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Campaign Trail Heats Up For Labor Day; Massive Flood of Migrants Overwhelms Austria, Germany; Funeral Today for Illinois Officer; Funeral Today for Illinois Officer; Dentist Breaks Silence on Lion Hunt; Muslim Flight Attendant Claims Discrimination. Aired 9- 9:30a ET

Aired September 07, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:06] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM. Picnic? Nah. The president celebrates Labor Day by signing an executive order forcing employers to pay for sick leave. Hundreds of thousands of workers affected. Will Republicans respond?

Also, thousands of migrants flooding in but Germany and Austria say they can't keep taking them in such high numbers. This is as the Pope pressures Catholics to open their doors.

And talk about a tackle. A ref level during a high school football game. Was it on purpose?

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

This Labor Day hundreds of thousands of employees will get a major boost from President Obama. He's speaking in less than two hours and the president is also expected to sign an executive order requiring contractors to offer paid sick leave to federal employees. A move that could greatly impact low wage workers.

In the meantime, Republicans and Democrats vying for his job are hitting the campaign trail in full force today. Bernie Sanders expected to speak later this morning in Manchester, New Hampshire. New polls out this morning show Sanders surging ahead of Hillary Clinton there. He's picking up sizable gains in Iowa. The big question? Is Clinton now the underdog?

Plus, she's back. And for a reason. Donald Trump says he would love to appoint Sarah Palin to an executive branch position. In an exclusive interview with CNN Palin says she's in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: When you're here, let's speak American. I mean, that -- let's speak English and we need a president who will put America first. And like I say, the president -- carry a big stick. Don't carry a selfie stick. I think I'd rather have a president who is tough and puts America first than can win a game of trivial pursuit. I don't think the public gives a flying flip if somebody knows who today is a specific leader of a specific leader or religion. That leader will change, of course. I think a lot about Department of Energy and if I were head of that, I'd get rid of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Needless to say, she is for Donald Trump for president. Joining me now to talk about this and more, CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny. He's in Davenport, Iowa, this morning.

Good morning.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. Hillary Clinton is starting this Labor Day period of her campaign in such a different place than she ever would have expected. And Bernie Sanders has gone from becoming more of a summer sensation and the real deal here this fall.

Let's take a look at some of those numbers a little bit more carefully. In New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders is now leading Hillary Clinton by some nine points. That is a big change from July when she was over him by about 10 points or so.

And the trend in Iowa is similar, Carol. Hillary Clinton is still leading Bernie Sanders by 11 points, but, boy, that is cut in half from some 24 points just about six weeks or so ago in July. So this trend is continuing here as the fall campaign is underway. And if you look at Joe Biden, when you factor him in, he's coming in at about 20 percent or so. So Democrats have a favorable view of Joe Biden. Of course, he has not yet decided if he's jumping into this presidential campaign. He'll decide over the course of this month.

But Hillary Clinton knows the race is on. She has a tight race. She spoke about that last night in Cedar Rapids. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's going to be a fight. Make no mistake about it. It's going to be a hard election. The other side has said they will spend, do, and say anything to win back the White House. I have a little experience with that, and I am absolutely confident that whatever they throw at me, I can throw it right back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Of course, we have seen Hillary Clinton when she is down on her heels a little bit or back on her heels. She becomes a stronger opponent. A stronger candidate. Of course, she's talking about Republicans there, but the Democrats are the first thing she needs to contend with. She's going to draw a contrast with Bernie Sanders. Not by going after him over these next coming weeks.

She's going to try and look more presidential, I'm told, Carol. She's going to deliver a speech on Iran this week on Wednesday. The campaign is going to put her in more presidential settings. The question is whether these liberal progressive Democrats will buy that or if they want to see more fire from her.

So coming up this week she's on the "Ellen" show tomorrow and then this real fall campaign, post Labor Day campaign will begin from here. Five months until the Iowa caucuses -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jeff Zeleny, reporting live from Iowa this morning.

When it comes to the Republican field, Donald Trump is tightening his grip around the top spot in places like Iowa and in New Hampshire.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is live from Milford, New Hampshire, this morning where a number of Republicans are expected to make appearances today.

Good morning, Sunlen.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. That's right. Many of the Republican candidates will be here to march in a Labor Day -- Labor Day parade, and really fresh on their mind is that they've got to catch up to Donald Trump. Here in New Hampshire new polls show that he has a commanding lead. He's 16 points ahead of any other candidate in the race here in New Hampshire, and certainly what we're seeing in these new poll numbers is a really striking decline for Jeb Bush. He's lost nearly half of his support here in New Hampshire in the past month.

The same trend holds up, again, in Iowa where we're seeing Trump, again, in the lead. And again for Jeb Bush really a sharp decline, along with Scott Walker, who is only polling at 5 percent in Iowa. He in July was in the lead there. So severely sharp decline for Walker.

I caught up with Scott Walker here in New Hampshire yesterday as he was launching his motorcycle tour through the state and I asked him about his decline. Here is how he responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT WALKER (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The person who won the primary four years ago was about that same point at this point. So we have every confidence that, like I said, there are going to be ups and downs in polling along the way. But our key is to stay true to who we are and get our message out. A lot of the other campaigns have been advertising. We don't have ads up yet. I think we get our message out, we talk about who we are, we are going to be (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Now Walker will get a little help from his super PAC. Tomorrow they will launch a big ad campaign in Iowa. Also, here in New Hampshire, Jeb Bush will run his first TV ad of the campaign season here in New Hampshire.

This, Carol, is somewhat of a pivot point in the campaign. Labor Day, kind of the transition into the fall campaign season where a lot of these struggling candidates will hope to get a real boost of momentum really hit that reset button -- Carol.

COSTELLO: We'll see. Sunlen Serfaty, reporting live from New Hampshire this morning.

The massive flood of migrants is pushing Europe to a tipping point. More than 17,000 exhausted men, women, and children willing to risk everything to flee conflicts in nations like Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, poured into Germany over the weekend. Another 10,000 expected there today.

Now that's just a small percentage of the more than 350,000 that have crossed into Europe this year. And elected officials are far from united about what to do about these migrants. France just announced plans to take in 24,000 new refugees. But Austria is tightening security measures at its borders. And that's where CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen is right now.

Good morning, Frederik.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. And, you know, that flood of people certainly has not let down at all. I would say we've been standing here for a couple of hours, maybe four or five hours, and well over a thousand people have already come through here. And if we sort of pan over there you can see that the Austrian authorities -- we're at the Vienna train station here, Carol. They've put that area back there especially in place for trains going to Germany.

So what happens here is that the refugees arrive on trains from other parts of Austria, from Hungary as well. Some of them also arrive on buses here to this railway station and then they're put on trains that go to Germany because that's where the vast amount of them want to go. And, you know, over the weekend there really was a huge flood of people that came through here. It's a little bit less, I would say, today because there was a big bulge of people that was stuck in Budapest and Hungry for a very long time.

And it took the authorities here over the weekend to try and work through that. Now it seems as though they're coming to terms with the situation a little bit better, but still a lot of people coming through there. And the other thing that we're seeing here is really civil society stepping up. You know, it's very heartwarming to see in many cases these trains arrive with 200 refugees and just applause breaking out here on the platform with the Austrian population here greeting these people.

And, you know, in many cases, obviously the material support is very important to them, but also a smile on the faces of those who are standing there when they come in. That's something that really helps a long way for these refugees who, of course, have endured a lot just to make it here -- Carol. COSTELLO: All right. Frederick Pleitgen, reporting live from Vienna,

Austria this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, an Illinois town prepares to say an emotional goodbye to a beloved police officer shot and killed last week. We'll take you there live.

Also the American dentist who sparked global outrage for killing Cecil the lion says he's stunned by the reaction and he's ready to go back to work.

[09:09:43]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Police in Las Vegas are on high alert today after two officers were ambushed on Sunday. The officers were in their patrol car. They were stopped at a traffic light. And that's when they say a man with a semi automatic gun walked up to the car, opened fire, and hit one officer in the hand. The other officer was able to chase down the suspect and take him into custody.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNDERSHERIFF KEVIN MCMAHILL, LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE: That false narrative that's being spread across this country in war on police is exactly that. It's false. These officers go out day in and day out to make a difference in this community and there's dozens and dozens of examples every single month where they do just that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The wounded officer is in good condition. He was the second officer shot in Las Vegas over the weekend.

Thousands of mourners are expected to line the streets of Fox lake, Illinois, today honoring the officer who was shot and killed while on patrol last week. The public viewing begins in less than an hour. But while some of his fellow officers gather to mourn, others are working tirelessly trying to find his killers.

Ryan Young is live in Antioch, Illinois, with more this morning. Good morning.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Look, more than 100 investigators are still working this case but you can feel the outpouring from this community. As we go around we see blue ribbons everywhere.

[09:15:00] And you can just feel some of the presence. When you look across the street here, look at all the cars that have lined up. We're told this procession may have a thousand police cars involved in it. And we know the casket arrived with Lieutenant Gliniewicz about an hour ago. We'll show that video.

As they it arrived here, the rain started. People who are still wanting to get a glimpse of it. I think there's been an outpouring from the community involved in this. We saw more than 1,200 people showed up to a memorial service last week.

But I can tell you, people have been talking about this moment getting ready for the funeral service because of the idea that this man served 32 years in the community. You're talking about a father of four.

Now, back here live I want to show the images from around the area. Look around and you can see the American flags that are lining the street. There's something you can't miss here, Carol. Look up you can see the American flag with the firefighters decided to put up here.

We're told this procession may stretch some five miles. In fact, here is the route you see here they've been handing out. They're telling people this could last several hours and, obviously, this is actually the high school that the lieutenant attended so many years ago.

The community is waiting for this moment to pay respects to their fallen hero.

COSTELLO: Ryan Young, reporting live for us this morning -- thank you.

In Georgia, two brothers are behind bars this morning accused of trying to kill their parents. Police in the Atlanta suburb of Snellville said a woman made the 911 call Saturday telling police she and her husband were being attacked by their 17 and 22-year-old sons. When authorities arrived, they found the father badly injured and bleeding. They say a gas line at the home was also cut. A couple is now recovering at the local hospital.

The Minnesota dentist who became known worldwide after killing a beloved lion in Zimbabwe says he'll be back in the office tomorrow to resume his practice. After lying low for the past couple of months, Walter Palmer has finally broken his silence about the controversial hunt that earned him near universal condemnation.

He sat down with the "Associated Press" and "The Minneapolis Star Tribune" to correct some aspects of the story, but Palmer avoided many of the specifics about last July's hunt that ended with the killing of Cecil, a 13-year-old lion black mane Lion. For example, he said he didn't know Cecil was wearing a tracking collar and was part of a long-term wildlife study?

What else did he say? Boris Sanchez has that for us this morning.

Good morning.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

One of the things he said this will be his only interview. It's the only one he's doing with the "Associated Press" and "The Minneapolis Star Tribune". He also asked for privacy for he and his family. He also asked declined to say whether or not he would fight potential extradition to Zimbabwe if he were to face charges. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (voice-over): Breaking his silence in his first interview, the Minnesota dentist who sparked an international firestorm after killing Cecil the Lion on an African safari.

Walter Palmer was kept out of the public eye since killing the 13- year-old beloved big cat in July, telling "The Star Tribune" and "Associated Press" that he will be resuming work at his suburban Minneapolis practice this Tuesday. He said he's, quote, "heartbroken at the toll this has taken on his dental staff and family". Saying about his wife and daughter, quote, "They've been threatened in the social media and, again, I don't understand that level of humanity to come after people not involved at all."

Since facing worldwide backlash after the hunt, including a clamoring cry for his extradition by Zimbabwean officials, Palmer has not been charged with a crime. In previous statement, he said he relied on the expertise of his guides. In his interview, he expressed regret but insisted the controversial hunt was legal, saying, quote, "If I had known the lion had a name and it was important to the country or a study, obviously, I wouldn't have taken it."

Palmer didn't address whether he would return to Zimbabwe for questioning, only saying, quote, "Zimbabwe has been a wonderful country for me to hunt it and I have always followed the laws."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Again, it's unknown if Dr. Palmer will face characters. But at least two other people are facing charges. First, the hunter that organized the trip that guided the tour and also the landowner who owned the farm where the hunt took place. Both of them are facing charges.

COSTELLO: So, this dentist is going back to work tomorrow. Will his patients show up?

SANCHEZ: We know protesters will. They certainly will. Bloomington police say they're not going to dedicate any resources to the dentist office where he works, at least things get out of hand.

COSTELLO: So, no police protection for him.

SANCHEZ: At least not unless things get out of hand.

COSTELLO: All right. Boris Sanchez, many thanks. I appreciate it.

SANCHEZ: Still to come in the NEWSROOM: a Muslim flight attendant refuses to serve passengers alcohol because of her faith. She is now been suspended. Has her religious liberty like that Kentucky clerk's been violated?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Startling video from a high school football game in Texas. Two players appear to deliberately tackle that referee during a game on Friday night. Now, late in the game a defensive back tackled the ref from behind and another teammate dives into him helmet first. Both players were immediately ejected from the game and later suspended from the team. Now, the school district is investigating.

Coy Wire, we'll talk more about this in the next hour, because guess what? The NFL has also weighed in. We'll talk about that.

In other news this morning, a flight attendant said she has been suspended from her job for refusing to serve alcohol. She says serving alcohol is against her Muslim faith.

Charee Stanley said her employer ExpressJet had previously allowed her to work out a deal with her colleagues to serve drinks to customers so she wouldn't have to. But all of that changed when a fellow employee complained.

Now, Stanley is filing the complaint with the EEOC, asserting ExpressJet is making her choose between her religion and her job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[09:25:07] LENA MASRI, ATTORNEY FORE SUSPENDED FLIGHT ATTENDANT: They are required by law to ensure there's a safe environment in place and that employees can practice their religious beliefs freely. Of course, there are limitations that it must be reasonable. We know it's not an imposition on the airline because the airline itself made that suggestion and offered that accommodation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sounds familiar, right? Like Kentucky.

To discuss this, we're joined by Dr. Qanta Ahmed. She's a practicing physician. She's also Muslim and author "In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom." A book, in part, about how to work in a secular world without sacrificing your faith.

So, I'll ask you off the bat. Is the flight attendant right?

DR. QANTA AHMED, AUTHOR, "IN THE LAND OF INVISIBLE WOMEN": It's very interesting. Islam is pretty clear that alcohol is taboo if consumed. It's the state of altered consciousness or losing touch with the reality that's in forbidden in Islam. Whether it's with alcohol, recreational drugs, or gambling.

The service of alcohol in the Koran does not appear, though there are Hadith, some sayings which may discourage or frown upon it. In her role as a stewardess, she's not being asked to consume alcohol. I'm in health care and I've been in health care in Muslim orthodox Saudi Arabia where alcohol is permitted in the workplace for medicinal reasons and Muslim patients don't object to its use either.

So, her -- I'm concerned about the literal position she and her defense has taken. It seems the employer has been very accommodating, but it may not be practical for an airline when airplane does serve alcohol to make this adjustment, which they're finding is causing problems in the workplace.

COSTELLO: You've also said the flight attendant's plays into a misplaced Islamophobia. What do you mean by that?

AHMED: Well, what I'm concerned about is, if people don't understand while the United States and --

COSTELLO: And many people don't.

AHMED: And while the United States legislates equality in the workplace, we are a secular shared public space, people may be mistaken for thinking that a Muslim employee cannot perform her duties or is somehow seeking privileging rather than equality. And it plays into an attempt to have cultural dominance for a version of Islam.

I'm someone who doesn't favor cultural dominance. As a Muslim, my job is to be participating in a pluralistic society. Believes are exactly that individual. And her role, when she decided to become a stewardess was very defined.

So, I am worried that if this is pursued aggressively, other Muslim employees may want to seek the defense. And it's not healthy for the employment or labor situation on Labor Day, but also its' not healthy for how Muslims are understood in the United States.

COSTELLO: Can you compare it to the Kentucky clerk refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses, right? She's in jail now? She says her religious liberty is being violated.

AHMED: So, that's a really intelligent question and it's something I've been thinking about. Islam is very clear on the position on the consumption of alcohol. That is what's taboo, or the consumption of a substance altering the senses.

As far as I know, Christianity is very clear on its position, let's say in same-sex relationships, in some denominations of Christianity. So there may be similarities but I believe the stewardess is not a government employee --

COSTELLO: Do you think the Kentucky clerk might be right to continue to refuse to issue these licenses?

AHMED: I don't know if she's right or wrong. That's not an area I'm an expert in. But she certainly has an ability to assert her private beliefs, but perhaps it means she doesn't perform that job anymore. And maybe the same conclusion could be made for the Muslim stewardess.

COSTELLO: Got you. Thank you so much for coming in. Dr. Qanta Ahmed, I appreciate it.

We reached out to ExpressJet, by the way, who would not comment on the case specifically but said in a statement that, quote, "We embrace and respect the values of all of our team members. We are an equal opportunity employer with a long history of diversity in our workforce."

(MUSIC)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

The United Nations says more than 366,000 migrants and refugees have made the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean this year to reach Europe. For many, the shortest distance is a narrow band of sea between Turkey and Greece. Though only 14 miles, the crossing is incredibly dangerous. It's often undertaken at night in unreliable boats.

CNN's international correspondent Ivan Watson is covering that part of the mass migration story. He joins us now from Turkey.

Hi, Ivan.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

That's right. I mean, the world was reminded how dangerous this journey can be, even though from where I'm standing in the Turkish resort it's only about two miles as the crow flies to the Greek island.