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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Starts Search For Running Mate; Clinton Takes Aim At Trump; Attorney: Prince Sought Help for Opioid Addiction. Aired 5- 5:30a ET
Aired May 05, 2016 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: So, the general election campaign from your perspective starts today?
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It essentially started. I mean, yes, started today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Trump also tells Blitzer he is now starting to look at potential running mates. CNN's Jim Acosta has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, with Cruz and now John Kasich out of the race, Trump campaign sources say the presumptive GOP nominee will start to focus on building a 50- state general election campaign with a much bigger staff that will begin to join forces with the RNC. And advisers to Trump say names are already beginning to surface as early favorites in the search for a running mate. Trump has said repeatedly he wants a politician as his vice president to help balance out the GOP ticket.
TRUMP: I would want somebody that would help me from a legislative standpoint, getting things passed through Senate, through Congress. And to me, that's why I think probably in terms of vice president, I'm going to go the political route. I don't need the business route. I've got that covered.
BLITZER: You think some of your former Republican presidential rivals would be on that list?
TRUMP: Could be. Could be. I mean, I have a lot of respect --
BLITZER: Even people who have said nasty things about you?
TRUMP: Well, I feel differently about that. When somebody says nasty, I don't -- I never like them quite the same.
ACOSTA: And a Trump source tells CNN, Ohio Senator Rob Portman, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley are the early favorites inside the campaign, as they'd be on anybody's shortlist.
Trump's daughter Ivanka is expected to offer her input on the process, which is said to be in its early stages. But all three of those potential running mates now tell CNN they are not interested. Portman through a spokesman said he won't be Trump's vice president. And Haley offered a statement to CNN that says, quote, "While I am flattered to be mentioned and proud of what that says about the great things going on in South Carolina, my plate full and I am not interested in serving as vice president."
Other names will undoubtedly come up, and Trump told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that he would like to vet John Kasich -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks for that, Jim.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both on the campaign trail today. Clinton is in California with the Republican fight now settled. She's trying to turn her attention to the general election and Donald Trump.
But Sanders is making that complicated, vowing to stay in the race until the convention -- a move Clinton says she has no quarrel with.
BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know there are still some contests ahead and I respect Senator Sanders in whatever choices he makes and I really -- I have a lot of empathy about this, Anderson. You know, I ran to the very end in 2008.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You've been there. You know what it feels like.
CLINTON: And I won 9 of the last 12 contests. People forget that. I won Indiana. I won West Virginia. I won a lot of states. But I could not close the gap in pledged delegates.
And the gap between me and Senator Sanders is far wider than it was between me and Senator Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny has more on Hillary Clinton's two-front battle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Hillary Clinton is campaigning today in California today, a reminder that her primary fight with Bernie Sanders is still on. The California primary on June 7th, will be one of the last contests in this long Democratic fight.
But the campaign is suddenly making a hard turn to the general election. She is sharpening her battle plan for Donald Trump and intentionally choosing two words to describe him. She said those two words again and again when she sat down yesterday with Anderson Cooper.
CLINTON: And I don't think we can take a risk on a loose cannon like Donald Trump running our country. You know, Donald Trump has said it's OK for other countries to get nuclear weapons. I think that's just downright dangerous. He has said wages are too high. I think we need to have a raise for the American people, raise the minimum wage, get wages going up.
I think when he says women should be punished for having abortions, that is beyond anything that I can imagine. I think most women can imagine.
COOPER: He did walk that back.
CLINTON: Well, he's a loose cannon.
ZELENY: So, as she uses the words "loose canyon" and "risky", he is calling her "crooked Hillary". Now, she starts with considerable advantages here, leading Trump by 13 points in a new CNN/ORC poll. With all the Republicans except Trump out of the race, Sanders is truly the third there, but he says he's staying in through at least California and the convention -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much.
Joining us to discuss more of what's going on this morning, "Wall Street Journal" White House correspondent Colleen McCain Nelson.
Colleen, thanks so much for being with us.
We have news that we just found out about overnight. Ben Sasse, the Republican senator from Nebraska, which by the way votes next Tuesday, put out this big long letter on Facebook where he is essentially calling for a third party candidate. Sasse has been never Trump for sometime, but this takes a step further, saying there needs to be someone extra who jumps in the race.
He says, "I believe most Americans can be for limited government again if they have a candidate to focus on a small number of really important urgent things in a way that try to bring people together instead of driving us apart.
[05:05:03] I think there is room and appetite for such a candidate."
And then he went on with #wecandobetter. Give us more choices.
Interesting to see. A sitting Republican senator calling for a third party candidate. Interesting.
COLLEEN MCCAIN NELSON, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, it is fascinating. I guess the big unanswered question is who is that third party candidate? Who is he talking about?
And I mean, that's the problem with never Trump from the beginning, because they have always said never Trump, anyone but Trump. They have never been able to coalesce around one person.
And so, now, at this point of a third party candidate, that's a pretty tough proposition to launch a campaign to get on ballots in every state to raise money. So, we'll see what happens. But that's a very steep hill to climb when we are already in May.
ROMANS: Meanwhile, two former presidents, Bush, will not be participating in the general election. They will sit it out. What does that tell you about the apathy among many Republicans for their candidate?
NELSON: Right. This is -- this is what every Republican is going to wrestle with. Do you go along and support Donald Trump? Do you do what the Bushes are doing and just sit it out and say, we're not going to comment, we're not going to be involved. Or do you say I will oppose my party's nominee?
And so, you are seeing a range of response from different folks. The Bushes are taking a hands off approach. They're just not going to talk about it. But you are seeing other Republicans come out and actually say, "I'm with Hillary Clinton," which is extraordinary. We'll see how many more Republicans do that.
But it's pretty unusual on the day that the nominee emerges to have Republicans defecting and saying I'm actually going to support a Democrat.
BERMAN: Now, Donald Trump, we should have given credit where credit is due. I mean, he won the Republican primaries, by a fair amount. He finished the race before Hillary Clinton did on the Democratic side. He is now turning his focus to the general election.
He did a sit down interview with Wolf Blitzer. It was interesting to see. Already, the first day after he clinches the nomination, he seems to be shifting on issues. Listen to what he told wolf about the minimum wage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Hillary Clinton is ready to go to $12. Bernie Sanders --
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: But if you were president, what would you recommend?
TRUMP: No, I'm looking at it, but I don't like --
BLITZER: But you're open to raising the minimum wage?
TRUMP: I'm open to doing something with it because I don't like that. But what I really do like is bringing our jobs back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And open to doing something about it. He said that one of the debates that wages were too high in America.
NELSON: Right, I was fascinated to hear that. It did not take him long for him to shift. He previously said wages were too high. He said he didn't want to change the minimum wage.
And so, now, one day into his general election, he says, well, I'm willing to look at it.
And so, this is a challenge for Hillary Clinton. You are not sure where he will come down on an issue any given day. And he has shown a willingness to change his positions. If you are Hillary Clinton, it is a strange race to run, because it's not really conventional right versus left race. He's a little bit all over the map. He's diverged from conservative orthodoxy on the number of issues.
Clearly, the question for voters is, whether they will be bothered by the fact that his positions have shifted, it didn't seem to bother Republican primary voters who supported him. Clearly, it's a different group of folks in the general election, this is the first of what I think will be a number of shifts from Donald Trump.
ROMANS: He says he will bring a lot of jobs back. The minimum wage argent is the secondary argument. He will bring good paying jobs back so we don't talk about the minimum wage for other jobs.
Let's talk about Hillary Clinton quickly because she sat down with Anderson last night in a wide-ranging fascinating interview too. And she said she is ready for attacks from Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: He's made references to your marriage, to your husband. Are you prepared?
(LAUGHTER)
CLINTON: Well, he's not the first one, Anderson. I cannot say this often enough -- if he wants to go back to the playbook of the 1990s. If he wants to follow in the footstep of those who have tried to knock me down and take me out of the political arena, I'm more than happy to have him do that.
COOPER: You're ready for that.
CLINTON: Oh please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Trump said he is just getting started on attacks on Hillary Clinton. She has been attacked before. She's right on that. She is fighting a primary battle.
[05:10:00] Donald Trump has a luxury of focusing on her now. NELSON: Right. It was funny to see Donald Trump point that out. He
said, "I expected my race to go longer and her race to be shorter." And so, I think that's what most people expected. Everyone was braced for the long fight to the convention.
Now, all of a sudden, Donald Trump has cleared the Republican field. He can focus all of his fire on Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is fighting the battle on two fronts. She's still trying to fend off attacks from Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders is saying he's not going to back down, he's not going to go easy on her even though he has a narrow path.
And so, she has to answer attacks from the both the right and the left at this point which is a tricky thing to do.
BERMAN: It really is. Fascinating to see the next days and weeks. The exact opposite of what everyone including both campaigns thought would happen. Donald Trump has one month in the clear. It will be interesting to watch.
Colleen McCain Nelson, we'll talk to you again in a little bit. Great to have you this morning.
NELSON: Thank you.
ROMANS: Thanks, Colleen, for getting up so early for us.
Time for an early start on your money.
Stock futures higher. You know, stocks fell yesterday. The higher move this morning for oil which is up 3 percent right now. Stocks in Europe and Asia are mixed.
Takata's air bag recall has just got a whole lot worse. The company recalling another 35 million to 45 million airbags, doubling the total number of the U.S. recalls to 69 million. This is the largest recall in U.S. history.
That means 20 percent of all cars on the nation's roads have an air bag that poses a risk to drivers. Only 8 million have been repaired. Takata will not have enough parts to fix all of them by the year 2019. The air bag inflators can malfunction that sends debris flying at drivers.
These faulty air bags have been tied to ten deaths, hundreds injuries just in the U.S. Government regulators say the situation is urgent. Takata says it will continue to offer its best efforts to fix that problem.
BERMAN: All right. New details emerging this morning about the final days of Prince's life. We are learning new things and hearing from new people about an alleged battle with addiction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: A new picture is emerging this morning of the final days and hours of Prince. He was scheduled to meet with representatives from a California doctor specializing in opioid addiction. But he died the day before the meeting was to take place. The singer's inner circle were frantically trying to get help for a situation they described as a grave medical emergency.
We get more from CNN's Stephanie Elam.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and John, Dr. Howard Kornfeld was unable to clear his schedule to travel to Minnesota from California on the 21st, but planned to arrive on the 22nd. That's according to William Mauzy, the Minneapolis lawyer representing the doctor. Instead, Kornfeld sent his son Andrew, a pre-med student who works with him on a red eye flight to meet with Prince Thursday morning at Paisley Park. His job was to explain to the musician how a treatment works.
Mauzy says this was an intervention being waged by Prince's team and the icon knew it was happening.
WILLIAM MAUZY, ATTORNEY: He set into motion a plan with what he felt was a life-saving mission. And that mission was to get Prince to a doctor in Minnesota on Thursday morning. He contacted a trusted colleague of his. That Minnesota doctor cleared his schedule for Thursday morning to provide privacy to Prince. Prince did not show up for that appointment on Thursday morning.
ELAM: The lawyer says Andrew, who arrived at Paisley Park around 9:30 a.m. Thursday with two of Prince's associates was the one who called 911 after Prince was discovered in an elevator. Prince was declared deceased about a half hour later.
In another development, a former lawyer for Duane Nelson, that's one of Prince's half siblings, claims to CNN that Duane told him that Prince used Percocet decades ago to calm down after his performances.
Attorney William Patton says Duane told him he would sometimes ever procure the powerful painkiller for Prince.
Now, CNN cannot independently confirm the lawyer's account because Duane has already passed away. Duane did work for Prince at Paisley Park, but was fired and ended up suing his famous half brother -- Christine and John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Stephanie Elam, thanks so much.
A new chapter in the Johnny Manziel saga. The former Cleveland Brown's quarterback due to appear in a Texas courtroom today in a case that could land him in jail for a year. Andy Scholes with this morning's bleacher report, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:23:12] BERMAN: Johnny Manziel headed to a Texas courtroom this morning, facing a misdemeanor assault charge.
ROMANS: Andy Scholes has more on this morning's bleacher report.
Hey, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Good morning, guys.
Johnny Manziel turned himself in yesterday and was booked in Dallas. He was released on $15,000 bond. He will be back in court this morning.
Manziel is facing a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from a domestic violence complaint by his former girlfriend Colleen Crowley. In a complaint, Crowley says that in January, Manziel hit her so hard, he ruptured her ear drum. Crowley currently has a two-year protective order against Manziel. Manziel's lawyer says he expects his client to be acquitted of the charges.
Now, Manziel tweeted last night about his mug shot saying, quote, "At least I had a shirt on this time", referring to when he was arrested in college for fighting and possessing a fake ID. He took a shirtless mug shot back in 2012.
Johnny did delete that tweet.
BERMAN: All right. It was raining threes in Cleveland last night in game two between the Cavs and Hawks. Cleveland made an NBA record 25 three-pointers in the game. They hit 18 in the first half and led 74- 38 at halftime.
The Hawks at least had a sense of humor. Tweeting out a crying Jordan meme at halftime. Cavs going to win this one easily, 123-98, and take a 2-0 lead in the series.
The Miami Heat announcing yesterday that Chris Bosh will be out for the remainder of the playoffs. Bosh has been sidelined since the all- star break where he was initially diagnosed with a strained right calf. Bosh has history of blood clot and missed part of last season after they were found in his lungs. The Heat had continued to keep him off the roster this season without releasing any new medical information.
[05:25:00] All right. Marlins hosted the Diamondbacks last night. Arizona's Brandon Drury on the run, going to making the sweet catch falling over the shortened wall down the right field line. Now, check out the fan in the black shirt. Will he, A, help Drury off the cement or, B, take a selfie?
Well, it's 2016, guys, so if you guessed he's going to try to take a selfie, you are correct. If you are wondering how that picture turned out. Here you go.
Now, John, what would you do if Tom Brady fell right in front of you? Would you help him up or would you try to take a selfie?
BERMAN: I would probably faint. I would probably faint. And then he would take a selfie of the guy on the floor next to him.
All right, Andy.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHOLES: All right.
ROMANS: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton taking direct aim at each other, speaking to CNN in new one-on-one interviews. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Donald Trump officially the only Republican left in the race for president, beginning his V.P. search now and speaking with CNN about what comes next.
