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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Supporter Calls Obama "A Muslim"; Hillary Clinton Fires Back; Migrant Crisis: Europe Shuts Borders. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired September 18, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00] TRUMP SUPPORTER: But anyway, we have training camps growing where they want to kill us. That's my question.

When can we get rid of them?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A lot of people are saying bad things are happening. We will look at that and plenty of other things.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: There you can see there Donald Trump seemed to be caught off guard by question, but he did not refute the premise. That silence may bring him additional criticism. We'll hear from him later today where he's appearing on the campaign trail in South Carolina.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of pundits have said that one of the problems for Trump could be some of his supporters who maybe conspiracy theorists or his supporter who like him because he's an outsider, but don't necessarily have a grasp on reality. And he has to make sure that he is very vocal in a situation like that. Now, his supporters or his team is saying maybe he didn't hear the question.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: He may respond to it later today or in the coming days. We shall see.

Now, Trump didn't answer reporters, Christine, at the event asking why he didn't challenge the claim the president is Muslim. A spokesman says Trump didn't hear that part of the supporter statement. Hillary Clinton not buying it. Overnight, she personally tweeted Donald Trump not denouncing false statements about the president and hateful rhetoric about Muslims is disturbing and just plain wrong. Cut it out.

Trump for his part sent a statement to "The Washington Post" saying the media wants to make this issue about Obama. The bigger issue is that Obama is waging a war against Christians. Christians need support in this country. Their religious liberty is at stake.

ROMANS: Donald Trump also complaining about the three-hour length of the debate, appearing on talk shows the morning after. Trump called the length unacceptable and compared it to the epic film "Gone with the Wind."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The thing that made me most upset and everybody else was the three hours, because to be standing up for three hours answering questions in the form of a debate and I think the viewers frankly, I think they would have done as well as they would have done as well as they had done. You know, I think they set a record in the history of CNN, as well as they've done. They would have done better if it was an hour shorter. It was too much, it was too long. And I would imagine that at a certain point, people get bored with that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: I looked up the Lincoln Douglass debate, some of the famous debates in the world.

KOSIK: Four hours.

ROMANS: Yes, 60 minutes for the first, 90 minutes for the second, 30 minutes again.

KOSIK: OK, our attention spans are different. We have all of our electronic devices. So --

ROMANS: Three hours today.

KOSIK: A lot going on these days.

ROMANS: In 1800s.

KOSIK: All right. Hillary Clinton responding to the attacks aimed at her during the CNN Republican debate. Taking time from the campaign swing through New Hampshire to talk to Wolf Blitzer. Hillary Clinton also warned GOP leaders in Congress against cutting off federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is with the Clinton campaign and has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alison and Christine.

Well, Hillary Clinton is in a three-day swing to the critical state of New Hampshire. This, of course, gave her the big boost in 2008, but she is struggling now. Her main opponent, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders ahead in four different polls here in the state. One poll indicating he is 23 points ahead when it comes to new voters and independent voters.

So, she has to answer the criticism. She has been talking about the e-mail controversy for the summer. And, clearly, this has weighed on her campaign in the race here in this critical state.

She is taking on the critics. She is taking on the criticism, including those from the GOP candidates watching the CNN GOP debate.

Now, she talked to my colleague Wolf Blitzer about some of the specifics. One of those people, the only GOP female candidate on the stage, Carly Fiorina, and this that she said, that if you want to stump a Democrat, then ask them about Hillary Clinton's accomplishments as secretary of state.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is just the usual back and forth political attacks. The kinds of things you say when you're on a debate stage and you really don't have much else to say.

If anybody's interested, you know, there's a long list about what I have done. I'm very proud of it. You can read my book "Hard Choices", read about how I negotiated a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. You can read about how I put together the coalition that led to international sanctions against Iran, you can read about what I did when I was first lady to get the Children's Health Insurance Program or a senator working across the aisle on issues like getting better health care for our veterans. You know, this is just the silly season.

MALVEAUX: Hillary Clinton also taking on the Republican candidates and their call for defunding Planned Parenthood as well as some Republicans in Congress, threatening to shutdown the government over it. She defended the organization saying that it provides critical care for women's health care. Later today, she's going to be talking about making college affordable when she travels to Concord and on to Maine to rally the troops -- Alison and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Suzanne, thank you.

[04:35:00] Scott Walker quickly adjusting his campaign strategy after a subdued performance in the Republican debate. A tally by NPR shows the Wisconsin governor got the least screen time of any candidate on the stage. Now, Walker says he'll put all his eggs in the Iowa basket.

KOSIK: House Republicans are planning to force several votes to defund Planned Parenthood today with votes. But there doesn't appear the measures can get through the Senate. Some House conservatives are threatening a government shutdown if the budget includes funding for Planned Parenthood.

Republicans in the Senate are also introducing legislation that would outlaw all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

ROMANS: The White House is taking the threat of a government shutdown very seriously. President Obama meeting Thursday with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Now, they insist they are willing to back stop-gap measures to keep the government operating as long as Planned Parenthood funding is off the table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: I'm hopeful that we are all in agreement, Democrats and Republicans, that we should not have a government shutdown. That's costly to the government and to the American people as it was during the government shutdown before. So, we're optimistic. We want to be cooperative. We want to negotiate in good faith.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: With 13 days left before a possible government shutdown, Pelosi admits she and House Speaker Boehner haven't scheduled talks.

KOSIK: A federal appeals court in St. Louis ruling Obamacare unjustly burdens religion-based employers by forcing them to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives. The ruling by a three-judge panel upholds the lower court decision sided with the three colleges in Iowa, Michigan and Missouri. But it conflicts with all other federal appeals court rulings before. Under the ruling, the three colleges no longer have to provide insurance -- have to provide insurance for employees birth control.

ROMANS: The White House is thinking about scrapping the program to build a large scale Syrian fighting force to combat ISIS. The $500 million dollar planned was a core part of the Pentagon strategy to defeat the terrorist group, but administration officials acknowledge the program is failing, and they are debating whether to accept a Russian proposal for talks to end the Syrian civil war.

Meanwhile, Russia's increase presence in Syria is causing problems in the Pentagon. The Syrian military is now using new types of air and ground weapons supplied by the Russians and Syria's foreign minister says he is prepared to ask Vladimir Putin to send in Russian forces if necessary.

KOSIK: Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl had a severe mental defect when he left his military base in Afghanistan and was captured by the Taliban. That's the argument being used by the defense team in the military hearing in Texas. Bergdahl faces a possible life sentence for endangering the soldiers who searched for him after he allegedly deserted. His lawyers appear poised to make that case that the military indirectly shares the blame for Bergdahl's behavior because they knew he was unfit to serve.

ROMANS: All right. 38 minutes past the hour. Let's take an early look at your money.

Federal Reserve has left interest rates unchanged. So now what? More uncertainty for world markets. European shares are down. U.S. stock futures are a little higher.

It was a real nail biter for the Fed. But in the end, no change to interest rates, these historically low interest rates.

Now, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said she is impressed with the U.S. job market and moderate growth in the economy. But there are major concerns about drags from the global slowdown, namely in China. Looks like the Fed still wants to raise rates before the end of the year. Those are the signals from the Fed. There are two meetings left, October and December.

Wall Street could not decide whether to love or wait this Fed decision. Stocks zigzagged with big gains and losses. You can expect more volatility as investors play a guessing game on what happens with the Fed. One concerns here, inflation very low in the United States. You think, oh, low prices, low inflation, that is a good thing.

KOSIK: We need inflation. You want to see it in wages. You want to see in the price of your home.

ROMANS: It's a bad thing if you got wages falling and prices falling. Consumers putting off purchases because they expect lower prices ahead. That is sort of the nightmare scenario. It happened in Japan.

KOSIK: That's what is looming.

ROMANS: Low inflation spooking people, too.

KOSIK: All right. Thousands of refugees and migrants stranded. More European countries shutting borders as the crisis unfolds. We are live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:43:05] ROMANS: European nations are tightening borders and blocking passage for thousands of migrants pouring out of the Mideast and Africa. Germany is considering overhauling its asylum codes to stem the massive influx, Croatia is now closing all roads connected to Serbia until further notice. That could force a crush of asylum seekers to take refuge in fields littered with land mines from the Balkan wars in the 1990s. Just a terrifying situation.

Let's go live to the Serbia-Croatia border this morning. I want to bring in CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman.

Ben, you got European officials this could be a multiyear influx of migrants if the political response is chaotic at best.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the political response is chaotic as best. You really see it here on the ground where just behind me there are hundreds, perhaps well over thousands of migrants and refugees lined up waiting for buses to take them to the Croatian capital of Zagreb.

The first bus came and took away around 50, mostly young men. But there are so many more to come. It is really hot out here. Supplies of food and water are low. There are no toilet facilities for people here.

So far, they have been relatively patient. We have been hearing a few chants from the back of the line. Really all that's going on here is that this crisis is moving from place to place. The day before yesterday, the crisis was apparent at the Hungarian/Serbian border. Today, it's in the town near the Serbia and Croatia border. But, of course, where will it go next? The expectation is many people

will be moved on to Zagreb. Then what?

[04:45:01] We had a man speaking in Arabic on a loud speaker and I think he was speaking on behalf of Croatian authorities, explaining them, once you get to Zagreb, you will be registered and then you put your fate in God.

But, of course, these people, they know what they want. They want to keep on moving north, but we're seeing time after time, the borders shutting in front of them. The result is going to be, of course, people are going to try illegal means. They're going to be using the services provided by human traffickers or as you mentioned in the case of the border with Serbia and Croatia, they will be going across areas that are littered with landmines. So, it's dangerous, exhausting, difficult, frustrating, wherever they are going.

ROMANS: All right. Ben Wedeman, thank you for that, as pictures tell a desperate story. Thanks, Ben.

KOSIK: A Minnesota man pleading guilty to conspiracy charges for trying to travel to Syria to join ISIS. Twenty-year-old Zacharia Abdurahman admitting in court he and eight other men met up to 15 times in local mosques and parks to figure out how to finance their trip. He believed joining the terrorist group would help his fellow Muslims. Abdurahman faces up to 15 years in prison.

ROMANS: A friend of Charleston church accused gunman Dylann Roof arrested by the FBI for allegedly concealing knowledge of the crime. Joey Meek is facing arraignment this morning in Columbia, South Carolina. Authorities say Roof stayed in Meek's trailer in the weeks before he shot and killed nine people inside the Emanuel AME Church.

Meek insists he called the FBI once he saw surveillance footage of the shooting and recognize Roof.

KOSIK: The death toll now reaching 20 in the massive flash foods in Utah. Crews found another body at the Zion national park on Thursday. That now brings the number of the victims in the disaster up to seven. The group, four men and three women all between 40 and 50 years old were visiting from Nevada and California. Park Rangers say they were simply washed away. Thirteen women and children were also killed in Hildale after a wall of water washed away their cars.

ROMANS: Two more bodies discovered in the California wildfires. That brings the total number killed in the fires to five. Officials say cooler temperatures and rain are helping firefighters make progress. The Valley Fire is now 35 percent contained. The Butte Fire is now 49 percent contained, thankfully. It has been one of the most destructive fires in California history. Officials say more than 450 buildings have been destroyed, including 250 homes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People don't have anything. That's probably the biggest thing. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looking at the devastation and knowing people

died.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't believe it. You think you can until you go by a place and you see it and you say wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Unbelievable.

KOSIK: No other way to describe that. All that devastation.

The pope heading to Cuba hoping to strengthen the country's relationship with the U.S. will it work? We are live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:51:51] KOSIK: The Vatican says the visit by Pope Francis to Cuba and the United States will help end the five decades old embargo on Cuba and encourage human rights and freedom on the island. On cue, the media reports say the White House is drafting regulation to further weaken the embargo. And those changes could be announced today.

CNN's Delia Gallagher following the pope's nine-day trip to Cuba and the U.S. She joins us live from Rome.

So, do you see more progress being made here because of the pope's visit?

GLORIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's certainly the pope's hope and that of the Vatican. They believe in engagement rather than confrontation with political leaders and particularly in the case of Cuba. It's already born fruit with the reopening of the U.S./Cuba relations, and they want to continue in that vein, hoping as you mentioned that the embargo might eventually be lifted and, of course, that there might be some more democratic reforms in Cuba with regards to the freedom of expression and the freedom of religion, on which some progress has already been made. They are hopeful they can continue down that path.

The pope will be meeting with President Raul Castro who famously said when he met the pope in May that he would consider a return to the Catholic Church. Such was the power of the conversation he had with Pope Francis at that time. Also possibly on the agenda, according to the Vatican spokesman is a meeting with Fidel Castro.

When the pope finishes in Cuba on Tuesday, he will be going to the United States where he will address the joint session of the U.S. Congress. It's the first time a people is addressing a joint session of the congress. And, of course, with the upcoming elections, that will be important. Many people will be listening to what he says on the issues at that time.

Then he will go on to the United Nations on Friday before wrapping up in Philadelphia at the World Meeting of Families. This is a Catholic meeting and the ostensible reason for this whole trip which will discuss some of the challenges to modern families today -- Alison.

KOSIK: All right. This is a trip generating a lot of excitement.

Delia Gallagher live from Rome, thanks for that.

ROMANS: Generating a lot of controversy. This is being a nurse a talent. Johnson & Johnson backlash against "The View" host's controversial dismissive comments about nursing, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:58:15] ROMANS: All right. It's Friday. Let's get an early start on your money. I'm Christine Romans. The Federal Reserve did nothing.

And that means more uncertainty for markets, a mix bag this morning. European shares down. U.S. stock futures up a bit. The Fed left interest rates near zero, putting off the first rate in nearly a decade for later this year. Why? Well, concerns about global growth, namely in China.

Now, only two meetings left this year. Investors wait for the first rate hike.

General Motors will pay $900 million to settle criminal charges related to its ignition switch problem. It has been tied to 124 deaths. GM admitted its employees were aware of the problems nearly a decade before it started recalls. That was the basis for the criminal charges. No individual executives were charged in the case, something that makes victims' families very angry about. But the Justice Department says it won't rule that out at some point in the future.

Johnson & Johnson pulling its ad from the television show "The View." Unhappy with comments made on the talk show about nurses. The hosts their mocked a Miss America contestant who wore scrubs and talked about being a nurse for the talent portion of the contest.

Comedian Michelle Collins said, quote, "she came out in the nurses uniform and basically read her e-mails out loud and shockingly did not win." The caused outrage online and #nursesunite started trending. "The View" host has been a long time.

But, Alison, it's been a long time since I have seen traffic from nurses online about how angry they are about that.

KOSIK: I wonder how "The View" folks would feel if they were rolled into the hospital and that nurse attend to them, I wonder if they would think the same.

ROMANS: I would stay out of the ER if I were you.

KOSIK: EARLY START continues right now.

(MUSIC)

ROMANS: Donald Trump facing new criticism this morning.