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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Versus Bush over George W's Legacy; Gowdy Wants to Focus on Embassy Security; Lamar Odom's Condition Improving; New Attacks in Israel Prompted Wall Between Hostile Areas; Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired October 19, 2015 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Trump versus Bush. No, not the one running for president, the one who was president. Why is Donald Trump taking on George W. Bush over September 11th and what is Jeb going to do about it?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Are Congress members investigating the Benghazi terror attack out to drive down Hillary Clinton's poll numbers? Leaders on that investigation firing back this morning.
Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: Very nice to see you. Really good to see you.
I'm John Berman. It is Monday, October 19th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East. And the question this morning is, has Donald Trump touched the third rail in Republican politics, talking about September 11th and whether then President George W. Bush bear some responsibility for the attack.
And this is not just politics, it is personal because there is another Bush on the ballot this year. And Jeb is now fiercely defending his brother.
Trump told the "Washington Post," quote, "You always have responsibility because you're the president." The billionaire suggested the attacks might not have happened had he been president because his tough immigration policies would have stopped the hijackers from ever boarding the planes. Jeb Bush fired back on CNN and overnight he received an unexpected boost at an evangelical forum in Texas.
CNN's Athena Jones was there. She has the latest.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.
Six GOP candidates spoke at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Forum here at a mega church outside Dallas. They talked about the importance of faith and public life. They talked about their views on abortion, issues like religious liberty.
It was an important opportunity for these candidates to try to appeal to Christian conservatives who are very important part of the Republican primary electorate. And while the candidates didn't really go after each other or launch any attacks against one another, the pastor who was leading the forum, Jack Graham, weighed into the ongoing feud between Donald Trump and Jeb Bush about whether George W. Bush kept America safe. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK GRAHAM, PASTOR, PRESTONWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH: George W. Bush did keep us safe no matter what anybody says.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: That comment from the pastor got a standing ovation. A sign that the crowd at this mega church sides with Bush on this issue and not with Trump who had this to say about it on "FOX News Sunday."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Jeb said we were safe with my brother. We were safe. Well, the World Trade Center just fell down. Now, am I trying to blame him? I'm not blaming anybody. But the World Trade Center came down. So when he said we were safe, that's not safe. We lost 3,000 people. It was one of the greatest -- for me the greatest catastrophes ever in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Bush responded to Trump's assertion on "STATE OF THE UNION." Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My brother responded to a crisis and he did it as you would hope a president would do. He united the country, he organized our country, and he kept us safe. And there is no denying that. The great majority of Americans believe that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Bush also said that by repeatedly bringing up 9/11, Trump is showing that he's not a serious person. He also said he has grave concerns about Trump being in charge of nuclear weapons and that Trump, who is now the GOP frontrunner, will not be the party's nominee -- John, Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Athena Jones. Thank you for that, Athena.
The chairman of the House Benghazi Committee telling other Republicans to shut up about Hillary Clinton. Trey Gowdy's frustrated outburst comes with Clinton set to testify to the panel this week. Gowdy tried to turn the conversation away from remarks by other Republican congressmen. They are saying the Benghazi committee with its recent focus on Clinton's e-mails was out to politically damage her. It's a claim Clinton herself endorsed in an interview with CNN's with Jake Tapper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I really don't know what to expect. I think it's pretty clear that whatever they might have thought they were doing, they ended up becoming a partisan arm of the Republican National Committee with an overwhelming focus on trying to, as they admitted, drive down my poll numbers.
I have already testified about Benghazi. I testified to the best of my ability before the Senate and the House. I don't know that I have very much to add. This is, after all, the eighth investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Gowdy says he is less interested in Clinton's e-mails than in e-mails of U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. Stevens had sought additional security for the embassy in Tripoli before he was killed in the Benghazi attacks.
For more, let's bring in CNN's Chris Frates in Washington.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, John and Christine.
Gowdy said that the e-mails will demonstrate Stevens have been asking for more security since he became ambassador. Now we've known for some time that the officials in Libya had requested more security but Gowdy says Stevens' e-mails show a disconnect between what was happening on the ground in Libya and what was going on in Washington.
[04:05:09] Gowdy says Stevens wanted more security in response to the growing violence and Washington wanted help with how to spin the increasing violence there. The e-mails hadn't been released but here's how Gowdy put it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: He needed help with security, John. He didn't need help with PR. He was asking for more security. And on one occasion, he even joked in an e-mail, maybe we should ask another government to pay for security upgrades because our government isn't willing to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRATES: Despite previous investigations into Benghazi, Gowdy says his committee was the first to get Stevens' e-mails. A fact he used to botcher the claim that the committee's work is not political.
Now when it comes to political, he had some choice words for his Republican colleagues. He was taking aim at House members who suggested that the committee was designed to politically damage Hillary Clinton's run for president. Here is what he said to his colleagues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOWDY: I have told my own Republican colleagues and friends shut up talking about things that you don't know anything about. And unless you're on the committee, you have no idea what we've done, why we've done it and what new facts we have found. We have found new facts, John, that have absolutely nothing to do with her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRATES: So tough words for his own Republican colleagues and for pretty good reason. Clinton and other Democrats, they've used Gowdy's colleagues' words against him.
Kevin McCarthy, the number two Republican in the House, said the committee's work helped drive Clinton's poll numbers down. And last week, another House Republican said the committee was designed to go after Clinton. Now Clinton used those comments to discount all of the committee's work arguing that the panel really is just an arm of the Republican National Committee.
So Gowdy was really trying to return the conversation to Benghazi and away from the campaign trail ahead of Clinton's testimony this week -- John, Christine.
BERMAN: All right, Chris, thanks so much.
Bernie Sanders is in Iowa this morning. He is trying a new strategy out there on top of a huge rallies he's been staging for months all over the country. Sanders is now doing some smaller and more intimate events aimed at proving he will be electable in the primary and general elections. Sanders also now reveling in the special "Saturday Night Live" treatment he received this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the only candidate up here who's not a billionaire. I don't have a super PAC. I don't even have a backpack. I own one pair of underwear. That's it. Some of these billionaires, they got three, four pairs.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am told that I don't have a sense of humor. So I'm going to start off with a joke. You all ready for a joke? Here is the joke.
My name is Larry David and Bernie asked me to do this.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: So when people tell you I'm ultra serious and grumpy, you tell them that you heard me tell a joke.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Damn it. I told a joke. Did you miss it? You know, they sound alike because they do sound alike.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: They're both born in Brooklyn. Both Jewish kids from Brooklyn, born in the '40s right there. And I see no difference between the way that they present themselves there.
ROMANS: We'll be seeing him do more small events. He likes those small events.
BERMAN: Larry David or Bernie Sanders?
ROMANS: Bernie Sanders.
BERMAN: OK. OK.
ROMANS: But it's interesting, he can draw a huge crowd with the shift in his strategy.
BERMAN: Larry David or Bernie Sanders?
ROMANS: Bernie Sanders.
BERMAN: I'm sorry. OK.
ROMANS: All right. Democrats anxiously waiting to hear from Joe Biden whether he plans to run for president. They are still waiting. The vice president spent Sunday at home in Delaware. He then attended afternoon mass. This morning he heads back to Washington where he has a very full schedule of events, we're told. They include a speech on climate change and a reception for the USO.
BERMAN: Congress returns from a weeklong recess this morning. House Republicans there hoping to identify the next speaker of the House this week. Paul Ryan, he is the top choice of many, but he has still not said that he is actually interested.
A growing number of House Republicans saying they would oppose Ryan or would not necessarily automatically line up behind him if he does jump in the race.
ROMANS: All right. A top al Qaeda leader killed in a U.S.-led coalition airstrike in Syria. Pentagon officials say Sanafi al-Nasr was the highest ranking member of the Khorasan Group. It's a collection of veteran al Qaeda members based in Syria. They are intent on striking the U.S. and its allies. He died Thursday during an attack in northwest Syria. Nasr was once al Qaeda's chief financial officer. He is the fifth senior member of the Khorasan Group to be killed in the last four months.
BERMAN: Iran nuclear deal is now in effect. Sunday was the official adoption day. That means officials from Iran and other world powers have begun the long complicated process of carrying out what they agreed to do in the deal. It could take up to a decade to check off the entire list. Now the first step in this process is for Iran to provide the International Atomic Nuclear Agency with a legal document giving added authority to the agency's nuclear inspectors and the history of Iran's program.
ROMANS: All right. Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning. European shares higher. U.S. stock futures barely moving so far. Asian shares ended their day lower. [04:10:04] New this morning, China's economy grew by 6.9 percent in
the third quarter. That's a bit better than expected but still the slowest growth since 2009. Chinese stock market has collapsed this year. All signs point to a gradual slowdown and that has been scaring investors and rippling through global markets.
America's least favorite CEO is furious with Bernie Sanders. Remember Martin Skhreli? The CEO of the Turing Pharmaceuticals? His company hiked the price of Daraprim by 5,000 percent overnight? Remember he's earned the moniker of the most hated CEO in America? Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have criticized that move.
Skhreli recently donated $2,700 to Bernie Sanders and Sanders rejected the donation to -- and moved it by donating it to a health clinic. So he took the money and then turned around and gave the same amount of money to a health clinic. Last Skhreli tweeted, "So angry at Bernie Sanders I could punch a wall." He told CNN Money that he made the donation hoping to meet and discuss policy with Sanders.
BERMAN: Punching a wall is never a good idea. Right? Because the wall gets damaged, potentially your hand does also. I don't really care what your political motivations are.
ROMANS: And many out there still waiting for him to lower the price of that drug again. I mean, that particular CEO and particular drug price hike has really sort of shined a light on this practice of -- you can start a pharmaceutical company, buy drugs, and then raise the price if you want.
BERMAN: And then punch a wall.
ROMANS: And then punch a wall.
BERMAN: Lamar Odom showing new signs of recovery this morning as we learn new details of what happened in Las Vegas in that brothel before his collapse. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Lamar Odom still in a Las Vegas hospital after he collapsed and was found unresponsive in a Nevada brothel. The former NBA and reality TV star making slow but steady improvement after reportedly being in a coma for several days with the Kardashians at his bedside.
[04:15:04] We get more from CNN's Paul Vercammen.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, John, by all accounts, Lamar Odom still on the second floor, in the intensive care unit at this hospital in Las Vegas. But all through the weekend reports trickling in that he is speaking short words, that he is doing better. Kim Kardashian, in fact, turned to social media and she tweeted out about the power of prayer and that she says she felt happy that Lamar Odom was smiling after meeting with her and Kendall.
Now the Kardashians have also been trying to control the message. And they don't want the brothel owner, Dennis Hof, speaking out. Hof is not buying it. After all, he's a pimp, a legal one, and a showman. And he told us more about how this price was set for Lamar Odom's $75,000 visit before he collapsed. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DENNIS HOF, BROTHEL OWNER: And it's his decision. You know, the girls asked him, what do you want to do, Lamar? How long you want to do it for? Because these are the things that determine the price. He says, I want to pay $75,000. I'll give each one of you -- each one of you $37,500. I want you to be with me four or five days, 24 hours a day. And then later on, the next day, he asked them to sign a confidentiality agreement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: Hof also adding it's extremely unusual for anyone to sign a confidentiality agreement at his Love Ranch.
As for Lamar Odom, plenty of indications that he's improving including being able to say hi to his estranged wife Khloe Kardashian -- back to you now, John and Christine.
BERMAN: All right, Paul. Thanks so much.
Police in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, investigating the fatal shooting of an officer by a patient he was guarding inside a hospital room. Authorities say 60-year-old Deputy Stephen Sandberg was overpowered by the suspect who was receiving treatment in the hospital following a domestic dispute. They say Danny Leroy Hammond somehow wrestled the officer's gun from him, fired several shots. Police used a taser on Hammond who later died.
ROMANS: Police in Florida are hunting for a killer who opened fire on a crowd at the annual Zombie-Con Festival in Fort Myers. One person was killed, five others wounded. Authorities say the shooting began just minutes before the event officially ended at midnight Saturday, sending hundreds of people in zombie-themed costumes fleeing in real terror. The shooting victim, 20-year-old Tyler Taylor, was attending with his girlfriend.
BERMAN: The Obama administration is taking aim at rogue drones. This morning officials will announce the creation of a task force requiring all drones to be registered with the Transportation Department. It follows a number of high-profile security incidents involving drones. Previously -- excuse me, Peter Brady. Only commercial users had to register their drone aircraft with the FAA.
ROMANS: Four days after a river of mud ran through them, many roads in southern California now open again. Crews worked through the weekend using heavy machinery to excavate dozens of cars and trucks that were buried by these just tons of mud during flash flooding last week. Officials in Los Angeles County reopening stretches of five roads in mountain communities some 40 miles north of the city.
BERMAN: Temperatures falling fast across the east.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: Man, not welcome. Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri here with that.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, good Monday morning to you guys.
(WEATHER REPORT)
BERMAN: All right, Pedram, thanks so much.
Mexican authorities claim they believe they may be closing in on one of the world's most wanted men, escaped drug kingpin, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. He broke out of a maximum security prison in July, fleeing into a tunnel that was connected to his cell. Reports say police and Marines stormed a village on Sunday where the drug lord was believed to be hiding, leaving wreckage in their wake. Guzman managed to avoid capture, but may have suffered injuries to his face and legs.
With this, you have to be, I think, take it all with a grain of salt.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: The Mexican authorities have a huge interest in claiming they are getting close to his capture. I think we'll believe it when we see it.
ROMANS: All right, 19 minutes past the hour. New violence in Israel bringing drastic new security measures to stop these lone wolf terror attacks. We are live next.
[04:20:10]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Tensions and a concrete wall rising in east Jerusalem. More violence over the weekend. An attacker opened fire at a bus station in the town of Beersheba. An Israeli soldier and the Arab gunman were killed. At least 10 other people wounded in that attack. A concrete barrier now being erected by Israeli police to separate Jews from Arabs in one volatile East Jerusalem neighborhood.
Secretary of State John Kerry prepares to meet separately with the Palestinian president and the Israeli prime minister this week.
I want to go to Jerusalem and bring in CNN's Phil Black for the very latest. So the Israelis really ramping up their defenses against these terror attacks.
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Christine. They are. We are seeing that across Jerusalem, in particular in Palestinian neighborhoods. In East Jerusalem, fortified roadblocks, walls, real restrictions and control on the -- on the ability of people who live in these communities to move in and out. And it's all because of the frequent terror attacks that have been taking place on the streets of Jerusalem and other parts of Israel. As you mentioned there, the most recent attack in the south of Israel
last night at a bus station involved a man walking into a bus station and with a small handgun shooting an Israeli soldier at close range, taking that soldier's M-16 and then using that in a shootout with Israeli police.
[04:25:06] That gunman was killed. But during the course of that attack, the course of that firefight, a bystander, an Eritrean migrant, was also shot dead by a security guard. And in the moments that followed there, that man who lied injured, severely shot, on the ground was then kicked, abused physically and verbally by bystanders. And police here now say they are looking for those people who abused that innocent man once he had been shot and was lying there injured. He later died in hospital.
It is all a sign of the tension, the fear and the anger that still exist here and continues to do so after some two weeks of these continuous, very regular street attacks. Most of them involving knives and Palestinian young men with a considerable human cost so far. Eight Israelis have died since the start of the month, whereas more than 40 Palestinians have been killed. Some of those in clashes with Palestinian forces. Others those who suspected or alleged to have taken part in these knife attacks specifically -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Phil Black for us this morning in Jerusalem. What a terrible story. Thank you for that, Phil.
BERMAN: All right, this morning, the feud between Donald Trump and Jeb Bush taken to a new level. The presidential candidates now fighting over September 11th and whether it could have been prevented. We'll give you the latest next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:30:00] ROMANS: A new feud firing up on the campaign trail. Donald Trump and Jeb Bush fighting over the 9/11 terror attacks. Could it have been prevented?
BERMAN: The Benghazi hearing people have been waiting to see for months. Hillary Clinton testifies on Thursday.
