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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Donald Trump to Appear Before Pro-Israeli Group; Clinton and Sanders Hit the Trail; President Obama's Historic Trip to Cuba; Paris Suspect Nabbed in Brussels; U.S. Marine Killed in ISIS Attack; Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired March 21, 2016 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:49] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: In just hours, Donald Trump meets with top Republicans ready to make the case he is their best candidate for president while defending violence at his rallies. We're breaking it all down.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And happening now, President Obama in Cuba. The first time a U.S. president has visited the country in 88 years. An historic visit that is promising plenty of controversy.
ROMANS: The captured Paris attacker now revealing more attacks were planned. What we're learning.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
MARQUEZ: And I am Miguel Marquez.
ROMANS: Good to see you.
MARQUEZ: Good to see you on a stormy morning. It is 31 minutes past the hour. We begin with more chaos at Donald Trump rallies. The Republican frontrunner's campaign staff vowing to beef up security at future events after two more incidents of violence over the weekend. Trump also hopes to put out a few political fires today. He'll meet with two dozen influential Republican leaders in Washington hoping to mend fences with the party establishment. And he'll speak to the pro- Israel group that's been anything but pro-Trump.
We get more from CNN's Chris Frates.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Miguel and Christine. Later today, Donald Trump who has been criticized for not being a big enough friend of Israel will give a closely watched speech on his Mideast policy to a pro-Israel group AIPAC. In a number of rabbis and Jewish religious leaders are expected to protest that speech by walking out because they believe Trump is promoting hatred.
Of course Trump has dismissed similar charges in the past and those expected protests later today, they come after a wild weekend that found Trump's campaign manager once again facing charges. He manhandled someone at a Trump event. And saw another protester soccer punch. Yesterday Trump seemed to defend his campaign manager and credit his actions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because security at the arena, the police were a little bit lax and he had signs. They had signs up in that area that were horrendous. I give him credit for having spirit. He wanted them to take down those horrible profanity- laced signs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRATES: This is not the first time Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has come under fire. Earlier this month, a reporter accused Lewandowski of grabbing her by the arm and yanking her backwards as she tried to ask Trump a question at a news conference. The reporter has filed a criminal complaint against Lewandowski. He has denied touching her at all and denies any of the charges.
Now this has all caused Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus to weigh in on Sunday saying he thinks law enforcement professionals, not campaign officials should deal with protesters.
And also this weekend, a man at Trump's Tucson rally sucker-punched and kicked the protester being sorted out by security. That man was arrested for misdemeanor assault -- Miguel, Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Chris, thanks for that. You know, the protester who was sucker punched at that Trump rally in Tucson Saturday is speaking out. Video from the rally shows anti-Trump demonstrator Bryan Sanders being escorted out of the building by security when suddenly things get way out of hand. Listen to Sanders describe what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRYAN SANDERS, PROTESTER AT TRUMP RALLY: I had a sign that said "Bad for America." And it had Trump with the confederate flag superimposed on his face. I was being escorted out of the building. I had that in my right hand. I had a peace sign up. The guy grabbed the sign out of my right hand and then sucker-punched me. And then he got on top of me and hit me a couple of more times.
All I can, baby, is this is democracy. People that don't want us to be protesting, people that don't -- want us at their event, they should look deep inside themselves and see what they're supporting. This is what it brings. It's the '60s all over again. And getting punched in the face is no problem. Trump is not going to be in the White House. Come hell or high water. Not going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: It turns out getting punched in the face is a problem. It's actually a misdemeanor assault charge. The man being -- seen punching Sanders on the video has been identified as 32-year-old Tom Pettaway. He was charged with misdemeanor assault and released.
MARQUEZ: Wild. Donald Trump and his two Republican rivals making a final push for
votes before two more big races tomorrow. Arizona and Utah are up for grabs. Ted Cruz trying to sell the notion this is now a two-man race while John Kasich insists there will be a contested convention.
Listen to both candidates make their cases.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[04:35:05] SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald is in a difficult position because in a two-man race, he has a very hard time breaking 50 percent. So our path forward is to win primaries going forward. And amass the delegates and we have a straightforward path to get to 1237 delegates.
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Everybody has got to face the fact that we're going to an open multi-ballot convention. That's where we're headed. And the convention is an extension of what we're going through right now. And so -- I've been at a convention that was contested in 1976.
What happens is the delegates will take everything seriously. They will take a look at people's experience and their electability. And that is fine. I don't know what's everybody so panicked about this. Everybody needs to take a little chill pill to tell you the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: The political chill pill. Stay with CNN. Ohio Governor John Kasich will be joining us live on "NEW DAY" this morning in the 8:00 hour. Taking chill pills there.
ROMANS: Passing out chill pills for running in politics.
MARQUEZ: Yes.
ROMANS: The Democratic side, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton hitting the trail hard. Races tomorrow of course in Utah, Arizona and Idaho. Another big night ahead.
Clinton campaigns in Phoenix today while Sanders making stops in Utah and Arizona. Both candidates battling for every single vote. Clinton hoping to seal the deal soon. Sanders determined to stay alive.
Let's get the very latest from CNN's Boris Sanchez.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miguel, Christine, former president Bill Clinton campaigning on behalf of his wife, the former first lady and senator Hillary Clinton, here in Tucson, Arizona. A state where the former president is extremely popular. His message of inclusion and equality, specifically financial equality, economic equality, carrying of weight with the voters here. They were very happy to hear his message.
This is a state where he is again extremely popular. The only Democrat to carry Arizona since Harry Truman many, many decades ago. And he wasn't here alone. He was accompanied by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords along with her husband, the astronaut, Mark Kelly, who had a very high praise for the former first lady.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GABBY GIFFORDS, FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN: Hillary is tough. Hillary is courageous. She will fight to make our families safer.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
GIFFORDS: In the White House she will stand up to the gun lobby. That's why I'm voting for Hillary.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: On the other side of the ticket, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders continues to fight on. He was here in Arizona over the weekend visiting the border with Mexico and also meeting with some immigrant families. The senator spent $1.5 million in ads here in Arizona alone. Winning the state would represent a breath of fresh air and a change of momentum for his campaign. He attacked Hillary Clinton over the weekend. Here's a taste.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When we began this campaign about 10 months ago, the general feeling of the media and the pundits is that we were looking at a coronation. That there was an anointed candidate who would simply and quietly get the Democratic nomination. Ten months --
(CROWD BOOS)
SANDERS: Ten months have come and gone. Doesn't look to me like that's the case.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANCHEZ: Now there are 75 delegates at stake here in Arizona. Two other states voting, Utah and Idaho on Tuesday. It could be a big day for Hillary Clinton if she wins the way that she did last Tuesday. Sweeping all five states that were up for grabs and again for Bernie Sanders, it could represent kind of a rebirth of his campaign that has lost momentum in recent weeks -- Christine, Miguel.
ROMANS: All right, Boris.
On the eve of tomorrow's western Tuesday all five presidential hopefuls sit down with Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer. You can see those interviews tonight at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
MARQUEZ: Looking for that.
History unfolding in Havana now. President Obama going where no U.S. president has gone for 88 years. Arriving in Cuba's capital on Sunday, the president's historic trip is the latest and most prominent sign of the new normal in relations between the countries. He'll meet with Cuba's president and is expected to raise concerns about human rights in a speech to the Cuban people.
We get more from -- on the president's trip from CNN's Jim Acosta in Cuba.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Miguel, changes in the air here in Cuba as President Obama prepares to spend his first full day here on the island. Later today he will lay a wreath at the memorial remembering the Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti, and then later on in the day he'll hold a formal bilateral meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro.
As for last night, the president toured Old Havana with the first family and also stopped by the old cathedral in this city. That was after he talked to the embassy staff for the United States here in Cuba where he talked about the significance of this trip. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's been nearly 90 years since a U.S. president stepped foot in Cuba.
[04:40:07] It is wonderful to be here. Back in 1928, President Coolidge came on a battleship. It took him three days to get here. It only took me three hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Tomorrow the president will give a speech to the Cuban people. The White House says the president will be talking about expanding human rights for Cuban people, talking about freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly. And then the president will wind down his trip with a baseball game between the Cuban National team and the Tampa Bay Rays -- Christine and Miguel.
ROMANS: (INAUDIBLE) Tell the Castro regime is out that the president shouldn't be there but he's there. First time in 90 years.
MARQUEZ: It will have its controversy.
ROMANS: Absolutely.
All right. A U.S. hotel chain will operate in Cuba for the first time in 60 years. Starwood Hotels and Resorts says it signed deals to take over three properties and will renovate the hotel in Gotera and turn another hotel into a budget friendly four-point location. Starwood will also take over the palatial hotel center Isabel. It is popular among celebrities and has hosted former president Jimmy Carter.
Starwood operates a handful of brands including Sheridan, Westin and W. Room rental service Airbnb is also doing business in Cuba, tweeting overnight, "4,000 Cuban hosts are opening their doors to the world," after it received special approval from the Obama administration.
It is still technically illegal for U.S. citizens to visit Cuba, but flights from major airlines are beginning soon and it is becoming easier to travel there.
MARQUEZ: I want to go, I have to admit.
ROMANS: Just to spend their money.
MARQUEZ: I do want to spend my money there.
The captured Paris terror suspect revealing more attacks were in the pipelines. What he's telling investigators coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:45:52] COSTELLO: Authorities in Belgium say Salah Abdeslam, the lone surviving suspect in the Paris massacre, is now talking to investigators and was apparently planning a new attack before he was captured last week. Officials are taking the claim of a new attack very seriously. They say a cache of heavy weapons was found leading up to Abdeslam's arrest.
CNN's Nima Elbagir is following developments. She is live for us in Belgium.
Nima, what really is surprising to me is he was found just several hundred yards from his family's home right there in his neighborhood, basically, of Molenbeek.
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just a street away from where they were first looking for him, Christine. And I think what's extraordinary is how surprising this was to Belgian authorities given the central role that Molenbeek has played and has emerged essentially as the nexus of the conspiracy into the Paris attacks.
Throughout these months of Abdeslam's ability to evade capture, authorities had been working with suspicion that the network was bigger than they had suspected, had to be bigger than they were suspected to allow and support him to evade them for so long. It turned out it is far bigger they say than they ever suspected. Originally thye were looking for 10. They've already arrested 30. And Abdeslam was also able, they believe, to bring a new network to play around him. And it's this new network that they suspect of planning new attacks here in Brussels.
And when you take that with the reality of these warnings that Interpol has had to put out, there is a real sense here, a real tension in Belgium. Interpol is warning of European countries to be hyper vigilant of their borders. There is a concern and possibility that jihadists could be making their way here from Syria. So for Belgian authorities, as they continue to question Salah Abdeslam, so much is at stake here -- Christine.
ROMANS: And there were more weapons that were discovered heading up into his arrest. That's really causing concern that he was part of something that was seriously and actively planning something else.
ELBAGIR: Absolutely. And given that the authorities say that they don't believe his claim that he changed his mind. And that's what caused him to turn back from the Stade de France. They believe that there was perhaps another plot, even in Paris, that was unfolding.
ROMANS: Yes.
ELBAGIR: And what's really emerged is how central he was in Paris. Up until this point, everybody has really had this working theory that he was just a would-be attacker who failed to detonate. Now authorities are learning that he was ferrying what they've characterized as the Paris commando teams. That he was the one who rented that Renault Cleo that delivered the attackers to the site where they spread so much horror.
ROMANS: Right.
ELBAGIR: This is just incredibly hard to hear. These details that are emerging. Already the family members of those who were killed in the attacks in Paris have really been recoiling. But unfortunately for them this is going to be a lot longer while authorities try and glean as much information as they can before they send him back to Paris to stand trial.
ROMANS: All right. Nima, thank you so much for that incredible reporting. Thanks.
MARQUEZ: Turning now to the battle over the Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. Several liberal organizations including Moveon.org are planning protests today at the offices of GOP senators who are up for re-election. They're demanding a fair Senate hearing for Garland, but the Republican leadership is not willing to budge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MAJORITY LEADER: There's a lot of activity on this issue out in the country on both sides. And a lot of people think this appointment ought to be made by the next president will be weighing in as well. And look, that's the principle. Who ought to make that decision? A lame duck president on the way out the door or the president we are in the process of electing right now?
What is the tradition? It's been 80 years -- 80 -- since a vacancy created in a presidential election year was filled. You have to go back to 1888, Grover Cleveland in the White House, to find the last time a vacancy created a presidential year was filled by a Senate of a different party from the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[04:50:06] MARQUEZ: Now the conservative group Judicial Crisis Networks starts airing $2 million worth of ads today. All of them supporting Republicans who may be vulnerable in November because of their position on Garland's nomination. ROMANS: A redistricting fight in Virginia goes to the Supreme Court
today. The justices must decide whether lawmakers reconfigured the state's congressional map to protect the only African-American congressman in the commonwealth or to make sure another African- American candidate didn't join him. Lawmakers in Virginia insist the redistricting was an effort to comply with the Voting Rights Act but critics claim they were attempting to make certain districts more hospitable to white candidates.
MARQUEZ: And federal law enforcement is investigating threatening letters sent to both Donald Trump's sister, who's an appeals court judge, and his son. Judge Maryanne Trump Barry received her letter in Philadelphia on Friday, a day after Trump's son Eric got one containing a suspicious white powder. Both letters demanded Trump drop out of the presidential race. Authorities say it's not clear the same person sent both.
ROMANS: All right. Jurors in the Hulk Hogan-Gawker case are back in court this morning after awarding the former professional wrestler $115 million judgment. Now they will deliberate to consider punitive damages against the media company for airing a sex tape featuring Hogan and a friend's wife. Gawker is appealing the judgment claiming jurors did not have an opportunity to review nearly 1,000 pages of sealed documents that were just released to the public on Friday.
That is $115 million.
MARQUEZ: Huge decision by that jury. Shivers down the spines of media execs across New York. That's for certain.
ROMANS: Yes. All right. The Dow Jones --
MARQUEZ: Around the world.
ROMANS: Yes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is on a six-day winning streak. Can we make it to seven? We're going to get an EARLY START on your money next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:56:04] MARQUEZ: The Pentagon has identified the U.S. Marine who was killed by an ISIS rocket attack this weekend in Iraq. Officials say 27-year-old Staff Sergeant Louis Cardin from Temecula, California, died when a coalition base in northern Iraq came under fire from ISIS. Several other Marines were wounded. The war against ISIS intensifying now in and around Mosul in northern Iraq.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is live in Amman, Jordan.
Jomana, what do we know about the circumstances about how this Marine died?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miguel, on Saturday, two rockets targeted this base near the town of Makhmour, in northern Iraq. That's south of the city of Mosul. And what we know is one rocket hit a base in -- near Makhmour and one U.S. Marine was killed. Several others were wounded. It's unclear how many were wounded.
What we are learning from U.S. Defense officials is that this was a fire base. Now these are bases that are usually set up in remote areas providing artillery support and cover for infantry troops that are about five to 10 miles away. And according to Defense officials now no official announcement had been made about the existence of this fire base. There are a couple of other similar bases, but they are within larger Iraqi bases.
This is the only one that we know of that has been set up independently in northern Iraq over the past couple of weeks. A group of about couple hundred Marines moved in and set up this camp with two main missions. One is to provide artillery support and protection for a nearby coalition base where about 5,000 Iraqi troops are being trained for that eventual operation to try and retake the city of Mosul.
And another mission is to provide that artillery cover for Iraqi forces when they make that move, when they start advancing toward the city of Mosul in the coming weeks and months, whenever that may happen. And according to U.S. Defense officials, Miguel, it does seem that ISIS militants may have monitored these forces, these Marines as they were moving into the area in the past few days. Especially when they were firing practice rounds of artillery from the base which may have given the indication that U.S. forces were in the area and allowed them to target this fire base. Really underscoring the danger for U.S. forces there even in this limited combat role that they're in -- Miguel.
MARQUEZ: But clearly an increase in the number of U.S. troops are getting involved there.
Jomana Karadsheh in for us in Amman, Jordan. Thank you.
ROMANS: All right, 58 minutes past the hour. Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning.
Stock futures pointing down a little bit. But, you know, the Dow is riding a six-day winning streak. Oil might be the reason today for a little bit of a softness in futures. Oil back below $39 a barrel. Stock markets in Europe trading lower. The Nikkei in Tokyo started the week with a 1 percent slide. The S&P 500 starting today with gains now for the year. The Dow is now up 1 percent for 2016. The S&P turned positive Friday. Nasdaq is still down 4 percent.
Here is what the recovery in the S&P 500 looks like. The top performing sectors so far this year, telecommunications, utilities -- look at that -- energy, industrial. Utilities are historically a safe play for investors. Energy's rebound impressive as that sector suffered those deep losses to start the year when oil crashed. Of the 30 companies in the Dow, 30 -- look at this, 17 are now higher.
Here are the biggest gainers of the year. Verizon up almost 16 percent. Caterpillar rising 11 percent. 3M up almost 10 percent. And Wal-Mart up 9.2 percent so far. Apple, one of the most widely held stocks on the planet, is up just a
fraction for the year but keep an eye on shares of Apple today. A big event today in Cupertino. Apple expected to unveil a new smaller iPhone. A downsized version of the iPad Pro could be coming. And some expect Apple will unveil new Watch bands to keep the Apple Watch fresh. For all things Apple, check out CNN Money. We'll have the latest throughout the morning including news from the event and first impressions of all the new products.
MARQUEZ: We love Apple announcements.
ROMANS: We do.
MARQUEZ: That's exciting.
EARLY START continues --
