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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

The Ryan-Trump Summit Begins; Clinton Attacks Trump's Withheld Tax Returns; George Zimmerman to Auction Gun that Killed Trayvon Martin. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired May 12, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:30] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Will the Republican Party rally around Donald Trump? Trump meeting with Speaker Paul Ryan in just hours. Can they find common ground, or is the GOP in for a deep divide?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump will not release his tax returns just yet. Now, Hillary Clinton blasts him and she is not alone.

ROMANS: Breaking overnight: George Zimmerman auctioning off the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin. You'll hear from him, ahead.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: Nice to see you today. It is Thursday, May 12th. I'm John Berman. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.

A big, big day in Washington. A big, big day for Donald Trump and big day for the Republican Party.

Just hours from now, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, will try to convince the highest elected ranking Republican that Donald Trump should be president.

Trump meets with House Speaker Paul Ryan one week after Ryan told CNN that he refused to endorse Donald Trump yet. But now, many Republicans are pushing Ryan to fall in line behind Trump or risk fracturing the party heading into the general.

CNN politics reporter Sara Murray has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, John and Christine.

Will there be party unity in the GOP or not so much? Today might be the day that finally gives us our best indication so far. This is the day when Donald Trump is going to be traveling to Washington to meet face-to-face with House Speaker Paul Ryan.

That's after the House Speaker said he wasn't quite ready to fall in line and endorse Donald Trump. He said since that the two just kind of need to get to know each other a little bit. Today will be an opportunity for them to do that in Washington, D.C. And what we've already seen is some of Trump supporters have already begun laying the ground work on the Hill have been reaching out to Paul Ryan. Ben Carson, who was a big supporter of Donald Trump, has spoken to Paul Ryan, and Donald Trump has been saying and tweeting more optimistic things about this upcoming meeting.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he's a good man and I really think, you know, probably we'll come out with something that's going to be good, I hope. Otherwise, I'll JUST continue on the path that I continue on.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I don't really know him. I met him once in 2012. We had a good conversation in March on the phone. We just need to get to know each other and we as a leadership team are enjoying the fact that we have a chance to meet with him.

MURRAY: All of this could be laying the ground work for them saying there is common ground. We both want to reduce the deficit, the deficit debt. We both want to cut taxes on middle class families. Of course, with Donald Trump, there is always a possibility that it could end on a rockier fashion, that it could end in fireworks. And we should get a better sense of that in just a few hours.

Back to you, guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Donald Trump under fire this morning. He's refusing to promise that he will release his tax returns before the November election. Earlier last year, Trump promised to release his taxes. Since then, he has said his taxes are audited by the IRS. He won't release them until that audit is complete.

The IRS says Trump is free to release the returns if he wants. It is up to him. There is nothing legally precluding him from releasing those tax returns, even under audit. Trump says he has no plans to push his lawyers on releasing them before November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS: If you were my client, you were under audit, I'd say don't release them. There may be some years outside the audit, you --

TRUMP: If there are, they are meaningless. It doesn't matter because they're so far back. But at the right time, I'll release them. I hope to release them. I like to release them. But when I'm under audit, I can't do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney not buying Trump's excuse, writing on Facebook, "It is disqualifying for a modern day nominee to refuse to release tax returns to the voters, especially one who has been subject to public scrutiny in either military or public service. There is one logical explanation for Mr. Trump's refusal to release his returns; there is a bombshell in them. Given Mr. Trump's equanimity with flaws in his history, we can only assume is a bombshell of unusual size."

What could you see on those tax returns? You would not see net worth, right?

BERMAN: No, absolutely.

ROMANS: You would see what he made or lost last year.

BERMAN: Exactly.

ROMANS: What he gave to charity or didn't give to charity.

BERMAN: Exactly.

ROMANS: And you would see sort of the pattern of the financial operating books.

BERMAN: You see what he paid in taxes, if he paid taxes. I don't mean that in a bad way.

Look, if you are in real estate, you can report a loss a lot of times, in which cases your effective tax rate would be next to nothing.

ROMANS: How unusual is it not to release your tax returns?

[04:05:01] Very unusual. Richard Nixon released his which were audited. The famous line about Richard Nixon said, "I'm not a crook" was not about Watergate. It was about his tax returns.

So, this is something that for, you know, in modern history, going back to the '70s, Presidents have released tax returns or really good summary of their taxes. This is the biggest job in the world, the biggest job interview in the world. Taxes go along with that, releasing taxes go along with that.

BERMAN: Hillary Clinton jumping on the refusal for now to release his tax returns. This coming as Bernie Sanders campaigns in South Dakota. He suggests he is the best to defeat Donald Trump.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are still running against each other at least for the next month. But when you listen to them on the campaign trail, they are focused on Donald Trump.

Campaigning in New Jersey on Wednesday, Hillary Clinton seized on Donald Trump's refusal to release his tax return.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you run for president, especially when you become the nominee, that is kind of expected. My husband and I have released 33 years of tax returns. We got eight years on our web site right now.

So, you've got to ask yourself why doesn't he want to release them?

ZELENY: That clearly is an issue that Clinton will keep bringing up again and again as she focuses on Donald Trump for the general election.

Now, she has a major lead in delegates over Bernie Sanders. But that's not stopping Sanders from staying in the race. Campaigning in Montana on Wednesday, he focused on Donald Trump as well, he said he is the strongest Democrat to take him on.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you look at the polls taken over the last month or six weeks, national polls, state polls, Bernie Sanders is the strongest Democratic candidate to defeat Donald Trump.

ZELENY: A handful of contests remain in the Democratic race. Hillary Clinton is doing double duty, focusing on Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. And Bernie Sanders is trying to stay in this race as well at least in the conversation for at least the next month. Then he'll have a decision to make in terms of what he does between then and the convention -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much.

The director of the FBI says there is no special set of rules that applies to investigating Hillary Clinton's e-mails. Director James Comey spoke to the reporters Wednesday about the investigation into Clinton's use of a private server while she was secretary of state. He said he feels pressure to conduct the probe both well and promptly. But he said that between the two, he would always choose well and that he said he will not be rushed to finish the e-mail probe before the election.

ROMANS: One America, two economies, and new data this morning shows how fast the middle class is shrinking. The share of middle income households decline in 90 percent of the country's 229 metro areas, between 2000 and 2014. That's according to new research by the Pew Research Center.

Overall, some 51 percent of Americans lived in middle class households in 2014, 51 percent in middle class households. That's down from 55 percent in the year 2000. The national statistics can sometimes obscure what's going on at a local level. For instance, the housing crash in the great recession hit certain places harder than others.

But this is what Americans are feeling the most. Paychecks, nationally, the middle class has a median income of $72,919 for a three-person family. That's in the year 2014. That's down from $77,898 back in 1999. That chart right there I think perfectly tells you about the anxiety on the campaign trail for so many families. They don't feel they had a raise in a long time. Wages are the missing part of the recovery. BERMAN: All right. We got a story you will not believe this morning.

George Zimmerman calls it your chance to own a piece of American history. Why he says he auctioning the gun he used in Trayvon Martin's death. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:13:01] ROMANS: George Zimmerman is selling the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin. An online auction starts just hours from now. The neighborhood watch volunteer claims self defense after shooting the unarmed teen in 2012. He was acquitted of both murder and manslaughter. Zimmerman wrote a description, calling the 9 millimeter pistol a piece of American history.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: I thought it was time to move past the firearm, and if I sell it and it sells, I move past it. What I've decided to do is not cower. I'm a free American, and I can do what I like with my possessions.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROMANS: Zimmerman also wrote he will use some of the money from the auction to fight quote, "Black Lives Matter violence against law enforcement officers." Bidding starts at $5,000.

BERMAN: The former South Carolina officer who killed Walter Scott as he tried to flee from a traffic stop has been indicted by a federal grand jury. Of course, the disturbing video of that shooting just over a year ago became a central part of the discussion about police tactics.

Michael Slager faces the possible life sentence for alleged civil rights violation. The grand jury ruled he shot Scott without legal justification. The next North Charleston officer is also charged with knowingly misleading investigators.

Let's get more from now CNN's Martin Savidge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Good morning, Christine.

For the family of the victim here, Walter Scott, it was another difficult day. But they also say that it confirms his death was not in vain.

Federal charges against a police officer in these circumstances are extremely rare. But then as we already know, the video taken by a bystander of Michael Slager, the police officer shooting Walter Scott is disturbing. The federal charges include deprivation of rights under the color of law which means the police officer used excessive force to deprive the rights in the case of Walter Scott to take his life. There's also the second charge of using a gun during the commission of

the crime and on top of that. There's a third charge that says he obstructed and the implication there is that Michael Slager lied to officers when he said that Walter Scott was charging towards him. That's why he fired his weapon.

So, again, very, very significant charges. If convicted on the federal charges, Slager could get life -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Martin, thanks for that.

Bench trial under way this morning for one of six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray. That means a judge, not a jury, will decide Officer Edward Nero's fate. Nero faces three misdemeanor charges of reckless assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. Prosecutors are expected to make the case he had no business apprehending Gray in the first place, an argument that could change the way police make arrests if Nero is found guilty.

BERMAN: The director of the FBI is once again blaming a viral video effect for an alarming rise in homicides in several major cities. James Comey believes police officers have become hesitant to confront suspects because they fear winding up in some kind of a video. He says that leads of less aggressive policing and higher crime rates.

Now, the Obama administration disputed Comey's theories the last he raised. They're not commenting this morning. But in the past, the department pointed out statistics to confirm this theory that Comey has, no actual proof of what Comey is saying. Comey says, though, that he hears from officers around the country.

ROMANS: A Colorado Springs judge has declared a man who went on a deadly rampage at the Planned Parenthood unfit to stand trial. Robert Dear, the self-proclaimed warrior for the babies, admits killing three people and wounding nine others in that November shooting spree. Dear's murder case is now on hold while a state mental hospital tries to make him competent to stand trial.

BERMAN: A judge has upheld the jail term of nearly two years of the so-called affluenza teen, Ethan Couch. Couch has been behind bar since Mexico sent him back to the United States in January. He fled to Mexico with his mother to avoid arrest. Couch killed four people in a drunk driving accident in 2013 when he was 16 years old. His lawyers famously argued the teen was so spoiled by his rich parents, he could not tell right from wrong.

ROMANS: Deadly fire and explosion at a fertilizer plant in Texas back in 2013 was caused by a criminal act. That's a ruling from the Bureau of Alcohol, tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Fifteen people died, more than 200 injured in the blast in the rural town of West, located just north of Waco. ATF officials are offering a $50,000 reward to help find the person responsible for setting the fire at the facility.

BERMAN: Missouri is cleaning up following the severe storms. Tremendous winds uprooted that tree you can see there in St. Louis. Others crashed down into homes. So many trees down on homes and cars. A lot of hail as well.

There's a pictures on Twitter that shows the hail. Very big in some cases. It all came down with such force that it smashed rear windows of cars. You can see that right there. Bad storm.

ROMANS: All right. Today, a new round of thunderstorms aims right at the Midwest and South. Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for more.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, Wednesday was the first day since the 6th of May, since last Friday that we had no reports of tornadoes in the U.S. that was great news. But, of course, you see 100 reports of hail damage and 80 reports of severe wind across the U.S.

And notice, as you in towards St. Louis, northern suburb of St. Charles coming in with a grapefruit-sized hail. They reported four inches in diameter. Of course, the storms expected to pop up again this afternoon. You can clearly pick out where we take the model depiction across the area from the Ohio Valley out toward northern Texas where we have 21 million people in line for severe weather.

In places like Memphis, Nashville, Cincinnati and Cleveland, in line here for more of the damaging straight line winds that are a concern here and certainly some large hail. You cannot rule out isolated tornadoes to pop up along the boundary as well, and those temperatures, as mild as they come for expansive area. Oklahoma City and Chicago and New York at 76 degrees, but cooling trend for Saturday and Sunday, guys.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that, Pedram.

Breaking news behind a deadly bombing in Baghdad. What is the latest behind ISIS latest attacks? We've got that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:23:48] ROMANS: Three Iraqi police officers killed overnight when two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a station house in Baghdad. It's been one bloodbath after another in Iraqi capital. More than 90 people were killed and 160 wounded in three separate bombings on Wednesday. ISIS is taking responsibility for those attacks.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh tracking the latest developments live from Amman, Jordan, for us.

Good morning.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

And the most devastating and the bloodiest attack that took place on Wednesday was in the other than part of the capital, in the Shiite slum of Sadr City, a heavily populated area. A car bomb detonating early in the morning at the market. This is the time the markets would be packed with shoppers.

Usually mothers with young children and lots of civilians. And that death toll was staggering. At least 64 people killed. Dozens more injured in that attack.

Later on in the day, two suicide bombings striking one at a Shia area and one at a Sunni neighborhood. Dozens of people killed. As you mentioned, ISIS claiming responsibility for these attacks, saying that it was targeting members of the Shia paramilitary groups, the Shia militia that have been fighting ISIS.

[04:25:05] But, of course, as we saw in those heartbreaking images following those attacks, especially in Sadr City, it is the Iraqi civilians who bore the brunt of those attacks. And, really, Christine, if we look at what's been going on, it seems to be a message here from ISIS. That while it has been losing ground in parts of western Iraq and northern Iraq, the group still has the ability to carry out these devastating attacks, whether what we saw on Wednesday or this morning.

Again, we don't know if it's ISIS, but it definitely has the hallmarks of the attacks that have been carried out by ISIS in the past. And possibly some would say trying to draw attention to Baghdad away from the battlefield in the north, around Mosul and other areas, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. In Amman, Jordan, for us this morning -- Jomana, thank you for that.

BERMAN: All right. New information this morning, that the Obama administration has been deploying more special operation forces to stop ISIS and al Qaeda from gaining a foothold beyond Iraq and Syria. The general charge of the operation says they are looking to expand the global presence of U.S. Special Ops.

CNN Pentagon Barbara Starr reports that these teams have been sent in to so-called small wars in certain terror hot spots. Among them, Somalia, Yemen, Libya and other sites in West Africa.

ROMANS: The lure of ISIS is waning in the U.S., so claims FBI Director James Comey, who says fewer Americans are traveling abroad to fight along the terrorists. Comey says in the first half of 2015, up to ten people a month were leaving to -- or attempting to leave the U.S. to join ISIS. He says that number has dropped to about one a month today. The director did not offer an explanation for that decline.

All right. A high stakes summit between Donald Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan. The future of the Republican Party weighing in the balance. What we're learning, next.

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