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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Clinton and Sanders Campaign in California; GOP Leaders Anxious About Trump; Remembering Boxing Legend Muhammad Ali; Iraqi Forces Advance on Fallujah; Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired June 06, 2016 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:14] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight. Hillary Clinton with a new primary win. This as Bernie Sanders vows to fight all the way to the convention. And we are just one day from the final Super Tuesday election. Who will win the most votes? Will it even matter?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump skewered by Republicans supporting him. Why GOP leaders are condemning his criticism of a judge with Mexican heritage.
Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: I'm John Berman. It is Monday, June 6th, 4:00 a.m. in the East.
Breaking overnight, Hillary Clinton inching closer to the Democratic nomination with a win in the Puerto Rico primary. Six states, including California, they are up for grabs on Tuesday. When you include superdelegates who tell CNN, they are supporting Clinton, she is now just an estimated 29 delegates shy of the 2,383 threshold to clinch.
Even though she is all but certain to blow past that number by tomorrow night and quite likely early tomorrow night, Bernie Sanders is still predicting a contested convention no matter what happens. His only chance, to flip hundreds of Clinton superdelegates.
Let's get more from CNN's senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny in California.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, a final full day of campaigning today for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders here in California. Making one last push for those 475 delegates at stake in Tuesday's primary.
Hillary Clinton making the case again and again about one of her rivals, but it's Donald Trump she is talking over and over about how he is not qualified to be president. She is barely mentioning Bernie Sanders on the campaign trail.
She had a closing rally in Sacramento on Sunday night. This was her final message to voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to finish strong here in California. It means -- it means the world to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: And Bernie Sanders making the case to his supporters here in California as well, telling them that they can still change the direction of this Democratic race for the presidency. But with Puerto Rico in the bag, now that only six more states to vote on Tuesday, followed by the District of Columbia next week, then this race is over. Bernie Sanders trying to keep this argument alive that he will need superdelegates to pull them over to his side. Increasingly that is an uphill battle. But this is what he told voters last night in San Diego.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Any objective analyst of the current campaign understands that the energy and the grassroots activism in this campaign is with us, not Hillary Clinton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: The outcome of this Democratic presidential nomination does not hinge on California, but a Clinton win here in California would certainly cool the argument Bernie Sanders is trying to make that he can still take this to the convention. That's why all eyes today still on California as both campaigns, both candidates fight here until the end for those 475 delegates at stake -- John and Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Jeff, thank you for that.
Republican leaders and big money donors are becoming very nervous about Donald Trump's attacks on the judge in the Trump University civil case. House and Senate Republicans have publicly criticized Trump for claiming Judge Gonzalo Curiel is biased because of his Mexican heritage. His parents were born in Mexico. The party needs to win over Latino voters in November and its leaders are urging Trump to soften his tone.
But as CNN's Jake Tapper tells us, Trump does not appear willing to accommodate them.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, is still campaigning hard here in California ahead of the Tuesday primary with no major Republican candidate still in the race and enough pledged delegates to secure the nomination at the Cleveland convention next month.
He is rallying the party as the GOP establishment is still lining up behind him, but that doesn't mean he is toning it down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: I asked you about comments you made about the judge in the Trump University case. DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sure. Sure.
TAPPER: You said that you thought it was a conflict of interest that he was the judge because he's of Mexican heritage even though he's from Indiana.
TRUMP: OK. Yes.
TAPPER: Hillary Clinton said that that is a racist attack on a federal judge.
TRUMP: She's so wonderful. You know what I mean. Here's a woman that should be put in jail for what she did for her e-mails and she's commenting.
I'll tell you what it has to do. I have had ruling after ruling after ruling that's been bad rulings. OK. I have been treated very unfairly. Before him, we had another judge. If that judge was still there, this case would have been over two years ago. Let me just tell you. I have had horrible rulings. I've been treated very unfairly by this judge. Now this judge is of Mexican heritage. I'm building a wall. OK, I'm building wall. I am going to do very well with the Hispanics, the Mexicans, the --
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: So no Mexican judge could ever be involved in a case that involves you?
TRUMP: Well, no, he is a member of the society where, you know, very pro-Mexico. And that's fine. It's all fine, but I think --
TAPPER: But you're calling into question his heritage.
TRUMP: I think he should recuse himself.
TAPPER: Because he's Latino?
TRUMP: Then you also say, does he know the lawyer on the other side? I mean, does he know the lawyer? You know, a lot of people say yes.
(CROSSTALK)
[04:05:05] TAPPER: But I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about --
TRUMP: That's another -- that's another problem.
TAPPER: You are invoking his race when talking about whether or not he can do his job.
TRUMP: Here's what I'm saying, Jake. I'm building a wall, OK. I'm building a wall. I'm trying to keep business out of Mexico. Mexico is fine. There is nothing --
TAPPER: But he is an American.
TRUMP: He is of Mexican heritage and he's very proud of it, as I am where I come from my parents.
TAPPER: But he's an American. Is it not, when Hillary Clinton says this is a racist attack and you reject that. If you are saying he can't do his job because of his race, is that not the definition of racism?
TRUMP: I don't think so at all.
TAPPER: No?
TRUMP: No. He is proud of his heritage. I respect him for that.
TAPPER: You're saying he can't do his job because of that.
TRUMP: Look, he is proud of his heritage, OK. I'm building a wall.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: Now Trump is ready to take the fight to Hillary Clinton would could secure enough delegates on Tuesday to become the Democrats' nominee next month at the convention in Philadelphia. If you include the superdelegates, that's a big if of course, Clinton told me this week that she is happy to compare her record with Donald Trump's.
BERMAN: Our thanks to Jake Tapper and our thanks to Jake for a remarkable interview there with Donald Trump.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: We're talking about that one, for sure.
Let's get more on all of this right now. We're joined by Eugene Scott from CNN Politics.
Eugene, thanks so much for being with us. Obviously we heard Donald Trump talking to Jake about Judge Curiel who is of Mexican heritage. Donald Trump seems to suggest that because his parents were born in Mexico, though he was born in New York, he can't get a fair hearing from him. And then yesterday morning in the Sunday shows, Donald Trump expanded the definition of who could not treat him fairly even further when he seemed to rule out Muslim judges as well or at least raised the possibility. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it were a Muslim judge, would you also feel like they wouldn't be able to treat you fairly because of that policy of yours?
TRUMP: It's possible, yes. Yes. That would be possible. Absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: So you hear it right there, Eugene. And you know -- and that's causing a lot of concern among some in the Republican Party right now.
EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Very much so. We have seen many Republican leaders push back on Donald Trump's comments because they are concerning to people. Especially a party that's doing so poorly with Latino voters. And there is some concern wondering where will this viewpoint end. What's next? Is it gender next? Will he believe that women therefore cannot rule over cases not only that he's involved in, but in general?
And this is of course something that people are paying attention to because there's a lot of talk about the Supreme Court with this election and who will be able to appoint judges or nominate judges in the next -- in the next presidency. And they want to know -- people want to know what will be some of the factors that help influence Donald Trump's decisions.
ROMANS: Well, and among some Republicans, you know, they see what -- what concerns them, you know, judicial impartiality, talking about changing libel laws or tweaking First Amendment rights. I mean, these are things that they see as almost an attack on the Constitution and the constitutional process. And they're -- you know, they're very concerned about that. So you see the concern from the left. You see the concern from the right as well.
Let's listen to something Newt Gingrich said. He was very sharp in his criticism of Donald Trump.
SCOTT: Yes.
ROMANS: Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: No. This is one of the worst mistakes Trump has made. I think it's inexcusable. He has every right to criticize a judge. And he has every right to say certain decisions are right and his attorneys can file to move the venue from a judge. But first of all this judge was born in Indiana. He is an American. Period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: And then of course we just discussed how he seemed to suggest that someone's religion could also preclude them from being able to be impartial on the judiciary.
Do you think we will more Republicans this week? It's more than just New Gingrich.
SCOTT: More, yes.
ROMANS: That we're going to see more Republicans criticizing him for this. Even people who support him criticizing him for this. SCOTT: I certainly think so. I think what I'm most interested in
seeing is if there will be any Republican leaders who support this view. That would really be surprising. But quite frankly, I think Donald Trump supporters, at least a significant number of them, probably agree with him on this issue. They do think that bias happens on the bench and that identity issues, including race and faith and gender, and orientation and other topics may influence people's decisions.
The question just becomes, why does that not surface when talking about people in the demographic that Donald Trump is a part of? So if Muslims should be concerning, why aren't Christians? If people from Mexico -- excuse me, he's American. People whose parents are from Mexico, why would that not include Donald Trump whose mother is not an American-born -- America?
BERMAN: Yes. It's interesting to see. But, you know, you have Paul Ryan coming out saying he doesn't like the comments. Mitch McConnell saying it. You know, all the senators in these key swing states. Kelly Ayotte, I heard from Rob Portman yesterday that he condemns Donald Trump's comments as well.
[04:10:02] So you can see the party all of a sudden separating themselves from Donald Trump and -- at a time when Trump wants to be unifying the party heading up to his convention.
Want to talk about the Democrats on the subject of unity.
SCOTT: Sure.
BERMAN: Big win for Hillary Clinton overnight in Puerto Rico. Tomorrow, you have six states voting. Bernie Sanders not just saying no matter what happens he will fight to the convention. But also with some kind of new attack lines on Hillary Clinton, this time about the Clinton Foundation. Listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: Do I have a problem when a sitting secretary of state and a foundation run by her husband collects many millions of dollars from foreign governments? Governments which are dictatorships? You don't have a lot of civil liberties or democratic rights in Saudi Arabia. You don't have a lot of respect there for -- for opposition points of view, for gay rights, for women's rights. Yes. Do I have a problem with that? Yes, I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: You know, it's interesting. Democrats who support Hillary Clinton, they don't look at the substance of the attack, they look at the timing. This is something that Republicans have talked about a long time. Critics of Hillary Clinton have looked at the Clinton Foundation for a long time. What supporters of Hillary Clinton say is, you know, Bernie Sanders, you know, if you're going to be doing this right up until the convention, this -- it could hurt who could be the likely nominee of the Democratic Party. SCOTT: Yes, very much so. I think a lot of Democrats were hoping and
expecting Bernie Sanders to be more supportive of Hillary Clinton at this point. But as you can see, Bernie Sanders still very much believes he is in the race and wants to stay competitive. And so he wants to bring attention to areas about his opponent that have been questionable even if they come primarily from people on the other side.
But the truth is there are Democrats who are a little concerned and more than a little concerned about the daily going-ons of the Clinton Foundation and do wonder what Hillary Clinton's interactions with foreign governments was while she was secretary of state.
ROMANS: All right. Fascinating. Lots to talk about. You're up bright and early with us.
Thank you, Eugene Scott. 4:12 in the East. Thank you. We'll talk to you again very, very shortly.
Time for an EARLY START on your money right now. Dow futures up slightly. U.S. stocks have modest losses Friday after that disappointing jobs report. Stock markets in Europe, they're higher right now. Let's check Asian stock market. They closed mixed overnight. Holding steady -- crude oil, holding steady about $49 a barrel right now.
So did Friday's jobs report shocker kill the Fed's plan to raise interest rates this summer? Investors think so. The probability that the Fed will raise rates at its meeting next week is now just 4 percent. It was 21 percent before Friday's jobs numbers. The chances of a rate hike in July now just 31 percent. That's down from 58 percent. Most believe September is the most likely right now.
All eyes will be on Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen. Later today we will hear from her, she is giving a speech this afternoon in Philadelphia. Investors, of course, looking for any clues on what the Fed is thinking.
Many have thought, John, that this speech would be -- I heard it's called the exclamation point on her case for raising rates this summer and then you got that Friday jobs report. It will be interesting to see if she thinks that report is worth holding off on raising rates or if the overall strength of the economy is still robust enough that she wants to do it.
BERMAN: I think from an exclamation point to an ellipsis.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: Yes, and you know.
ROMANS: Dot, dot, dot.
BERMAN: Exactly. All right. The world right now in mourning, you know, the loss of
Muhammad Ali hitting so many, so personally. We have some new information about the memorial and really the big week planned ahead in his hometown in Louisville.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:17:45] ROMANS: Boxing champion Muhammad Ali is home. His body is now back in his native Louisville, Kentucky. Memorial service taking place across the city and a monumental celebration of the iconic fighter's life is set to take place later this week.
CNN's Martin Savidge has more.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Good morning, Christine.
Muhammad Ali has finally come back home and the efforts to memorialize his life are fully underway. There was, last night, an interfaith service that was organized by the Islamic community. There are other services that are being talked about today. But, of course, the big events are for the latter part of the week.
Thursday is set aside primarily for the family of Muhammad Ali, but Friday, that is the day when the world can celebrate his life. And, in fact, Louisville, Kentucky, has put out the welcome mat for the entire world to come because they know that their hometown son is one who has been shared by so many people in so many other places.
It will begin 9:00 in the morning with a motorcade, a procession that will actually wind through the streets of Louisville, sometimes on highways, sometimes on side streets, and that's designed to allow as many people as possible to bid their final farewell.
Two o'clock, though, there is going to be an interfaith service. Among those who will eulogize, former president, Bill Clinton, will be on hand. About 20,000 may be able to squeeze into that facility. It is going to be quite remarkable.
These plans have been years in the making and we're told that it's just not from the family and not just from the city, but also one of those who helped make the plans was Muhammad Ali himself -- John and Christine.
BERMAN: Thank you, Martin Savidge.
I was down in Louisville on Saturday at the Muhammad Ali Center where Martin was just there. And yes, Martin is absolutely right. I mean, this is how Muhammad Ali wanted to be remembered. He wanted a week- long celebration. And everyone in Louisville that we spoke to had their own personal memory. I mean, people of all ages can say, I remember when he came to my junior high after he won the gold medal. I can remember watching him in my basement winning the heavyweight championship of the world.
I mean, he was so special to that city and obviously so important for the world. It was a really interesting day there. It will be an interesting week as everyone remembers Muhammad Ali.
ROMANS: All right. Thank you for that, Martin Savidge.
Happening now, Iraqi forces making new advances to take back a critical city from ISIS, but thousands of innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire.
[04:20:04] We go live to Baghdad next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Iraqi forces backed by U.S. airstrikes are advancing on Fallujah this morning. They've now secured a large area along the southern edge of the city. They're poised to move into the heart of town where the ISIS are entrenched. But tens of thousands of civilians remain caught in the crossfire. And those who have tried to escape have been killed.
CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman reporting live for us this morning from Baghdad.
Give us the latest, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine. Well, at this point, around 30 villages and towns around Fallujah have been retaken by pro-government forces.
[04:25:06] But it's coming at a high cost certainly for the civilians. Now yesterday we had a chance to go to a displaced person's camp outside of Baghdad and speak to some of those who were able to escape. And the tales they tell are quite chilling. There is one man who said that ISIS militants came to their house and said you're going to the center of Fallujah where you will be human shields. And he said anybody who said no was simply shot on the spot.
He, however, with his family, managed to evade the militants. They hid out in a swamp for about three days, subsisting on dirty water and dusty old dates before they were able to actually get to safety.
Another man told us how they knew that the militants were coming to round them up. What they did was leave the door to their home open so they thought that the house had been abandoned. People next door he said who were discovered hiding inside the house were also simply shot inside their homes.
And once they get to Baghdad or -- rather these camps for displaced people, the situation is very difficult. Short in supplies, clean water and medical services. And when you look at the children, they have that distant look that appears to indicate some form of trauma from what they have seen over the last few weeks of fighting and more than two years of living under ISIS' rule -- Christine.
ROMANS: Just terrifying some of those stories. People trying to get out of there.
All right, Ben Wedeman, keep us posted. Thanks. BERMAN: You know, I think there's more pain in the near future.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: All right, 26 minutes after the hour. Bernie Sanders vows that this Tuesday will not be the end of his campaign. This as Donald Trump ups the ante or makes clear which judges would and would not be fair to him.
First ethnicity, now religion. We'll discuss next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
