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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Clinton: Damage Control on Health; Trump: Clinton Has Contempt for Voters; Syria Claims It Shot Down Israeli Warplanes. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 13, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:13] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton trying to explain why she waited two days to disclose she has pneumonia, calling in to CNN late last night saying she didn't think it was going to be that big a deal. We have an exclusive interview.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump blasting Clinton, accusing her of running a hate-filled campaign and demanding an apology for depicting his supporters as a basket of deplorables, as a violent scuffle breaks out at his rally.

ROMANS: The Syrian military claiming it shut down Israeli warplanes. Israel denies it, all less than 24 hours into Syria's cease-fire. Can this fragile peace last?

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

HOWELL: Good morning. I'm George Howell. It is Tuesday, September 13th, 4:00 a.m. in the East.

And breaking overnight. Hillary Clinton doing some damage control while recovering from illness, calling in to Anderson Cooper's show Monday night after taking the day off the campaign trail to rest. Clinton addressing significant new concerns about her health and a lack of transparency in her campaign. The campaign waiting two days to reveal that the former secretary was suffering from pneumonia, only coming clean after this video that you see there that came to light showing Clinton stumbling, struggling to get into her motorcade while leaving Sunday's service at Ground Zero.

Her husband only adding fuel to the fire, telling CBS that something like this has happened more than once before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT: Rarely, but on more than one occasion over the last many years, the same sort of thing happened to her when she got severely dehydrated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: So, now, the pressure is on. Both Clinton and Trump now pledging to release more detailed medical records.

CNN's Joe Johns has the very latest for us in Chappaqua, New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: George and Christine, it's expected to be another day of rest for Hillary Clinton here in Chappaqua, New York. Her husband, the former president, is expected to fill in at a fund-raiser in the Los Angeles area she was expected to attend tonight. On Monday, she also stayed at home in Chappaqua, recovering from the diagnosis from pneumonia she got on Friday which was only revealed after caught on video stumbling into a van after leaving the 9/11 Memorial Service in New York City early. She said she was overheated.

In a telephone interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, the former secretary of state said she just spoken with Democratic New York Senator Charles Schumer who told her he also was recovering from pneumonia.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE (via telephone): Well, I just didn't think it was going to be that big a deal. You know, I know Chuck said today he didn't tell anybody. It just a kind of thing that if it happens to you and you are a busy and active person, you keep moving forward. And, you know, it's fair to say, Anderson, that people know more about me than almost anyone in public life.

JOHNS: While former Secretary Clinton continues her recuperation, her husband Bill Clinton is expected to fill in for her at another event in Nevada on Wednesday. She says she wants to get back on the campaign trail in the next couple days -- Christine and George.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Joe Johns. While she is trying to heal here, she is facing down criticisms of the secrecy surrounding her illness, using it to turn the spotlight on her Republican rival. In that very interview with Anderson Cooper, Clinton slammed Trump for failing to release not only detailed health records, but his tax returns as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Compare everything you know about me with my opponent. I think it's time he met the same level of disclosure I have for years. You know, you've got a medical report on me that meets the same standard as Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Donald Trump's doctor said he would be the healthiest president in history. That's just not even serious.

And I've released 40 years of tax returns, he hasn't released one. This is a man with unknown numbers of partners and investors who said he is doing 120 foreign deals. The American people deserve to know what he is up to and what he is hiding. So, if we weren't -- if we weren't fast enough, I talked to my staff, we take responsibility for that. But the information is out there. You can't say the same about Donald Trump. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC360": Brian Fallon said your campaign

will release more of your records. You know Donald Trump said he's now had a physical I believe on Friday and that he's going to release that soon. Will you be releasing more details about your medical history and do you know, you know, how detailed it's going to be, how far it's going to go back? Is it going to be more about what happened in 2012 when you fell and hit your head?

[04:05:01] Do you know how far it will go?

CLINTON: Well, we're going to be releasing more information. And I think it's fair to say we've already met the standard of disclosure of past presidential candidates like Mitt Romney and President Obama. We will add more information. But I've already released information about my health in this campaign as well as nearly 40 years of tax returns.

We've already met a high standard of transparency. We know the least about Donald Trump of any candidate in recent American history. We know virtually nothing about his business entanglements, his foreign investors. You know, it's really past time for him to be held to the same standards, not just as me, but of everybody else who has sought this job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Hillary Clinton there speaking exclusively to our own Anderson Cooper.

And Donald Trump is campaigning in Iowa and Pennsylvania today. On Monday, the Republican nominee held rallies in Maryland and North Carolina where he kept away from the topic of Clinton's health. Instead, he focused on the "basket of deplorables" comment where Clinton accused Trump supporters of bigotry. Trump turned the table saying it's Clinton who is running a hate-filled campaign.

And just moments later, however, one of Trump supporters undermines his argument by trying to punch an anti-Trump protester.

We get more now from CNN's Jim Acosta in North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: George and Christine, Donald Trump has really latched on Hillary Clinton's basket of deplorables comments at a rally here in Ashville, North Carolina. Trump invited some of his supporters on stage saying they are not deplorable. Then, during his remarks, Trump accused Clinton of running a campaign of hatred.

Here is more of what he had to say.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Our vision of hope stands in stark contrast to my opponent's campaign of hate. Hillary Clinton has been running a hate-filled and negative campaign with no policy, with no solutions and no new ideas. True. By contrast, I have been going around the country offering very detailed plans for reform and change. All of these reform plans are available on our web site and they are extensive.

ACOSTA: But there was some deplorable conduct on display at this rally. One Trump supporter did rough up a protester during the event. The protester was let out by the authorities but no word on whether that supporter was arrested -- George and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Jim, thank you.

Donald Trump's running mate Mike Pence also blasting Hillary Clinton for saying that half of Trump supporters belong in that basket of deplorables. But in an interview on CNN, Pence declined to categorize Trump backer and one time Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke as deplorable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not really sure why the media keeps dropping David Duke's name. Donald Trump has denounced David Duke repeatedly. We don't want his support and we don't want the support of people who think like him?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: But you call him deplorable? You would call him that?

PENCE: No, I'm not in the name calling business, Wolf. You know me better than that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The Clinton campaign jumped on Pence's response, tweeting, "If you won't say the KKK is deplorable, you have no business running the country."

HOWELL: And President Obama is set to visit Philadelphia today, campaigning for Hillary Clinton. This would be the first time he's done that without Clinton at his side. And while in Pennsylvania, the president will promote voter registration, that state seen as a key prize in the race for the White House. Latest polls show Clinton with a six-point lead in Pennsylvania over Donald Trump.

ROMANS: All right. Sharp criticism from Donald Trump. He accuses Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen of playing politics. He says she is keeping interests low only to protect President Obama's economic legacy.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TRUMP: She is keeping them artificially low to keep Obama retired. I think she is very political and to a certain extent I think she should be ashamed of herself.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROMANS: The Federal Reserve is independent of the White House. It acts independently of all three branches of government. Congress has given the Fed the power to do this with a so-called dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices. How does it do? Its main tool is the ability to lower or raise its target interest rate. The Fed does not need approval to do this and acts independently of elected officials.

Now, Trump also called stocks a, quote, "false market". He said money is essentially free because of the low interest rates. He says the stock market will collapse once the Fed raises rates. He says the low interest rate environment is hurting savers the most, and while he likes the low rates as a real estate developer, he thinks it is bad for the broader economy.

There's no question, George, that the Fed has kept rates very low and has actually flooded trillions of dollars. Central banks flooded trillions of dollars into the market since the financial crisis.

One criticism is Congress has not had any pro-growth policies.

[04:10:00] It hasn't had, you know, tax reform. It hasn't had a big infrastructure spending. It hasn't had the kind of policies to help grow the economy. So, the Fed has been propping things up for years.

HOWELL: Has been acting alone, and acts independently, too. So, this is a very big claim from Donald Trump.

ROMANS: It is. It is.

HOWELL: Still ahead this morning, we are following a story. Syria claiming to have shot down a war plane. Israel denies it. What does it mean for the region?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. Fourteen minutes after the hour. Welcome back.

Breaking news right now is the Syrian military claims it shot down an Israeli warplane and drone near the Syrian border with the Golan Heights overnight. Now, Israel is denying its aircraft were hit. All this as a fragile, very fragile cease-fire in Syria seems to be taking hold for now.

Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov brokering that deal. Kerry says things look good so far, although, you know, it's too early to draw conclusions.

[04:15:00] What do all these developments mean now for the region?

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh joins me live from Amman, Jordan.

A lot going on there. The early moments of the cease-fire, this report of a warplane shot down. What can you tell us? JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in the past hour,

Christine, we heard claims from the Syrian military saying that they shot down an Israel warplane and an Israeli drone in Quneitra. They say that this happened after the Israeli air force targeted Syrian army positions in that area.

Now, the Israelis for their part, the IDF, came out denying this completely, saying that there was -- the Israeli air force did target Syrian artillery positions and that the safety of their aircraft was not compromised at anytime, although two surface-to-air missiles were launched from Syria.

So, complete denials coming from the Israelis to these claims. And as you mentioned, this is coming at a time when we're seeing this truce that went into effect at sundown on Monday in Syria. And since then, we had some reports within the first couple hours of the truce of some sporadic violence in the north, in the south of the country. But, overall, we are hearing from a monitoring group that for the first 15 hours of the truce, they have not reported groups of people being killed.

And so far today, there has been no reports of significant violence today. The Syrian military for its part announced that it will be observing its truce, but it reserves the right to respond decisively to any violations it says by the armed groups. And now, the moderate opposition groups on the other hand, we heard their position yesterday, that they say they sent this message also to the United States. These groups say they are accepting the terms of the truce for now.

One would expect from the United States and other allies that back these groups. They say they are doing these for the humanitarian reasons, but they have a long list of reservations. So, it is still early to see whether this truce is really holding and how long it will be holding for if it does, a lot of possible spoilers here and a lot could go wrong. So, we're going to have to wait and see what comes in -- what happens in the coming hours.

Of course, most crucial here is getting humanitarian aide into besieged areas.

ROMANS: A lot of spoilers here. A lot could go wrong. That has been the story for the humanitarian efforts here for five years now. Thank you so much, Jomana Karadsheh, for us this morning.

HOWELL: Protesters rushed the stage, crashing Ryan Lochte's debut with "Dancing with the Stars", yelling anti-Lochte chants. A scary incident all played out on live TV. We'll show you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:22:17] ROMANS: Welcome back to EARLY START.

Police in Florida have released this surveillance video of a suspect who they say deliberately set fire to the mosque, where Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen once worshipped. That fire broke out Monday morning at the Islamic center of Ft. Pierce. The extent of the damage is still being determined. No one was inside at the time.

Now, police are hoping someone will recognize the suspect who local Muslims say committed a hate crime.

We get more this morning from CNN's Boris Sanchez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and George, officials tonight have too many details of the suspect's background. They are actually putting this video out there hoping that someone in the public will recognize them and lead them to the suspect. What we know, so far, is that he is Hispanic or a white man and he showed up here at the mosque at about 11:30 last night at a Harley Davidson style motorcycle.

He is wearing a bandana to cover his face, and he's a wearing a hat. So, it was difficult to really get detail of his face. He was wearing a button downed shirt and embroidered jeans. He was carrying something what looked like a glass full of liquid and paper. At one point during the surveillance video that was captured, you see a white flash and then you see that man flee.

Officials have yet to publicly speculate whether or not this is a hate crime, but speaking to officials here at mosque and local Muslim leaders, they tell us there is no doubt in their mind that this was a hate crime. One of the people here at the mosque that I spoke with said that this is part of a trend, the continuing trend of escalating attacks against Muslims in this country. He says a big part of it has to do with the political climate.

WINFREDO RUIZ, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS: We are in an election year when we have political candidates fueling the hate, fueling the divisions among Americans and exulting anything that diminishes Islam or Muslim. That doesn't help and that does that create this kind of environment unfortunately.

SANCHEZ: Another interesting note from Mr. Ruiz. He told that if this happened at a church on Christmas, the reaction would be much different. We heard from local leaders that they expected a much bigger public outcry from state and local government officials, one of them saying that the silence from them is deafening -- Christine and George.

HOWELL: Boris Sanchez reporting -- thank you.

Protesters crashed Ryan Lochte's first appearance on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." It happened as the Olympic swimmer's dance routine was being critiqued by one of the judges, two men shouting liar, tried to rush the stage. The actual incident was not showed on camera, but take a look at how it all played out on live TV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me. Back off! Excuse me. Excuse me.

[04:25:00] Excuse me -- off. Off. Excuse me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll tell you what. All right. We'll take a break and get the rest of the judges' comments and take a deep breath.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: That judge pretty calm as that happened. After returning from commercial break, the host Tom Bergeron told the home audience that there was a little incident, and thanked the show's security team and got Lochte's reaction to it all. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN LOCHTE, OLYMPIC SWIMMER: So many feelings are going through my head right now. A little hurt. I came out here. I want to do something I'm completely not comfortable with and I did. I came out here with the big smile and I have the best dance partner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Police say the two protesters who were wearing anti-Lochte t- shirts were arrested for trespassing.

ROMANS: Wow, how bizarre. You think how well-choreographed that literally and figuratively something like that, as a program like that is. And to be disruptive. Interesting.

All right.

HOWELL: Yes.

ROMANS: Twenty-six minutes past the hour.

Hillary Clinton on the defensive, speaking exclusively to CNN. She calls in to Anderson last night, about why she did not disclose that she has pneumonia until two days after her diagnosis and the transparency issues plaguing her campaign. We've got all that next.