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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Clinton Blasts Trump Over Anti-Muslim Questioner; Hillary Clinton Fires Back; Migrant Crisis: Europe Shuts Borders. Aired 4- 4:30a ET
Aired September 18, 2015 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:21] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight: Hillary Clinton blasting Donald Trump for failing to correct one of his supporters who called the president a Muslim and not even American.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton firing back at criticism launched at her during the Republican debate.
KOSIK: More countries in Europe shutting borders as thousands more refugees and migrants pour in. We are live.
Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.
ROMANS: Nice to see you today for this Friday morning. I'm Christine Romans. Nice to see you all. It's September 18, 4:00 a.m. in the East.
Let's get started. Developing this morning, Donald Trump on the defensive a day after headlining the CNN Republican debate after he fails to correct a supporter at the New Hampshire town hall -- a supporter who claims Obama is a Muslim and, quote, "not even American".
CNN's Sara Murray was there and she has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Alison.
Donald Trump back on the campaign trail last night here in Rochester, New Hampshire, fresh off his performance at the CNN debate. Now, he held an event here where he is fielding questions from voters in New Hampshire, something he doesn't do all that often. And it got off to a pretty awkward start when one voter said the problem with America right now is Muslims.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This man, I like this guy.
TRUMP SUPPORTER: I'm from White Plains. Amen. OK?
We have a problem in this country. It's called Muslims. We know our current president is one.
You know he is not even American.
TRUMP: We need --
TRUMP SUPPORTER: Birth certificate, man.
But anyway, we have training camps growing where they want to kill us. That's my question.
When can we get rid of him?
TRUMP: A lot of people are saying bad things are happening. We will look at that and plenty of other things.
MURRAY: There you can see there Donald Trump seemed to be caught off guard by question, but he did not refute the premise. That silence may bring him additional criticism. We'll hear from him later today where he's appearing on the campaign trail in South Carolina.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Wow. That is something there. Trump didn't answer reporters at the event. Reporters asked why he didn't challenge the claim that the president is Muslim. The spokesperson said Trump didn't hear that part of the statement.
Hillary Clinton apparently not buying it. Overnight, she personally tweeted, "Donald Trump not denouncing false statements about the president and hateful rhetoric about Muslims is disturbing. And it's just plain wrong. Cut it out."
Trump for his part sends a statement to "The Washington Post" saying, "The media once to make the issue about Obama. The bigger issue is that Obama is waging a war against Christians. Christians need support in this country. Their religious liberty is at stake."
KOSIK: Donald Trump also complaining about the three-hour length of the debate, appearing on talk shows the morning after. Trump called the length unacceptable and compared it to the epic film "Gone With the Wind."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The thing that made me most upset and everybody else was the three hours, because to be standing up for three hours answering questions in the form of a debate and I think the viewers frankly, I think they would have done as well as they would have done as well as they had done. You know, I think they set a record in the history of CNN, as well as they've done. They would have done better if it was an hour shorter. It was too much, it was too long. And I would imagine that at a certain point, people get bored with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Hillary Clinton responding to attacks aimed at her during the CNN Republican debate, taking time from the campaign swing through New Hampshire to talk to Wolf Blitzer. Clinton also warned GOP leaders in Congress against cutting off federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is with the Clinton campaign and has the latest for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alison and Christine.
Well, Hillary Clinton is in a three-day swing to the critical state of New Hampshire. This, of course, gave her the big boost in 2008, but she is struggling now. Her main opponent, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders ahead in four different polls here in the state. One poll indicating he is 23 points ahead when it comes to new voters and independent voters.
So, she has to answer the criticism. She has been talking about the e-mail controversy for the summer. And, clearly, this has weighed on her campaign in the race here in this critical state.
She is taking on the critics. She is taking on the criticism, including those from the GOP candidates watching the CNN GOP debate.
Now, she talked to my colleague Wolf Blitzer about some of the specifics. One of those people, the only GOP female candidate on the stage, Carly Fiorina, and this that she said, that if you want to stump a Democrat, then ask them about Hillary Clinton's accomplishments as secretary of state.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is just the usual back and forth political attacks. The kinds of things you say when you're on a debate stage and you really don't have much else to say.
[04:05:04] If anybody's interested, you know, there's a long list about what I have done. I'm very proud of it. You can read my book "Hard Choices", read about how I negotiated a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. You can read about how I put together the coalition that led to international sanctions against Iran, you can read about what I did when I was first lady to get the Children's Health Insurance Program or a senator working across the aisle on issues like getting better health care for our veterans. You know, this is just the silly season.
MALVEAUX: Hillary Clinton also taking on the Republican candidates and their call for defunding Planned Parenthood as well as some Republicans in Congress, threatening to shutdown the government over it. She defended the organization saying that it provides critical care for women's health care. Later today, she's going to be talking about making college affordable when she travels to Concord and on to Maine to rally the troops -- Alison and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: OK, Suzanne Malveaux, thanks for that.
Meantime, Scott Walker quickly adjusting his campaign strategy after a subdued performance in the Republican debate. A tally by NPR shows the Wisconsin governor got the least screen time of any candidate on the stage. Now, Walker says he will put all his eggs in the Iowa basket. It's a state where he was once leading in the polls, but is now down to mid single digits.
ROMANS: House Republicans are planning to force several votes to defund Planned Parenthood today with votes. But there doesn't appear it will go through the Senate. Some House conservatives are threatening a government shutdown if the budget includes funding for Planned Parenthood.
Republicans in the Senate are also introducing legislation that would outlaw all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
KOSIK: The White House is taking the threat of a government shutdown very seriously. President Obama meeting Thursday with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. They insist they are willing to back stop-gap measures to keep the government operating as long as Planned Parenthood funding is off the table.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: I'm hopeful that we are all in agreement, Democrats and Republicans, that we should not have a government shutdown. That's costly to the government and to the American people as it was during the government shutdown before. So, we're optimistic. We want to be cooperative. We want to negotiate in good faith.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Oh, boy. Here we go again, with only 13 days left before a possible government shutdown, Pelosi admits she and House Speaker Boehner haven't scheduled talks.
ROMANS: Some people who are watching Wall Street are worried that this risk is growing by the day.
KOSIK: It could be the next hurdle. Here we go.
ROMANS: Exactly, that's the next hurdle to potentially U.S. growth, actually, if you have the kind of brinksmanship again in Washington.
On the federal appeals court, speaking of brinksmanship, a federal appeals court in St. Louis ruling Obamacare unjustly burdens religion- based employers by forcing them to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives. The ruling by a three-judge panel upholds the lower court decision sided with the three colleges in Iowa, Michigan and Missouri. But it conflicts with all other federal appeals court rulings before. The three colleges can now seek an accommodation requiring their insurance providers to pay for employees birth control.
KOSIK: The White House is thinking about scrapping the program to build a large scale Syrian fighting force to combat ISIS. The $500 million dollar planned was a core part of the Pentagon strategy to defeat the terrorist group, but administration officials acknowledge the program is failing, and they are debating whether to accept a Russian proposal for talks to end the Syrian civil war.
In the meantime, Russia's increase presence in Syria is causing problems in the Pentagon. The Syrian military is now using new types of air and ground weapons supplied by the Russians and Syria's foreign minister says he is prepared to ask Vladimir Putin to send in Russian forces if necessary.
ROMANS: Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl had a severe mental defect when he left his military base in Afghanistan and was captured by the Taliban. That is the argument used by the defense team in the military hearing in Texas. Bergdahl faces a possible life sentence for endangering the soldiers who searched for him after he allegedly deserted. His lawyers appear poised to make that case, that the military indirectly shares the blame for Bergdahl's behavior because they knew he was unfit to serve.
KOSIK: The White House is launching a national multilingual campaign to urge 9 million residents with permanent legal status to become U.S. citizens. The program calls on local governments, business leaders and non-profit groups to host more than 70 citizen outreach events to help educate eligible residents about navigating the barriers to citizenship.
The federal government will also conduct 200 naturalization ceremonies granting citizenship to 360,000 people.
ROMANS: About ten minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money this Friday morning. The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged. So now what?
[04:10:00] It means more uncertainty for world markets. European shares down right now. U.S. stock futures up a little bit.
A real nail biter for the Fed. But in the end, no change to interest rates. Why? Concerns over China's economic slowdown. Now it looks like the Fed still wants to raise rates before the end of the year, Janet Yellen said so herself.
Only two meetings left, October and December. Wall Street couldn't decide whether to love or hate the Fed's decision. Stocks zigzagged between big gains and small losses after the announcement. The Dow finished down 65 points. More volatility expected as investors play the guessing game.
I'll tell you, Alison, something so interesting about that. Something that Janet Yellen said that really caught my attention yesterday. She said they are impressed by the quality of the labor market, impressed by what they see in the labor market and that the U.S. economy is growing at a moderate pace. So, the U.S. economy on its own is impressing the Fed. It's the concerns about wage growth, it's concerns about --
KOSIK: Low inflation also.
ROMANS: -- of low inflation and what they are seeing overseas. Those are what the factors that held the Fed back.
KOSIK: All right. Thousands of refugees and migrants stranded. More European countries shutting their borders as the crisis unfolds. We are there live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: European nations are tightening borders and blocking passage for thousands of migrants pouring out of the Mideast and Africa. Germany is considering overhauling its asylum codes to stem the massive influx and Croatia is now closing all roads connected to Serbia until further notice. That could force a crush of asylum seekers to take refuge infields littered with land mines from the Balkan wars in the 1990s.
Let's go live to Serbia-Croatia border and bring in CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman.
You know, we are seeing the freedom of movement disappear in southeast Europe with Hungary even, trying to pass a law making it illegal to cross the razor wire fence it erected.
[04:15:00] BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In fact, that law has been passed and went into effect, which explains why many of these people are here. We are just inside Croatia where thousands of people, as many as 7,000 people in this tiny town are awaiting transportation. They were taken to Zagreb, the Croatian capital.
But they have been out here basically overnight, waiting in line for these buses to come. And they haven't arrived yet. So, there is mounting frustration and anger and it's extremely difficult. There are little children. There are elderly people in wheelchairs who are desperate to get out of here.
And the Croatian government which just day before yesterday said they are welcoming refugees. They expect perhaps 500 a day. Instead, in a period of just over 24 hours, they received more than 11,000 migrants and refugees. And they are just completely overwhelmed by this.
Of course, the problem is Hungary has closed its borders. Slovenia, it is not clear if it will open its borders or not. But what we have, the result is tens of thousands of increasingly desperate people looking for somewhere to go and not finding that place.
And, of course, at the moment, the weather is good. It's warm. It's not raining. But we are at the beginning of the Balkan autumn which can be very difficult. And if these people are still trudging around this part of Europe, looking for some sort of refuge and still have not found it, this crisis will be further compounded -- Alison.
KOSIK: Ben, what about any progress toward making a more coordinated response among European nations? Are these nations getting any closer to that?
WEDEMAN: No. Until now we heard a lot of talk from European officials. They are scheduling meetings. But when you are living in the roughest conditions like these people have, you know, time is not something they have. And so, what we are seeing is a piecemeal by various European countries which is proving completely inadequate.
And as this goes on, we could very well see repeats or intensifications of the violent scenes we saw on the Hungary/Serbian border the day before yesterday where frustrated, angry people who suddenly find their road is blocked will take matters into their own hands. That is one of the concerns here. This is why for instance we have a limited contingent here of Croatian police. We have seen in the past what is initially a warm and open and welcoming can suddenly turn into something opposite.
This is a little town near the border with Serbia. And the people in the local inhabitants are complaining for instance in the stores, they no longer have water to buy, because it's all been bought up by the refugees and migrants or for them. And this is just a microcosm of the problems that are ensuing with this sort of river that changes course very suddenly.
Yesterday, I was on the Hungarian/Serbian border. And in the morning, there were thousands of people. By the afternoon, just almost all of them had come here. They find themselves in an identical situation with vague promises that you can move forward. Maybe you can go to Slovenia, maybe not. And so, the uncertainty is really the most difficult part of the process for many of the people who have already endured so much -- Alison.
KOSIK: All right. And thousands continue to wait in these fields. Very disturbing to watch. Ben Wedeman, thanks for that.
ROMANS: All right. It's 19 minutes past the hour this Friday morning. The pope soon arriving in Cuba. How he's hoping his trip will strengthen U.S./Cuba relation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Pope Francis delivering a simple message to the Cuban people ahead of his arrival there tomorrow. Letting them know Jesus loves you a lot.
CNN's Delia Gallagher following the pope's nine-day trip to Cuba and the U.S. she joins us from Rome.
Good morning, Delia.
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Christine.
Yes, the pope will be arriving tomorrow in Cuba, of course, on the heels of the important role that he played in reopening U.S./Cuban relations. But that's not enough. The Vatican would like to see the U.S. embargo against Cuba eventually be lifted. And, of course, within Cuba, they would like to see greater democratic freedoms for people of Cuba, in particular, the freedom of expression and freedom of religion. There has been some progress made already on those fronts. Christian holidays reinstated in Cuba. Churches are being rebuilt and some new churches being built.
Nonetheless, there is still according to the Vatican, some work to be done.
After Cuba, he heads to the United States where he will give an important speech to the joint session of Congress, the first pope to address the joint session of the U.S. Congress. And then on to the U.N. On the weekend, he will be in Philadelphia wrapping up the trip at the World Meeting of Families, which is a catholic meeting to discuss the modern challenges to families today -- Christine.
ROMANS: You know, to the faithful, these trips by a pope, as rare as they are, generate so much excitement. This is the first Latin- American pope. That is really a remarkable achievement for the growing legions of new Catholics in this part of the world.
GALLAGHER: Absolutely. And it's significant in that respect, Christine, that the people will be speaking in English in four out of the 18 speeches he'll be giving in the United States speaks. The rest will be in Spanish and that's a nod to a growing Catholic Spanish population, the Latino population in the United States is something 34 percent of Catholics are now Hispanic, according to the latest Pew poll.
So, certainly that's going to be a new and another first for Pope Francis.
ROMANS: So interesting. All right. Delia Gallagher, thank you so much. I know we'll be talking to you a lot over the coming days. Thank you, Delia.
[04:25:02] KOSIK: Donald Trump facing new criticism from Hillary Clinton this morning, blasted for failing to denounce a voter who claimed Muslims are a problem in the U.S. and the president isn't even American. Details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: Donald Trump facing new criticism this morning failing to refute an anti-Muslim questioner.
ROMANS: Hillary Clinton firing back after criticism at her during the GOP presidential debate.
KOSIK: Stranded at the border. More countries in Europe refusing thousands of refugees and migrants now left with nowhere to go. We are live.
ROMANS: Welcome back to EARLY START this Friday morning. I'm Christine Romans.
KOSIK: And good morning to you. I'm Alison Kosik. It's half past the hour.
Developing this morning, Donald Trump on the defensive just the day after headlining the CNN Republican debate, after he fails to correct a supporter at the New Hampshire town hall. A supporter who claims President Obama is a Muslim and, quote, "not even American".
CNN's Sara Murray was there and has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MURRAY: Good morning, Christine and Alison.
Donald Trump back on the campaign trail last night here in Rochester, New Hampshire, fresh off his performance at the CNN debate. Now, he held an event here where he is fielding questions from voters in New Hampshire, something he doesn't do all that often. And it got off to a pretty awkward start when one voter said the problem with America right now is Muslims.
TRUMP: This man, I like this guy.
TRUMP SUPPORTER: I'm from White Plains. Amen. OK?
We have a problem in this country. It's called Muslims. We know our current president is one.
You know he is not even American.
TRUMP: We need --
TRUMP SUPPORTER: Birth certificate, man.
