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Missiles Could Impact U.S. Combat Aircraft Over Syria; Trump Targets Clinton, GOP Rivals; High-Stakes Climate Talks in Paris. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired December 01, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unprecedented security surrounding world leaders in Paris.

[05:58:06] JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Obama and President Putin appear to be looking right past each other. The two leaders are still at odds.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Paris is under a state of emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators suspect the fugitive eighth terrorists may have escaped to Syria.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We had the African- American pastors, so many came up to Trump Tower.

BISHOP VICTOR COUZENS, VSC MINISTRIES: I'm not here to endorse Mr. Trump. I'm here to have a dialogue.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A conference (ph) with Donald? Outrageous is a high bar. He said what he said. Now the people who vote will judge him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First thing is the right to remain silent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At women's health centers across the country, the number of incidents of harassment and violence has doubled in the last five years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Too soon, still, to determine whether or not the prosecution will seek the death penalty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to your NEW DAY.

It is Tuesday, December 1, 6 a.m. in the east. Alisyn and Mick are in New York, and we are in Paris. We begin with breaking news.

On the sidelines, the climate change summit here in Paris, President Obama meeting this morning with Turkey's president after holding talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin. There was no meeting of the three together so far as we know. The president urging both leaders, we're told, to focus on a

common enemy, ISIS. But is Russia ready to move beyond its jet being shot down? And we have more on that in a moment.

Now all of this, of course, comes with some 150 world leaders, hoping to forge a deal to reduce carbon emissions. Now, so what is the biggest development so far? President Obama is going to hold a news conference later this morning before departing from Paris. We're hoping for some headlines out of that. We will bring it to you live, of course. But we have CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Avila [SIC]. He's live at the summit with the latest.

Jim, what do we know about these meetings and climate talks?

ACOSTA: Chris, President Obama just wrapped up a meeting with Turkey's President Erdogan, making it very clear which side the U.S. is on when it comes to the NATO allies' dispute with Russia.

Moscow is still outraged over Turkey's downing of a Russian bomber near the Turkey-Syria border last week. Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to meet with Erdogan at this climate summit here in Paris. That put President Obama in the position of playing referee, meeting with both Putin and Erdogan to deescalate tensions. But Mr. Obama maintains Turkey has a right to defend its territory. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to be very clear. Turkey is a NATO ally. Along with our allies, the United States supports Turkey's right to defend itself, and its air space and its territory. And we're very much committed to Turkey's security and its sovereignty. And as I mentioned to President Erdogan, we all have a common enemy. And that is ISIL.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now for its part, Russia insists Turkey is simply trying to protect a black-market oil supply from ISIS terrorists, an accusation that Erdogan vehemently denies.

As for President Obama's meeting with Putin, the White House is indicating there's still no agreement on some sort of grand coalition with Russia to go after ISIS. But both sides still disagree over what to do about Syria's embattled leader, Bashar al-Assad. This talk about ISIS here at this climate summit has really overshadowed much of the work that these world leaders have had to tackle when it comes to controlling global warming -- Chris.

CUOMO: No question about it. Just the beginning of the dialogues. And yes, Jim, I said Avila because we worked together at ABC News, and he is a dear friend. I love you Jim Acosta. Thank you very much for the reporting this morning.

Now, we are going to carry live coverage of President Obama's news conference at 8:40 Eastern. This will be the last word before he departs the climate change conference in Paris. So we're going to want to hear what he thinks the process was here and, of course, in the war in ISIS, as well.

We do have an early signal that Russia is still not on the same page, despite the talks that may be happening here. Russia is moving surface-to-air missiles to a base near the Turkish border. Now U.S. officials say this move could put American combat aircraft at risk.

Putin reportedly ordering the missiles to Syria after Turkey shot down one of its airplanes. CNN's Barbara Starr is live from the Pentagon with more on this story.

Barbara, what do we know about it?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. That missile system now active, up and running according to U.S. defense officials. This is the Russian S-400, a massive anti-air missile system that can target and potentially shoot down aircraft all the way into Turkey. So this is causing a good deal of concern.

Just yesterday, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Joe Dunford, had his first telephone call with his Russian counterpart. They won't say what the two men talked about. But it's pretty clear all of this on the top of the agenda right now, because it puts the Pentagon in the position of trying to figure out what to do next.

They don't believe, of course, that the Russians have any intention of shooting down U.S. aircraft, of attacking the U.S., but it's a capability that is out there now that U.S. pilots are very aware of and will have to deal with -- Chris.

CUOMO: It's certainly a factor. They didn't want to add to the equation. While I have you, Barbara, can we discuss what we know now about this threat in Kabul? We're reporting on it yesterday. What's the latest?

STARR: About another 24 hours to go on that 48-hour window. The U.S. embassy warning Americans to be extremely careful. They believe in this 48-hour window, the threat of an imminent attack in Kabul somewhere. They don't know where. They believe it is a very credible and active plot.

U.S. military officials telling me they believe the Haqqani network may be behind it. This is a group of terrorists that have operated in that area for years. Very violent, very well-organized. They have been trying to attack Kabul, and they have succeeded many times in the past. So that just underscores the level of concern, at least for another 24 hours, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Barbara Starr, we know you'll stay on that for us. Appreciate it.

Alisyn, back to New York. Obviously, we're monitoring the security situation here, so far, so good. Sirens in the background are just part of the daily course here in Paris. CAMEROTA: Absolutely. OK, Chris. We'll get to some domestic

news, and then we'll get back to you.

On to politics. Donald Trump had an interesting rally in Georgia last night. The rally was notable for both what Trump talked about and what he left out. CNN's Athena Jones is live from Washington for us.

Athena, tell us about it.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

It seems like every week we're talking about Trump doubling down or tripling down on some controversial comment he's made. So it's interesting to note that he did not repeat his claims about celebrations on 9/11 last night. He did repeat his attacks on his rivals in both parties, and he predicted that soon more of them may be attacking him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[06:05:03] JONES (voice-over): For more than a week now, Donald Trump has claimed that he saw thousands of Muslims in America celebrating after the 9/11 attacks.

TRUMP: I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering -- thousands of people, believe me, because they saw it.

JONES: There is no evidence of such a scene, and on Monday night, Trump avoided rehashing his claims.

TRUMP: There's only one way you get to the top, and it's all through Trump. Let's face it.

JONES: Trump instead going after his opponents, attacking Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

TRUMP: She doesn't have the strength or the stamina to be president. She just didn't. She doesn't.

JONES: Attempting to ward off attacks from Republican rivals by anticipating their jabs.

TRUMP: Christie hasn't hit me yet. He will. He has to. He has no choice.

Cruz is going to have to hit me, because you know, he's a nice guy. He's been so supportive. Everything I've said he's supported. It's going to be a sad day, but we will hit back, I promise.

JONES: New Jersey governor and 2016 hopeful Chris Christie now joining the list of critics taking on Trump's 9/11 claims.

CHRISTIE: It's wrong. It's just wrong. It's factually wrong.

JONES: Earlier Monday, the candidate emerged from a closed-door meeting with black pastors in New York City.

TRUMP: I thought it was an amazing meeting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We asked questions, and the questions were answered. We were all satisfied with the answers.

JONES: Initially promoted as a sweeping endorsement from these religious leaders, Trump's camp was later forced to pull back that claim as several of the attendees clarified that they were just there to talk.

COUZENS: I'm not here to endorse Mr. Trump. It's very unfortunate the way he has talked to not just the African-American community but things he said about women and Mexicans and Muslims. It's very discouraging.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: It's noteworthy to see the Trump campaign to have to take a step back on this black pastors issue after several of them said they weren't planning to endorse. It's the first time I can think of that he's walked back something.

Trump will be in New Hampshire tonight. And we'll, of course, be watching closely to see what he has to say there -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Of course. Thanks so much for breaking all that down for us. So here with analysis this morning is our senior politics editor for "The Daily Beast," Jackie Kucinich and CNN senior political analyst and editorial director for "The National Journal," Ron Brownstein. Great to see you guys this morning.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: So before we get to what Trump said, let's talk about what Chris Christie said about Trump. You can never get too far away from Trump. We can only sort of talk about what other people are saying.

I mean, Chris Christie has probably gone farther. You heard a little snippet of your and Athena's piece about Trump's claims that these extremists were celebrating on 9/11. So listen to Jamie Gangel talk to Chris Christie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: You have avoided criticizing him, but he insists he's now doubled down and tripled down that he saw thousands of Muslims celebrating after 9/11 in Jersey City. Then he says from four miles away in his office he could see people jumping from the World Trade Center. Do you believe that either of those things happened?

CHRISTIE: No. All I know are the facts, you know, that what went on that day in New Jersey was not anything like what he said, and there's no film or video of it to prove it. He says he saw it on TV. It didn't happen.

GANGEL: Did it happen?

CHRISTIE: No.

GANGEL: Absolutely not?

CHRISTIE: No.

GANGEL: So why don't you call Donald Trump out on this? He's doubled down. He's tripled down.

CHRISTIE: What's the use? Everybody knows it didn't happen. Everybody knows it didn't happen. So what's the use?

GANGEL: Yes or no, is it outrageous that Donald Trump keeps saying these things?

CHRISTIE: It's wrong. It's just wrong. It's factually wrong. Everybody else can determine what they think is outrageous or not outrageous. In the context of Donald, outrageous is a high bar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Jackie, what do you think about everything Chris Christie just said there?

JACKIE KUCINICH, "THE DAILY BEAST": I mean, he's absolutely right on two points. You know, what Donald Trump says, it didn't happen, and outrageous is a very high bar for Donald Trump.

But yes, it's notable that Chris Christie came out a little bit further. Initially when he was asked about Trump and the situation, the alleged situation in Jersey City, he said, "I don't remember that. I don't remember that happening."

And it seems like Chris Christie, with union leader endorsement yesterday, has a little bit of the wind at his back. And he's a little bit more of the confident Christie that we're more used to seeing, you know, before the presidential race sort of took its toll early on.

CAMEROTA: Well, and Chris Christie said something interesting during that. She said, "Why don't you call him out?"

And he said, "Because what's the use? Everyone knows it didn't happen. So what's the use?"

But does everyone know it didn't happen? I mean, is he making the right sort of logic leap there?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No, I don't think he is. But I also think, you know, watch what I do, not what I say. I think that what you see Christie doing, to some extent, is what we've seen to a greater extent from John Kasich and Jeb Bush. Which is auditioning for the role of the one who will stand up to Trump for the part of the party that is most resist and to the him.

[06:10:03] As we've said before, I think the equation on Trump is more complicated than many people portray it as. Yes, the more outrageous he gets, the more he deepens his hole on his piece of the party, who feels that they are at an apocalyptic moment in the history of the country, where it's slipping away from them ideologically, demographically, and thus, the more outrageous he gets, the more he shows them he's willing to do whatever it takes to advance their cause.

On the other hand, I think the polling is very clear. There's a big chunk of the Republican Party, particularly among college-educated Republicans, who are much less enthusiastic about Trump, who are much more skeptical of everything that he stands for and the way he presents it. And I think that what we are seeing from Christie, who is definitely competing for those voters, is an understanding that one of the things that he needs to do in that lane is show that he's willing to stand up to some of Trump's more outrageous statements.

CUOMO: Well, Ron, I've got to tell you, you know, obviously, we're over here in Paris. And I want to ask you about the piece that you did about President Obama and what he's trying to achieve here on the climate, versus what he's able to get done politically at the state.

But I've got to tell you, this -- I don't get this situation. I don't get why the media keeps talking about it, you know, other than trying to prove the nonexistence of a fact, proving that something did not happen.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

CUOMO: I don't get what we're doing here. Anybody who thinks that that happened either saw it themselves and can't prove it or just are believing the mythology, because it suits their feelings about this community in general.

But I don't get why we keep stringing it out there, like it's a possibility. It's like bizarro world. So help me understand why the hell we're talking about it still, and then, please, get into the piece that you wrote about the politics abroad versus the politics at home for Obama and the climate.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Well, real quick, I think what, you know, Trump is demonstrating is, in the modern media era, particularly with the platform that he has, he can -- he has had the ability to kind of lead the media by the nose into -- into some of these cul-de-sacs that he creates with these -- with these assertions.

You know, the tweet about the share of white murder victims that are killed by African-American assailants that was wildly wrong. I mean, this is a pattern.

And by way, Chris, it is not a random pattern. Right? I mean, the misstatements are not just kind of all over the place. They tend to reconfirm firm as you suggest negative portrayals of different groups.

Real quick, I mean, these climate talks are pretty striking, in that a few years ago after Copenhagen, the international -- in 2009, the international process appeared dead. And now Obama is on the brink of an agreement that did not seem possible only a few years ago.

And really, the turning point was his willingness to act unilaterally with Environmental Protection Agency proposed rules to reduce our own carbon emissions in 2014. That precipitated an agreement with China, which had been the big stalemate before that, an agreement with China in November 2014 that then subsequently set off a cascade of other countries feeling they had to step to the plate once China and the U.S. agreed.

So what you've got is a situation where he has really broken what had been historically the biggest source of opposition, reluctance of the developing countries to act, and now probably the biggest resistance he faces is from the red states in the U.S. The House of Representatives voting, again, to block it. Almost all Republican- controlled states and the court suing to block it.

It is a striking kind of turn of events where the biggest source of resistance to international action on carbon is no longer countries like China. It is really kind of the red states in the U.S. that are opposed to it, both ideologically and for economic interest reasons.

CAMEROTA: Hey, Jackie, back here at home, real quick, let's talk about this pastors meeting.

CUOMO: I just asked him because that's the talk here.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Good. That's excellent.

CUOMO: I was just saying, Alisyn, I asked that question because that's the talk here, that they can't get a legally binding agreement, because Congress wouldn't pass it in the U.S., so how much teeth could it have?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Thank you. These darn satellites and the delay.

Jackie, about the pastors meeting, this is interesting. Because this is the first time in real time we get to watch -- watch Donald Trump's impression of something against the reality of what the pastors say.

KUCINICH: Yes. You really did see them have to backpedal. The Trump campaign got ahead of their skis. And when you have a group of pastors saying, "No, we're not going there to endorse." A couple of them dropped out at the last minute. Others said, "We've never endorsed anyone. Why would we be endorsing this guy?"

So really, they got caught. I don't know if it was a lie or if it was an exaggeration. But they got caught. And they had to pull them back, because they didn't have anyone backing them up at the end of the day.

CAMEROTA: OK, there you go. Jackie, Ron, Chris, we've covered a lot of ground. Thanks so much, guys. Great to see you.

We will have much more of Jamie Gangel's interview with Governor Chris Christie later this hour. Stick around for that.

PEREIRA: A few headlines for you now. Breaking news: a just- released report shows four rounds of technical problems and resulting actions by the pilots doomed AirAsia Flight 8501. Indonesian investigators say the plane's rudder control system malfunctioned repeatedly, causing that plane to go into a prolonged stall. The pilot then was not able to recover from it. That plane crashed into the Java Sea last year, killing all 162 aboard.

[06:15:05] CAMEROTA: The State Department releasing more e-mails written by Hillary Clinton. Among them, an exchange between Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, on the night of the deadly 2012 Benghazi attack. The former secretary of state telling her daughter, Chelsea, that an al Qaeda-like group was behind the assault. Republicans had blasted Clinton for putting out a public statement that same night, suggesting an inflammatory online video triggered the attack.

PEREIRA: Today, Chicago's mayor will announce a brand-new police accountability task force. This news comes as police officer Jason Van Dyke is released from jail after posting $150,000 bond. He is charged in the 2014 death of Laquan McDonald after dash cam video captured him shooting the black teenager 16 times.

Meanwhile, classes resumed today at the University of Chicago, now that a man suspected of threatening to kill students and staff is in custody. Jabari Dean allegedly took to social media, warning that he wanted to kill approximately 16 white males on campus, apparently in reaction and retaliation to the McDonald shooting.

CUOMO: All right. We're going to take a break here. When we come back, we'll be talking about what's happening here at the COP-21 in Paris. A lot of tricky politics. All countries are not equal. President Obama making a big push, but he has his own political problems at home when it comes to the climate. So what kind of deal can they make?

One of the key players here is a woman who's trying to make this deal happen. She works for the U.N. She's in charge of this climate deal, and she just spoke to CNN. Christiane Amanpour goes one-on-one with the head of the climate change bureau for the U.N. when NEW DAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:20:48] CUOMO: The Conference of Parties here in Paris for the 21st annual U.N. climate talks is going on. You've got 150 world leaders here, trying to make progress.

Now, the woman behind the scenes in charge of how the world handles global warming is U.N. climate change chief Christiana Figueres. She just talked with CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, who joins us now from the summit.

Big task in front of her. What did she have to say?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And this is really the culmination of her life's work. And she said that, unlike the previous climate summits, whether Kyoto or Copenhagen, which remains synonymous with fiasco, this one has really got top-down attention with all world leaders, who came right at the beginning. Many are still here. And she said this was her assessment of why this one would be different.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANA FIGUERES, U.N. CLIMATE CHIEF: Why are 183 countries from whom we already have national (ph) climate change plan, why are they doing this? Frankly, none of them are doing it to save the planet. Let us be very clear. They're doing it for what I think is a much more powerful political driving force, which is for the benefit of their own economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: And of course, we'll have lots more of that through the rest of day. But she also said and she admitted that one of the chief obstacles would be the so-called least-developed countries, led by India, who say, frankly, that "you all had your chance. We are not to blame. You had your industrial revolution. Why should we be hampered now when we need to burn coal to fire our economy?"

So that's going to be, you know, one of the biggest sort of stumbling blocks, how they manage to get around that in the next two weeks and beyond, Chris.

CUOMO: Christiane, what's her take on how, on the one hand, you have President Obama here as a big booster for the cause, and back home he faces such stiff political opposition about whether or not warming even exists?

AMANPOUR: Well, obviously, everybody is taking a lot of heart from the latest poll that's been published, I believe, in "The New York Times." Two-thirds of the American people say they want a climate deal.

So a lot of people are taking hope, not just from the American people but people all over the world, whether in China and wherever, who really know on a day-to-day basis what climate change is doing this their environment.

Beyond that, politically, she said that this climate change agreement will be legally binding. And I know this is a controversy right now, but they are working towards that in whatever way, shape or political form is possible.

So they're working towards that, given the obvious, you know, obstructions or obstacles in various capitals like the United States. But they hope by the end of this two weeks and beyond, while all these negotiations continue, that they will get something that is more or less legally binding by all parties.

CUOMO: More or less in quotes. We got a little sample of the emotion surrounding these talks behind you. What's going on with the chanting?

AMANPOUR: Do you know what? I was talking to you, so I don't really know. And I've just turned my head, and I don't see them anymore.

But obviously, this is a place where, you know, protesters for the climate and various activists have already joined in, as well. And philanthropists and entrepreneurs and business people. There are a lot of side meetings as well as the negotiations.

And also today, President Obama will be meeting with the Pacific Islands Group, because those are governments and people who really face rising seas and obliteration of their habitat.

So it's all very, very intense here, because people can see that this climate that we live in is making and already having life and death effects on them, wherever they might be.

CUOMO: Well, thank you very much to introducing us to one of the players here, obviously Figueres in charge of the U.N. global climate planning.

Yesterday you took us to Bill Gates, who is key to this public/private partnership of the Change Through Innovation. And please join me later on in the show. Because when President Obama gives his press conference, let's digest what he says the headlines are from the talks. Thank you, Christiane Amanpour. Back to you in New York.

[06:25:18] PEREIRA: We appreciate the Chris and Christiane tag team effort there in Paris, Chris. We'll be back with you in a moment.

The gunman who allegedly opened fire inside a Colorado Planned Parenthood is in court for the first time. What the judge told him about his fate. We'll have that next in a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: The accused Planned Parenthood shooter made his first court appearance Monday, though he won't be formally charged until next week. Robert Dear is facing a first-degree murder charge. If found guilty, it could carry the death penalty.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is live in Colorado Springs this morning with the very latest for us.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

As he appeared in court yesterday, Robert Lewis Dear showing up in a padded vest. And at some points looking groggy with his eyes closed as he listened to what his fate might be. On the minimum side, he's facing life in prison, and on the

maximum side, as you said, he is looking at the death sentence here.

Now, the formal charges will be filed on December 9, when Dear has his next hearing. He is being held without bond. But we are learning more about his past, his interactions with law enforcement.