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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Donald Trump: RNC Rules Stacked Against Me; Hillary Clinton's New York Momentum; Former NFL Star Will Smith Shot and Killed; Prosecutors Raid Panama Law Firm. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired April 13, 2016 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:05:13] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump railing against the Republican Party late last night, telling CNN the rules are stacked against him to keep him from winning the nomination.
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, Hillary Clinton gaining more momentum and a big new endorsement in the Democratic battle for New York.
Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Lynda Kinkade.
BERMAN: Great to have you here with us.
Hello, everyone. I'm John Berman. It's Wednesday, April 13th. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East.
Overnight a biting, stinging, back and forth between Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee and it all started right here on CNN. Trump says the party stacked the rules against him. He made that accusation while appearing with his family in a CNN town hall. Trump said the RNC changed the rules to keep him from the nomination, and, boy, was the RNC quick to respond.
CNN politics reporter Sara Murray has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Donald Trump making no effort to mend fences with the Republican Party last night, saying in our CNN town hall that he does not think the RNC wants him to win the nomination and he's bashing the nomination process along the way.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You don't think the RNC wants you to get the nomination?
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, I don't think so. I really don't. I mean --
COOPER: You think they're actively working against you?
TRUMP: I don't know. I mean, I don't see it. It's not like it's -- I have 15 miles of proof. But certainly, they should want to have a vote of the people of Colorado. The people of Colorado -- I would have won. I won so many of the votes. I mean, the voting has been phenomenal. That's why I've won so many more states than Ted Cruz and Kasich.
MURRAY: Now, all of this seemed to be a bridge too far for Reince Priebus, the RNC chairman. He fired back on Twitter last night, saying, "Nomination process known for a year and beyond. It's the responsibility of the campaign to understand it. Complaints now? Give us all a break."
Meanwhile, this forum was an interesting one for Donald Trump. It was a rare moment when he was sharing the spotlight, not competing for it. He was joined by his wife Melania and four of his children. And they spoke, frankly, about some of the issues he's been having, particularly in terms of how he speaks to female voters, and Ivanka Trump said that she doesn't see any issue with it, and she points to how she was raised alongside her brother as proof that her father treats men and women equally.
IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: I think the facts speak for themselves. I have witnessed these incredible female role models that he's employed in the highest executive positions at the Trump organization my entire life. And an industry that has been dominated by men is still dominated by men, but certainly was when he was starting out in his career and he was employing some of these women and raising them through the ranks.
So, you know, for me, I think the way he raised me, the way he raised Tiffany, it's a testament to the fact that he believes in inspiring women, empowering women. He always taught me that there wasn't anything I couldn't do.
MURRAY: And Donald Trump will be back on the campaign trail today, but not in New York. He's taking a quick break from the Empire State primary, flying over to Pittsburgh for a rally. So, we'll see him later on this afternoon.
Back to you, guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: In just hours, Ted Cruz comes to New York for his CNN town hall. Cruz has not spent much time campaigning in the state where he's in third place in two brand-new polls. But his spokeswoman says the small events has held have been in unlikely places with few Republicans. They're aimed at picking off a few delegates in order to block Trump from clinching the nomination.
Cruz boasted about his Colorado delegate wins on Glenn Beck's radio show Tuesday, calling Trump a loser.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald is a very sore loser. He doesn't handle losing well. He throws a fit. He's crying and screaming and yelling, and he insults people, and he curses at people. And he attacks people.
Donald loves to call people a loser. Donald wakes up at night in cold sweats that people will call him Losin' Donald.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KINKADE: Tonight, Ted Cruz appears in the last of three CNN Republican town halls. He and his wife Heidi will both answer voter questions. That's in New York at 9:00 p.m., only on CNN.
BERMAN: A lot of use of the word "loser" there in a short period of time. I wonder if we'll hear that tonight.
House Speaker Paul Ryan flatly ruling out a run for the presidency for 2016 or at least trying to. Ryan has been facing increased speculation about his plans and pleas from some Republican leaders, clearly upset over the possibility that Cruz or Trump might win the nomination. They want Ryan to parachute in as a late entrant into the race.
But at a Washington news conference, Ryan said, "I do not want nor will I accept the nomination of our party."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: So let me speak directly to the delegates on this. If no candidate has a majority in the first ballot, I believe you should only choose from a person who is actually participated in the primary.
[04:10:05] Count me out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Breaking overnight, a major endorsement for Hillary Clinton one week before the crucial New York primary. "The New York Daily News" offering Clinton heroic praise as it lays into Bernie Sanders who many say performed poorly with the daily news editorial board. "The Daily News" says, "New York Democrats have in Clinton a superprepared warrior realist. They have in opponent Bernie Sanders a fantasist who's passionate war with reality."
The latest poll of New York Democrats has Clinton well out in front, 53 percent to Sanders' 40 percent.
Campaigning in Manhattan, Hillary Clinton focused on pay equity for women at a Tuesday roundtable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If talking about equal pay and paid leave and more opportunities for women and girls is playing the gender card, then deal me in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: CNN's Jeff Zeleny is with the Sanders campaign and he has the latest on the Democratic race.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton is back in New York today. She's campaigning once again for that New York primary next week. Now, she took a bit of a detour from the campaign trail to Florida on Tuesday where she held three fund-raisers to raise primary money for this campaign. She still needs to fill those coffers in this longer than expected race against Bernie Sanders.
Well, Bernie Sanders took an opportunity to tell voters here in New York about how Secretary Clinton makes her money.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: During the last filing period, her largest super PAC reported raising $25 million from special interests, including $15 million from Wall Street.
(BOOS)
Does anybody seriously believe that you can be an agent of change if you are taking money from the most powerful special interests in this country?
ZELENY: Campaign finance is just one of the many issues and differences between these two candidates. They're really going back and forth over guns, over Wall Street, over fracking, over who's prepared to be president. Now, all of this is coming to a head really now.
This is one day before that Democratic debate in Brooklyn, their first face-to-face debate in five weeks. That's why it's so important here. Bernie Sanders knows he needs to turn all those big crowds he's been gathering all across the states into actual votes and supporters. That's why that debate tomorrow in Brooklyn, so important.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: And we're just a day away from the CNN Democratic presidential debate in Brooklyn. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in a critical faceoff. The last time before the New York primary. That is tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
BERMAN: So, brace yourself.
All right. Joining us now for an early look at your money, Alison Kosik is here.
ALISON KOSIK, CNNMONEY CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to both of you.
Looking like a big day all across the board for markets around the world. I'm seeing a lot of green arrows. Asian markets are higher, so are European markets. U.S. stock futures, yes, they are following their lead. A great day yesterday for Wall Street. We saw the Dow gain 165 points, that's almost 1 percent. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ also gaining about 1 percent. So, big question, what was behind the rally? Well, it was all about
oil. Oil prices jumping to their highest levels for the year. The price for crude rising 4 1/2 percent to $40.17 per barrel. All of that on rumors that Saudi Arabia and Russia reached a deal to freeze output. Oil prices have tumbled over the last two years because of a major oil glut. And OPEC countries for now have refused to pump less.
Even those countries in OPEC, those OPEC producing countries, they're beginning to feel the effect in the collapse of oil prices. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia even cut government spending because of declining oil revenue. So, those big meetings happening Sunday night in Doha. We'll see if they, in fact, agree to freezing output.
BERMAN: Interesting to see, the gas prices in the coming days and weeks also.
Thanks, Alison.
KOSIK: You got it.
KINKADE: Thank you.
Still to come, new surveillance video capturing the hit and run crash moments before New Orleans star Will Smith was shot and killed. That story is just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:18:17] KINKADE: Welcome back.
The coroner's office is expected to release Will Smith's autopsy report later today. The former New Orleans Saints star was shot and killed last weekend.
And there are new developments in the investigation. Police say a fully loaded .9 millimeter handgun was found inside Smith's SUV. A new surveillance video appears to show a hit and run between Smith and suspect Cardell Hayes minutes before the fatal shots were fired.
We get more now from CNN's Jean Casarez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are learning more and more about what happened last Saturday night.
First of all, we want to show everybody this surveillance video. And as you can see there are two SUVs in the video. The first is a Hummer SUV, and that is allegedly driven at that point by the now defendant Cardell Hayes. Behind it is the Mercedes SUV believed to have been driven by former NFL player Will Smith.
As you can see, that Mercedes SUV hit the Hummer SUV. It pulls over, as you normally do when there is an accident. But the Mercedes SUV pulls out and leaves the scene. So, now, you have the Mercedes SUV in front of the Hummer SUV. And that's really where police take it, they say that a few blocks
down, that the Hummer SUV actually hits the Mercedes SUV, that Cardell Hayes gets out of his vehicle. He's got a gun. He shoots multiple times Will Smith killing him at the scene.
Well, an alleged eyewitness on cell phone video says there is a bit more to that story and there may be more than one weapon involved. Watch this.
WITNESS: He starts freaking out on this guy, like "I'm going fight you". And then he's like, I guess this guys was like, "Get out! I have as gun!"
[04:20:03] And then he goes, (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you all, I've got one too!" And he grabs his gun and then he shoots him in the back. He's dead.
CASAREZ: Law enforcement says they processed the scene for 12 hours. They only found one weapon. The defense attorney still adamant that his client was not the aggressor after the accident. But Cardell Hayes remains charged with second degree murder. His bail continues to be set at $1 million.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: All right. Jean Casarez, thanks so much.
Breaking overnight, prosecutors raid the law firm accused of helping the world's super wealthy hide billions in offshore bank accounts. We're live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:25:02] KINKADE: Breaking overnight, prosecutors in Panama raided the law firm at the heart of the so-called Panama Papers leak. But the purpose of their visit is open to interpretation. The attorney general says investigators are looking for proof of the criminal wrong doing identified.
CNN's Nic Robertson has more on those developments from London. Nic, the firm continued to deny wrongdoing. What are you learning about the raid?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, the firm has also said that they are cooperating. They issued a statement for the whole country to know and understand that they are cooperating. It's a multi-agency raid, according to the attorney general's office in Panama, where it's led by the crime division. It involves the institute of digital forensics, their judicial investigation bureau. It involves national police.
What they're describing this as a visual search that they're going in and they're looking for any documents that could related to obviously all the leaks of the 11 million documents and e-mails and papers that have been partially made public, they're going in to see if they can find any cases of illegality. And they would use these documents, should they find them to broaden their search. They would, if they in this search for legality, they would be looking for anyone who was a perpetrator, a participant, anyone who was involved in this in any kind of way.
Of course, another thing for the authorities in Panama is concerns about the potential, the extent of an economic impact of the outfall of what may be discovered and what has already been made public.
So, for the government there are several things at stake. One, they want to be seen, to be investigating, and to be checking for illegality and to be very clear and transparent about it. But on the other hand, they also want to understand what the impact is going to be for panama going forward -- Lynda.
KINKADE: OK. Nic Robertson, thanks very much for staying across those developments for us live in London. Thank you.
BERMAN: All right. Donald Trump blasting the Republican National Committee. He says the rules are stacked against him. He said the party doesn't want him to win the nomination. The party chairman now firing back. That's next.
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