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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Manhunt for Killers of Illinois Officer; Bush and Trump Step Up Feud; Wall Street Plunge; Chaos in Hungary. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired September 02, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:29] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A huge manhunt happening right now, after a police officer is killed. Three men wanted in this attack. We do have new information overnight. That's coming up.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The gloves are off for the race for president. Jeb Bush and Donald Trump on the attack, each releasing new ads online.

BERMAN: U.S. stocks plunge. The Dow dropping 500 points. So, what is behind this chaos on Wall Street and will it end?

ROMANS: Will it bounce today?

BERMAN: I don't know. Yes. But now, I bet it closes near zero.

ROMANS: I bet it closes at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

BERMAN: You're more eloquent than I am at 4:30. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Thirty-one minutes past the hour. I'll take that compliment, eloquent.

Let's begin with this breaking news this morning, folks. A huge manhunt under way in Fox Lake, Illinois. It's about an hour north of Chicago.

The police, federal agents, canine units and choppers and horseback officers were all out overnight and looking for three men suspected of shooting a Fox Lake police officer to death. Officials say that officer radioed as he was chasing three suspects on foot. Dispatchers lost contact, backup officers found Lieutenant Joe Gliniewicz dead and stripped of his gun and other gear. He leaves behind a community already in mourning.

This is Fox Lake Mayor Donnie Schmit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR DONNY SCHMIT, FOX LAKE: Lieutenant Joe Gliniewicz was a 30-year veteran, a decorated police officer, a family man and a dear friend of the entire village of Fox Lake. Not only did Fox Lake lost a family member, I lost a very dear friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: CNN's Ryan Young is in Fox Lake with the latest on the search.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This manhunt has been going on for more than 12 hours. You can see behind me, the command center police have been using for several hours as they look for these suspects. We are about a mile and a half from where the officer was shot.

Officer Joseph Gliniewicz, who was a father of four, was shot and killed, a 32-year veteran of the police officer here. Officers had been manning this area before spreading out to find the three suspects which would white males and one black male. That's the only description they have been given so far of the men they have been looking for.

This is an exhaustive where we see the ATF, the FBI, all bringing their SWAT teams into the area to look for these suspects.

Now, this 32-year-old -- 32-year vet of the police department was trying to answer a suspicious persons call when they encountered these there people, shots were fired, he was killed in the line of duty. Since then, people electric this community have been coming out and very upset about what happened and, in fact, lining the streets here with signs and having people with their support for the officer who are involved in this.

Imagine, the hundreds of officers who are now in this area looking for three suspects who have been involved in a murder of one of their own and something that we continue to follow. As we get more information, of course, we'll bring it to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. That was Ryan Young for us reporting from Fox Lake, Illinois. At least seven school districts in the area have cancelled classes today because of that manhunt.

BERMAN: New escalation this morning between the feud between Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. Each of the Republican candidates launching new social media attacks aimed at the other. A new web video from Jeb Bush assails Donald Trump as a late convert to conservatism and Trump responds in kind. He slams Jeb Bush as a dynasty candidate, not unlike Hillary Clinton.

CNN political reporter Sara Murray has the very latest from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and John. The attacks are really heating up now between Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. Jeb Bush really kicking it off yesterday when he released a video using Donald Trump's own words to paint the front-runner as a liberal.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you like representing the United States in a deal with Iran, with this regime?

DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MOGUL: Well, I think Hillary would do a good job. Hillary Clinton, I think is a terrific woman. I mean, I'm a little biased because I've known hors for years. I know her very well. She is very talented.

MURRAY: Now, Trump fired back on Twitter and in his own Instagram video.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We recognize the commitment of someone who has devoted her life to public service. I want to say thank you to both Secretary Clinton and to President Clinton.

MURRAY: Trump even did an interview with CNN where he explained that he used to be a Democrat.

TRUMP: You know, one other thing I'll say, because he mentions the fact that I was, at one point, a Democrat. Well, in New York City, everybody was a Democrat practically. If you run for city council, if you run for political office, if you -- whoever wins the Democrat primary is automatically, that is, you know, there was almost no election because the Republicans hardly exist in New York City.

Me, more than anybody else, I'll cross -- I'll go across lines.

[04:35:03] I think I'll have a lot of Democrats. You know, Reagan had Democrats for Reagan. It was a very big group of people and a very big bloc.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: The Reagan Democrats, yes.

TRUMP: I think I will have a lot of Democrats for Trump. I think I will have a lot of Democrats voting for me, far more than any Republican for the last long period of time.

I will say this and I will say this, you know, very strongly -- the Republican conservatives were not energized in the last election. Had they opinion energized and had they voted, you would have seen victory for Mitt Romney.

MURRAY: The big question now where do these attacks go next? Right now, we are seeing sort of an exchange on social media, on Twitter, on YouTube and Instagram. Not a lot of money behind these ads. The big question is whether we will see Jeb Bush's super PAC, which has a hundred million dollars weigh in on this fight and actually running ads against Donald Trump.

For now, the answer to that looks like it's no, but stay tuned.

Back to you, John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Sara Murray, thank you for that.

Carly Fiorina will likely benefit from a change in the selection criteria for the next Republican presidential debate in September 16th. Debate host CNN, of course, our boss, announced Tuesday any candidate who polls in the top ten between the first debates on August 6th and September 10th cutoff will be added to the group on stage.

The reason for the change: an unusual shortage of national polls following the first debates, Fiorina who surged in a handful of polls after that. Remember after that happy hour debate, she did so well in that. She is the candidate most likely to benefit from this change.

She praised this decision when she announced it on Meghan McCain's radio show.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They have said that the cause was a lack of national public polling data following the August 6th. And that is the truth. You know, there were so many polls prior to august 6th and there have been very few since August 6th. So, if you just average polls, you come up with an answer that doesn't reflect current reality.

So, you know what? Good for CNN and I am so appreciative for all of the support and the pressure that our grassroots supporters put on CNN because I'm quite sure it's made a difference.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BERMAN: It adds the interest and intrigue heading up to this next debate in just a few weeks, September 16th, right here on CNN. Do not miss it.

President Obama preparing for his final day in Alaska. He visits with fisherman this afternoon and takes -- he's going to go and see a cultural performance at a local middle school before coming back to Washington. It was a boat trip, though, that he took yesterday that had him sounding the alarm about global warming, a boat trip that brought him face-to-face with a rapidly melting glacier.

Let's get more from chief White House Jim Acosta in Anchorage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, we witnessed what will likely go down as one of the lasting images of the Obama presidency. The president was out on a boat of Seward Bay here in Alaska, taking a look at the glaciers that are melting rapidly in this state. We also saw some of the stunning wildlife that inhabit this majestic corner of the world. Mr. Obama spoke again on the issue of global warming, urging countries across the globe to change course before it's too late. Here is more of what the president had to say. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is one of the most

studied glaciers because it's so easily accessible. But what indicated because of the changing patterns of winners, with less snow, longer and hotter summers is how rapidly the glacier is receding.

And, you know, it sends a message about the urgency that we are going to need to have when it comes to dealing with this because, obviously, when the glaciers erode, that is also a sign of the amount of water that is being introduced into the oceans, rising sea levels, and the warming generally is having an impact on the flora and fauna of this national park.

ACOSTA: President Obama also hiked up to a melting glacier to get a first hand look at the effects of climate change here in Alaska. It's called exit glacier for a reason as it's melted a thousand feet in just the last ten years. He also taped that special with survivalist Bear Grylls. No word whether they got up and close and personal with any wildlife.

Later on today, the president heads to the arctic and he will hear from fishermen who are seeing their livelihoods threatened and he also talk to folks about nearby communities that are actually relocating because of the rapid melting in the Arctic -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to Jim Acosta for that.

Secretary of State John Kerry will deliver a speech in Philadelphia today in support of the Iran nuclear deal. The administration calls this a major speech. It is part of the Obama administration's full- court press to push an agreement through Congress. And, right now, the prospects look pretty good. Democratic Senators Chris Coons and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, they now say they support the measure which means the president needs just one more vote to essentially keep the Senate from blocking the deal.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money.

Asian stocks closed lower after another wild swing in China stocks.

[04:40:02] The Shanghai composite, John, it plunged more than 4 percent and then it rallied and recovered with a small loss when it closed. European stocks had been opened just under two hours now. They're lower, too. But U.S. stock futures are bunching.

Here's the damage report from yesterday. The Dow plunged 470 points, now down 12.5 percent from its high. The S&P 500 fell 3 percent and back into correction territory. Ominous start to september which is historically the worse month for stocks.

The problems? Fresh worries about China's economy. Plus tumbling oil prices. Prices fell a whopping 7 percent yesterday, even for oil, that is a big one way move.

Oil prices moving lower again right now and big oil companies, they are cutting jobs, lots of them. ConocoPhillips announced plans to cut 1,800 jobs. Most of those will be in North America. I think it's 10 percent of its workforce. More than 500 job cuts in ConocoPhillips in Houston alone.

In the last year, American companies have cut more than 15,000 jobs because of tumbling oil prices. We now know Canada is in recession because of tumbling oil prices. We know that the big move in oil, which is so good for consumers and so disruptive for other countries and oil producers and companies.

BERMAN: A lot of jobs lost.

All right. Baltimore bracing for protests. A judge will hear the case of six police officers accused in Freddie Gray's death. We have the details next.

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[04:45:01] The city of Baltimore on edge this morning, as the Freddie Gray case enters the pretrial stage. Six Baltimore officers charged in connection with the death of Freddie Gray who suffered fatal injuries while in police custody. Several key issues are expected to be raised in today's court proceedings.

Let's get more now from CNN's Jean Casarez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, today's pretrial hearing is extremely important for these six police officer defendants. They are asking first of all, for the judge to dismiss all of the charges. They are also asking that the state attorney's office be recused. And a special proper be brought in, and they are also asking for defendants to be severed or be tried together, another big issue today.

Now because of that, the Baltimore police department wants to be sure that they have their staffing so they have told the officers they cannot take leave today. So all officers have to be in place within the department, they cannot be off at all. And we have spoken to some businesses in the area that have alerted their employees to be on the lookout for traffic disruptions because community activists are actually asking for demonstrations because of all of this because of the importance of this hearing. And so, we really don't know what is going to happen as the day goes on today.

We believe, though, there will be some protests, there will be some demonstrations. One of the big issues here, the defense is asking that the judge dismiss all of the charges, based on timing. They say that when the police department finished their investigation on May 1st, that they took it to the commissioner of courts with their statement asking for conceivably charges. Thirteen minutes later was the first arrest.

So, they say that the prosecutor's office just was too quick on all of this and, therefore, the charges should be dismissed. They say that the state attorney has so many conflicts of interest in this case that the entire state attorney's office should be recused. Special prosecutor brought in.

And, lastly, the question of whether six defendants should be tried together or separately. Those arguments may take the longest of all today and we don't know if the judge is going to rule from the bench or if the judge will take this under advisement and those rulings will come at a later date. But all critical issues and, John and Christine, next week, change of venue on the table -- another pretrial hearing, another critical issue.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Jean Casarez there for us covering that.

Kentucky County clerk Kim Davis is defying the Supreme Court and says it's God's authority, not the law, that is guiding her, calling it a heaven or hell decision. She will not issue marriage licenses to gay couples on religious grounds. Davis was confronted at the rowan county courthouse a day after the court refused to intervene on her behalf and she turned couples away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM DAVIS, COUNTY CLERK STILL REFUSES TO ISSUE GAY MARRIAGE LICENSES: We are not issuing marriage license today.

REPORTER: Based on what? Why are you mot issuing marriage licenses today?

DAVIS: Because I'm not.

REPORTER: Why?

REPORTER: Under who's authority are you not issuing --

DAVIS: Under God's authority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Davis has been ordered to appear in federal court Thursday and she faces fines and the possibility of jail time.

BERMAN: The migrant crisis exploding in Europe. Thousands trying to escape war-torn homes, stranded as we speak with no place to go.

We're live next.

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[04:52:04] BERMAN: The migrant crisis in Europe spiraling out of control. Chaos erupts in Hungary where police were forced to clear hundreds of men, women, and children from Budapest main strain stations. A seemingly never ending wave of migrants and refugees, mostly from Iraq and Syria, they are desperate to reach Germany any way they can. That is why they are going through Hungary.

I want to go live now to Budapest, and bring in CNN's senior international correspondent Arwa Damon.

Arwa, so much happening around you as we speak.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There really is. There is a massive demo taking place in front of the train station because people don't know what to do at this stage to try to pressure the various authorities to allow them to move on to Germany and they cannot deal with living in the streets any more, something that has been especially difficult for the parents who dragged their kids on this entire very dangerous journey, never expecting that they would end up having to live like beggars effectively in abject poverty, with just a pizza box or a thin blanket to sleep on.

I want to show you one family who we were just speaking to very briefly. They are right here. They are from Syria and they are from Damascus and in the wheelchair is a young man named Muraj (ph). He is 32 years old and his entire family made the journey. They traveled by boat, by land. They walked pushing him in his wheelchair the entire way.

I was just speaking to his mother who is sitting there cradling her grandson and she said, I can't begin to tell you what we have been through. Well, we can get over all of it but what we can't seem to get past is how we are treated here in Hungary and all of this family, like everyone else want to do is finally bring about an end to having be humiliated like by this and bring about an end that has been their lives up until now and just get to Germany. All they want is a chance to be able to live a dignified life. All they want is to be able to build a future, any sort of future for themselves and their children. They can't understand why they are being left to languish like this.

The European Union laws that govern the seeking of asylum, refuges, they antiquated and they cannot be applied to the massive influx that Europe is seeing right now, the likes of which it has not seen since World War II and the vast majority of these people are refuges of the wars in Iraq and Syria. They are people that were not able to stay back home any longer.

It's not an option for them any more. They did not want to die in their homelands and that is why they are bringing along their children, those that have physical disabilities, those that are too young to even walk, dragging them across Europe in hopes of that and now still being left stuck here in Hungary.

[04:55:00] BERMAN: People fleeing fear and clinging to hope. Only to have that hope smashed by these governments that are having so much trouble dealing with the situation.

Arwa Damon in Hungary, thank you so much for that report.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROMANS: A lot going on. I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an early

start on your money this morning.

Stocks looking for a comeback after yesterday's very ugly dive. Asian stocks closed lower with another huge swing for China stocks. European stocks are also down but U.S. stocks futures are looking more upbeat at this hour.

Yesterday, the Dow plunged 470 points, now down 12.5 percent from its record high. Now, the problem here fresh worries about China's economy, plus tumbling oil prices. Oil fell 7 percent yesterday and moving lower again right now.

All right. McDonald's breakfast lovers rejoice. Soon you'll be able to get that egg McMuffin at any time of the day. McDonald has been experimenting with all day breakfast in the few markets. Apparently, it's working. Starting October 6th -- it will be available nationwide, all day breakfast, part of the fast food giant's effort to turn around slumping sales.

The company says all day breakfast is most likely the number one request from customers. It's been like a pop culture joke for years. At 10:30, you walk up to get egg McMuffin and like, no, the screen closes.