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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Countdown to NY Primary; George Clooney: Sanders Is Right About Fundraising; Ecuador And Japan Rocked By Earthquakes; Defense Secretary Ash Carter Lands In Iraq; Hamilton Staying On $10 Bill But Jackson Will Be Replaced By A Historical Female. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired April 18, 2016 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:31:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: T minus one day until take off in New York. The New York primary just one day ahead. Who is up, who is down, and who is complaining a lot this morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news right now. A frantic race to find survivors after powerful earthquakes strike Ecuador and Japan. Live team coverage ahead.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Thirty-one minutes past the hour right now but we are just 24 hours away from the big dance in the big apple, the New York presidential primary. Hometown billionaire Donald Trump -- he wants to crush his opponents, Ted Cruz and John Kasich here, and the polls do show him pretty comfortably ahead in New York.

Trump campaigns across the state today, which no doubt means new attacks against his own party. Donald Trump furious about losses over the weekend in the race for delegates. He got swamped by Ted Cruz at the Wyoming state convention. Also lost some down-ballot delegate battles in Georgia, as well. The trust at the system, I should say, that Trumps says is rigged.

Let's get more on that from CNN's Chris Frates.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John and Christine. Donald Trump firing up his fellow New Yorkers ahead of the crucial primary here on Tuesday after what was not a great weekend for Donald Trump. He lost to Ted Cruz in Wyoming, losing all 14 of those delegates at a state convention there.

Similar to what happened to him Colorado where he lost to Ted Cruz about a week or so ago at the state convention there. And Donald Trump saying these state conventions are rigged. Saying that they're not primaries or caucuses where the voters go to vote and calling the big bosses out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have a system that's rigged. We have a system that's crooked. We have a system that's got a lot of problems. And we have a system that doesn't allow the people to vote, in many cases, and if they do vote their vote isn't really representative of what it should be. We have this delegate system which is a sham. So in Colorado the people are going crazy out there because they never got a chance to vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: Now, the Republican National Committee firing back and saying that the candidates have known the rules for months. In fact, this is the same process that they used to nominate Abraham Lincoln back in 1860, so there really should be no surprises.

But, Ted Cruz using his victory in Wyoming to take a little poke at Donald Trump, tweeting on Sunday, "Donald, over 1.3mm people just voted in UT, ND, WI, CO & WY. You lost ALL FIVE in a row, by huge margins. #NoWhining."

So, Ted Cruz -- I think he had a little bit of a victory lap after his big win in Wyoming on Saturday, and he better enjoy it if he believes the polls because Donald Trump winning by double digits here in New York. A recent Wall Street Journal poll showing that he had 54 percent support. Ted Cruz, on the other hand, had just 16 percent, so it's a tough slot for him.

Donald Trump looking to take all 95 delegates here on Tuesday. If he can win by 50 percent statewide in each of the congressional districts he could go a long way toward getting to that magic number of 1,237. Of course, Ted Cruz and John Kasich trying to stop him -- John, Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Chris Frates for us. Thank you for that.

Joining us to assess the last-minute scramble for New York votes from candidates of both parties, CNN politics reporter Eugene Scott, live in our Washington bureau. Nice to you bright and early this Monday morning.

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes.

ROMANS: Look, there was a big rally on Staten Island this weekend, Sunday. A big turnout for Donald Trump. Both candidates -- all four candidates, actually, really -- five candidates -- actually really working New York right now. I want to listen to something Trump said about he hopes there will not be violence if he doesn't win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I hope it doesn't involve violence. I hope it doesn't, and I'm not suggesting that. I hope it doesn't involve violence and I don't think it will. But I will say this. It's a rigged system. It's a crooked system. It's a hundred percent crooked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:35:00] ROMANS: A hundred percent crooked, a rigged system. He's really trying to appeal to those new voters, right, who don't trust their party, don't trust the status quo. SCOTT: Yes, very much so. As you've seen, Mr. Trump has attracted quite a few first-time voters and they were first-time for a reason and one of those reasons was that they did not trust the political system. And I think in mentioning that the system may be rigged, Mr. Trump is appealing to those voters' concerns and anxieties.

Whether or not it's actually true or not is to be determined depending on who you are talking to. But, certainly the chairman has made it very clear that the system isn't rigged at all.

BERMAN: So it's not an easy day to be the RNC chairman, Reince Priebus, right? He's dealing with Donald Trump out there talking about how the system is rigged and crooked, and he's dealing with this uprising from the party apparatus, itself.

They're meeting this week to talk about the convention rules and Reince Priebus is warning people, look, don't change the rules now. Just wait until the convention until the delegates are all selected. Listen to what he's saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I don't think that it's a good idea for us next week, before the convention, to make serious rules changes or recommendations of changes right now. I think we're in a politically-charged environment. I think it's too complicated. We can't actually change anything. It's up to the delegates at the convention. So the recommendations, I think, just confuse people. I think it's a bad idea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: This has to do with using House rules or Roberts Rules of Order. I don't think we need to get into that, Eugene, but what this does show is that Reince Priebus -- he wants this to be transparent. He doesn't want to stoke the Donald Trump controversy, does he?

SCOTT: He doesn't at all. It doesn't serve him well for the Republican front-runner supporters to believe that there's something sketchy happening with party leaders. But he has to be aware -- I'm sure he's very aware that it seems like it's only Donald Trump who's complaining about this issue.

And so changing the rules based on the concerns of one candidate and one candidate's supporters doesn't make a lot of sense, practically, to the chairman. And in addition to just perhaps not being the right thing to do or the most efficient thing to do this close to the convention.

ROMANS: So over the weekend, a big money event at George Clooney's house, right, for Hillary Clinton. He's a supporter of Hillary Clinton. He was asked on NBC's "MEET THE PRESS" about all the money -- too much money, obscene amounts of money in politics. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR, CLINTON SUPPORTER: It is an obscene amount of money. The Sanders campaign, when they talk about it, is absolutely right. It's ridiculous that we should have this kind of money in politics. I agree completely. The overwhelming amount of money that we are raising, and it is a lot, but the overwhelming amount of the money that we're raising is not going to Hillary to run for president. It's going to the down-ticket. It's going to the congressmen and senators to try to take back Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So it is obscene with an asterisk, according to Clooney.

SCOTT: Yes, very much so. I think the point that he tried to emphasize is that the overwhelming amount of money, it's not going to Hillary Clinton, and that he and his allies are very concerned about other candidates getting into politics and positions of influence that can help promote and pass laws and policy that, ultimately, benefit everyone.

So the money being raised isn't directly going to Hillary Clinton is what he's saying and that, ultimately, benefits Hillary Clinton's argument, although it is a point that has been popularized by Sen. Sanders.

BERMAN: Yes, the word obscene, I don't' think, helps the Clinton campaign. The Clinton campaign does point out, though, that Hillary raises money for everybody and they say Bernie Sanders raises for Bernie. Eugene Scott, thanks so much for being with us this morning. We really appreciate it.

ROMANS: Nice to see you.

BERMAN: Of course, Bernie Sanders, he will be on CNN live later this morning. That's at 8:30 a.m. on "NEW DAY".

ROMANS: All right, happening right now, searching for survivors after powerful earthquakes strike Ecuador and Japan. We'll take you there live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:43:30] BERMAN: New this morning, two countries 9,000 miles apart, struggling to recover from devastating earthquakes. Right now there is a state of emergency in Ecuador where a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed more than 270 people this weekend. Emergency officials admit they can't even calculate how many people are missing.

ROMANS: In Japan, aftershocks are hampering rescue efforts there after powerful earthquakes two days apart rocked the southern part of the country. Dozens of people are dead. Thousands are without power, food, and shelter at his hour. We have these breaking stories covered the way only CNN can. I want to start live this morning in Ecuador with Boris Sanchez -- Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. The death toll here in Ecuador right now at 272, more than 2,500 people hurt. Those numbers expected to climb significantly. Part of the reason, right now, that we don't have definite numbers is because some of the hardest hit areas are also some of the hardest to reach in Ecuador.

I want to illustrate what's going on behind me right now. This is a huge bridge in Guayaquil. This is a very busy part of the country -- one of the busiest cities in the country, and this bridge actually fell onto a car. It killed the person inside the car and injured another person, and this really illustrates the biggest problem going on in the country after this earthquake, infrastructure.

For weeks, heavy pounding rains have weakened roads here, partly because of El Nino. And now with this earthquake roads are just decimated going into, again, those coastal cities that are the hardest hit from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

[05:45:00]This is still not the deadliest earthquake in Ecuador's history, though. Back in 1987, a 7.2 earthquake killed roughly 1,000 people. So the fear is that as we get a clearer picture of how extensive this damage is, the death toll will continue to rise. Right now there are about 10,000 soldiers and 4,000 police officers getting ready for another busy day of digging as we try to find out just how extensive the damage from this earthquake was -- Christine and John.

ROMANS: All right, Boris, thank you for that.

BERMAN: Well, let's turn now to Japan where two deadly earthquakes have killed more than 40 people. Well over 1,000 are injured there. CNN's Matt Rivers tracking the latest on the devastation and the rescue efforts live this morning from Kumamoto in Japan. Good morning, Matt, what do you see?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Well, let me show you an example of what rescuers are up against here. This is a house -- one of the more harder hit homes that we've seen. Basically what happened here, according to the homeowner, is during the earthquake on Saturday the foundation -- a solid concrete foundation of this home started sliding down a very steep slope here.

We're on the side of a pretty large mountain here in the area, and it actually collapsed the first part -- the first floor of this house and it ripped a whole in this asphalt parking lot here actually separating the earth, creating probably a 2-meter deep trench. A very, very stark illustration of the power of these two earthquakes.

BERMAN: All right, Matt Rivers for us in Kumamoto in Japan, where there are rescue operations still underway. And I understand Matt was telling us before that two people had been rescued as of today. Thank you so much, Matt.

ROMANS: All right, Matt and Boris. All right, time for an early start on your money this morning. A lot going on in the global economy right now. Markets in Asia posting deep losses overnight following those earthquakes in Japan. Oil prices are tumbling. A failed attempt by OPEC to freeze production. Dow futures are down on that news. Stock markets in Europe are lower as well. A new CNN money analysis highlights the low wage arguments we've been hearing on the campaign trail. Among the 10 jobs projected to employ the most new workers in the coming years, half pay less than $25,000 a year. Three-quarters pay less than the typical annual wage of $35,540.

Food prep and service workers make less than $20,000 a year on average. Personal care and home health aides, two areas exploding with jobs growth but they make just more than $20,000 a year. Retail sales clerks -- they also are among the fastest growing jobs but they have low wages.

The key to breaking out of these low-wage positions, of course, is education. Most of those jobs are jobs that don't require a college degree and many other categories of job demands, frankly, require college degrees.

Salaries and lifetime earnings are significantly higher for those with a college diploma, but of course it costs more to get that education and a lot of families haven't seen a pay raise back to 1995 levels for a median household income. So people feel like they're not getting ahead.

BERMAN: Yes, they feel like they're not getting ahead because in many cases they just aren't.

ROMANS: Yes. Cue the 2016 election.

BERMAN: All right. About 12 minutes to go to the hour right now. Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY".

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": What I'm going to give you is a little insight of what happens before the show. Our floor director, Bruce, and Chris Cuomo smack-talking each other on their outfits today. So that's something to start your Monday --

ROMANS: Can't wait.

PEREIRA: -- on the right note. But, back to the news, friends. A day out from the New York primary both front-runners have comfortable leads. Donald Trump, though, stepping up his attack against the RNC and delegate rules that he says are rigged and corrupt, and that's all part of his strategy to widen a rift between party leaders and voters.

Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders not letting up on Hillary Clinton's ties to Wall Street and finding a surprising ally who agrees that the amount of money in politics is obscene. Bernie Sanders, himself, will join us live in our 8:00 hour of "NEW DAY".

And, of course, we're all over the very latest information for you on the earthquake devastation in both Ecuador and Japan. We'll take you there and give you the latest looks at the damage and the devastation.

ROMANS: All right, Michaela.

BERMAN: All right, thanks a lot, Michaela. ROMANS: Nice to see you this Monday morning. A big drop in oil prices rippling around the globe. Stock markets moving everywhere this morning. Will it hit Wall Street? We'll get an EARLY START on your money next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:53:00] BERMAN: All right, to breaking news this morning. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has arrived in Baghdad. This was an unannounced stop in his tour of the Middle East, as well as the Asia Pacific. He's there to meet with U.S. troops. Also with Iraqi officials, including the prime minister there. He wants to show continued U.S. commitment to that nation in the battle against ISIS there.

With more what that all means we're joined now by CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon. Arwa, a lot going on in Baghdad right now.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There most certainly is, John, and part of that commitment that Carter is potentially bringing to the table is upping of U.S. enablers and perhaps even the U.S. undertaking a bit more risk. Crucial to all of this is, of course, the impending battle for Mosul. Here is what America's top military commander in Iraq told us about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. GARY VOLESKY, U.S. ARMY MAJOR: All I want to make sure is is that Daesh continue to have pressure put on them. That we continue to enable the Iraqi security forces to get after Mosul because once Mosul is cleared of Daesh, they don't have a piece of terrain they can stick their flag in and say there's Daesh and Iraq is part of something we own. And that, in my mind, is one of the most clear symbols that enables them to do what they want to do, and they're going to lose that.

DAMON: But if you want to defeat them, you want to make sure that they also no longer have the capacity to regroup and come back as something worse than what we're seeing them as today, which is what they've done in the past.

VOLESKY: And my assessment is that takes a whole of government approach. It takes engagement across all of the -- what we would call our elements of national power. And is that something that is easy? No. This is the most complex environment I've been in. This is my fifth rotation here. I've not seen at this complex. It's hard but it's not impossible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:55:00] DAMON: And, of course, what adds to those complexities are the various political tensions, now arguably at an all-time high with Parliament divided and the possible threat that the government, in and of itself, could collapse. Secretary of Defense Carter is most certainly going to be looking for guarantees from the Iraqi leadership that they are doing everything in their power to make sure that does not happen, John.

BERMAN: Interesting discussions, no doubt difficult discussions as well. Arwa Damon for us in Baghdad, thank you.

ROMANS: All right, Monday morning -- a lot going on in your money this morning. Let's take a look at what's on the agenda here. A busy morning for investors around the world. Markets in Asia kicked things off with deep losses overnight following the earthquakes in Japan. But oil prices are the big factor right now. Crude falling more than 3 percent. OPEC members could not agree on a production freeze, which could have lifted prices.

U.S. stock futures are slipping. Stock markets in Europe down but have clawed back some of the losses. We expect Brazil's stock market to rally today after the impeachment vote against its president. Investors there are cheering political change and the potential for more business-friendly policies.

All right, Alexander Hamilton is staying on the ten dollar, but Andrew Jackson is being replaced by a woman on the twenty. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is expected to announce the changes this week. A treasury official confirming to CNN a female representing the fight for racial equality will eventually replace Andrew Jackson on the twenty dollar, but that change likely won't come until 2030 due to counterfeiting measures.

Lew announced last summer that he was looking into putting a woman on the ten dollar bill. That drew angry rebukes from Hamilton fans. He was the nation's first treasury secretary. Hamilton will stay, but a scene representing the woman's suffrage movement is expected to be added to the back of the ten dollar bill.

Speaking of Hamilton, another reason why people are so crazy about Alexander Hamilton is because of the hit musical on Broadway. It's making groundbreaking money moves of its own. A deal reached this weekend will dole out profits to the original cast members -- the cast members -- the actors involved in the show's development.

The deal has been in the works for the past few weeks and was proposed by actors who wanted a portion of the profits. Those profits reach upwards of half a million dollars per week. Producers already get a cut. The music is the hottest show on Broadway. Tickets are sold out for the rest of this year.

BERMAN: Look, a lot of people think, by the way, that this -- because of the musical, that Alexander Hamilton has been saved on the ten dollar bill.

ROMANS: I thought it was the outfit that Ben Bernanke wore. I thought that was what --

BERMAN: People riveted by the Ben Bernanke -- they don't. People sing along and they don't want the guy removed from the ten dollar bill now. And, I mean, Andrew Jackson, probably more controversial than Alexander Hamilton. He will no doubt go. No musical, no twenty dollar bill as of 2030. ROMANS: That's right.

BERMAN: All right, today is the final day that candidates have to sway New York voters in the race for president. A big day of campaigning ahead and a big moment on "NEW DAY" coming up starts now.

(BEING VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, it's a rigged election.

PRIEBUS: I find it to be rhetoric and hyperbole.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're in a battle. A nationwide battle for delegates.

TRUMP: They didn't come out for lyin' Ted Cruz. (INAUDIBLE). Nobody does.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I mean, come on. Act like you're a professional.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Welcome to the political revolution.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think there's been a more important election.

SANDERS: We made less money in a given year than Sec. Clinton made in one speech.

CLINTON: My opponent talks about taking on the interests. Where were you? I mean, really.

BERMAN: Two powerful earthquakes. One in Ecuador, one in Japan. The frantic race to save survivors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: You've been taking your vitamins. Good morning. Welcome to your new day. It's Monday, April 18th, 6:00 in the east. Alisyn is off. Brooke Baldwin joining us. Good to have you, my friend.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Good morning. Happy Monday.

CUOMO: Guess what our lead story is? In just 24 hours New York is up for grabs along with its 95 pledged delegates in the presidential election. Both front-runners are working new angles. Republican Donald Trump is saying Cruz is the pawn of the party bosses, upset after losing this weekend in Wyoming to Ted Cruz.

Cruz branding Trump a whiner. John Kasich pleading with Trump to act like a professional. Policy ideas? Not so much. BALDWIN: As for the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders sparring over minimum wage and special interest money. Secretary Clinton hoping for a huge win at home, with Sen. Sanders drawing thousands to his hometown of Brooklyn over the weekend and renewing his call for her to release transcripts from her Wall Street speeches. We will have Sen. Bernie Sanders live with us in the 8:00 hour.