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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump: GOP Rules Are "Stacked Against Me"; Hillary Clinton's New York Momentum; Former NFL Star Will Smith Shot and Killed; Prosecutors Raid Panama Law Firm. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired April 13, 2016 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:31:26] LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump on CNN late last night blasting rigged rules he says the RNC is using to keep him from winning the nomination. The party chairman responding this morning.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning: new momentum, new endorsement for Hillary Clinton in her battle for New York against Bernie Sanders.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

KINKADE: Hello. I'm Lynda Kinkade and it's 31 minutes past the hour.

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 this accusation while appearing with his family on a CNN town hall event.

Trump said the RNC changed the rules to keep him from winning 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)

BERMAN: All right. Sara, thanks so much.

In just a few hours, Ted Cruz comes to New York for his CNN town hall. Cruz really has not spent much time campaigning in New York. He's in third place here in two brand-new polls. His spokeswoman says the small events he has been doing, they're in places aimed at picking off a few delegates in order to block Trump from clinching the nomination. Cruz bragging about his Colorado delegate wins on the Glenn Beck's radio show and he called Donald a sore loser.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald is a very sore loser. He doesn't handle losing well and he throws a fit.

[04:35:03] 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)

BERMAN: To be clear: Glenn Beck is a big endorser of Ted Cruz. That's a whole lot of the word loser in one place at one time.

Will he do that tonight? Ted Cruz appears in the last of three CNN Republican town halls. He and his wife Heidi will answer questions. That's live here in New York at 9:00 p.m., only on CNN.

KINKADE: And new this morning, Marco Rubio offering new support to former presidential rival Ted Cruz, or at least new qualified support. Rubio ended active campaigning last month but wants to retain control of his delegates to keep him on the first ballot at the convention. After that first-get ballot things get interesting.

In an interview with a conservative host Mark Levin, Rubio left the impression that he could back Cruz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: I've been pretty clear that I want the Republican nominee to be a conservative. In my view, at this moment of the candidates that are still activity campaigning, the only one that fits that criteria is Ted Cruz, I said that publicly.

And as far as the delegates we earned, look, they're bound in the first ballot. I want to make sure they're there on the first ballot. After that, as you know, these delegates, will be free to vote for another candidate. I hope they'll nominate a conservative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Ohio Governor John Kasich laid out his vision of the country in a stinging critique of his rivals. He gave what was billed as a major address at the women's national Republican club in New York. He called the speech two paths. It did not discuss Donald Trump or Ted Cruz by name, but it did make clear -- he did make clear that he believe either of those candidates would lead the country down the wrong path.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Some who feed off of the fears and anger that is felt by some of that and exploit it, feed their own insatiable desires for fame or attention. That could drive America down into a ditch and not make us great again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: House Speaker Paul Ryan is flatly ruling out a run for the presidency in 2016, or at least trying to. Ryan has been facing increased speculation about his plans and pleas from some Republican leaders in despair over the possibility that Cruz or Trump will win the nomination. They want Ryan to parachute in as a late entrant in that race. But at 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. Count me out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: It's interesting, though. He didn't say the three people left. He said somebody in the primary, maybe Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio opening the door for them. Interesting choice of language he used right there.

All right. Let's talk Democrats. Breaking overnight: a big endorsement for Hillary Clinton one week before the crucial New York primary. "The New York Daily News" lavishing praise on Hillary Clinton and laying in on Bernie Sanders who the paper makes clear did not impress them during an editorial board meeting. "The Daily News" says, "New York Democrats have in Clinton a superprepared warrior realist. They have in opponent Bernie Sanders a fantasist," I don't hear that word often, "who's passionate war with reality."

The latest poll of New York Democrats has Clinton at 53 percent, Bernie Sanders at 40 percent.

Campaigning in Manhattan, Hillary Clinton, she was discussing pay equity for women.

(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)

BERMAN: CNN's Jeff Zeleny covering the Sanders campaign right now. 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?

[04:40:03] 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)

BERMAN: That debate so important, just one day away now. It's in Brooklyn, tomorrow night. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, they face off 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

All right. Joining us now for an early start on your money, Alison Kosik.

Good morning, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNNMONEY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

I've been taking a look around the world. Looking like a good day so far for markets around the world, and seeing a lot of green arrows. Asian markets closed higher, European markets are up as well. U.S. stock futures, they are following their lead.

So, it was also great day for Wall Street yesterday. We saw the Dow gain 165 points, that's almost 1 percent. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ also gained about 1 percent. Why? Well, it was all about oil, jumping to the highest levels for the year. The price of crude rising 4.5 percent to $42.17 per barrel.

OK. It's official, tens of thousand of Verizon workers will walk off the job at about 6:00 a.m. today. The workers want a new contract that limits outsourcing, that increases pay and improves working conditions, but Verizon is saying it needs more flexibility to manage the business, especially as it sees the number of people who use landlines decreasing.

The strike could affect customers from Massachusetts to Virginia who use Verizon's telephone or Internet service. Although Verizon is saying it's been preparing for this possible work stoppage. It's got temporary replacement workers in place ready to go.

BERMAN: We don't like slow internet.

KOSIK: No. Can you imagine? Irate customers calling and maybe not getting somebody on the phone possibly?

BERMAN: Tough.

All right. Alison, thanks so much.

New surveillance video capturing the hit and run crash moments before New Orleans star Will Smith was shot and killed. That's next.

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[04:45:55] BERMAN: The coroner's office is expected to release Will Smith's autopsy report later today. The former New Orleans Saint star was shot and killed. There are new developments now in the investigation. Police say a fully loaded .9 millimeter handgun was found inside Smith's SUV.

New surveillance video appears to show a hit and run between Smith and suspect Cardell Hayes minutes before the fatal shots were fired.

Let's get more 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!" 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)

KINKADE: Our thanks to Jean Casarez for that report.

The Obama administration says it will make every effort to review a controversial portion of Congress' 9/11 investigation and hopes to make a decision of declassifying it by the end of the year. The so- called 28 pages have never been released publicly, and reportedly implicate a Saudi government and civilians for providing financial and logistical support to the 19 hijackers. President Obama is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia later this month.

BERMAN: The FBI paid professional hackers a one time fee to break into the iPhone used by one of the suspects in the San Bernardino terror attack, this is according to a report in "The Washington Post". Just last week, FBI Director James Comey says the government purchased a tool from an unnamed third party to unlock the device. There was widespread speculation that an Israeli technology company called Cellebrite was that third party, but CNN learned the firm did not assist the FBI in that case.

A panel of outside experts now calling for sweeping changes at the small town Texas jail where 28-year-old Sandra Bland was found dead three days after her arrest last July. The report found that Waller County needs a new jail, more training to identify inmates' mental health issues and body cameras and anger management training for jailers. Bland was found hanging from a garbage bag in her jail cell. Her death was ruled a suicide. Her family filed a wrongful death suit against the county and the trooper who arrested her.

KINKADE: Well, finally warmer weather ahead. Let's get the latest from meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Lynda and John, good morning to you both. Look at this mild perspective beginning to expand across parts of the country, the northern plains initially getting in on the action, and then by this weekend, wait until you see your forecast, across parts of the Northeast, mild temperatures for most of the country. And in fact, look at this, 62 in Cincinnati, would make it up to about room temperature in Kansas City, Bismarck, Minneapolis, pushing well into the upper 60s and low 70s prospectively.

Even Chicago on a nice ride, by Saturday and Sunday, we flirt with 70 and make it there Sunday afternoon.

[04:50:04] We cool off early next week, but even Dallas warming up, and Orlando already pushing close to 90 degrees by this afternoon. But watch this line of thunderstorms, the only area of severe weather across the Deep South. Upwards of 8,000 to 9,000 lightning strikes early this morning across this region. It's just pretty impressive line of wet weather. It will push in

along the gulf coast. Some of the major cities of New Orleans and Tallahassee getting some rainfall out of this. But two to four inches over the next 24, 36 hours, that will be mainly along the Gulf Coast -- guys.

BERMAN: All right, Pedram.

Mark Zuckerberg talking drones and virtual reality at development conference, but sometimes it sounded more like a political speech. An early start on your money, next.

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BERMAN: Breaking overnight, prosecutors raided the law firm accused of helping the world's rich and powerful hide billions. The law firm, the fourth biggest creator of offshore companies and trusts worldwide maintains the only illegal action is the hack from abroad that exposed their clients' information.

[04:55:04] International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson has more from London.

Nic, what are we learning?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, the attorney general's office in Panama says this is a multi-agency raid, that the company involved says that they are cooperating. The national police are involved. The judicial investigation bureau, the institute of digital forensics, the national crime bureau -- national crime organization is involved as well.

What they're looking for here is any paper evidence, any evidence at all that they can find that will show that there has been a crime committed. Obviously this is triggered by those 11 million documents that were released. They say they've seen these in media reports, but now, they're putting their own teams into that company to see if they can see evidence of illegality. This is to broaden their investigation they say.

They want to see if anyone participated in this, anyone who may have perpetrated this. But also, there's an element here as well for the Panamanian authorities that they want to understand the economic impact, the extent that the fallout could be from these revelations. So, right now, searching through that premises, a visual inspection only is how they're describing it, John.

BERMAN: So many reverberations worldwide, especially where you are in the U.K. Thanks so much, Nic.

KINKADE: The CIA has a plan B just in case the six-week old truce in Syria collapses. That's according to "The Wall Street Journal." The intelligence agency would provide more lethal weapons to vetted moderate rebels who are fighting the Bashar Assad regime. Coalition members are on board with that plan. The White House still has to approve the specific weapon systems that can be introduced to the battlefield.

BERMAN: The Pentagon says 25,000 ISIS fighters have been killed by U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, with the attacks destroying millions in terrorist assets and 40 percent of the territory that was once controlled by ISIS in Iraq has now been liberated. But defense officials admit the airstrikes have done little to stop ISIS from expanding into Europe and North Africa in Afghanistan and they say, more needs to be done to fight the terror group's recruitment efforts.

KINKADE: Amsterdam's airport has reopened after being partially evacuated. Authorities raced to the airline hub on Tuesday following reports of a bomb threat a suspicious man he was brought in for questioning. The bomb squad expected his luggage. Meantime, police made another arrest at a rail station, about 20 minutes away from the airport. it's not yet clear if those incidents are linked.

BERMAN: All right. Let's get an early start on your money right now. Alison Kosik joins us with that.

Good morning.

KOSIK: Good morning.

Looking like a good day around the world for markets. I'm seeing a lot of green arrows. Asian markets closed higher. European markets with green arrows. U.S. stock futures pointing to a higher open.

And yesterday, it was a great day for Wall Street. The Dow gained 165 points. That works out to almost 1 percent. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ also gained about 1 percent. Now, investors will be keeping a close eye on earnings. Today, we're going to be hearing from JPMorgan Chase which reports before the opening bell.

Deutsche Bank taking a stand against the n,: North Carolina law many are calling anti-LGBT. The German bank says it will stop plans to bring 250 new jobs to its location in Cary, North Carolina. The bank said, "As a result of the legislation, we are unwilling to include North Carolina in our U.S. expansion plans for now."

Last week, PayPal abandoned its plans to open new operations in charlotte costing the state 400 jobs. The NBA threatened to host the 2017 all-star game somewhere else. Bruce Springsteen canceled a concert in the state to protest against the law.

All right. Mark Zuckerberg says he does not believe in building walls. The Facebook CEO kicking off a F8 developers conference, talking about virtual reality and artificial intelligence but then he veered into politics saying, "I hear fearful voices calling for building walls and distancing people they label as others. It takes courage to choose hope over fear, to say we can build something and make it better than it's ever been before."

Now, Zuckerberg was taking an apparent dig at Donald Trump and his immigration policies. In the past, Zuckerberg's immigration reform group created digital ads that slammed Trump and Ted Cruz's immigration policies. But after this meeting, Zuckerberg took to Facebook saying his comments are not about any one person or one country.

BERMAN: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Nice try. All right. Alison, thanks so much.

EARLY START continues right now.

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