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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Sanders Surges Ahead of Clinton in New Hampshire Poll; European Migrant Crisis; Jailed Clerk Files New Appeal. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired September 07, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:17] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Dramatic developments in the race for president. A new poll shows Bernie Sanders surging past Hillary Clinton in a key state. Donald Trump leading the Republican pack, but there's a new candidate not far behind.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Europe's migrant crisis. Leaders welcoming thousands, but warning they can't keep this up for long. Live team coverage tracking new developments, ahead.

ROMANS: And breaking overnight, the Kentucky clerk sitting in jail for refusing to allow gay couples to get married, she is filing a new appeal this morning. Will it work?

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

KOSIK: And I'm Alison Kosik. It's half past the hour. Thanks for joining us.

Up first, Hillary Clinton poll numbers heading south. Bernie Sanders surging ahead of the former secretary of state in New Hampshire and closing the gap quickly in Iowa.

Look at this -- look at the greatest NBC/Marist poll. The Vermont senator opening a commanding nine-point lead over Clinton in the Granite State. He was 13 points behind her in July. And in Iowa, Sanders now trails Clinton by only 11 points. Clinton led by 24 points in July. The former first lady spending the Labor Day weekend campaigning in Iowa, conceding she has a long road ahead of her.

(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 and 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)

KOSIK: And for more on Sanders sudden surge, let's go to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and bring in CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: As we begin this Labor Day campaign season, traditionally the starting point of the fall campaign, this presidential race is more unsettled than we could have ever imagined. Let's start with the Democrats. In Iowa and New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton can feel the burn from Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders is leading by nine points according to the most recent poll out of New Hampshire and here in Iowa, where I am, she is only leading now by 11 points. That lead is cut in half of over what it was just a month or so ago.

So, the race is on on the Democratic side. Voters are beginning to look for alternatives to Hillary Clinton. And thrown into the mix, is Vice President Biden going to run or not? He met with some family members over the weekend in Delaware, part of this ongoing discussion as he decides over the next month or so whether to jump into this campaign. It's one reason that Hillary Clinton is doing house party, she's doing meeting with activists across the state of Iowa, trying to get those Democrats to sign on to her campaign.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: With her poll numbers sagging, Hillary Clinton turning up the heat on Donald Trump. Listen to her ridicule the Republican frontrunner's plan to deport all undocumented immigrants if he wins the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Mr. Trump on the other side talks about deporting 11 million or 12 million people. Somebody needs to ask him, OK, tell us specifically how that will happen? You know what he says, well, they'll just go, they'll just go. They'll have to go over and then they'll have to stand in line and then they'll have to come back.

Eleven million or 12 million people? Really?

Well, I'm going to be pressing very hard to get specifics because there aren't any specifics. This is the kind of political rhetoric that doesn't belong in our election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Meantime, Donald Trump is holding to the top spot in the Republican side. He's sporting a commanding lead in New Hampshire and less comfortable margin in Iowa. In both states, Dr. Ben Carson is making a strong move.

We get more from CNN national correspondent Sunlen Serfaty in Milford, New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Today, we'll see some of the Republican candidates march here today in a Labor Day parade. And fresh on their mind is catching up to frontrunner Donald Trump.

There's a new poll out by NBC and Marist that shows that here in New Hampshire, Donald Trump has a commanding lead, 28 percent. And that's taking up 7 percentage points from July. John Kasich at number two with 12 percent, followed by outsider candidates Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, they both been on the rise here recently.

Now, Jeb Bush clearly on the decline in New Hampshire.

He has lost half of his support since July and is now polling at 8 percent here.

Now, meanwhile in Iowa, we are seeing Donald Trump and Ben Carson on the rise. Trump with 29 percent support in Iowa, Carson at 22 percent. Bush in Iowa, losing half of his support there, now polling at only 6 percent.

Now, another candidate who is seeing decline in Iowa is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker who once was in the lead in Iowa over the summer.

[04:35:03] Now, I caught up with Walker as he launched his motorcycle tour throughout New Hampshire here and asked him about his decline.

GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R-WI), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The person who won the primary four years ago is about at that same point at this point. So, we have every confidence that like I said, there are going to be ups and downs, and polling along the way. But our key is to stay true to who we are to get our message out.

SERFATY: And Labor Day is often seen as the unofficial kickoff to the campaign season. So, today can serve as a reset button for many of these candidates who need a lot of momentum.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Sunlen Serfaty for us, thank you, Sunlen.

President Obama picking up a couple of key endorsements for the Iran nuclear deal this morning.

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the head of the Democratic National Committee, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell both in favor now of the agreement after considerable angst.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D), FLORIDA: My number one goal in making this decision was to reach a conclusion based on what I thought would be most likely to prevent Iran from achieving their nuclear weapons goals. And in weighing everything all of the information that I've had in front of me, I concluded that the best thing to do is to vote in support of the Iran deal.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE UNDER PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: Here's why I think it's a good deal: one of the great concerns that the opposition has that we're leaving open a lane for Iranians to go back to creating a nuclear weapon in 10 or 15 years. We're forgetting the reality that they've been on a superhighway for the last 10 years to create a nuclear weapon or nuclear weapons program with no speed limit. And in the last 10 years, they've one from 136 centrifuges up to something like 19,000 centrifuges. This agreement will bring them down to 500 centrifuges. All of this will be under IAEA supervision and I think this is a good outcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: President Obama expressing gratitude for Powell's approval, "Thank you, Colin, for putting your experience and expertise behind this important initiative for our country."

KOSIK: The Pentagon revamping its strategy on the war on ISIS, acknowledging the plan to build a force of moderate Syrian rebels is failing. Now, defense officials want to drop larger number of rebels into safer zones and provide better intelligence and training. That's according to "The New York Times".

And for the first time, Iraq's air force is targeting ISIS positions using F-16 fighter jets purchased from the United States.

ROMANS: Thirty-seven minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money this Monday morning.

So, Beijing calls the stock bubble over and the market promptly disagrees. China's central bank hoping to call global -- calm global fears, said on Saturday, the, quote-unquote, "corrective process in the market was nearly finished". But the Shanghai composite closed down anyway 2.5 percent today. It's now down 40 percent since its high this year. European markets are higher right now.

Here in the U.S., markets are closed for the Labor Day holiday, but it was an ugly on Friday for Wall Street. The Dow fell 272 points, now down more than 12 percent from its record high. The S&P 500 lost 1 1/2 percent, now sitting right there on the edge of correction territory.

The president ordering paid sick leave of federal contractors. President Obama will sign an executive order today on Labor Day, which would allow workers to earn up to seven paid sick days a year. It's a move that could benefit more than 300,000 workers.

The White House hopes this pressures Congress to pass similar legislation for private sector. That could mean a huge change for 40 percent of workers who don't get any paid sick time. Forty percent of workers and many of those workers who don't get paid sick time tend to work in customer facing industries, right?

KOSIK: They need to have a little shh time, right?

ROMANS: Absolutely. Think about it. Then you are more likely to spread sickness, you know, if you go to work sick. So --

KOSIK: Yes, and be a happier employee. ROMANS: Exactly. Thirty-eight minutes past the hour.

The Kentucky clerk sitting in jail for refusing gay couples the right to marry. She files a new appeal overnight. What she is asking the judge.

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[04:42:30] ROMANS: Welcome back. Good morning, everybody.

The Kentucky clerk sitting in jail for refusing to grant marriage licenses to gay couples, she's filing an appeal. Kim Davis has been behind bars since Thursday after defying orders from a U.S. district judge to begin issuing licenses. She says it conflicts with her religious beliefs. Now, Davis is drawing support from presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Gavin Newsom, in San Francisco as mayor, performed same sex weddings even though it was illegal. Did he ever get put in jail? He most certainly did not go. You have Barack Obama and Eric Holder when he was attorney general, they ignored the rulings of DOMA. Did they get put in jail for ignoring the law? They most certainly did not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The former Arkansas governor plans to visit Davis in jail Tuesday before holding a rally for her outside of her detention center.

KOSIK: Breaking overnight: more body parts of a child turning up in a Chicago park. Officials discovering a toddler's head in a lagoon at Garfield Park on Saturday. A foot and hands were uncovered Saturday, a 20-pound weight was also found near the grisly scene. Investigators are going through missing person cases to determine if there could be any link to the remains.

ROMANS: Just a horrible story.

Thousands are expected to attend a funeral today for a fallen Illinois police officer. Services will take place at a local high school in Fox Lake for 30-year veteran Lieutenant Charles "Joe" Gliniewicz. He was known by friends as "G.I. Joe". The 52-year-old officer was gunned down last week and his killers are at large, three suspects. Gliniewicz leaves behind a wife and four sons.

KOSIK: Breaking overnight: the Minnesota dentist who faced worldwide backlash for killing Cecil the Lion on an African safari is speaking out. Walter Palmer, who's expected to return to his practice today, telling "The Associated Press" and "The Minneapolis Star Tribune" he has regrets, but insists the hunt was legal.

And he didn't address if he would abide by requests to return to Zimbabwe to face questioning. Palmer is not charged with a crime. It will be interesting to see how things shake out as his practice

opens.

ROMANS: Very interesting.

All right. The Midwest facing the threat of severe storms this Labor Day with the East Coast still feeling the heat. Let's get the forecast for you from meteorologist Allison Chinchar.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We are keeping an eye on the area of severe weather, mainly in the Midwest, stretching from Mason City down towards Dodge City, Kansas.

Now, the main threats for this are going to be large hail, damaging wind and also a slight possibility for some tornadoes.

[04:45:02] Now, the big story, especially in the Northeast, is going to be the return of summer-like temperatures and not just by a little bit. We are talking near record highs.

Take a look, Concord high of 92. The record is 96. Hartford, 93, with the record of 93. And again Boston and New York, also well above average for the next several days.

However, it's quite the opposite on the other end of the country. We are talking very cold temperatures. Freeze watches and warnings in effect for several areas. Yellowstone National Park yesterday morning got all the way down to 26 degrees. We're going to see Bend, Oregon, making it down near the freezing mark.

So, quite a different story on each side of the country. And in terms of some heading towards winter, some going back toward summer.

ROMANS: Allison Chinchar, thank you for that, Allison.

KOSIK: Crisis at the border of Europe. Thousands of migrants escaping their war-torn countries only to face new tough challenges this morning. We've got live team progress as this crisis continues to unfold, ahead.

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KOSIK: A wave of refugees pouring into Austria and Germany by the thousands this weekend. An estimated 13,000 men, women and children greeted warmly at train stations by volunteers and ordinary citizens. A growing number of Iraqis joining the tens of thousands of Syrians who are fleeing violence and poverty in their respective countries.

[04:50:03] Pope Francis calling on Catholic parishes and religious communities to open their doors to the refugees. But right now, the E.U. remains deeply divided over how to handle the onslaught. CNN is covering the migrant crisis like no other network on television, starting with Atika Shubert live in Munich.

So, you are seeing the refugees coming off the trains in Munich, getting a warm welcome. What are these refugees saying to you? ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are relieved to be here.

They're still exhausted from their journey. But they are, as you point out, getting a warm welcome.

This morning, this is the first bunch of refugees that we have seen come through this morning.

And this is the process. Behind me is the registration center, that's where they get ID'ed, they get fingerprinted as well, and these are medical tents here if they need any medical attention, there are doctors and nurses available. We've also know there are about 150 volunteers here all speaking different languages, Arabic, Urdu, Dari, Parsi, anybody who can help the refugees understand what the process is and how to apply for asylum.

And the numbers are extraordinary. We know now from the Munich police that yesterday, more than 13,000 came through this region asking for asylum. So, just extraordinary numbers coming through here.

KOSIK: But how many challenges are there for Germany at this point to handle this influx of refugees coming in at this kind of rate?

SHUBERT: It's a huge challenge. And what Germany has said is that all of this, even though it seems quite organized is not sustainable. In fact, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has just laid out a plan, saying that Germany is going to be dedicated 3 billion more euros to help with the refugee crisis.

They're going to be building more centers built like this, not just in train centers, but more mobile centers that try and meet refugees wherever they're coming into the country. That, they hope, will be able to speed the process of seeking asylum. But the fact is Germany said it could take 800,000, but it wants its European Union neighbors to take on more as well, because the numbers keep coming and it's not going to be stopping anytime soon.

KOSIK: How successful do you think Germany will be in convincing E.U. partners to go ahead and take on the overflow?

SHUBERT: Well, it's certainly going to try, and it's been pushing for a joint asylum policy now for several weeks and the summit is set for September 14th. Unfortunately, it is unlikely they will all come to agreement. Countries like Hungary, Poland and Slovakia say they do not want a system where they're forced to have people -- to take in people.

Just to give you a sense of the scene here, there are so many people that are coming here that either applaud the refugees as they come or they want to give out toys. I'm literally in the middle of the crowd of people jostling to come give candies, chocolates or anything to show how warmly they are welcoming the refugees coming in.

KOSIK: It's wonderful to see that, welcoming for them. But still, a lot of coordination needed among those European countries.

Atika Shubert live from Munich, thanks. ROMANS: All right. Our coverage of this crisis continues with senior

international correspondent Arwa Damon at the Serbia/Hungary border.

And, Arwa, last time we spoke with you, you were literally watching as refugees walking, following the train tracks trying to get to where you are. What are you seeing now? What's the situation on the ground now?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they still continue to come in. And this is the situation at this so-called temporary holding area. That's what it was supposed to be, but it's actually a place where a lot of these people who you see here have ended up at least spending the night if not up to two to three days.

They just received a little bit of food aid coming in, bread, apples, granola bars. That is from a very small non-profit that is really doing all it can. Everything it has been distributing has been donated to it. But it is hardly enough to meet the needs and demands of all of these people.

It is bitterly cold here at night. And as you can see, there are some tents, but they're not providing warmth. And most families are spending time out in the cold, like this one actually, we were speaking to earlier. And the problem is, the kids are already sick and these conditions, they're just making them sicker. This has been such a very long and difficult journey.

This is a 3-year-old. This family is from Syria. We were speaking to them earlier. They were just telling us about the hardships of trying to make things work in Syria. They like others did not want to leave home. They had to because of the conditions that were there.

They could not live there any more. That child, her family believes if she stayed back in Syria, they would end up dead and that's why her parents risk to bringing her here.

[04:55:03] This long line, people waiting for aid. Excuse me. And if we come over here, the flow doesn't end. It does not stop.

There are constantly people following those train tracks we showed you earlier and we do want to bring that shot to you again because when you look at it, when you realize the enormity of the problem, that is when it really sets in. This dire need for immediate action on the part of various European leaders, because look, here is the train track we showed you just a short while ago. Here it is again. And this flow is constant.

So, even though there is a backlog of people here. We hope the buses will show up soon. They get people out. But there are more still coming across. And these are all people equally desperate, equally vulnerable, and equally hoping to reach that life that they think will give them and their kids a future.

ROMANS: All right. Arwa Damon, thank you for that.

Human rights groups say Europe should expect expansive migration like this for some time. I tell you, this weekend, a lot of people talking this weekend. Peter King, a New York congressman, says if the U.S. admits more Syrian refugees, terrorists could come in to the country. He pointed to the Boston marathon bombers who were given refugee status. So, a lot of discussion --

KOSIK: Many think it's a valid point.

ROMANS: -- here as well.

KOSIK: All right. We're going to be right back.

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