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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Police Shoot & Kill Driver in Minnesota; Justice Department to Probe Police Shooting; Trump Hammers Decision Not to Charge Clinton; FBI Chief Testifying Over Clinton Email Probe; Chilcot Report: Iraq Posed "No Imminent Threat"; Trump Defends Praise of Saddam Hussein. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired July 07, 2016 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:10] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news: a new officer involved shooting overnight. A black man shot and killed by police during a traffic stop. A dramatic video capturing the aftermath that was streamed live on Facebook.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: This as the FBI and Department of Justice meet over how to investigate the police killing of Alton Sterling. There are new protests and new video as calls for justice in that shooting grow louder.
Good morning and welcome to EARLY START this morning. I'm Christine Romans.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez.
Christine, always great to be with you.
ROMANS: Nice to see you.
SANCHEZ: It's Thursday, July 7th, 4:00 on the East Coast.
We are following breaking news this morning with what may be the most disturbing police shooting video yet. Here's the scene: just a few hours ago in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, just outside Minneapolis, a car were stopped by police. There was a man at the wheel and a child at the back.
A woman in the front passenger seat was streaming live on Facebook moments after gunfire erupted. We have to warn you, the video we're going to show you is graphic, some may find it very troubling and we're only showing it to you because the woman who was on the passenger seat, Diamond Reynolds, clearly wanted the world to see what she saw.
REYNOLDS: Stay with me. We got pulled over for a busted tail light in the back and the police (AUDIO DELETED) he's covered. He's killed my (AUDIO DELETED) boyfriend. He's licensed -- he's carried -- he's licensed to carry.
He was trying to get out his ID and his wallet out his pocket and he let the officer know that he was -- he had a firearm and he was reaching for his wallet and the officer just shot him in his arm. We're waiting for a backup.
OFFICER: Ma'am, keep your hands where they are.
REYNOLDS: I am sir, no worries.
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
REYNOLDS: He just got his arm shot off. We got pulled over on Larpenteur.
OFFICER: I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his head up!
REYNOLDS: He had, you told him to get his ID, sir, his driver's license. Oh my God. Please don't tell me he's dead.
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Shocking video.
Less than an hour ago, police held a news conference, refusing to take questions. Here is what they did say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON MANGSETH, INTERIM CHIEF, ST. ANTHONY POLICE DEPARTMENT: During the stop, shots were fired. One adult male was taken to the hospital. We have been informed this individual is deceased. A handgun was recovered from the scene. The BCA will be providing additional information as their investigation progresses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The St. Anthony Police Department is telling CNN last night that they have not seen the video, but they do not know about it. The driver was Philando Castile and he was 32. His family told CNN that he worked as a cafeteria supervisor at a local school.
ROMANS: All right. In a matter of hours, the FBI and the Justice Department will meet with Louisiana state police to discuss how to investigate there the police killing of the man named Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge. Now, this man, a 37-year-old African-American CD vendor, was fatally shot early Tuesday morning during a struggle with two officers outside a convenience store. This all started after someone called 911 complaining they had been threatened by a man with a gun.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DISPATCH: Copy suspicious code 2 at 2100 North Foster, cross of Fairfield. Selling CDs on the corner. Gun in his pocket. He pulled a gun on a complainant and told him he couldn't be around there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: There is now a second video emerging of that deadly encounter between Sterling and the two police officers. This also is very disturbing video. It shows the struggle unfolding. The fatal shots and then one officer removes what appears to be a gun from Sterling's pocket. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(EXPLETIVES DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got a gun! Gun!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you move, I swear to God --
(GUNFIRE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground!
(GUNFIRE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired. Shots fired.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The shooting has sparked outrage in Baton Rouge with protests lingering well into the night as Sterling's family members demand justice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Talk about the last 48 hours.
ANJELICA STERLING, ALTON STERLING'S SISTER: Hell. It's the only word I can describe. Hell.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are four of us. We appreciated everybody from all around the world coming out to share this moment with us for my brother. I hate it had to start with our brother.
[04:05:03] But we will make sure it don't happen to another brother. And it will stop today.
QUINYETTA MCMILLAN, ALTON STERLING'S WIFE: What I saw last night from the real citizens of Baton Rouge will forever warm my heart. We are a complete community of individuals who will carry this burden and also stand together to ensure that this event will not go unjustly. It will not go unnoticed.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: Investigators say the officers were wearing body cameras, but became dislodged during the struggle. Sources tell CNN both officers were interviewed by the D.A. Tuesday night and are now on paid administrative leave.
SANCHEZ: Switching to politics now. Donald Trump expected to be on Capitol Hill today, meeting with Republican lawmakers. He's going to try to win their support ahead of the Republican National Convention which is now less than two weeks away. But exactly who's going to be speaking at the convention is still a mystery this morning. Trump had promised to release the lineup yesterday, but now says the speaker list will be out today so that he can use yesterday to focus on what he called crooked Hillary and rigged system under which we live.
At the rally last night in Ohio, Trump blasted the Justice Department for not charging Hillary Clinton over her use of e-mail as secretary of state. But he also swiveled to defending a controversial graphic that he tweeted last week attacking Hillary Clinton and this image that critics are calling anti-Semitic. Trump sticking to that defense, late last night tweeting a picture of Disney's "Frozen" book with a similar star on the cover.
Trump writing, quote, "Where is the outrage for this Disney book? Is this the star of David also? Dishonest media, #frozen."
For the latest, politics reporter Sara Murray is with the Trump campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, Boris and Christine. On the day when Loretta Lynch decided she was not going to bring charges against Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump started off right on message. He was hammering Hillary Clinton, calling her a liar for everything she said about her e-mails in the past and saying any normal American would have gone to prison for the kinds of things that Hillary Clinton got away with. But then he went off on tangents, doubling down on his campaign decision to put out a graphic of Hillary Clinton, a six-pointed star and piles of cash behind her.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It could have been a star for anything. To me, it was just a star. But when I really looked at it, it looked like a sheriff's star.
But CNN started this dialogue going, it's the star of David, and because it's the star of David, Donald Trump has racist tendencies. These people are sick, folks. I'm telling you.
So, we have unbelievably dishonest media. Think of that. You have the star, which is fine. I shouldn't have taken down. They took the star down.
I said, too bad. You should have left it up. I would have rather defended it. Just leave it up and say, no, that's not a star of David. That's just a star. It is all about corrupt Hillary, corrupt Hillary. MURRAY: That was one of a number of instances where Trump essentially blamed the media for ginning up controversy. But that is just one of a number of story lines that emerged in the outskirts of Cincinnati, Ohio, last night. He also appeared alongside former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. This is one of the folks that Trump has essentially been auditioning to be one of his VPs.
Now, we know Gingrich is in the formal vetting process, but it's anyone's guess still who Donald Trump will choose.
Back to you, guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Sara Murray, thank you for that.
Donald Trump's first fundraising round is moderately successful but he is well behind Hillary Clinton. The Trump campaign raised $51 million since late May, compared that with Clinton's haul of $68 million. But the big difference is that most of Clinton's cash is going to her official campaign, which gives her more flexibility and spending it.
Trump raked in $26 million from small donations, mostly online. Another $25 million came from his joint fundraising committee. That money will mostly go to the Republican National Committee, meaning it will be spent on helping the entire Republican ballot, not just Trump's presidential bid. Trump personally contributed $3.8 million as well.
Both candidates will submit their bankroll numbers to the Federal Elections Commission in two weeks. That will tell us that much more about how much money they had spent.
SANCHEZ: Welcome news for Trump supporters after last month's dismal numbers.
ROMANS: He pointed out that a lot of those donations were under $200. He's saying the little guy is for him.
SANCHEZ: Hillary Clinton officially cleared of any charges for her use of e-mail as secretary of state. But Republicans have found a way to keep the controversy alive and it starts this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Just hours from now, FBI Director James Comey testifies on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers want to know how Comey squares his decision to recommend against pressing charges over Hillary Clinton's e-mails with the tongue-lashing that accompanied his announcement. The FBI director calling Clinton's use of the e-mail server and classified messages it sometimes carried extremely careless, but not criminal.
Comey's called to testify all part of the Republican effort to keep the Clinton e-mail controversy right there in the headlines.
Our senior political reporter Manu Raju has more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning.
Now, the FBI director expected to get a grilling today in the House Oversight Committee where Republicans believe that he made the wrong decision and not referring this case to the Justice Department even Director Comey had some very, very strong words about Hillary Clinton believing that she handled classified information carelessly. They believe she was given preferential treatment in that decision to not prosecute this case even further. They say this is a clear violation of federal law.
So, expect to hear a push in the questions about why Comey made this decision. And then, from Comey's perspective, he believes he has a good story to tell. He believes that the FBI made a right decision, the prudent decision ahead of thorough investigation and expect him to layout his reasoning why.
[04:15:08] Now, this is part of a larger Republican effort to keep this issue alive. Speaker Paul Ryan believes that Hillary Clinton should be denied classified briefings all together. That she should have security clearance revoked and she should release all of her transcripts in talking with the FBI to show whether or not she was speaking truthfully to federal investigators.
So, guys, this is just really, really the beginning of a very aggressive effort to keep this issue alive, headed into November because Hillary Clinton's political problems may not be over just yet -- Christine and Boris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: All right, Manu. Thank you for that.
Baltimore prosecutors are 0-3 so far, but they will try again for a conviction and the arrest and death of Freddie Gray. Opening statements are scheduled today in the trial of Police Lieutenant Brian Rice. He is the highest ranking officers of the six charged in the case. Rice opted for a bench trial, leaving his fate in the hands of a judge rather than a jury. The judge has barred prosecutors from using evidence of Rice's police training.
ROMANS: Bill Cosby will be back in a Pennsylvania courtroom this morning for a pre-trial hearing at his sexual assault case. Cosby's attorneys trying to get the case thrown out. They claim his accuser Andrea Constand should have been forced to testify in May where the comedian was forced to stand trial. Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting Constand back in 2004.
SANCHEZ: Former FOX News anchor Gretchen Carlson has filed an explosive sexual harassment lawsuit against the network's chairman, Roger Ailes. Carlson claims Ailes explicitly asked her for a sexual relationship during a meeting in his office and then forced her out when she refused his advances. Ailes vigorously denies the allegation, calling it offensive and insisting that Carlson is retaliating for the network's decision not to renew her contract.
ROMANS: All right. Seventeen minutes past the hour.
Millions of people across the Midwest could be in the path of some severe weather today. This storm system ripped through southern Illinois on Wednesday, heavy rain, powerful winds toppling trees. This one coming down right on somebody's car.
Wow. A tornado touched down in the town of metropolis, blowing the roofs off houses and leaving thousands without power.
SANCHEZ: And for the latest on the severe weather across the Midwest, here is meteorologist Pedram Javaheri -- Pedram.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Boris and Christine.
This is another day we are watching severe storms over literally the same spots as yesterday right across portions of Minnesota, Iowa, eventually unto Illinois, to the southern extent of this, Kentucky yet again seeing some wild weather. This is just 24 hours after Kentucky was hammered with heavy, heavy rainfall in the past day or so.
But take a look at this, 300 -- almost 300 severe wind reports confined across parts of the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains. Nine reports of tornadoes in the past 24 hours as well. And look where the severe lines up yet again today.
This includes parts of Illinois, certainly Wisconsin, and Minnesota, Iowa, back into eastern areas of the Dakotas. So, another round of severe weather continuing to firing off this morning in that same spot.
Beyond that, we're talking about excessive heat and very sticky conditions across parts of the East Coast, the South, as well as the Southeast. In fact, temperatures are very uniform in how hot they are into the 90s for just about everyone work their way out towards Boston, 78, and the cool spot coming in with the mid-50s.
The seven-day forecast in the New York City, some hope there. Temps this weekend cooling off into the mid-80s -- guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: All right. Pedram, thank you. The news is not Kevin Durant huge, but it is heartbreaking for some of us.
ROMANS: For you.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
NBA free agent Dwyane Wade is leaving the Miami Heat where he's played his entire 13-year career and won three titles. He's signing with the Chicago Bulls. He is actually going home. Wade is a Chicago native.
ROMANS: I know that.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
The owner of the Miami Heat, Micky Arison, tweeted his thanks to Dwyane for his tremendous impact on the organization and the community as well. Wade releasing a letter thanking the Miami fans, "Today, I'm going to take my Dwayne Wade jersey" (INAUDIBLE) and cry for hours.
ROMANS: No. I know, but Bull fans are very, very happy.
All right. Nineteen minutes past the hour. Saddam Hussein back in the headlines this morning ten years after his death. A scathing new report blasting Britain for its role in the war in Iraq, and Donald Trump defends his compliments of the former dictator. We are live in Baghdad, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:23:50] ROMANS: Ten years after his death, Saddam Hussein is making headlines on two continents. In the U.K., shockwaves over a blistering report slamming Britain's role in the war in Iraq and the removal of Saddam Hussein. That report triggering in emotional apology from former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
And here in the U.S., presidential hopeful Donald Trump is taking heat for praising Saddam Hussein. Trump has fired back defiantly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I said, bad guy, really bad guy. But he was good at one thing, he killed terrorists. Next day, Donald Trump loves Saddam Hussein. I don't love Saddam Hussein. I hate Saddam Hussein. But he was damn good at killing terrorists.
ROMANS: Let's go live to Baghdad and bring in CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman.
On two continents, ten years after his death, he's making headlines again.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine.
Well, Iraq is, however, as far as the Chilcot report went weren't particularly impressed. They are basically suffering with the consequences of the mistakes made by Bush, Blair for -- during the invasion and afterwards.
[04:25:02] More afterwards than anything else than the mismanagement of the occupation really is what the Iraqis blame for the mess they are in today.
As far as those Saddam Hussein comments by Mr. Trump, they have been met with a bit of consternation here in Iraq because I was here during the days of Saddam Hussein. They didn't have terrorism because many Iraqis considered that Saddam Hussein himself was the biggest terrorist in the country, many Iraqis remembered that Saddam conducted a series of campaigns against his own people.
In the 1980s, he conducted what was called Anfal campaign against the Kurds in the north of the country which left anywhere between 50,000 people and 120,000 people dead on the 16th of March 1988. His forces used poison gas against the people of the town of Halabja in the north, killing 5,000 people.
And it's also well known here in Iraq that many of the senior members of ISIS actually got their experience working as intelligence officers for Saddam Hussein's security services. The suggestion that Saddam Hussein was good at fighting terrorists met with a bit of surprise here in Baghdad -- Christine.
ROMANS: I'll bet. I'll bet.
Ben, quickly on that Chilcot report from the U.K. that's causing so much consternation there, the idea that the aftermath was really bungled. Maybe not necessarily the invasion itself, but the aftermath. Tell me a bit about that.
WEDEMAN: Well, the Chilcot report said that the invasion of Iraq was well-planned and well-executed. I saw for myself it didn't last very long and it did bring down Saddam's regime quite rapidly. It was the aftermath, the day after that the Chilcot report blames both Tony Blair and George Bush for simply not preparing.
I saw for myself, for instance, that there were vast parts of Iraq where there were no coalition forces. There was chaos. The occupation really created a vacuum in many parts of Iraq into which rushed not only Shia militias but Sunni extremists who morphed into al Qaeda, who eventually blame ISIS itself.
So, really, I mean, you can draw a direct line from the blunders made at the beginning of the occupation to the situation Iraq and, in fact, Syria are in today -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Ben Wedeman, we thank you for your perspective and experience there. Thanks so much.
SANCHEZ: We are following breaking news this morning. Minnesota police shoot and kill and black man during a traffic stop. There's dramatic video capturing the aftermath that was streamed live on Facebook. We'll show what the passenger in that car had to say, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
