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EARLY START
U.S. to Send 250 More Special Ops Troops to Syria; Cruz and Kasich Divide Up States; Clinton Confident in Acela Primary; Pot Grow Operation Found at Killing Site in Ohio; President Obama in Germany; Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired April 25, 2016 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:01] ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that will be a very interesting point. What we've just gotten from the National Security adviser Ben Rhodes is that again President Obama is likely -- will announce that 250 additional special troops will be brought in to Syria, met some of them Special Forces. That will bring the total up to 300. And this is off the back of the 50 that were deployed a few months earlier.
Their job will be to advise and assist local forces on the ground, and specifically Syrian Arab forces on the ground. Remember there's a number rebel factions there. Only some of them backed by the U.S.
So yes, you're absolutely right. There will be interesting reaction from around the region, not to mention from Assad troops there and of course Russia. That will be the key reaction. We know that Russian Air Forces have really made all the difference in terms of the advancement of Assad troops and really gaining ground against ISIS.
What we now know is that over the last year or so, ISIS has lost some 20 percent of its territory. So there have been gains by a number of groups and this troop increase is likely to be a way for the U.S. to consolidate its gains. The question is, is it going to work and with so many different forces on the ground, which one of those will actually gain the advantage?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And this happening in the middle of what's meant to be a ceasefire? I take it that's not going to be well-received either.
SHUBERT: Well, exactly. I mean, the ceasefire was hoped that it will bring in humanitarian aid. That has not happened at all. And in fact in the last few weeks and days, what we've seen is an escalation of hostilities particularly in that very sensitive area around the Turkish border just north of Aleppo. So it's all a very complex situation right now in which these 250 troops will be playing into.
MARQUEZ: Really interesting situation. Atika Shubert for us in Germany. Thank you very much.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight, Ted Cruz and John Kasich joining forces to block Donald Trump from clinching the Republican nomination. The two campaigns simultaneously releasing statements announcing they are dividing upcoming primaries between them in order to keep Trump from gaining the 1,237 delegates he needs to take the nomination on the first ballot. Cruz's campaign say it will, quote, "clear the path" for Kasich in Oregon and New Mexico. Kasich's campaign says it will cede Indiana to Cruz.
Trump blasting the plan in a late-night tweet, "Wow. Just announced that Lying Ted and Kasich are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the Republican nomination. Desperation."
The new Cruz and Kasich plan comes with just a day to go until the crucial Acela Primaries, as they're calling it, the voters heading to the polls for another Super Tuesday in five Eastern states. Meantime, Trump is escalating his attack on the Republican Party's delegate system calling it rigged. This is at a campaign rally in Maryland. He's also lashed back at criticism his style is not presidential enough.
Our Jason Carroll has more on that from the Trump rally.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Miguel, Christine, Donald Trump cautioned the crowd to be careful about changing. He was referencing his personal style. He has been told to change his style to be more presidential. He said he wasn't going to do that. What he's been doing has been working out just fine for him so far, according to Trump. Even though he's been off-color and non- presidential, he says he has no plans to change any time soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll change. I'll do whatever. It's so much easier to be presidential because I don't have to use any energy. You know, I can just walk out. So much easy. You think this is easy, ranting and raving?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Trump also stepped up his criticism of the delegate system and the way delegates are awarded, saying that the system is rigged, that it is crooked. We've heard those criticisms before. And he also once again called out Ted Cruz. That name calling, Lying Ted, he called him, saying that at this point what Ted Cruz is doing is basically bribing delegates in order to win them over.
The Cruz camp has heard this criticism before and has basically been saying that the Trump camp needs to do a better job of their ground game and to, quote-unquote, "stop whining about it." In terms of looking ahead to Tuesday, the Trump campaign feeling very good about that, saying they expect to sweep all five states up for grabs -- Miguel, Christine.
MARQUEZ: Thanks to Jason Carroll.
On the Democratic side, conservative mega-donor Charles Koch says he could theoretically support Hillary Clinton instead of the Republican nominee in November. Koch telling ABC News that he thought Bill Clinton was better than George W. Bush on government spending and economic growth. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So is it possible another Clinton could be better than another Republican next time around?
CHARLES KOCH, CEO, KOCH INDUSTRIES: It's possible. It's possible.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You couldn't see yourself supporting Hillary Clinton, could you?
KOCH: Well, her -- we would have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric. Let me put it that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Not exactly a ringing endorsement. But Hillary Clinton responding on Twitter, said, "Not interested in endorsements from people who deny climate science and try to make it harder for people to vote."
[04:35:05] Koch's not quite an endorsement comes as recent polls put Clinton well ahead of Bernie Sanders in the so-called Acela Primary states voting tomorrow. Still Sanders says he is not going anywhere.
For more, let's turn to CNN's Chris Frates in D.C.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miguel and Christine, on the campaign trail this weekend, Hillary Clinton was pivoting to the general election largely because she's on very friendly turf. Maryland, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Delaware. Those are all places where she's expected to do well when voters go to the polls there on Tuesday.
Now Clinton spent time Sunday campaigning among one of her key constituencies, visiting African-American churches in Philadelphia. Her strength among the African-American community, that's a big reason why she is leading Bernie Sanders. In fact Sanders now needs to win more than 80 percent, 80 percent of the remaining delegate at stake to win the nomination. Clinton needs just about 30 percent.
And that's part of the reason why she is starting to look toward November. Focusing her fire on Republicans, namely Donald Trump. In addition to an anti-Trump video her campaign released this weekend, Clinton has been hammering the billionaire on the stump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every time Donald Trump says one of the things he says, a lot of people are surprised or shocked. But after a while, with so many of those comments, those insults, the kind of demagoguery that we are seeing from him, you have to ask yourself, what really is at stake in this election? And one of the things that is at stake are our rights.
(END VIDEO CLIP) FRATES: Sanders meanwhile is trying to cut into Clinton's lead. But many of Sanders' supporters are independents. And only one of the states voting on Tuesday allows independents to participate. The other four, well, they're only opened to registered Democrats. But no matter what happens on Tuesday, Sanders is vowing to stay in the contest until the end.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The idea that we should not vigorously contest this election when the largest state in the United States of America, California, has not voted, nine other states will not have voted after Tuesday. Of course, we are going to give every -- the people in every state in this country the right to determine who they want to see president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRATES: And it looks like he'll have the money and the support to do just that -- Miguel, Christine.
MARQUEZ: Thanks to Chris Frates.
Michelle Obama extolling her husband's legacy as she gives the commencement address at a historically black university in Mississippi. The first lady urging students at Jackson State to work for peaceful progress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: Are you going to throw up your hands and say that progress will never come? Are you going to get angry and lash out? Are you going to turn inward and just give in to despair and frustration? Or are you going to take a deep breath, straighten your shoulders and lift up your head and do what Barack Obama has always done? As he says, when they go low, I go high.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Michelle Obama also encouraged students to vote, saying that not to do so would roll back hard-earned freedom. She cited as an example Mississippi's new Religious Freedom Law that LGBT groups and the state's businesses are calling discriminatory.
ROMANS: All right, 38 minutes past the hour. Time for an EARLY START on your money this Monday morning. Dow futures right now. Let's check them, dipping a bit, oil is down. Stock markets in Europe and Asia mostly lower this hour. Wall Street bracing for the peak of earnings seasons this week around a third of S&P 500 companies are slated to post their results. Eight of the 30 companies in the Dow are reporting. Apple is expected to post its first ever decline in iPhone sales compared with the year before.
We're also watching the latest numbers from Facebook and Amazon. Big names, widely held stocks. The tech sector has been weak so far this earnings season. ExxonMobil is dealing with unsteady oil prices, which plummeted last quarter.
If all that isn't enough, the Federal Reserve starts a two-day meeting tomorrow. No interest rate hike is expected but the group could signal when it may act and will get the initial reading of GDP. How the economy is growing in the first quarter. So a lot going on this week. A lot of money in news.
MARQUEZ: That's going to be a very interesting number.
ROMANS: Absolutely.
MARQUEZ: There is a need to focus.
ROMANS: Are you making fun of me? Are you making fun of me?
MARQUEZ: No. GDP is big. I love the GDP when it comes out.
ROMANS: I sense you're making fun of me.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: He's mocking me.
MARQUEZ: Economic nerd.
New details this morning. Marijuana found at the homes where nearly an entire family was found shot execution-style in Ohio. Could drugs be connected to the killings? That up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:43:51] ROMANS: New developments emerging this morning in the execution-style murders of eight family members in rural Ohio. Investigators now say the victims were targeted and may have been linked to a marijuana operation.
CNN's Nick Valencia with the very latest.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Miguel and Christine, we now have a potential clue in the investigation with the attorney general here in Ohio, Mike DeWine. The local sheriff in Pike County announcing that marijuana grow operations were found at three of the four crime scenes where the eight members of the Rhoden family were shot in the head execution-style. Now that has fueled speculation here by many residents that at these murders could been drug-related, though officials did not make that connection.
They did, however, say that they received more than 100 tips and interviewed between 50 and 60 people. They've also gathered 18 pieces of crucial evidence, some of which is being tested by DNA.
We have been talking to members of this community and they say that they are fearful. The local sheriff here tried to put some of those fears at ease saying that this was a pre-planned execution, a sophisticated operations specifically targeting the Rhoden family. We have caught up with friends and family of the Rhodens. The best friend of Dana Rhoden, we asked her directly if they had any connection to drugs or that nefarious under world.
[04:45:02] All she was telling us -- all she was willing to tell us, I should say, is that everyone has skeletons in the closet including the Rhodens but that overall they were good people. There is still no official motive, no suspect or suspects. A lot of people here in this community still very fearful that they could be targeted next -- Miguel, Christine.
MARQUEZ: Thanks to Nick Valencia.
A wild scene in Kansas as authorities close in on one of the state's most wanted fugitives. Two U.S. Marshals and an FBI agent shot Sunday after they got into a gun battle with Orlando J. Collins at the motel where he was holed up. A fire then ignited inside the 28-year-old's room eventually engulfing the entire building. Authorities later found an unidentified body in the room where they believe Collins was staying. The three federal agents hit by gunfire are expected to be OK.
ROMANS: A Wisconsin teenager is dead after police say he opened fire on two students outside a high school prom. An officer shot Jacob Wagner who was accused of showing up to the Antigo High prom with a rifle. Authorities say the 18-year-old who used to attend the school began shooting as students left the dance. The victims are expected to be OK. So far no motive has been released.
MARQUEZ: And prosecutors expected to announce a grand jury indictment today against former Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel. Local media reporting that a Dallas grand jury indicted Manziel over the weekend on a misdemeanor assault charge. His ex-girlfriend, Coleen Crawley, says the embattled athlete hit her so hard back in January, he burst her eardrum. Manziel has released a statement saying he is thankful for those who really, quote, "know me and support me."
ROMANS: All right, 46 minutes past the hour. Severe weather in the forecast for the central part of the country. Let's get straight to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for the very latest.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Miguel and Christine, good morning to you both.
(WEATHER REPORT)
JAVAHERI: Guys.
ROMANS: Wow, 80 in Chicago. This is the best time of year for Chicago.
MARQUEZ: We love the spring.
ROMANS: Beautiful time of year. Yes.
MARQUEZ: New York is amazing.
ROMANS: All right. Wall Street -- speaking of New York, Wall Street set for one of the busiest weeks of the year. We're going to get an EARLY START on your money next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:52:20] ROMANS: An emotional day in Brussels at the Maalbeek metro station as it reopens for the first time since the terror attacks more than a month ago. 20 people were killed at that station when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest on the morning of March 22nd.
CNN's Erin McLaughlin is live in Brussels with how those victims are being remembered this morning.
Good morning, Erin.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. The trains may be running on time here at Maalbeek metro station, but the emotions are anything but. It has been a somber commute. People here remember what happened on March 22nd in vivid detail when a suicide bomber blew himself up.
ROMANS: We lost Erin's audio. But again it was just a month ago and now opening that train station. An emotional morning in Brussels, no question. Thanks, Erin.
MARQUEZ: U.N. Security Council slamming North Korea over its latest missile test. Pyongyang held a successful launch of a ballistic missile from a submarine this weekend but South Korea says it malfunctioned and crashing to sea after traveling only about 19 miles.
President Obama saying the U.S. is taking the provocative tests very seriously. The U.N. now threatening new measures just weeks after imposing tougher sanctions over the North's recent nuclear test.
And outraged Egyptians vowing to take to the streets today. Some are furious over the government's decision to hand over two islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia. Others frustrated with a weak economy.
This weekend, police arresting dozens of activists who are accused of trying to overthrow the government. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi describing them as "forces of evil."
ROMANS: All right. Let's get an EARLY START on your money. Dow futures are down ahead of a very busy week of corporate earnings. Economic data and a Federal Reserve meeting. So much money news this week.
Oil prices are lower right now. Stock markets in Europe and Asia are also lower right now. Gas prices are creeping higher. The national average for a gallon of regular now $2.14. It's been rising for 10 days in a row. It's up 11 cents from last month. But drivers are still paying 38 cents less than they did this time last year. Experts think prices will stay right around this level for much of the year. A lot will depend, of course, on the price of oil.
Beyonce fans have a new -- a new song. New music to listen to this morning. If you could find it. The superstar debuted her new album "Lemonade" on HBO last night. It's being described as her second visual album complete with a series of stylized music videos. But fans are mostly buzzing about several references to an unfaithful husband and sewing emotional pain. Some fans on Twitter also are groaning about where they can find the music. The "New York Times" reporting it will be available to buy on iTunes at midnight. So far there's no sign of it.
[04:55:05] The album is streaming exclusively on Tidal. That's the streaming service started by Beyonce's husband, Jay-Z.
I'm telling you, if you haven't heard about this "Lemonade." I mean, everybody is talking about it this morning.
MARQUEZ: Beyonce, GDP numbers and economic news. Beyonce -- Beyonce, I go Beyonce.
ROMANS: You're making fun of me again.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: All right. Happening this hour, President Obama set to announce sending 250 more special ops troops to Syria to combat the growing threat of ISIS.
MARQUEZ: Ted Cruz and John Kasich joining forces to deny Donald Trump the Republican nomination. The fists are up. The fight on.
ROMANS: And new details in the disturbing execution-style shooting of eight family members in Ohio. A marijuana grow operation found at the home where the family was killed.
All right. Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
MARQUEZ: And I'm Miguel Marquez. It is Monday, April 25th. It is 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast.
Happening this morning, President Obama is in Germany. Very shortly he will announce that the U.S. is sending 250 new special operations troops to Syria in the coming weeks. That will be on top of the 50 commandos who have already been in Syria the past several months.
For latest, let's bring in CNN's Athena Jones live for us in Aerzen, Germany.
Athena, what's he likely to say? Athena, can you hear us?
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Yes, I can. Good morning. The president is expected to announce, as you noted, that the increase of 250 troops for Syrian that's in addition to the 50 troops that are already there. This will be Special Operations Forces. So their mission is not a combat mission, it's to advise and assist the local forces on the ground who have shown progress in parts of northern and eastern Syria. This is something that Deputy NSA adviser Ben Rhodes stressed that
when the U.S. and the coalition seized areas where there has been progress they want to augment those efforts and accelerate those efforts to try to make sure that local forces cannot just take back areas that have been under ISIS control, but also maintain and hold them and make sure they don't lose them again to ISIS. So this is part of that accelerated effort the president has called for. And we expect to hear him announce that in the speech in just a few minutes from now.
Back to you, guys.
MARQUEZ: Athena, there is meant to be a -- you know, a peace or a ceasefire in Syria at the moment. The Russians also involved. How is this likely to be taken by the players on the ground in Syria and more importantly by Russia?
JONES: Well, I can tell you that the president has already expressed some concern as has Chancellor Merkel about the stability of this so- called cease-fire in Syria. Worried that it's not holding as it's been holding in recent days. We know the president has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the efforts in Syria and the effort to get that cease-fire back on track. And so that is certainly going to be part of the discussion today as the president meets with these other European leaders not just Chancellor Merkel but also the leaders of France, Italy and the U.K. later on.
This is of course a big focus of a lot of these meetings we hear the president has been holding. The efforts in Syria to gain ground especially because of the other sort of knock-on effects of the continuing conflict in Syria, which is of course the migrant crisis -- the refugee crisis here in Europe.
MARQUEZ: U.S. treading into treacherous waters there. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.
What else is on the president's agenda in Europe?
JONES: Well, he's been touring this international trade show. The biggest trade show in the world. Thousands of companies represented including hundreds of U.S. companies. He's already -- he's going to be delivering remarks in this speech today.
We heard a lot of comparisons to the speech that president gave you'll remember back in 2008 before taking office when he did a little bit of a world tour. Came to Berlin and spoke to more than 200,000 people about his vision of how the U.S. and Europe could help lead the world and make progress in the world. So he'll be delivering a speech that in some ways talks about the successes of his idea of collective action, of working together with European allies.
So we'll hear some of that in the coming speech not just this announcement about Syria but a broader look at what the U.S. working with its allies has been able to accomplish on climate change, on, for instance, the Iran nuclear deal and the other issues. And of course the need to continue to work together to help deal with many of the conflicts raging not just in the Middle East, but also for instance in Ukraine where we've seen Russia's -- dealing with Russia's aggression in Ukraine.
So a lot on the table. And as I mentioned, he'll be meeting again with European leaders. The prime minister of the U.K., David Cameron and the leaders of France, Italy and of course right here in Germany, Chancellor Merkel.
Back to you.
MARQUEZ: Athena Jones with the well-traveled president these days. Thank you very much.
ROMANS: All right. Overnight Ted Cruz and John Kasich joining forces to block Donald Trump from clinching the Republican nomination. The two campaigns simultaneously releasing statements --
