Guns Debate Dominates Democratic Race; Obama's Final State of the Union Address
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders battle it out in the very first voting state as there is shrinkage on the Republican debate stage.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama hours away from his final State of the Union Address. What you can expect.</s>BERMAN: New video inside the violent raid that took down El Chapo and new information on how he almost got away.</s>ROMANS: Machine gun fire, something, huh.</s>BERMAN: Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.</s>ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is 31 minutes past the hour. Nice to see you all this morning. A Democratic face-off deep into night in Iowa. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders at the candidate forum in the state where the polls are surprisingly close this morning. Clinton with just the tiniest of 3- point lead in the latest survey which perhaps explains why now she is going directly after her opponent on issues ranging from gun violence to electability. CNN's Brianna Keilar has the latest from Iowa.</s>BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both here in the Hawkeye State as the race tightens. In the polls, they are at a statistical tie, something that Bernie Sanders is thrilled about, and as you can imagine, the Clinton campaign is not. Both candidates trying to draw contrast with each other at the brown and black presidential forum where they answered questions about the unique challenges facing African-Americans and Latino Americans.</s>JORGE RAMOS, UNIVISION ANCHOR: As you know, Secretary Clinton has been criticizing you. Have you noticed lately she is getting more aggressive with you?</s>SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes!</s>RAMOS: Why is that?</s>SANDERS: I don't know. It could be --</s>RAMOS: You tell me.</s>SANDERS: It could be the inevitable candidate for the Democratic nomination may not be so inevitable today.</s>RAMOS: Final question. Can you say categorically tonight that Senator Bernie Sanders cannot win the presidency?</s>HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't -- anybody can win. I mean, this is a -- this is -- who would have thought Donald Trump would be leading in national polls? I mean, for those of you ever thought about running for president, take heart. I mean --</s>KEILAR: Guns have been playing very large in the Democratic race here in the final weeks. Hillary Clinton taking aim at Bernie Sanders over his more moderate record. And Bernie Sanders for his part saying that he is open to reconsidering his stance on immunity for gun makers and for gun store owners should weapons they produce or sell be used in a crime -- John and Christine.</s>ROMANS: All right. Brianna, thank you. Hillary Clinton has two events today before heading to Detroit with a fund-raiser with Michael Bolton. Her daughter Chelsea stumps in New Hampshire on her first solo event this year. Senator Sanders will be in Washington tonight for President Obama's State of the Union Address.</s>BERMAN: A dramatic shakeup of the debate stage overnight. Rand Paul doesn't like one bit. Fox Business Network announced that just seven Republicans are qualified for Thursday's main debate stage in South Carolina. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and John Kasich. Some names you did not hear on that list, Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina, who were on the main stage last month, relegated to the undercard with Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee, that is until Rand Paul he wouldn't show up for the undercard. He announced his decision on CNN.</s>SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We do not think that anyone should really be able to characterize our campaign as anything less than first tier. We've raised $25 million. We're going to be on the ballot in every state and we just announced that we have 1,000 precinct chairs in Iowa. So, we think it's a rotten thing to do to try to designate which candidates have a chance and don't. And so, we will not participate in anything that's not first tier.</s>BERMAN: That's the first time a candidate skipped a debate like this. We'll see how it plays. Meanwhile, front runner Donald Trump will be center stage on that debate. He was center stage on "The Tonight Show" overnight, talking about Hillary Clinton and really making fun of her for trailing Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire polls.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think she is having a tough time. She's got some guy who -- I mean, he should be easy to beat. How can you lose like this? He really isn't even a Democrat. Well, he said he's a socialist. I think he may be a step beyond a socialist and she is not doing well. She is about tied in Iowa. She's losing New Hampshire, which is sort of amazing.</s>BERMAN: Now, Hillary Clinton is not the only person that Donald Trump is talking about. He is talking about Ted Cruz. This was New Hampshire where at a rally, unprompted, Donald Trump continues to bring up where Ted Cruz was born and if he is eligible to run for president. CNN's Sara Murray has the latest.</s>SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and John. We are just weeks away from the Iowa caucuses and it's a dead heat between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Trump with 31 percent support from likely Republican caucusgoers, and Cruz at 29 percent. That is within the margin of error. That tight race is why we are seeing Trump go after Cruz on everything from whether he is a true evangelical, to his stance on ethanol, to his citizenship.</s>TRUMP: But Ted Cruz has a problem because the question is, is he a natural born citizen? I don't know. I mean, nobody knows. You can't have a nominee who will be subject to be thrown out as a nominee. You just can't do it. So, you're going to make that decision, folks. I mean, it's one of those little decisions. I'm sure Ted is thrilled that I'm helping him out, but I am. I mean, I am. I mean, he's got to go and he's got to fix it.</s>MURRAY: Now, Cruz says he is a natural born citizen because his mother is a citizen. And most legal scholars agree. But even as we are seeing Trump ramp up these attacks, he can relish his wide lead in early state. A new Monmouth University poll in New Hampshire shows Trump drawing 32 percent support from Republican primary voters. That's more than double the 14 percent support that Cruz has there. But look who else is climbing up, tying for second place in New Hampshire is Ohio Governor John Kasich. That same New Hampshire poll showed up one in three GOP voters are set on who to support. You can see it is still a very fluid race. Back to you, John and Christine.</s>BERMAN: All right, Sara. Iowa votes less than three weeks from today. That is where Donald Trump and Jeb Bush will be today. Ted Cruz is in New Hampshire. Later, he will join Senators Marco Rubio and Rand Paul in Washington. They will be in the audience for the State of the Union Address.</s>ROMANS: Tonight's speech will be President Obama's seventh and final State of the Union Address. The White House says the president will not roll out a to-do list of agenda items he hopes to accomplish during his last year in office. Instead, aides say the president will try to rise above the election year acrimony and celebrate what they call a vision of one American family. CNN's Jim Acosta has more from the White House.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, White House officials say the president will deliver an unconventional speech during his final State of the Union address later on tonight. The president will talk about the America he hopes to see after he leaves office, but there are still a few things he wants to accomplish over the coming year. White House aides say the president will not only defend his executive actions on guns but will talk about his plan to close the terror detention prison at Guantanamo, pass criminal justice reform and take the fight to ISIS. As a tribute to the victims of gun violence, there will be an empty seat in the first lady's box to symbolize the lives lost in mass shootings. There will be a touch of the nostalgia in the president's speech as he will look back to his historic 2008 campaign, and point to one of his first supporters, Edith Childs, who coined the chant, "Fired up, ready to go", a favorite at Obama rallies. The White House has hinted there won't be a long laundry list of proposals in this last State of the Union, an acknowledgment that time is winding down and Congress is looking to the next election -- John and Christine.</s>ROMANS: All right. Jim, thank you for that. You can tune in for CNN's live coverage of the State of the Union tonight beginning at 7:00 with "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT", followed by special edition of "AC360". And then President Obama's address at 9:00 p.m. The Republican response given this year by South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley will immediately follow the president's speech.</s>BERMAN: We're coming on early tomorrow, 3:15 a.m. Don't want to miss that. That's the real post-game, 3:15 a.m. tomorrow. A very special EARLY START. Breaking news out of Turkey: Istanbul rocked by an explosion just a few hours ago in the heart of the city. Ambulances and police are on the scene in the Sultanahmet Square. This is really Istanbul's main tourist hub, the Hippodrome, no far from the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sofia, the Topkapi Palace. Injuries have been reported. So far, no confirmed fatalities. Istanbul suffered many deadly terror attacks in the recent months. That city very much on edge. We are watching these developments. We want an update on the casualties as soon as we can. We will bring updates throughout the morning.</s>ROMANS: All right. Thirty-nine minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money. Futures are lower at this hour and global stock markets are mixed ahead of corporate earnings season. Tonight, the president has final chance and a big chance to tout the state of your money. Presidents, of course, get too much credit and too much blame for what happens in the economy their tenure. But here is the Obama economy in three charts, first, unemployment, the jobless rate spikes above 10 percent during Obama's first year in office. Since then, the jobless rate has been cut in half, more than 9 million jobs have been added. But here is the asterisk, working Americans not making as much. Median household incomes lag in the recovery and has yet to rebound. What did rebound? The stock market. Oh, how it rebounded, Berman. Since Obama took office, the S&P 500 is up 126 percent. The president wanted to raise the minimum wage. The president wanted to get two years free community college. Lots of things he wanted to do and has not -- immigration reform. Things he has not been able to accomplish. But for investors, no question, it has been unbelievable last seven years.</s>BERMAN: If you buy in 2007 and 2008, things were looking up right now.</s>ROMANS: All right. Dramatic video capturing the military raid on Mexican drug lord El Chapo's hideout. We've got that for you next.