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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
The Race for President: Republicans Prepare to Debate; Devastation Out West; Migrant Crisis: Countries Close Borders. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired September 15, 2015 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:18] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Republicans running for president now one day from facing off on the CNN debate stage. How they are preparing this morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Devastation out west. Flash flooding kills eight people overnight, as thousands evacuate from a monster wildfire.
KOSIK: And European countries locking down borders trying to stop the refugees seeking asylum. We are live as this crisis unravels.
Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.
ROMANS: Good morning, nice to see you this morning. I'm Christine Romans. It's Tuesday, September 15th. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East.
Let's begin here with politics. With less two days to go before a major presidential debate right here on CNN, Donald Trump headlines a huge rally in Texas, while other Republicans are hold up were studying debate briefing books. Trump was in Dallas fires up an adoring crowd with promises of political triumph and put-downs of his opponent.
CNN's Sara Murray has more from Dallas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and Alison.
Donald Trump fired up a crowd of thousands last night here in this arena in Dallas.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They mentioned a little while ago, Scottie, about the silent majority. It's back. And it's not silent. I think we should call it -- maybe we should call it the noisy, the aggressive, the wanting to win, wanting to win majority.
MURRAY: Even bringing the crowd to their feet at one point when he promised to end illegal immigration.
TRUMP: And I don't mean to be disrespectful, but when a man has a problem and he's got his wife or his girlfriend and they move her to the border for one day, has the baby on the other side of the border, our side, now that baby is a citizen of our country for however long the baby lives. Hopefully a long -- it's wrong. It's wrong.
MURRAY: Now a number of voters were honest. They said they were here for the entertainment factor. And on that, Donald Trump delivered.
TRUMP: We're going to have so many victories that at some point, they're just going to be coming out of your ears.
I have to be careful about what I say about coming out of somebody's ear. I have to be careful. Nose, ears, eyes, those are the only places I'm talking about.
MURRAY: He promised he would never participate in a bicycle race as president. He once again swore his hair was real and he even congratulated Arnold Schwarzenegger on being the new host of "Celebrity Apprentice."
Those voters, though, expecting to get a little bit more serious when the candidates head to the CNN debate stage. They said they want to see a number candidates, including Donald Trump, layout what they would do as president.
Christine and Alison, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: OK, Sara, thanks for that.
One of Trump's opponents turning once of those patented put-down against him. Carly Fiorina rolling out a new campaign video that responds to Trump recent insult about her face. Trump said to "Rolling Stone", "Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that?"
Now, watch Fiorina's ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CARLY FOR AMERICA)
CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ladies, look at this face! And look at all of your faces, the face of leadership.
This is the face of a 61-year-old woman. I am proud of every year and every wrinkle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Jeb Bush out with a new video also likely seen to as a rebuke to Donald Trump. In this video, Bush speaks entirely in Spanish, defying Trump's call to speak only English on the trail.
And Bush's wife, Mexican born wife Columba, you rarely see her, very private person. She delivers a message entirely in English praising the value of Hispanic culture in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) COLUMBA BUSH, WIFE OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JEB BUSH: I have my life here. So, you know, I agree that we have the same interests, the same feelings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Ben Carson preparing for tomorrow night's debate. The Republican polling second behind Donald Trump tells Anderson Cooper he is getting an idea of what questions to expect by speaking with advisers with average Americans he meets at town halls. The retired neurosurgeon says he is prepared for attacks and even gets in a subtle dig at Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm wondering if you anticipate more candidates coming after you and also Donald Trump?
BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I would imagine they probably will. Although, you know, I hope that we will focus more on the issues and what our vision is and what the solutions are.
[04:05:07] But, you know, sometimes it's hard to resist.
I think everybody has different kinds of experiences. And, you know, it's human nature to think that whatever you do is the greatest and provides everybody with their messiah. I don't have that complex, quite frankly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Republican contender and former college athlete Marco Rubio answering football-themed questions and showing off a sense of humor in his new campaign ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, YOUTUBE/MARCO RUBIO)
QUESTION: More nervous before first presidential debate or first college football game?
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was more nervous before my first college football game, because you were actually going to get hit. No one is going to hit at the debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Yes, it's mostly fun, but there are a few digs.
When asked, what was harder to recover, Hillary Clinton's e-mails or Tom Brady's texts, Rubio says Clinton's emails.
Stay with CNN for complete debate coverage leading up to the two debates, two debates on Wednesday night, live from the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The main debate right here at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, preceded by the undercard debate with the lower polling candidates at 6:00 p.m. KOSIK: On the Democratic side, Monday, Bernie Sanders addressed
crowds at the opposite ends of the state of Virginia, which were also poles apart. Sanders began his day speaking to students at Christian conservative Liberty University in Lynchburg. The self-described socialist got mostly polite applause apart from a small cheering section. But Sanders didn't shy away from what he acknowledged were areas of sharp disagreement like gay rights and abortion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do believe that it is improper for the United States government or state government to tell every woman in this country the very painful and difficult choice that she has to make on that issue.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
And I honestly don't want to be too provocative here, but often conservatives say get the government out of my life. I don't want the government telling me what to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Monday afternoon, Sanders ventured back on to more comfortable ground, taping an interview in front of students at the University of Virginia. There, Sanders drew a distinction between his views on economic issues and those of frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: I think if you look at Hillary Clinton's views on the issues, which is what this campaign is about, I think the views that I am fighting for, the positions that I'm fighting for will do more to address the very serious crises facing the middle class and working families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The new emphasis on Hillary Clinton's lighter, funnier side coming through again in campaign appearances Monday. The University of Northern Iowa, she aimed at Donald Trump while criticizing the entire Republican field.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is somewhat entertaining. Their flamboyant frontrunner has grabbed a lot of the attention lately. But if you look at the policies of all of them running, they are pretty much the same. They are Trump just without the pizzazz and hair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Clinton even taping an interview with the entertainment show, "Extra". In that chat posted on "Extra's" Web site Monday, she laughs at host Mario Lopez's question about Vice President Bill Clinton. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: He would be good, but he is not eligible under the Constitution. He has served his two terms. I think the argument would be as vice president, it would not be possible for him to ever succeed to the position. At least that's what I've been told. So, you know it has crossed my mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: It has crossed her mind. Clinton talks about meeting Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. And asked Kanye to hold off on running for president until she completes her second term.
KOSIK: U.S. and Chinese officials have reportedly reached substantial agreement on cyber security issues. As a result, the Obama administration won't impose any sanctions on Chinese companies ahead of next week's state visit by China's president. A senior administration official says the potential for sanctions over China's behavior in cyberspace still remains.
ROMANS: Very prickly part of a very important relationship there.
Time for an early start on your money this morning. Seeing more volatility in China stocks. Shanghai's benchmark index down 3 1/2 percent. More worries about the states of China's economy. European stocks are lower. The scorecard for the Dow yesterday, down 62 points. Investors awaiting that Federal Reserve decision on whether to reach interest rates for the first time in a decade this week. That's really dominating psychologies.
Happening this morning, a huge labor contract for 140,000 auto workers running out. The United Autoworker Union will give an hour by hour extension of the contract that expired at midnight, as negotiators meet with Fiat Chrysler to strike a deal.
Now, the big issue here, a two-tier classification of workers put in place almost a decade ago when the auto industry was collapsing.
[04:10:06] Veteran autoworkers earned about $28 an hour. They want a raise. The more recent hires can earn a maximum $19.28 an hour. The union wants to close that gap. Interesting.
KOSIK: At least they are extending it hour by hour. Not just walking it off.
ROMANS: Still talking, still talking.
KOSIK: Breaking news overnight. Deadly flash flooding out west. At least eight people dead and cars swept away in what's being described as a wall of water. Details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Breaking news overnight: eight people killed, at least five others missing this morning following heavy rains and flash flooding in southern Utah. Water rushing down a mountain side in the town of Hildale swept away two vehicles with 16 people inside, mothers and children. With thunderstorms moving in the area overnight, officials are warning there could be more dangerous flooding today. There are still people missing.
KOSIK: The Valley Fire still raging out of control in northern California. It began a few days ago, but already, it's the most destructive wildfire of the season. Hundreds of homes destroyed, thousands more homes threatened by smoke and flames.
A Middletown, California firefighter says somehow his house was spared.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON LOPEZ, MIDDLETOWN, CALIFORNIA FIREFIGHTER: Eventually, the fire got into the Middletown area and my wife told me they are leaving. I hear people's houses are being burned and I figure mine is going to be gone.
I'm driving around and I'm in shock. I'm a firefighter. What do you do? You have to keep working.
I talked to my wife. And she said, what are we going to do? I said, there is no reason for you to not keep working. So, that's what I'm doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Fire crews may get help today from the weather.
CNN's Stephanie Elam is getting a first hand look at what the wildfire has left behind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Alison.
As we are getting a better look of the devastation from this valley fire, you can see just how hot and scary this fire was as it raged through this community.
[04:15:03] As we are driving around today, you come across many places where the telephone poles are still burning, leaning over the streets, their wires either in the trees or across the roadway. At one point, we even saw one house that was just starting to burn and we were able to alert a fire crew that this house was about to light up and we were able to help out there.
That's just how raw and tender the situation is here still. And for many people who were able to evacuate, they are still living in tent cities across the area, evacuated to fairgrounds like the Napa County fairgrounds, where we met some people who are wondering what the houses look like. We also know there's one person who did not make it, an elderly woman
who they say they got a call in requesting for help, but they were not able to rescue this woman because the flames got too big and she was not able to self evacuate. Overall, though, this is a situation as you look behind me, that obviously is going to take a really long time for these people to bounce back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Sure will. Stephanie Elam, thank you for that.
KOSIK: Difficult to see.
ROMANS: And hear the story of the woman.
These fires are proven devastating and difficult to control. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri explains why -- Pedram.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Alisyn and Christine, good morning to you guys.
Look at these numbers, incredible stuff when you consider 62,000 acres consumed. That's twice the size of city of San Francisco, 9,000 structures threatened by these fires. And the landscape is exacerbating the fire, these rolling hills, the landscape of Northern California well known for, the hills, the wine country, all of this intensifying the flames here because the fire as they develop downhill, what they do is gasses and heat are released and heating up the landscape and uphill really quickly.
So, the pre-heating that is taking place allows the fires to spark up. In 2010, we saw fires impacting a region and traveling uphill at some 100 miles per hour.
People have a hard time believing that fire travels faster uphill than they do downhill as they're pre-heating the land ahead of them going uphill.
But here's the landscape, as far as the rainfall coming in. We know the Valley Fire certainly gets in on some rainfall. It doesn't look like much, about a quarter of an inch at best, and the thunderstorms and the monsoonal moisture that was in place across parts of Utah is really problematic, of course, as well, because the landscape here is also mountainous. And when you put down 2 to 4 inches of rainfall per hour down, which is what occurred across this region, all of this flows down stream and creates major problems for those homes and neighborhoods that are in the lowland escape across this region -- guys.
KOSIK: OK, Pedram, thanks for that.
Delta State University in Mississippi is closed this morning, the day after the professor found murdered in his office, and a manhunt for the suspect of the killing. The police say the victim, American history professor Ethan Schmidt was shot in the head in his campus office. Overnight, officials announced the 45-year-old Shannon Lamb is dead, making good on his threat to shoot himself. Lamb was also the suspect in the death of the woman he lived with.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM LAFORGE, PRESIDENT, DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY: It is indeed a tragic moment for this university and for the Delta State family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be shocking. I had Dr. Schmidt three days out of the five. It's going to be different without him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Police have not revealed any motive for the shooting. Lamb also taught at Delta State and is described as an expert on the geography of crime on the school's web site.
ROMANS: An emotional return to the anchor chair for Chris Hurst of WDBJ TV in Virginia. He was back on the air Monday 19 days after his girlfriend and colleague, reporter Alison Parker, was gunned down, along with cameraman Adam Ward during a live broadcast. Hurst talked about his love for Parker and told viewers the healing has begun.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS HURST, WDBJ ANCHOR: I have been away from you healing with those Alison loved the most and meeting new friends from places like Newtown and Aurora. There have been many, many tears and questions. There had been laughs, smiles and answers. I know the answer to what we all must do. It is to profess love, not hate -- to love one another and to love strangers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Hurst says he felt ready to return to work because Alison liked seeing him in his element. So sad.
KOSIK: Absolutely.
All right. More European countries closing their borders this morning, trying to stop the waves of migrants and refugees from pouring in. We are live next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04.23:00] ROMANS: Border control tightening all over Europe this morning. European ministers meeting in Brussels, failing to agree on a plan to deal with the migrant crisis that is, frankly, spiraling out of control here. Hungary vowing to seal its border with Serbia by today. Austria mobilizing over 2,000 soldiers to patrol its border with Hungary.
We want to get to CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman live on the phone from the Serbia-Hungary border.
And, Ben, every day, you know, the rest of the world looking for progress and some sort of comprehensive solution to the humanitarian crisis there. And these European countries have very different, very self-serving ideas of how to deal with it.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Indeed, there is. Politicians are unable to bring to a solution and more in fact as anybody else at this point.
I'm on the border between Serbia and Hungary, the official border crossing. Here, this border with movement. We see on this side of the fence are Hungarian riot police. No refugees in sight.
Earlier today, we were at the fence between two countries and speaking to Serbians police and say there are thousands of people just up the road from the border waiting to cross but were walking up and down the fence looking for some possible way to get over and, of course, the Hungarian government at midnight implemented a law whereby anybody found illegally crossing from Serbia into Hungary will spend three years in prison.
So, it appears that the flow of refugees and migrants the last few days, just 10,000 people entered Hungary from Serbia yesterday, it seems to have come to a screeching halt and there are many people hoping to get across the border.
[04:25:01] They don't even want to stop at Hungary. All the refugees said, I've spoke with, they want to go to Austria. They want to go to Germany, where they have been told they will be welcomed or days ago they were told they would be welcomed, but at the moment, there's no movement in that direction -- Christine.
ROMANS: Yes. Ben Wedeman, so many of the politicians expressing dismay at the situation that is causing so many Syrians and Iraqis and others to flee their countries. At the same time looking to internal politics and what they can afford, what can they do, and what are they politically willing to do. Just a troubling situation.
Ben Wedeman, thank you for that, Ben.
KOSIK: You know, you look at what's going on there. There is no consensus. And you have these ministers meeting and they could not come to any agreement. And then they're going to wait another month, and then you got thousands of people just waiting in limbo, just waiting outside those fences.
ROMANS: When you talk about how you're going to resettle people, what kind of quotas each country want to agree to, you know, some countries want to accept more refugees and others and they are internally in these countries, they are as big -- you hear it here in the United States. Discussions about we want to welcome families. We don't want to welcome anyone who could be an ISIS element, anyone who could be radicalized in our neighborhoods eventually. So, there --
KOSIK: That's understandable. That's understandable. But this is a humanitarian crisis.
ROMANS: When you look at this man carrying a little girl on his shoulders, it just shows you the depths of the concern there. KOSIK: All right. Well, the countdown to the CNN Republican presidential candidate debate is on. Just one day to go. How the candidates are getting ready this morning, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: The stage is set for the CNN Republican presidential candidate debate just one day away. How the candidates are preparing, ahead.
