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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump on the Defensive; Clinton and Sanders Hit the Campaign Trail; ISIS Attacks Baghdad Gas Plant; Trump Breaks with Obama on Brexit. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired May 16, 2016 - 04:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:23] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump on defense this morning as new reports about his past raise new questions about how he does business and how he treats women.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: On the Democratic side, two key primary races this week. Just how vulnerable is Hillary Clinton?
ROMANS: Violence plaguing Baghdad. A gas plant attacked leaving at least 10 people dead. Just the latest assault on the city in the last few days.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: I'm John Berman. 30 minutes past the hour. Good morning.
ROMANS: Good morning.
BERMAN: Up first, Donald Trump on the defensive facing new reports about his past and new attacks from President Obama. Trump is still denying that he created a fake identity and posed as his own PR man decades ago. So there's that. And he's fighting back against a "New York Times" report about his past behavior with women. A report that Trump calls a hit piece.
Meanwhile, President Obama took some pretty direct shots at Trump at a commencement address at Rutgers University on Sunday. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: In politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue. It is not cool to not know what you're talking about. That's not keeping it real or telling it like it is. That's not challenging political correctness. That's just not knowing what you're talking about and yet we become confused about this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: A lot of Democrats are saying that President Obama will be the primary foil against Donald Trump in the coming election. One reason they say the dragged out primary may be hurting Hillary Clinton is keeping Obama in the White House and not out in the campaign trail. We got a little taste of what it might be like right there. On the Republican side, some conservatives are still trying to recruit
an independent candidate to challenge Trump are having problems finding anyone to step forward. Mark Cuban, the billionaire, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, claims he was approached and while he thinks it would have been fun to take on Trump, Cuban says it's too late to step in.
Let's get more now from CNN's Kristen Holmes.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: John and Christine, Donald Trump wrapped up a week spent on the defensive here at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, where he watched his youngest daughter, Tiffany, graduate.
The presumptive GOP nominee's efforts to unite his party were clouded after audio released in "The Washington Post" questioned whether or not the billionaire had posed as his own spokesperson in 1991 in order to talk to reporters about his love life. Trump denies allegations that it's his voice on the tape.
The Trump campaign is also under fire over Trump's refusal to release his tax returns. He says he will not release those returns until an audit is complete.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP CONVENTION MANAGER: He has said he will release his tax returns. Never has changed his position. What he has said is he's under audit now and once the audit is completed he will release the tax returns.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Why not release the ones from before the audit? Why not release? If 2015 -- first of all, the IRS says you can release them to the public even if they're under audit.
MANAFORT: And --
TAPPER: But why not release 2014, 2013, 2012 and just put this issue to rest?
MANAFORT: Well, as I understand it the audit is going on for the last eight years, so going back eight years' worth of tax returns. And anything beyond eight years is not going to be reflective of anything other than interest on the part of the media.
TAPPER: You're saying that the audit is for eight years' worth of returns?
MANAFORT: That's what I'm led to believe, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: While more and more Republicans are gathering behind Trump, not all are convinced. Some conservatives still looking for an independent candidate that might go up against Trump in November. Ryan and Trump aides will sit down together as the campaign continues its efforts to unite the party -- John and Christine.
ROMANS: All right, thanks for that, Kristen.
A new warning from Donald Trump about the risk of another 9/11 style attack. He says if the U.S. keeps allowing Syrian refugees into the country, the U.S. is courting disaster. Listen to his comments from a Sunday morning interview with the National Border Patrol Council.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bad things will happen. A lot of bad things will happen. There will be attacks that you wouldn't believe. There will be attacks by the people that are right coming into our country because I have no doubt in my mind. I mean you look at it, they have cell phones. So they don't have money, they don't have anything. They have cell phone. Who pays their monthly charges, right? They have cell phones with the flags, the ISIS flags on them. And then we're supposed to say, isn't this wonderful that we're taking them in?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: It's not clear where Donald Trump is getting that information about the cell phones with the ISIS flags on them. The union for the National Border Control agents have never endorsed a presidential candidate until it announced in March that it is backing Trump.
[04:35:06] BERMAN: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders they are on the campaign trail. They have two primary contests they're fighting it out on this week. Oregon and Kentucky vote Tuesday. Now over the weekend, Nevada allocated its Democratic delegates with 20 going to Hillary Clinton, 15 going to Sanders. It was a pretty raucous weekend indeed. Watch.
Now Sanders supporters claim the delegate system was rigged in Clinton's favor there. Things were some unruly, police were called in. Security at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel finally kicked everyone out.
Let's get more now from CNN's Scott McLean.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, good morning. Despite the fact that Hillary Clinton has a nearly insurmountable lead in the Democratic delegate race, she's campaigning hard in Kentucky. She had four events there on Sunday and will have another three today. Clinton has lost two states in a row to Bernie Sanders and wants to make sure Kentucky isn't number three.
Now while she's still battling Sanders, enemy number one is Donald Trump. Clinton went after him for his recent suggestion that he would be open to allowing Japan and South Korea to have their own nuclear weapons to protect themselves from North Korean aggression.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And along comes Donald Trump and says, well, he doesn't really care. Let them all have nuclear weapons. He says he would use nuclear weapons. This is -- this is scary, dangerous talk. This is the talk of a loose cannon who is making statements and creating confusion. We can't afford that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLEAN: Sanders was also in Kentucky yesterday. Again making the case that he is the stronger candidate to take on Trump in the general.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All of the polling that is out there, in virtually every national poll and in every statewide poll, we do much better against Trump than does Secretary Clinton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLEAN: Now Clinton does have work to do in the bluegrass state. Controversial comments she made about coal miners in March have made Kentucky's coal country hostile territory for her despite an apology. Sunday she made sure to point out that she has a plan to make sure that coal miners are not left behind in the future. Today Bernie Sanders is heading to Puerto Rico even though it doesn't vote for another three weeks -- John, Christine.
BERMAN: All right, thanks so much.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will meet Wednesday with prominent members of the conservative media including Glenn Beck and Dana Perino. Zuckerberg says he will address claims by former Facebook employees that the company suppressed conservative news stories in its trending section. Now Facebook officials, they assert that they have investigated this thoroughly and they have seen no evidence to back up those claims.
ROMANS: All right. Time for an EARLY START on your money this Monday morning. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders slam companies like Carrier for moving good-paying manufacturing jobs out of the U.S. But Carrier doesn't even rank in the top 20 biggest job killers in America. We got a new showing the oil industry not manufacturing is responsible for the biggest job cuts. The number one job killer in America, National Oilwell Varco. It's a big supplier of equipment used in oil and natural gas filling. Of course this is the biggest job killer in the past year.
The company has cut nearly 18,000 positions this year because of low oil prices. That trend that has been good for drivers has been terrible for people in the oil industry who work there. For the same reasons Schlumberger and Halliburton are in the top five. Wal-Mart is second. Those 16,000 job cut came from store closings. Intel has shed 12,000 positions in a restructuring effort.
You can check out the rest of America's top 10 job-killing companies and all the latest news on the job market at CNNmoney. BERMAN: All right. "Captain America Civil War" big at the box
office. The Marvel superhero film, it earned $72.6 million over the weekend.
ROMANS: That's a lot.
BERMAN: I actually want to see this.
ROMANS: I do, too.
BERMAN: Although it's unlikely that will happen before it gets on home video. It's brought in $940 million worldwide. "Jungle Book," which I also want to see, it held on at second place with $17.8 million. And the George Clooney-Julia Roberts drama "Money Monster" --
ROMANS: I'd like to see this one, too.
BERMAN: They brought in $15 million. That was the only new film.
ROMANS: Who are you against? Julia Roberts or --
BERMAN: No, no. I mean, people say I look like George Clooney. I'm just sick of being mistaken. You know. For the actor. It's awkward sometimes.
ROMANS: People meaning the people over there at the voices in your head?
BERMAN: Yes, exactly.
ROMANS: The little people who tell you, John, you are great. Seems to be a great day for John Berman.
BERMAN: Exactly. Exactly.
ROMANS: All right.
BERMAN: Nuance, in other words.
ROMANS: "Saturday Night Live" spoofing Donald Trump's search for a running mate with a little help from Chris Christie in a surprise GOP cameo. Check out late-night laughs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any idea, sir?
DARRELL HAMMOND, COMEDIAN: What about John Kasich? He's smart, experienced. He could help us in Ohio.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said he's not interested.
HAMMOND: He's a loser. A big, fat loser. What about Nikki Haley?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Also not interested. HAMMOND: Ted Cruz?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hard no.
HAMMOND: Paul Ryan?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said not right now but he will see you in hell.
[04:40:04] HAMMOND: Lindsey Graham?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said he would love to but then he laughed so hard that I had to walk away.
HAMMOND: It doesn't make any sense. Why doesn't anyone want to be my VP?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I may be so bold, sir, I think anyone who didn't want to be your VP would be a damn fool. You are such a special candidate. Maybe, just maybe, the person you have been looking for this whole time is standing in this room right now.
HAMMOND: You're so right. Ben Carson, you want to be vice president?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, that would be hella-exciting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: We have six more months of great comedy from "Saturday Night Live."
BERMAN: I know. I think Ben Carson's on "NEW DAY" today so.
ROMANS: Is he?
BERMAN: I think.
ROMANS: Great.
BERMAN: Maybe he can watch that and comment at his portrayal, albeit a brief portrayal of "Saturday Night Live."
Forty minutes after the hour right now. It has been a bloody few days in Iraq. New attacks in Baghdad. Now over 100 dead over the last week. ISIS taking credit for almost all this carnage. A live report next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:45:28] ROMANS: 45 minutes past the hour. If Donald Trump becomes president, Britain's trade status with the United States would not be hurt at all if Britain decides to leave the European Union. This is one of the biggest debates going on in Europe right now. Just last month, President Obama warned British officials they would move to the back of the queue in trade negotiations if in fact -- if in fact there was a Brexit as it's called. Donald Trump saying no, no, he would treat -- the United States would treat Britain fantastically if that were to happen. So that's just the latest break between Trump on -- and the current administration on an important international trade issue.
ISIS claiming responsibility for an assault on a gas plant in Baghdad. A total of 10 people, seven police officers and three guards, killed when two suicide car bombs barreled through.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is tracking the latest for us. She is live from Amman, Jordan.
What can you tell us, Jomana?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, according to local authorities at about 5:00 a.m. local time on Sunday ISIS launched this attack on this gas plant on the northern outskirts of Baghdad in Taji. They say that two suicide car bombs, the first one detonating outside of the entrance, opening the way for the second suicide car bomber that detonated inside that facility. And also at least six militants making their way into that installation and clashing with security forces and guards there. Clashes that went on for hours.
The governor of Baghdad very critical of authorities despite the attack being repelled saying that the security forces were slow to respond. The quick reaction force took more than two hours to get to the scene. And that the forces that were present at the plant were not adequately armed to defend this facility. But this is not the first attack that we are seeing. This is the latest in a series of attacks we are seeing claimed by ISIS in and around Baghdad.
A lot of concern about this uptick in violence over the past couple of weeks. Many feel that ISIS here is trying to exploit the political crisis in the country to try and reignite this sectarian war in Iraq. But U.S. and Iraqi officials are saying that this is ISIS acting out of weakness. The -- Brett McGurk, President Obama's envoy to the Global Coalition Against ISIS had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT MCGURK, SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY FOR THE GLOBAL COALITION TO COUNTER ISIL: And now, the caliphate, as they call it, this perverse caliphate, is shrinking. So they are very much on the defensive. They have not retaken any territory, really, since their operations in Ramadi, going all the way back to May.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KARADSHEH: And Christine, U.S. officials say that ISIS has lost 45 percent of the territory they used to control in Iraq, 20 percent in Syria. But clearly, despite losing the territory, ISIS still has the ability to carry out these deadly high profile attacks almost on a daily basis now in Iraq.
ROMANS: Absolutely. All right. Jomana Karadsheh for us this morning in Amman, Jordan. Thanks.
BERMAN: George Zimmerman now trying to sell the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin for a third time. The owner of the auction site tell CNN that the listing is expected to go live at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday with a starting price of $100,000 and a buy it now price of $500,000. Zimmerman's previous attempt was hijacked by fake accounts posting insanely high bids hitting $65 million at one point on Friday.
ROMANS: NTSB investigators are now on the scene of a deadly charter bus crash in south Texas. Eight people were killed, 44 others injured when the bus veered off a highway and rolled over Saturday 45 miles north of Laredo. OGA Charters was ordered twice in 2015 to remove one of their buses from service because of brake problems. It's not clear if that was the same bus that crashed Saturday.
BERMAN: The Coast Guard is suspending the search for a cruise ship passenger who fell overboard. The Carnival says video from its Liberty cruise ship appears to show 33-year-old Samantha Broger climbing up on a deck railing, sitting then falling backward into the Gulf of Mexico early Friday morning. Coast Guard planes from Alabama and Texas covered a combined search area of more than 4300 square miles in their search.
ROMANS: All right. A woman in South Florida attacked by a shark. She manages to make it back on dry land. But here's a catch. The shark would not let go. Check out this two-foot nurse shark clamped on the woman's forearm. It stayed clamped on her arm even after it died. The 23-year-old woman was sent to the hospital with the shark still attached. She is said to be in stable condition. But that is quite a story.
BERMAN: That's ridiculous picture.
[04:50:01] All right. A flash flood emergency in effect right now in Corpus Christi in Texas. The National Weather Service reports numerous water rescues ongoing in the area right now. Flooding posing a big threat to the Gulf Coast with increased risk of severe storms today.
Want to get the latest now from meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, John and Christine, we have a lot of wet weather ahead of us the next couple of days.
(WEATHER REPORT)
JAVAHERI: Guys?
ROMANS: All right, Pedram.
Stocks with a three-week losing streak. I'm sorry to report. But there is one big earnings report this week that could help turn the market around. We're going to get an EARLY START on your money next.
BERMAN: Good.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:55:49] BERMAN: All right. This is a business story being watched both in the United States and the U.K. with huge implications for both. Donald Trump says if he becomes president, Britain's trade status with the United States would not be hurt if Britain decides to exit the European Union. Just last month, President Obama warned British officials that that country would move to the back of the queue in trade negotiations if Britain backed out of the EU. But Donald Trump says he will treat the U.K. fantastically whether it stays or goes. So what is the reaction overseas right now?
Let's go live to London and bring in CNN's Nic Robertson. Good morning, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, good morning, John. No official reaction here yet. But for sure those who are campaigning for will Britain to leave the European Union, this will be a boost for them. You have to sort of reflect on that a little and say, you know, Donald Trump is not the typical American presidential candidate as viewed by people here in Britain. But they are getting to hear more about his thoughts and that issue that Britain wouldn't go to the back of the line to negotiate a trade deal with the United States will be an important one.
That will factor into their thinking because of what President Obama had to say here did cause quite a stir. There was quite a bit of reaction to that. The people here have also been hearing what Donald Trump has to say about some of our leading politicians there. He's indicated that he probably wouldn't have a very good relationship with the prime minister and it seems that this potential relationship with the new mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Britain's first Muslim mayor, is one that won't be particularly a close one either. Sadiq Khan criticized Donald Trump in the past about his comments about Muslims saying he doesn't understand them. This is what Donald Trump had to say about Sadiq Khan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, when he won, I wished him well. Now I don't care about him. I mean, it doesn't make any difference to me about him. Let's see how he does. I mean, let's see if he's a good man.
PIERS MORGAN, "GOOD MORNING BRITAIN": Are you offended by what he said?
TRUMP: Yes, I am. Because he doesn't know me. Never met me. Doesn't know what I'm all about. I think they are very rude statements and frankly tell him I will remember those statements. Very nasty statements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: So this is -- this is a good insight for the British people about Donald Trump. Potentially as president there are some pluses there, at least for those people who want to get out of the European Union. And you can see some -- already some more contentious issues developing -- John.
BERMAN: All right, Nic Robertson for us in London. Thanks so much, Nic.
ROMANS: All right. 58 minutes past the hour. Let's get an EARLY START on your money this Monday morning to start the week. The Dow futures right now up barely. Stock markets in Europe and Asia, makes here. Oil prices moving higher. You can see $47 a barrel of oil there.
Taking a breather really this morning following a rough patch for stocks. The Dow is on a three-week losing streak now and now has just slim gains for the year. The S&P 500 also very slim gains there. The Nasdaq still slower for the year. It's down about 6 percent.
The recent slump, because of volatile oil prices and some bad corporate earnings reports. The retail sector getting crushed. But that could change this week. Home Depot and Lowe's are scheduled to report over the next two days their quarterly earnings report. Analysts think those results will be strong reflecting what is steady growth in the American housing market.
An investing group backed by Warren Buffett is bidding for Yahoo's core Internet business. That's according to a person familiar with the sale. The group is led by Dan Gilbert. He's the founder of Quicken Loans and the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yahoo! began accepting offers last month. In its peak in early 2000 Yahoo! is worth $255 billion. Now it's valued at $35 billion following a series of missteps, bad bets. And get this, it has had six CEOs over the past nine years. The bet includes Yahoo's stake in Alibaba and Yahoo! Japan which would not be part of the sale.
BERMAN: Which are the attractive part.
ROMANS: Right. The core business will be valued at roughly $5 billion according to the source, though some estimates are as high as $8 billion.
BERMAN: They had tried so many things.
ROMANS: They really have.
BERMAN: Over the last few years. Nothing seems to stick.
All right. EARLY START continues right now.
ROMANS: Donald Trump on defense as new reports about his past raises questions about he does business and how he treats women.
BERMAN: All right. Big Democratic battles this week. Oregon and Kentucky. Hillary Clinton she wants to win Kentucky, can she? How much damage is Bernie Sanders doing?
