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Trump Hits Back at Critics, Rises in the Polls; California Terror Attack: Not the Gunman's First Plot. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 09, 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] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Candidate Donald Trump rising in the polls and not backing down from his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: New information about one of the San Bernardino shooters. Investigators revealing this wasn't the first attack he had planned.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. So nice to see you this morning.

KOSIK: Good morning.

ROMANS: Good morning, everyone. It is Wednesday, December 9th, it's 4:00 a.m. in the East.

Let's start with politics and Donald Trump, taking political fire from all side this morning. Rival candidates, the White House, Democratic and Republican leaders all blasting Trump's proposal for a quote complete and total ban on all Muslims entering the United States.

The billionaire defending the plan on television and on Twitter late into the night, writing, quote, "Our country is facing a major threat from radical Islamic terrorism. We better get very smart and very tough fast before it is too late."

Trump defending against accusations that he, himself, is a racist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA WALTERS, ABC NEWS: Are you a bigot?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Not at all. Probably the least of anybody you've ever met.

WALTERS: Because?

TRUMP: Because I'm not. I'm a person that has common sense. I'm a smart person. I know how to run things. I know how to make America great again. This is about making America great again.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: Senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny has more in the backlash against Trump's latest proposal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Alison, in the face of unrelenting political backlash, Donald Trump is defiant in defending his proposal to block Muslims from coming to the United States. This overheated campaign season suddenly even hotter, with Republicans rushing to join Democrats in condemning Trump.

Now, House Speaker Paul Ryan blasted Trump, saying he's not a true conservative and he doesn't speak for the party's values.

Trump's comments are drawing intense fire from his GOP rivals, including Jeb Bush, campaigning Tuesday in New Hampshire.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What we shouldn't do is to just, you know, say all Muslims aren't coming into our country. You got to find the proper balance of believing in American values and being serious and real about keeping us safe. It's not about the blowhards out there just saying stuff. That's not a program. That's not a plan. This is serious business.

ZELENY: Now, Trump said his ban on Muslims would be temporary. He called it a modern day version of FDR's actions toward the Japanese in World War II. He brushed aside the criticism during a round of interviews on Tuesday. He said his supporters are tired of political correctness.

Now, there's no question many Americans are frightened in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting or the Paris attacks. But that's exactly the sentiment Trump is trying to appeal.

A new "USA Today" poll taken after the California shooting finds Trump as leading the Republican field at 27 percent, followed by Ted Cruz at 17 and Marco Rubio at 16.

Now, despite this widespread condemnation, there is little reason to believe this will hurt Trump in Republican primary. So far nothing he said has -- Christine and Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: OK, Jeff, thanks for that.

And as Jeff mentioned, Trump is doing very well in the national polls. But he is doing even better in New Hampshire, widening his lead there even further. Even so, the furious reaction to his Muslim exclusion proposal has Trump hinting again that he might run as an independent if Republicans don't treat him, quote, "fairly".

Chief political correspondent Dana Bash picks up the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Alison, it's not just that Donald Trump is on top big time in our new poll New Hampshire Republican primary voters. It's that he's so far ahead, 32 percent. And if you kind of look at that for context, the three people behind him in this poll, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, you add up all of their support and combined, they still don't get as much as Donald Trump.

And it's not just that, it's the expectations of the party voters in New Hampshire. These are very experienced voters. They understand kind of how things work. They are predicting, six in ten are predicting that Donald Trump will be the nominee for the Republican Party.

Now, we should note that this survey was done before Trump made his new proposal, that Muslims should not be allowed into this country. But still, if you look inside the poll for support for how he would do to fight ISIS, foreign policy, be commander-in-chief, it's hard to see that despite all of the fury, all of outrage, from the house speaker to the former Vice President Dick Cheney, across the board, that it's hard to see that his numbers will change dramatically, because he does have so much support with that sector of the population.

[04:05:09] And you certainly saw that when he gave his big speech on Monday night in South Carolina. You saw a lot of people in the crowd giving him a standing ovation for this. The question, though, is going to be whether or not at this point, there is so much outrage and the Republican Party pushing Donald Trump from his perspective, perhaps, away, whether or not he is going to be more aggressive about questioning whether or not he'd welcome into the Republican party.

Already, yesterday afternoon, he sent out a tweet, noting that more than the vast majority of his supporters in one poll say that even if he were an independent, they would stick with him and vote for him and not the Republican nominee. That is a nightmare scenario for the Republican Party. Something they have been trying very hard to avoid -- Christine and Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Dana, thanks for that.

Significant new details this morning on the investigation into the San Bernardino massacre, including words that one of the shooters may have started plotting three years ago. Investigators are saying the gunman Syed Rizwan Farook took out a bank loan for $28,5000 ahead of the attack, but they say half the money went to Farook's mother. And they don't believe it was used to finance the attack.

And we are learning more about the man who was the original buyer of two assault rifles used in the attack. Officials say Enrique Marquez bought the AR-15s back in 2011 and 2012 and gave them to Farook soon after. They say they don't think Marquez was involved in the San Bernardino attack. Investigators do believe Farook was plotting with someone back in 2012.

Just who is that?

More on this from justice correspondent Pamela Brown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine and Alison, we are learning investigators believe Syed Farook, along with someone else, may have been planning an earlier attack in California. This is according to two U.S. officials I've spoken with. One of these officials saying the two conspired back in 2012, and a specific target was even considered.

Neither of these official, though, could say how serious the plotting got. But the fact that they had picked out a target, of course, is alarming and shows a concrete step towards carrying out an attack. The officials are saying, that we're speaking with, that the two decided not to go through it after a round of terror-related arrests in the area. One official is saying that they simply got spooked.

But this is bolstering the belief that law enforcement has said publicly that Farook was radicalized for a period of time before the San Bernardino attacks and now, it appears before he was married to his wife Tashfeen Malik. We know that Farook and his friend apparently, they have been conspiring to do bad things, one of these officials say.

And at this point, we are learning that they are discovering the extent. Federal law enforcement discovering the extent of the 2012 plan following the San Bernardino attack. Officials have said that Farook was not a target of a terror investigation or known to law enforcement before the shooting last week. These new details coming to light showing just how active this investigation is -- Alison and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: All right. Pamela, thanks for that.

A bill that imposes new restrictions on the country's visa waiver program passing overwhelmingly in the House. It would increase information sharing between the U.S. and over three dozen nations where passport-holders are allowed to visit America without a visa. The bill also calls for the weeding out of passengers who have been in countries where they may have been radicalized. The Senate is considering its own bill that would prevent people who traveled to Iraq or Syria from using the visa waiver program for five years.

ROMANS: The Obama administration is helping Iran negotiate a deal to send part of its enrich uranium stockpiles to Kazakhstan. According to "The Wall Street Journal", the arrangement was speed up sanctions relief for Tehran. Republicans are calling for new sanctions after U.S. officials confirmed the Iranians conducted a ballistic missile launch rather last month, an apparent violation of a U.N. resolution.

KOSIK: With a potential government shutdown looming at midnight Friday, negotiations on a massive new funding bill has stalled in Congress. Speaker Paul Ryan says the House may have to pass a short term funding bill while talks continue through the weekend. Most of the spending plan is already in place, but both parties are bogged down over writers to the deal. Hot button issues like the Syrian crisis and campaign finance reform.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money this morning, Asian shares mostly fell, European shares are pulling back from earlier gains. Stock futures barely moving.

What could change that? Oil prices. Right now, oil has been at lows not seen in seven years this week, thanks to OPEC keeping output high. That has dragged stocks lower. Yesterday, the Dow fell 163 points.

One stock to watch this morning: Smith & Wesson, the gun maker, reported stronger sales and expected yesterday, also raised the outlook as the gun debate once again front and center.

[04:10:03] The stock has surged to eight-year highs this week as gun supporters stock up head of what they think could be possible restrictions.

KOSIK: That stock has been very reactionary with every shooting incident.

ROMANS: Yes, sure has.

KOSIK: Breaking news this morning, we know the identity of another terrorist between the terrorist attacks. What investigators are revealing about him, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Breaking news: French police identifying the third attacker at Bataclan night club. CNN affiliate BFMTV and France 2 say 23-year-old Foued Mohamed-Aggad came from a small town near Strasberg and had traveled to Syria in 2013.

CNN's Jim Bittermann joins us live from Paris with more that we are learning about the terrorists.

So, Jim, we know that authorities have been looking for a third terrorist in the attack there.

[04:15:00] What took them so long now to identify him?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is not the person they're looking for, Alison. This is, in fact, someone who was killed by police in the attack. He's dead and but his identity only come through now after the attacks because authorities were looking at it as part of the investigation.

He represents perhaps the worst nightmare, authorities say. Basically, he grew up in the Strasburg area, 23-years-old, went off to Syria with seven or eight friends, two of whom got killed shortly after they arrived in Syria. Some of them came back. When they came back, they were put under provisionary detention by French police. But Mohamed-Aggad stayed. He remained and he said he was going to come back to Paris and perpetrate attacks, which now we can say that he eventually did.

Police have investigated further and overnight, according to reports here, they have searched his mother's appointment. There's also reports out this morning his mother received a text message from Syria saying, "Your son has died a martyr in Paris" -- Alison.

KOSIK: Is the discovery of Foued Mohamed-Aggad netting information about other possible terrorists involved in these attacks in Paris?

BITTERMANN: Well, I think so. Yes. One of the things that police are looking into further is the recruitment of him by a guy named Mourad Fares, who was apparently responsible for recruiting a number of French young people.

There are a number out there police are searching for after the attacks. We've had no leads on any of them. Their trails have gone cold on some of them.

But they are still hunting for a number of people who are connected and each time they come across somebody and identify somebody, that leaves other people, because they investigate the neighbors, the friends and sisters, et cetera, and come up with more information. They're discovering, of course, that in fact, there's some pretty wide networks of people out there who have bent on committing terrorist attacks in France -- Alison.

KOSIK: Wide networks of people, very disturbing. Jim Bittermann live from Paris with the latest -- thanks.

ROMANS: All right. The defense takes a turn today in the trial of Baltimore Police Officer William Porter, prosecutors rested their case Tuesday against Porter, who is charged in connection with the death of Freddie Gray. The state's final witness, an expert in police procedure, told the jury that getting medical help for Gray was a responsibility Porter shared with other officers. Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury while being transported in a police van. Porter is expected to testify on his own behalf. He is the first of six officers to stand trial.

KOSIK: The FBI announcing plans to expand the system for tracking fatal shootings and other violent police encounters nationwide. A senior FBI official calls the current method of collecting such data a travesty. The new system will catalogue any incident involving serious injury or death to civilians, including for the use of stun guns, pepper spray and even fists and feat. The agency says tracking police use of force is now the highest priority.

ROMANS: All right. New fallout overnight for Donald Trump. World leaders, business leaders, now responding to the Republican front runner, rather, for his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. We are live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [04:22:55] ROMANS: Donald Trump's call for a ban on Muslim immigrants entering the U.S., triggering a worldwide outrage. Even though Trump insists his plan would be temporary, Western leaders are calling it divisive, they're calling it hate-filled.

In Egypt, the country's most influenced religious leader accused the GOP front runner of being an Islamophobe.

Let's get the latest from CNN's Sara Sidner, live from Istanbul -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, there is fallout here and across some of the Muslim world. A Dubai giant retailer has decided to take away and stop selling a Trump branded home decor products, saying that they are really listening to the sentiments of its customers after these words from Donald Trump.

But you're not hearing a lot of reaction from leaders of countries in the Middle East, partly because they see Donald Trump as simply a presidential candidate, not someone who is an official representative of the United States government. However, you are certainly hearing from the people in these countries.

Here in Turkey, there is a Trump Towers. His licensed his name to this huge building. That's a residential building and a mall. And people find that really ironic saying, hey, he's willing to take money from Muslims, he doesn't want Muslims in the country.

Here's a little more reaction from around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a crazy man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's racist, yes. They're saying that Muslims are racist, no, they refuse other religions. He is refusing the religion. So he is a terrorist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you ban all Muslim, that means in the mind the religion of Muslim and Muslim people, they are all bad. And this --

REPORTER: And they're not in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course. Of course not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: And so, basically what you are hearing there, you're hearing the word "racist", you're hearing the word "fascist". You are seeing a lot of that online.

But you are also hearing this -- people here say, this is exactly what ISIS wants. They want someone like Trump playing into the hands of ISIS, saying it's an "us against them" mentality.

[04:25:01] And that's what ISIS has been trying to poison people with to encourage them to come and join them -- Christine.

ROMANS: A war with the West.

All right. Thank you so much for that, Sara Sidner, this morning, Sara.

KOSIK: Donald Trump is hitting back at critics this morning and rising in the polls. The new numbers after the break. .

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Donald Trump not backing down from his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., hitting back at his critics and rising in the polls. New numbers ahead.

ROMANS: And new information this morning about the San Bernardino shooter, where he got some of his guns and why investigators believe this wasn't his first murder plot.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

KOSIK: And I'm Alison Kosik. It's 30 minutes past the hour.

Donald Trump taking political fire from all sides this morning, rival candidates, the White House, Democratic and Republican leaders all blasting Trump's proposal for a complete and total ban on all Muslims entering the U.S.