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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; Last-Minute Drama in Kansas City. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired September 18, 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: Donald Trump facing criticism this morning, failing to refute an anti-Muslim questioner.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton firing back at criticism launched at her during the Republican presidential debate.

ROMANS: And more countries in Europe shutting borders as thousands more refugees and migrants pour in. We are live.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START this morning. I'm Christine Romans.

KOSIK: And I'm Alison Kosik. It's Friday, September 18th. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East.

And developing this morning, Donald Trump on the defensive just a day after headlining the CNN Republican debate. After he fails to correct a supporter at a 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)

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: Sara Murray, thanks for that.

A couple of points to note. I mean, you could see the people behind Donald Trump shaking their heads and noting you could see Donald Trump's own supporters sort of, you know, cringing at that. Also, you know, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the DNC, saying that Donald Trump's racism knows no bounds and she said that he would say, we are looking at getting rid of Muslims is vile rhetoric that is appalling. The DNC chairman said all of the Republican candidates need to come out immediately and denounce this otherwise they are tacitly agreeing with him.

KOSIK: Hillary Clinton not buying Trump not challenging the supporter. She personally tweeted, "Donald Trump not denouncing false statements about the president and hateful rhetoric about Muslims is disturbing and just plain wrong. Cut it out," says Hillary Clinton.

And the Washington Post saying the media wants to make this issue about Obama. The bigger issue is that Obama is that Obama is waging war against Christians. This is causing such a controversy about him not answering that supporter. No, I wouldn't be surprised if you hear Trump talk about it today.

ROMANS: One from his campaign said that, you know, he didn't hear the whole statement from that question.

KOSIK: We can give him the benefit of the doubt, for the moment.

ROMANS: For the moment.

Donald Trump also complaining about the three-hour length of the debate, appearing on talk shows the morning after. Trump called the length unacceptable, 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)

KOSIK: Meantime, 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.

(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.

[05:05:00] 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.

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)

ROMANS: All right. Suzanne, thank you for that. 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.

KOSIK: 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.

ROMANS: White House taking the threat of the 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)

ROMANS: With only 13 days left before a possible government shutdown, Pelosi admits she and House Speaker Boehner haven't even scheduled talks.

KOSIK: 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.

ROMANS: 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.

Meanwhile, Russia's increased presence in Syria is a concern for 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.

KOSIK: 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.

ROMANS: All right. Nine minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money this Friday morning. The Federal Reserve left the interest rates unchanged. So now comes more uncertainty for world markets. European shares are lower. So are U.S. stock futures. The real nail biter for the Fed. But in the end, no change to interest rates. Global growth concerns and very low inflation in the U.S. and weak wage growth are reasons to stand path here. But the U.S. economy is growing.

[05:10:02] Something Fed Chief Janet Yellen said really caught my attention. She says the U.S. economy has been performing well and impressing us by the pace at which it's creating jobs and the strength of the domestic demand."

But still, an eye overseas. It looks like the Fed still wants to raise rates before the end of the year. Only two meeting left to do so.

Really caught my attention what she was saying about surprising us. The job market quality and demand in the U.S.

KOSIK: But in the end, inflation and global pressures really spooking, the whole pot.

ROMANS: That's right.

KOSIK: All right. Thousands of migrants and refugees stranded. More countries shutting borders as the crisis unfolds. We are live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Welcome back this morning. European nations are tightening their borders and they're blocking passage for thousands of migrants pouring out of the Middle East 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. And that could force a crush of asylum seekers to take refuge in fields that are littered with land mines from the Balkans wars in the 1990s.

Let's go live now to the Serbia-Croatia border bringing in CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman. What have you seen there, Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we've seen within the last hour and a half or so are -- there are buses coming to take these refugees and migrants away. Five buses have taken away 250 to 300 people. But they are still lined up over 1,000. There are thousands more in other parts of town waiting to get out. But it does seem that the flows continue. Now, we understand from Croatian officials that they're going to be moved to Zagreb, the Croatian capital.

And what was interesting as they were lining up to get on the bus, there were Croatian police just to keep order. As some of the migrants and refugees got on the buses, they did say thank you to the officers as they did so.

[05:15:04] So far, the atmosphere has been relatively calm. It's early in the day. If this flow continues, what we are essentially seeing is that the problem, the crisis is merely changing location. There is no move forward to actually resolving this problem because, of course, Germany can change its asylum rules. Various countries can close their borders.

But people are still flowing out of Afghanistan, of Iraq, out of Syria, through Turkey into Greece. So, really this problem is essentially being solved or rather addressed at the wrong end. The Germans can do whatever they like, but the problem is in Afghanistan, it's in Syria, in Iraq. There seems to be no movement toward resolving those, and, of course, these tens of thousands of refugees and migrants who find themselves in Europe. They don't know what to do or where they are going.

I spoke to people as they were getting on the bus. They said we are just getting on the bus because we can't stay here any longer. They are sleeping out in the open and in people's yards and by the road. There's garbage strewn all over the place. Very little in the way of services provided.

So, essentially, they are just moving on in hopes of they will be able to get a roof over their heads and a warm shower. But an end to their journey is nowhere in sight.

ROMANS: Yes, one Europe with lots of different philosophies, different governments about what to do about it and no action really in a cohesive manner at all. All right. Ben, thank you so much for that, Ben.

KOSIK: A Minnesota man pleading guilty to conspiracy charges for trying to travel to Syria to join ISIS. Twenty-year-old Zacharia Abdurahman admitting in court he and eight other men met up to 15 times in local mosques and parks to figure out how to finance their trip. He believed joining the terrorist group would help his fellow Muslims. Abdurahman faces up to 15 years in prison.

ROMANS: A friend of Charleston church accused gunman Dylann Roof arrested by the FBI for allegedly concealing knowledge of the crime. Joey Meek is facing arraignment this morning in Columbia, South Carolina. Authorities say Roof stayed in Meek's trailer in the weeks before he shot and killed nine people inside the Emanuel AME Church.

Now, Meek insists he called the FBI once he saw surveillance footage of the shooting and went to recognize Roof.

KOSIK: The death toll now reaching 20 in the massive flash foods in Utah. Crews found another body at the Zion national park on Thursday. That now brings the number of the victims in the disaster up to seven. The group, four men and three women all between 40 and 50 years old were visiting from Nevada and California. Park Rangers say they were simply washed away.

Thirteen women and children were also killed in Hildale after a wall of water washed away their cars.

ROMANS: Two more bodies discovered in the California wildfires. That brings the total number killed in the fires to five. Officials say cooler temperatures and rain are helping firefighters make progress.

The Valley Fire is now 35 percent contained. The Butte Fire is now 49 percent contained, thankfully. It has been one of the most destructive fires in California history. Officials say more than 450 buildings have been destroyed, including 250 homes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People don't have anything. That's probably the biggest thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looking at the devastation and knowing people died.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't believe it. You think you can until you go by a place and you see it and you say wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Wow. Now, of course, the question is will the favorable weather hold for firefighters this weekend.

Let's bring in meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Alison and Christine.

It is indeed a tough week for residents of Lake County in California. The Valley Fire, even though we received over half an inch of rainfall this week, helping suppress some of the fire conditions, we do have an end to that precipitation and drier and warmer weather is starting to settle in. Seventy-three thousand acres burned so far. Only 35 percent containment with this particular fire. Several hundred structures have already burned with several thousand currently threatened.

Here's the three-day forecast in and around the area. You can see how temperatures will soar in the 90s. The precipitation forecast for the next five days is looking bleak. In fact, you can see much of California staying dry but rain really situated across the Pacific Northwest. Elsewhere across the country, we have a cold front dipping south that's going to create stronger weather today. Kansas City to Chicago, large hail and damaging winds are possible.

We have warm weather settling across the central U.S. and the East Coast starts to heat up in the mid 80s for D.C. and New York.

Back to you.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Derek.

KOSIK: All right. I'll tell you what, it was a thrilling Thursday night for football. A match up decided by two touchdowns in less than 10 seconds in the game's final minute.

[05:20:03] What? Coy Wire has the bleacher report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: What a thriller last night in Kansas City as Peyton Manning and the Broncos took on the Chiefs.

ROMANS: Coy Wire has more on this morning's bleacher report.

Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Alison.

The question all week has been: what's wrong with Peyton Manning. He threw one touchdown pass in his three previous game combined. He wasn't sharp, all the way back to midseason last year.

Before we get to Manning, though, you have to see this. Safety Eric Berry gets a sensational ovation by the Kansas City crowd. It was his first regular season home game since being diagnosed with lymphoma last season.

Onto the game, after a minute left, Manning finds Emanuel Sanders over the middle to tie it up. Peyton finishes with three touchdown passes.

Now, on the next drive, Chiefs with 36 seconds left. Jamal Charles coughs it up. Bradley scoops, he scores. What an incredible comeback by the Broncos, 31-24 in Kansas City.

Now, in baseball, the New York Mets say they will stop featuring a kiss cam joke at Citifield that some fans call homophobic. During some home games, the Mets would show opposing players on a JumboTron with a big pink heart as a frame around them as a joke. Well, that garners complaints by some.

Now, the Mets released a statement yesterday saying, quote, "we have on occasion included players from opposing teams in our popular in game kiss cam feature. While intended to be lighthearted, we unintentionally offended some.

[05:25:04] We apologize for doing so and no longer will include players in the feature. Our organization is wholly supportive of fostering an inclusive and respectful environment at games," end quote.

Speaking of kiss cams, a little feel good Friday for you guys. Former president and first Lady Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter at the Braves game last night. I mean, look at the smile. Look at Rosalynn. Come on. Bring it here, Jimmy. Bring it on in.

That smooch cam, it got a big old cheer from the crowd. So good to see the happy couple at the game. Looking great.

Great to see President Carter not letting his battle with cancer keeping his spirits down. And, of course, we wish them all the best with his fight -- guys.

KOSIK: Good to see that positive spirit. What he is going through. He's got the big smile on his face.

ROMANS: They are a great couple. They are a great couple. The loves of each others lives. I love it.

All right. Thank you, Coy Wire.

WIRE: You bet.

KOSIK: Donald Trump facing criticism from Hillary Clinton for failing to denounce anti-Muslim supporter. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Donald Trump facing new criticism this morning. What he fails to denounce an anti-Muslim supporter.

KOSIK: Hillary Clinton firing back over the criticism of her during the GOP presidential debate.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is just about 30 minutes past the hour.

Developing this morning, Donald Trump on the defensive, just a day y after headlining the CNN Republican debate. He failed to correct his supporter at a New Hampshire town hall, a supporter who stood up and claimed President Obama is a Muslim and, quote, "not even an American."