Return to Transcripts main page
Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Declares Victory In Debate; "Arizona Republic" Endorses Clinton; Former Israeli President Peres Dies At 93; Wells Fargo CEO Forfeits $41M, Keeps Job; Calls For Calm After California Police Shooting; SpaceX Founder Elon Musk Unveils Plans To Colonize The Red Planet; Federal Reserve Under Fire. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired September 28, 2016 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:31:25] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: It's Donald Trump versus a beauty queen. His post-debate line of attack has her telling all about her relationship with Donald Trump, what she thinks about him, what he was like 20 years ago, and how she says he hasn't changed a bit.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton trying to shore up a key part of the constituency she badly needs to win, one she's been suffering a little bit with. Bernie Sanders hits the campaign trail. The target, younger voters.
ROMANS: Luminaries from around the world are remembering Shimon Peres this morning. The former Israeli leader dead at age 93. We'll have more on his life and his legacy in just a moment.
Welcome back to EARLY START, I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: Nice to see you this morning, John Berman here. Thirty-two minutes past the hour. And this morning Donald Trump -- he insists he won the first presidential debate. This, despite the CNN poll that found Hillary Clinton was pretty much the decisive winner.
This, despite the fact that he stirred up a hornet's nest of controversies that he really just keeps on stirring. On the stump, even after the debate, Donald Trump is repeating his fact-checked and debunked claim that he opposed the Iraq War.
But mostsurprisingly, he's refusing to let go of his scathing criticism of the weight gains of a former Miss Universe who is now speaking out about it to CNN. All that while Trump and his team are bragging about his restraint for going easy on Hillary Clinton, particularly about Bill Clinton's past.
CNN's Sara Murray is with the Trump campaign and has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, John and Christine. Even as some of Donald Trump's own supporters said they had misgivings about his debate performance, a very fired-up candidate took the stage here in Florida last night saying he won the debate and even insisting that he held back against Hillary Clinton.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Last night, when I debated Sec. Clinton on America's future, for 90 minutes I watched her very carefully and I was also holding back. I didn't want to do anything to embarrass her.
MURRAY: Now, at times, this rally almost felt like a throwback to the Donald Trump of the Republican primary. He kept interrupting himself to tout his crowd size, to tout his poll numbers, and even to slam the media. Now, at least one thing was clear last night. If Donald Trump missed any opportunity to go after Hillary Clinton on the debate stage, he's certainly not giving any of those up on the campaign trail. Back to you guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Sara, thank you. A big day on the trail today for Hillary Clinton, who hopes to fix a nagging problem for her campaign. Bernie Sanders joins her for an event in New Hampshire. Sources tell CNN Sanders is planning a new surge of events for Clinton in key battleground states. She needs his help to woo skeptical younger voters.
Also this morning, Clinton is receiving a surprising endorsement from the "The Arizona Republic" which has never, in its 126 years, backed a Democrat.
The paper wrote this. "We understand that Trump's candidacy tapped a deep discontent among those who feel left behind by a changed economy and shifting demographics. Their concerns deserve to be discussed with respect. Ironically, Trump hasn't done that. He has merely pandered. Instead of offering solutions, he hangs scapegoats like pinatas and invites people to take a swing. This is Hillary Clinton's opportunity. She can reach out to those who feel left behind."
As for Clinton, she is clearly now relishing what her campaign and a CNN poll are calling her debate victory.
[05:35:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to leave it to the fact-checkers to go through all of -- all of Donald Trump's claims. There were -- there was a lot of work for fact-checkers last night. When I confronted him with the reasons why he won't release his tax returns -- and I got to that point where I said well, maybe he's paid zero -- he said that makes him smart. Now, if not paying taxes makes him smart, what does that make all the rest of us?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right, so much post-debate action and a lot happening here as these candidates try to move forward -- CNN politics reporter Eugene Scott. Good morning, Eugene.
EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning. ROMANS: One of the most interesting and surprising moments of the debate was when Hillary Clinton, toward the end, brought up this former Miss Venezuela who won Miss USA.
BERMAN: Miss Universe.
ROMANS: Miss Universe, sorry -- who was -- her name's Alicia Machado. And she talked about how Donald Trump called her "Miss Housekeeping" and "Miss Piggy" because she'd gained some weight. And that moment could have gone away. You know, it came up, it got some interest, but it could have gone away. But then Donald Trump, yesterday on "FOX & FRIENDS", brought this moment up again, himself, and sort of doubled down -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I know that person. That person was a Miss Universe person and she was the worst we ever had. The worst, the absolute worst. She was impossible, and she was a Miss Universe contestant and ultimately a winner who they had a tremendously difficult time with as Miss Universe. She was the winner and, you know, she gained a massive amount of weight and it was -- it was a real problem. We had a -- we had a real problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So what could have been something that died off after the debate, it's something that's now back in the news cycle that Donald Trump brought up, himself. Last night, the former Miss Universe was on with Anderson Cooper and this what she said about Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICIA MACHADO, MISS UNIVERSE 1996: We can't accept -- we can't accept more insults for my Latin community -- no more. No more insults for the women. I know very well Mr. Trump and I can see the same person that I met 20 years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So here's my question. Talking about a woman's massive weight gain, calling her "Miss Piggy" or "Miss Housekeeping", talking about how your restraint should be congratulated for not bringing up the affairs of your -- of the spouse of your -- of your candidate, how does this help him with women? I don't -- how does it help him with women?
SCOTT: Not only is it not clear how this helps him with women, the question is how will he do -- what impact will this have on the groups that he's actually doing well with? So he's doing well with married women. He's doing -- according to the most recent CNN/ORC poll.
And so not only does this look like something that may not increase his support among women in general, you have to ask will this hurt him with the women that he is doing better with, as well as other groups that aren't women but are sympathetic to these issues, such as millennials, such as Hispanics in general that just aren't women, and such as black people and men. People who don't like these types of things being said about people that he had said yesterday on "FOX".
BERMAN: We should say that the Trump campaign is saying that the debate was successful for them. They've raised $17 million in this national call day yesterday, so they think the reaction to whatever he did was big among his supporters. They're touting that.
On the Democratic side, President Obama, who for much of the campaign has said no, I didn't watch this, I didn't watch that, I'm not really paying attention. He watched this debate, apparently, in the Treaty Room and then yesterday during a radio interview he talked about what he says he saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Anybody who was watching the debate, I think, got a sense that you've got really sharply contrasting visions about where we should take the country. And, you know, I'm admittedly biased. I have worked with Hillary, I know her. She is well-prepared. I would say that the other guy doesn't have the preparation, the temperament, or the core values of inclusion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: And it's being also reported that President Obama is going to cut some ads for Hillary Clinton, which will be interesting to see. You know, again, he could be key for her to reach constituencies. She needs to show up in big numbers, which is minority voters and millennial voters.
SCOTT: Yes, and President Obama's been very vocal to those groups -- to those blocs -- saying if you want to continue the legacy that I've set, that you support, you have to get behind Hillary Clinton. If you do not, Donald Trump could win and unravel all of these things that we've worked together to create. Whether or not these groups believe him and buy into it, and believe that Hillary Clinton can move forward with the progressive policies that even Bernie Sanders says he backs, remains to be seen.
[05:40:00] BERMAN: And Bernie Sanders also made clear he's not quite so sure that President Obama was always a proponent of her for the last eight years either, so that's interesting.
SCOTT: Yes, very much so. I mean, we're definitely seeing people come on board the Clinton train -- the Clinton camp -- who in years past were less on board. But I think that's what a general election does when you see what your two options are.
ROMANS: She sure is. It certainly has a lot of interesting conductors -- Elizabeth -- on that train. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, maybe Bill Clinton, eventually, who knows. Maybe now he's going to stay in the background, who knows, but certainly trying to court millennials. Thank you so much.
SCOTT: Very much.
ROMANS: Nice to see you, Eugene.
SCOTT: You, too.
ROMANS: All right, the world is mourning the loss of a man who spent decades working for peace. Former Israeli Prime Minister and President Shimon Peres passed away overnight. The 93-year-old statesman spent more than six decades in public service. He was one of the last living links to Israel's founding fathers.
CNN's Oren Liebermann live at the hospital where Peres died, just outside Tel Aviv, with more on the reaction this morning. Good morning, Oren.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine, and that reaction has been coming in not only from here in Israel -- from leaders here -- but from all over the world where condolences and messages of respect are pouring in for Shimon Peres and for his legacy.
His career spanned the entire life of the state of Israel. He was working, essentially, in public service even before the creation of the State and he continued to do that up until the very end, transitioning from prime minister to defense minister, holding virtually every major position. And then as president, where it was his legacy, his job, his vision, and his dream to pursue peace and to build trust and confidence between Israelis and Palestinians.
That is what's being remembered in the statements that are pouring forth from leaders all over the world. Let me read a bit of what President Barack Obama had to say. He says, "A light has gone out, but the hope he gave us will burn forever. Shimon Peres was a soldier for Israel, for the Jewish people, for justice, for peace, and for the belief that we can be true to our best selves to the very end of our time on earth, and in the legacy that we leave to others."
That is but one sample of the messages that have been coming in from around the world from world leaders. Many of those world leaders expected to attend his funeral. Although there hasn't been an official date set for his funeral, it does appear that Shimon Peres will lay in state tomorrow at the Knesset for leaders to pay their respects, as well as the public. And then his funeral will be sometime Friday morning or Friday afternoon.
According to Israel's foreign ministry, some of the world leaders that are expected to attend -- President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Bill and Hillary Clinton, the leaders of Canada, England, Germany, France, Australia, African leaders, and that list goes on. That is a testament to how much Shimon Peres meant to the world -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Oren Liebermann, thank you so much for that this morning. Certainly, he will be missed.
Forty-two minutes past the hour. Wells Fargo cracking under pressure following that fake account scandal. The CEO, John Stumpf, will forfeit most of his pay for this year, including his bonus and $41 million in stock awards.
He is keeping his job but another executive is out. Carrie Tolstedt, head of the division that created the fake accounts over those years when this was happening -- she left the company ahead of her scheduled retirement which was supposed to be at the end of this year. She will not receive a severance or a bonus. She could still walk away with $77 million of stock and options that she acquired over her tenure there.
Wells Fargo's board of directors also said Tuesday it is now launching an independent investigation into the company's sales practices. The stock has been dumped by investors since the scandal broke earlier this month, now a 2.5 year low, down 17 percent this year.
BERMAN: That's a bad looking chart if --
ROMANS: It sure is.
BERMAN: -- you're a Wells Fargo stock owner. All right, police in California say they were forced to open fire in a confrontation that ended with the death of an African-American man. Next, the video -- the pictures that police are now showing that show why they say they had to act.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:48:00] ROMANS: This morning police in Southern California are pleading for calm after officers fatally shot an African-American man. About 200 protesters have gathered near the scene, remaining peaceful. Police say the unidentified man was acting erratically behind a restaurant in El Cajon.The police chief says the man kept his hands in his pockets. He refused commands.
(Video playing) They say officers were forced to take action when the man held a dark object -- you can see him there, we've highlighted this -- and took a shooting stance as seen in this image from cell phone video. Now, police will not release the full video until the district attorney reviews it. No word yet what object the man was holding when he was shot. No gun was found.
BERMAN: So, time now for the five things you need to know for your early start. Number one, Donald Trump back on the campaign trail standing by some of his controversial statements from Monday's debate at a rally in Orlando. He praised his own restraint for holding back on insulting Hillary Clinton.
ROMANS: Clinton is also back campaigning, relishing what a CNN poll is calling a win in the most-watched debate in U.S. history. She is hitting the trail with Bernie Sanders today, hoping to woo young voters.
BERMAN: Former Israeli president, Prime Minister Shimon Peres passed away overnight. He suffered a stroke a few weeks ago. He was 93. ROMANS: As we just told you, protests overnight in Southern California after the fatal police shooting of an African-American man. Police say they opened fire after the man held a dark object and took a shooting stance.
BERMAN: Electric car mogul and SpaceX founder Elon Musk unveiled details of his plan to send humans to Mars. Eventually, he says the price per passenger could drop to about $200,000. He says he can do it in less than 10 years. Hmm, believe it or not.
For more on the five things to know go to cnn.com.
ROMANS: All right, 49 minutes past the hour. Pollsters give Hillary Clinton the win in Monday night's debate but what did investors think of her performance? We'll get an early start on your money, next.
[05:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:54:30] BERMAN: Accused New York-New Jersey bomber Ahmad Rahami will not make his first court appearance today as planned. His scheduled arraignment has been delayed because Rahami is still unconscious in the hospital.
In the meantime, investigators believe two men seen on surveillance tape removing an unexploded pressure cooker bomb from a bag -- that they were just visiting New York City. Officials say it's likely the men have left the area and may not even know they're being sought as potential witnesses.
[05:55:00] ROMANS: New York police arresting a suspect in an explosion at a Bronx marijuana grow house that killed a fire chief and injured 20 others. Police say 34-year-old Julio Salcedo was captured in New Jersey Tuesday after a brief manhunt. The property had been under investigation as a drug house. Chief Michael Fahy, a 17-year fire department veteran, was killed by flying debris when the explosion tore through the roof of the building.
BERMAN: So sad.
ROMANS: All right, let's get an early start on your money this morning. Investors like what they saw from Hillary Clinton at Monday's debate. It pushed stocks higher yesterday but that optimism is fading a bit this morning. Dow futures have turned lower. Stock markets in Europe and Asia are mixed.
Private prison operators did not get that debate bounce. Shares of Corrections Corp. of America, a GEO group -- you can see them there -- they got hammered yesterday. Clinton said she would like to see the private operators banned from state systems following a move to take them out of the federal prison system.
New signs this morning that consumers are feeling good about the economy and they're not worried about the election. Consumer confidence hit a 9-year high this month. The reading is 104. For comparison, it hit a low of 25 during the Recession. That's according to The Conference Board, which is a business association. Driving the optimism, unemployment 4.9 percent.
You know, President Obama's approval rating is 50 percent -- above 50 percent -- and these two things sometimes track each other -- consumer confidence and presidential approval ratings. And, you know, we saw that pop in wages last year, 5.2 percent. But I'll tell you, most are watching headlines about world cargo growth, John, and global growth.
BERMAN: I mean, who isn't -- who isn't watching the headlines for world cargo growth.
ROMANS: Don't make fun of me. Don't make fun of me. But what I mean is --
BERMAN: That's why I got up early this morning.
ROMANS: -- I am always looking for the fly in the ointment and there are some suggestions that global trade might be under a little bit of pressure -- you're terrible. So, I mean, that's my little caveat.
BERMAN: You said a massive rating spike, by the way, when you said world cargo growth.
ROMANS: Oh, wait until I start talking about the Federal Reserve.
BERMAN: Right.
ROMANS: This is -- this draws viewers like nothing else. The Federal Reserve is under fire and Donald Trump could be its biggest critic. Here's a claim he repeated in Monday night's debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: When they raise interest rates you're going to see some very bad things happen because the Fed is not doing their job. The Fed is being more political than Sec. Clinton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Let's be clear, politics is not in the Fed's DNA. It was designed to be independent back in 1913 -- independent of the three branches of government. The president or Congress cannot tell it when to act on interest rates. It uses economic data to make those decisions. It's sort of beholding to statistics, not to politics.
Also, the Fed has been great for taxpayers, by the way. Last year, it reported a record $117 billion back into U.S. coffers. That money is spent on everything from highway construction, to the military, and food stamps.
And from time to time, John, you get this criticism or skepticism or even conspiracy theory stuff about the Federal Reserve and I always like to say we know more about what the Fed is doing right now than we ever have before.
BERMAN: It's true. ROMANS: It gives press conferences. The Fed chief is very available to Congress and to members of the press. And, you know, one of the things that the Fed has actually been complaining about is that Congress hasn't been doing its job and working with the president to enact pro-growth policies and infrastructure programs and fiscal policy, leaving more work for the Fed. The Fed would not like to have all of this work to do to hold up the economy.
BERMAN: All right, you're looking at a couple of minutes before the hour right now. Leaders around the world remembering Shimon Peres. The Israeli leader passed away overnight. "NEW DAY" has more right now.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, September 28th, 6:00 in the East and we do being with breaking news.
The man known as Israel's warrior for peace, Shimon Peres, has died. He was 93 years old. He spent more than half a century in public service. He was in many different ministerial capacities. He was prime minister, he was president, and he also shared in the Nobel Peace Prize for forging a deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Peres died after suffering a massive stroke two weeks ago and this morning leaders around the world are remembering this visionary statesman. Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Oren Liebermann. He is live at the hospital outside of Tel Aviv -- Oren.
LIEBERMANN: Alisyn, the list of leaders -- the list of world leaders coming to attend the funeral of Shimon Peres is a testament to his legacy to a building of peace and of trust in a region that's certainly not known for peace and trust.
