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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Protesters Rush Stage at Sanders Rally; Donald Trump's Big Revelations; Zoo Defends Killing Gorilla; Iraqi Forces Enter Fallujah. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired May 31, 2016 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:30:13] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, protesters try to stop the storm the stage at a Bernie Sanders event. The Secret Service steps in to protect the Democrat. This happened in California, a state where a lot is going on right now. Hillary Clinton shifting her focus on the campaign. She's going out West now too.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Happening today: a big revelation from the Trump campaign. All right. Trump set to announce just how much he really raised for veterans as the largely secret operations of Trump University go public. We'll have a preview.
BERMAN: The Cincinnati Zoo with the defense on its decision to kill a gorilla to save a little boy. Hear from zoo officials as they describe why they say they were compelled to take action.
Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Nice to see you all this morning. Thirty-one minutes past the hour.
New this morning, the Secret Service springs into action to protect Bernie Sanders as he campaigns in California. Overnight, at least four protesters tried to storm the stage at a Sanders really in Oakland. Secret Service agents immediately stepped in to protect the candidate. You can watch.
(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.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: One of the protesters was picked up and carried away by Secret Service with his cuffed behind his back. As you saw, Sanders was uninjured. He carried on with his stump speech. The animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere is now claiming it was behind the stunt, denouncing what it calls Sanders support for animal agriculture.
As for the campaign itself, just one week left until the California primary where Sanders hopes a strong show against Hillary will prove he is still a viable candidate.
BERMAN: Obviously, any event like which is happening to Bernie Sanders is frightening, no matter who is behind it.
You know, it's not the first time even in the cycle candidates there were skirt issues. Last Friday, Donald Trump's motorcade sped off as protesters were throwing things at it as it was leaving a rally in Fresno. In March, Secret Service surrounded Trump as a man jumped the barricade try to rush the stage, this happened in Ohio.
Hillary Clinton has had Secret Service for a long time. In 2014, she dodged a shoe that was flying at her at a speech in Las Vegas.
ROMANS: So, a noteworthy change this morning in Hillary Clinton's campaign schedule. With polls in California tightening, one poll showing a two-point lead for Clinton. She has now decided to make a big multi-stop five days swing through the delegate rich state starting Thursday. Bernie Sanders has been barnstorming California non-stop, pouring virtually all of his resources into the state he has called the whole enchilada.
BERMAN: Today is a big day for Donald Trump. Two events. The so- called playbooks for running Trump University will be unsealed. The lawsuit against the university claims it was a scam that defrauded students, some up to $35,000 each.
Trump himself is already trashing the case and judge whom Trump calls, quote, "a hater of Donald Trump" who happens to be a Mexican. Those words from Donald Trump. Trump last night was on Twitter. He said, "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 disclosure from Trump today, Trump is the news conference this morning where Trump says he will settle questions about his January fundraiser benefitting veterans. He's going to have to answer questions alike how much was really raised, how Trump himself give, which groups got 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.
[04:35:01] 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)
ROMANS: All right. Phil, thank you for that.
New details this morning on magazine editor Bill Kristol and his efforts to find and 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. They talked to potential candidates and financial backers. A third party campaign, it would be a steep climate this point on the election calendar.
Look at that, the deadline for getting the ballot in Texas has already passed. The deadline for North Carolina is June 9th. Kristol says his plan is still in the works.
Now, several names have been floated as possible candidates, Mitt Romney, Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse, and Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger. All of them have said no.
BERMAN: 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 now in custody.
ROMANS: 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. But Holder 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)
ROMANS: 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.
BERMAN: San Francisco police and FBI agents gun and badge were stolen Sunday afternoon by someone who broke into his car. This happened in the middle of the city's busy Alamo Square. The agent's 40-caliber Glock handgun and badge and credentials were taken. This break in follows recent burglaries where stolen guns were used in homicides in the Bay Area.
ROMANS: All right. This morning, we now know the name of the man behind a deadly mass shooting at the Houston auto body shop. Police say Dionisio Garza III, an army veteran who served in Afghanistan, killed two people, injured six others at Memorial Auto & Tire. Those officers responding to the incident killed Garza. Authorities say more than 185 shots were fired. Friends say Garza suffered from post traumatic stress. At this point, his exact motive is still unclear.
BERMAN: All right. News regarding 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 directed "Rosemary's Baby", as well as "China Town" and "The Pianist".
ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money this morning.
Will the Federal Reserve raise interest rates in summer? A strong jobs report this Friday may tip the scales for a mid-June bump. Experts expect the labor market to bounce back in May after slowing in April. Some analysts say it could be July before the Fed moves. That would give fed chair Janet Yellen the ammunition for a rate hike. Stocks ended their best week and months after Yellen said we could expect an increase sometime this time. The Dow and S&P up 3 percent for the year. U.S. markets were closed for Memorial Day. Futures fairly flat this
morning in preparation for a week jam-packed with economic news, folks. The first batch comes today with reports on personal income and consumer spending. We're also going to get some house -- home prices numbers today, as well as a whole bunch of Fed speeches. Every time one of these Fed officials talks, you see the market moves because everyone is wondering what the Fed is going to do with that interest rate.
BERMAN: All right. Officials at the Cincinnati Zoo say they had no choice but to act. They are defending their call to shoot and kill a gorilla to protect a little boy. We're going to hear directly from the zoo's top the director at the zoo, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:44:04] BERMAN: The director of the Cincinnati Zoo, he's 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 the gorilla's 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.
Let's get more now 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.
[04:45:04] 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.
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.
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. Nobody was hurt. The driver was cited for the speed violation.
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. But everyone was safely evacuated.
BERMAN: Understandable screaming in that situation.
ROMANS: Oh, yes.
BERMAN: All right. The storm formerly known as Bonnie is set to mess up commutes along the East Coast over the next few days. Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John and Christine.
Back to reality. The long holiday weekend over and done with, now we have potential for some weather to disrupt your morning commute to the office, including the remnants of tropical storm Bonnie, really rotated at coastal Carolinas region and to the Mid-Atlantic States. A few showers and thunderstorms still leftover with the system. Severe potential exists across the central plains, once again, it is starting to heat up across the western interior.
Get a load of these temperatures for Phoenix and Las Vegas, easily topping 100 degrees this week. Let's talk about your severe weather potential today from central Wisconsin through Missouri, parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma and Texas. Large hail, damaging winds and an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out.
Of course, we have been talking about the potential of flooding for several days now across central Texas. We have the potential for more heavy rainfall going forward, localized three to five-inch totals over this week. One more day of heat in New York City before the mercury and thermometer starts to tumble back to where we should be this time of year.
Back to you.
ROMANS: All right. We'll take that. Thanks, Derek.
All right. The Verizon strike is over. Workers scored big. We're going to tell you exactly how much with an early start on your money, next.
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[04:52:20] ROMANS: One week after launching an operation to liberate Fallujah from ISIS, Iraqi forces are preparing for a key offensive in the fighting on the outskirts of Falluja is already described as intense with the U.S.-led coalition providing air cover right now.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is tracking these developments for us. He is live from Rome this morning.
Good morning, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Christine.
That battle for Falluja will be difficult indeed. Intelligence officials says they're anywhere between 500 and 2,000 ISIS fighters, many of them from Fallujah itself. So, they know the city like the back of their hands. We understand from Iraqi officials that they already run into networks of tunnels and trenches dug by ISIS.
Now, the situation is even more complicated by the fact there are as many as 50,000 civilians still stuck inside that city. We are getting reports of summary executions by ISIS of young men who refuse to fight on their behalf. There have been several hundred people who escaped from the outskirts of the city.
But we understand, ISIS is forcing civilians to move to the center of the town, essentially to use them as human shields. And for those civilians remaining behind, the situation was already difficult after months of a siege by the Iraqi military. There is very little in the way of medicine, food and there is not any clean water. So the U.N. is worried about the outbreak of cholera. So, very much a siege almost along medieval lines in Fallujah.
ROMANS: All right. Ben Wedeman for us, covering that and those developments from Rome -- thanks, Ben.
BERMAN: All right. North Korea's attempt to launch another missile apparently failed. This is according to South Korea's military. The North's medium-range missile is supposed to have the potential to reach Japan and the U.S. military bases in the Pacific. But now, there have been a string of failures. This is something of an embarrassment to Kim Jong-un's rule. Four times they failed to launch successfully, these medium range missiles.
ROMANS: 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.
BERMAN: Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw resigning in the wake of a scandal that has already caused the university president -- that's Kenneth Starr, by the way -- and the football coach their jobs. McCaw says he is stepping down to best promote unity and healing at the school.
[04:25:03] The university is under fire for allegedly covering up sexual assault allegations against members of the football team.
Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, they will get a chance to defend their NBA title in a thrilling game seven. Steph Curry, you can see him right there with the layup. His team defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was about an eight-point-win. Curry poured in a game-high with 36 points. He had seven three-pointers in the seven game series.
Warriors were trailing at halftime. And, of course, they trailed the series 3-1 before winning three straight to seal it. A lot of people said they weren't going to do it. But they did.
Now, Steph Curry will face LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Game one is Thursday night in Oakland.
ROMANS: It's going to be fun to watch. How are going to manage the sleep schedule, that's how I want to know.
BERMAN: I think I'm actually going to be at the game Thursday night.
ROMANS: Really?
BERMAN: Yes, I'll tell you about it at the break.
ROMANS: Oh-ooh.
Let's get an early start on your money.
Investors return from Memorial Day holiday to a week jam-packed with economic data and a basketball game, including a jobs report Friday.
It could signal a Fed interest rate hike this summer. Stocks ended their best week in months after Fed chair Janet Yellen said we could expect an increase sometime this summer. The Dow and S&P 500 both up nearly 3 percent now for the year. Right now, U.S. futures are flat 13 points for the Dow. The Verizon strike is over.
And workers scored business raises and bonuses. Unionized employees will return to work this week after striking since mid-April. Now, the main complaints were working conditions, call center closures and jobs shipped overseas. The union said workers will receive a $1,250 signing bonus and 3 percent raise. Verizon also committed to 1,400 new hires in the U.S.
Memorial day weekend is a big bang for the box office. This year was a let down. "X-Men Apocalypse" --
BERMAN: Just a dark title. I mean, you don't want to see -- it sounds bad.
ROMANS: Got $80 million. That is a drop off from the last "X-Men" movie which was 110 million bucks two years ago. Disney's "Alice Through the Looking Glass" was a biggest disappointment. The sequel brought only $34.2 million on a $170 million budget. That is a Johnny Depp film.
BERMAN: What if they combine them, they did like "Alice the Apocalypse?" Like a new take.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: That would be amazing. Whole new genre, whole new genre invented right here by John Berman.
BERMAN: All right. EARLY START continues right now.
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BERMAN: All right. New this morning, the Secret Service steps in as protesters try to storm the stage at a Bernie Sanders event. He is campaigning hard in California. That primary one week away. Now, Hillary Clinton heading West as well.
ROMANS: Happening today, big revelations from Donald Trump. How much he really raised for veterans and a peek behind the scenes of the operations of Trump University. Both set to go public. We break down the impact on the 2016 race.
BERMAN: The Cincinnati Zoo offering sympathy but no apologies for killing a gorilla to save a little boy. Hear what officials are now saying force them to take action.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. Great to see you. I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. Great to see you. It is Tuesday, May 31st. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.
Let's begin this morning with this -- the Secret Service springing into action to protect Bernie Sanders as he campaigns in California. Overnight, at least four protesters tried to storm the stage at a Sanders rally in Oakland. Secret Service agents immediately stepped in to protext the candidate. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Step away. Right there. Right there.
SECRET SERVICE AGENT: We're good here.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't get intimidated easily.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. One of the protesters was picked up and carried away by the Secret Service with his hands cuffed behind his back. As you saw, Sanders uninjured. He carried on with his speech.
The animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere is now claiming it was behind the stunt, denouncing what it calls Sanders support for animal agriculture. As for the campaign itself, just one week left, one week until the California primary where Sanders hopes a strong showing against Hillary Clinton will show he is a viable candidate.
BERMAN: All right. This is obviously not the first time the candidates have faced security threats, really dumb people jumping on stage. Last Friday, Donald Trump's motorcade sped off after protesters threw things at a rally in Fresno. In March, Secret Service agents surrounded Donald Trump when a jumped on barricade and tried to rush the stage at a rally in Ohio.
Hillary Clinton has dealt with issues in the past. You see her there dodging a shoe that was thrown at her in a speech in Las Vegas. That happened in 2014.
