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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Republicans Face Off on Second Debate; Moderator Explains How Debate Will Work; Donald Trump Debuts National Security Speech; Migrant Crisis in Europe Deepens. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired September 16, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:03] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The very latest polls have Donald Trump on top. Ben Carson has rocketed into second. All the remaining candidates are in single digits, some having fallen far and fast. They need this debate to turn things around. You can bet they are ready as is Donald Trump in his own way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you feeling? What are you going to be doing all day to prepare?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I feel good about it. I feel really good about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any special preparation?

TRUMP: I've been doing this for 30 years. A lot of preparation. But I feel really good about the debate. Thank you.

BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I don't think that my strategy is going to change at all. It's going to be to tell the truth and to talk about, you know, my vision for America, which I think is something that a lot of people resonate with. You know, the polls are not particularly surprising given the fact that I'm out there amongst the people a lot. And I've been seeing the level of enthusiasm and the size of the crowds for quite some time. It hasn't really been reported on, but we've seen it. So this is not very surprising.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I read up on current issues to make sure I understand what's going on. And I think very carefully I guess about what I want to convey in 30 second chunks or a minute chunks because the thing about a debate that's a little bit different than campaigning out there every day is, you have a very prescribed time frame.

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Right.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In the end this is not a game show, it's not a production, and it is, in fact, deciding the most important political office in the world and a very unique one at that, and you're deciding the commander-in-chief for the most powerful military and the leader of the most powerful country on the planet. And that's a serious endeavor. And that's how we take it. That's how we prepare for it.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to mix it up because I like to rumble and I like to make sure people know the differences between the candidates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Let's get the very latest on the candidates and the stakes and the countdown. Here's CNN's Jeff Zeleny -- Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine. We are inside the debate hall. The podiums you can see behind me right now. Their staffs are setting up right now to see what the debate hall actually looks like as the candidates are actually preparing for this debate.

The stakes could not be higher in tonight's debate. Some Republicans are trying to jumpstart their campaigns, others are trying to wait on the side lines for others to falter. Such a crowded Republican race.

The reason the stakes are so high are these, we are nearing the end of the third fundraising quarter. And at the end of this month, candidates have to report how much money they've made so donors will be watching very carefully. So will those early state voters in Iowa, in New Hampshire, in South Carolina. So the audience is important in this room behind me. You can see here a pretty intimate audience. But it's the audience at home and those key early state voters, those activists that are paying such careful attention.

The question is, Donald Trump of course will be taking so much incoming fire. Who will emerge as an alternative to him? Will he be attacked by all the candidates? Perhaps not. Jeb Bush is also a target of some of the criticism. So look for some people to question his conservative credentials as well.

So this is lining up to be a fascinating debate here in Simi Valley, California. Only the second debate but coming at a very critical time in the campaign -- John and Christine.

BERMAN: The moderator tonight, CNN's Jake Tapper, anchor of "THE LEAD" and "STATE OF THE UNION," CNN's chief political correspondent Dana Bash and conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. They will join in the questioning.

You know, I had a chance to talk to Jake about the format. And he told that the candidates will have a chance to face off directly with each other and with the frontrunner Donald Trump, but it will not be a free-for-all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN DEBATE MODERATOR: We have questions and we have order. I mean, we're not -- this is a debate and we do want people to bring some sort of spontaneity to it. And if they want to weigh in on a topic and I haven't called on them, you know, we'll see what happens. But generally speaking, we do have an order. Everybody is going to be called on in every block. That's the hope in any case. And we're going to have as much engagement as possible.

Now I will say that the candidates who want to take the debate and use it as an opportunity to pivot and recite their seven talking points I think will, as they did in the last debate, kind of vanish. And the ones who actually engage and debate and exchanges with -- not with me but with their fellow candidates who I will be asking them to address, I think those will be the ones that the voters hear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Just a few hours ago, Donald Trump finished up his final pre- debate appearance. He was on board a battleship with actual cannons to go along with the verbal blasts that he usually uses. It has been billed as a national security speech. And he did promise in his words to make our military so big and so strong and so great, but he quickly turned the discussion to immigration.

CNN's Sara Murray was there. She has the latest -- Sara.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and John.

Donald Trump did his version of debate prep here aboard the USS Iowa in Los Angeles last night, delivering a speech that was billed as a national security address but was actually very light on specifics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:35:08] TRUMP: The problem we have is that the leaders of Mexico, Japan, China and every other country that we do business with, they're smarter, more cunning, sharper than our leaders. I love free trade. The concept is great. But you need smart people. I have the smartest people in this country lined up. I know the smartest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Nonetheless, Trump still managing to pick up the endorsement of the veterans group that hosted this event for him. During his speech, he promised that he would reform the V.A. system. He said he would make the U.S. military even stronger and he promises to secure the U.S. border with Mexico.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The drugs come in, the money goes out daily. And I saw it because I was on the border. I was there. And we saw it. And everybody sees it every day. And we have the kind of people that can do something about it, but we have no leadership. None. None whatsoever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Now, at times, the optics of this event were a little awkward. As soon as the event got underway, protesters poured in a nearby parking lot.

It was just hundreds of feet away. So while they were chanting "Donald Trump is a racist," everyone who came out to hear Donald Trump live could hear that right aboard the ship.

Christine and John, back to you.

BERMAN: All right, Sara.

New overnight, Vice President Joe Biden unleashing his most direct assault on the type of language used by Donald Trump. At a reception for Hispanic Heritage Month, Biden said Donald Trump's, quote, "sick message" about Mexican immigrants plays to the worst instincts in American society.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Folks, I don't want anybody to be down right now about what's going on in the Republican Party. I mean this sincerely now. This is not -- no, this -- I'm being deadly earnest about this.

I want you to remember, notwithstanding the fact there's one guy absolutely denigrating an entire group of people, appealing to the baser side of human nature, working on this notion of xenophobia in a way that hasn't occurred in a long time since the know nothing party back at the -- at the end of the 19th century.

Folks, the American people are with us. I know it doesn't feel that way. But I'm telling you, I'm telling you, the American people agree with us. We're going to take a while to overcome this -- look, you're talking about somebody who's talking about a minority within a minority party within a minority, and the vast majority of the American people -- because here's what they still believe. The American people are decent. They're basically, basically decent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The vice president, of course, is weighing whether to jump into the race for the Democratic nomination.

The Republican presidential debate, they begin right here on CNN tonight at 6:00 p.m. Eastern. George Pataki, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham may face off in the undercard. The headliner debate with the 11 top polling candidates, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Do not make a second. You know, we keep calling the undercard, you know, as if it's a small thing. It is not. Those four candidates they are going to get a lot of time, Christine, to talk. Their views will be represented. And if they say anything deemed, you know, newsworthy, aggressive, combustible, they will play the tape back in the later debate. And it will be a part of that discussion, Christine.

ROMANS: I got to tell you, John, when you look at just the field, the GOP field out there on that stage, those two stages tonight, I mean, it was just a few months ago that pundits were saying this is the deepest bench that the GOP has had in years. Yet Donald Trump has defined so much of it.

What does Ben Carson have to do? What does Carly Fiorina have to do to remain that outsider that is still vying for all the attention? BERMAN: I think first on Carly Fiorina, a lot of people are looking

for her to say something in direct response to Donald Trump. His comments about her face. They want to see how she handles that, whether she has a comment prepared and perhaps doing it in a way that rises above the fray. That's what we're going to see from her.

Now Ben Carson, he is an enigma to so many people. No one knows for sure how he will be going after Donald Trump. He'll be standing right next to Donald Trump because his polling number two right now in all the most recent data. He has been kind to Trump lately. He even apologized for questioning Trump's faith recently. So it's hard to know what Carson is going to do. You may see him try to present this sunny image without getting dragged down into any direct confrontation.

ROMANS: It's really interesting because as an outsider, he's polling very, very well, Ben Carson is, he is sort of some would say kind of a nice version of the bombastic Donald Trump. The outsider has never held office, successful, you know, made his name on his own as a neurosurgeon. Conservative wants to change the country. But he is the nice guy version. Maybe, you know, there is this big group of Republicans, John, who don't want to vote for one p someone who is a career politician.

[04:40:19] BERMAN: So far Carson seems to be drawing from the insider vote. Outsiders drawing from insiders, so far the outsiders -- Trump, Carson -- don't seem to be drawing votes from each other. You are right.

ROMANS: Right. Interesting. Very interesting. OK we'll talk to you again very, very soon. Watch that countdown clock, guys, on the lower right hand corner of your screen. Thanks, John.

Are you going to be hearing a lot about taxes on the debate stage tonight? Here is a guy decoding the jargon. First, you're going to hear these worried, carried interests. Donald Trump and Jeb Bush want to crack down on an IRS loophole that allows hedge fund managers to list their profits as carried interest instead of income. Right now those earnings have a top tax rate of 20 percent instead of close to 40 percent.

Next, flat tax, several candidates want to replace our tiered system with a single rate on income. Rand Paul would institute a 14.5 percent tax rate on all income and get rid of the payroll tax. Ben Carson says his rate would be between 10 percent and 15 percent. Ted Cruz hasn't specified his plan for a flat tax yet.

Critics say the flat tax needs to be at least 25 percent to bring in as much revenue as today's system and that it favors the wealthiest Americans.

And finally fair tax. Mike Huckabee wants to replace income and capital gains taxes with a national sales tax. That basically means 30 percent sales tax. The idea no one, including those involved in illegal activities would be able to avoid that tax. All right. The death toll rising in this devastating flooding out

west. At least 16 killed. Most of the victims women and children. And there is more rain on the way next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:24] ROMANS: Sixteen people have now been killed by flash flooding in Utah. Twelve of the victims, women and children, swept away in their cars in the town of Hildale. Four hikers also died when floodwaters rushed through Zion National Park. Three other hikers this morning are missing. With rivers rising and more storms in the forecast officials warned there could be more flooding in the days ahead.

Firefighters are struggling to gain the upper hand on a northern California wildfire that has already burned 105 square miles and nearly 600 homes. The Valley Fire still threatening more than 9,000 homes, 2400 firefighters battling this blaze. They got a break from the weather on Tuesday with the winds calming down. They were able to get that fire 30 percent contained allowing some homeowners to witness firsthand their worst fears.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK HAMILTON, RESIDENT: I was at the earthquake in San Francisco, at Candlestick, when it -- when it happened. The big earthquake. It was nothing compared to this. It was so chaotic, the firemen -- it seemed like they didn't even know what was going on. I was hearing fire captains go, save that water, and the tree was still burning.

TAMMY MOORE, RESIDENT: So much worse than I thought. I mean, even though I expected it to be bad, I didn't expect to see everything gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The Obama administration sending $250 million to California to help fight those wildfires.

Heavy rain is in the forecast for parts of California. Will it help those firefighters? Let's turn to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good Wednesday morning, Christine.

Yes, I think the rain is certainly going to help. And, you know, it's not going to be a washout. It's not going to be a significant amount of rainfall. But I think both fire zones across northern California will see at least a quarter to a half an inch of rainfall. And anything as far as rains right now will bring the temperatures down, increase the humidity. That is good news when it comes to the fire lines there for the firefighters.

But the other story, of course, the big story out of southwestern Utah, where we have this historic flooding. In fact, rainfall observations believed to be on a rarity there, somewhere between one and a 200-year event when you take a look at how much rain came down in a one hour period. About two inches per hour for that region. Of course, the flash flooding -- the quintessential flash flooding scenario, when you take a look at this sort of scenario play out.

You see the water levels rise very quickly, up to about four feet. It drops within one hour back to about a foot. And within 15 minutes, you have another second wave of waters come up to over six feet. And this sort of a scenario certainly catches people off guard and makes it a deadly story, in what has occurred -- what has occurred across this region of Utah.

OK, but we'll leave you here with high temperatures across the country, across the eastern side of the country. Summer variety for just about everyone. Upper '80s and mid '80s for Minneapolis and around 90 degrees from New York out towards D.C. -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. It will be a hot day for much of the country. Thank you for that, Pedram.

Thousands of refugees and migrants stranded at the border, shut out of Europe by new wire fencing. A crisis deepening this morning. We're live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:52:01] ROMANS: Not to the deepening migrant crisis in Europe. Hundreds of migrants spending the night at the closed Hungary-Serbia border. Many facing the burden of now trying to find a new route to northern Europe.

CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is there on the Hungary-Serbia border for us this morning. What do you see in there, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're seeing is well over 1,000 people who have arrived here since yesterday and they're camping out. Basically, some of them have managed to find tents and they're trying to get by. But I was just speaking moments ago with an aid official who says that they're really stretched to the limit at this point in terms of facilities and in terms of supplies.

We were at this area where they were supposed to be handing out food just a little while ago and they said they've essentially run out. And their problems are complicated by the fact that on the border, which is just up the street from here the officials on both sides of the border are actually taxing them for bringing in food and supplies.

So it's a real crisis here and there doesn't seem to be much in the way of any sort of official assistance for these people. Now, as I said, they've really just started -- it's a bottleneck here. And of course, until Monday, early Monday the border was opened for people to cross. Since then, still more and more people arriving as you can see carrying whatever they can on their backs and the facilities are absolutely minimal here.

There don't appear to be any toilets, any showers or anything. And the Hungarians up here absolutely unwilling at this point to open the border. So now we've heard, for instance, from the government of Croatia that they are willing to allow people in. So many of these people may make the two-and-a-half hour journey by bus or whatever means they can, to the Croatian border, so the crisis which is mounting, has been mounting now for weeks, could shift to another area. Because at the moment for these people here, there is very little hope that they'll be able to move on -- Christine.

ROMANS: Really unbelievable pictures. Ben Wedeman, a refugee crisis in Europe. Unlike anything we've seen since World War II and governments that cannot get on the same page about how to fix it.

Ben Wedeman, thank you for that.

Fifty-four minutes past the hour. All right, Facebook users, are you looking for more options besides that like button? Well, you might then like Mark Zuckerberg's latest move and the latest on the CNN Republican presidential debate just hours away now. That's next.

[04:54:45]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Good morning, welcome back. I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an EARLY START on your money on this debate day. It's a huge day for your money. The Federal Reserve's two-day meeting starts today leading up to tomorrow's announcement about interest rates. Will the Fed decide it is finally time to raise rates for the first time in a decade.

Folks, this affects everyone. It would be a sign of the economy's return to normal. But it would also pinch. We're talking about credit cards, car loans, home equity lines of credit, private student loans, all of those things will become more expensive when the Feds starts raising interest rates.

Hewlett-Packard is slashing another 25,000 to 30,000 jobs as part of HP's breakup into two separate companies. HP Enterprise will focus on the fast growing software business. HP Ink will stay focused on PCs and printers. CEO Meg Whitman says the cuts are necessary to stay competitive. Since Whitman took over in 2011, HP has slashed 55,000 jobs even before this announcement.

After years of only being able to like Facebook posts, Facebook says it is finally working on a dislike button or something like it after users have demanded one for years. I know what you're thinking, sounds dangerous. Right? CEO Mark Zuckerberg was worried, too, at first. He now says he realizes people just want to express sympathy about unpleasant news. No details on a launch date yet. Zuckerberg says Facebook will test an idea soon. He says it's harder than you think to just try to come up with some way to do dislike something.

EARLY START continues right now.