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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Democratic Presidential Candidates to Go Head-to-Head on First Debate; House Benghazi Staffer Turns Whistleblower; President Obama Slams Russian President Over Syria; Israeli-Palestinian Clashes Escalate; Outrage Follows Turkish Terror Attack; Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired October 12, 2015 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:01] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Just one day until the Democratic presidential candidates face off in their first debate, the stage is set. Who will come out swinging and will there be a surprise late addition?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: New accusations the congressional Benghazi investigation is simply out to get Hillary Clinton. What a former staffer on that investigation is saying.
KOSIK: President Obama criticizing Russian leader Vladimir Putin calling his airstrikes in Syria a sign of weakness. Will Russia force the U.S. to shift strategy in the war on ISIS? We are live.
Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.
ROMANS: Nice to see you this morning.
KOSIK: Nice to see you.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's Monday, October 12th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.
The countdown underway to the first Democratic debate right here on CNN tomorrow night. Frontrunner Hillary Clinton at center stage, flanked by Senator Bernie Sanders and three other Democrats.
Will there be fireworks? What might the second tier candidates do to grab the spotlight? And what is the chance that an extra podium will be added for Joe Biden?
CNN's Jim Acosta has the latest.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Alison, here we are inside the Wynn Hotel, two days and counting until the Democratic debate here on CNN, the first Democratic debate of this cycle. And you can see the stage is just about set. Five podiums up on that stage.
That middle one for former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. She's the obvious frontrunner at this point. To her right will be Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Senator Sanders has been giving Hillary Clinton a run for her money in the polls. It'll be interesting to watch those two go head-to-head. But the other candidates will be trying to have a breakout moment.
Candidates like former governor of Maryland, Martin O'Malley, former governor of Rhode Island, Lincoln Chaffee, former senator from Virginia, Jim Webb. They'll also be looking for those breakout moments on Tuesday.
But potential flash points between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, one of those will be on the Iraq war. In the last 24 hours, Senator Sanders has been reminding his supporters he voted against the Iraq war in 2002 and that Hillary Clinton voted in favor of the Iraq war, sort of echoes of that battle royal between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton back in 2008. That was a vote that cost Hillary Clinton back in 2008 with the Democratic Party.
Meanwhile, the X factor in all of this of course is Vice President Joe Biden. If Vice President Biden join this debate on Tuesday night, as a matter of fact, Christine and Alison, I've noticed off stage here in Las Vegas, here inside the there is an extra podium just in case Vice President Biden decides to join this debate. If it does, it will make for some fascinating political television.
Christine and Alison, back to you.
KOSIK: OK, Jim Acosta, thanks for that. Suspenseful there, I can feel it.
President Obama says Hillary Clinton made a mistake by using a private e-mail server during her time as secretary of state. But he tells Steve Kroft of CBS News that the use of the private server did not pose a national security problem. In this "60 Minutes" interview, the president said it is important for Clinton to answer these questions to the satisfaction of the American public.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She made a mistake. She's acknowledged it. I do think that the way it's been ginned up is in part because of politics. And I think she'd be the first to acknowledge that maybe she could have handled the original decision better and the disclosures more quickly.
STEVE KROFT, CBS NEWS: What's your reaction when you found out about it?
OBAMA: You know, this is one of those issues that I think is legitimate, but the fact that for the last three months, this is all that's been spoken about is an indication that we're in presidential political season.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Another blow this morning to the House investigation into the Benghazi attacks. Just weeks after House majority leader Kevin McCarthy credited the Benghazi investigation as politically damaging Hillary Clinton. Now a former staffer for the House Benghazi Committee has come forward with claims that seemed to reinforce McCarthy's boasts.
CNN's Chris Frates has the latest from Washington.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Alison, a former staffer with the House committee investigating the Benghazi attacks says the panel's probe has become a politically motivated inquiry targeting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It's a politically explosive charge sure to resonate on the campaign trail as Clinton runs for president.
Major Bradley Podliska, an Air Force Reserve intelligence officer, says that after news broke earlier this year that Clinton used a private e-mail server, the Republican-controlled committee set its sights almost exclusively on Clinton. Podliska says he was fired as a committee investigator because he resisted the pressure to focus on Clinton and because he took military leave.
He says he plans to fire a lawsuit over his firing and ask a court to give him his job back with back pay. Podliska, a self-described conservative Republican, tells CNN's Jake Tapper in an exclusive television interview that what was a broad probe into the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi became a, quote, "partisan investigation."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[04:05:04] JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER": What do you say to any viewers out there who think that you might have an ax to grind, that you're only talking because you were fired?
MAJ. BRADLEY PODLISKA, FORMER BENGHAZI COMMITTEE INVESTIGATOR: I have a conscience. I -- there's wrongdoing here and I think it needs to stop. And I do not want the investigation to end. I want the investigation to be refocused back to its original purpose. The victims' families are owed the truth. Hillary Clinton has a lot of explaining to do. We however did not need to shift resources to hyper focus on Hillary Clinton. We didn't need to de-emphasize, on some cases drop the investigation on different agencies, different organizations and different individuals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRATES: On Sunday Republican chairman Trey Gowdy said in a statement that he never instructed Podliska to focus on Clinton. Gowdy said Podliska, quote, "has demanded money from the committee, the committee has refused to pay him, and he has now run to the press with his new salacious allegations about Secretary Clinton."
A spokesperson for the committee said in a statement that Podliska's claims are transparently false. Podliska, the statement said, was terminated for cause including for trying to put together a hit piece on administration officials including Clinton. The statement said, quote, "Thus directly contrary to his brand-new assertion, the employee actually was terminated, in part, because he himself manifested improper partiality and animus in his investigative work." -- Christine, Alison. ROMANS: All right. Certainly interesting story there.
Don't miss the first Democratic debate airing right here on CNN. Coverage begins tomorrow night 8:30 p.m. Eastern.
KOSIK: House Republicans desperately seeking leadership are still hoping to convince Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan to run for speaker after Kevin McCarthy abruptly dropped out. The chairman of the Conservative Freedom Caucus that helped upend McCarthy's elections says they would look favorably on Ryan for the speaker's job. Trouble is, Ryan has repeated said he's not interested, telling CNN Sunday, "My answer is still no." Someone who is in the running for House speaker, Utah's Jason Chaffetz, says he could be the one to bring the fractured party together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: Somebody has got to do it. You know, I would hope that Paul Ryan would do it. He said repeatedly that he won't. I do think there are other people that are better qualified. But I do think I bridge that gap. And that's the case that I'm making. If there's somebody better who can unite us, I'll support them. But, you know, you're either part of the solution or part of the problem. But I -- right or wrong, I have thrown myself in there and said, I think I can do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Chaffetz says if Ryan does decide to pursue the House speaker job, he'll step aside.
ROMANS: Harsh words for Vladimir Putin from President Obama in that interview on "60 Minutes." The president criticizes the Russian leader as weak for launching a military campaign in Syria. He says the U.S. is already doing all it can in the Middle East. And Putin's actions came as no surprise to the White House. In fact he says the Russian option demonstrates a failed strategy on the part of Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We have an enormous presence in the Middle East. We have bases and we have aircraft carriers and our pilots are flying through those skies. And we are supporting Iraq as it tries to continue to build up its forces. But the problem that I think a lot of these critics never answer is, what's in the interest of the United States of America? And at what point do we say that here are the things we can do well to protect America, but here are the things that we also have to do in order to make sure that America leads and America is strong and stays number one.
And if in fact the only measure is for us to send another 100,000 or 200,000 troops into Syria or back into Iraq or perhaps into Libya or perhaps into Yemen, and our goal somehow is that we are now going to be not just the police, but the governors of this region, that would be bad strategy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Meanwhile, military analysts say anti-tank missiles supplied by the U.S. to Syrian rebels opposed to the Assad regime, they have been so effective, they may have drawn the Russians into the fight. And that may have set up a potential proxy war between the two super powers as well as a battle for hearts and minds in Iraq where Putin's actions in Syria are being widely praised.
I want to get the latest from CNN's Ian Lee. He's monitoring all these developments live for us this morning from Cairo.
Hi, there, Ian.
IAN LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Christine. We're hearing from Putin that he said that his main objective in Syria is to ensure the stability of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, that he promised that there'd be no ground operations. And it doesn't look like they need Russian troops on the ground as these airstrikes have been able to provide support for the regime fighters, also their Lebanese fighters, Hezbollah.
[04:10:08] But talking to state media, Putin gave the other reasons why he is in Syria.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (Through Translator): Of course such dangers exist. But it had existed. I want to stress it. Even without our active action in Syria. And in case we wouldn't let them, pardon my bad manners, to squirrel away to Syria, all these thousands of people who are running there now with Kalashnikov rifles, they would end up on their territory. And now we're at least helping President Assad to fight them over there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: Christine, that is referring to Russians who have gone to Syria to fight. Many of them from Chechnya. He doesn't want to see these fighters returning to Russia. But the president also gave a jab at the United States, saying that that $500 million that was set aside to train fighters, that eventually that program was suspended, Putin said that he would make better use of that money. But ultimately he conceded that for the two countries, they do need to cooperate in Syria and moving forward.
And looking also at neighboring Iraq. You mentioned about winning hearts and minds there. Well, the prime minister of Iraq came out and said that he would welcome Russian airstrikes against ISIS in their country -- Christine.
ROMANS: So interesting. All right, Ian Lee, for us in Cairo, monitoring all these developments. Thanks, Ian.
KOSIK: The Iraqi military is claiming it killed several senior ISIS commanders in an airstrike near the border with Syria. It's not clear when Iraqi forces launched the attack. They claim they hit a convoy that included ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. But hospital officials and local residents say al-Baghdadi escaped injury. The Pentagon tells CNN it is monitoring the situation but cannot corroborate the Iraqi military's claims.
Iran is flexing some military muscle. Iranian state media reporting the successful test fire of a new long-range ballistic missiles. Officials say it's the first long-range missile that could be precision guided all the way to its target. It's not clear if the missiles test violates the terms of the nuclear agreement Iran struck with the U.S. and five other world powers.
ROMANS: All right. Twelve minutes past the hour, time for an EARLY START on your money this Monday morning.
Asian markets higher. Shanghai up 3 percent on news of a possible stimulus by the Chinese central bank to help boost economic growth. Of course China's economic slowdown a big reason the Federal Reserve has not raised interest rates yet. But over the weekend, the Fed vice chair said the U.S. economy might be strong enough for a rate hike by the end of the year.
European market makes U.S. futures barely moving. Stocks ended on a high note last week. The Dow closed up 34 points. Not much but posting six straight days of gains. The longest winning streaks since last December. The S&P 500 finished the week up 3 percent. The best week of the year.
And breaking news this morning, Fiat-Chrysler launching an IPO for its stake in Ferrari. Shares will be priced between 48 and 52 bucks. Traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RACE. R-A-C-E. Watch that.
KOSIK: Nice ticker symbol.
ROMANS: Yes.
KOSIK: New deadly violence in the West Bank. Tensions escalating between Israelis and Palestinians. We are live with new developments next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:16:32] KOSIK: A new round of stabbing, shootings and bombings over the weekend escalating tensions between the Israelis and Palestinians. Eleven people killed in clashes with Israeli military forces including a person who tried to stab a police officer this morning and a 13-year-old Palestinian who died Sunday after being shot by a rubber coated bullet in the West Bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling in 1600 police reinforcement in Jerusalem to contain the violence.
Let's go live to Jerusalem and bring in CNN's Erin McLaughlin.
You know, we're seeing this new round of violence as the U.S. is calling for calm. ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Alison. More
bloodshed in Jerusalem this morning. A stabbing incident according to Israeli police near the Lion's Gate entrance of the Old City. According to police officers they noticed a Palestinian man who they thought looked suspicious. They say he had his hands in his pockets. They ordered him to stop and remove his hands. When he did, they say that the man stabbed -- had a knife and stabbed a police officer in his flak jacket. The police officer was uninjured. The Palestinian man shot and killed.
It's the third stabbing incident in the area of Jerusalem's Old City in as many days. On Saturday, police say a 16-year-old Palestinian boy stabbed two Israeli men near the Damascus gate entrance to the city. They shot and killed a 16-year-old boy. Stills of the incident show the teenager holding a knife. It also shows his body lying on the ground. Really illustrating the deadly consequences of these attacks for the attackers.
And despite that, these attacks persist in the face of heightened security. Last night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing that he was going to call up some 1600 additional border police officers in an already heightened security situation.
KOSIK: All right. Erin McLaughlin, live from Jerusalem. Thanks for that.
ROMANS: All right. Two outside reviews of the police shooting of Tamir Rice find a Cleveland officer was reasonable in deciding to shoot the 12-year-old. That 12-year-old was carrying a replica gun that looked like the real thing. The shooting last year was captured on video. An attorney for Rice's family claimed the experts who prepared the reports for the county prosecutor are, quote, "pro- police." A grand jury will decide if Officer Timothy Loehmann and his partner will face charges.
KOSIK: In Mississippi, hundreds of people taking part in a rally outside the state capital calling for the removal of the Confederate Battle emblem from the state flag. Civil rights leaders say the flag is racially divisive. The emblem has been on Mississippi's flag since 1894. And voters in 2001 elected to keep it there. South Carolina lawmakers recently voted to remove a Confederate flag from statehouse grounds in response to the Charleston church massacre.
ROMANS: All right. Arrive two hours early, have your boarding passes printed out before getting to the airport. That's the advice for people traveling on Southwest Airlines this morning. Today's warning comes after technical problems triggered 450 flight delays Sunday. Passengers had to wait hours for handwritten tickets. Officials -- Southwest officials won't say exactly what the problem was or how long it took to fix it. But two hours -- get there two hours ahead of time and print out those boarding passes at home, folks.
KOSIK: Headache city.
ROMANS: Yes. [04:20:02] KOSIK: Thousands protesting in the streets after a terror
attack left dozens dead. Could the government have prevented it? We're live next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: The worst terrorist attack in Turkey's history has that country in chaos this morning. Thousands of mourners gathering in the capital to mourn the death of nearly 100 people, almost 100 people killed by two deadly explosions at a peace rally on Saturday. Most of the victims were Kurds. They're blaming the Turkish government for the carnage.
I want to go straight to Ankara, Turkey, now and bring in CNN's senior international correspondent Arwa Damon.
Arwa, it's almost hard to grasp the scope of this disaster there. What are people saying? How are they feeling this morning?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're still trying to come to terms of what happened. Many of them are still in shock and have yet to process their emotions. We're at the scene of where the attack took place that was here on Saturday. Almost exactly 48 hours ago that 14,000 people were gathered when two suicide bombers ripped through the crowds. And you see now on one of the spots carnations being laid out. And a few photographs of those who perished.
Across the street, you can't see it right now because of the bus, there's more people waiting who have photographed pinned to their clothing of people who they knew who passed away. Funerals still going on, on this day. But alongside the sorrow there is a lot of anger. And that anger is being directed toward the government. At the very least for failing to protect the population.
[04:25:05] The government for its part is saying that this was an attack on the state. There is still an investigation ongoing. No official announcement yet as to who may have been responsible, although a lot of speculation that it was ISIS or any of the other terrorist groups known to operate here, although they are much smaller than ISIS. But this is all already becoming very heavily politicized with opposition party leadership especially that of the pro-Kurdish HDP Party saying that the government is responsible for this.
And we have been seeing a lot of demonstrations, demonstrations against the government demanding accountability, demanding answers. And all of this of course very destabilizing for a region that -- for a country that is a key NATO ally in the region.
ROMANS: Arwa, what do we know about the investigation? What kinds of early results do they have here? Is there faith that there can be a conclusive investigation?
DAMON: Well, that's the big question. If you remember back to the bombing that happened in Suruc over the summer that killed over two dozen people, there, the government laid the blame on ISIS, but ISIS never claimed responsibility. There has been some initial reporting that ISIS was perhaps responsible for this. There have been some detentions according to the government of individuals accused of being affiliated with ISIS, but whether or not that is particularly linked to this attack, that we do not know.
Those specifics have not yet been disclosed. So it's very much ongoing at this stage. But a lot of people are saying no matter who it is, who is to blame, it is still the government that has to figure out a way to protect its population. And additionally, we've been hearing a lot of cry separately because the government has launched a two-pronged attack on terrorism. One against ISIS, but the other against the Kurdish separatist group, the PKK.
This was a peace rally, in fact, calling for peace between the government and the PKK. And we have been seeing in the last 24 hours renewed strikes against PKK strongholds. So all of this is really adding to the tensions on the ground and to the sense of unease that perhaps this is not the last time that Turkey is going to have to suffer through this type of violence.
ROMANS: All right. Arwa Damon for us at the scene. Just 48 hours ago of those twin blasts. Thanks for that, Arwa.
KOSIK: Just one day until the Democratic presidential candidates face off on the CNN debate stage. We are breaking down what you can expect next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
