Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Leading in Florida Poll; Violence at Trump Rallies In Spotlight; Clinton & Sanders Fight Over Trade; Turkey Rocked By Deadly Car Bomb Blast. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 14, 2016 - 05:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:32:09] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, Donald Trump blasted overnight accused of inciting violence in his rallies. He says, hey, it's not me, it's you. What one arrested protester told CNN.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, they held a CNN town hall last night. But the focus very much on Donald Trump and the violence at his rallies. Hear what they had to say.

Plus, dozens killed in separate terror attacks from major city bombings to attacks at western hotels. We're covering every angle. That's coming up.

ROMANS: All right, welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. 32 minutes past the hour right now.

And this morning, you really could say the race for president is at a boiling point with the controversy over violence at Donald Trump rallies overwhelming both sides of this race. Breaking overnight, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, they slammed Donald Trump, accusing him of inciting violence on the campaign trail. This happened at the CNN town hall; you're seeing pictures right there.

Remember this last week, a Trump supporter cold-cocking a protester at a rally in North Carolina. Donald Trump now says he would consider footing the legal bills of the man right there who just threw that punch. Donald Trump is also now explaining why he canceled a Chicago rally amid clashes between pro and anti-Trump groups. Trump now is blaming Bernie Sanders and his supporters for the chaos there.

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, they fired back last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All American should be concerned. It is clear that Donald Trump is running a cynical campaign, pitting groups of Americans against one another. He is trafficking in hate and fear. He is playing to our worst instincts rather than our -- angels of our better nature. He actually incites violence in the way he urges his audience on, you know, talking about punching people, offering to pay legal bills. SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald

Trump is literally inciting violence with his supporters. He is saying if you go out and beat somebody up, that's OK. I'll pay the legal fees. That is an outrage. And I would hope that Mr. Trump tones it down big time and tells his supporters that violence is not acceptable in the American political process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Overnight, Donald Trump defended his campaign and rhetoric. He held a rally in Florida. Trump now holds a comfortable lead in Florida, 21 points ahead of Marco Rubio. That's the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.

CNN's Sara Murray was at the rally. She has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning, John and Christine. Just days before the Florida primary, Donald trump was here rallying the crowd and taking aim at the home state senator Marco Rubio, calling him an absentee politician.

[05:35:05] But even in Florida, Donald Trump went after Ohio governor John Kasich and he overhauled his planned events on Monday to add an event in Ohio, a clear sign that he now thinks that John Kasich is a bigger threat than Marco Rubio is here in Florida.

But, of course, Trump is coming off a very newsy weekend. He had to cancel an event in Chicago on Friday after there were so many protesters. The campaign did not feel like they could go forward. He addressed that in Boca last night, saying he believes he made the right decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We had an interesting week. On Friday, we went to Chicago. We had 25,000 people coming. No, it's OK. We had 25,000 people coming. We had some -- I would say they were -- let's be nice -- protesters, OK? Let' say -- well, let's call them protesters.

And we had a decision to make. We had to make this decision. We want peace, we want happiness. We want everybody to go home really happy, really peaceful. So we said you know what we'll do? We'll postpone it, and it was a very wise decision. We've been given a lot of credit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Now, in light of the number of protesters that have been appearing at Trump events, we have seen a strong security presence. But here in Florida last night there were relatively few interruptions. Back to you, John and Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Sara, thanks for that from Florida. To help break down the fight over the violence at these Trump events, CNN's political analyst Josh Rogin joins us. He's in our Washington bureau. He is a columnist for Bloomberg View. Good morning.

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.

ROMANS: You know, there's a lot of sound I could play. I could play a lot of sound over the past the few months of Donald Trump talking about how he'd like, you know -- get him out of here, knock him out, you know.

BERMAN: Punch him in the nose.

ROMANS: Punch him in the nose. I'll pay their legal bills if you take out one of these protesters. I mean, he's said it again and again, and the crowd just loves it. It's electric -- the crowds in some of these rallies. But, listen to what he said -- he said this -- no one's been hurt. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Nobody's been hurt at all and as big as these rallies are, nobody's ever been hurt. We talk and we try and be good. And I will tell you, some of the protesters are very rough and they're bad dudes, and they swing and they punch, and nobody ever talks about that in the media.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Donald Trump's attack here --

BERMAN: It's not true, but the way. It's not true.

ROMANS: No, no -- I mean, no. Donald Trump's attack here is that it is the protesters who are the problem, not his supporters, and that we, in the media, don't focus on the terrible violence being done by the protesters.

ROGIN: Right. I mean, this is one of two responses that Mr. Trump has leveled against the protesters. One is that they've incited the violence when most of the evidence is quite to the contrary. We saw that it's simply not the case in many of these instances. And his other attack is to call them professional disruptors, right? To accuse them of being part of some sort of organized scheme to interrupt his rallies, whether that be from the left, as it were, or from the Sanders' campaign.

Also, just not borne out by the evidence, right? In the end, there's this huge gap between what Donald Trump is saying is going on at his rallies and what's actually going on in his rallies, based on the video, the interviews, all of the reporting that the tons of media are doing. And there's no effort by the Trump campaign to square that circle.

They're content to portray this violence and the causes and effects of it to their supporters under the frame that they believe is accurate, and they're not worried about the media pointing out where they're factually incorrect because they believe that they can just put it back to the media. It's a cynical strategy, for sure, but it seems to be working so it's hard to tell them to shift course.

ROMANS: There's still a question that there are protesters who are doing -- I mean, one of them jumped up onto the podium this weekend in Ohio. There's no question that there are protesters who are doing something inappropriate, but do the Trump campaign or do Trump supporters in any way say that there is a culture of violence and discord happening in these Trump events we are not seeing someplace else. There is a climate that is different.

ROGIN: Yes. I mean, that's a great example. That man who jumped onto the stage in Dayton, Ohio, right? Trump went on Twitter and said that he was part of ISIS, right? And that turned out to be based on a video of this guy that was a total hoax. And when it was pointed out to Trump on TV yesterday that this was hoax his quote was oh well, all I know is what I read on the internet, right?

So there's not a real serious effort by the Trump campaign to get to the bottom of this, right? They deflect and they blame, and then they say it's not their fault, and that's enough for them. Which points to the fact that they're not necessarily going to take steps other than increase security in perhaps slightly different language.

[05:30:40]

There's some contribution by your side or by your candidate to the problem. The fix has become more and more impossible and to the Trump campaign it's all good anyway because it keeps the focus on them, away from the other candidates.

ROMANS: Right.

ROGIN: Even the other candidates have to respond to them and that fits their narrative. It fits their strategy.

BERMAN: How does this play? How does this play going into tomorrow? Obviously, five key voting states tomorrow. Where do things stand right now, Josh?

ROGIN: Right. Trump is leading in five of those states, right? Maybe Ohio, in some polls, you have John Kasich up. Maybe in Missouri you could make an argument that Ted Cruz could pull it out. But the bottom line is that Trump stands to gain in his delegate lead significantly after Tuesday, and there's not much anyone can do about it.

Imagine if you're in the Rubio campaign, or the Kasich campaign, or the Cruz campaign, and you have a narrative. You have a strategy. You want to push your education plan or you want to roll out a team of national security leaders. There is no space in the discussion for that. The most cynical part of this debate over the violence at the Trump rallies is that it's pushed all of the rest of the debates off of the front page.

So what that does, is it prevents these candidates from making up that ground in these crucial days. And by the time they get around to fixing this problem -- if hopefully it will get fixed -- and then turning back to their real differences with the Trump campaign on real issues, it might be too late. And that will be, pretty much, the best case scenario for Donald Trump.

BERMAN: All right, Josh Rogin, thanks so much for being with us. We will talk to you again soon, my friend. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders -- they both had a lot to say about Donald Trump. They held a CNN town hall. This, in the midst of a Democratic primary, but again, the focus on Donald Trump and the violence that has taken over these events. We'll break it down next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:30:45]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I am already receiving messages from leaders. I'm having foreign leaders ask if they can endorse me to stop Donald Trump. And I think whoever goes up against Donald Trump better be ready, and I feel I am the best prepared and ready candidate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Hillary Clinton at last night's Democratic town hall, explaining why she thinks she is the one best positioned to beat Donald Trump in November. CNN politics reporter Eric Bradner -- so, he was at the town hall, covering the town hall, stays up all night analyzing every single angle and he joins us this morning for his takeaway from the event.

[05:50:00]

I want to look forward to these races tomorrow. I mean, tomorrow is really an important day for all these candidates -- for the Democrats in particular. You've got Ohio, for example, where Hillary Clinton had a 20 point lead in Ohio.

But, gosh, some of the Bernie Sanders rhetoric about manufacturing and trade and his anti-globalization stance has really, really resonated in some of these states where, frankly, there are thousands of factories that have closed over the past decade. Look at, for example, Illinois here, where she has a much tighter margin -- maybe 51 percent to 45 percent. What do you think is going to happen tomorrow?

ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: So, it's tough to tell because the polls showed, in Michigan, Hillary Clinton was ahead and yet she lost, and so it's a little bit difficult to say. But we expect similar factors to be at play across the Midwestern states -- Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri. Those are the real battlegrounds. Hillary Clinton is almost certainly going to win Florida and North Carolina.

But, Bernie Sanders has been hammering this message around trade, arguing that Clinton has been either a supporter or a passive opponent of every major trade deal for the last 25 years or so, dating back to NAFTA. And that's an argument that's really resonated in states that have been really hit hard by manufacturing losses, so that's been the policy topic that he's focused on the most.

Of course, both candidates are operating in the shadow of Donald Trump right now because of the violence and everything that we've seen with the Trump campaign in recent days. And so, that's casting a big question mark over the entire race.

Both candidates are making the argument that they are best suited to go up against Trump in the general election. That could be a late factor that affects the outcome. It will be fascinating to watch exit polls and see whether that changes anybody's mind.

ROMANS: Those exit polls have been so consistent on how people feel about the economy. We talk about how home prices are rising, the economy is growing, the unemployment rate is falling. But those exit polls show people feel like they're not getting a fair shake and that's really been helping Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, interestingly.

BRADNER: Yes, that's absolutely right. Neither of them like this comparison but the reality is they both do appeal to a similar set of populoustendencies. But, some of the factors you mentioned are really key. Bernie Sanders did an ad on foreclosures, trying to appeal to the African-American community which lost a lot of wealth in the mortgage crisis.

So, yes, Hillary Clinton has been focusing more and more on these economic core issues in recent days. She's hoping to eliminate the gap on that. But, in Michigan we saw about three in five people say that these international trade deals have been bad for the U.S. economy -- have cost jobs. And the majority of them voted for Sanders.

So, these Great Lake states -- we'll see whether they are all similar and Michigan was foretelling what was coming now, or if Hillary Clinton has righted the ship after a state that she, perhaps, didn't spend enough time in and might have made some strategic errors in.

ROMANS: All right, Eric Bradner, it's hard to sell hey, globalization was happening anyway. We did these trade deals to make it less bad. That doesn't really sell with people just mad that their factories have closed. Eric Bradner, nice to see you. Up all night in Columbus, Ohio for us.

Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY" this morning. Alisyn Camerota joins me right now. Hi, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Hey, guys. Great to see you. So, we will have an update on the violence at Donald Trump's rallies. What's behind it? What does he say is behind it? The major pushback from other candidates about it.

Trump is laying blame at the feet of his Democratic rivals who are firing right back his way. He also made a claim this weekend that was false about the violence, so we will talk about that. Of course, does it impact the results at the ballot box? So, we'll get perspective from both sides on that.

Also, a CNN exclusive you will not want to miss. Inside Rebel-held Syria. The devastating situation on the ground is getting worse with all of these strikes against civilians. So, we'll show you the video and the pictures behind this humanitarian crisis. So, we'll see you in about 10 minutes.

ROMANS: Yes, hard to watch but so important. The story behind told that no one else is telling. Thanks for that, Alisyn Camerota. Dozens killed, more than 100 injured in a terror attack. We're going to tell you where, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:55:00]

ROMANS: Turkish authorities say it's too early to discuss who is responsible for a deadly car bomb that killed at least 37 people and injured dozens more last night. The blast ripped through a busy square in the capital. The attackers targeting a transportation hub with bus stops and a metro station.

We want to get the very latest on this from CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon. She is there in the capital for us. Arwa, what happened?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Well, the attack took place just down the road from where we are. You can see the police cordon and the white sheet blocking the view for onlookers, some of whom have been stopping by just looking very sad. This is a country in mourning. This is a country that is feeling very vulnerable at this stage.

Now, this is what Turkish authorities are saying happened. Either one or two attackers drove a vehicle packed with explosives and detonated it right next to the bus station -- fairly busy at that time of day -- 6:45 in the evening. This entire area, in fact, packed, teaming with throngs of people because there are a number of shops here. There are also countless open-air restaurants and coffee shops and it's a very popular place to begin with, even more so as the place to go on a Sunday evening.

Now, the Turkish government is saying that they believe that a terrorist organization is responsible for this violence. They are not yet telling us, at least publicly, which one it is, saying that they want to see an investigation come to an end. But, Turkish media is reporting that this is believed to be the work of the Kurdish Separatist group, the PKK, with whom Turkey has been battling for decades.

ROMANS: All right, thank you so much for that. Arwa Damon for us this morning in Turkey. All right, let's get an early start on your money this morning. Last night's CNN Democratic town hall -- Bernie Sanders claimed the U.S. has the worst distribution of wealth of any major country on earth. We checked those numbers -- crunched those numbers. He's right on this.

The richest 10 percent of Americans controlled 75 percent of the nation's wealth in the year 2014. The only other country that comes close -- Switzerland. The top 10 percent own 71 percent of the wealth. Sweden and Denmark further down more than 60 percent. The average among developed nations is 50 percent.

Hillary Clinton also with some facts at the town hall last night. She talked about poverty. She says poverty fell dramatically under her husband's presidency, and that the percentage of Americans in poverty rose to 15.1 percent by the time George H.W. Bush left office in 1993. Then during Bill Clinton's two terms it dropped to 11.3 percent, the lowest rate since the 70's.

That figure rose again under George W. Bush, and under President Obama it hasn't fared much better, currently sitting a 14.8 percent. Hillary Clinton explained it's because the previous Bush administration left President Obama with the worst financial crisis since the great recession.

Fifty-eight minutes past the hour. Is Donald Trump inciting or encouraging violence at his rallies? Important new storyline developing this weekend. "NEW DAY" picks it up right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Get him out of here.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is no place for a national leader to prey on the fears of people.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You had a presidential candidate telling his supporters punch that guy in the face.

TRUMP: Knock the crap out of him, would you?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump, on a regular basis, incites his crowds.

SANDERS: Nobody is talking about building a wall around the United States. I beg your pardon. There is one guy who is talking about building a wall.

CLINTON: The Republicans have been after me for 25 years.

SANDERS: The only way we really transform this country is when people stand up and fight back.

DAMON: Ankara has been in a state of heightened alert for quite some time. This underscores just how vulnerable Turkey is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira. CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Monday, March 14th, 6:00 in the east. Chris and Michaela are off this morning. John Berman joins me. Great to have you here, John.

All right, up first, violence at Donald Trump's rallies taking center stage ahead of Tuesday's crucial primaries. Trump under fire now from Republican and Democratic rivals after several incidents this weekend. A defiant Trump rejecting any responsibility.

BERMAN: Democratic hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders -- they lit into Trump during a CNN town hall in Ohio. Clinton accused him of political arson. Bernie Sanders called him a pathological liar. And all this as voters prepare to head to the polls in five states, including critical winner-take-all primaries for the Republicans in Florida and Ohio. I've got to say, this could entirely reshape the race within the next 24 hours. We have complete coverage.

We want to go first to CNN's Jason Carroll in Tampa, Florida.