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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Nevada Republican Caucus Today; CNN Town Hall: Clinton & Sanders Fight for Minority Votes; Uber Driver Admits Role in Shooting Spree; Warriors Fastest Ever to Reach 50 Wins. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired February 23, 2016 - 05:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. It is Nevada caucus day. What a flurry of activity overnight. Ted Cruz fires a top campaign aide. John Kasich apologizes for a controversy. Donald Trump threatens to punch a protester and it's not even caucus night just yet.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders taking questions from the voters, on a CNN town hall stage tonight. New attack strategies now in play as they fight for minority votes in South Carolina.

BERMAN: All right. An Uber driver admits to having a role in the deadly shooting spree while he was working. Why police are calling his rampage baffling.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. Welcome to Nevada caucus day. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's Tuesday, February 23rd. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

[05:00:01] In just hours, Nevada Republicans -- they will 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. This is the new CNN/ORC survey.

Overnight, he held a raucous rally in Las Vegas, taunting protesters, but more importantly, taunting Ted Cruz, calling him the biggest liar in politics. He called Ted Cruz a basket case. He called him sick.

CNN's Jim Acosta has the very latest.

(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. The five remaining Republicans meet head-to-head in the next GOP debate. That's this Thursday night in Houston. Wolf Blitzer will moderate the CNN GOP presidential debate beginning at 8:30 p.m. Thursday night, only on CNN.

BERMAN: That could be a big wow.

ROMANS: Yes, that's important.

BERMAN: All right. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton making a big push reaching out to African-American voters ahead of the South Carolina primary. She is speaking today alongside five mothers in the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Clinton campaign put out a new ad with 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: Bernie Sanders, he is hitting states that vote on Super Tuesday. That's next week. He is in Virginia today. Yesterday, he was in Massachusetts. Where he claimed that 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: They can take this debate over phraseology to the people of South Carolina. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders come face-to-face with voters there tonight, a town hall event only here on CNN.

This Democratic town hall really is the last time they may get to face voters like this before they vote on Saturday. Tonight at 8:00 p.m. only on CNN, moderated by Chris Cuomo.

ROMANS: There is so much to talk about. Let's bring in political analyst Josh Rogin, columnist for "Bloomberg View".

Good morning. So nice to see you.

Let's talk about the raucous rally last night in Las Vegas with Donald Trump. A lot of folks there. He was really fired up.

And there is a moment where the protester in the crowd and Donald Trump, he just really let's it all go. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Here's a guy throwing punches, nasty as hell, screaming at everything else's when we're talking. I mean, walking out and we're not allowed -- you know, the guards are gentle with him. He is walking out like big high fives, smiling, laughing, I'd like to punch him in the face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: He got lots of cheers and applause. I mean, the Trump supporters love it. BERMAN: For the punching in the face caucus, he's winning.

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Trump once said he could shoot someone in the street in New York City and not lose a vote. So, he is feeling so confident that he can say just about anything at these rallies. He spent most of the rally attacking Ted Cruz. I think there's a recognition here that Ted Cruz is stumbling.

Marco Rubio has been attacking Ted Cruz. He hasn't had a good couple of days. We have seen his support wavering, especially in the March 1 Super Tuesday states.

So, the Trump campaign with the same calculation of the Rubio campaign, that this is the moment to hit Ted Cruz.

[05:05:06] So, in between him threatening to punch his rally attendees in the face, he's taken this opportunity to really attack Ted Cruz's support. And as we look at the polls, especially in Georgia, even in North Carolina, heading into some, a lot of the Super Tuesday states, Cruz seems to be faltering. And I think that's what all of the other Republican campaigns are trying to do.

BERMAN: Donald Trump calls him a liar. Rubio campaign calls him a master of dirty tricks. And the latest of the video tweeted out by his now former -- Cruz's former communications director Rick Tyler, which suggested, you know, the Marco Rubio said the bible wasn't a book with all answers. In fact, he said the book has all the answers.

That's the video right there. It's a little hard to understand. But Cruz fired Rick Tyler, his communications director. This is bringing more attention to the whole dust up.

ROGIN: Right. So, Cruz is going for the idea that he is the accountability guy. There will be consequences for people who stray. What he ended up doing is keeping himself off message for an extra day. That is a crucial day as we head into the March 1 primaries.

I mean, the bottom line, that "liar" tag, right or wrong, is sticking. The Cruz people know it. It's starting to affect their numbers. And because you have Trump and Rubio piling on to that narrative, it's something that he no longer ignore.

It's also a realization since Jeb got out of the race, there is support coalescing around Rubio.

Now, there's different theories about where the votes go. The Rubio people think that as Ted Cruz loses votes, they go to Rubio. Ted Cruz people think that as Trump loses votes, they go to Cruz. The Trump people think that as Ted Cruz losses votes, they go to him.

So, nobody knows who is right. But everybody knows they have to try to attack Ted Cruz, because that's the guy who has the votes that are the most vulnerable. It's very hard to take votes from Donald Trump, and Rubio is collecting votes as the other establishment candidates get out.

So, the math, no matter how you figure it, and the math here counts is that Ted Cruz is the guy who has votes up for grabs.

ROMANS: On the Democratic side, also brand new overnight, this new Spike Lee radio ad. It begins airing today. Who does Spike Lee want to be president?

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SPIKE LEE: Wake up. Wake up, South Carolina. This is your dude, Spike Lee. I know you know the system is rigged.

For too long, we have given up votes to corporate puppets, sold the okie doke. Ninety-nine percent of Americans were hurt by the Great Recession of 2008 and many are still recovering.

That's why I'm officially endorsing my brother Bernie Sanders.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROMANS: Does it help Bernie?

ROGIN: It is probably too little, too late for sanders and the African-American vote. I mean, the polls show in Georgia, for example, Hillary Clinton is, what, 50 points up.

BERMAN: Way up.

ROGIN: In North Carolina, she's got a lead that's probably won't be surpassed.

The only states Bernie is really leading in right now are Massachusetts, which is next to him. He is competitive in Michigan. He is focusing on Oklahoma. He thinks there is an opening there.

But, overall, we are looking at a March 1 map that favors heavily toward Hillary Clinton. When you add in the super delegates, with the conventional wisdom that Nevada was her firewall. Now, it looks like Super Tuesday is her fire wall.

She's going to stack up a ton of delegates. Unless something changes, and Spike Lee is not going to be enough. And Bernie Sanders is going to be facing a very tough delegate math after March 1.

BERMAN: She won African-American votes in Nevada, 3-1. She had 76 percent. That is a huge, huge margin. A lot of the states have higher African-American population.

Josh Rogin, thanks so much for being with us. We'll talk to you again in a little bit.

Some news from the Senate. Two Republicans breaking ranks with the party over President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court justice, whomever that might be. Susan Collins of Maine says the president's nominee should receive a proper hearing. Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois, he says the nominee should get the vote.

Republican leaders in the Senate, the vow to block any Obama pick. They now point to a 1992 speech by then-Senator Joe Biden that urged then-President Bush not to submit a nominee during an election year. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THEN-SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: President Bush should consider following the practice of majority of his predecessors and not -- and not name a nominee until after the November election is completed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: That's getting a lot of attention today.

BERMAN: That was June when he said, June, not February. Now, it's earlier. But still, I mean, the language he used is crystal clear in a lot of what Republicans are saying right now.

ROMANS: All right. Nine minutes past the hour. Uber driver accused in a shooting rampage while he was working, admitting police say to some of the murders. Police calling this case baffling and questions about the safety and background checks of those workers. We will tell you what Uber says about it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:13:43] BERMAN: This morning, we're hearing from frighten passengers trapped in a car, an Uber car with a now confessed killer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW MELLEN, TERRIFIED PASSENGER: I was pleading for him to stop the vehicle so he could let me out. He was surprisingly calm the whole time. He was just stating that, he's like, don't you want to get a ride to your friend's house. Don't you need a ride?

I was like, yes, yes, please pull over and let me out. At that point, he refused to stop. He just kept driving really erratically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That passenger finally jumped out of the vehicle driven by the 45-year-old suspect. That shooter is now being held this morning without bail, accused of killing six in a weekend killing spree in Kalamazoo, Michigan, all the while picking up Uber passengers in between the killings.

According to prosecutors, he confessed to two murders and acknowledged being present at the scene where five others were shot. Four of those victims died. A 14-year-old girl is clinging to life.

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)

[05:15:00] BERMAN: Investigators still have no clear motive for the rampage.

Let's get the latest now 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: All right. Nick Valencia for us, thank you for that.

Uber facing pressure this morning on the background check process. Uber executives in charge of safety say the suspected Kalamazoo shooter, he passed a background check, because he had no prior criminal record there were no issues with this guy as an Uber driver. Also, Uber says the driver had a 4.7 rating out of 5 from passengers.

Now, experts say high level background checks have serious flaws and in-person interviews and cross-referencing applications, those can raise red flags, but no system is perfect. Uber points to features it says make ride safe, like shareable GPS tracking and customer ratings of drivers, and policy against having firearms in vehicles. Obviously, that policy did not help here.

At the start of last year, Uber had 160,000 drivers in the U.S., adding 40,000 new drivers each month.

Protesters expected today at dozens of Apple store across the country, supporting Apple's fight against a federal court order. That order requiring the company to help the FBI unlock an encrypted iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. Apple has until Friday to present its appeal.

On Monday, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg attending the World Mobile Congress in Spain. He voiced his support for 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)

ROMANS: Several other tech CEOs have agreed with Apple, but not this guy. Microsoft co-founder and former CEO Bill Gates said Monday, Apple should unlock the iPhone for the FBI. The general public, a Pew Research Center poll, John, found 51 percent of the public said you should unlock it. It's important, 38 percent said no, they shouldn't.

BERMAN: All right. Eighteen minutes after the hour. President Obama asking Congress for $1.9 billion to fight the Zika virus in Latin America and the U.S. He's also asking for authority to use some of the leftover, $2.7 billion, that had them earmarked to fight Ebola. The president wants to use the money to invest in research for new vaccines and better tools to diagnose the disease.

All right. The Golden State Warriors, they made history with their victory last night over Atlanta, accomplishing something no NBA team has ever done. Not ever. Coy Wire with more in this morning's bleacher report.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:13] BERMAN: The Golden State Warriors, they made history last night, becoming the fastest team ever to reach 50 wins. They did it in 45 games. That's how good they are.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: Coy Wire, hey.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys. The Warriors are now 50-5 after last night's win against the Hawks. They are chasing the all-time record held by those '95-'96 Chicago Bulls, 72- 10. It took them one more game to reach 50 wins. Steph Curry putting on the show last night. Beast -- B-E-A-S-T -- best ever at shooting threes.

Falling away as time runs out. And the second, are you kidding me. Well, the Hawks would make a run, Horford, hold on. They would actually take the lead, put a little pressure on Golden State.

And Curry and company too clutch when it counts. Curry scores 36. Warriors win 102-92.

Now, the Warriors, they are in the middle of the seven-game road trip. But they have an off day. So, what would you do on your day off in the south?

Well, Steph Curry and Andre Iguodala, they are playing golf at the home of the Masters, Augusta National. No big deal. Head coach Steve Kerr promised them that if they win the won the title last year, he'd use a connection, they got a tee time at the most exclusive club in all of golf. Curry and Iguodala are going to play with team owner Joe Lacob and team exec Jerry West. Nice.

Get this -- Cavs guard Kyrie Irving, he missed all but eight minutes on Sunday's win against the Thunders in OKC due to bedbugs. Irving said he got the bedbugs from the hotel that the Cavs stayed at the night before.

Now, the team originally said he was out with flu-like symptoms. But Irving set the record straight yesterday.

[05:25:01] According to reports, the Skirvin Hilton in OKC confirmed bedbugs were found in Irving's room and they've taken the necessary steps to fix the problem.

Finally, the New York Yankees, they want the players to be more like Russell Wilson and less like Cam Newton, at least when it comes to post-game press conferences. According to ESPN's Andrew Marchand, the Yankees showed players clips on Newton sulking after the Super Bowl loss and compare that to Russell Wilson's loss in his Super Bowl.

This is all part of media training, giving the players, a way of teaching them how to deal with reporters after losing. I remember we used to do this every preseason in the NFL. It is always one of our favorite times of training camp, because we always got a good laugh on whatnot to do to this day. Still my worst fear to not become one of those low-light films.

BERMAN: Well, the thing is, the Yankees is probably smart to prepare for how to lose, because I expect they'll be doing a lot of losing this year. So --

WIRE: Spoken like a true Red Sox fan. I love it.

BERMAN: Exactly. Thanks, Coy.

WIRE: You're welcome.

BERMAN: All right. We have a few hours to go before the Republican caucuses in Nevada. What a big day it is and what a fascinating night. You know, Donald Trump threatens to punch a protester. Ted Cruz fires one of his top aides. John Kasich apologizing for controversy.

We have new drama this morning. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)