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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Typhoon Flooding Slams Japan; Trump And Cruz's Mutual Admiration Society; Iranian Leader Hopes For End To Israel; Stocks Down Around The World; Floods Overwhelm Eastern Japan; Freddie Gray Trials; Half-Empty United Flight At Center Of Investigation. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired September 10, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Would anyone vote for that? Donald Trump mocking Carly Fiorina's appearance. Ben Carson questioning Trump's Christianity. New attacks and insults flying this morning in the race for president and it's getting personal now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We have breaking news this morning, just devastating flooding in Japan, thousands evacuated. More than 100,000 evacuated. Buildings swept away. Dramatic rescues happening right now. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's 30 minutes past the hour this Thursday morning. Nice to see you all this morning. Let's begin with this breaking news.

BERMAN: Breaking news out of Japan, disastrous flooding sweeping away houses and forcing officials to order the evacuation of at least 170,000 people. The Japanese self-defense force out in force right now. They have been rescuing people stranded by the flooding from a typhoon that hit, that had more than a foot of rain in a very short period of time.

You can see the rescues, the evacuations that are happening. Night has now fallen in Japan. So the situation could be getting worse. We will have a live report from the region in about 10 minutes.

ROMANS: The gloves are off this morning as more Republican candidates begin assaults on Donald Trump. Breaking overnight, Carly Fiorina brushing off a harsh attack by Trump, in a brand new "Rolling Stone" profile, Trump reacts to a TV news 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?"

Fiorina responded on Megyn Kelly's Fox News show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think those comments speak for themselves and all of 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: What do you take that to mean? Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that?

FIORINA: I have no idea. You know, honestly, Megyn, I will not spend a second wondering what Donald Trump means, but maybe I'm getting under his skin a little bit because I am climbing in the polls.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Then there is Ben Carson running second to Trump in many recent polls. At a campaign rally in Southern California, Carson abruptly shifted his strategy taking a personal shot at Trump questioning the authenticity of his 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 who I am. I don't get that impression with him. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't get that impression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Trump fired back overnight in a tweet saying, "Wow, I'm the head of the field of Evangelicals and I'm proud of this and virtually every other group. And Ben Carson took a swipe at me."

BERMAN: Can I use this opportunity to remind everyone that the Republican debate right here on CNN is next Wednesday night. It is just getting more and more interesting by the second.

ROMANS: Who will go?

BERMAN: I'll go.

ROMANS: A bunch of Republicans and John Berman.

BERMAN: This is getting more and more interesting. Now there is one candidate who is still playing nice with Donald Trump and getting some consideration in return. Ted Cruz and Trump shared the stage and hugs at a rally against the Iran nuclear deal on Capitol Hill. Let's get more on bromance from chief political correspondent, Dana Bash.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, you know the saying that you hug your friends and you hug your enemies even tighter. It is 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 capitol to protest the Iran nuclear deal.

It's just the latest example on the Cruz's unusual approach to the billionaire frontrunner. Showing him praise and don't criticize him. I talked to both of them about the relationship. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is a romance. I like him. He likes me. He's backed me 100 percent.

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

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

BASH: You are fighting on the same terrain.

CRUZ: What Donald Trump, right now the people supporting Donald Trump are looking for someone who will stand up to the Washington cartel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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, but Trump does have a line.

[05:35:05] When I asked if he would consider telling his supporters to back Cruz if he would back out, Trump responded without missing a beat saying that won't happen because I never drop out -- John and Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Dana, thanks for that. Hillary Clinton says she will not hesitate as president to use military force against Iran if Iran tries to obtain nuclear weapons. Clinton offered strong support for the administration's nuclear deal in a speech in Washington Wednesday, but she mixed in a sizable dose of caution about Iran's intentions. Senior political correspondent, Brianna Keilar, picks up the story.

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 says the U.S. should seize the chance to block Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and that ripping up the deal as many Republican candidates have suggested, is both unrealistic and dangerous.

Clinton emphasized her skepticism about the Iran intentions. Saying her motto would be distrust but verify. She would not hesitate to use military force to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

She also showed some of 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. She is laughing off a coughing fit as she delivered a political jab.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

BERMAN: All right, Brianna. Some uncomfortable moments expected on Capitol Hill today for Hillary Clinton and her campaign, a former State Department aide who handled Clinton's private email 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 then forcing Pagliano to appear anyway is an attempt to intimidate him.

ROMANS: Vice President Biden is working to smooth things over with Israel now that the Iran nuclear agreement is in his words a done deal. Biden says a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already in the works.

With the White House prepared to increase support the Israelis so they can maintain a military advantage over their enemies. The vice president is promising the Iran nuclear deal will be enforced.

BERMAN: The supreme leader of Iran says he hopes Israel will no longer exist in 25 years. Ayatollah Khomeini is also ruling out any further negotiations with the United States beyond the nuclear issues that have been discussed. As some have suggested this nuclear deal could lead to a thaw in some tensions between the United States and Iran.

ROMANS: Time for an EARLY START on your money, Asian markets closed down on new concerns about China's slowing economic growth, some deflation numbers.

European markets are also down. U.S. stock futures are up slightly. Yesterday, another one of the ugly days, the Dow fell 240 points. The S&P 500 is also down more than 1 percent. The Nasdaq down.

Remember when we were talking 24 hours ago, it looked to be a good day for stocks but it wasn't. The Dow has made triple digit swings 13 out of the last 15 trading days.

I do have some good news for job seekers though. There were 5.8 million job openings in July in the U.S. so that is a record. That's the most job openings since the government started tracking that 15 years ago.

It's a sign that the labor market is getting better. It is also one of the things the fed will watch and talk about at its meeting next week when it decides whether to raise interest rates.

The down side of the number of the strong job openings is that it highlights one of these complaints. If you are out of work, it is hard to hear from CEOs that they cannot find the skill set they need in the American economy. So that's another part of the story.

BERMAN: You also hope it creates wage pressure to see wages going up more than they have been.

ROMANS: Exactly and it hasn't yet.

All right, breaking news this morning, a dangerous flooding in Japan, tens of thousands evacuated as buildings are swept away. Dramatic rescues playing out. We are live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:42:49]

ROMANS: Torrential downpours in Japan forcing desperate residents to take refuge on the roofs of their homes. Meteorologists declaring it an emergency situation. Days of furious flooding sweep away houses and buildings in Japan's eastern provinces.

Officials have deployed Japanese military personnel to rescue stranded residents and have ordered the evacuation of 170,000 people so far. And there is fear water contaminated by radiation from the ruined Fukishima nuclear power plant could spread.

CNN's Will Ripley is in Tokyo for us with the very latest. Will, what is happening there?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, the rescue operations are expected to continue in the overnight hours. You can see it is dark here now which is further complicates the situation for the Japanese military, the self-defense force that has been called in to try to rescue those people who we saw trapped on their rooftops, on balconies, clinging on to light poles, anywhere where they could stay safe above water waiting for help to arrive.

But the concern right now is that it is still unknown, the full scale of this disaster. How many other people may not have been able to call for help because the waters were rising so quickly in this area along the Kinagawa River.

Senior citizens who may not have been able to more quickly enough, that is the fear as searchers continue to look for survivors and take them to the emergency evacuation centers, which have been setup in the region about two hours outside of Tokyo.

There are 100 centers where people will be spending the night waiting to see when they can return to their homes if their homes are still there because we did see the waters sweep some of those houses away.

In Fukishima Prefecture, home to the crippled nuclear plant, there is also another situation that we are watching very closely. The heavy rains from a typhoon that moved through yesterday overloaded the water systems in an area that has been drenched with rain for four weeks now.

Contaminated radioactive water did leak out into the ocean. That leak, we are told, was contained in three hours. They say radiation levels are normal for now, but they continue to watch very closely what will happen there with more rain in the forecast for Japan -- Christine.

ROMANS: Absolutely. Will Ripley, thank you for that. You never want to hear leaked radioactive material into the ocean from Fukishima. Not a good deal.

[05:45:02] BERMAN: Let's take a look at what is coming up on "NEW DAY." Chris Cuomo joins us now.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": John Berman, Christine Romans, it is good to see both of you. You know, Christine, I've been telling John Berman don't discount Donald Trump. Not a flash in the pan. People are really angry. He has insisted it is a blip on the radar.

The new CNN/ORC poll shows once again that Donald Trump has not gone away. The opposite has been the case. He has his biggest lead yet. It is all about him and Ben Carson. Why is this going on? We'll talk in the analysis of the poll that shows what people are zeroing in on that wants them to want in Trump and Mr. Carson.

Now you have Trump and Carson have to start considering each other and somewhat playing against type, it is Ben Carson who has come out with some harsh rhetoric about Donald Trump.

Donald Trump has problems of his own with the "Rolling Stone" article that's out now, comments about Carly Fiorina that fly in the face of cherishing women. We'll take that.

Also we will have Bill Bratton on. He is the New York City's police commissioner. Is crime going up or crime going down? We will go through why that is not an easy question to answer although it should be.

And do stop and frisk helping or hurting? We do this after what is happening with tennis star, James Blake, now retired. How is that OK? We will take you through all that.

BERMAN: You need to find out more of the facts. It looks outrageous on its face.

ROMANS: Bill Bratton has criticism for Governor Chris Christie for his criticism about New York crime rates when Newark has higher crime rates.

Protest plan in Baltimore. A pivotal ruling expected today there in the case of the six police officers accused in the death of Freddie Gray. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:50:32]

ROMANS: Police in Baltimore bracing for protests as a judge prepares to rule today on a change of venue for the six police officers charged in Freddie Gray's arrest and subsequent death. This comes a day after the city manager gave unanimous approval to a $6.4 million settlement with the Gray family. The mayor says it will avoid years of litigation and has no bearing on the police officers' criminal trials.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE (D), BALTIMORE: The civil claim is completely unrelated to the criminal case the six officers currently face. The city's decision to settle the civil case should not be interpreted as passing any judgment on guilt or innocence of the officers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Still the police union claims that settlement is proof the six officers cannot get a fair trial in Baltimore.

BERMAN: Surprising new details from the coroner in the death of Illinois Police Officer Joe Gliniewicz. The coroner's report says that Gliniewicz died from one devastating gunshot. The coroner is cautious about exactly where that gunshot came from.

He says, quote, "Right now, all unnatural deaths are up for suggestion. That means homicide, suicide and accident undetermined." Authorities have been looking since Gliniewicz was fatally shot last week. They have been looking for three suspects.

ROMANS: Police report another shooting on I-10 in Phoenix. That makes 10 shootings in the past 11 days. Authorities have no suspects. They are trying to determine whether the apparently random vehicle shootings fit any kind of pattern. So far, there are no deaths and just one injury.

BERMAN: After a ten-year hiatus, Arkansas bringing back the death penalty. Governor Hutchinson on Wednesday announced execution dates for eight death row inmates, the first two in October. The state's lethal cocktail will include a controversial drug, which was used in at least three botched executions last year.

ROMANS: Gas prices keep falling. How low can they go? The government has a new forecast. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:56:36]

ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on your money. Asian markets closed lower. Brand new data from China heightened concerns about the country's slowing economic growth. European markets also down. U.S. stock futures are up slightly. Yesterday, the Dow fell 240 points. Not a pretty day. The S&P

500 and the Nasdaq also down more than 1 percent. Triple digit swings 13 of the last 15 trading days.

One thing weighing down stocks is tumbling oil. A barrel of crude oil is now just below $45 because of the global supply glut. Low oil prices are a good thing for consumers, $2.03 gas by December. That's the brand new forecast by the government, the Energy Information Administration, $2.03 by December. The national average is $2.37 this morning more than $1 cheaper than a year ago.

More details emerging about the flight at the center of the investigation which cost the CEO of United his job. Lots of empty seats on that so-called chairman's flight we reported yesterday.

Federal investigators looking into whether United agreed to a nonstop flight between New Jersey and Columbia, South Carolina where the then chairman of the New York/New Jersey Port Authority had a vacation home.

That was in exchange for maybe some favors at Newark. That is the investigation. On average, 56 percent of the seats on that flight were filled. An airline typically fills 90 percent of its seats. An internal investigation at United Continental led to the ouster of three of those executives. A federal investigation is ongoing.

BERMAN: Donald Trump widening his lead. A new CNN poll out in about 1 minute, "NEW DAY" has that, impressive numbers starting now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump is good. He is very, very good. When he's bad, he's bad.

FIORINA: Maybe, just maybe I'm getting under his skin because I'm climbing in the polls.

CARSON: Humility and the fear of the Lord. I don't get that impression.

TRUMP: We need a strong immigration plan. If he doesn't like it, he doesn't understand it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Former tennis star, James Blake, says as many as five plain clothes officers tackled and handcuffed him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What would you like to hear from them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An apology.

ROMANS: Torrential downpours in Japan, days of furious flooding sweeping away houses.

RIPLEY: We've seen people that had to climb on the rooftops and clinging to light poles trying to wave at the military helicopters.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: All right. Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY. It is September 10 at 6:00 in the east. We have new numbers to show Donald Trump continues to defy the law of politics. A new RNC poll out right now shows Trump widening his lead over the entire field.

He has the backing now of 32 percent of GOP voters. It's the biggest number in any national poll to date. Remember, many said he would never crack 20 percent. Now he's over 30 percent. Look at number two, Ben Carson also picking up steam and at a high rate. Guess what? He and Trump are butting heads now on a holy level.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Once again, Trump finds himself in hot water for comments he made about a woman. This time it's his Republican rival Carly Fiorina.

Let's get the latest with CNN's Athena Jones. She is live in Washington. Good morning, Athena --