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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Tiger Woods Seals Fifth Masters Title And 15th Major; Sarah Sanders Says Congress "Not Smart Enough" To Review Trump Taxes; Pete Buttigieg Announce White House Run. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired April 15, 2016 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:30:25] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIGER WOODS, 2019 MASTERS TOURNAMENT CHAMPION: You know, it's just -- it's hard to comprehend right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Tiger Woods talks about pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in sports history.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: At least eight people are dead after tornadoes ripped through the south from Texas to Alabama.
SANCHEZ: Plus, the White House says Congress isn't smart enough to understand President Trump's tax return.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG, SOUTH BEND, INDIANA (IN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am a proud son of South Bend, Indiana and I am running for President of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Mayor Pete Buttigieg just launched his 2020 race for the White House.
Welcome back, everyone, to EARLY START this Monday morning. I'm Christine Romans.
SANCHEZ: Great to see you, Christine.
ROMANS: Nice to have you.
SANCHEZ: I'm Boris Sanchez in for Dave Briggs. We are about 30 minutes past the hour.
And we start with Tiger Woods --
ROMANS: Wow. SANCHEZ: -- completing one of the greatest sports comebacks of all time, winning the Masters and making me look like a fool at the airport, holding back tears --
ROMANS: And bawling at the airport.
SANCHEZ: -- while watching this on my phone.
ROMANS: You know --
SANCHEZ: I couldn't have been alone.
ROMANS: America's headline writers all agree this is the biggest story today.
Andy Scholes, he was there and he's live for us down in Augusta. Hi, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS REPORTER, ANCHOR, "BLEACHER REPORT": Good morning, guys.
Yes, Boris, don't worry. You looked just like millions of people all --
SANCHEZ: All right, all right.
SCHOLES: -- around the world who've been waiting for this moment for so long. I mean, this was epic. One of the greatest moments in sports history.
Eleven years, multiple back surgeries, both professional and personal adversity. You know, many thought Tiger Woods would never win another Major, but he proved all those doubters wrong, putting on a fifth green jacket yesterday.
And, Tiger had never won a Major when trailing heading into the final round. But that was the old Tiger.
This Tiger calm, cool, and collected this entire tournament. Well, that was until he putted in for the win, then Tiger let out a big roar and he just couldn't stop celebrating. The entire gallery pretty much doing the same thing. As Tiger walked off 18 he shared a special moment with his kids and his mom.
You know, in 1997, Tiger was the youngest to win the Masters at 21 years old. Now, at 43, he's the second-oldest.
I sat down with Tiger after the win to talk about what this means to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: All right, Tiger, you've said before it's a miracle that you could even still play golf considering the back surgeries. Eleven years and nearly 4,000 days since your last major.
Did you ever think this day would come and how does it feel?
WOODS: Yes, I did think it would come, just because of what I did last year. I had a chance with the Open Championship. I led going on the back nine on Sunday. I gave Brooks a little bit of a run at the PGA, finishing second there.
I knew it was in me. Did I know it was going to be this week, no, but I had a good feeling that the way I was shooting the golf ball that I was going to be in the mix.
SCHOLES: You joked before that your kids think of you as the video game golfer because they'd never seen you win a major. Your kids, your mom, your girlfriend were there waiting for you on 18. What was that moment like when your son Charlie jumped in your arms?
WOODS: Surreal. You know, I did the same thing with my dad and now I'm the dad with my son doing the same thing. So, it's amazing how life evolves and changes.
That was 22 years ago when my dad was there and then now, my son's there, my daughter was there, my mom's there. My mom was there 13 years ago and the fact that she's still around, still kicking, still fighting goes to show her resiliency.
It's just -- it's hard to comprehend right now, I mean, honestly. It's just only been a few hours out of winning the tournament.
I'm still trying to enjoy it and trying to figure out that I actually won. I know I have the green jacket on but it's just -- it's still -- I think it's going to take a little bit of time for it to sink in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Yes, I followed around Tiger for much of the weekend, guys, and I can't even really put into words of what this means to people. I saw people hugging. I saw so many high-fives. A guy next to me literally said I never thought I would cheer for another person like this.
I mean, Tiger Woods just brings out so many emotions in people and that emotion on Sunday was just pure joy.
ROMANS: Gosh, how lucky for you to be able to cover it.
SANCHEZ: That's amazing, yes.
ROMANS: The best gig ever.
SANCHEZ: Great to see that green jacket still fits.
SCHOLES: Hard to top it.
ROMANS: I know.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
ROMANS: All right -- thanks, Andy. Nice to see you this morning.
To Washington now where the fight to obtain the president's tax returns intensifying. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders coming up with a new line of attack. She argued members of Congress are not smart enough to examine the president's returns.
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SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I don't think Congress, particularly not this group of Congressmen and women, are smart enough to look through the thousands of pages that I would assume that President Trump's taxes will be. My guess is most of them don't do their own taxes. And I certainly don't trust them to look through the decades of success that the president has and determine anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:35:12] ROMANS: But the Congressional Research Service says there are 10 accountants in this Congress -- the ones right on your screen -- including two senators and eight House members.
Sanders' comments come after House Ways and Means chairman Richard Neal ratcheted up his demand for access to the president's tax returns. In a new letter to the IRS this weekend, Neal stressed the law gives Congress a right to see those returns. If the IRS does not respond by his new April 23rd deadline, the dispute will likely end up in federal court.
All right, Sarah Sanders also says the Trump administration is still mulling the idea of releasing some immigrants to so-called sanctuary cities. She told ABC's "THIS WEEK" it's up to Democrats in Congress to work with the president and take action.
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SANDERS: This is not the ideal situation. The ideal solution is real simple. It's for Congress, particularly Democrats in Congress, to sit down with the president, do their jobs, and help us stop this awful crisis that's taking place at our border.
It can't be denied or ignored anymore. They can either deal with it at the border and stop it from getting worse or they're going to have to take on some of that burden in their communities if that becomes an option.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: House Judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler firing back. He told CNN's Jake Tapper migrants should not be used as pawns in a game of political retribution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): The president has no right to spend money appropriated by Congress for the purposes to ship immigrants all over the country. He shouldn't use them as what he imagines is retribution to political opponents in various areas. It's another misuse of presidential power against the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Congresswoman Ilhan Omar says death threats against her have spiked since President Trump tweeted about a speech that she gave last month.
Take a look at this Friday tweet. The president writing, quote, "We will never forget!"
That was over a video clip from a speech that Omar gave last month to the Council on American-Islamic Relations. In that speech she described the events of 9/11 as, quote, "Some people did something."
The clip posted by the president edited parts of her speech onto footage of the Twin Tower attacks.
In a statement, Omar accused the president of fostering right-wing extremist violence.
She said, quote, "Violent rhetoric and all forms of hate speech have no place in our society, much less from our country's commander in chief. We are all Americans. This is endangering lives. It has to stop."
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders denied that President Trump was encouraging violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: The president is absolutely and should be calling out the congresswoman for her not only one-time but history of anti-Semitic comments. The bigger question is why aren't Democrats doing the same thing? It's absolutely abhorrent, the comments that she continues to make and has made, and they look the other way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered Omar her support in this statement, writing, "The president's words weigh a ton and his hateful and inflammatory rhetoric creates real danger. President Trump must take down his disrespectful and dangerous video."
The speaker says she's spoken with the House sergeant-at-arms about Omar's personal safety.
ROMANS: All right, the small-city mayor with the funny name, Pete Buttigieg, formally declaring himself a candidate for president Sunday. The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana announcing his run in a hometown speech.
CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich was in South Bend for us for the announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine and Boris. That's right, Pete Buttigieg making his announcement to run for president official, and he gave a very policy-heavy speech.
He talked about his three principles -- freedom, security, and democracy. He talked a lot about the most important freedom to him being the freedom to get married to his husband, Chasten Buttigieg. They were able to get married last year and he points to that as something that is crucially important to him and his campaign.
He also took on the president without specifically mentioning him by name. He tackled a lot of his policies and also gave a little dig at his "Make American Great Again" slogan.
BUTTIGIEG: The problem is that they're telling us to look for greatness in all the wrong places because if there's one thing that the city of South Bend has shown it's that there is no such thing as an honest politics that revolves around the word "again."
It is time to walk away from the politics of the past and toward something totally different.
YURKEVICH: And as his campaign has not officially launched, he'll be hitting the road right away heading to New York Monday evening for a fundraiser, and then heading off to Iowa and a swing in New Hampshire this weekend.
Back to you guys.
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[05:40:00] ROMANS: All right, Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you for that.
Joining us this morning, Princeton University historian and professor, Julian Zelizer. Good morning.
JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, CO-AUTHOR, "FAULT LINES: A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1974": Good morning. How are you?
SANCHEZ: Good morning, sir.
ROMANS: So many of these candidates in the Democratic field are really focusing on their issues, whether it's climate change or whether it's the economy or Medicare For All.
Pete Buttigieg mostly talked about policy yesterday, but he did make this one comment about Donald Trump -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUTTIGIEG: When something is grotesque it's hard to look away. And the horror show in Washington is mesmerizing -- it's all-consuming. But starting today, we're going to change the channel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: We know he's raised maybe $7 million. The president has raised a ton more than that.
What do you make of this new entry into the Democratic field?
ZELIZER: Well, he's doing well. There's certainly a lot of excitement about his interviews, about his speeches. I think there is something there. It's the intangible quality of the candidates who just pop up.
ROMANS: Yes.
ZELIZER: And there's something about him that's antithetical to President Bush that I think is appealing. He's kind of smart, pragmatic, reasonable, and that might be the kind of candidate that can do well in this primary field.
SANCHEZ: Yes, antithetical to Bush and Trump. Also --
ZELIZER: And, Trump, yes.
SANCHEZ: We have to point out though that there weren't that many high expectations for him, so he's sort of outperforming, right?
Do you think that the shine on him may take away focus from others like Beto O'Rourke? We were just talking about Beto O'Rourke not being probably thrilled that Buttigieg is doing so well early on.
ZELIZER: It will. It's certainly taken some of the luster away from him. It's very early, we have to remember. This is the entrance --
ROMANS: Yes.
ZELIZER: -- period. There's many months before the caucuses start.
So as he shows, there's time to emerge and still make a case for the candidates. So I think it's too early to take people off the playing field.
SANCHEZ: Switching gears, talking about the president's tax returns. You saw what Sarah Sanders said about members of Congress.
She also tweeted this. Take a look. Members of "Congress not being smart enough to understand."
ROMANS: Now she clarified that it's Democrats who aren't smart enough.
SANCHEZ: Democrats, right.
Pull up -- pull up the number of congresspeople who are actually accountants, though. There's a lot of red there and both of the senators who are on this list are Republicans.
What do you make of this attack from the White House? Does it make sense?
ZELIZER: It's predictable. Look, what the president and his team always does is to go after the investigators. So they are either corrupt, they are illegitimate. In this case, they're not smart. So it's a very standard attack.
It's not true. Congress has all the expertise that it needs, which it will show if it gets the tax returns. But it is part of the Trump playbook.
ROMANS: But doesn't it remind everyone that oh wait, they said it was because he was under audit.
SANCHEZ: Right.
ROMANS: Now it's not because he's under audit, it's because they're too dumb.
ZELIZER: Well, consistency isn't something that the White House really cares about and they throw every argument out there. Whichever sticks if the one they go with.
SANCHEZ: Speaking about throwing things out there and seeing if they stick, this so-called sanctuary cities idea to move migrants there -- asylum seekers there.
I've heard from sources at the White House who say that this is sort of the president's approach to policymaking that he throws things out there, some of which may not be legal and some of which may not fall under the purview of the president, but he's doing this with all sorts of issues.
Does this portend well for the country moving forward -- the policies just brought out basically by spitballing and seeing what sticks to the wall?
ZELIZER: Well, it's not a great way to use presidential power and that's why he's even getting pushback, we're hearing, from the White House itself -- from his own officials saying you can't do this. It's not legal.
ROMANS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Does he care, though?
ZELIZER: He doesn't care. No, I don't think he cares. I don't think he thinks of exercising power that way. He does what he can do --
SANCHEZ: Right.
ZELIZER: -- and he waits for that pushback to happen.
Here, he's also using humans as pawns and I think that also is what's --
ROMANS: Yes.
ZELIZER: -- rubbing a lot of people the wrong way. But he gets to have -- he sees the immigration issue. He doesn't see it with empathy or sympathy. He sees this as a problem to be solved, an issue to be fought, and the people are simply part of this playing field.
ROMANS: He goes to Minnesota today. He's going to talk about -- it's officially, I guess, a tax day event, but he's going to talk about the economy.
We heard him this weekend again talking about the Fed and blaming the Fed, saying the Dow would be 10,000 points higher or something -- you know, four percent economic growth. None of those things are true. There's no way to know that.
ZELIZER: Yes.
ROMANS: What do you make of those two picks he has on the Fed board? Do you think they're going to make it through?
ZELIZER: I don't know. I mean, these are really controversial picks in terms of qualifications and expertise. I think that it's --
ROMANS: Lack of qualifications and expertise.
ZELIZER: That's another way to say it. But those are the questions that are being raised.
That said, this is the era of Trump --
ROMANS: Yes.
ZELIZER: -- and we've seen that kind of issue be put aside for nominations, confirmations, and appointments.
ROMANS: Right.
ZELIZER: Not everyone is qualified in this cabinet and in this White House.
ROMANS: I remember when Herman Cain, in the election, was talking about the good job numbers under the Obama administration, and he basically was trafficking the conspiracy theory that they were made up by the Chicago crew.
ZELIZER: Yes.
ROMANS: But that is exactly the Donald Trump kind of --
[05:45:00] SANCHEZ: Probably sat well with President Trump.
ZELIZER: It would. Look, he's looking to have this economy pumped because this is his best asset --
ROMANS: Yes.
ZELIZER: -- going into 2020. ROMANS: Yes, yes.
SANCHEZ: All right. Julian Zelizer, thank you so much.
ROMANS: Nice to see you, Julian.
ZELIZER: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Deadly tornadoes carving a path of destruction across parts of the South. We'll take you there, next.
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SANCHEZ: People in the Southeast assessing the damage from several deadly tornadoes over the weekend. About six of them flattening homes and snapping large trees in Mississippi. The only volunteer fire department in Monroe County had its firehouse destroyed.
One person was killed there, another 10 injured.
A storm chaser says that mobile homes in the area were no match for the tornadoes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRANDON CLEMENT, STORM CHASER (via telephone): The mobile homes that took a direct hit from the tornado either aren't there or are so badly damaged and mangled or flipped that you can't really recognize what they are. Mobile homes are probably the worst-case scenario in a tornado or any high-wind event.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:50:08] SANCHEZ: This weekend's massive storm system ravaged areas from Texas to Alabama. In addition to that death in Mississippi, at least four people were killed in Texas, two more in Louisiana, and one in Alabama.
Mississippi's governor declared a state of emergency for areas that were affected by the severe weather.
ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on "CNN Business" this Monday morning.
Global stock markets basically mixed here. Investors -- a lot of earnings to go through in the U.S. and also monitoring the U.S.-China trade talks. So you can see the performance around the world there.
And gosh, barely moving lower here for Dow futures on Wall Street, pointing slightly down for the week. Stocks were up just a little bit last week. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both with a third-straight week of gains.
This week the focus shifts to those first-quarter earnings. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley are among the big banks reporting. Netflix and Johnson & Johnson also deliver their quarterly results.
Overall, expectations are pretty low this earnings season for the quarter. I mean, they're expecting profit growth to actually shrink down more than four percent, the first decline since the second quarter of 2016.
More cancelations for American Airlines ahead of a busy summer travel season. American extended its flight cancelations now through August 19th because of that Boeing 737 MAX grounding. Approximately 115 flights a day will be canceled. American Airlines has 24 of these jets in its fleet.
Last week, Southwest Airlines also extended its flight cancelations through August.
Lyft has pulled its on-demand electrical bicycles from three major cities amid some safety concerns. Lyft pulled the bike from New York, D.C., and the San Francisco Bay area after some riders reported stronger than expected braking on the front wheel.
About 3,000 bikes will be pulled from service and will be replaced with regular bicycles. Lyft operates about 20,000 bikes in those three cities with a mix of electric and regular models.
Lyft said it has been hard at work on a new pedal-assist bike and the model will be rolled out very soon.
The president's going to be speaking on the economy today in Minnesota, so I'm assuming we'll be hearing a lot more about what he thinks about the Fed and earnings, and the economy.
SANCHEZ: Plenty to talk about for President Trump.
So, did a "GAME OF THRONES" glitch let some lucky fans get a preview before all the rest? That's next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIT HARINGTON, ACTOR, HBO "GAME OF THRONES": I promise to fight for the living.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[05:56:32] SANCHEZ: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was on "60 MINUTES" minimizing the size and influence of the more progressive wing of the House Democratic Caucus led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez -- listen.
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LESLEY STAHL, CBS ANCHOR, "60 MINUTES": You have these wings, AOC and her group on one side.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): That's like five people.
STAHL: No, it's -- the progressive group is more than five.
PELOSI: Well, the progressive -- I'm a progressive, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Pelosi seeming to discount left-wing policy proposals like Medicare For All. She previously hesitated to endorse the Green New Deal as well.
CNN has reached out to Ocasio-Cortez's office for comment. We have yet to hear back.
ROMANS: All right. Some DirecTV Now customers literally got a jumpstart on last night's season premiere of "GAME OF THRONES."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAISIE WILLIAMS, ACTRESS, HBO "GAME OF THRONES": You used to be taller.
HARINGTON: How did you sneak up on me?
WILLIAMS: How did you survive a knife through the heart?
HARINGTON: I didn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Brother and sister reunited. The episode was available on DirecTV four hours ahead of its scheduled airing.
DirecTV and HBO are both owned by AT&T, as is, of course, CNN.
The company says the early release was just an error or glitch. "Apparently, our system was as excited as we are for 'GAME OF THRONES.'"
SANCHEZ: What was the most heinous crime last week? If you ask "SNL" it was the college admissions scandal.
Here's your "LATE-NIGHT LAUGHS."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENAN THOMPSON, CAST MEMBER, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Son, I'm the craziest dude in here. I stabbed my neighbor to death and then ate his fingers so they couldn't I.D. the body.
CHRIS REDD, CAST MEMBER, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Dang, that's insane.
KATE MCKINNON, CAST MEMBER, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Oh, yes? You think that's insane? I paid 500 grand to get my daughter into USC.
REDD: Wait, what?
MCKINNON: You heard me. I paid 500 grand to a women's crew coach to say my daughter was good at rowing. I'm loco.
THOMPSON: Hold it. You paid 500 grand for USC?
MCKINNON: Oh, yes, and that's not including the 300 grand I blew on tuition.
THOMPSON: Oh my God. What did your daughter major in?
MCKINNON: Communications.
THOMPSON: Oh.
MCKINNON: Yes, and you know what her job is now? She's an influencer on Instagram.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Oh, a couple of low blows there. Michael Avenatti --
ROMANS: That's funny.
SANCHEZ: -- and Julian Assange also made an appearance.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks for joining us this Monday morning. Have a great rest of your day. I'm Christine Romans.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez. "NEW DAY" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER, THE MASTERS: Here it is. The return to glory.
WOODS: This has meant so much to me and my family. It's something I'm never going to forget.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Tiger to get back to the top is the greatest comeback in sports history.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The public has a right to know whether their president is working in the interest of the country.
SANDERS: I don't think Congress are smart enough to look through President Trump's taxes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like many of the arguments from this White House. It's really chumming the water for their base.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Monday, April 15th, tax day, 6:00 --
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: I did mine. CAMEROTA: -- in New York. I, just by the hair of my chinny chin chin, did mine.
HARLOW: Yes.
CAMEROTA: John Berman is off. Poppy Harlow joins me. Great to have you.
HARLOW: It's good to be here.
CAMEROTA: It should be an exciting show --
HARLOW: Yes, a big week.
CAMEROTA: -- so let's get to it.
We begin with the comeback for the ages. Tiger Woods clinching his fifth Masters and 15th major title, ending a decade-long championship drought.
END
