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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Back on the Campaign Trail; MoveOn.org: Superdelegates Shouldn't Overrule; Criminal Charges in Flint Water Crisis; Facebook Wants to Be More Human; Olympic Torch Lighting Ceremony. Aired 5:30- 6a ET
Aired April 21, 2016 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump riding momentum from their big New York wins but with a new set of primary contests just days away, can they stay on top?
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Criminal charges filed in the Flint water crisis and this could only be the beginning.
ROMANS: The Olympic torch for this summer's Rio games just minutes from being lit. We are live. Good morning.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Thirty minutes past the hour right now, and this morning it does seems like it is a new-old Donald Trump on the campaign trail. Right after his big win here in New York, Trump was more succinct, more refined, less nasty. Many wondered whether that was a version of Trump we would see on the campaign trail from now on.
But overnight, Trump held a big rally in Maryland and the clear answer was no, as you will see in a moment. Tonight Trump will be in Pennsylvania. This is all part of the mid-Atlanta war Acela primary next Tuesday, which is super in its own right.
CNN's Jim Acosta is with the Trump campaign in Maryland. He has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Donald Trump is back on the attack, laying into his archrival Ted Cruz and previewing the one-liners that were used to go after Hillary Clinton. Trump ditched the softer tone that was on display at his election night event in New York Tuesday night and adopted some of his toughest rhetoric yet.
The GOP front-runner suggested as president he will investigate Clinton's e-mail practices and return to the nickname he uses for Cruz. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I mean, honestly, do you think this happens with lyin' Ted Cruz, believe me. First of all, the crowd would be about 25 people. That would be a problem. Then they'd start falling asleep listening to this guy with the dramatics. We will fight. We will, oh please. Ay Yi Yi. Lyin' Ted Cruz -- you know, he walks in the bible held high, right? The bible held high. He puts it down, comes over here, starts ranting and raving, and he starts lying, right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Trump and his advisers are feeling much more confident about his chances to reach that magic number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination. In an internal memo obtained by CNN the campaign boldly predicts Trump could have 1,400 delegates by the start of the Republican convention in July. That is well ahead of the 1,237 he needs -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: That dancing guy behind there is mesmerizing, I've got to tell you. All right, on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton also taking the momentum from her big New York win on the campaign trail to Pennsylvania. Less than a week before that state's primary Clinton is beating Sanders in a brand new poll by 13 points. Overnight, Clinton staged a big rally in Philadelphia and that's where we find Joe Johns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, two stops for Hillary Clinton here in Philadelphia after her big win in New York. The first at an African-American church -- an event on guns and violence featuring among others, mothers of victims along with former attorney general Eric Holder, a long-time supporter of Hillary Clinton.
The second stop here at The Fillmore in Philadelphia, an organizing event. Hillary Clinton talked among things about her connections to Pennsylvania, including the fact that her father is from Scranton. She also, once again, touched on that issue of guns and violence, which polls so well for her in urban areas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I read the news before I got here today. You had 12 shootings in Philadelphia over the weekend. Four people killed, a police officer shot. And the story that was just so heartbreaking was the father handling his gun and it went off and killed his 4-year-old daughter. Because of those 33,000 deaths -- we have homicides, we have suicides, and we have all these tragic avoidable accidents. So we have work to do to save lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: A handful of African-American protestors after the fashion of the Black Lives Matters movement were seen in the room holding up signs and chanting. They were removed by police officers in plain clothes wearing armbands. They did not cause much disruption because the crowd noise in the room for Hillary Clinton was so loud. John and Christine -- (END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: All right, joining us now to talk about the next Super Tuesday, the Acela Tuesday, and all the strategies at play, CNN politics managing editor Zach Wolfe. Good morning, Zach. Since we just finished with the Democrats, let's start with them. I think there's been a really interesting development overnight, and that's the question of what does Bernie Sanders do now? What does he want? How does he want to approach this campaign?
His campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, said that they are likely going to now work on switching superdelegates. Convincing superdelegates to switch from Hillary Clinton to Bernie Sanders before the convention. We heard from MoveOn.org, though, overnight, which is a key group that has endorsed Bernie Sanders and worked to get Bernie Sanders elected.
[05:35:00] And that group now says that that's not a good idea, switching superdelegates. "Superdelegates should not overrule the will of the Democratic grassroots," said the director of MoveOn.org from Washington. "If the primary and caucus winner is Hillary Clinton, then Clinton should be the nominee." This shows the pressure that Bernie Sanders is under this morning.
ZACHARY WOLF, CNN POLITICS, MANAGING EDITOR: Yes, he's at a moment where he really does need to start thinking about the future of his campaign. What he's going to do there. The contests left, of course -- you talked about the Acela corridor primaries that are coming up next Tuesday. But then there are primaries out on the west coast. Bernie Sanders will potentially do better on those.
The days where he could have good nights are not over, but he can look at the end of the day and see it's not likely that he's going to be able to beat her numerically before the convention. So then, you havea grassroots candidate wondering what he should do if he doesn't have grassroots support at that point.
I mean, that MoveOn statement is pretty remarkable. It's basically getting to be decision time, so this is the point where we'll start to see what Sanders really wants to get out of this campaign.
ROMANS: It's just so remarkable. I mean, here we are heading into late April and we're still talking about whether people can get the number of delegates to get to the convention. It's just been a really crazy, interesting election year.
No question in primary season, no question -- and last night you had Donald Trump on the eastern shore of Maryland having another town hall -- a big rally, frankly.And that new tone some of us thought you might see yesterday, no. He was really out there hitting his party hard, calling it a rigged system. Even, Zach, as he tries to play that game, he is criticizing the game. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Politics is a very dirty, dirty dishonest business, folks, and I've never seen anything like it. And we're running now for office and it's a rigged deal. This whole thing with delegates is rigged. It's a rig. Where I win Louisiana and I don't get as many delegates as some guy that lost?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Now, if you're Reince Priebus, the chairman of the RNC, every day you're listening to your front-runner attack you and your process. Reince Priebus sat down with Jamie Gangel and had this really interesting conversation about where these two men are in this very public fight. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Are you conspiring against Donald Trump?
REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, RNC: Of course not, of course not. It's insanity.
GANGEL: Is there a plan to steal the nomination?
PRIEBUS: No, there's nothing to steal. Either you have the votes or you don't.
GANGEL: And you will be peace if he is the nominee.
PRIEBUS: I'm going to be at peace with whoever the nominee is because I know that whoever the nominee is is going to beat Hillary Clinton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: I've got to say, it was a pretty remarkable interview, Zach.
WOLF: It is, and from Reince Priebus' standpoint he might be being accused of a conspiracy, but looking at it from the outside it would not a very well-planned conspiracy. We have all these 50 states and six territories -- they all have different rules. It's not like there's one guy, Reince Priebus, who's writing all these rules and saying this is what's going to happen.
Wait until Pennsylvania this week where they vote, and most of the delegates there aren't required to vote for who the state supports. So, the rules are strange and getting stranger, and Donald Trump is going to have a lot to talk about in a week or two here.
BERMAN: Strange and getting stranger, election 2106. Zach Wolf, great to have you with us this morning. Thanks so much.
ROMANS: Nice to see you. Thanks for getting up so early. All right, Bernie Sanders outraised Hilary Clinton for the third straight month in March. New numbers filed with the Federal Election Commission show Sanders hauled in $44 million. Last month he spent most of that. His campaign had $17 million in cash on hand heading in April.
Hillary Clinton raised $28 million and marched into the month with $29 million cash on hand. The Pro-Hillary Super PAC also raked in more than $11 million. It's already preparing for the general election, buying tens of millions of dollars of T.V. ad space ahead of time.
Ted Cruz raised $12.4 million, John Kasich $4.4 million, his best month so far after winning the Ohio primary. Donald Trump collected $2.7 million and lent himself another $11.5 million. Trump also loaned himself more than $35 million for his campaign so far. He outspent both his rivals in March.
BERMAN: And there are reports that he's willing to spend $20 million more between now and the end of the primaries.
ROMANS: The numbers are crazy. Yesterday, I was looking at these T.V. ad spending numbers. There's half a billion dollars all month almost on ad spending so far this election cycle. About $100 million is negative ads against the front-runners.
BERMAN: Good for the economy.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: Criminal charges filed in the Flint water crisis and more could be coming. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:44:00] BERMAN: Three government employees were the first to face criminal charges in connection with the Flint water contamination crisis. Two members of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and one Flint city worker are facing felony and misdemeanor charges that could lead to jail time. The state attorney general says this is only the beginning.
Let's get more from CNN's Sara Ganim in Flint.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, after 18 months of residents here being called liars and complainers about their water, this was a significant day for the people of Flint. Officials of the state Department of Environmental Quality, Steven Bush and Mike Prysby, now facing charges of official misconduct, tampering with evidence, and violation of the state's drinking water act.
Prosecutors say they deliberately failed to treat the water properly, leading to high lead levels, bacteria, and disease. In addition, a city official who worked at the water plant has also been charged with tampering with evidence and neglect. Mike Glasgow talked to me last month in his first sit-down interview. He told me that the tried to do the right thing, but says Bush and Prysby convinced him to change a crucial water quality report in January of 2015.
[05:45:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GANIM: So, you changed the report with the lead numbers in Flint residences. Did you do that to try to cover up what was happening? MIKE GLASGOW, CITY OF FLINT EMPLOYEE: No, I only did it because I was instructed to.
GANIM: Did you ever argue with them on whether or not you should change it?
GLASGOW: No, I just asked the question why and they cited some, I guess, solidified reasoning to remove a couple of items so I didn't question it much further.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GAMIN: Glasgow told me he believed he was changing the report for technical reasons. He thought it was because some homes only had partial lead piping. He says he didn't feel he had the power to overrule their decision, but prosecutors say that simply isn't enough. Even comparing his defense to Nazi war criminals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That defense didn't work in several places when you're ordered to do something, right? Nuremberg and the like. That's a tough, tough situation with regards to Mr. Glasgow, but when you did a criminal act, an overt act, and you had the corrupt mind to do that act, you're going to be charged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GANIM: Now, Steven Bush and Mike Prysby were both arraigned today and pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. Mike Glasgow has yet to be arraigned. It's important to note that there are many state officials above these three men who made significant decisions over the course of this crisis. Prosecutors saying that they're not done. Their investigation continues. They expect more charges to be filed and they say they are ruling no one out, not even the governor -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: And Sara, I know you'll be following that for us as you have been. Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY" this morning. Michaela Pereira joins us this morning. Hi, Michaela.
BERMAN: We've got to talk to Michaela while we can.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": You have a week and a day, John Berman, Christine.
ROMANS: I refuse to --
PEREIRA: Are you both in denial?
ROMANS: I can't even recognize --
PEREIRA: Are you currently residing in a state of denial?
ROMANS: Yes.
PEREIRA: It's OK. Let me tell you what's happening on our show today on "NEW DAY". Donald Trump returning to form, unloading on Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton a day after his landslide victory in New York. Cruz, for his part, dismissing the Trump win, saying it's clear the Republican race will be decided at a contested convention. We have an exclusive interview with RNC chief, Reince Priebus, about the delegate drama.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is looking to seal the deal with another big showing in next week's Super Tuesday primaries in the northeast. However, Bernie Sanders says he plans to fight on. Fight on to the Democratic convention. We are going to hear from both campaigns about what is in store.
ROMANS: All right, Michaela. Nice to see you. We'll talk to you again very, very soon.
PEREIRA: You got it.
ROMANS: People might know why we're crying. She's going to get a big fancy show of her own in just a few weeks on HLN.
BERMAN: She's leaving us. She dumped us.
ROMANS: All right, unloyal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closing in on a major milestone. Folks, if you haven't been watching your 401K, I have some good news for you. An early start on your money next.
Facebook wants to be more compassionate and empathetic. It wants to help you deal with your latest breakup. But how does a tech giant program feelings? Laurie Segall sits down with Facebooks V.P. of growth.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAURIE SEGALL, CNN SENIOR TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: With more than 20 percent of the world's population on Facebook, there's a new question the multi-billion dollar tech company is asking themselves. How do you make text more human?
ALEX SCHULTZ, VICE PRESIDENT OF GROWTH, FACEBOOK: We're trying to build more compassionate products.
SEGALL: Alex Schultz is Facebook's vice president of growth. His team's goal is to help code compassion. They're behind a new Facebook feature you've likely seen, reactions.
SCHULTZ: The reactions product is our response to having a dislike button. You can show someone a heart if you really love something. There's a little sad face if it's a sad memory where you can show your support.
SEGALL: Facebook is also trying to use algorithms to make your breakup a little less pain in the digital era. Historically, anyone who's gone through a breakup goes on Facebook, and I was like oh, I don't want to see this person but I might not be ready to let him go.
KELLY WINTER, FACEBOOK: So you can still stay friends but you won't see their posts in your newsfeed. The second one is where you can say I don't want this person to see anything that I post.
SEGALL: Despite all these initiatives it's hard not to see technology, like Facebook, as standing in the way of real-world relationships. Is technology making us a little bit less empathetic?
SCHULTZ: I actually think it's quite the reverse. I came to Silicon Valley 10 years ago and I'm gay, and when I came out there was an interesting group of people who I expected to be homophobic who were actually really supportive. And the reason they changed their mind was because they'd seen enough of my life that they could actually have empathy for me and see that their point of view on being homophobic was not right.
We've allowed people to connect more and I really believe that actually drives empathy. It doesn't bring us further apart. It doesn't make us colder.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:54:00] BERMAN: All right, just moments ago the high priestess did what she had to do. The first stop -- the first key ritual on the road to the Olympic games. The Olympic torch lit in Olympia in Greece.
Our Atika Shubert was there to see it all. Atika --
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. A round of applause from the crowd as she lit the Olympic flame with a concave mirror, using the light of the sun's rays to do that. Now what she's going to do is move across and light the Olympic torch. But before she does that she's going to snip off a piece of olive branch, and this is symbolic of peace, victory, and honor.
Then she's going to light the first runner for the Olympic torch and he's going to begin what will be a 6-day relay across Greece with a stop at a refugee camp, actually, where a Syrian refugee is also likely to run with the torch. And then on April 27th it will be handed over to the Rio 2016 organizing committee and they will bring the Olympic torch to Brazil.
So, with this ceremony now going on it basically starts that whole process -- that whole ritual that begins the Olympic Games, John.
BERMAN: And you will see that torch moving across the world starting now. All right, Atika Shubert in Olympia. A beautiful ceremony to see there. Thanks so much.
ROMANS: All right, let's get an early start on your money this Thursday morning. Dow futures up slightly, oil a little change but it had a big gain yesterday. There, you can see stocks markets in Europe are lower. Asia closing mostly higher overnight.
The Dow hit a record high way back in May of last year, 18,351. And almost exactly a year later, only 255 points away from that high right now. An incredible run from the bottom in February when I sank below 16,000.
Bernie Sanders is apparently the favorite candidate of Silicon Valley, at least if you go by the campaign donations. Four of Sanders' top five biggest donor groups are employees of the big tech firms. Sanders raised more than $250,000 from employees at Google's parent company, Alphabet. He's pulled in $95,000 from workers at Microsoft, $85,000 from employees at Apple. Another $63,000 from people who work at Amazon.
This is according to the Center for Responsive Politics. No other candidate, on either side, has a single Silicon Valley company in their total top 10 donor groups.
It could be a hot spring for the housing market. Existing home sales jumped 5.1 percent in March after a little slump in February. Economists say that drop was due to simply lack of affordability. People couldn't find homes they wanted for sale in their price range. The median sale price nationwide now $222,700. That's up 5.7 percent over the past year. Good luck trying to find that median home price on either coast.
Mortgage rates still historically low. That should help move properties during the busy spring and summer buying season. Demand is strong. Inventory is lower. But as prices keep ticking higher in most major markets more people could list their properties and help meet that demand. How's the housing market where you live?
BERMAN: There are houses on the market. There is inventory, to be sure.
ROMANS: Yes, rates are very low but people aren't really finding what they want, I guess, in the price range.
BERMAN: All right, the candidates in the race for president, they are in new states with new strategies. Can the front-runners stay out in front? "NEW DAY" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I made a decision not to run for president.
TRUMP: Lyin' Ted lies. Oh, he lies.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is not getting to 1,237. Nobody's getting to 1,237.
TRUMP: It's a rigged system.
CRUZ: Donald, right now, is terrified.
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we pick these two guys are going to get creamed.
TRUMP: Hillary, you're fired.
CLINTON: They want to turn the clock back on every right we have.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Don't tell me that we cannot transform this country.
CLINTON: It's not enough to diagnose the problem. You've got to know how to solve the problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The troubled state of U.S.-Saudi relations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have some critical, critical things we need to work out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Saudi government has nothing to hide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your new day. It's Thursday, April 21st, 6:00 in the east.
PEREIRA: Who's the cute blonde?
CUOMO: Alisyn is off. She's in Italy. And here we have Brianna Keilar, ladies and gentlemen.
PEREIRA: Hi, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: It's so fun to be with you on this beautiful Thursday.
PEREIRA: Welcome to the mornings.
KEILAR: It's very early, I will say that.
CUOMO: It is. Same time every day. It's weird. It's very weird.
KEILAR: Strange.
CUOMO: Up first, Donald Trump back at it again. The Republican front-runner back to his taunting rhetoric -- crooked Hillary, lyin' Ted -- just hours after sounding more presidential. His closest rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, declaring to fight for the GOP nomination, definitely going to a contested convention. This, as Cruz and John Kasich try to woo RNC members at the party's spring meeting in Florida.
KEILAR: And on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton looking to seal the deal in next Tuesday's northeast primaries. Bernie Sanders' campaign is at a crossroads, back on the campaign trail today after a day of recharging in Vermont. Sanders vowing to keep fighting all the way to the convention. We've got the 2016 race covered only the way that CNN can. Let's begin now with Jason Carroll -- Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Brianna, it could be said Trump was just being himself. Trump touching on some familiar scenes last night. Ones that we've heard before out on the campaign trail.
