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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Breaks From GOP Orthodoxy; Alberta Wildfire Forces Evacuation Of 90,000; North Carolina Faces Justice Department Deadline; Shaky Ceasefire In Syria; Panama Papers' Database Set For Internet Release. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired May 09, 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] JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Huge wildfires consuming hundreds of thousands of acres, 90,000 people evacuated. Firefighters hoping for a change in the weather. Hoping for some kind of help. Will they get it? Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST: Happy Monday. I'm Christine Romans. It is 30 minutes past the hour. Kicking off a big unexpected week, the Republicans this morning, with six months to go until election day in November. Tomorrow, with no one else in the race, it is all but certain that Donald Trump will sweep primaries in Nebraska and West Virginia.
But no competition does not mean no drama. Trump now says he will not rule out an effort to dump House Speaker Paul Ryan as chairman of the Republican convention if Ryan fails to endorse him. The two rivals for the leader of the party meeting on Thursday -- likely to be on their agenda.
Trump policies at odds with Republican dogma like to two big ships. Just this weekend, Trump now committing to raising taxes on the wealthy, now saying he's open to raising the minimum wage. These are counter to GOP orthodoxy. More now from CNN politics reporter Eric Bradner in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, John and Christine. The GOP civil war is raging on ahead of a big meeting this week between the party's highest-ranking official, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and its presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
Here's what Trump told ABC on Sunday about that meeting.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He wants to meet. He'd like to meet and I think we're meeting on Thursday and we'll just see what happens. It's just more drama. But I think it's a mistake not to do this. We want to bring the party together. Does the party have to be together? Does it have to be unified? I'm very different than everybody else, perhaps, that's ever run for office. I actually don't think so.
BRADNER: But the meeting might not heal many wounds. Ryan wants Trump to adopt more conservative policy positions, but Trump broke from the right in two big ways on Sunday.
He said he's willing to support higher taxes on the wealthy in exchange for a deal that would see Democrats give him a cut in business taxes and a cut for the middle class. And he also said he's open to a minimum wage increase, even though he wants that to come from the states.
Now, all of this is happening against the backdrop of a big threat by a Trump supporter, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin. Palin told CNN that she is going to support Ryan's primary challenger.
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will do whatever I can for Paul Nehlen. This man is a hard-working guy. He's so in touch with the people. Paul Ryan and his ilk, their problem is they have become so disconnected from the people whom they are elected to represent, as evidenced by Paul Ryan's refusal to support the GOP front-runner that he just said he's our man.
BRADNER: It's the first threat of retaliation against a Trump opponent within the party that we've seen so far and it could deepen the divide -- Christine, John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: All right, Eric Bradner, thanks so much. Let's break this down. Let's look at this fast-changing landscape. Joining us, political analyst and best-selling author Ellis Henican. Ellis, nice to see you this morning.
ROMANS: Good morning.
BERMAN: Republicans are now taking sides, right? You know, Paul Ryan says he's not there yet. Jeb Bush says he's never going to get there. He's not going to vote for Donald Trump. John McCain, who was one of the first people that Donald Trump really insulted in his primaries -- John McCain says he will support Donald Trump. He is going to vote for Donald Trump, and this weekend John McCain had some really interesting analysis on this split, so let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: You have to draw the conclusion that there is some distance, if not a disconnect, between party leadership and members of Congress, and many of the voters who have selected Donald Trump to be the nominee of the party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: I mean, what do you say to that other than yes?
ELLIS HENICAN, COLUMNIST, NEWSDAY, POLITICAL ANALYST, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR: Wow, right? What an understanding gentlemen. That's the difference between the old GOP and the new GOP, right there, I think.
BERMAN: But, it's interesting and telling about the challenges that the party faces going forward.
HENICAN: Well, that's right, and most people who are a little more prickly, maybe, than John McCain would say forget that. All that stuff you said about me, why should I support you? That really is, I think, part of what's happening right now. There's a general tendency to rally around the nominee at a time like this, but boy, there are a lot of personal hard feelings in there.
ROMANS: And Donald Trump -- I want to talk -- I want to listen to something he said about Hillary Clinton and the Clinton's, actually, and then sort of the Hillary Clinton response. I think when you look at this sound that we've put together for you right here, you can see the storyline developing for the next six months. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: She's married to a man who was the worst abuser of women in the history of politics. She's married to a man who hurt many women. And Hillary, if you look and you study, Hillary hurt many women -- the women that he abused. She's married to a man who got impeached for lying.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think saying that he's a loose cannon really focuses on some of the statements he's made, which I find concerning. Going back to torture, killing terrorists' families, which would be a war crime. And those are just some of the concerns that I hear people talking about, which I think does fit the definition of a loose cannon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:35:00] ROMANS: Is this where we're going to go over the next few months?
HENICAN: Yes, but hold on a second. Loose cannon -- that's exactly what the Trump supporters like.
ROMANS: Right.
HENICAN: Go be looser, Donald.
ROMANS: Right.
HENICAN: That's the guy we love.
ROMANS: He's not going to get any more women numbers from what he says, but it's his core supporters right now who love this kind of talk.
HENICAN: That's right, and he believes, and you know, he has proven us wrong before -- he believes that there are still a whole lot of people out there who can be attracted with that tone and that attitude and that message. It's not about ideology, it's about attitude.
BERMAN: It's interesting because you talk to the Clinton campaign and what they say is they've been studying Donald Trump for a while right now. They've had a long time to look at this. And what they say is they think the way to go after Donald Trump isn't, you know, to make fun of his hands, isn't to call him just a pathological liar, which is something that Ted Cruz tried to do. But you have to tie -- they want to be aggressive.
HENICAN: Right.
BERMAN: But they say you have to be aggressive and tie it to an issue, and I think we say it just there. Loose cannon, but a loose cannon on issues like torture and killing terrorists' families. I don't know if they're right or wrong, but I wonder if you think that strategy can work going forward.
HENICAN: Well, I might not have picked those two issues because, frankly, Trump probably has majority views on those topics. But the idea of coming back, tying it to issues, and especially not waiting around to respond. Remember what happened with Mike Dukakis --
BERMAN: Right.
HENICAN: -- and other people in the -- Jeb Bush, even. Others in the past who have held back their -- you've got be out there banging day after day and she's already there. She's already there.
ROMANS: Do you think that Trump supporters care that he's shifting his position on minimum wage --
HENICAN: No, no.
ROMANS: -- on taxes?
HENICAN: No, I don't think any of it is about policy and ideological issues.
ROMANS: It's attitude. Attitude --
HENICAN: Yes, it's -- he represents what people are feeling and yes, yes, all those boring issues -- that's not what has motivated the Trump supporters.
BERMAN: And, of course, there's this sentiment out there and you hear it from a lot of liberals. Van Jones, you know, who's terrified. He thinks that people are underestimating Donald Trump. That he can do well in a general election.
The flipside of that, though, is this. The polls, actually, always told us that Donald Trump was going to win the primary. I mean, he's been up in the polls since August, right, and there was people not trusting the polls and didn't believe he would actually win.
ROMANS: Right.
BERMAN: If the polls are still as right as they've been, then Hillary Clinton actually has an historic lead. Not just a lead, but a lead by historic margins, heading into the general election. HENICAN: She will win by 15 points or some number. Let me try and put Van's concerns at ease a little bit. She's running in a very different electorate right now, right? The general election, in November, is a hugely different group of people than those who turn out for Republican primaries and caucuses and boy, he romped there, but there isn't any sign yet that he's going to be able to romp quite so broadly.
ROMANS: Fascinating, and Bernie's still in it. Bernie's in it until the very end.
HENICAN: He's not leaving. He's not leaving. Why should he?
BERMAN: And, actually, tomorrow's primary could go well for him. I mean, he could have a decent run but the math is tough.
ROMANS: Well, she puts out that last time she won the last nine of the last 12.
BERMAN: Nine of the last 12, right.
ROMANS: Because she had great momentum in the end but didn't have the delegates. She has a wider lead on that. All right, thanks, Ellis.
HENICAN: See you guys.
BERMAN: Ellis, thanks for coming in.
ROMANS: Nice to see you.
BERMAN: All right, Donald Trump, he's going to be in. Well, at least he'll be on "NEW DAY" live this morning. That will happen during the 7:00 hour.
ROMANS: All right, business news this morning. New this morning, Uber and Lyft slamming the brakes on rides in Austin, Texas. This move could spread to other cities. Residents in Austin voted 56 percent to 44 percent against an ordinance that was called proposition one.
That means now to keep operating, Uber and Lyft will have to use fingerprinting and other background checks to hire new drivers. The companies argue that hey, fingerprinting relies on old databases, makes it difficult to hire enough drivers quickly, and says that's why they'll stop rides in Austin. They're not going to do it.
Advocates, though, say fingerprinting is more effective at screening out potential criminals. Uber stopped serving Houston -- the Houston area -- after the city council there passed a similar measure last month. Uber recently paid out $25 million to San Francisco and Los Angeles for mispresenting its background check system.
BERMAN: All right, wildfires bigger than the city of New York devastating Western Canada. We're going to talk about the fight against these flames. That's next.
[05:39:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:43:00] ROMANS: Nearly 90,000 people in Alberta have been forced to flee their homes, escaping a devastating wildfire burning an area half the size of Rhode Island. More than 1,600 homes and buildings already torched, and as firefighters struggle to beat back these flames officials are concerned about extremely dry conditions and unpredictable winds. They fear this could be the beginning of long, hot, dangerous summer.
We get more from CNN's Paul Vercammen in Edmonton.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN REPORTER: John, Christine, I'm in front of the evacuation center where many of the fire refugees are either grabbing supplies or spending the night, or both. They are all concerned about what has happened to their homes. Some know, some don't. One factor in all of this, the wind. You can hear it. Firefighters battling with it.
Now, fortunately, the wind blowing the fire away from Fort McMurray. That was the town ravaged by the blaze. Quite an ordeal for the families in Fort McMurray. And imagine what all of this was like as it blew through there last week in the eyes of a small child.
CHILD: I saw the flames and they were very bad, and like the fire, it was like very big. It started smoking downtown and we thought my school was burnt down, but it wasn't. It's like very bad.
VERCAMMEN: And, as we said, you can hear what firefighters are up against -- it's that wind. Some 40 blazes in all burning in Alberta, Canada. We've got about 1,500 firefighters on the line, some of the becoming beleaguered, needing a break.
Help is coming from Quebec and from New Brunswick. There's already more firefighters here from parts of Ontario, all of them hoping that they get the relief in terms of more manpower and that this wind, somehow, dies down. Back to you now, Christine, John.
[05:45:00] ROMANS: All right, Paul, thank you for that. Back in the U.S., severe weather all across the Plains on Sunday. Multiple reports of tornadoes touching down in Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma over the weekend, along with hail the size of baseballs in Texas.
(Video playing) Take a look at this. This is stunning footage from Colorado. This is a classic EF2 tornado. It tore up the town of Wray and sent five people to the hospital.
Will that severe weather continue? Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, good morning, guys. Yes, almost 70 reports of severe weather across the midsection of the U.S. on Sunday alone, eight of which were related to tornadoes. The threat now shifts a little farther to the east. Almost 24 million people are going to be underneath the threat here.
You notice it is a pretty expansive region. I think in and around Little Rock, Shreveport, and Dallas, that's where the highest concern is. And as you work your way a little farther to the north the threat diminishes just a little bit. But certainly not going to be out of the ordinary for large hail, damaging winds, and some tornadoes into the afternoon and evening hours across that region.
Back to the west, also some snowy conditions across the higher elevations. And to the south, we see summer-like temperatures across the areas as well. We're talking mid-80's, to some areas mid-90's over the next several days. But, again, the area we have the storms locked in place could get some very heavy rainfall the next two to three days.
In and around St. Louis, a couple of inches. North of Nashville, potentially two to four inches in the next few days. But notice the temperatures. About 92 in Charleston, 84 in Atlanta. Gorgeous next few days around New York City and Washington, upper 60's and low 70's, guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Pedram Javaheri, thank you. The governor of North Carolina has until the end of today to respond to a letter from the Justice Department challenging the state's controversial new transgender law.
Governor Pat McCrory says he will answer the letter before the deadline, but he insists U.S. officials did not give him enough time to stop enforcing that law or to repeal it. At stake, more than $800 million in federal education funding that could be pulled from North Carolina schools.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. PAT MCCRORY (R), NORTH CAROLINA: They gave the ninth largest state in the United States -- the civil rights division of the Justice Department, three working days to respond to a pretty complex letter and to a pretty big threat.
Well, we don't think three working days is enough to respond to such a threat. We're really talkingabout a letter in which they're trying to define gender identity, and there is no clear identification -- or definition of gender identity. It's the federal government being a bully.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The Justice Department has warned North Carolina its new law, which requires transgender people to use public bathroomscorresponding to the sex on their birth certificate. The Justice Department says that law violates the Civil Rights Act.
Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY". Chris Cuomo joins us this morning. Hi, Chris.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Hey, how you doing, my friend?
ROMANS: Doing great.
CUOMO: It's very interesting. North Carolina's saying the federal government's being a bully in that story, and obviously, opponents of their law saying exactly the same thing about the state government.
ROMANS: That's right.
CUOMO: But it isn't a lot of time. That's going to be interesting to watch. We have a take on that this morning. We're also going to follow up on the big war within the GOP. Republicans are certainly divided over what Donald Trump means for their party. Do they even have a party anymore? Is he a standard-bearer or is he really a vanguard of some new iteration of being Republican?
So, we're going to talk to him today. Donald Trump will be on "NEW DAY" -- about what does unity mean to him. What does Speaker Ryan mean to him? What does the convention mean to him? And what his plan now is for the country going forward. Everything starts new. Remember, if he is the presumptive nominee, in the general election there are going to 100 million new voters. So, what does he have to say to all of them?
We're going to get into all of that this morning, as well as the state of play on the Democratic side. As we know, the race there, not over.
ROMANS: Not over at all. All right, thanks, Chris. Talk to you very soon. It's looking like a strong start to the week for your 401(K). We'll get an early start on your money next
[05:49:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:53:00] ROMANS: Stark contrasts are unfolding in Syria this morning where the recently-brokered ceasefire between the U.S. and Russia is showing both weaknesses and some strengths. More than 50 ISIS fighters were killed north of Aleppo over the weekend. Further south, Syrian government forces tangling with Rebel fighters recently joined by an al Qaeda splinter group.
Meantime, Syrians say the lull in the action, brought by the ceasefire, is literally coming as music to their ears. CNN's senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen is live for us. He is in the Syrian capital. He's got that part of the story. And Fred, you're seeing some things on the streets of Damascus you haven't seen in a long time. Tell us about it.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, you're absolutely right, Christine. With all the problems that there is with this ceasefire that's supposed to be in place in Syria, certainly for the people that are seeing a lull in fighting it really is some respite. We were out on the streets in Damascus yesterday and we saw more people on the streets than I've seen here since the past four years that I've been coming to this country reporting from here.
We met one family that was out with their two daughters and they said look, for the better part of the time that the civil war's been going on we've been keeping our daughters inside. And now, finally, for the first time, we can take them out and not have to worry about machine gunfire or bombs and mortars falling on our heads.
But, of course, the picture's very different in other places in Syria. In and around the Aleppo area a ceasefire is supposed to be in place but there has been substantial fighting. In the southwest of the city there was a major battle that happened late last week where Jabhat al- Nusra which is, of course, al Qaeda's wing here in Syria, launched a massive suicide attack that it even filmed from a drone.
You could see a big plume of smoke. But then they managed to retake that village from government forces. But later, they were pounded by Syrian army jets and possibly by Russian jets as well. So the battle appears to be in full swing.
[05:55:00] We've also heard that some government areas were shelled by Rebel forces as well, so there is a lot of problems with the ceasefire that the U.S. is trying to broker with Russia. But at the same time, for the people that are managing to get some respite from the fighting, it is very welcome.
They say look, we want to talk about political transition. We want to talk about a way forward. But for this moment in time, for them, any sort of quiet is something that they very much welcome, Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Fred Pleitgen for us in Damascus. Thank you for that, Fred. This morning North Korea expelling a BBC journalist and two members of his team.Pyongyang officials say they detained Rupert Wingfield-Hayes and his crew for their "disrespectful reports."
CNN has learned Wingfield-Hayes was interrogated for what North Korea deemed his inappropriate description of leader Kim John-un. Meantime, North Korea's workers' party congress, held for the first time in 36 years, slated to wrap up today. Over the weekend, leader Kim John-un said his country would not use nuclear weapons unless it is attacked first.
The world will get to see which politicians, business leaders, and celebrities used secret overseas shell companies, allegedly to avoid paying taxes. But a Panama Papers database goes live online at 2:00 p.m. eastern. The searchable database is being released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. It reportedly exposes connections between 368,000 individuals and 300,000 offshore entities.
Millions of people in the Philippines casting their votes today in a huge election for various local, regional, and national posts, including a new president. The leading presidential candidate is Rodrigo Duterte, the mayor of a southern Philippine city. He's known for making controversial and inflammatory comments about rape and his own sexual conquests. He has also vowed to execute 100,000 criminals and dump them into Manila Bay if elected.
Let's get an early start on your money this morning. Dow futures pushing higher. Stock markets in Europe and Asia also posting gains. Oil is now up more than $2, close to $46 a barrel. The most powerful man in the global oil industry for the past two decades is out of a job. Saudi Arabia sacked its oil minister this weekend, replacing him with the current chairman of the official state-run oil company.
It shows Saudi Arabia's shifting course following the crash in oil prices, pushing toward a more diverse economy. Saudi Arabia and other top oil producers are struggling with whether to cut production to boost prices or keep drilling to maintain market share.
But the oil story American consumers are buzzing about -- a recent jump in the price of a gallon of gas. Up 50 cents from the low of $1.71 in February. That's the bad news. In perspective, gas prices are still 45 cents cheaper than a year ago.
Analysts say prices rose due to higher oil costs. Also because of the switch to the more expensive summer blend of gas. Prices should stay around the $2.20 level for the rest of the year. The forecasters say around the $2.20 level for the rest of the year, barring any dramatic moves in oil prices.
All right, war in the GOP as Republican leaders and Donald Trump spar over policy. "NEW DAY" picks up the story from us right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I didn't get Paul Ryan. I don't know what happened. I was blindsided a little bit.
SEN: LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R-SC): I just don't believe Donald Trump is a reliable conservative Republican.
TRUMP: I'm allowed to change. We need flexibility.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ): We have to listen to people that have chosen the nominee.
TRUMP: This is called the Republican Party. It's not called the conservative party.
Hillary hurt many women.
CLINTON: Some of the statements he's made I find concerning.
TRUMP: She's married to a man who got impeached.
CLINTON: He doesn't think much of women, it turns out.
TRUMP: If she didn't play the women's card she would have no chance of winning. BERMAN: What do independent voters think of this election? Our panel weighs in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I won't vote for Hillary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump really hasn't talked about the issues.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The ultimate election is really up for grabs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.
CUOMO: So much to say, I wasn't even close to finished writing it yet, so let's see how this goes. Good morning to all of you. Welcome to your new day. It's Monday, May 9th, 6:00 in the east.
Up first, simply said, the GOP has a problem. Trump says he could unify, sure. But he seems just as likely right now to rupture the GOP. Trump saying he doesn't know if unity matters anymore. He doesn't know if Speaker Paul Ryan shouldn't be ousted as the convention chairman.
Sarah Palin is back. She's some kind of Trump super friend now, calling for the defeat of Ryan. All this has context with this big meeting between Ryan and Trump. What will happen when that happens? My friend, Alisyn, does anybody know the answer?
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Super friend, I like that. We will talk to Donald Trump about this and so much more when he joins us live in our next hour.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton says she's hearing from a lot of Republicans who want to help her campaign.
