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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Gloves Come Off in GOP Race; Japan Flooding: Rescues Underway; E.U. Proposes Migrant Distribution Plan; Russian Military Buildup in Syria; Patriots & Steelers Kickoff NFL Season Tonight. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired September 10, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The federal investigators looking into whether airline agreed to a non-stop flight between New Jersey and Columbia, South Carolina, to curry favor with David Samson, then- chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

[05:00:06] On average, just 56 percent of seats on that route were filled. An airline typically fills almost 90 percent of its seats.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: David Samson was a name that has come up during the whole bridgegate investigation with Chris Christie.

ROMANS: This is the echoes, and I will say, three days after he resigned in the bridgegate scandal, that flight was canceled.

BERMAN: EARLY START continues right now.

(MUSIC)

BERMAN: New attacks in the race for president. Donald Trump mocks Carly Fiorina's appearance. Dr. Ben Carson sheds the nice guy approach. We have new insults ahead.

ROMANS: Breaking news this morning. Flooding in Japan. Thousands evacuated and buildings swept away. Dramatic rescues happening right now. We are live.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: Nice to see you this morning. John Berman here. Thursday, September 10th, 5:00 a.m. in the East.

ROMANS: Let's begin with the breaking news from Japan. Massive flooding, just unbelievable pictures, sweeping away houses, forcing officials to order the evacuation of at least 170,000 people. Japanese self-defense personnel have been deployed to rescue people stranded by the flooding by the Typhoon Etau.

We'll have much more on the emergency situation. We're going to have a live report in about 10 minutes.

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, yes, Donald Trump said that. Critical and some say derogatory comments about the appearance of the one woman in the Republican field, Carly Fiorina.

In a brand new "Rolling Stone" profile, Trump reacts to a TV image of Fiorina by shouting, "Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president? I mean, she's a woman and I'm not supposed to say bad things, but really folks, come on. Are we serious?"

Well, breaking overnight, Fiorina responded to Megyn Kelly on FOX News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think those comments respond for themselves. And all the many, many thousands of voters out there that are helping me climb in the polls. Yes, they are very serious.

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS HOST: What do you take that to mean? "Look at that face, would anyone vote for that?"

FIORINA: Yes. I have no idea. You know, obvious -- you know, honestly, Megyn, I'm not going to spend a single cycle wondering what Donald Trump means. Maybe, just maybe I'm getting under his skin a little bit because I am climbing in the polls.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Trump himself is facing attacks from a new front. Dr. Ben Carson, he was running second to Trump in almost all the polls. Carson has been quiet on the stump, but no more. In southern California, Carson took a direct shot at the authenticity of Trump's faith.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor in life. And that's a big part of what I am.

I don't get that impression with him. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't get that impression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Donald Trump has been looking for a way to confront Ben Carson. He fired a tweet overnight, saying, "Wow, I'm ahead of the field with evangelicals. I'm so proud of this and virtually every other group and Ben Carson just took a swipe at me.

ROMANS: One candidate playing nice with Donald Trump and getting the same consideration in return. Ted Cruz and Trump sharing the stage, hugging it out at a rally against the Iran nuclear deal on Capitol hill.

For more on this bromance, let's say truce between Trump and Cruz, we turn it over to chief political correspondent Dana Bash. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, you know that saying that you hug your friends and you hug your enemies even tighter? Well, it's unclear at this point which one Ted Cruz thinks Donald Trump is, a friend or an enemy. They are competitors for the White House, of course, but Cruz made a point of inviting Trump to a big rally outside the White House to protest the Iran nuclear deal. And it's just a latest example of Cruz's unusual approach to the billionaire front runner, show him praise and don't criticize him.

I talked to both of them about their relationship. Take a listen.

You and Senator Cruz have an unusual relationship when it comes to Republican competitors. Why do you have this bromance?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, it is a little bit of a romance. I like him. He likes me. He's backing me 100 percent.

BASH: You were the one who was supposed to be the outsider. How is he not taking votes? Donald Trump, not the guy with senator in front of his name.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I'm a big fan of Sun Tzu's dictum, that every battle is won before it's fought. It's won by choosing the terrain on which the battle will be fought, framing the argument.

BASH: But you're fighting in the same terrain?

CRUZ: Well, no, what Donald Trump -- right now, the people supporting Donald Trump are looking for someone to stand up to the Washington cartel.

BASH: Trump's attitude towards Cruz so far has been very Trump-esque. Cruz says nice things about Trump, so Trump says nice things back.

[05:05:00] But Trump does have a line. When I asked if he would consider telling his supporters to back Cruz if he were to ever back out, Trump responded without missing a beat, saying that won't happen because I never drop out -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Dana Bash playing Sun Tzu right back at Ted Cruz.

Hillary Clinton says she will not hesitate as president to use military against Iran if Iran tries to obtain nuclear weapons. Clinton offered strong support for the administration's nuclear deal in a speech in Washington. But she did mix in a sizable dose of caution about Iran's intentions.

Senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

Hillary Clinton heads to Ohio today after laying out her support for the president's Iran deal in Washington. Clinton said the U.S. should seize the chance to block Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapons and ripping up the deal as many Republican candidates have suggested is both unrealistic and dangerous.

Clinton did emphasize her skepticism about Iran's intention, saying her motto would be "distrust, but verify" and that she would not hesitate to use military force to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

She also showed some flashes of humor in the speech, something her advisers have reportedly urged her to do, as they look to turn around her sliding poll numbers.

Here is she is laughing off a coughing fit as she delivered a jab.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I apologize for my voice, suffering under massive allergy assault. Yes. Republican histamines are everywhere.

KEILAR: In Columbus this morning, Clinton is expected to talk about issues concerning women and families -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that, Brianna.

Uncomfortable moments expected on Capitol Hill today for Hillary Clinton and her campaign. A former State Department aide who handled her private e-mail server has been called to testify before the House Benghazi Committee. A lawyer for Bryan Pagliano says the former I.T. aide will invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and that forcing Pagliano to testify anyway is an attempt to intimidate him.

BERMAN: Vice President Joe Biden working to smooth things over with Israel, now that the Iran nuclear agreement is in his words a done deal. The vice president says a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is already in the works with the White House prepared to increase support to the Israelis so they can maintain a military advantage over their enemies. The vice president is also promising the Iran nuclear deal will be fully enforced.

ROMANS: Meanwhile, the supreme leader of Iran says he hopes Israel will no longer exist in 25 years. Ayatollah Khamenei is also ruling out any further negotiations with the United States beyond the nuclear issues, dampening hopes the nuclear deal could lead to closer ties between the U.S. and Iran.

BERMAN: The Justice Department is adopting a tough new policy, says it will crackdown on Wall Street executives involved in financial fraud. Federal prosecutors nationwide are being ordered to longer give individual protection from civil or criminal liability unless there are extraordinary circumstances. The Justice Department has been criticized for collecting large fines from depending corporations rather than prosecuting powerful corporate bosses.

ROMANS: Time for an early start on your money this morning. Asian markets closed lower. Some data out of China, you know, reigniting those concerns about the country's economic health, slowing economic growth. European markets are also down. U.S. stock futures are up slightly.

Yesterday, the Dow fell 240 points in another wild day. The S&P and the NASDAQ down more than 1 percent. Stocks have had triple digit moves. The Dow has had a triple digit move in 13 of the last 15 trading days.

The battle for your living room heats up. At its product event yesterday, Apple introduced a new version of Apple TV. It features voice control and an operating system that will accept new apps. Tim Cooks says apps, apps, apps. Television is all about apps.

Also, Apple unveiled updated iPhones and a much larger and pricier iPad. For the first time, Apple has a stylus, something Steve Jobs mocked. It's called the Apple Pencil. It can be used with the new tablet.

And another first, this is getting a lot of attention. This is something consumers can identify with. Customers can buy an iPhone directly from Apple without tied to a wireless carrier. A sign that Apple which makes most of the money from iPhone sales wants buyers to upgrade phones as much as problem.

BERMAN: You can get a subscription and get a phone every year.

ROMANS: Right. Reviews are mixed overall in the Apple product debut. And, you know, investors were not impressed. The stock closed down almost 2 percent.

BERMAN: It's such a high bar, though. Apple has a high bar to innovate.

ROMANS: You're right.

BERMAN: Breaking news this morning: widespread deadly flooding in Japan. Tens of thousands of people evacuated. Buildings swept away. You are looking at pictures right now of the dramatic rescues happening as we speak. We are live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:12:50] BERMAN: Breaking overnight: deadly widespread flooding in Japan. Torrential downpours forcing desperate residents to take refuge on the roofs of their homes. Meteorologists declaring this an emergency situation. You can see why.

These pictures are remarkable. Days of floods swept away homes and buildings in the Japan's eastern provinces. Officials have deployed Japanese military personnel, to rescue stranded residents. They've ordered the evacuation of 170,000 people, that's just so far.

There is fear the contaminated by radiation from the ruined Fukushima nuclear power plant, there is fear that that could spread. It was a serious situation there.

CNN's Will Ripley in Tokyo for us with the latest -- Will.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, John, when you hear Japan's prime minister and the meteorological agency using words like unprecedented to describe the rainfall, the downpour here, that's when you know that this is a very serious situation in a country that is prone to all kinds of natural disasters. The Japanese military is right now engaged in aerial rescues in north of Tokyo, in this, what's relatively a rural area in -- along the Kinugawa River, a city of 65,000 people. Many of them senior citizens in this area who had minutes to evacuate their homes.

There is fear that some people may still be trapped inside after the military in Japan has already engaged in dozens of rescues. There are a hundred emergency evacuation centers that are set up right now for people who are displaced. But they still don't know the full scale of this disaster. They don't know how many people may still be trapped and maybe needing help, as it now is night here Tokyo, the sun has set, which makes the rescue process all the more tricky and in a dangerous flooding situation, time is of the essence.

Meanwhile, the Fukushima nuclear reactor, they are monitoring a potentially volatile situation there. Some contaminated radioactive water leaked out for several hours as a result of the heavy rain over the last couple of days. They say the situation is contained for now. But they have to watch it closely, John, and keep measuring radiation in that area -- John.

BERMAN: Indeed, it will be a long, long night. Darkness just setting in right there.

Will Ripley in Tokyo for us -- thank you so much.

ROMANS: Yes, the radiation in Fukushima contained. Something we heard before. And so, there's a lot of concerns there.

[05:15:01] All right. Europe this morning with new plans to address the worst refugee crisis since World War II. The head of the European Union, Jean-Claude Juncker, is proposing a plan to distribute 160,000 refugees throughout the member nations, a plan some Europeans clearly are not on board with.

In Hungary, tensions are rising along the border with Serbia, frustrated refugees clashing violently with police, claiming they are being treated like animals as they make their way into Western Europe.

For the very latest, let's turn to senior international correspondent Arwa Damon along the Hungary/Serbia border.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. And the weather most certainly not helping, adding to the already

miserable conditions. People here gathered around a small fire as they wait for those buses to arrive.

But if one really wants to look for that silver lining in all of this, because of the rains, these buses that people have been waiting for have been arriving relatively quickly. The number of refugees here that we have been seeing over the last few days have significantly diminished this morning because as we were hearing these buses coming with much more frequency, and also the Hungarians getting a bit more organized and faster in the process of trying to get people moving out.

And, of course, these rains, cold temperatures, really underscoring just how important it is for all of these various countries that these people are transiting through to really get the processes going. Now, this is an area where UNHCR was supposed to be building a more permanent shelter. That obviously very needed at this stage, because, of course, as time goes on, these rains will continue, the temperatures will continue to drop.

And this is not just what people are facing here. Scenes similar if not much more worse than what you are witnessing are unfolding throughout the entire route that these people are taking as they cross through Europe. They often times find themselves without shelter. They do sleep out in the open on the streets, on the pavements and in the forest.

And so, as those European leaders are getting together trying to figure out how they're going to divvy up their responsibilities when it comes to taking in these refugees who are mostly from the war zones of Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, and yes, among them, economic migrants as well. Perhaps another very pressing issue right now is how to build up the much-needed assistance at these various critical transit points along their way.

BERMAN: All right. Arwa Damon for us on the Hungary/Serbia border.

There is a new concern about a Russian military build up in Syria. Syria connected to this refugee crisis in Europe.

The Obama administration keeping a close watch on the movement of military personnel on the ground in Syria, while Moscow confirms it is stepping up support for the Assad regime. The U.S. is warning of any escalation in the civil war in Syria.

Let's get more from CNN's Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, the U.S. trying to figure out just how far Russia may go to try to protect its interests in Syria. Secretary of State John Kerry making the second phone call in a week to his counterpart Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, asking what is going on and by all accounts not getting complete answers. Officials I have spoken to say they see evidence that the Russians have unloaded military ships at Syrian ports, offloading vehicles, troops, airfield equipment for temporary quarters. They believe the Russians are laying the groundwork for military operations in Syria.

Now, the U.S. is objecting to this obviously in the strongest terms because they believe the Russian plan may be to do all of this to try to bolster Syrian President Bashar al Assad. He is in rough shape. The fighting has been very fierce and the theory is that the Russians want to strike the rebels that Assad is battling so Assad can stay in power.

The U.S. problem with all of that is obviously the U.S. feels the violence needs to come to an end. Assad needs to go and if Assad stays in power as an agent or proxy of Moscow, this will only prolong the violence. So, right now, U.S. satellites are watching Russian ports and airfields very closely for any signs of what maybe coming next. The big concern is if the Russians start moving those fighter jets into Syria -- John, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: I bet they are watching closely.

ROMANS: That's right.

Barbara Starr -- thanks, Barbara.

BERMAN: All right. Back to football.

[05:20:01] Our long national nightmare is over. The Patriots and Steelers kickoff the season tonight. Tom Brady will be there. I will be watching.

Coy Wire will be with the bleacher report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: A shocking story out of New York City. Former tennis star James Blake says he was manhandled by police officers and what the police officer admits was a case of mistaken identity.

ROMANS: Yes, Coy Wire brings us more on that story in this morning's bleacher report.

Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Hey, Christine. Hi, John.

Yes, one NYPD officer has been placed on modified assignment following that mix up with retired American tennis star Blake. It happened as Blake waited outside his hotel for a car to take him to the U.S. Open. He says as many as five officers dressed in street clothes rushed him and tackled him to the ground and put him in handcuff. Now, police Blake was mistaken for a suspect in an identity theft ring.

Here's Blake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES BLAKE, FORMER TENNIS STAR: It shouldn't have happened. It is something that we'll deal with the police and find out what they have to say internally. Hopefully there is video of it and people can see what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Now, Blake ended up cutting his elbow and bruising his leg in the rough takedown.

Meanwhile, at the U.S. Open, Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake taking in the Richard Federer-Gasquet quarterfinals match. And Beyonce "Single Ladies" starts playing, and well, it's a party.

As far as the match itself, Federer handled Gasquet with ease, won in straight sets.

[05:25:04] He'll face fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the semifinals Friday.

On the women's side, Serena Williams continues her quest for the calendar grand slam tonight. She'll face Italian Roberta Vinci who she's never lost to. Serena is looking to be the first player to win all four majors in the same year since Steffi Graf in 1988.

Now, according to "Variety" magazine, UFC champ Ronda Rousey will star in the remake of the 1980's cult classic "Road House." The original movie starring Patrick Swayze was about a bar bouncer turned fighter. This seems to be the perfect role for Rousey. She's already had appearances in movies like "Furious 7" and "Entourage". And I'm guessing guys that she will not need a stunt double.

And it is almost here. We are about 15 hours and 4 minutes and 16 seconds from the NFL season officially getting underway. The defending champ Patriots will host the Steelers at 8:30 Eastern tonight. There will be a special ceremony before the game where the Patriots are going to hoist their fourth Super Bowl banner.

For the first time as NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, says he won't attend the game in Foxborough. He won't be there to be there to see the 68,000-plus Pats fans. About 67,000 will be wearing number 12 jerseys.

John, I'm surprised you're not wearing yours now.

BERMAN: It's hanging in my office. I can't put it on. It's hanging up there for the world to see.

ROMANS: My big world dilemma is what age is the appropriate age to let your kids stay up for the first game of the season?

BERMAN: Age 43 is what I'm going with tonight.

Coy Wire, thank you very much. See you tomorrow when I have slept not one bit.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: My kids. I forgot about them. I was excited about Tom Brady.

ROMANS: Yes, yes, exactly right.

Twenty-six minutes past the hour.

New attacks and insults in the race for president. It is getting personal folks. How the candidates are now going after each other, next.

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