Return to Transcripts main page
Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
GOP Establishment Panic Over Trump; Clinton Staffer to Testify About Email Server; Video Shows Officer Kicking, Slapping Student. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired March 03, 2016 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:12] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Taking down Trump. Establishment Republicans desperate, desperate to keep him from winning the nomination. New attack ads being launched as former presidential nominee Mitt Romney teased up a new attack.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: After months of refusing to testify, the staff who set up Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server now telling all. So, what changed?
ROMANS: And a stunning video showing a school officer violently taking down a student.
Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: Great to see you today. I'm John Berman. Thursday, March 3rd. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East.
This promises to be a simply surreal day in campaign history, essentially unprecedented. The four current Republican candidates will share a debate stage. And a former candidate, in fact, a former nominee will take center stage trying to shake up the process.
The four Republicans debate for the first time since Donald Trump won seven of 11 Super Tuesday states. Ben Carson is not going to be there. He says he sees no political path forward, having not won a single state in the race so far.
Donald Trump will be there. Not just battling candidates on stage, but a candidate from the past.
Just hours from now, Mitt Romney will deliver a speech in Utah where I am told he will go after Donald Trump directly and hard.
Trump is already responding on Twitter, "Looks like two-time failed candidate Mitt Romney is going to be telling Republicans how to get elected. Not a good messenger. Why can't leaders of the Republican see that I am bringing in new voters by the millions? We are creating a larger, stronger party."
CNN's Sara Murray has the very latest from the Trump campaign in Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, John and Christine.
While we know Donald Trump can throw a punch, but today, he might be preparing to take a couple. Of course, we had the debate that's coming up tonight in Detroit, where we are expecting he will be right in the crosshairs of Senator Marco Rubio, as well as Senator Ted Cruz.
But before all that even happens, we are expecting a speech from 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney. In that speech, we are expecting him to knock Donald Trump forcefully and offer some kind comments about the senators who are still in the race.
Of course, all of this after Donald Trump had the huge Super Tuesday win, a string of seven wings there. And now, we are seeing this panic among the Republican establishment as they hope that there is still time to mount a challenge against Donald Trump. So, I think the knives will be out for him on the debate stage later tonight.
Back to you, John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: A big night indeed. Sara, thank you for that.
The Republican establishment anti-Trump panic that Sara just mentioned now spreading to the TV, with new multimillion dollar ad buys. Painting Trump as a pro-Obama one time Democrat.
Former presidential candidate Lindsey Graham telling CNN he is hoping Kasich gets the nomination, but he'd get behind Rubio and Cruz, anyone but Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Donald Trump is not a Republican. I think John Kasich is the most electable by left in the field. Marco will be a close second, and Cruz and Carson would be third. Trump is not a Republican.
So, what happens if Marco loses Florida?
The bottom line is I think Marco is going to do fine. I'm pulling for John Kasich in Ohio. I'm pulling for Marco Rubio in Florida. But if it got down to it, if Marco had to drop out, I'm anybody but Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The subtext there is that Lindsey Graham doesn't like Ted Cruz. And Lindsey Graham is essentially saying he would vote even for Ted Cruz, which the big admission for Lindsey Graham.
This morning, each non-Trump candidate is calling on other candidates to drop out. Ted Cruz says if he had not won his home state of Texas on Super Tuesday, he would have quit the race. Now, this is clearly Cruz turning the screws on Marco Rubio, pushing Rubio to quit if he loses his home state Florida in a couple weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Last night, if the voters of Texas had made a different decision, I would have had no choice but to suspend the campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: But, of course, Cruz did win Texas. He also won Oklahoma. He won Alaska and this morning, he's searching for a way to pile up more delegates in conservative states before winner-take-all primaries begin on March 15th. Cruz and Marco Rubio both see their biggest problem defeating Trump, his rivals who refused to drop out of this race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Usually when you are the frontrunner, everyone is saying now is please, everyone get together so we can keep this front runner from winning, and destroying the Republican Party.
CRUZ: If we are going to beat Donald Trump, the field can't remain fractured. Donald has I believe a hard ceiling of 35 percent to 40 percent that he can't get above.
[04:05:02] Now, as long as the field is fractured, that benefits Donald and allows him to win state after state after state because they're multiple opponents dividing the vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The field is going to stay fractured. Marco Rubio is not dropping out. John Kasich is not dropping out. Kasich has been in Michigan looking for votes there.
Unlike Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, Kasich, though, has pretty much thus far avoided going after Donald Trump directly, and he says he's going to stick to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe that, you know, attacking Donald Trump or insulting him is not going to peel any voters away from them. Obviously, I would explain to people what my position is as maybe juxtaposed to his, but I don't, I certainly don't intend to move in the direction of personal attacks, because that's not the way I operate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Donald Trump releasing details about his health care plan. The GOP frontrunner has a seven-point plan broadening health care access, making it more affordable and improving quality. Top of the list: repealing Obamacare, plus making insurance plans
available across state lines. Trump says that will increase competition and lower cost. Health care premium payments would be fully tax deductible and Trump wants to increase the use of tax free health savings account.
The plan includes a price transparency on what doctors and hospitals are charging. So, patients can shop around, giving states block grants and changing prescription drug laws to allow overseas companies to sell drugs in the U.S.
Trump won't be able to do any of this by himself, of course, if he's elected. Many of these reforms will require Congress to pass new laws or change existing ones.
BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, the further Clinton staffer who helped setup her private server has reached an immunity deal with the Justice Department. Last fall, Bryan Pagliano invoked his Fifth Amendment rights as they sorted through thousands of Clinton e-mails looking for classified information. The announcement that Pagliano has reached a deal marks new phase in this investigation, determining whether any crime has, in fact, been committed.
The spokesperson for Hillary Clinton says the campaign is pleased that Pagliano is now cooperating. Spokesperson says, "As we have said since last summer, Secretary Clinton has been cooperating with the Department of Justice's security inquiry, including offering in August to meet with them to assist their efforts if needed."
Out on the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton not talking about that. She was taking a victory lap celebrating her Super Tuesday wins.
CNN's Brianna Keilar has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Hillary Clinton rallied a largely union crowd here in New York City that featured New York politicians like Mayor de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo. And she emphasized her new, more positive message and pivoted towards the general election.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The stakes have never been higher and the rhetoric from the other side has never been lower. So, we've got work to do, my friends, but not to make America great again. America never stopped being great.
We have to make America whole. Instead of building walls, we need to break down barriers that are holding back families and our country.
KEILAR: And Hillary Clinton wrapped up her night with a fund-raiser featuring Katy Perry and Elton John as she tries to continue to fill her campaign coffers. She raised $30 million in February, a big number. But Bernie Sanders raised $42 million -- Christine and John.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that, Brianna.
You know, Bernie Sanders will be looking for votes in Lincoln, Nebraska, today. And there will be a Clinton close behind him. Bill Clinton plans to visit Lincoln and Omaha on Friday campaigning for Hillary.
Sanders on campaign the trail in Michigan on Wednesday, 10,000 people turning out for a rally at Michigan state university. Many of them students, we saw from those exit polls, that young people really broke for Bernie Sanders. The Vermont senator assuring the presidential bid is on the right path.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Super Tuesday, we won landslide victories in Minnesota and in Colorado. We won by 70 points in my own state of Vermont. If you come out to vote here in Michigan on primary day, we're going to win here in Michigan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So, the next week is March Madness here on CNN. It begins Sunday with the next Democratic debate in Flint, Michigan, followed by the premiere of the new CNN series, "RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE."
Next Tuesday is the next Super Tuesday night. Wednesday brings another Democratic debate in Miami. Thursday, the Republican debate in Miami. A week of political events all right here on CNN. And then by the next Tuesday, there's a bunch more states and a lot more delegates to get.
BERMAN: I see that schedule and I see that is a week of not sleeping.
ROMANS: I know.
BERMAN: But that's just me.
ROMANS: I got to get a babysitter.
BERMAN: All right. A federal appeals court judge in Iowa vetted by the White House as potential Supreme Court nominee.
[04:10:03] According to "The New York Times", 51-year-old Jane Kelly, an appellate judge for the eighth circuit of Iowa, Christine Romans, under consideration to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
This is someone Jeffrey Toobin has been talking about, supported at one point by Chuck Grassley, chairman of the judiciary committee.
ROMANS: He praised her in the past.
BERMAN: But unlikely to support her now. This president is expected to announce the selection in a couple weeks, of course, facing strong opposition from the Senate Republicans. They say they will block any nomination the president sends up.
ROMANS: All right. Defense Secretary Ash Carter coming out against the so-called back door that would give the government access to encryption protection data. Carter told an audience of computer security experts, he wants common ground with privacy advocates over access to an encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino terror suspects. The defense secretary says building a back door -- so-called back door into devices is not a realistic option.
BERMAN: The president goes to Milwaukee today to congratulate the city for winning an Obamacare enrollment contest. Milwaukee beat out 20 other communities across the country. Not everyone, though, is celebrating. Wisconsin is one of six states suing over the Affordable Care Act. Republican Governor Scott Walker claims it is anything but affordable for too many people in his state.
ROMANS: All right. Another Scott. A warm homecoming for astronaut Scott Kelly. He was in space for a year. Early this morning, Kelly touched down in Houston on a NASA plane. Wow, he reunited with his family, including his twin brother Mark Kelly.
NASA studied the differences between the identical twins after 340 days in very different environments. NASA says Kelly grew two inches during his time in zero gravity.
BERMAN: That's amazing.
ROMANS: Three hundred forty days.
BERMAN: My boys, identical twins, are obsessed with this. They're trying to side which of them gets to go to space.
ROMANS: You know, I wonder what the chances are having two brothers that are astronauts in general, you know?
BERMAN: It's a good question.
ROMANS: I mean, that's a smart -- you know, smart guys, two smart guys.
BERMAN: Proud parents.
All right. Stunning new video, disturbing new video showing a school officer kicking and slapping a student. We have new reaction on this, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: The top police official in the Baltimore school system and two officers have been placed on administrative leave after a video showing one of those officers slapping and kicking a young man. This happened Tuesday at the reach partnership school in Baltimore. The video, it's tough to watch.
And here is reaction from the Baltimore mayor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(EXPLETIVES DELETED)
STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, BALTIMORE MAYOR: As a parent of a Baltimore City school student, I was appalled by what I saw. That behavior that was demonstrated on the video is certainly something you never want to see anyone treated like that, but certainly not a school officer acting in this way, particularly with a young person. I know the school is investigating it. I know that it surfaced late yesterday and the investigation is ongoing. I support that investigation because I never want to see anything like that happen again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: There's the video again. The spokeswoman for Baltimore public school says the young man being slapped and kicked in his video is not a student at the reach partnership school -- so not a student in that school. Why he was there and the circumstances surrounding this still being investigated.
BERMAN: Major drama unfolding in Erin Andrews lawsuit against the Nashville Marriott. The executive with the hotel's parent company admitted that nude video of Andrews taken by a stalker through a hotel peephole was shown at a dinner the night before he was set to take the stand. This as the hotel security expert testified that Andrews' stalker was solely at fault for secretly recording here, calling the man a criminal and a terrorist.
CNN's Polo Sandoval with the very latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John and Christine, Erin Andrews' career success came despite the release of a secretly taped video and not because of it. It was the testimony from a psychologist who diagnosed the 37-year-old sportscaster with PTSD. A psychologist testified as part of the lawsuit filed by Andrews against the management group behind the Nashville, Tennessee Marriott Hotel.
That's where Michael David Barrett altered the peephole in Andrew's hotel room door and then secretly videotaped her nude online. He'd been trying to post the video online for profit. Barrett pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. And now, Andrews is Barrett, Westin Hotel Groups, and also Windsor Capital Group, for $75 million.
She maintains they were negligent and checking Barrett into the room next to her. During those two days of tearful testimony, Andrews told jurors that despite her reporting career and also several stints on "Dancing with the Stars", life simply hasn't been the same since that video was posted online in 2009. The defense is blaming Barrett for manipulating the staff into booking him next to Andrews. The hotel executive who oversaw operations at that hotel also took the stand. He told jurors security wasn't an issue with that property.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did this Marriott score on this security assessment?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It scored 100 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And based on your experience at that property and your dealings with the management team, are you aware of any need for additional security at that property as of September of 2008.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I was not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: A hotel security expert also testified yesterday, telling jurors that hotels are typically not insurers of guest's safety. But ultimately, John and Christine, it's going to have to be up to a jury to decide that -- guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Polo Sandoval, thanks for that.
He will not get the death penalty, but Jesse Matthew will spend the rest of his life in prison, with no chance of parole, as part of a plea deal in the deaths of two University of Virginia students. Matthew pleaded guilty to the murders of Hannah Graham in 2014, and Morgan Harrington five years earlier. In exchange, prosecutors withdrew a capital murder charge. The families of both victims say they support this deal, they are grateful not to have to endure a trial.
BERMAN: A white Alabama police officer is under arrest and charged with murder in the shooting death of a black man, 58-year-old Gregory Gunn last week. Officials initially said that Gunn was carrying a stick or object that could have been perceived as a weapon to the officer.
[04:20:05] The officer's name is Aaron Smith. Investigators are not saying what led them to charge Smith with murder, but his attorney calls it political and claims it was done to prevent civil unrest in Montgomery.
ROMANS: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will lead a team of congressional Democrats on a trip to Flint, Michigan, this week. They plan to hold a town hall with residence to discuss the city's ongoing water contamination crisis. The visit coming ahead of the Democratic debate in Flint. That is on Sunday night.
BERMAN: All right. The mystery of what happened to missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Now, there are new clues. A new possible piece of wreckage found. We have the very latest on this next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: A piece of airplane debris that officials believe may be part of the doomed Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that vanished, remember, almost two years ago, it will soon be sent to Australia for closer examination. The wreckage was found by an American tourist off the coast of Mozambique.
CNN's Saima Mohsin following developments live in Kuala Lumpur for us.
Good morning, Saima.
SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.
Yes, that piece of debris found in the area that oceanic experts believe that debris would wash ashore. You remember that flaperon, which was also identified last summer is part of MH370.
This is, of course, the coastline that any debris considering where they are searching would have ended up. Now, there are two parallel sentiments here. Experts and the authorities making that search certain they are searching in the right place and the family members, Christine, who believe that there is still hope. Some of them believing the search is not being conducted in the right place and simply isn't enough transparency.
I've just spoken with a daughter of one of the passengers onboard Flight MH370. Now, she told me that she feels there is little transparency of the authorities this time about the debris. Didn't contact family members to tell them about it directly. She found out by a tweet by the transport minister here in Malaysia. That is how she found out about this latest debris.
This is, of course, every twist and turn they hold on to, Christine. Every piece of evidence, they hope may lead to finding this plane. Of course, the two-year anniversary is coming up. They are launching a petition saying search for MH370. And that is because they are concerned, as the search area they are searching now draws to a close come this summer, in a few months time.
Will the search continue? She is urging for the search to continue. She is concerned authorities will stop that search if they don't find anything. She told me I still have hope. How can I morn? How can be a grieving family member if we haven't found that plane or the onboard it?
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: They want answers and they only get tiny bits of information months apart from each other. We hope certainly this could help put some pieces together.
Thank you so much for that, Saima Mohsin.
BERMAN: Really is astounding.
ROMANS: It really is, two years now, two years.
BERMAN: All right. Has Donald Trump become unstoppable? Parts of the Republican Party in full-on panic mode. This morning, launching new ads. This, as what an event this will be. Mitt Romney going to address the media and he is going to go after Trump hard.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
