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CNN NEWSROOM

Pope Calls on Catholics to Take Refugees; Honoring Slain Illinois Police Officer; High School Football Players Tackle Ref; Biden Attends Labor Day Parade Rally; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired September 7, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[10:00:32] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, Picnic? Nah. The president celebrates Labor Day by signing an executive order forcing employers to pay for sick leave. Hundreds of thousands of workers affected. Will Republicans respond?

Also, thousands of migrants flooding in but Germany and Austria say they can't keep taking them in such high numbers. This is as the Pope pressures Catholics to open their doors.

And talk about a tackle. A ref level during a high school football game. Was it on purpose?

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

A long simmering migrant crisis in Europe forcing EU nations to scramble as they deal with a seemingly endless wave of men, women, and children desperate to find shelter and a better life. More than 17,000 people poured into Germany just this weekend, and another 10,000 are expected to arrive today. Many are refugees fleeing serious bloody civil war. Others are coming from places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

And elected officials are far from united about what to do with them. France just announcing plans to take in 24,000 more refugees. Germany is now warning that it cannot keep taking in asylum seekers at its current base. And Austria is now tightening security measures at its borders. And that's where CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen is right now.

Hi, Fred, tell us more.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. And certainly we've seen today that the flood of refugees coming in here to the Vienna train station is by no means letting up. If we pan over there, we can see that area back there is filling up once again. That's the area here on the train station of Vienna that's been designated for trains going to Germany because this is a main focal point here of the refugee crisis, this very train station where I'm at.

What happens is that many of the refugees, they cross into Austria via Hungary and then they take trains from their border here to Vienna in the hopes of then catching a train to Germany. Their first destination there is Munich, but, of course, most of them say they don't want to apply for asylum here in Austria. They want to go on to Germany.

And you're absolutely right. Countries like Germany and Austria have said that they are more than willing to take in refugees right now but they do say in the long run they are going to need help dealing with this, and that's really the big problem here in Europe right now, Carol. Because on the one hand you have countries like Germany and Austria that are treating this like a humanitarian problem but you also have other countries like, for instance, Hungary that see this as much more of a border control issue.

The Hungarian prime minister, for instance, recently said he believes most of these people are economic migrants which is certainly not something that we're seeing here. Of course, many of them coming from Syria, from Iraq, from Afghanistan. So certainly fleeing war in their countries there. It really is something that's very divisive within Europe, but we also see, Carol, and we have to say it again and again, we see civil society stepping up.

There's so many volunteers here at the train station bringing in food, bringing in drinks, bringing in toys for children, but especially important, bringing some of their time to spend with these refugees to make them feel welcome here in Europe -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Frederik Pleitgen reporting live.

Of course Pope Francis would certainly admire those people for their giving nature because he is now calling on Catholics all across Europe to show mercy and offer shelters to these migrants.

CNN's faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher live in Rome with more. Hi, Delia.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH AND VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol. That's right. Pope Francis said yesterday that he's going to start in the Vatican. His own two parishes, one of which is St. Peter's Basilica, the other is a small church called St. Ann's just inside the gates of the Vatican. He says each of those parishes is going to host one family.

And I spoke yesterday with the papal spokesman, Father Lombardi, who said they might not necessarily stay inside the Vatican, these families, but they could be hosted by families who attend mass at these parishes because he said the Pope's request was for people to open their doors, even people in parish communities, and not just the priest and the parishes and the religious institutions.

That being said there are some 120,000 parishes in Europe, that's not even counting the monasteries and convents and other religious institutions. So if all of them heeded the Pope's appeal that would be some extra places for these refugees.

[10:05:03] We should also say, Carol, that much of this has also been under way in some cities around Europe. In Milan, for example, the archbishop there has already set aside 900 places for refugees in Vienna, another 1,000 places for refugees. We expect, of course, as the Pope's message begins to be heard and the diocese start to work on their plans, those numbers will increase.

The Vatican says there's no specific plan for implementation. They're free to adhere or not, but, of course, their hope is that Catholic institutions across Europe will heed the Pope's call, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Delia Gallagher reporting live from Rome.

The Pope is certainly umpping up the pressure when it comes to how the world including the United States treats migrants. And of course the Pope speaks Spanish, you could call Pope Francis the anti-Trump. In a few weeks Pope Francis will speak before a joint session of Congress and don't think he will not bring up immigration reform because he certainly will.

CNN religious commentator Father Edward Beck joins me now to talk about that.

So I don't think the Pope will specifically bring up legislation, but he will say something about immigration to our lawmakers here in the United States. What might that be?

FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGIOUS COMMENTATOR: Well, what he said yesterday at the Vatican about this refugee crisis is you can't tell someone have courage, hang in there, and not do anything to meet their needs. That's why he's calling on these parishes to actually take in refugees. So what he's saying I think is you can't spiritualize all of this. You know, in the "Letter of James," it says you can't see someone hungry and say, well, keep warm and well fed, and not meet their bodily needs.

So he's talking about practical association with faith and action. So I think when he comes here, he's going to say, what are you willing to do with the immigrants you have? Are you willing to give them path to citizenship? And what are you going to do to even allow more immigrants to come in? We've become very xenophobic, I think, in our country, some of it with good cause because of the issues that we've had.

I mean, remember, the Boston bombers were refugees from Russia. So there needs to be a vetting of refugees, of immigrants. The Pope would be on board with that, but he's going to say what is your Christian perspective with actually doing something practical?

COSTELLO: OK. So he's -- and it's interesting the way he'll get that point across or push his point upon those lawmakers because he probably won't stand before the joint session of Congress and say, you know, building a wall is wrong, even though he may think that, but he is going to meet with immigrants here in the United States, including undocumented immigrants, and I'm sure he means that to send a message. BECK: Definitely. I don't know that kind of conference call that he

had with ABC News not too long ago, and he spoke directly to those immigrants. You can see the empathy that he had, that we need to do something. So he's going to be talking to real people when he comes as he always does, and he's going to say, look, you deserve housing. You deserve safety. You deserve all the things that we have to offer you. How can we help give that to you? So this is going to be, again, a practical conversation between these people.

COSTELLO: But I think some Americans might take that as the Pope scolding them because Americans see themselves as very generous people and most Americans are.

BECK: I know, but what the Pope will scold is unbridled capitalism that says it's all about you. Remember, the gospel is really less capitalism, a little bit more socialist. It says if somebody has two coats and you meet somebody who only has no coat or has no coat, you have to give them one of your coats. Now that's not really according to our ethos and our perspective, I don't think. You say well, you've got to work for your own coat but you don't ask, why don't you have a coat? You first meet the need.

And so the Pope is going to say how do you meet this need? That's what he's calling on parishes to do right now with the refugees. He's going to challenge I think the unbridled capitalism in the United States.

COSTELLO: That, too, will not make many people happy in the United States. So it will be an interesting visit, right?

BECK: I think it will.

COSTELLO: Father Beck, thank you so much.

BECK: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a small town mourns an enormous loss as thousands gather for a memorial service for a slain police officer. We'll take you there next.

[09:09:10]

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COSTELLO: Police in Las Vegas are on high alert today after two officers were ambushed on Sunday. The officers were in their patrol car stopped at a traffic light. That's when they say a man with a semiautomatic gun walked up and opened fire hitting one of the officers in the hand. The other was able to chase down the suspect and take him into custody.

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UNDERSHERIFF KEVIN MCMAHILL, LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE: That false narrative that's being spread across this country in war on police is exactly that. It's false. These officers go out day in and day out to make a difference in this community and there's dozens and dozens of examples every single month where they do just that.

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COSTELLO: The wounded officer is in good condition. He was the second officer, though, shot in Las Vegas over the weekend.

A very touching scene in Fox Lake, Illinois. Two firefighters unfurl a massive American flag in honor of Lieutenant Joe Gliniewicz who was shot and killed while on patrol last week. Below them thousands gather to mourn his death. A memorial service now under way at a local high school. The funeral service will begin in just a few hours.

Ryan Young is live in Antioch, Illinois, where that funeral will be held.

Good morning, Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Visitation started about an hour ago, and you can look at all the line of police cars that are now here. I can tell you more than 1,000 patrol cars are expected to be here, but what we've really noticed is the impact that it's having on this community. The idea that all these American flags are lining parts of the route, and we also know they're tying blue ribbons to the trees and showing that line of support.

Now something that you talked about, that massive American flag that sort of stands at the top of this where the procession will start. We know for a fact that people are coming from around the area to make sure they're here in this community.

Now this is a high school that he attended, so you can understand the outpouring that people have actually shown up early and are on the sidewalk with signs in support of blue lives. We hear that over and over. That people wanted to be here to show their support for this police department.

[10:15:09] When you think about this officer, though, the idea that he's a father of four and been married for some over 20 years, you can understand why people wanted to come out here today and show their respects to this man who served so long in this community.

Talking to them about the investigation today because we talked to a detective, he says he'll have more information tomorrow but right now people are focusing on the honor of this fallen officer.

COSTELLO: Ryan, last hour you showed us a map of the funeral route. Can you show us that again? Because it's quite impressive.

YOUNG: Say that one more time for me?

COSTELLO: The map of the funeral route you showed us last hour. It was interesting, it was impressive how many are participating.

YOUNG: Yes. Well, we're told a thousand officers will be involved in it. In fact, I left that map inside our sat truck but this will go on for some 10 miles. In fact, my producer is running it out to me right now, Carol, so I can show this to you. One of the things here is you can see how long this will be. And we've talked to several people who have been out on the streets and what they have done is they've actually decorated parts of this route to make sure that family members or anyone who's come to pay respects to this fallen officer has a chance to say what they wanted to toward him.

In fact, we've been told 400 people on motorcycles have also just arrived in the last half hour. So you can understand especially in this community of Fox Lake, they really want to make sure the world understands that they want to remember Lieutenant Gliniewicz who is known as GI Joe here.

COSTELLO: Ryan Young, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

While Lieutenant Gliniewicz's fellow officers mourn, hundreds of others are following thousands of leads in the search for his killers.

To focus on the investigation and more, I want to bring in CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes.

Tom, before we get into the investigation, just talk a little bit about this impressive show, you know, of support for this -- this lieutenant's family, for the community, for police officers across the nation.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Carol, my heart goes out to the family and friends of Officer Gliniewicz, his department, Fox Lake Police, you know, the greater law enforcement community in northern Illinois and throughout the country. I have been in so many, dozens, of these police funeral processions over the years, and they're always heartbreaking to hear the bagpipes, to hear the 21 gun salute at the cemetery.

All of this is just horrible for police officers, for the family, for everybody to go through, and it's just a sad occasion that this has to happen, but it happens every day almost.

COSTELLO: And police officers are coming from all across the nation. Why is it important especially now that they show this support for one another?

FUENTES: Well, I think it's actually always been important, but I think now that we've had a media narrative that somehow police officers, especially white police officers, are racist and don't serve their community, you know, and I think that it's important for the officers throughout the country to show that that's not really true. Yes, there are a few bad officers. Yes, they should be held accountable, but it's not the majority and it's not the mindset of the just 99.999 percent of police officers that are out there.

COSTELLO: OK. Now to the investigation, because police keep saying that they have this other videotape that shows something, something important, but they're not sharing this information. They also say they have thousands of leads, but they won't quite share what those leads are, any of them. Why is that? FUENTES: Well, often police departments will want to hold back

information that only the actual killer or killers would know because they will get many people call in, many of the false leads are actually false confessions. I did it, I want to be famous. I'm confessing now, and they have to weed that out. So only information that the killers would know will be, you know, something to separate somebody from a false claim.

But as far as the leads about the descriptive data, what they look like, what were they wearing, did it looked like they were tall, short, wearing long pants, short pants, baseball hats, maybe a work jacket of some kind. All those kind of description, they've had various videos now almost a week and have not put out any additional descriptive information other than what the officer put out on the radio as he was chasing them.

So I find that a little bit -- no, I find that a lot hard to believe, that that would happen, that they wouldn't give out more, and, again, we expect so much of our police officers. We expect them to have the integrity and the character and be able to wrestle subjects when they wrestle them or defend themselves.

Now we're calling on police officers to be psychic. We're talking about them to guess what these three might look like six days into the investigation, and I think it's a little bit -- I don't know. I question it a lot as to why they haven't been able to put out more

from what they saw on those videos and just say, these are persons of interest. They may not be involved but we'd like to talk to them.

[10:20:09] We'd like to eliminate them as suspects. We'd like to gather as much information, and the fact that individuals were out there and seen on video. They might have seen something else. They might have seen something suspicious, and it would be good to talk to them if they can be identified and located.

COSTELLO: It's just curious because this is such a small community, and I find it unusual that nobody really knows anything.

FUENTES: Well, Fox Lake itself is small and it's part -- it's in an area of many small communities with a lot of lakes and they're all connected together so they're called the chain of lakes. But it's in the Chicago greater metropolitan area, so you're talking northern Illinois, northeast Illinois, with an area of, you know, maybe four million people going up to the Wisconsin border. It's very close to Wisconsin and toward the Milwaukee greater metro area.

So you do have a couple of large population centers, both centers have many people that go to Fox Lake and the surrounding towns on weekends. They have boats docked there. They go fishing, boating, water skiing, camping. So there's a lot of outdoor recreation, particularly in the summertime as would have been, and I heard from friends in northern Illinois that there were very few visitors this past weekend, over the Labor Day weekend, compared to what would be normal for people to come up there and enjoy the outdoors.

COSTELLO: Well, that's a shame. Tom Fuentes, thanks for your insight as usual. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, why did two Texas high school football players tackle a referee instead of, you know, an opposing player? We'll talk about that.

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[10:25:56] COSTELLO: Two Texas high school football players are now suspended from the team and their school after seemingly intentionally -- actually there's nothing seeming about it, they intentionally and brutally tackled a referee from behind. You can see it in the video.

CNN's Coy Wire joins me now with more. Good morning.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Good morning, Carol. I have never seen anything like this in my 25 years of competitive football. Both of these students were defensive players on the John Jay High School team in San Antonio. And according to the Associated Press two players from the same team were ejected earlier in the game including their star quarterback, and there was a controversial call earlier in the game by that official as well.

Here is the video. You'll see a player come from the top of the screen to blind side the official, violently knocking him down. Then his teammate dives into him while he's lying on the ground. Here is another angle. The school district says it won't tolerate this kind of behavior and that it's investigating the incident. There's no word on whether or not the official suffered any injuries.

Disturbing video for sure. Even the NFL's Head of Officials, Dean Blandino, has taken notice. Yesterday he tweeted a link to the video of the incident saying, quote, "Very disturbing. Officials allow kids to play games they love and help keep them safe. No one deserves this," end quote.

Now the comments are flying fast and furious all over social media. A lot of people want these players to be charged with assault and battery. On the other end of the spectrum, we have people who want the kids to learn from their mistakes while keeping the law out of it.

The school district's official investigation starts tomorrow after Labor Day break. We'll see where it goes from here and keep you informed -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So what does the coach say?

WIRE: The coach -- the only quote that we've really seen from the coach is that he said it's unfair to put something on the entire team, that this is reflective upon the entire team. He apologized to the opposing coach, not much more from him.

Now the head of the official -- Austin Officials Coach Association, Wayne Elliott, has said the first thing that they want is to ensure that these two kids never play football again. Strong words there, indeed, and he also told the AP that the official is very upset and wants to press charges -- Carol. COSTELLO: OK. So, you know, this is just a high school football

game. You're a former football player. Why is this story so important and why is it resonating so much?

WIRE: Well, I think right now in a culture -- you know, we're seeing a lot of brutality and unnecessary actions by youth, OK? And this is yet another thing, something that we have never seen before, at least in my memory, in talking with all the producers in the sports room. We've never seen anything like this in the sport of football. This is no accident. This was intentional. Disturbing. And we'll see how this plays out in the end -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Coy Wire, many thanks to you. I appreciate it.

WIRE: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me this Labor Day.

The race for the White House is heating up. Today Democrats and Republicans vying for the country's highest office are hitting the campaign trail in full force. All of this as a new poll shows Bernie Sanders surging ahead of Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire. He's also picking up sizable gains in Iowa.

Plus, is he in or out? It's the question everybody is asking about Vice President Joe Biden who spoke to a group of union members this morning.

So let's talk about that and more. Let's bring in CNN senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar, she's live this morning in Pittsburgh where Biden spoke at a Labor Day parade rally.

Good morning.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: He did, Carol, and actually the Labor Day parade here in Pittsburgh just getting under way behind me as we speak. But Joe Biden really kicked this off, and we saw a very fired up vice president. He was really laying out a populist message and, of course, people are taking notice. There's all this speculation about whether he will run or if he's not going to.

He talked about community college being free. He railed against trust fund babies, his words, and he talked about eliminating tax cuts for the wealthy in order to pay for community college for middle class Americans.