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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Monday GOP Forum Draws 14 Candidates; Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood Stalls; Tent Collapses: 2 Killed, Dozens Injured. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired August 04, 2015 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight, voters across the country have their first -- very first chance to see most of the Republican field together.
[04:30:02] This was not a debate, but this was one at a time, a candidate forum hosted by "The New Hampshire Union-Leader".
CNN's Athena Jones has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys.
This forum was the chance for you to hear directly from all of the candidates who wanted to participate. There was no cutoff, so any candidate who chose to show up could show up. This was all about focusing voters in the early voting states right here in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Iowa, aimed at those voters and airing on stations in those states.
Now, almost all of the candidates chose to come. There were three no shows. One of them was Donald Trump, who happens to be leading in recent national polls and also leading in the latest WMUR poll here in the state of New Hampshire. He skipped the forum last night.
You didn't hear the candidates really taking anytime blasting the Donald. Instead, they held their fire for Hillary Clinton.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm fluent in Clinton speak. You want me to translate that? When he says -- Bill says, "I didn't have sex with that woman", he did. When she says, "I'll tell you about Bill and the pipeline when I get to be president" means she won't. When she tells us, "Trust me, you've got all of the e-mails that you need", we haven't even scratched the surface. So, I understand this crowd and I can beat them.
JONES: So, there you have it. Some harsh words for Hillary Clinton from Senator Lindsey Graham.
Now, this, of course, was not a debate. It was a forum, where candidates were asked questions in one-on-one setting, over several minutes. But it still gave them a chance to practice delivering policy positions in a concise manner.
Now, Donald Trump has said he doesn't see how you can, quote, "artificially prepare for something like a debate". So, it doesn't sound like he is spending a lot of time rehearsing which should make Thursday evening all the more interesting.
Back to you, guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Unless he is really rehearsing and not telling us, which is possible.
Our thanks to Athena for that.
Three senators running for president had to appear at the candidate forum by video. Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, they were in Washington for a vote on a bill to defund Planned Parenthood.
The measure failed to get the 60 votes need to advance. Planned Parenthood has come under fire intense fire after an anti-abortion group released a series of secretly recorded videos. The group says its videos prove Planned Parenthood profits from the sale of aborted fetuses for medical research, something Planned Parenthood denies.
At the candidate forum, the candidates had strong opposition for funding of Planned Parenthood.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: These recent videos show the atrocity of that and the level of depravity that we have sunk into as a nation. And we simply have to stop that. If people want to do it, let them take money out of their pocket, let them find other depraved individuals to help them.
MODERATOR: Should Planned Parenthood receive federal taxpayer funding?
CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Absolutely not. This is about the character, the moral character of our nation. It's not about whether you're pro-choice or pro-life. This is taking care of people who need our care is part of the moral fiber of our nation as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards responded in a statement to the failed Senate vote in defunding and to conservatives' plans to try to attach defunding provisions to upcoming federal spending bills. She said, "While some extreme Republicans may continue to insist on shutting down the government in order to deny health care, including birth control to millions of women, that is a fight that the American people have zero appetite for and a fight these extremists, she says, will not win." Hillary Clinton put out a video overnight making clear she fully supports funding for Planned Parenthood. This video overnight making clear she fully supports federal funding for Planned Parenthood. This campaign video came out during the vote. The former secretary of state named some of the Republicans by name and said that every woman in the United States has the right to make her own health care decisions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When they attack women's health, they attack America's health and it's wrong. And we're not going to let them get away with it. We're not going back. We're going to fight back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Clinton's chief Democratic rival at least right now, Senator Bernie Sanders, blasted Republicans for trying to defund Planned Parenthood. He calls it a smear campaign and an attack on women's health.
ROMANS: Breaking news: two people killed when a circus tent collapses in Lancaster, New Hampshire. At least 27 other people were hospitalized. There were 100 people inside the tent watching the Walker Brothers circus when a powerful thunderstorm packing 60 mile an hour winds and one-inch hail blew through.
This man's 4-year-old son was badly injured, badly injured by part of a tent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRANDON ISHAM, FATHER OF INJURED BOY: I believe it was a pole. It happened so fast. But a pole, and he took it to the upper side of his left eye, right to his forehead. Cut him open pretty good. All I saw was blood when I looked down (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Officials are not releasing the names of the two people killed, but describes the victims as a young man and a young girl.
[04:35:02] BERMAN: Troubling news this morning on the war against ISIS. Pentagon officials tell CNN that ISIS remains as strong as it was a year ago, citing a classified intelligence assessment. The official says Iraqi security forces and ISIS are in a stalemate. The good news, says the official, is that ISIS is no longer making rapid advances which the Pentagon does consider progress.
ROMANS: A new Syrian force trained by the Pentagon has suffered its first battlefield fatality. U.S. officials believe the dead Syrian fighter was killed last Friday during a clash with the Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate. That battle triggered the first U.S. airstrike in defense of the American-backed Syrian backed force. The Pentagon program to train Syrian rebels to fight ISIS has faced many challenges. Only about 60 recruits making it on to the field so far.
BERMAN: Lobbyists, diplomats and administration officials will face off today over the Iran nuclear deal at a series of hearings and forums. Opponents of the deal say it is a threat to Israel. They also say it would give money for Iran to sponsor terror groups around the world. Supporters of the nuclear deal, including the administration, say it's the last best chance to battle Iran's nuclear ambitions.
A big diplomatic win for the White House. Gulf Arab States now say they support the deal. Some of these nations had previously reticent. They said it gave Iran, a regional power, too much power in that region.
In Tehran, debate over the deal could be setting the stage for the political comeback of a hardliner. Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a campaign ahead of parliamentary elections next year.
ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money this Tuesday morning. China stocks are having a nice day, up a lot. The Shanghai benchmark index up close to 4 percent. The Chinese government cracking down on short selling. The Chinese government has been working hard to boost that market, the market that soared last year and crashed this year.
Stocks elsewhere barely moving though. Yesterday, the Dow fell 92 points. That slide led by energy stocks. Oil prices, they are edging up a bit this morning. But look at the price of oil, John, sitting just below $46 a barrel. Yesterday, oil prices down 4 percent.
Oil output from OPEC climbed from a record in July. That's adding to a huge supply glut. That's bad news for energy companies. Bad news for employment in energy companies but great news for drivers. Gas prices have fallen for 20 days in a row. The national average today is $2.64, almost $1 cheaper than this time last year.
BERMAN: Lawsuits filed in the wake of stunning video. An officer accused of handcuffing misbehaving children. The story behind this video next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:41:16] BERMAN: Outrage this morning after video emerged showing a child with ADHD being placed in handcuffs by a school resource officer in Kentucky.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't get to swing at me like that. You don't get to swing at me like that. You can do what we asked you to or you can suffer the consequences.
UNIDENTIFIED KID: It hurts!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit down in the chair like I've asked you to. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Handcuffs.
This is apparently one of two incidents. Now, the ACLU is suing the Kenton County sheriff and the officer in the video on behalf of the children's mothers. The suit acknowledged both children had been disruptive in school. The boy also tried to hit the officer, but says the force used by the officer with the cuffs above the elbows was unnecessary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICKELL HOWARD, CHILDREN'S LAW CENTER: School resource officers are supposed to be there to protect our children and not harm them. We would like for them to change their policies and practices so this never happens to another child in elementary school again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: CNN is reaching out to the officer for comment. We have not been able to make contact.
ROMANS: The child in this video is in third grade. I believe he's 8 years old. Special education teachers, special education aide, special education experts and parents will tell you that it is strategies and classroom management before an episode like this that is so important for children with special needs, if this child had ADHD, it's not --
BERMAN: It's tough to see.
ROMANS: -- punishment at the end does nothing. Counter productive. You know, some of the unsung heroes in the classrooms are special ed teachers who know how to manage the child's behavior and help them learn in an inclusion setting. This is just really hard to watch, really hard to watch, 8 years old.
All right. We'll keep you posted on that story unfolds.
Meantime, the manhunt for a paroled bank robber who allegedly shot and killed a Memphis police officer is over. Twenty-nine-year-old Tremaine Wilbourn will be in court this morning after surrendering to authorities late yesterday. He is accused of gunning down Officer Sean Bolton during a traffic stop Saturday night. Bolton will be buried on Thursday.
Darren Wilson, the former Ferguson, Missouri police officer, who shot and killed teenager Michael Brown. He is speaking out. Wilson tells "The New Yorker Magazine" he is living in a house wired with surveillance cameras on a dead end street outside St. Louis. He rarely goes out in public, cannot find a job in law enforcement, he says, and he will not discuss the Michael Brown shooting because of pending legal issues.
Some of his comments to the magazine about inner city families are stirring anger in Brown's family. This is what he says in this "New Yorker" article, Wilson says, quote, "They are so wrapped up in a different culture than -- what I'm trying to say is, the right culture, the better one to pick from, pre-gang culture where you are just running in the streets -- not worried about working in the morning, but worried about your immediate gratification. It is the same younger culture that is everywhere in the inner cities."
The Brown family attorney claims those comments prove Darren Wilson is a racist. Listen to his comments followed by a Darren Wilson's lawyer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY GRAY, BROWN FAMILY ATTORNEY: I find it really appalling that he would make that reference when he had a turbulent upbringing himself by his own admission. So, I guess that kind of hypocrisy really turns I think most readers off, and it just perpetuates the view of Darren Wilson as being self-serving in everything that he said and done since August the 9th.
NEIL J. BRUNTRAGER, DARREN WILSON'S ATTORNEY: Darren Wilson is no racist. I know him well. I think the article misrepresents who he is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Darren Wilson says he would like to rejoin the Ferguson police force one day just to prove he has not been, quote, "defeated".
[04:45:01] BERMAN: New information this morning. The death of Samuel DuBose, a 43-year-old Ohio man who was shot and killed during a traffic stop by University of Cincinnati police officer. During that stop, Officer Ray Tensing asked DuBose about a bottle in the front seat labeled gin. DuBose can be heard telling the officer it was only air freshener. But Tensing's initial report said DuBose produced an alcohol bottle. Now, the lab reports are in. It turns out it was just air freshener in that bottle.
ROMANS: James Holmes is one step closer to a possible death sentence this morning. A Colorado jury rejecting defense claims that Holmes' mental illness should rule out capital punishment. Holmes killed 12 people, wounded 70 others when he opened fire inside an Aurora movie theater in 2012. In the next phase of sentencing, family members of the victims will get to speak directly to the jurors.
BERMAN: Comedian Amy Schumer is taking a stand against gun violence following the deadly movie theater shooting in Lafayette, Louisiana, joining with her second cousin once removed, New York Senator Charles Schumer. The two of them are calling for a stronger background check system for gun buyers. Amy Schumer was clearly emotional and she would not speak the shooter's name.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMY SCHUMER, COMEDIAN: For me, the pain I share with so many other Americans on the issue of gun violence, it was made extra personal to me on Thursday, July 23rd. When -- I'm not even going to say his name. When this -- he sat down for my movie "Trainwreck" at the Grand Theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana. Two lives were tragically lost and others injured. And I thought about these victims each day since the tragedy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The gunman killed 33-year-old Jillian Johnson and 21-year-old Mayci Breaux during a screening of Schumer's film "Trainwreck" before killing himself.
ROMANS: Amy Schumer said she'd been getting sort of death threats and kind of unkind comments, but that she really feels strongly about this, really feels strongly about this.
BERMAN: You can tell.
ROMANS: Wildfire raging in California. Thousands evacuated from their homes. The flames, folks, are spreading this morning. We've got new developments in California overnight, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:50:53] ROMANS: More than 13,000 people evacuated, thousands of structures under threat as fire crews in California struggle to contain the so-called rocky wildfire. Now, the flames, about 12 percent contained, 60,000 acres charred. There is no rain in the forecast to help firefighters, just the latest in the string of wildfires that have torched 134,000 acres this year. Officials say the fire is reaching epic levels.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FIRE OFFICIAL: The term I'm using is "historic", and the reason I say is there are firefighters that have 20, 25, 30 years on the job that have never seen fire behavior like we've seen the last couple of days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: We have the latest from CNN's Paul Vercammen for us in California.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and John, the nemesis of firefighters here in Northern California: shifting winds. Winds at one point going one direction and flip-flapping back to the other direction. Late in the day, the Rocky Fire here in Colusa County actually jumped over Highway 20 and firefighters had a new pitch battle, had a new front on their hands.
Now, here on Highway 16, the eastern flank of the fire, firefighters had had it. Here's what they had to do. Fight fire with fire behind me. Behind me, very carefully set back fires. They use the mix of diesel fuel and gasoline to go ahead and light up much of the hillside. The idea being as you see, create as much burned out black space as possible so the fire has no chance to advance forward -- really a tough job for the firefighters as they face three things, extremely low humidity, you've got high heat in the afternoon and then those dastardly winds.
Back to you now, Christine and John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Thanks, Paul.
BERMAN: We want to know what the weather will hold today. Will help firefighters there? Let's get to meteorologist Ivan Cabrera.
IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And, Christine and John, what's making it more difficult here is weather conditions not cooperating, especially to the afternoon as temperatures begin to go up. So, it's not hard to believe this jumped and because of the drought obviously. Firefighters talking about 2030, saying they have never seen fire behavior like this.
Sixty-two thousand acres have now burned, 12 percent containment. It is still low, but it's better than where we were at last couple of days 5 percent. Temperatures to the afternoon in the 80s, relative humidity begins to go down.
My concern will be the next few days as temperatures climb back up. We had been in the 100s. Now, we're going to go back with high temperatures into the 90s. We will keep you posted on that.
And also, on the severe weather potential across the Northeast one again, we had deadly storms that rolled through the Northeast. We have a highlighted area across portions of the plains for showers and thunderstorms to develop in the afternoon as we get the daytime heating. Watch out in Boston there as well, New York could see some strong thunderstorms along that boundary, that stretches through the center of the country.
Southeast, scattered thunderstorms. The story here is hot temperatures. The story here will be high temperatures, get ready for triple digit heat again in Dallas. Highs in the 100s. Summer is on us -- guys.
ROMANS: All right, Ivan Cabrera.
Fifty-three minutes past the hour.
You know, there's a critical business story making the rounds this morning. Ladies, do you have one of these at work? Do you wear a blanket or sweater?
John Berman doesn't. John Berman is always nice and toasty. It's perfect. A sign of gender bias in your office, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:58:10] ROMANS: All right. I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an early start on your money this morning.
U.S. stock futures, they're down slightly right now. They're following really yesterday's lead when the Dow fell 92 points. Weak manufacturing numbers and falling oil prices there.
Oil is inching up a bit this morning after a big 4 percent slide yesterday. Look at crude oil prices here. Back around $46. That's because oil producers are adding to the supply glut.
Top retailers will stop selling realistic toy guns in New York. Walmart, Amazon, Kmart and others announce a deal with the New York state attorney general to stop these gun sales, illegal gun sales. The problem, toy guns can be mistaken for the real thing by officers. Those realistic toy guns were already illegal, but companies still selling them. The guns need to be brightly colored with a visible logo.
All right. Is your office freezing cold? It turns out that blasting air conditioning might be bias against women in the workplace.
According to new research, modern offices set temperatures based on the metabolic rate of a 40-year-old, 155-pound man. This has been this way for years. That may have described the typical workers in the 1960s, but not anymore. Women make up 47 percent of the workforce. They're the ones you're most likely to see wrapped in blankets in the office.
BERMAN: Can I say two things?
ROMANS: Yes?
BERMAN: Number one, I don't think any office I worked in has been run by people who knew what the metabolic rate of anyone was. Number one. Number two, like who says I don't walk around in a tank top or tube top and get very chilly? Why is this a gender thing?
ROMANS: Tank top or tube top --
BERMAN: It's not -- I mean, why is this women are more cold than men?
ROMANS: If you look around, tweet John Berman if you are outraged by his comments.
Now, when you look around the newsroom, when you look around any office, you see lots of women with sweaters, with blankets because it's so darn cold.
BERMAN: I wore a flannel shirt yesterday in the office in August, because it's chilly. And I don't think it's a gender thing.
ROMANS: OK. Well, they could raise it a degree, just a few degrees. I think they save money and everyone will be happier.
BERMAN: The metabolic rate.
