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At This Hour
Trump Feuds with Radio Host over Foreign Policy; Joe Biden on Running for President; Stocks Down, Jobs Added, Unemployment Rate Down; Rowan County Issues Same-Sex Marriage Licenses, Clerk Sits in Jail Indefinitely. Aired 11-11:30a ET
Aired September 04, 2015 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, Paul, thanks so much for that story. I'm trying to understand, but I don't know.
Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.
AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan starts now.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump doesn't need to know the names of terrorist leaders. He can hire people who know that stuff. And wait until you hear what he says about people who ask him those types of questions.
New this morning, the lowest unemployment rate in seven years. Why this might actually scare Wall Street.
And breaking this morning, license granted. A Kentucky county finally authorizes same-sex weddings. New developments for the clerk in jail from trying to keep this all from happening.
Hello, I'm John Berman. Kate Bolduan is off this morning.
The big questions for Donald Trump this morning, how much does he know and when will he know it? The subject is foreign policy and terrorism. His prowess very much in question. Now the conservative radio host, Hugh Hewitt, asked Trump about the heads of major terror organizations. He wanted to know if Trump knew who they were. He didn't. And at least now, he doesn't seem to care. He said it doesn't really matter at this stage of the campaign, and he accused Hewitt of asking gotcha questions.
(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)
HUGH HEWITT, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: On the front of Islamist terrorism, I'm looking for the next commander-in-chief to know who Hassan Nasrallah is and Zawahiri and al Baghdadi. Do you know the players without a scorecard yet, Donald Trump?
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: No. You know, I'll tell you honestly, I think by the time we get to office, they'll all be changed. They will be all gone. I knew you were going to ask me things like this, and there's no reason, because, number one, I'll find -- I will hopefully find General Douglas Macarthur in the pack. I will find whoever it is that I will find. But they're all changing. You know, those are like history questions. Do you know this one, do you know that one?
HEWITT: I don't believe in gotcha questions. I'm not trying to quiz you --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: That is a gotcha question. First day in office, or right before that, the day after the election, I'll know more about it than you will ever know. That I can tell you.
HEWITT: I hope so. Last question, so the difference between Hezbollah and Hamas does not matter to you yet, but it will?
TRUMP: It will when it's appropriate. I will know more about it than you know. And, believe me, it won't take me long.
(END AUDIO FEED)
BERMAN: It will not take him long. Today, Trump called Hewitt a third-rate radio announcer.
The question is how important is it for Donald Trump to know this kind of thing right now? Were those fair questions or were they gotcha questions, ambush questions?
Let's talk about this with CNN political commentator Van Jones; and the former communications director of the Republican National Committee, Doug Heye.
Doug, you're here with me right now. Gotcha questions or fair game to talk about terror leaders?
DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's absolutely fair game. These are things a commander-in-chief needs to know. It's interesting, Trump always lashes out at somebody. If Hugh Hewitt is a third-rate announcer, which I don't think he is, why is Donald Trump on that show? He wouldn't go on a third-rate show with how he's done everything so far. But this goes to the real crux of the problem that Donald Trump has moving forward. He's been able to dominate the conversation on his terms. If he has a problem at a press conference in Des Moines, that's fine because we talk about helicopter rides. But when you pin him down on specific policies, he has real problems in answering those. So what we see is when you focus on specifics, when you focus on policy, not only does the emperor not have any clothes, he really doesn't have any answers.
BERMAN: This is what Donald Trump -- Donald Trump was on TV this morning addressing this issue about what he knows and doesn't know, and this is how he explained it. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP (voice-over): When you say Quds versus Kurds, I thought he said Kurds, this third-rate radio announcer that I did his show.
(LAUGHTER) It was like gotcha, gotcha. Every question was do I know this
one and that one. It was like he worked hard on that.
(LAUGHTER)
But I thought he said Kurds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: They all thought it was very funny right there.
He says, Van, that he misheard the question. The question was about the Quds force, the Iranian Special Forces, or Kurds, what Donald Trump heard, but there were lots of other things he didn't know. Is he right though, Van, that he doesn't need to know right now, that there's a learning curve, that when he's in the White House he'll have people surrounding him, Douglas Macarthur types that can help him out in this type of situation?
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's so unfortunate that he thinks that's how things work in the White House. I've worked there. That's not how it works. He reminds me -- a lot ever kids today, you say do your homework. They say I don't have to do my homework, I can just Google any answer that I want. Why do I have to learn anything? You actually have to have a basis of knowledge. You have to have a working, functional understanding of the world in order to delegate well. You delegate a lot when you are president but you have to know what to delegate and to whom. If he has not been working out a world view that gives him specific knowledge of who the players are and the incredibly fast-moving changes, he's not prepared to be commander-in-chief, period.
My concern though is that he winds up getting a bump in the polls because right now every time he does something that disqualifies him from being president, the Republican voters seem to reward him for it, and I'm very, very concerned. We're in a cycle where no matter what he does, he winds up being benefited from it in the polls.
[11:05:20] BERMAN: In that latest poll, Donald Trump at 30 percent. That poll from Monmouth University out just yesterday. He called Hugh Hewitt a third-rate radio announcer, highly respected among conservatives.
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: One of the best in the business.
BERMAN: I want to shift to Joe Biden. He was giving a speech in Florida to a Jewish group. I think we heard more from him directly than we ever have about how he's thinking about this. Really revealing stuff. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The fact is, can I do it? Can my family undertake what is an arduous commitment that I would be proud to take under ordinary circumstances? But the honest to god answer is I just don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The honest to god answer is I just don't know. And he really seemed to mean it.
Van Jones, you really have to know if you're going to run for president.
JONES: You do. And yet, you know, let's just take a moment. This is someone who is a beloved figure in the Democratic Party opening his heart up in a way. If this were a policy-based primary, there's no reason to run. Hillary Clinton represents a lot of his views. This is becoming a personality primary, and nobody has more personality, more character, more heart than Joe Biden. You saw that on full display. I don't know if he should get in or shouldn't get in, but I tell you when you look at what's going on in the world and you hear a man like him speaking so authentically about his pain and his trouble and so thoughtfully, you think, geez, this guy is probably becoming the sentimental favorite of the Democratic party.
BERMAN: But, Doug, I mean, you have been with a lot of politicians in your life. That did not look like a man eager to jump in today at least.
HEYE: Not at all. And it really just breaks your heart. We know how close the Biden family is, how close the vice president was to his son, Beau. Ultimately, when we're talking about politics, if Donald Trump is having the conversation with voters he wants to have, Hillary Clinton certainly hasn't. It's why she really has had trouble in the polls and just trying to move any messaging forward. I think politically the smart thing to do for Joe Biden is to sit back and wait. If that opportunity comes, he'll be able to seize it. But right now, it doesn't look like he's prepared to jump in.
BERMAN: He said he will decide by the end of the month. It may be hard to wait much past that.
Doug Heye, Van Jones, really great to have you here. Have a great holiday weekend.
JONES: Thank you.
BERMAN: I should mention round two for the Republicans is just two weeks away. CNN will host the second Republican presidential debate, Wednesday, September 16th. It all starts at 6:00 p.m. eastern. This is going to be big, folks. You do not want to miss it.
Unemployment at a seven-year low. Anxiety on Wall Street though. Look at it right there, a new high. Developments this morning that could have a huge impact on the economy for the rest of the year.
Plus, significant new evidence in the search for three alleged cop killers. Will new home surveillance video lead officials to suspects? And kiddy fight club. Two daycare workers in Florida accused of
encouraging little kids to battle on the playground.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:11:57] BERMAN: All right. We have breaking news. The stock market down this morning. Down how much? Hopefully, we'll put it up on screen and I can tell you any second now. Down 256 points this morning. That's bad news, but it comes after some pretty good news. A new jobs report this morning showing that the economy added 173,000 jobs last month. And while that happened, the unemployment rate, which is a different measurement, it ticked down to 5.1 percent. So what does this mean?
We're going to bring in our business expert. CNN's chief business correspondent, Christine Romans is here with me. And down on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Alison Kosik.
Alison, give me a sense of what's going on in the market right now.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's kind of a twisted way of thinking but I think you hit the nail on the head there, John. We're seeing the sell off because of a good jobs report, a solid jobs report. What you're seeing is basically Wall Street being spooked that a good jobs report means the fed may go ahead in two weeks and raise interest rates for the first time in almost a decade and there's a big question hanging over, is the economy really ready for it? Has the economy really turned a corner in a big way to warrant the Fed raising rates in about two weeks? Because you look at what's going on in the rest of the world, you look at China, introducing stimulus measures into its financial system, Japan, even Sweden. And who can forget the European Union going ahead and introducing the stimulus measures into their financial system to try to perk up the economy? But then you look at what's happening in the U.S. We are pulling back on that stimulus. That's making Wall Street very nervous, especially since that last bit of stimulus left rock bottom low interest rates. That could go away as well. Seeing Wall Street prepare for the possible move coming in two weeks.
BERMAN: All right. Wall Street down 250 points. The Dow is right now.
Alison, thanks so much.
With me now chief business correspondent, Christine Romans.
Romans, the jobs report this morning has some very good numbers, namely August, 173,000 jobs added, maybe not as much as expected, but there's a lot else that people are happy about.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And these were revised higher. These were strong months of job creation. 262, 245, 245, that's some strong jobs growth. So far this year, the jobs growth not quite as robust as last year. Last year was one of the best years in a long, long time for jobs growth, but this is enough to say the American labor market has healed and is continuing to heal.
This number also incredibly important here, the unemployment rate. This is essentially full employment in terms of the Fed. 5.1 percent, the unemployment rate. When you look at this other number called the under employment rate. That also fell. That's a number that you often hear Republicans talk about. People who are opposed to the president's policies talk about the under employment rate. That has also been going down as well. That's people who are out of work or working part time but want to be working full time.
BERMAN: And the sectors, in terms of who is working, where the jobs are, also positive news for the economy.
ROMANS: If you have a college degree or you have a specific skill in demand right now, the labor market is the best it's been in years. That unemployment rate is the best it's been since 2008. Some of the sectors are higher paying jobs. When I look at the wide range, I see a shift that's happened over the past six or eight months where the beginning of the recovery, it was low wage jobs, jobs that did not require a college degree that were replacing jobs lost in the recession that were better jobs. The better jobs, the good jobs, are now starting to come back.
[11:15:31] BERMAN: Quickly, we don't have the number, I don't think, but wages are actually heading up.
ROMANS: 2.1 percent for wages -- or 2.2 percent this time. You want to see something more robust but it's a little bit of an improvement. In some of the higher paid categories you're seeing wage growth a little faster. I am showing you the market. The Dow down 244 points. Look, we don't know what the fed is going to do in two weeks. This report doesn't really change any of the factors on the ground, but markets I think are going to be incredibly, incredibly volatile with a lot of turmoil until we find out what the Federal Reserve is going to do, and that is the move that matters to everybody, when the Fed raises interest rates finally. That's the number, that's the move that everyone will feel.
BERMAN: And the marketing will be sort of on edge until we know for sure what happens there.
ROMANS: Yeah.
BERMAN: Christine Romans, great to have you here.
Alison Kosik, thanks so much.
We have history this morning, in Rowan County, Kentucky. As the clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses sits in jail, her office goes to work, and the first couple gets a marriage license from that office.
Plus, could it be a break through? New surveillance video might give us a glimpse of the suspects responsible for killing an Illinois police officer. Why is the video not public?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:16] BERMAN: New this morning, for the first time, marriage licenses for same-sex couples are being issued at a Kentucky county clerk's office. The first couple to get the document, they say they are elated. The county clerk, Kim Davis, refused to issue the licenses herself, saying it goes against her Christian values, but she is now in jail. The federal judge said she will stay there until she agrees to perform her duties. In her absence, five of her deputies are issuing marriage licenses now.
I want to bring in CNN correspondent, Alexandra Field.
Alexandra, give us a sense of what's happening down there.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT; Well, those deputy clerks made an oath, made a pledge to a federal judge that they would agree to issue those licenses, personal reservations, if any existing, being put aside.
So what we saw this morning in anticipation of the fact that these deputy clerks would begin to issue licenses was this crowd that came out here very early for the time that the county clerks office opened. A large group of people vocally supporting Kim Davis. Also a large group of people supporting marriage equality.
In fact, there was one couple who showed up right as the doors opened at 8:00. They had come to the county clerk's office five times before to apply for a marriage license and been denied every time. On the sixth time, they got through. A deputy clerk issuing the marriage license to this couple per the judge's orders.
But Kim Davis says she can't authorize her deputy clerks to issue these licenses and she won't agree not to interfere. And so she sits in jail.
Her husband, Joe Davis, came to the clerk's office this morning, said his wife is standing her ground and she is firm in her beliefs. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE DAVIS, HUSBAND OF KIM DAVIS: If our government can bully you, then they're going to make everybody bow down to what they want to do. If we don't take our country back -- we're the ones that put them in there. They work for us. And if we don't take our country back, we're going to be in worse shape than this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: A judge held Kim Davis in contempt of court. That's why she was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals. The judge said she was in contempt for failing to following the order to issue same-sex marriage license, any licenses in this county. But the judge told her she could simply get out of jail if she would agree not to interfere with the process of allowing these deputy clerks to issue the licenses. In the end, she decided she would take the jail time -- John?
BERMAN: All right, Alexandra Field, thank you so much.
I want to bring in Daniel Canon, one of the lead attorneys with the ACLU, working on the case.
Daniel, thank you so much for being with us.
So marriage licenses are being granted. Are you getting everything you want now?
DANIEL CANON, LEAD ATTORNEY, ACLU: Well, you know, our clients are certainly satisfied with the ability to get marriage licenses, and, frankly, that ability never should have been taken away from them in the first place.
BERMAN: So they're getting licenses, but county clerk, Kim Davis, remains in jail. If the licenses are being granted, would you like to see her released?
CANON: Well, look, it's unfortunate anytime someone has to be incarcerated in the United States. And this is not a remedy that we asked for. But it's something that the judge saw fit to grant. And, you know, I have to say that it's been effective. There are licenses that are being issued, and that is everything we wanted. You know, it's going to be up to the judge as to when she is released and under what conditions.
BERMAN: The part that I don't understand right now going forward is how this comes to some kind of conclusion because, yes, marriage licenses are being issued, so in a sense the federal judge has achieved what he wants to achieve. He wants that office to be issuing licenses. I don't think he wants to keep her in prison indefinitely. Does her release, in your mind, does it mean the flow of those licenses will stop?
CANON: No. I think there has to be some assurances Mrs. Davis will not continue to impose her religious beliefs not only on her office but on her entire county, full of constituents that elected her. And that's the primary problem with this case. And I know there's been a lot of talk sort of casting this in religious freedom and religion liberty terms. This case is really about religious imposition, and she's imposed her beliefs on an entire county full of people, and that's not the way we do things in the United States. So I think for her to be released -- and I certainly don't want to speak for Judge Bunning here -- but for her to be released, there would have to be some assurance she's not going to continue to do that.
BERMAN: And what kind of assurance are you going to seek, or is there a way in your mind to keep this from happening again in other counties in Kentucky, in Alabama?
CANON: Well, right now, we're focused on Rowan County because that's where our plaintiffs reside and pay taxes and go to work and go to school and all kinds of other things that you do when you're in a community. And they expect elected officials to respond to them. And now the rule of law has been restored in Rowan County. The elected officials are once again responding -- the deputies at least are once again responding and doing their job and issuing licenses, and that's what we sought in Rowan County. And I hate to think of a situation in which we'd have to fight this out county by county, but this is a very straightforward issue of the rule of law winning out over an individual elected official's imposition of his or her own religious principles.
[11:25:41] BERMAN: And just to be clear, as long as this county clerk's office keeps on issuing marriage licenses, you don't care whether she's released or not?
CANON: No, I -- again, I think it's unfortunate anytime anybody has to be incarcerated. And incarceration is not something we sought for Mrs. Davis. And, you know, the judge saw fit to levy that remedy in this particular case. So we have no vested interest in seeing her locked up for any period of time. The point is that the rule of law is restored in Rowan County. As long as that can be maintained, we take no position on whether or not she should be in that jail cell.
BERMAN: Daniel Canon, thank you so much for being with us.
CANON: Thank you.
BERMAN: There is a huge manhunt right now. The question, who killed an Illinois police officer. Could new surveillance video break open this case?
And desperation sets in. Hungry, tired, begging for help, migrants now literally trying to walk to Germany.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
