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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Sanders Stormed on Stage; Donald Trump's Big Revelations; Zoo Defends Killing Gorilla; Iraqi Forces Enter Fallujah. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired May 31, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:06] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning: the Secret Service forced to act as protesters try to storm Bernie Sanders on stage. He is campaigning hard ahead of the California primary. Now, Hillary Clinton is set to head West as well.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening today. Big revelations from Donald Trump. How much he really raised for the veterans and the behind-the-scenes operations of Trump University. They're both to set to go public this morning. Big, big day for the Trump campaign.

ROMANS: The Cincinnati Zoo offering sympathy, but no apologies for killing a gorilla to save a little boy. Hear what officials are now saying forced them to take action.

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

BERMAN: Nice to see you this morning. It is Tuesday, May 31st. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.

And new this morning, the Secret Service springs into action to protect Bernie Sanders, as he was campaigning in California. Overnight, at least four protesters tried to storm the stage at a Sanders rally. It's happened in Oakland. Secret Service agents immediately stepped in to protect the candidate. Watch here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Step away. Right there. Right there.

SECRET SERVICE AGENT: We're good here.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't get intimidated easily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: One of the protesters was picked up and carried off with the hands cuffed behind his back. Bernie Sanders was fine. He carried on with his stump speech.

It is unclear who the protesters were or motivated them. This is always scary at a campaign event. As for the campaign itself, just one week left until the California primary where Bernie Sanders hopes a strong showing against Hillary Clinton will prove he is still a viable candidate.

ROMANS: This isn't the first time in just this election cycle that candidates have faced security threats. Last Friday, Trump's motorcade sped off after protesters threw things at it, leaving a rally in Fresno, California.

In March, Secret Service agents surrounded Trump when a jumped a barricade trying to rush the stage at a rally in Ohio. Back in August 2014, before Bernie Sanders had Secret Service protection, Black Lives Matter activists took over the stage and Bernie Sanders microphone at a rally in Seattle. And in April, 2014, someone threw a shoe at Hillary Clinton as she gave a speech in Las Vegas.

BERMAN: And a noteworthy change this morning in Hillary Clinton's campaign schedule with polls in California tightening. One shows a two-point lead for Clinton there. She has now decided to make a big, multi-stop five-day swings through the states starting Thursday. She canceled stops and said California full-time starting Thursday.

Bernie Sanders has been there nonstop putting all of his resources in the state. He calls it the whole enchilada.

You know, he's even at the Golden State Warriors game last night.

ROMANS: Did that ever game, that game?

BERMAN: Never ends, still going on as we speak.

ROMANS: All right. Today is a big day for Donald Trump with two big revelations ahead. At noon Eastern, the so-called playbooks for running Trump University will be unsealed. A lawsuit against the university claims it was a scam that defrauded students, some up to $35,000 each.

Trump himself already trashing the case and the judge who Trump calls, quote, "a hater of Donald Trump who happens to be Mexican." Those are his words. Trump tweeted last night, "I should have easily won the Trump University case on summary judgment, but have a judge, Gonzalo Curiel, who is totally bias against me."

The other disclosures are supposed to come this morning at a news conference where Trump says he will settle all those questions about his January fund-raiser benefitting veterans. Questions like how much money did they really raise? How much did Trump give himself and which groups receive the money?

CNN's Phil Mattingly has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

It has been four months since Trump decided to skip a Republican debate and instead host his own event in Iowa, an event he said was a fund-raiser for veterans group. Now, Trump at a time claimed that he raised more than $6 million for the event. Yet, here we are just a day after Memorial Day, and where that money went and how much he actually raised still open questions, until today.

An interesting of this is that Donald Trump's standing amongst veterans organizations or at least veterans in general hasn't appeared to suffer through all of this. Rolling Thunder, the event he attended this weekend in Washington, D.C., veterans are very supportive of Trump as he showed throughout that event.

Still, this an issue that has dogged him. Media organizations, CNN among them, have dug in on this, trying to get answers.

[04:05:00] Trump has responded, criticizing those organizations on the campaign trail on Twitter, on Instagram trying to really settle all of this at that conference today at Trump Tower -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Thanks, Phil.

All right. New details this morning on magazine editor Bill Kristol and his efforts to find or fund a third party candidate for president. Sources familiar with the plan being developed by Kristol and other Never Trump Republicans tell CNN they have done extensive polling and talked to potential candidates and backers. A third party campaign, it would be a steep climate this point.

Look at the calendar right there. The deadline for getting on the ballot in Texas has already passed. The deadline for North Carolina is June 9th. Kristol would only tell CNN that his plan is still in the works.

Now, several names have been floated as people independent candidates, Mitt Romney, Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse, Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger. But they have one thing in common all three of these candidates, they all say no way, they are not running.

ROMANS: All right. Things are back to normal at the White House this morning, after a brief partial lockdown on Monday. Secret Service ordered the lockdown after someone threw a metal object over the north fence. President Obama was inside at the time. Now, this object was tested and determined not to be dangerous. An unidentified suspect is in custody this morning.

BERMAN: Former Attorney General Eric Holder is praising Edward Snowden. He tells CNN analyst David Axelrod that the ex-NSA contractor performed a public service by starting a national debate over government surveillance operations. The former attorney general does have issues with the way Snowden illegally leaked classified documents and insists he must be held accountable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think there has to be a consequence for what he has done. But I think, you know, in deciding what an appropriate sentence should be, I think a judge could take into account the usefulness of having had that national debate.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But you think he will still serve time?

HOLDER: Well, I think he should. I mean, I think he harmed American interests. I mean, I know, I can't go into it.

AXELROD: He would say he didn't.

HOLDER: No, that's not true. That's simply not true. I mean, I know that there are ways in which certain of our agents were put at risk. Relationships with other countries were harmed. Our ability to keep the American people safe was compromised.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Snowden spent the last few years in exile in Russia. Holder says he should return to the U.S. to deal with the consequences of what he has done.

ROMANS: Bad news for filmmaker Roman Polanski, who has managed for decades to avoid extradition to the U.S. to face sentencing for a 1977 child sexual abuse conviction. The government of Poland says it will appeal to the country's Supreme Court. A lower court has decided not to extradite Polanski. There's no expiration date on the sentencing for statutory rape and according to an agreement between the U.S. and Poland, Polanski is still eligible for extradition. Polanski is best known as the director of "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Pianist".

All right. Seven, eight minutes past the hour.

Time for an early start in your money. Global markets are higher this morning, especially in Asia. The U.S. investors return from the Memorial Day holiday to a week jam-packed with economic data, including a jobs report Friday that could be key to a Fed interest rate hike this summer. Right now, U.S. futures are higher.

If you are hoping to fly to Venezuela this summer, you may be out of luck. Two more major airlines, Latin America-based LATAM, and European carrier Lufthansa announcing they are suspending flights to Venezuela. The two joined Delta, American Airlines and Air Canada in reducing or suspending service.

What's going on here? Venezuela's economy heavily reliant on oil, low crude prices have strangled finances. The airline cited not enough demand from business travelers as the major reason for cutting service.

BERMAN: All right. Officials at the Cincinnati Zoo now defending their call to shoot and kill a gorilla. They say they were trying to protect that little boy. Just terrifying pictures. Hear why they say they would do the same thing again if they had to. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:13:05] ROMANS: The director of the Cincinnati Zoo is defending the decision to shoot and kill a 17-year-old gorilla after a 3-year- old boy climbed through a barrier and fell into its habitat. He says the silverback gorilla, Harambe, was dangerous, and disoriented, and the life of that little boy was hanging in the balance. The child's family releasing a statement thanking the zoo's staff for taking quick action.

We get more this morning from CNN's Jessica Schneider.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, the zoo director put it bluntly. He said, "We stand by our decision and we would make the same choice today."

He said all those Monday morning quarterbacks out there just don't understand how dangerous a silverback gorilla can be.

THANE MAYNARD, DIRECTOR, CINCINNATI ZOO: Naturally, we did not take the shooting of Harambe's life lightly, but that child's life was in danger. People who question that who are Monday morning quarterbacks or second guessers don't understand that you can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla.

They are very big. Three times bigger than a man. Six times stronger than that. This is a dangerous animal.

SCHNEIDER: Harambe was 450 pounds and a 17-year-old male. They say they once seen him crush a coconut with his hands. During those ten tense minutes when that 3-year-old boy was being dragged around and violently yanked, they said that Harambe was growing agitated and aggressive.

The dangerous animal response team, they tried to lure him out of the exhibit. He did not comply. They said that using tranquilizers would be just too dangerous so they have to that action. They had to shoot and kill him.

The anger around this whole situation just continues to grow. In fact, now people are calling for the parents to be prosecuted. There's an online petition garnered more than 100,000 signatures at this point. People are saying that they want prosecutors and the police to criminally charge these parents for negligence.

[04:15:00] And also, a lot of people giving support and their sadness for Harambe. However, the zoo director says he refuses to point any fingers. And as of yet, no criminal charges have been filed -- Christine and John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thank you so much for that.

San Francisco police say an FBI agent's gun and badge were stolen Sunday afternoon by someone who broke into his car. It happened in the middle of the city's busy Alamo Square. The agent's .40-caliber Glock handgun and his ID badge and his credentials were taken. The break-in follows a recent of burglaries where stolen guns were used in homicides in the Bay Area.

BERMAN: Two close calls for airline passengers on one of the busiest travel days of the year. One had nothing to do with planes. Last night, at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, a taxi jumped the curb and crashed into the glass doors at a pick-up barrier in terminal three. Look at that.

Nobody was hurt. The driver was cited for the speed violation. It may not be the only thing by the time this is over.

And in Tampa, Monday, United flight blew a tire as it was down the runway for takeoff. The pilot was able to slam on the brakes in time. There were a lot of screaming, understandably I think. But everyone was safely evacuated.

ROMANS: All right. Sixteen minutes past the hour.

The storm formally known as Bonnie set to mess up commutes along the East Coast for the next few days. Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John and Christine.

The remnants of Tropical Depression Bonnie continue to rotate across the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic States. That will help fire off thunderstorms throughout the course of the afternoon. Also the potential exists for rip currents in the Cape Hatteras region.

But look at our high resolution forecast radar, keeping the bulk of the precipitation associated with the system away from the major cities across the New England Coast, D.C., through New York and Boston. There is however some stronger storms moving through the Upper Midwest as we speak. You have to look on for the potential of hail and strong gusty winds in Minneapolis, Des Moines and into Kansas City.

Later this afternoon and evening, marginal risk of severe weather, anywhere you see that shading of green. Central Wisconsin, southward into Arkansas, as well as parts of Texas and Oklahoma.

Speaking of Texas, we had a lot of rain lately. The flooding potential still continues. Rainfall totals through the first half of this workweek, could exceed 4 to 5 inches in some location.

Here is the temperatures for today. Look at New York, 86 for the afternoon.

Back to you.

BERMAN: All right. Derek Van Dam, thanks so much.

Iraqi forces facing a big test as they try to win back the key city of Fallujah from ISIS. An update on the mission. We have a live report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [04:21:56] BERMAN: One week after launching an operation to liberate Fallujah from ISIS, Iraqi forces say they are preparing for a key offensive in the city. The fighting on the outskirts there is already described as intense with the U.S.-led coalition providing air cover.

CNN's Ben Wedeman tracking the latest developments for us live from Rome this morning.

Ben, this is a complicated operation with a lot of different factions involved.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very complicated operation. Intelligence officials believe anywhere between 500 and 2,000 ISIS fighters dug in Fallujah, a city that they've been in control of since January of 2014. They believe -- Iraqi forces, in fact, have seen part of that tunnel network that ISIS has dug.

Now, there are 50,000 civilians still stuck in the city according to the United Nations. We are hearing stories of summary executions by ISIS of young men and others who do not want to fight for ISIS who are trying to force them into the front lines. The U.N. officials are worried that with food shortages and lack of electricity that a cholera outbreak could occur.

Now, as far as Iraqi forces arrayed against ISIS are concerned, it appears a lot of the fighting is being done by Iranian trained supported and advised Shia militias. According to the Iraqi government, to avoid any sectarian tensions, they say that when it comes to the really hard fight of street to street fighting, house to house fighting inside Fallujah, they will leave that difficult job to Iraq's elite anti-terrorism forces which are very well-trained and relatively well disciplined, as well as the Anbar police force which is predominately Sunni from that area itself -- John.

BERMAN: It would be interesting to see how those forces interact with one another as this offensive continues.

Ben Wedeman for us, thanks so much.

ROMANS: North Korea's attempt to launch another missile apparently failed. That according to South Korea's military. The North's medium range missiles are supposed to have the potential to reach Japan and U.S. military bases in the Pacific. But in a string of high profile misfires for Kim Jong-un's role, North Korea has now failed four times to successfully launch a medium-range missile.

BERMAN: Federal investigators will explain this morning how agents tracked down an accused killer who's recently added to the FBI most wanted list. Philip Policarpio is accused of beating and killing his pregnant girlfriend during a party in California last month. He was caught Sunday cross into the U.S. from Tijuana in Mexico. The FBI says he was on parole from a 2001 convention when he killed his girlfriend.

ROMANS: Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw resigning in the wake of a scandal that has already caused the university president and the football coach their jobs. McCaw says he is stepping down to promote healing.

[04:25:01] The university is under fire for covering up sexual assault allegations against members of the football team.

BERMAN: All right. Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, they will get a chance to defend their NBA title. They beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in a gritty game seven last night. This one was close the whole game. Golden State was actually trailing at halftime, had to come from behind on the home court to win. Not to mention coming from behind 3-1 in the series. You can see a happy Steph Curry right there. It was a big, big win.

Next up for the Golden State Warriors after their record-setting win total this season. They will face LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Final series starts Thursday night in Oakland.

You see Kevin Durant who played really well but lost. He will be a free agent starting now.

ROMANS: Oh, interesting.

BERMAN: Yes.

ROMANS: All right. Bernie Sanders stormed on stage by protesters. Hillary Clinton with a major pivot in her campaign schedule. And Donald Trump set to answer big questions about fund raising and Trump University. All the developments on the race for president, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)