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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Donald Trump Hits Back at Critics, Rises in the Polls; California Terror Attack: Not the Gunman's First Plot; Warriors' Win Streak Grows, Moves to 23-0. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired December 09, 2015 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Alison Kosik. It's Wednesday, December 9th. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East.
Donald Trump is 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. The billionaire defending the plan on television and on Twitter, late into the night, writing, "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 also defending against accusations that he, himself, is a racist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ABC NEWS)
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)
KOSIK: Senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny has more on the backlash against Trump's latest plan.
(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)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Jeff.
And he's absolutely right. Nothing, nothing he has said has hurt his poll numbers. So, let's discuss this affect Trump's proposal is having on the presidential race and the brawl it is causing within the Republican Party.
CNN politics reporter Jeremy Diamond from our Washington bureau.
Good morning, Jeremy.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning.
ROMANS: So, four different networks, you know, Donald Trump throws out this proposal. He reads it, himself, the press release of these proposals. So, it was worded. He said exactly what he meant to say, goes on TV, four different networks.
Then he sits down with Barbara Walters. Listen to what he said to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And the worst thing that's ever happened to ISIS. The people in my party fully understand that. They're running against me, for the most part, they have no poll numbers. I'm leading by a lot. They get it. They're trying to get publicity for themselves. You
know, when I came out against illegal immigration, everybody for the same thing. Two weeks later, everybody was on my side, including the members of my own party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Tell me, gauge for me the brawl happening inside the GOP right now about their front runner, the things he says about my party. And the potential that maybe he would break off for an independent run if they don't treat him, quote, "fairly".
DIAMOND: Well, that's that old debate we are seeing re-emerging, right, that turmoil whether Trump would consider running as an independent. Listen, yesterday, we saw the Republican Party chairman Ryan Priebus, coming out strongly saying he disagreed with Donald Trump saying that, you know, Trump is putting aside American values with this plan, essentially. And that's pretty striking to see the Republican Party chair criticizing the party's front runner for the presidential nomination.
And then after that happened, you saw Donald Trump going on Twitter, going on Facebook and kind of teasing out that idea of an independent run again, pointing to a poll that show that 68 percent of his supporters would stick with him in the event that he left the Republican Party to run as an independent. I think it's still pretty unlikely that Donald Trump does that and let's remember, he did sign a loyalty pledge to the RNC. How much weight that actually has, we'll have to see.
But it's certainly telling that Trump is bringing this up again. I think he's kind of trolling the Republican Party right now with that comment.
[05:05:02] KOSIK: And then, of course, you have the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest kind of goading the Republican Party to just abandon him altogether (INAUDIBLE) if they haven't already. I want you to listen to what he said and then we'll come back to you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The Trump campaign for months now has had a dustbin of history like quality to it, from the vacuous sloganeering, to the outright lies, even the fake hair, the whole carnival barker routine that we've seen for some time now, the question now is about the rest of the Republican Party, and whether or not they're going to be dragged into the dustbin of history with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: So, you know we see the piling on hang.
One other note to mention here, I want to get your opinion on this, Jeremy. Do you see Trump maybe going back into history and looking into what the Carter administration did during the Iranian hostage crisis, where Carter actually banned Iranians from entering the U.S. unless they opposed the Shiite Islamic regime or had a medical emergency? So this actually happened before. So, America has had a bit of a history of this.
Do you see Trump leaning on that?
DIAMOND: I think Trump is kind of forging his own path here with this one. And, really were, he's even pointed to FDR and him banning immigrants or people coming into the country from axis countries during World War II and, of course, this is very different because the U.S. isn't at war with Islam. The U.S. is at war with ISIS, which represents, you know, a small number of the, I believe, 1.6 billion Muslims in the entire world.
But listen, this puts the Republican Party in a really tricky position because Democrats like you saw Josh Earnest do there, like Hillary Clinton did yesterday are going to tie every other Republican candidate to what Donald Trump is saying. Now, at the same, the Republican Party can't completely out of hand dismiss Trump or completely exclude him from the party because that would perhaps provoke him to run as an independent candidate and I think the Republican Party officials are very mindful that if Trump does that, the Republican Party leads the White House.
ROMANS: I got to tell you, Jeremy, the cover of the daily news this morning, it has sort of a takeoff on a poem, a poem post-World War II, "When Trump came for the Mexican, I did not speak out, as I was not a Mexican. When he came for the Muslims, I did not speak out, as I was not a Muslim. Then he came for me."
It's a takeoff of this Reverend Martin Niemoller poem that basically said there was no one left for me. No one left to speak up for me.
It's a striking, striking comparison. We saw a Philadelphia newspaper that sort of had him in kind of a Hitler-esque pose yesterday, saying the new Trump furor, play on words there. It doesn't seem to bother Donald Trump, the sort of the condemnation coming from so many different quarters.
DIAMOND: Well, what's he going to do? I mean, listen, his supporters don't care about that. You know, his supporters are sticking with him on this and again I was at the rally on Monday in South Carolina where he announced his proposal hours after he put out the press release. And he got a standing ovation when he brings these policies up, you know?
I spoke with supporters there, out of eight supporters, six of them said they agreed with his policy on banning Muslims from traveling to the U.S. The two who disagreed said they were still leaning towards voting for Donald Trump.
So, even those who disagree with this policy, even those who disagree with the fact that you would put a religious test to immigration, to any force coming into the country, even those folks still believe in Donald Trump. They believe in his power to shake things up in Washington. They believe in his business acumen. They believe in the fact that he is not controlled by special interests because he's not -- you know, he doesn't have a super PAC, that kind of thing.
So, you know, his supporter still going to stick strong, I think. And I wouldn't expect a decline any time soon off of this.
ROMANS: Yes.
KOSIK: There he goes, Teflon Don again.
OK. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for your analysis. We will see you back in about 20, 25 minutes.
ROMANS: Perfect.
DIAMOND: Sounds good.
KOSIK: All right. Breaking overnight, new information about the San Bernardino shooters. Where they got some of tear their guns and why investigators believe the gunmen had plotted murder before, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:13:35] ROMANS: Welcome back to EARLY START.
Significant new details to tell you about this morning on the investigation into the San Bernardino massacre, including word that one of the shooters may have started plotting three years ago. Investigators are saying gunman Syed Rizwan Farook took out a loan for $28,500 in November. They say half that 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 by the shooters. Officials say Enrique Marquez bought AR-15s back in 2011, 2012, 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 all the way back in 2012.
Let's more on the investigation now 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. [05:15:02] One official is saying that they simply got spooked. But
this is all 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: OK. 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 weeding out of passengers who've been in countries where they may have been radicalized. The Senate is considering its own bill that would prevent people who travelled to Iraq or Syria from using the visa waiver program for five years. The U.S. travel association praised the bill, but warned it could devastate international demand for U.S. travel and cost the economy billions of dollars.
ROMANS: Time for an early start on your money this morning.
Asian and European shares mostly lower. U.S. stock futures barely moving so far, watching oil prices very carefully this morning. They're up a little bit this morning. They have been at lows not seen in seven years this week. OPEC still pumping crude oil, keeping output pretty high and that has dragged stocks lower. Yesterday, the Dow fell 153 points.
Stock we're going to be watching this morning, Smith and Wesson. It's the drug maker reported stronger sales yesterday. It raised its profit outlook as the gun debate once again is front and center. The stocks have soared to eight year highs this week. Gun supporters tend to stock up on ammunition and weapons ahead of what they think will be restrictions coming.
Every time you talk about gun violence, there is a spike in FBI backgrounds checks. People go out and buy them.
KOSIK: They do.
Here's what perfection looks like, the NBA Golden Warriors make it 23 wins and counting. Andy Scholes has this morning's bleacher report, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:21:57] KOSIK: Oh, yes. The streak continues. The Golden State Warriors winning their 23rd consecutive game last night, easily beating the Indiana Pacers.
ROMANS: Andy Scholes has more on this morning's bleacher report.
Hey, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, guys.
You know, I have been asking this for weeks now, is anyone ever going to beat the Warriors? They are 23-0 to start the season. They have won 27 straight dating back to last year. That ties the Miami Heat for the second longest winning streak in NBA history.
That game with the Pacers was over in the first quarter. Klay Thompson came out on fire. He hit 10 3-pointers, ended with 39 point in the game. Only bad news for Warriors was Thompson sprained his ankle in the fourth quarter and is considered (INAUDIBLE). Final is 131-123. Warriors are going to play at Boston Friday night.
Harlem Globetrotters having some fun with the Warriors streak last night, tweeting, "Congrats to the Warriors on their 27 game win streak. That I are now just 3,562 short of our current mark," of course, referring to their winning streak over the Washington Generals. They then added another tweet saying, "We're starting to getting a little worried, though."
All right. The Yankees have a new 2nd baseman. The team acquiring three-time all star Starlin Castro from the Cubs for pitcher, Adam Warren, and a minor leaguer. At 25 years old, Castro helped the Yankees get younger up the middle. The Cubs filling Castro's void by singing Ben Zobrist to a four-year $56 million deal. Zobrist played a big part helping the Royals win the World Series last season.
Steelers back-up quarterback Michael Vick continues to advocate for safety. Vic was at the Pennsylvania statehouse, supporting a bill that would give police authority to save dogs and cats from vehicles due to unsafe temperatures.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL VICK, PITTSBURGH STEELERS: I know I'm an unlikely advocate. I was a part of the problem when I was at my lowest. I made the decision to make change and I stand by that.
Now that I could reach people that activists can't reach, I appreciate that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: In 2007, Vick pleaded guilty for his role in a dog fighting ring. He did time in federal prison.
But, guys, you know, since then, he will be doing what he can to atone for those mistakes. He's been doing a really good job of it.
ROMANS: A remarkable turn around for him.
KOSIK: All about second chances. Andy Scholes, thanks.
SCHOLES: All right.
ROMANS: Donald Trump hitting back at his critics this morning and rising in the polls. We've got the new numbers right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:28:44] ROMANS: Donald Trump standing firm on his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. hitting back at his critics and rising in the polls. We've got new numbers ahead.
KOSIK: New information this morning about the San Bernardino gunmen, where he got some of his guns and why investigators believe this was not his first murder plot.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. Nice to see you this Wednesday morning.
KOSIK: Good morning.
ROMANS: It is 28, 29 minutes past the hour.
Let's start with 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, quote, "complete and total ban" an all Muslims entering the United States.
The billionaire defending the plan on television, defending it on Twitter late into the night, writing, "Our country is facing a major threat from radical Islamic terrorism. We better get very smart and very tough fast before it's too late."
Trump also defending against accusations that he -- he, himself, is a racist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ABC NEWS)
WALTERS: Are you a bigot?
TRUMP: 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 on the backlash against Trump's latest plan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: 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.
