: United States and Russia say they will work together to make sure a new ceasefire agreement takes hold in Syria by the end of the week.
[04:25:00] President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin sealed the deal in a phone conversation. The two sides agreed to set up a hotline to make sure the Syrian government and opposition forces comply with the terms of the service. We're going to talk to CNN's Jomana Karadsheh in Amman, Jordan, in just a moment.
Just hours before Nevada Republicans caucus, Ted Cruz's -- his campaign caught circulating a big lie. And Donald Trump goes in for the kill. The new drama this morning.
BERMAN: Yes, look at that. Big overnight rally in Las Vegas. We will tell you everything that happened, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: Nevada caucus day is upon us with a flurry of activity. Ted Cruz fires a top aide. John Kasich apologizes for a controversial comment. Donald Trump unleashes on protesters. It's just the beginning, folks.
ROMANS: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders just hours from taking the CNN town hall stage, with their last minute pitches to South Carolina voters. Their new strategies, ahead.
BERMAN: An Uber driver admits to the role in the deadly shooting spree that he committed while on the job. New information this morning about his possible motive.
Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is almost 30 minutes past the hour.
In just hours, Nevada Republicans vote in caucuses across the Silver State. Donald Trump way out front in the latest Nevada polls, 26 points ahead of his nearest rival, Marco Rubio.
