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EARLY START

Robot Submarine Searching for Plane; U.S. Lifts Arms Embargo Against Vietnam; Sanders Escalates Battle Against DNC; Operation to Retake Falluja Begins in Iraq; Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired May 23, 2016 - 04:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[04:32:23] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: New information on what was happening inside the cockpit of EgyptAir Flight 804 moments before it crashed as submarines are launched to hunt down the plane's black boxes. We are live in Egypt with the very latest.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning. President Obama lifting a 50-year ban on the selling of lethal weapons to Vietnam. A move that is sure to anger China. We are live with the repercussions that is happening.

KOSIK: New this morning, Iraq launching a new assault against ISIS. Can they take back a critical city from the terrorists? We're live.

And welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.

HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. 32 minutes past the hour and happening now, Egypt is deploying a submarine to help in the search for EgyptAir Flight 804. It's a robot submersible set to scour the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea for that jet's all important black boxes. Officials believe those flight recorders will reveal what went wrong with this plane, whether it was a mechanical failure, terrorism or something else.

French aviation officials confirmed over the weekend that the plane sent out automated messages signaling smoke at the front of the aircraft just moments before it disappeared from radar.

Following it all we go live to Egypt with CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson live in Alexandria.

Nic, what more can you tell us about this submarine and how will it help?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, what officials here are telling us is that priority is to recover the bodies for all the grieving families. They deployed this submarine. It has -- can go down to a maximum depth of 3,000 meters.

We're very short on details from the Egyptian authorities because they are not giving us a blow by blow account of everything that they're discovering and every step that they're taking. Finding the black boxes, they say is absolutely critical.

So this submarine go down to 3,000 meters but there is a problem here, a potential problem. And it is a big one. The sea out where the plane went down is as deep as 5,000 meters. This submersible and it is not clear whether it is doing an entirely visual search or does it have detection equipment on it that can pick up the pings that comes from those locating transmitters that are fixed on to the sides of the black boxes. It's not clear. We don't have that information from Egyptian authorities. So then this submersible, it may sound good, and it may give some help, but it may have a limited ability.

The Egyptian authorities have so far not found any large pieces of debris. And they haven't told us that they've been able to specifically locate precisely where the plane went down. What they're doing at the moment is actually cautioning us. The minister of aviation yesterday said look, it is too soon to say what brought down the aircraft.

[04:35:06] They've seen these indications of a smoke not too far from the cockpit at the time that the plane went down and disappeared from the radar. And he's saying we're going to take our time with this investigation. We're going to do it by the book and get it right -- George.

HOWELL: And Nic, so they continue searching for wreckage. Obviously they're also finding human remains. And this airline going through the process of notifying the next of kin, notifying family of what happened here. What more can you tell us about that process and how families are dealing with this?

ROBERTSON: It's a horrible and harrowing process for the families. And the government has to do something that no government official would like to do which is help grieving families through a terrible point of crisis in their lives. What they are doing is each day sort of taking the families step by step. The first briefing really they gave them as much information as they could that the search was going. Then on Saturday, they briefed the families about how they would then have to identify their loved ones and they talked about getting as much information as they could from the families in the identification process and also the use of DNA.

And then yesterday, they really switched another step forward, you know, for the families. A difficult emotional time, but there are practical issues, too. The government talked them through the legal steps of how they will get death certificates for their loved ones which will allow them, if you will, you know, when a bread winner has disappeared like this, they need to continue to run their lives and they need this sort of documentation so the government's, you know, stepping them through this all the time but we saw over the weekend those services for the flight attendant, for the pilot.

HOWELL: Yes.

ROBERTSON: They're just terrible harrowing experience for the families, George.

HOWELL: One can only imagine the grief of these families. And so few answers at this point.

Nic Robertson on the story. Nic, thank you for your reporting. We'll stay in touch.

KOSIK: Breaking news this morning sure to anger China. President Obama announcing at a joint news conference in Hanoi with Vietnam's president that the U.S. is fully lifting the decades' old ban on the sale of military equipment in Vietnam.

CNN's White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is traveling with the president. She joins us now live from Hanoi with the latest.

So, Michelle, you've got President Obama making this decision to lift this ban on arms sales to Vietnam despite the fact that Vietnam has a dismal record on human rights.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, this is one more way to counter China's influence in this region. And keep in mind, this arms embargo which has been in place for decades was partially lifted two years ago. So this is kind of a final step. And it is somewhat surprising especially given human rights here. But when President Obama made this announcement today, he explained it a little bit. He said this is not about China entirely. This is not tied to human rights. Listen to part of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're going to continue to engage in the case-by-case evaluations of these sales. But what we do not have is a ban that's based on an ideological division between our two countries because we think that at this stage both sides have established a level of trust and cooperation, including between our militaries that is reflective of common interests and mutual respect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: So the way President Obama framed it is this is based simply on the changing relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam that has been deepening. There is a lot more cooperation. There is a potential for more cooperation to come. Not just in security, but also in trade. However, you cannot ignore the human rights situation here. I mean, Human Rights Watch has said that human rights in Vietnam are dire. Dire is the word they used and in all areas.

This is a place that still arrests political prisoners. It's a one- party system. There's no freedom of speech. This is a place where just yesterday, the government ordered the BBC reporter to stop reporting in a place where our own broadcasts are actually aired here in Vietnam 10 minutes later so the government censors can check them out. If they don't like what we're saying they will turn it to black. Perhaps it will go to black after we say this just now.

But President Obama, it's not that he ignored human rights, he said he is making a push for that here. He looked forward to more dialogue on that. And that's the same thing that the new president of Vietnam added in the course of making this announcement, Alison.

KOSIK: It's also interesting, Michelle, that President Obama is spending three days in Vietnam. Certainly shows the importance he is placing on helping those ties between the U.S. and Vietnam there. Spending so much time there.

All right, CNN's Michelle Kosinski traveling with the president. Thanks so much.

HOWELL: Bernie Sanders is getting tough against the head of the Democratic National Committee.

[04:40:01] Sanders is blasting the party, its presidential primary process and ramping up his battle against DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Now fundraising for Schultz's opponent in the Democratic primary for her House seat in Florida. Sanders and Hillary Clinton campaigning against each other in California today as Sanders claims that despite his shortfall in delegates, he has a path to the White House.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has the story.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bernie Sanders is certainly striking a defiant tone as he barnstorms through California in the middle of a five-day swing here in the state of back-to-back events leading to California's June 7th primary.

And as he speaks to supporters, he is really trying to make the case to validate his path forward, validate staying in the race. Even though he is well behind in the popular vote, well behind in the pledged delegates. Here is what he told his supporters here in Vista, California Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We win when voter turnout is high. If voter turnout is high, with your help, we are going to win the lion's share of those delegates. If we win the nomination, I assure you, Donald Trump will not become president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And Sanders is also taking on a much harsher tone towards the Democratic nominating process and the Democratic leadership. And over the weekend, that came in the form of Bernie Sanders speaking out against Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the DNC chair. He actually endorsed her opponent in her congressional primary race over her, which of course is a bigger front to her leadership and to her personally. Here's what he told Jake Tapper on "STATE OF THE UNION."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: Clearly, I favor her opponent. His views are much closer to mine than as Wasserman Schultz's is. And let me also say this, in all due respected to the current chairperson, if elected president, she would not be reappointed to be chair of the DNC.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SERFATY: So absolutely no mincing of words there from Bernie Sanders. Now Debbie Wasserman Schultz has responded. She said, even though Bernie Sanders has endorsed her opponent, she intends to remain neutral during the primary process.

KOSIK: OK, Sunlen, thanks for that.

New polls show Hillary Clinton now in a dead heat with the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. In the "Wall Street Journal"/NBC News poll, Trump gains four points over last month at Clinton's expense putting him three points behind, a statistical tie. And in a new "Washington Post"/ABC News poll Trump is two points ahead, 46 percent to 44 percent. This as Clinton blast Trump over the weekend calling him dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do not want Americans and, you know, good-thinking Republicans, as well as Democrats and Independents, to start to believe that this is a normal candidacy. It isn't. What he is advocating -- look what he's done this past week, you know, attacking our closest ally, England. Heaping praise on a dangerous dictator in North Korea. Reiterating his call to pull out of NATO, our strong military alliance. Talking about letting other countries have nuclear weapons. Advocating a return to torture and even murdering the families of suspected terrorists. That is beyond the pale and it poses immediate dangers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Of course Trump fired back at Clinton last night naturally on Twitter, taking a dig at her ongoing fight for the nomination. Donald Trump writes, quote, "Bernie Sanders is continuing his quest because he believes that crooked Hillary Clinton will be forced out of the race. E-mail scandal," exclamation point.

Meanwhile, CNN has confirmed that Trump has a meeting today in New York that could enhance his foreign policy chops. He sits down with the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Tennessee Senator Bob Corker. Corker's name has been a floated a possible pick for a running mate.

Also today formal invitations go out for a meeting between Trump and evangelical leaders. It is set for June 21st and hosted by the Family Research Council.

KOSIK: Time for an EARLY START on your money. Dow futures are slightly higher this morning. Stock markets in Europe and Asia trading mixed. We are seeing oil prices lower. Hedge funds are dumping Apple and buying Facebook. Apple was the most sold stock by hedge funds during the first quarter. That's according to two separate reports from FactSet and S&P. The selling was led by billionaire Carl Icahn who dumped his entire stake in Apple. Other investors ditched the stock after it reported its first ever drop in iPhone sales. Shares of Apple hit a 52-week low in mid May, but those shares have

rebounded 7 percent since then regaining the title of the world's most valuable company in the process.

The new favorite stock among hedge fund is Facebook which is up 12 percent this year and just a few dollars away from an all-time high.

[04:45:07] The top 50 hedge funds bought $3 billion worth of Facebook shares in the first quarter.

HOWELL: Apple is having a tough time.

KOSIK: It is. And you know it's funny how quickly the darling of Wall Street can become not so much the darling of Wall Street.

(LAUGHTER)

HOWELL: Yes, overnight.

KOSIK: Yes.

All right. A police officer killed in the line of duty setting off an 18-hour manhunt and standoff. Dramatic videos capturing the scene.

And a touching tribute for Prince at the Billboard Music Awards. You want to stay for this next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Breaking overnight. An 18-hour manhunt for a suspected cop killer in Massachusetts ending late last night in a deadly police standoff. Authorities say 35-year-old Jorge Zambrano of Worcester shot and killed Officer Ronald Tarentino, a 42-year-old father of three, during a routine traffic stop. This happened early Sunday Morning.

[04:50:06] Zambrano later broke into a friend's house to hide. Now listen to that friend describe his final encounter with Zambrano moments before police killed him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw the police are out there. Like, what the hell's going on? And he just sat down and was totally depressed. And I can't tell you. I didn't see a weapon. My god, where can I go? And he said now I realized, I'm in trouble.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Police tried to convince Zambrano to come out of the house and surrender. They say they had to shoot him after he rushed out of a closet firing his weapon, wounding an officer in the shoulder. Authorities say they have no idea why Zambrano shot and killed Officer Tarentino earlier in the day.

HOWELL: There was a touching tribute, a night of music and honors at the Billboard Music Awards. Britney Spears, the recipient of the coveted Billboard Millennium Award, kicking off the show.

Adele won the night's biggest award for Top Artist.

And Justin Bieber took the stage and -- took home, I should say, two awards including Top Male Artist.

Always great to hear Rihanna sing, showing off her vocal range and an award for Chart Performance. The Weekend won eight trophies, including Best R&B Artist.

There's Kesha there. She let the music do the talking in her first televised performance since her public legal fight against her producer.

Now that looks kind of dangerous.

KOSIK: Like Cirque du Soleil.

HOWELL: Yes.

KOSIK: I don't think there's ever an awards show now where Pink is not hanging from the ceiling.

HOWELL: Right. And of course, you need fire around. Pink performing a high wire act for her new single "Just Like Fire." But it was Madonna's tribute to Prince that's really what stole the show.

Stevie Wonder there in that purple scarf joined Madonna on stage for a sing along finale with the whole arena light-up wristbands all in honor of Prince.

KOSIK: Beautiful scene there. I know Madonna is getting a lot of hate on social media unfortunately.

HOWELL: Yes.

KOSIK: I don't get it.

HOWELL: I don't either.

(LAUGHTER)

HOWELL: Great artist.

KOSIK: Let's talk about numbers and the Dow. The Dow on a four-week losing streak and today's move could set the tone for the rest of the week.

We're going to get an EARLY START on your money next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:57:15] HOWELL: Welcome back. The push to retake Falluja from ISIS is under way in Iraq. The country's prime minister there announcing the start of the military operation in a televised late- night address. Falluja has been under ISIS control for more than two years now. The battle to liberate that city is expected to be long and it is expected to be bloody.

Our Jomana Karadsheh is following the story from Amman, Jordan, and joins us live this hour.

Jomana, good to have you with us. So this is going to be no doubt an intense battle. What are officials telling people, the residents there to do in advance of this operation and as it pushes in?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, George, as we heard in the past 24 hours from the Iraqi military, the Iraqi prime minister, they are asking people, the civilians inside Falluja to leave the city. This operation, as you mentioned, under way in the last few hours overnight. But the issue has been how do these civilians leave? The military saying that they've created safe passage areas for them to leave through. That they've created hotlines that people can call into if they need to leave. And if they are unable to leave that they should raise a white flag on top of their buildings.

But the issue, George, has been over recent weeks. We have heard from organizations like Human Rights Watch, the United Nations raising these concerns about the tens of thousands of civilians inside Falluja. They say that they are trapped inside the city by ISIS and they are under siege by the Iraqi Security Forces and allied militias who have encircled the city in preparation for the operation. So there's been a lot of concern about how do these civilians leave especially after reports that have come out that civilians who have tried to do so, residents of Falluja, have been executed by ISIS, George.

HOWELL: It's a predominately Sunni city. And we're talking about Shia forces going in. How could that further complicate this effort that's already going to be difficult?

KARADSHEH: That is a serious concern. The majority of the forces that are taking part in this operation are what is known as the PMU. These are the Shia paramilitary groups that have been working side by side with the Iraqi military, taking -- recapturing cities from ISIS. As you mentioned the sectarian dynamic here very worrying. These are predominantly Shia forces that are backed by Iran. Falluja, a predominately Sunni city in the Sunni heartland, in Anbar Province.

There's been a lot of accusations in the past that these Shia militias going into these Sunni areas after liberating from -- liberating them from ISIS and carrying out reprisal attacks against the local population whom they accuse of being ISIS sympathizers. So a lot of concerns about how these forces will act and that could really enflame sectarian tensions in Iraq, something the country really cannot afford right now, George.

HOWELL: Jomana Karadsheh, live. Thank you so much.

KOSIK: All right. And EARLY START continues now.