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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Clinton Campaign Cancels California Trip; Trump Campaigns in Baltimore; Remember 9/11 Fifteen Years Later; NFL Players Take Knee, Raise Fists to Highlight Racial Injustice. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 12, 2016 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight. Hillary Clinton cancelling her trip to California after stumbling at a 9/11 ceremony yesterday and leaving that event early. How her health now plays into her campaign.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Just overnight, diagnosed with pneumonia, too.

A ceasefire in Syria is set to begin just hours from now. A bloody weekend, though in the region and warning from U.S. allies that could affect this truce.

Good morning everyone. Busy Monday morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm john Berman.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. Nice to see you all this morning. It is Monday, September 12th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the east. Let's begin with this news from the weekend.

Hillary Clinton forced to cancel a two-day trip to California because of a health scare here. The former Secretary of State was supposed to leave this morning on this trip, instead she is at home. She has been diagnosed with pneumonia.

Her campaign confirmed that diagnosis last night. This, after -- you could see the video here. She stumbled while leaving a 9/11 Ground Zero ceremony. She left that ceremony early. She apparently had to be helped into that van, you can see. The incident is shaking up the race for the White House, and many Clinton critics were already questioning her stamina, but her doctor insists she is recovering nicely after being hydrated after that event.

We get more from CNN Senior Washington Correspondent Joe Johns.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Last Sunday, the Clinton campaign canceled that multi-day West Coast trip. She was scheduled to leave this morning.

This capped the day of intense scrutiny with the democratic nominee after questions were raised when a video emerged showing her stumbling and unsteady with secret service agents having to help her into a van in her motorcade, leaving Sunday's 9/11 memorial ceremony early.

The campaign had earlier said she left the event after becoming overheated. Clinton then went to her daughter's apartment in New York. When leaving there, she told reporters she was feeling great, waved to supporters, even signed an autograph for a young girl.

The campaign told us Mrs. Clinton was later examined at her home in Chappaqua. The doctor said she was overheated, dehydrated, and the campaign also revealed on Sunday that Friday, she has been diagnosed with pneumonia, had been put on antibiotics and advised to rest and modify her schedule.

The campaign has not said why it did not disclose the illness before Sunday's incident.

Friday, by the way, was a long day for Mrs. Clinton. It was packed with events and activity. The day included a meeting with a bipartisan group of national security experts. A brief statement in which she took a few questions; she did an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo, she did a fundraiser, and we don't have an answer to why she did not start cutting back given the diagnosis other than what we know that this is a presidential campaign, a close race and having covered her for a couple of decades off and on.

She has a tendency to try to keep going almost, no matter what. Now, the campaign definitely has more questions to answer as her it is clear her health has become a major campaign issue. John and Christine?

BERMAN: Transparency also is an issue here. They knew Friday. She was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday. They only told the world on Sunday she had it. The question is would they have told us at all had she not stumbled at that event?

The one person we have not heard from on this subject, Donald Trump. He has not uttered a word or tweeted a single character about Clinton's health and do (ph) that overnight.

Sources in the campaign say they want to be respectful and staffers have been ordered not to post anything negative on social media. In fact, the campaign wants to get the message out. They are leaking this intentionally that any violation of that order could be grounds for termination.

Let's get the latest from CNN's Scott McLean in Washington.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, like Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump plays (ph) this pause he is campaigning for the 9/11 anniversary.

What he did do was attend a memorial ceremony for the victims of the attack, at Ground Zero in the morning. He was there with his close adviser, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Now, after that ceremony, Trump visited the New York Firehouse. He didn't have any formal remarks, but as he was leaving he was asked about Hillary Clinton's health, though he did not have much to say. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A quick question about Hillary Clinton's health incident this morning. Her health incident this morning?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (Inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:05:00] MCLEAN: Trump did put out a written statement marking the 9/11 anniversary that read in part, "Our solemn duty on behalf of all those who perished that September day 15 years ago is to work together as one nation to keep all of our people safe from an enemy that seeks nothing less than to destroy our way of life."

Now, today, Trump will resume campaigning just as four new NBC "Wall Street Journal" Marist polls show tight races in the reliably republican states of Arizona and Georgia, but it also has come neck and neck in battleground states, New Hampshire and Nevada, Tuesday that (ph) President Obama won the last two elections.

Now, Trump will start his day in Baltimore with a speech to the National Guard Association before heading to Asheville, North Carolina for a campaign rally. John, Christine?

ROMANS: All right, Scott McLean, nice to see you today. Thank you.

All right, Hillary Clinton's doctor diagnosed her with pneumonia on Friday, with two days before the Sunday morning health scare. Also on Friday, Hillary Clinton sat down with CNN's Chris Cuomo for an exclusive interview. Now, Clinton was a junior senator from New York when those planes hit the World trade Center towers. She describes that experience as sickening and says she copes to the tragedy by getting right back to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I went the next day. Chuck Schumer and I. We were one of the very few planes in the sky that day, the 12th. And we landed at LaGuardia. We were on a fema plane and we took a helicopter then we went over, circled the burning pile.

And when we landed, we met up with the governor and the mayor and went walking toward Ground Zero. And as we moved further south and we saw this curtain of black smoke that was stretched across the island, basically.

Occasionally, it would be broken by a firefighter coming out. I remember one image so indelibly dragging his axe. And it was as close to a depiction of hell that I have ever personally seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: You can see more of Chris's interview with Hillary Clinton later this morning on "New Day."

So interesting now because not only what she said, but how she said it. That was what we're looking at this morning because that was Friday, the day that she was diagnosed with pneumonia and she still sat down for an interview, had a very, very busy day that day and kept charging through the weekend.

BERMAN: Well, it is obviously an emotional subject. She did not sound good there. You could hear in her voice, her voice did not sound exactly full. Now, whether or not that was pneumonia, whether or not she had a tired voice from speaking all day, whether or not ...

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: And emotional.

BERMAN: It was just emotional. But it sounded more than just emotional. I mean, the voice was thin there.

ROMANS: She had a coughing fit, what, a week ago to a little more than a week ago. A full two-minute coughing fit where she joked and inside (ph) that it is sort of deflecting it by saying, you know, she has allergies, Donald Trump allergies. (Inaudible) Donald Trump. And you can see that she has been struggling with something here in the past days.

BERMAN: You and I both have had pneumonia ...

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: Oh yeah.

BERMAN: I had a terrible case of it in college. You know, it knocked me out completely. I was 21. It can be much worse as you get older. Hillary Clinton is 68. You know, it is something that is hard (ph) to recover from.

Perhaps not the only political problem that Hillary Clinton is dealing with this morning. She is backing off comments that she made about trump supporters during a fundraiser that she attended Friday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: To just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)

CLINTON: Right?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)

CLINTON: The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, Clinton went on to say the other half of Trump supporters deserve empathy because they are experiencing economic anxiety and change. Trump though, easy to fall (ph) over this thing, "her true feeling came out showing bigotry and hatred for millions of Americans."

The next morning, Hillary Clinton admitted that she was wrong to put half of Trump's supporters in the basket of deplorables but vowed to continue calling out bigotry in Trump's campaign. And people who are called this for a long time today. You criticize the candidates all you want.

It is never wise to start calling voters names and, you know, then saying that half of Trump supporters are essentially racist, xenophobic, homophobic, you know, you rarely win by attacking voters.

ROMANS: Interesting. All right, nine minutes past the hour.

Let's check the money this morning. Global markets under pressure. U.S. Futures indicate more selling today. Did you see what happened Friday, folks? The Dow tumbled nearly 400 points, it's worse the loss since late June. The major average id also more than 2 percent, quite a change from the sleepy summer.

Before Friday, the S&P 500 has not moved more than 1 percent in either direction, John, for 43 straight sessions. So this is what happens, coiling for a move and the move was down.

Investors are worried the era of easy money from central banks may be ending. Those things have come (ph) more than $9 trillion into the global economy since the financial crisis. That has juiced the stock market and hooked investors on said stimulus.

[04:10:00]

But last week, the European central banks did not expand its bond buying as many investors hoped it would.

In the U.S., interest rate hike is looking more likely, although most investors don't think will happen this month, with this increasingly tight presidential race in the backdrop too, expect more volatility on Wall Street. It was a big move on Friday. A lot of people were nervous. I wouldn't say anyone should be surprised. It was so eerily calm for so long as they're calling it the storm after the calms.

BERMAN: Oh, I like that.

ROMANS: You like that?

BERMAN: Well done.

ROMANS: Pat on the back (ph). BERMAN: All right, there's a lot going on this morning. We are watching Syria very closely. A ceasefire is set to begin in a few hours. New air strikes, though. New violence by both sides getting in before the ceasefire. We're live at the Turkish-Syrian border next for an update next.

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[04:15:00] ROMANS: A ceasefire is scheduled to take effect in Syria at sundown. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian foreign minister hammered out this agreement, this arrangement last week. But the free Syrian army is now warning the U.S. it has serious reservations about this truce.

And at least 90 people were killed over the weekend in a wave of devastating air strikes, and the deadly attacks continue right now after a ceasefire agreement before it is implemented. CNN Senior International Correspondent Arwa Damon, she is live for us along the Turkish-Syrian border this morning. Good morning, Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. And those images emerging from Syria over the weekend are really quite heartbreaking.

At least 90 people were killed. The vast majority of those (inaudible) have been happening in the marketplace and in the province (ph). And people had gone out to the market to go shopping for food and other things that they could get ahead of the Muslim holiday, the Eid which began today.

And this is something of a sad trend that we have been seeing repeatedly throughout Syria. Right before the ceasefires, a very different cessation of hostilities are meant to be taking place.

We do actually end up seeing an intensification in bombardment. Now, the rebel groups are voicing their regular bases about this current on-the-table ceasefire deal they are doing so for a number of reasons.

They feel that there are not enough mechanisms to actually enforce and monitor potential violations. They also feel as if this deal would quite possibly put them at a disadvantage because they are very concerned about a number of issues.

First and foremost, the fact there is a vague warning within the ceasefire deal that is telling rebels to distance themselves from the group that was formally known as al-Nusra Front that did end up breaking ties with al-Qaeda, but the U.S. still views it as being a terrorist organization, but a lot of these areas, these frontlines are very blurred.

They also want to see the Shi'a militias that are fighting alongside the regime put on the list of terrorist entities as well. So, they have not come out and cried out, rejected it yet but they are very reluctant about its terms. They are reluctant to actually be on board. But at this point in time, they really actually don't have a choice.

ROMANS: All right, thanks so much for that Arwa Damon on the Turkey- Syrian border for us this morning. Thank you.

BERMAN: All right. The United States remembering the victims of September 11th. There were memorial services across the country. We will tell you the touching moments and messages next.

[04:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Bells tolled, tears flowed on Sunday. Americans remembered the thousands of lives lost on 9/11, 15 years ago. Ceremonies were held at Ground Zero at Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Many of the mourners echoing the same thing, never forget. More this morning from CNN's Rachel Crane.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, it is hard to believe that it has been 15 years since that horrific day back in 2001. Of course, this is a moment of mourning and remembrance for the country, but behind me stands the ultimate symbol of America's resilience. A new tower stands occupied.

But of course, for many, 9/11 evokes fear and worrying if there is another major terrorist attack on the horizon. We spoke to the police commissioner who said there is no imminent attack here for New York City. We also spoke to the Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson who said that the U.S. has never been better prepared for a 9/11-style attack. Take s listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEH JOHNSON, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We are in a relatively new environment now where we have got to be concerned about the traditional threat as well as the new threat where al-Qaeda, ISIL can literally reach into our homeland through the internet, through social media to recruit and inspire people here.

CRANE: The Secretary went on to say that those lone wolf-style attacks are what keep him up at night. Now, the memorial here at Ground Zero was incredibly moving. They did the reading of the names including many moments of silence held to commemorate the moment when both towers were struck, when both towers fell, also when the Pentagon was hit along with the crash of Flight 93. And this was just one of many memorials being held across the country to honor the victims and the families. John and Christine?

BERMAN: Right. The reading of the names is such a poignant, poignant tradition. One they have done every year since, and I think they will do every year going forward as well of course, to remember all those who were lost.

As for football, they did play football yesterday. They used a couple of presidents to help commemorate the anniversary of September 11th, President Obama and former President George W. Bush, each recorded video messages that aired before the National Anthem during the afternoon games and there was also a joint appearance during the Sunday night game between Patriots and the Cardinals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: On this solemn anniversary, we remember the innocent souls who boarded flights, showed up for work at the World Trade Center, reported for duty at the Pentagon and started shifts at police and fire stations.

Today we honor them and salute their families, especially their children whose lives have come to embody America's resilience and hopefulness, our compassion and our light.

[04:25:00] BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: It is up to all of us to carry forward their legacy. Whenever confronted by cowards who seek to destroy, America chooses to be strong and build a better future.

That's why so many of our fellow citizens spend this national day of service and remembrance by giving back to the communities or paying forward a simple good deed. That is the spirit we saw after those terrible attacks. That is how we build an America that reflects our values.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: George Bush and his wife, Laura, they were part of the coin toss at the Dallas Cowboys football game yesterday. They were joined by NYPD officers who raced to Ground Zero, now 15 years ago.

ROMANS: The (inaudible) NFL player stage protest during the National Anthem to highlight the problems of racial injustice and police brutality.

Four Miami Dolphins players took the knee, the Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs locked arms in solidarity and three other players raised their fists after the anthem was played.

BERMAN: All right, 25 minutes after the hour. If you left Friday thinking that political season was boring. Oh, man, a lot happened this week, and this morning there are serious questions about the health of Hillary Clinton. She has pneumonia. She stumbled here leaving the September 11 ceremony early. She had pneumonia on Friday and did not tell us about it until yesterday. What's going on? We'll discuss next.

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