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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Blasts Media For Reporting On Fundraiser; Clinton Talks Democratic Unity; 3rd Party White Knight: David French; Consumer Spending Climbs; Zoo Gorilla's Death Sparks Outrage; Airport Security Breaches; Humanitarian Crisis Unfolding In Fallujah; ISIS Boost Revenue With Taxes. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired June 01, 2016 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think the political press is among the most dishonest people that I've ever met. This sleazy guy right over here from "ABC" is a sleaze in my book. And you think I'm going to change? I'm not changing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump unleashing fury at the media, and that's not all. What has the presumptive nominee for president so upset?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On June 7th no candidate, unless I am very, very mistaken -- no candidate will end up with the number of pledged delegates needed to win the nomination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Bernie Sanders pledging to take his fight to the Democratic convention. What are his chances in California?
ROMANS: Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Thirty minutes past the hour right now, and this morning Donald Trump -- he says it is all our fault. The presumptive Republican nominee lashed out at reporters asking basic, simple questions for most of a 40-minute news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower.
Now, the event had officially been called to unveil a list of veterans groups that had benefitted from a Trump fundraiser in January. But instead, Trump devoted most of the time to attacking the assembled journalists. One of those he attacked, CNN's Jim Acosta, who has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Donald Trump will be in California later today after a fiery news conference that was supposed to be about the millions of dollars he raised for veterans' causes. Instead, Trump lashed out at the news media for asking questions about his fundraising efforts, which generated $5.6 million for charity organizations that assist veterans.
Trump said the scrutiny was another example of the media trying to derail his campaign. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I will say that the press should be ashamed of themselves. And on behalf of the vets, the press should be ashamed of themselves. They are calling me and they are furious because I sent people checks of a lot of money, and they're going to give you names right now, which is what you want.
And instead of being like thank you very much Mr. Trump, or Trump did a good job, everyone's saying who got it, who got it, who got it, and you make me look very bad. I have never received such bad publicity for doing such a good job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: The presumptive GOP nominee also took questions about Trump University, a real estate school he founded that is now embroiled in a legal battle facing accusations of defrauding students. Just days ago, Trump noted the Hispanic heritage of the judge handling the case, but when asked about that at his news conference Trump did not answer the question -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Jim, thank you for that. New on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is in New Jersey today, the other big state that has a primary next Tuesday. She'll be joined by the Garden State's own Jon Bon Jovi, who will then appear with her in Boston at a private fundraiser.
Clinton is also adopting some of Donald Trump's own tactics in her fight to defeat him. The latest now on that from CNN's Brianna Keilar.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine. The Clinton campaign is feeling pretty good about New Jersey. California is a tighter race, but her campaign thinks she's leading there, too.
They are, though, emphasizing that she doesn't need to win California or even New Jersey to be the nominee. But make no mistake, the campaign knows it's very important that she projects strength going into the general election. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton continuing her recent Trump-style practice
of calling interviews, this one with CNN, as she promised she will do everything she can to unify the Democratic Party, and said her campaign is talking to the Sanders campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): Once the primaries are over, as of next Tuesday, we will begin talking in more detail about what we can do to unify the party because as I've said many times, and as Sen. Sanders has said, we both are going to do everything we can to prevent Donald Trump from getting anywhere near the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So what about the ultimate unification of the party, a Clinton-Sanders ticket? Bernie Sanders wouldn't dismiss that idea when asked. He has said should he not be the nominee, Clinton needs to pick a liberal running mate, not a moderate, trying to influence the ticket as well as the party platform. Hillary Clinton recently told CNN that talk of a Clinton-Sanders pairing is something down the road -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: All right, Brianna, thanks so much. Let's talk about the big presidential race right now. Joining us, CNN politics reporter Eric Bradner. Eric, thanks so much for being with us. One interesting development overnight involves someone that many people may not have heard of, a guy named David French.
Bill Kristol, the editor of "The Weekly Standard", has been calling for a third party bid. He wants to stop Donald Trump no matter what. The guy that Bill Kristol seems to have settled on is this conservative writer, David French. Who is he, what are his chances?
ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: That's right, so David French is at long last the candidate that Bill Kristol has identified after unsuccessful efforts to recruit candidates like Nebraska senator Ben Sasse and others with bigger political profiles.
[05:35:00] David French is a writer for the "National Review" who has been very critical of Donald Trump. He's very conservative, he's well-known in the sort of think tank world. He's an Iraq war veteran and Bronze Star recipient. And he's someone that Bill Kristol, a leader of this #NeverTrump movement, has really identified as a possible independent candidate.
Kristol, of course, has been sparring with Donald Trump over whether such a conservative challenge to Trump and Hillary Clinton would even take shape. Now it looks like he's at least identified his candidate, although David French hasn't said whether or not he's definitely in.
Now, he would face some tight deadlines. States are -- each have their own procedures to get an Independent candidate on the ballot. In Texas, it looks like it could already be too late. So he's going to have to make some news really quickly if this is going to really take shape.
ROMANS: All right, California here we come because we have a big primary there next week and Hillary Clinton spending some time there. Bernie Sanders has been all in, in California, but Jerry Brown, who is the governor of that state, has endorsed Hillary Clinton. Let's listen to what Sanders said about that endorsement and about his hopes in California. This is what he said last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: I really have not heard what the governor has to say. And I like Jerry Brown but people can make their own choices. But again, what we have had to do, and we've done pretty well in every state in this country, is taking on Democratic governors, taking on Democrats senators, taking on Democratic members of the House, Democratic mayors, and all of their political apparatus. And yet, we've won in 20 states, and I think we're going to win here in California.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: But if he wins there in California can he really get the nomination? What is the next stop for him? Is it psychological here? Is it influence at the convention? What's Bernie Sanders game plan here?
BRADNER: Yes, even winning California, unless it's the kind of blowout that we're, frankly, just not going to see, would not put him in the lead in terms of pledged delegates, overall votes, delegates, including superdelegates, any measurement.
You heard him a little bit earlier talking about Hillary Clinton not reaching the number of delegates she needs to clinch the nomination, just by the pledged delegate count. That's sort of a new measurement here. But look, Bernie Sanders is clearly thinking about influence long-term.
He's talked about what kind of vice presidential candidate Hillary Clinton should pick, saying it needs to be basically a liberal who is not aligned with Wall Street or corporate America. He's talked about having influence on the platform and at the convention, arriving with as much muscle as he can even if he can't win the nomination.
He's clearly looking for ways to carry his influence forward even though he says he's ready to duke it out on the floor in Philadelphia. So, the Jerry Brown endorsement was fascinating because Brown was kind of the Bernie Sanders to Bill Clinton in 1992.
ROMANS: Right.
BRADNER: This is someone who has not been fond of the Clintons. Jerry Brown's saying that it's time for the Democratic Party to unite. It's a pretty big moment for that reason.
BERMAN: Hey, Eric, quickly, I'm not going to play the sound because we played some of it earlier on and a lot of people have seen it, you know. Donald Trump just cutting into the media saying reporters shouldn't ask questions about where money that he says he raised at a veterans' fundraiser last January -- where that money went, how much he raised. Saying those questions were disgusting and that the press should be ashamed --
ROMANS: Dishonest.
BERMAN: -- of themselves here. You know, the press was just doing its job, by the way. I think it's safe to say that. But on the other hand, there is a strategy behind Donald Trump doing this.
BRADNER: Oh, absolutely, John. So, he's trying to discredit the media and discredit people who raise questions -- tough questions, or as you pointed out earlier in this case, easy questions about what he's actually doing. Whether he's carrying through on his pledge to raise and then contribute all of this money to veterans' charities.
This is the kind of scrutiny that presidential candidates face. But Donald Trump has, for a long time now, shown that he's able to deflect this sort of scrutiny by pointing to the press and essentially blaming reporters who are asking the kinds of questions that, frankly, any presidential candidate is going to be asked.
This is something that plays pretty well with American voters and especially well with Republican primary voters, Trump's base.
ROMANS: Sure.
BRADNER: So it's a pretty easy target for him.
ROMANS: All right, Eric Bradner, nice to see you this morning. Thanks for getting up so early for us.
BRADNER: Thank you.
ROMANS: Have a great day. Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning. American consumers are spending more and they're dropping cash on big-ticket items. Consumer spending climbed one percent in April. One percent -- that is the biggest monthly jump in nearly seven years.
[05:40:00] Sales of large, expensive items, things we call durable goods, jumped 2.2 percent. Consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economic activity, so this is a sign of confidence. It suggests that Americans feel confident enough to open their wallets, especially when it comes to stuff for their homes.
And the housing market is strengthening here. The latest reading on home prices shows a 5.4 percent rise from a year ago. You're talking about near-record high homes prices in a lot of places. These markets I'm showing you here right, these are some of the hottest housing markets -- Portland, Seattle, Denver, San Francisco.
Here's something really interesting. Inventory is really tight. The overall percentage of homes for sale is at the lowest level since the 1980's and a couple of things going on here. I think one in five homeowners are still underwater.
And a lot of people -- they don't want to move up. The move up market isn't really there right now so there's kind of this traffic jam in the housing market where sellers are not really out there, even with mortgage rates so low and first-time homebuyers want to find something, so inventory is still a problem.
BERMAN: Interesting to see.
ROMANS: Forty-one minutes past the hour. The death toll rising as rain floods parts of Texas and it's not over yet. We've got that next.
[05:41:15]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:45:20] ROMANS: Authorities are investigating the family of the 3-year-old boy who fell into a gorilla habitat at the Cincinnati Zoo. There's growing outrage over the decision to shoot and kill the silverback gorilla, Harambe, in order to save that little boy's life.
Animal rights activists and some everyday Americans are calling for criminal charges against the little boy's mother. The online outrage has been just really, really interesting. We get more from CNN's Jessica Schneider this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Cincinnati police are delving into the details about what transpired on Saturday. Specifically, they say they're investigating the parents and the mother to find out what happened in the minutes before that child came face-to-face with that gorilla.
The mother, in particular, has come under intense scrutiny on the internet. Twitter abounds with criticisms about her, saying she should have kept a closer watch on her son. There's also a petition circulating online that's garnered more than 400,000 signatures. People saying that she should be investigated.
Now, at this point we don't know a lot about the family. They've only released a statement saying that their child is safe and that they're grateful to the zoo. We also know that the mother works at a daycare right here in Cincinnati.
Now, as for the zoo, itself, police say they are not investigating it because it falls under the purview of the USDA. The zoo was last looked at and inspected by the USDA in April. They did have a citation in March for leaving a door open. A polar bear then got out and went into an employee room. But there has never been a citation against the zoo concerning that gorilla enclosure -- Christine and John.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BERMAN: All right, Jessica, thanks so much. Doctors in New Jersey confirm the birth of a baby girl who is suffering from microcephaly caused by the Zika virus. The unidentified 31-year-old mother came down with the virus in her home country of Honduras.
Doctors say she came to the United States in hopes of getting medical care for the baby. She was taken into the emergency room at Hackensack University Medical Center on Friday. The child is the first to be born in the New York region with the Zika-linked brain disorder.
ROMANS: The Transportation Safety Administration, the TSA, taken to task over potential security flaws at America's airports. TSA data shows an average of 2,500 security breaches a year at airport perimeters and key access points. The government accountability office blames the TSA for failing to update security standards for the airports to follow.
BERMAN: Mandatory evacuations are underway this morning after seven people were killed in record-breaking floods that hit parts of Texas. (Video playing) Look at this video right here. The rain just coming down in sheets. Local authorities in San Antonio say the storm system dumped up to 22 inches of rain in just a few hours. You can see what it did to the streets there, submerged in water.
The swollen Brazos River in Richmond has risen to levels not seen since 1913. Officials in Fort Bend County, just southwest of Houston, say they have made more than 120 water rescues. The rain and potential flooding not over yet. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Unfortunately, John and Christine, the forecast calls for more rain for central and eastern Texas. The upper-level pattern drawing south from the four corners region, eventually making its way towards the Gulf of Mexico, really tapping into that moisture-laden air. That is going to allow more showers and storms to form today and through the rest of the work week.
The National Weather Service has flood watches and warnings, likely to be expanded across much of Texas. Look at our high-resolution radar imagery. You can see the thunderstorms really firing up, thanks to the daytime heating from the sun. This is a very saturated environment. Additional rainfall of three to five inches could lead to more flooding today, and again, through the rest of the work week.
The rest of the country -- lots of sunshine across the New England coastline. It's starting to warm up over the interior western half of the U.S. Take a look at the temperatures today for the Big Apple, 81, Detroit, 84, Charleston, 88, Atlanta, a sizzling 92 -- back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, on the first day of June. OK, thanks for that Derek. Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY" this morning. Alisyn Camerota joins us. Hi there.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Hey, guys, great to see you. We have a lot to talk about in this show today. We're going to have much more on Donald Trump's epic rant against what he called the dishonest, sleazy media. The media that dared to scrutinize his fundraising for veterans groups.
Hillary Clinton says Trump was shamed into giving the almost $6 million to vets and that her record is better. So we have lots of reaction to that on both sides. Also, new polls show where the race stands between Clinton and Trump today.
We're also following new developments in the death of the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo. Police are now investigating the parents of the little boy who got into that animal's enclosure. What consequences could they face? That's still a big conversation happening across the country guys, so we'll talk about that, too.
[05:50:00] ROMANS: It sure is. All right, thanks, Alisyn for that. Fifty minutes past the hour. ISIS is turning to taxes. Why the terror group is forced to impose heavy fees on its own followers. We've got that next.
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[05:54:30] BERMAN: The civilian death toll in Fallujah is rising. There's fierce fighting right now between Iraqi security forces and ISIS militants at the southern edge of the city with more than 50,000 citizens believed to be inside that city still. In Northern Syria, thousands of U.S.-backed fighters are preparing for an offensive to retake a critical region from ISIS.
CNN's senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen tracking the latest developments for us from London. Fred, a lot going on right now seeing they're trying to take the battle to ISIS.
[05:55:00] FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they certainly are trying to take the battle to ISIS, John, and also trying to cut ISIS off from some of its funding and also some of its resupply of fighters, as well.
That region in northern Syria that U.S.-backed forces are trying to take back is actually the last swath of land that ISIS still has in the border area with Turkey. Now, that's very important because it's the area that ISIS uses to infiltrate fighters from Turkey into the areas it holds in Syria and then, ultimately, to Iraq as well.
Apparently, the U.S.-backed forces won back some 16 villages and farms already, but again, that battle is one that seems to be -- will last for quite a long time. And then you have Fallujah and Fallujah is really of grave concern to the United Nations -- to the U.S., as well -- because there are so many civilians still trapped inside that city. Some 50,000 by the accounts of the United Nations.
And also, some 20,000 children among those, and those children are at the gravest risk of them all. A lot of them haven't had food and medical supplies come into that city for a very long time and the U.N. fears that they might get recruited into fighting for ISIS. That ISIS might force them to go on the frontline and fight next to the Jihadists on the battlefield. That, of course, is something that could end deadly for many of this minors.
And then on top of that, you also have the risk of some of these kids, and also some of the other civilians, being used as human shields. So certainly the situation there in Fallujah very dire as that battle seems to be heating up. And right now, the latest information that we're getting is that it is shaping up to be a very bloody urban combat that could unfold there in the next coming days, coming weeks, John.
BERMAN: You've got some dangerous and deadly fighting to come. Frederik Pleitgen, thanks so much.
ROMANS: All right, despite falling oil prices and constant airstrikes on its infrastructure, ISIS still has a $2 billion empire, thanks in part to new taxes. That's according to a new report from the Center for the Analysis of Terrorism, which will be released today. It says ISIS made $2.4 billion in 2015, a $500 million drop from the prior year.
But ISIS remains the richest terrorist organization in the world. The main reason, taxes. The Islamic state, as it calls itself, is extortion of the people living inside its territory in Iraq and Syria accounts for 33 percent of its revenue. Oil makes up a quarter. The rest is from various other sources. In recent months ISIS has cut fighter salaries in half. It has lost 40 percent of its territory. That's according to the U.S. military. It still has about eight million people under its control.
Let's get an EARLY START on your money here. The U.S. Dow futures looking sluggish this morning on the first trading of June. Stock markets in Europe down. Shares in Asia finishing with losses overnight. The gloomy sentiment there tipped off by a weak manufacturing report in China and declining oil prices.
But this morning may be a good time to check your 401(K). Wall Street closed the books on May with modest gains. The Dow up a fraction, but check out the Nasdaq, up almost four percent -- that's during the month. The S&P 500 posting a 1.5 percent gain for the month. The S&P is now just one big rally away from all-time high reached last May.
Crossing that mark -- it could be a challenge. You've got a lot of economic data this week. The jobs report on Friday. A lot of good economic data we've seen, but many people are thinking that suggests the Fed could raise interest rates. When you raise interest rates sometimes that rattles the market.
BERMAN: Why can't you just give us good news?
ROMANS: I give you all the news.
BERMAN: Pure, good news.
ROMANS: I give you all the news.
BERMAN: So she says. Donald Trump unleashes new fury at the media, like Christine Romans. "NEW DAY" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Let me tell you, these people are losers. You're a sleaze. Excuse me, excuse me, I've watched you on television. You're a real beauty.
CLINTON: It took a reporter to shame him into actually getting the money to veterans.
TRUMP: I have never received such bad publicity for doing such a good job.
SANDERS: We're all in agreement on one issue. Trump would be a disaster.
BERMAN: Doctors in New Jersey confirm the birth of a baby girl who is suffering from microcephaly caused by the Zika virus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't know exactly what the outcome will be for this family. The best that we have to go by are estimates.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wild animals are very unpredictable. It's very hard to tell what he was going to do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They had no other choice. I don't believe Harambe was going to give that little boy up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, June 1st, 6:00 in the east. Ana Cabrera here, once again, to help us over the hump. We begin with Donald Trump's epic tirade against the media, or the latest one, anyway.
The presumptive GOP nominee doing what he does best, lashing out at reporters, calling one of them sleazy for asking an obvious question. Calling all of us the worst human beings he has ever met. It was a bruising New York press conference and Trump angered by the media scrutiny in the aftermath of a veterans' fundraiser he had lined in Iowa last January.
This, as there was some real cause for concern within the Trump Ranks. A judge releasing the high-pressure playbooks used by the salesforce at the now defunct Trump University.
