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EARLY START

CNN Republican Presidential Candidate Debate; Kerry in Moscow to Meet with Putin; Obama Visits Pentagon. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 15, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:15] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: In just hours, Republicans running for president face-off on the CNN debate stage. Will Donald Trump be able to hold on to his frontrunner status or will those climbing in the polls behind him get their breakthrough moments?

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. I'm here in the studio in New York.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Berman in Last Vegas, inside the Venetian Theater, the site of tonight's CNN Republican debate. It is Tuesday, December 15th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.

And tonight is the night. Behind me is the stage. Nine Republican presidential candidates will walk on that main stage amid high, high drama. Donald Trump will be center stage. He is first in the polls. Beside him Ben Carson and Ted Cruz. Also up there, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie, and John Kasich and Rand Paul.

As I just said, Donald Trump out in front, way out in front in fact in national polls. The CNN poll of polls, that's all of the polls matched together, show him with 33 percent.

New challengers are emerging. Ted Cruz is now in second place in the poll of polls. Marco Rubio in third.

Trump ahead by double digits in most national polling, including this one from Monmouth University has Trump at 41 percent -- 41 percent, 27 points ahead of Ted Cruz.

This was just one of many things that Trump was bragging about at a raucous rally here in Las Vegas overnight.

CNN's Sara Murray brings us the latest on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, John.

Just hours before the CNN debate, campaigning here in Las Vegas, Nevada, last night, Donald Trump approached Ted Cruz with kid gloves. But he could not help but mention a Monmouth University poll has him ahead, hitting 41 percent to Ted Cruz's 14 percent. DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I heard today when they announced the poll, 41 to 14. And I like Cruz, good guy, but I heard, here is how they announced. Cruz surging.

(BOOS)

So what I heard is, this was on television, Cruz surging. I said, oh, I don't know, that sounds bad to me. Coming up, Cruz surging.

Then they say the Monmouth poll was just done. Cruz is surging, Trump 41. Cruz, 14. I said, wait a minute, what's going on?

MURRAY: Now, even though there have been sharper elbows between Trump and Cruz, lately, Trump brought none of that last night, even calling Cruz a good guy. We will have to see if that carries over to the debate stage tonight, though. Donald Trump was not sticking his head in the sand. He said he fully expects his competitors to come after him.

TRUMP: So, we are watching television before and we're hearing all these announcers saying, well, who's going to take on Trump tonight. Who will hit him hard? I would say, bring them on, who cares?

But I would say it won't be an easy -- this will not be like an evening in paradise for me. Do we agree?

MURRAY: After a speech that went on for nearly an hour and interrupted by protests in which Trump tried to cast himself as the toughest on national security. That's how he left it, with a crowd of cheering fans waiting to see him on the debate stage tonight.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTA-PE(

BERMAN: Sara Murray for us inside a loud rally here in Las Vegas overnight.

Donald Trump has been the frontrunner and center stage for each Republican debate. Tonight, he has a new next door neighbor. That is Senator Ted Cruz from Texas.

The CNN poll of polls from Iowa shows Ted Cruz actually leading Donald Trump by two points there. In New Hampshire, Trump is out in front. In second place in New Hampshire, poll of polls is Marco Rubio.

So Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, though, they have their own problems, namely each other. Two young senators, sons of Cuban immigrants. Will they get in a boxing match on the stage? Will Trump stands back to watch?

CNN's Jeff Zeleny in Las Vegas with us with more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John, of all the things to watch the debate tonight, one of them is Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. The two freshmen senators going head-to-head on a variety votes on substantive matters. For all of the bluster in this campaign, we are going to hear a reassessment of the voting record of both of these candidates.

Senator Rubio was trying to take on Senator Cruz, saying he's not tough enough on national security. He's not tough enough on surveillance programs. He'll be calling his votes into question.

Now, at the same time, Senator Cruz is going to be challenging Marco Rubio on his immigration votes. But it is these two Republican senators, one from Texas, one from Florida, that really are the future of the party.

[04:05:02] And that's what Marco Rubio talked about last night here in Las Vegas.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is our turn. The time for us to act is now from what we have before us is the opportunity to be the authors of the most extraordinary chapter in the most amazing story of America.

ZELENY: And that bit of biography is something Marco Rubio offers again and again. He calls himself the next generation of Republican leaders. He believes he is the person that usher in a new era for this party.

But Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are about the same age, in their early 40s. Donald Trump is some 25 years older than them. He, of course, will say they are not experienced enough to be president. But if Republicans are looking for a way forward, a new generation, a new path, Marco Rubio says he is that type of candidate.

So, for all of the dynamics to watch on stage tonight, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are certainly among the top -- John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Thanks to Jeff Zeleny for that.

What about Chris Christie? He has seen a bump in some New Hampshire polls, enough to put him on the main stage. He had a brief detour on the undercard debate the last time around. Christie picked up an important endorsement in New Hampshire, a VFW, the local head of the former VFW in New Hampshire just endorsed him.

Jeb Bush was in Las Vegas early, with a new attack on Donald Trump. He sat down with the editorial board of "The Review Journal" newspaper. Bush said that Trump exploits voter disgust with Washington for his own political advantage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is not a serious person. He is a masterful politician. He, as I described it, he uses dog whistle language to divide the country. I cannot imagine Donald Trump becoming president because he would never win. He would never win. Hillary Clinton would clean him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. That was Jeb Bush.

Another candidate on the stage looking for a big night, Carly Fiorina. She has a couple of events here in Nevada tomorrow. Then, she heads off for a swing through Iowa this weekend. This is going to be the eighth weekend in a row she has campaigned in Iowa. Fiorina is right now polling about 2 percent in the Hawkeye State.

The action begins here at 6:00 p.m. Eastern inside the Venetian Theater. That is the undercard debate, followed in 8:30 Eastern, the main stage, the nine leading candidates only here on CNN. What a night it will be.

That, of course, the Republican side of the race. Hillary Clinton running for the Democratic nomination. She is slamming her top Republican rivals for a lot of things. One of them, their positions on immigration. The Democratic frontrunner talked about Marco Rubio in a speech to a national immigration conference, describing his views as extreme and out of step, she says, with most Americans.

She also blasted Donald Trump without mentioning his name.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They promised if elected to round up and deport millions of people, build a mammoth wall, militarized the border, tear families apart. And after the terrorist shootings in San Bernardino and at a time when a lot of Americans are fearful about future attacks here at home, some candidates are even stoking those fears more and turning people against Muslim-Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Clinton says she favors a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. She is calling for health care access for all immigrant families regardless of legal status.

You know, Christine, we say this is the last Republican debate of 2015. It's crucial for that reason. But perhaps even more crucial, it's the first debate since the attacks in Paris, the first debate since the attacks in San Bernardino.

And the focus tonight with Wolf Blitzer as the moderator will be national security.

ROMANS: Who is the candidate there who can keep America safe? Who has the real policies and priorities that is not just sloganeering, but really is going to keep America safe? That will be the key focus.

And we know from all of these polls, John, that that's what people want to know. When you look at the percentage of Americans who are concerned about an ISIS style attack in the United States who are concerned about ISIS in general, those numbers have been going up, up, up.

BERMAN: Yes, and again, in all of these polls the last week taken after Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States, he has actually gone up in the national polls. He is rated highly by Republican primary voters on just those attributes you were talking about.

ROMANS: All right, John. We're going to get back to you in just a second.

There's a lot going on at this early or late hour. I can never tell this time in the morning what time it is in Vegas. Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Both.

ROMANS: Right, exactly.

All right. President Obama trying to reassure Americans in the battle against ISIS what he says is working and what he still wants to see done, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:13:32] ROMANS: Secretary of State John Kerry in Moscow this morning trying to reach agreement on a plan to end the civil war in Syria. Kerry sitting down with his counterparts, Sergey Lavrov earlier this morning. He meets with President Putin in five hours from now.

Now, the situation in Syria not the only time on Kerry's agenda. Russia's military incursion in Ukraine also on the table.

I want to go to Moscow and bring in Jill Dougherty of the International Center for Defense and Security.

Jill, an important meeting, the optics very interesting here, the handshake, the sitting down, the talking to each other. He'll meet -- Kerry will meet with Putin today.

Where are they finding common ground here?

JILL DOUGHERTY, INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR DEFENSE AND SECURITY: Well, I think one thing you can say is Secretary Kerry found at the top common ground by they both agree that they will not negotiate with ISIS. That, of course, is the easy part.

The real detail is, how do you get to some type of political transition in Syria? Because that's what they are pushing for both sides. It is the details that are very, very complex. You just have to mention, they agree that there will be a transition that would rewrite the Constitution, have a ceasefire, go to elections, et cetera.

But it's really defining who participates in this, Christine, because one of the key issues is the opposition. You know, the people on the ground who are fighting. Who comes in? Who can sit at the table with some type of governmental representation?

[04:15:04] These are the complexities. And it's really a lot to talk about. And the main act, of course, will be later today when Secretary Kerry sits down with President Putin.

ROMANS: Many subjects talking about Syria. I mean, so many intricate differences with the countries. And then you talk about Ukraine. Do you think there's any potential for moving forward on the Ukraine issue? I mean, these countries, these leaders have seen starkly different realities, of United States and Russia on the situation in Ukraine.

DOUGHERTY: They have. That situation, although they will discuss it, has been on the sideline, kind of frozen into position. And one of the problems right now is the disarray in the Ukrainian government and economic problems. I mean, they did get more money from the international bodies, but really, there's a lot of problems right now in Ukraine and that is one thing they will have to discuss.

But I think Syria, the push right now is for to get as much decided before meeting on Friday in New York at the United Nations where they really want to go through and try to push forward on some type of transition.

ROMANS: All right. Jill Dougherty for us this morning in Moscow, thank you, Jill. Nice to see you this morning. And keep us up to date on any developments.

President Obama calling on America's allies in the Middle East to do more in the war against ISIS. White House insiders say the president is growing increasingly frustrated with countries like Saudi Arabia. He wants the Saudis to help him form an Arab coalition of ground forces to fight the terrorists in Syria and Iraq.

We get more this morning from CNN's senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta -- Jim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, with the public growing action about his plan to destroy ISIS, President Obama stopped by the Pentagon where he offered up a commander in chief image with some wartime rhetoric to match. The president met with nearly every member of his national security team for a deep dive into the military campaign to defeat ISIS.

So far, Mr. Obama said the U.S.-led coalition delivered 9,000 airstrikes against ISIS, targeting its oil infrastructure and forcing the terror army to give up 40 percent of its territory. While the president acknowledged progress is not coming fast enough, he did sharpen his message on ISIS, warning leaders of the group they will be destroyed.

Here's what he had to say.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are hitting ISIL harder than ever. The point is ISIL leaders cannot hide and our next message to them is simple -- you are next.

ACOSTA: Another part of the White House approach is tolerance, something senior advisors preached on the conference call with Muslim and other religious leaders, in response in part to Donald Trump who has blasted the president for not condemning radical Islamic extremists. The president will stay on that theme of tolerance when he attends a ceremony to naturalized new U.S. citizens here in Washington later today and he will return to that sales pitch on ISIS later in the week when he visits the nation's counterterrorism center on Thursday -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Jim Acosta at the White House -- thanks, Jim.

A Maryland man arrested by the FBI for allegedly taking thousands of dollars from ISIS operatives overseas to fund a terror attack here in the U.S. Authorities say 30-year-old Mohamed Elshinawy received at least $8,700 from several militant overseas backers. He was arrested Friday after a five-month FBI surveillance operation. Agents did not uncover specific plans for an attack by the suspect, but they consider the case significant because of his terror contacts.

New details about critical clues missed by law enforcement in the case of San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik. Authorities say Malik sent at least two private Facebook messages to friends in Pakistan in 2012 and 2014 expressing her support for Islamic jihad. She hoped to join the fight as a jihadist. On the day of the San Bernardino massacre, Malik and her husband declared their allegiance to ISIS on Facebook.

Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl will face a court martial. He is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. He could be sentenced to life in prison. Bergdahl spent five years in captivity until the Obama brought him home in this controversial prison swap for five Taliban inmates who are being held at Guantanamo. Bergdahl's attorneys claim their client was suffering from a mental defect when he walked away from his outpost.

Nineteen minutes past the hour, time for an early start on your money. Asian stocks fell overnight. European and U.S. stock futures higher.

Three big stories in markets today. The big show later this morning, Janet Yellen and Fed officials, they sit down for their two-day meeting, widely expected to finish with an interest rate hike, the first in the decade. In credit market, a debate raises whether there's a crisis in junk bonds and whether that will spread to the overall credit market.

The third story this morning, a short lived oil rebound overnight. It gave stocks a boost in Europe. Oil, as you know, is in the bear market. Look at that chart, close to levels not seen since the financial crisis.

[04:20:02] What's causing the drop? A supply boom, weakening global and most recently, concerns about a surge in Iranian oil production as soon as next month. Oil's plunge hurts oil companies, it destabilizes oil producing countries, but look at this -- great for drivers. Drivers are paying $2.01 a gallon. Lowest national average since 2009. The national average could dip below $2 any day now.

All right. The CNN debate stage, the stage is set. This is what it looks like. This could be most important debate for Republicans yet. Why presidential candidates looking for a breakout moment could be running out of time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: That is the stage. It is right behind me. This is where in just 13 1/2 hours, Republican candidates, they will march on debating each other in the final Republican presidential debate of 2015.

It is a beautiful hall. The Venetian Theater here at the Venetian Las Vegas. The biggest showdown in this room could be between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Donald Trump out in front nationally. Ted Cruz running in second place.

But in Iowa, they are virtually tied. Iowa, of course, the first voting state. But what happens after that?

CNN's Tom Foreman runs through the schedule.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[04:25:00] TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's look at the early states. They all go off in February and they're votes divided proportionately based on the candidates. It's not winner take all.

Iowa is first there. We have been talking about it. How Trump and Cruz are virtually tied. They would split those 27 delegates almost evenly if the vote happened today and if the polls are right.

In New Hampshire, Trump has a bigger lead. But now, look who's in second, it's Chris Christie and Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

Bring it down to South Carolina, where you have 50 delegates in play, and there, Trump has a big lead. But now, it's Ben Carson, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

And over here in Nevada, another equation all together. Here, it is Donald Trump out front. Second place is Ben Carson.

So, you can see the challenge in the debate. These candidates for the first rush have to try to knock Donald Trump down. But if they can't do that, somebody needs to emerge as a strong second contender, or the race could be over pretty fast, because once you get past the first rush in February, look what happens in March.

Now, you have 13 states in one day, with hundreds of delegates in play. We don't have great polling out here to know how the candidates are all doing. But we do know that in many of these states, Donald Trump's agenda plays very, very well.

So, again, that's why this debate matters so very much, because it is the last face-to-face chance these other candidates have to stop his momentum if they want to keep this race alive and not have it over really fast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Thanks to Tom Foreman for that. Just one of the reasons this debate here in the room tonight is so important. There are new polls out this morning shaking things up. Who is gaining traction? Who is falling fast? What does it mean when the nine candidates face-off on the main stage?

It all begins here tonight. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)