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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump & Carson Surge in New Poll; California Wildfires: State of Emergency; Migrant Crisis: Germany Adds Border Control. Aired 4- 4:30a ET

Aired September 14, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:13] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: New developments in the race for president: Donald Trump and Ben Carson surging in a new poll this morning. The CNN Republican presidential debate is just two days away now. How these candidates are preparing.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: California on fire. Hundreds of homes burned down. Thousands evacuated as the flames turn deadly.

ROMANS: Europe's migrant crisis. Germany now at its limit, enforcing border control as thousands more refugees and migrants arrive.

KOSIK: Good morning. Happy Monday. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.

ROMANS: So nice to see you this morning. Thanks for being here to help me this week. I'm Christine Romans. It's Monday, September 14th, 2015, 4:00 a.m. in the East.

Where is John Berman? Well, he is in California, where Republican presidential candidates are sharpening their attacks this morning ahead of Wednesday night's GOP debates here on CNN. With a new "Washington Post"/ABC News poll that shows Donald Trump expanding his wide lead and Ben Carson in second place. All the candidates who are stuck in single digits scrambling to devise an effective strategy to end Trump's reign.

Candidate Rand Paul telling "The Associated Press", quote, "Someone has to bring him down."

Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus warning debate moderator Jake Tapper that he can expect to referee a rough game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, GOP NATIONAL CHAIRMAN: You know what? Every candidate in all these campaigns are going to do whatever they need to do in order to benefit their own campaigns and there will be more elbows thrown at that debate and you're going to have your hands full.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: It all should make for an exciting second Republican debate at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. That's where Athena Jones is. She brings us the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and Alison.

We are now just two days away from the debate here at Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The stage is set, the podiums are up and the candidates are getting ready.

As you know, one of the big themes of the campaign season so far has been the strength of outsider candidates like Donald Trump who is, of course, the GOP frontrunner and Ben Carson who is not far behind him and also Carly Fiorina.

Now, Fiorina is going to be the new addition to the primetime debate stage here on Wednesday night and she spoke yesterday about her outsider status and what she brings to the table.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have been in and around Washington for a long time. So, I don't think it's a big mystery actually. I think one of the dirty little secret is professional politicians want everyone to think it's so hard to do what we do, nobody else can do it. It's hogwash. It isn't so hard. Most of this stuff takes common sense and good judgment. And people are frustrated because they see no common sense or good judgment in Washington, D.C.

JONES: Now, meanwhile, Scott Walker, who was once a serious contender in states like Iowa, but has now sunk in the polls talked about why it is a good thing that he's actually held elected office. Take a listen.

GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R-WI), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Remember, Barack Obama never run anything before and we see what a lousy president he's been not just ideologically but in terms of actually running things. I've run things. I've actually got things done.

JONES: Guys, this is going to be a television audience and a huge opportunity for these candidates to make a strong impression with voters. A lot of them haven't been getting a lot of attention in the media, so this is their chance to create a moment, to have a memorable, effective moment that leaves an impression on voters and hopefully for them, one that gives them a boost in the polls.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: Thanks for that, Athena Jones.

That will be a debate you don't want to miss.

Donald Trump will be facing protesters when he speaks at a huge rally at the American Airlines Center in Dallas today. Latino groups are bringing in anti-Trump demonstrators from as far away as Houston for what one organizer calls a march against hate.

Over the weekend, Trump previewed his long promised tax plan. And he told CBS that as president, he'd end a big tax break for hedge fund managers and that he'd cut taxes on corporations so they would be more likely to bring foreign profits back to the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bring the money back into this country. We have $2.5 trillion, John, out of this country. And big corporations rightfully don't bring it back because they have a massive tax to pay and we've got to make it so they can bring it back and I'll be bringing it back. We're going to have a lot of money pouring into the United States if I get elected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. Ben Carson, Dr. Ben Carson is walking back his criticism of Donald Trump's faith, telling ABC News that his remark last week that Trump lacks, quote, "humility and fear of the Lord" was inappropriate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It wasn't meant as an attack and it was certainly spun that way by the media because they enjoy creating a fight. They love to have a gladiator scene. And, you know, it wasn't my intention and I'm certainly not going to allow my intention subsequently, regardless how anybody reacts to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:05:07] ROMANS: Carson turning Trump's recent put downs about his energy level back against the brash billionaire. Carson telling ABC, quote, "You don't have to be loud to be energetic."

You can find complete debate coverage and the debate itself, of course, right here on CNN. The main event airs Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. The undercard debate is set for 6:00 p.m. You can see those candidates there.

KOSIK: On the Democratic side, Bernie sanders surge and Hillary Clinton's slide are unmistakable in new "The Washington Post" poll. Hillary Clinton, the choice of 42 percent of registered voters, down a whopping 21 points in the same poll since July. Sanders has 24 percent, up 10 points over the same period. Joe Biden, who's still deciding whether to run, is third at 21 percent.

There are new developments in the Clinton e-mail controversy. The company that managed her private server says it has no information indicating the server was ever wiped. That means more than 30,000 e- mails Clinton says she deleted from the server could possibly now be recovered.

Meantime, Clinton is promising to be nicer to the media. She told a packed crowd at a Washington church on Sunday that her former pastor pointed to a New Testament verse when he suggested she improve her relations with reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I got some advice from Dr. Wogaman this morning.

(LAUGHTER)

Which I promise I will put into effect.

(LAUGHTER)

He basically said, you know, if you are going to read and listen to Romans 12, you got to be nicer to the press.

(LAUGHTER)

So to my friends in the press, I will certainly take that to heart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: A different part of the bible comes to mind, the one about Daniel in the lions' den, as Bernie Sanders heads to Lynchburg, Virginia, this morning. The self-described Democrat socialist set to speak to the morning convocation at conservative Christian Liberty University. That is certain to be a more skeptical crowd than the ones he faced over the weekend.

At three big events in South Carolina, crowds cheered Sanders' proposals, including more than doubling the national minimum wage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a starvation wage. You can do the arithmetic as well as I can. It just does not add up. That is why we need to raise the minimum wage to a living wage, 15 bucks an hour.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Sanders also proposing free tuition at public colleges and creating jobs and spending on infrastructure.

KOSIK: Devastation and despair in northern California. Officials say 400 homes have been destroyed by a fast spreading wildfire west of Sacramento, the governor of California declaring a state of emergency. Thousands of residents forced to flee their homes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE CANNON, RESIDENT: Yes, I'm all right. Everything's OK. This is my parents business. I guess we're just lucky it's not our home.

JAMIE KELLY, RESIDENT: The school's gone. The store's gone. A lot of people have dogs stuck up there and they wouldn't let them go get them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: It's just so heart breaking. The so-called Valley Fire consuming more than 50,000 acres so far.

Let's get more now from CNN's Stephanie Elam in Middleton, California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Alison.

We want to give you an idea of just how intense this Valley Fire has been. It really just exploded in size over the weekend. And look what it did to this community. This little neighborhood just flattened by this wildfire. This is just one home that is completely destroyed.

You can see it's still smoldering a bit out there. And the air quality here is still strong and pungent. It burns the eyes, it also sometimes tingles the back of your throat.

This is still a very active fire that they do not have a handle on at any point right now. And as you can see, this fire getting so hot, that not did it take out the home, it took out the cars as well. Take a look at this car, just gutted, literally gutted here by the wildfire. There is nothing left inside. It melted the windows right out of the windshield here.

But this is not the only wildfire. There's also the Butte Fire due east of here that is burning also thousands of acres, and also homes lost there as well. So, when you take a look at the picture across California, there are several wildfires are burning. You look at the drought that we have had out here, it's really dry, it has been very hot. You put that all together and resources are spread very thin as far as firefighting is concerned, as they try to battle these blazes around the clock. But a lot of displaced people and a lot of loss here as well -- Alison and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:10:00] KOSIK: Those pictures from Stephanie, just incredible.

ROMANS: It tells you how quickly that fire must moved. So, is there any relief in sight for those firefighters battling those blazes? Let's get straight to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Christine and Alison.

That's right, the improving conditions in the forecast. Some are good news at least for California as we're watching the Gulf of Alaska. Storm system drops right in, sometime toward the middle portion of the week, so improving conditions again with rainfall possibility is increasing from Wednesday on.

But I want to show you the areas consumed, because we touched on the 50,000 acres that have been consumed. But really one of the more prolific fires when it comes to how quickly things went out of control from about 50 acres on Saturday to 50,000 acres. We know the terrain certainly doesn't help as you have embers that are carried downstream.

But you do the math of the 24-hour span, the amount of land that was consumed here with 50,000 acres burn is somewhere on the order of 34 acres per minute. That is how quickly the fires were burning out of control. Still, zero containment across this region, and the forecast again brings in rain showers on Wednesday.

We do have some thunderstorms around eastern Oklahoma, though, today with high pressure being the dominant feature to the east, and the cool temperatures quickly say goodbye. So, hopefully, enjoy the brief taste of fall temperatures in New York back up to the 80s. Just like that even Washington closing in on 90 degrees -- guys.

KOSIK: OK, Pedram, thanks for that.

Later today, President Obama will announce new measures to make financial aid easier to access for students. It's part of the administration's plan to make college more affordable. One of the new steps will allow an inspiring college student to apply months earlier than previously allowed to determine eligibility for Pell grants and federally student loans. Student loans are the second highest form of debt in America, right now totaling an astounding $1.2 trillion. Ah!

ROMANS: Time for a 529, folks. Start saving.

KOSIK: Absolutely.

ROMANS: Time for an early start on your money this morning. China stocks fell again. Shanghai's benchmark index down 2.7 percent.

Elsewhere, it looks like a pretty good start to the week. European shares are up. U.S. stock futures are up.

Last week, U.S. stocks had their best performance in eight weeks. But the Dow and S&P 500 closed up 2 percent.

Investors, though, I'm calling this a Fed-ache. They have a Fed-ache. A headache about the Fed, because the Fed this week will decide whether to raise rates. The chair Janet Yellen and her team may raise interest rates the first time in almost a decade. That is something that would affect all of you, anyone borrowing money, anyone participant in the economy.

The U.S. economy is steadily improving, but the slowdown in China and recent turmoil for stocks could change the Fed's timeline. Whenever the rate hike happens, pretty much everyone will feel what it means. A more expensive car loans, home loans, credit cards, any variable interest rate debt will rise and rising rates make stocks less attractive and risk ending potentially some think the six-year bull market.

That is a big story. We're going to be talking all early this week. But the Fed --

KOSIK: But this is really something to watch as well, and the Fed may decide to do nothing. ROMANS: That's right. Maybe even -- it has to raise rates

eventually. That rates will eventually start rising. The bottom line for you, refinance your mortgage. Get a mortgage if you want one because rates will be rising.

All right. A Kentucky clerk once jailed for refusing to issue same- sex marriage licenses returns to work today. But will she comply with the judge's orders or go back behind bars? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:16:21] KOSIK: All eyes will be on Rowan County, Kentucky, this morning when Kim Davis, the clerk whose become a national lightning rod, returns to work. Davis was jailed for contempt after refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses. It appears only Davis herself knows what she's going to do. Once she punches in.

We get more from CNN's Chris Welch in Morehead, Kentucky.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS WELCH, CNN REPORTER: Christine, Alison, local police and the local sheriff's department here saying they are preparing for potentially large crowd when Kim Davis returns to her job here as county clerk for the first time since being held in contempt of court and spending five days in jail.

Now, the big question remains: will her deputies continue to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples? That is how it worked while she was spending time in jail. But the question remains, now that she is in the office with the deputies, will she continue to allow that to happen or will she step in, put her foot down once again and refuse these couples from getting marriage licenses?

Now, we had known for several weeks now that her attorneys and she had been fighting this and trying to overturn the initial judge's order, which order her to issue these licenses to same sex couples. They have not had much success. She event sent a direct petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.

That did not work. But on Friday, her team of attorneys sent another appeal in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and so far, no word from that court -- Christine, Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Chris. Thank you for that, Chris, and keep us posted.

Later today, the Ferguson commission convened by the Missouri's governor in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting will issue its final report. The 16-member panel was established just before a grand jury decided not to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson in Brown's death. It spent the last ten months digging into the social and economic conditions in Ferguson. The group has already dozens of calls to action involving police reforms. KOSIK: Three teenagers under arrest in Arizona for shooting rocks at

cars and pedestrians using a sling shot. Police say the 18-year-olds admitted to doing the attack which appears to be a copycat and not related to the recent string of freeway shootings along a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 10 running through the Phoenix metro area.

ROMANS: Schoolhouse doors remain closed in Seattle this morning, still no deal between the school district and union for 5,000 striking teachers. Now, talks resumed over the weekend. They are talking, but the district tweeted last night, still no agreement. Classes in Seattle were supposed to start last Wednesday.

KOSIK: Pro basketball has lost one of its all time greats, Moses Malone. The three time NBA MVP and Hall of Famer died Sunday in Norfolk, Virginia, where he was scheduled to play in a celebrity golf tournament. Authorities say Malone's body was found in his hotel room. He played for eight teams during this 20-year career, winning an NBA title with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983. He was the first player to turn pro right out of high school. Moses Malone was 60 years old.

ROMANS: Just 60.

Chalk up another grand slam title for tennis great Novak Djokovic. The world's best defeated former number one Roger Federer in four sets to win the U.S. Open men's final on Sunday. It's his second U.S. Open title, the tenth career grand slam victory. Djokovic also beat Federer in this year's Wimbledon finals.

KOSIK: Federer being called the Serena Williams of men's tennis.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: All right. An emergency meeting -- about 20 minutes past the hour. An emergency called in Europe to deal with the migrant crisis. Germany now nearing its limit. It's adding border controls as thousands of people arrive.

We are live right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:23:35] ROMANS: Germany growing more desperate by the hour to slow the unending tide of migrants flooding into that country. German authorities now issuing, imposing Visa checks at the Austrian border. These temporary new controls seen as a strong statement to the rest of Europe to step up and take in more refugees.

I want to bring in CNN's Atika Shubert live from Munich this morning.

And it's an interesting position for Germany to find itself in because it was just a couple of weeks ago that, you know, German saying "come here we will help you" helped hasten the tide of refugees, but now Germany trying to tell the rest of Europe, we cannot do it all on our own. ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is exactly what

Germany's critics have been saying. Possibly it was inviting a surge of refugees to come in. What we saw over the weekend was 16,000, an estimated number coming in, specifically most of them here through Munich train station. That is what prompted German officials to say, listen, we've got to take this much more slowly until they stopped all of the trains coming in from Austria, which was the main route for refugees and they have imposed border control.

And what that means is they've got border police checking on the cars coming through for ID, immediately making the decision whether to allow people with Syrian and Iraqi IDs to come through and turning others away. It's -- this is normally where refugees would come in, the reception center with the medical tents, but because they stopped trains overnight, we have not seen refugees coming in this morning.

[04:25:01] Having said all that, they are still expecting thousands to trickle in over the course of days. So, they are working overtime to get beds set up at the former Olympic stadium here, any sort of commercial building, public building is being set up to facilitate and help all of the thousands expected to come through. But it is not sustainable, and Germany is warning it needs help of the neighbors to help accommodate all of these refugees, Christine.

ROMANS: And we know the E.U. leaders are meeting about this again today. Let me ask you quickly. You know, Atika, Germany has managed to bring in hundreds of thousands of people his year really and relocate and resettle them with remarkable efficiency. Are other countries looking at that as a model?

SHUBERT: Well, a lot of countries are now feeling the pressure because of Germany, saying it's going to take 800,000 refugee applications. That's four times it did last year. The question is, how are the other countries going to accommodate?

Here, what they have done is they basically gone into emergency measures, saying not only we're going to put people in temporary shelters, we're going to build an additional 150,000 of them. We may have to basically force commercial companies with vacant properties to give up their property.

These are extreme measures that other countries may not be willing, but it is a model for some to follow if they're wiling to do that. And right now, a lot of countries say they're not willing to do that. Just to give you an example, the U.K. said it's going to take a grand total of 20,000 refugees. Compare that to Germany's 800,000. So, there really is a wide discrepancy in the amount of each E.U. country is taking in.

ROMANS: And if they both will debate about how you rejuvenate your workforces by taking in immigrants but also potentially stress a generous social safety net. A lot of discussions among European leaders. Thank you for that, Atika.

Really, you know, we are just in the beginning innings of what is going to be a multi-year migrant issue for Europe. KOSIK: Absolutely, absolutely.

All right. Republicans running for president sharpening their attacks just two days ahead of CNN's primetime debate. How the candidates are getting ready and who is surging in the new pol this morning, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)