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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Optimistic About Meeting Ryan; Clinton Attacks Trump's Withheld Tax Returns; George Zimmerman to Auction Gun that Killed Trayvon Martin; Max Scherzer Ties Record with 20 Strikeouts. Aired 5- 5:30a ET

Aired May 12, 2016 - 05:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Will the Republican Party rally around Donald Trump?

Donald Trump heads for meetings today with House Speaker Paul Ryan just hours from now. Is there common ground to be found? Can they make nice? Will they be friends?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton blasting Donald Trump for his refusal to release his tax returns.

[05:00:01] Oh, and she is not the only one.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight: George Zimmerman is auctioning off the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin. You will hear his words, ahead.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Thursday, May 12th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

This is a big day on Capitol Hill for both Donald Trump and the Republican Party, a big day and a big meeting.

In just hours, Trump meets with the highest ranking elected official in his party, House Speaker Paul Ryan. Just a week ago on CNN, Ryan refused to endorse the presumptive Republican nominee yet. But now, many Republicans are pushing Ryan to fall in line behind Trump or risk fracturing the party going into the general election.

CNN politics reporter Sara Murray has the very latest from Washington.

(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)

BERMAN: Sara Murray, thanks so much.

Donald Trump is under fire this morning for refusing to promise that he will release his tax returns before the November election.

Now, early last year, actually several times over the last few years, Trump promised to release his taxes. But since then, he has said his returns since 2009 are being audited by the IRS. And he will not release them until the audit is complete.

Now, an audit does not prevent you from making your tax returns. The IRS says Trump is free to do it if he wants to. Trump, though, says he has no plans to do so, when he has no plans to push his lawyers on the subject 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 might release --

TRUMP: First of all, 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: Under order, they can't do that. Well, the only thing standing in the way of Donald Trump releasing his taxes is Donald Trump. Back in February, when Trump first said he won't release taxes because of being audited. We asked the IRIS if that prevents him from doing so.

This is what the IRS says, "Federal privacy rules prohibit the IRS from discussing individual tax matters. But nothing prevents individuals from sharing their own tax information. Every presidential candidate since 1976 has released their taxes. Richard Nixon did it while he was audited.

This is the biggest job interview in the world. A tax return can give valuable information to voters on their candidate. This is what tax returns show, how much a person makes from investments and business income. How much of that is taxable. It shows what deductions they make, how much they donate to charity and what their effective tax rate is. How much they are paying to the government.

That's what's on a tax return. Not net worth. There has been some discussion about what is the net worth of Donald Trump. And what he says from what Fortune and Forbes says his net worth. But it shows you that year, and in this case, years I think going back to 2009.

BERMAN: If you turn a profit, it shows in you paid taxes that year. Both could be open questions for any individual.

Let's break down the big meeting and tax returns. And we actually have much more. CNN politics digital managing editor Zach Wolf joins us now.

Good morning. I guess I want to do is reversal, we will get to Paul Ryan in a second and get to taxes in a second. There are more verbal gymnastics or political gymnastics from Donald Trump. This time on one of his major policy proposals, one that he put out a press release for last December.

This on his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States. At the time, there were no exceptions. He said he was going to do it. Then, he said it was temporary.

Now, he says, you know, it's just an idea.

[05:05:01] It's just a proposal. You know, I could go back on it.

Listen to what he said last night to FOX.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN SUSTEREN: Have you decided whether you are backing off on the ban? I realize it was a temporary ban, but with an unlimited temporary period.

TRUMP: No, it was never meant to be. That's why it was temporary. I would like to back off as soon as possible, because frankly, I would like to see something happen. We have to be vigilant.

We have a serious problem. It is a temporary ban. It hasn't been called for yet. This is just a suggestion until we find out what's going on.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

BERMAN: Just a suggestion? I mean, Zach Wolf, this was a major policy proposal. A promise from Donald Trump? Is this back tracking and try to perhaps win over a guy like Paul Ryan, who's deadest against this ban?

ZACHARY WOLF, CNN POLITICS DIGITAL, MANAGING EDITOR: Well, clearly back tracking. You know, something has happened between now and then. Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee. He's going to be talking to a much different group of people. The scope of voters he needs to woo is much larger, back when he was calling for the Muslim ban, he was talking to the Republican base.

And now, he is moving to a general election where he will face probably Hillary Clinton and a Muslim ban is a lot -- not as much as a good idea.

Now, you talk about Paul Ryan. He said Donald Trump needs to unify the party. They will talk about that today. I don't know exactly how you show that you unify the Republican Party at this point. You know, most Republicans on Capitol Hill were against the Muslim ban. Most politicians in the country were.

But it's -- you know, on the Muslim ban and on the minimum wage, there are all sorts of things where Donald Trump is very quickly change in a very, very naked way.

ROMANS: But, Zach, when you look at the exit polling, Donald Trump supporters overwhelmingly support a ban on Muslims. That particular policy inspired his base and really was one of the hallmarks, right, in the primary season. Does he risk angering those supporters?

WOLF: Sure. Absolutely he does.

But the one thing we all learned over the last 11 months is Donald Trump plays by a different set of rules. So, are those people still going to like him? Are they going to like he is flexible?

I mean, the other thing he said during the primary was he would layout the pretty amazing recommendations or markers. And he said, well, everything is negotiable. He said that about the wall, everything is negotiation.

You know, if you hire a negotiator for this job, I guess you can expect that there will be some negotiations going on.

ROMANS: Another set of rules that Donald Trump plays by is releasing tax returns that we just reported, this is 1976, every presidential candidate has, even when president who was under audit. He has said that, you know, he's not allowed to or his barred from releasing those by his own attorneys, no question, because the IRS said you are free to release the tax information.

Let's listen to what he said over the past year about the tax returns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

TRUMP: I have no objection to certainly showing tax returns.

INTERVIEWER: Getting any closer to releasing your tax returns?

TRUMP: Well, I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking about when we find the true story on Hillary's emails.

Well, I can't do it until the audit is finished, obviously.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

ROMANS: If you go back all the way to 2011, he said then he would release his tax returns when Barack Obama released his birth certificate. That certificate has been released by the way.

I have four questions. Why not release them? Is his excuse valid? What could he be hiding? And does it even matter?

WOLF: Well, I mean, he could be -- it's like John said, tax returns showed how much money he made. Donald Trump, one of the big parts of his political persona is he is really rich and he makes a lot of money.

I mean, you know, is it possible he is not making as much money? Him not releasing his taxes leads you to believe that maybe that's true. That's what Mitt Romney is suggesting. He wants Trump to release his tax returns.

So, you know, it would be really interesting to see. One wonders why he won't do it. It seems he would at this point.

You know, before you wondered if he would get this far. Did he really need to open himself up to this scrutiny? It is not clear.

BERMAN: It doesn't matter. Trump people talked yesterday. Our voters don't care about this. But again, this is one of those issues where it's not just his voters that matter, right? It is people in the middle.

I don't know if voters care about this. I don't know how much Hillary Clinton will keep on about this. I don't know how much the media will keep on this. It came up in the primaries and it seemed to drift off in the past. A lot will depend I think on how much focus is put on it in the coming months.

Let's talk about the big meeting today, Zach, because this really high stakes day on Capitol Hill. Donald Trump headed to meet with Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan is not there yet to endorse Donald Trump, I got to say.

[05:10:01] But Paul Ryan is facing a lot of pressure now to move on this.

WOLF: He is. He is not expecting a lot of members from his caucus saying he needs to get behind Donald Trump. Paul Ryan did a Donald Trump move when he out and said last week, I'm not ready to support him. You have to do something for me.

So, they're going to meet. It allows them the opportunity to come together. It allows for the kumbaya moment. We'll see what happens.

From what Paul Ryan said last week, it's hard to imagine that what one-hour meeting today can heal the kind of rift that we suggested. But you know, is it all for show? Is it real stuff there?

A lot of Republicans have a lot of really big policy differences with Donald Trump. They will only get bigger as he sort of pivots on the minimum wage and all these other things. So, it's -- who knows what's going to happen?

ROMANS: His son Eric Trump on FOX said he doesn't need Paul Ryan's support.

BERMAN: But he did say, and they all have said, we'd love to have it. It is something we want. But when you press them, do you need it. That's when they get prickly.

ROMANS: All right. Zach, nice to see you. Talk to you again very soon. Thanks for getting up early for us. So much to talk about this morning, including this, one America with two economies. New data shows how fast the middle class is shrinking.

The share of middle income households declined in 90 percent of the metro areas from 2000 to 2014. That's according to a new report by the Pew Research Center.

Overall, some 51 percent of Americans lived in middle class homes in 2015, 51 percent. That is down from 55 percent in the year 2000. Why? One reason is rising income inequality driven by globalization, the decline of unions, the outsourcing of jobs and technology.

But this is what Americans are really feeling the most, paychecks. Nationally, the middle class had a median income of $72,919 for three- person family in 2014. Look how far that has declined. That is a $5,000 pay cut since 1999.

BERMAN: It is supposed to go the other way. It is supposed to go the other way.

ROMANS: That's right.

BERMAN: George Zimmerman, he calls it your chance to own a piece of American history. This is a remarkable story breaking overnight. It will shock a lot of you. George Zimmerman is auctioning off the gun he used in the death of Trayvon Martin.

You will hear from him, why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:16:41] ROMANS: George Zimmerman is selling the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin. Selling it at an online auction, an auction that starts just hours from now. The neighborhood watch volunteer claims self defense after shooting the unarmed Trayvon Martin back in 2012. He was acquitted of both murder and manslaughter. Now, 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: The bidding starts at $5,000. Zimmerman says he will use some of the money from the auction to fight this, quote, "Black Lives Matter, violence against law enforcement offices."

The Trayvon Martin family released this statement. "The Trayvon Martin Foundation is committed to the mission of ending senseless gun violence in the United States. The election season, we are laser focused on furthering the mission. As such, the foundation has no comment on the actions of that person."

BERMAN: Crazy. It was remarkable when I woke up and saw that this morning.

A 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.

ROMANS: The FBI director 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.

BERMAN: All right. Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer made history last night or matched history last night. It's the first time against his former team. He struck out 20 people, 20 batters, 20 Detroit Tigers. That is a lot of Ks.

Andy Scholes with the bleacher report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [05:23:40] BERMAN: All right. There have been 200,000 Major League Baseball games and last night, something happened that's only happened a small handful of times before. Max Scherzer struck out 20 batters in one game.

ROMANS: Wow. Andy Scholes has more in this morning's bleacher report.

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, guys.

Yes, baseball history taking place in the nation's capital last night. Max Scherzer joining Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson and Kerry Wood as the only pitchers in Major League Baseball to record 20 strikeouts. It was extra special for Scherzer. It came up against the former team Detroit Tigers.

He could have actually broke the record, he could have gotten to 21, but McCann grounded out to third. Amazing. Nationals win the game, 3-2. Then signing his $210 million deal, he has thrown two n no- hitters. This is living up to the contract.

All right. NBA commissioner Adam Silver presenting Steph Curry with his second straight MVP trophy last night. A little awkward as Curry went in for the handshake and silver did not see him.

Curry shook that off and went out and had another outstanding game, scoring 29 points. Warriors would beat the Blazers 125-121, eliminating them from the playoffs. The Warriors now wait for the winner of the Spurs/Thunder. Game six of that tonight. OKC up 3-2.

All right. Mets and Dodgers in L.A. Noah Syndergaard living up to his super nickname, "Thor". He became the only the second pitcher in Mets' history to hit two home runs in the same game. You know, pitchers is the only player that can singlehandedly win a game. He did just that. Knocking in all four runs for the Mets. They meet the Dodgers, 4-3.

Yesterday, Boston Red Sox had a really special guest at Fenway during the game. Six-year-old Maverick Schutte has had 30 heart procedures. He got a chance to hang out with his favorite player, David Ortiz. He threw out the first pitch for the game and he got to sit in the front row, even got a foul ball during the game.

The really cool moment. Ortiz stopped by and gave Maverick a special souvenir.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED KID: He gave you a bat.

MAVERICK SCHUTTE: Thank you, Big Papi.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And John Berman would faint if he got a bat from Big Papi guess what?

Maverick on April 29th, asked Big Papi to hit a home run and he delivered. It's really cool to see the relationships with those two.

BERMAN: You will be happy to watch that game. The two had big smiles. I didn't hear the thank you, Big Papi. That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard in my life.

All right, Andy. Thanks so much.

SCHOLES: All right.

BERMAN: All right. A high stakes summit today between Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, so much at stake here, like say the future of the Republican Party. We'll tell you all about it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)