Donald Trump to Rule Out Third Party Run?; Will Biden Run?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Will Donald Trump rule out a third party bid for president? Agreeing to drop out of the race if he is defeated in the Republican primary? A meeting with party leaders this morning. What we're learning, ahead.</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Joe Biden fueling new speculation that he could enter the presidential race.</s>ROMANS: And investigators following new leads this morning, new leads in their search for three men suspected of killing an Illinois police officer. Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.</s>BERMAN: Very nice to see you. I'm John Berman. It is Thursday, September 3rd, 4:00 a.m. in the East. Big news in the Republican primary race and big moment for Donald Trump here in New York City today. The GOP frontrunner and all the Republican candidates are being asked to sign a loyalty pledge, vowing unconditional support for the eventual nominee while ruling out an independent or third party run. This is a pledge that Trump has rejected in the past. But today, he will meet with Reince Priebus here in New York. Sources tell CNN all signs indicate Trump will sign the document. What we do know is that Trump will hold a news conference this afternoon, at 2:00 p.m. Promise it would be exciting. Can I make one point here?</s>ROMANS: Yes?</s>BERMAN: This is not enforceable. He can sign the pledge and then go back on it later on. So, this sort of thing is a non-troversy for Donald Trump.</s>ROMANS: A non-troversy. I have a question: is this normal during a Republican primary season that you have the party asking everyone to sign an oath?</s>BERMAN: The national party, yes, across the board. Some state parties, South Carolina, you sign that kind of pledge to get your name on the ballot. But again, there is no way to enforce it. So --</s>ROMANS: Non-troversy.</s>BERMAN: Exactly.</s>ROMANS: I like that word. Thanks, Berman. Meanwhile, Trump and his Republican rival Jeb Bush are escalating their feud. And it's getting personal. Trump telling Breitbart News, excuse me, "I like Jeb. He's a nice man. But he should set the example by speaking English while in the United States." The former Florida governor who speaks fluent very good Spanish, by the way, firing right back, taking subtle digs at Trump in an online quiz, appearing on his campaign page, all the choices lead to either Bush or Trump. In one answer, Trump is described as the candidate with clear Democratic tendencies.</s>BERMAN: Bush also makes fun of Trump for being a germaphobe.</s>ROMANS: That's right.</s>BERMAN: Vice President Joe Biden sounding very much like a candidate. He spoke at Miami-Dade College Wednesday, touching on subjects like affordable higher education, immigration reform and the economy. So, does this mean he is running? After a few reporters asked him about his plans, no response. Let's get more now from CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny.</s>JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine. After a summer of closed-door meetings and quiet strategy sessions, Vice President Joe Biden is hitting the road. And a wave of speculation followed him from Washington, all the way here to Miami, where he's taking a two-day trip. He seemed to relish in all these presidential size attention. Look what he said during a middle of a speech here at Miami-Dade College.</s>JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look at the attention we attracted. Their interesting community college has impressed me greatly. And I hope that's what they're going to write about.</s>ZELENY: Now, the vice president did not say if he planned to run, but he gave a few hints of what the campaign message might be if he decided to go ahead with the race. He focused hard on middle class, income inequality, raising wages -- of course, all themes of this Obama administration. But it also raises a challenge. Are voters ready for a third term of this administration? Or are they simply in the mode to move on? But he first needs to take the temperature of Democrats. He was doing that at a fund-raiser on Wednesday night in Miami. Of course, a key and critical battleground state. The fund-raiser was for Senate Democrats. But many of these donors would also be key if he would decide to go forward. He is still mulling this over. He's going to decide, I'm told, within the next three weeks, by October 1st at the latest -- John and Christine.</s>ROMANS: All right. Jeff Zeleny for us -- thanks for that, Jeff, this morning. Even though the Iran nuclear agreement is all but a done deal, the White House is still out there selling it. The Vice President Joe Biden making a case for the plan when he speaks to Jewish leaders in South Florida this morning. President Obama has enough votes to make the measure veto-proof with at least 34 senators now publicly backing the agreement. But he is sending out heavy hitters anyway to secure more support.</s>JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: It is our belief, deeply, that this will make Israel safer. It already has made Israel safer. The amount of time to produce enough fissile material for one bomb was down to two months. We will now stretch that out. We've already stretched it out. We've reduced their stockpile. We have limited their centrifuges.</s>ROMANS: The White House hoping for at least 41 votes to keep the bill from ever getting to a final vote in the Senate.</s>BERMAN: The House panel investigating the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi set to question two of Hillary Clinton's top aides while she was secretary of state. Former of chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, she will be questioned today with former aide Jake Sullivan questioned tomorrow. Sources tell CNN Mills wanted the hearing conducted in public. That was denied. She's expected to be asked about internal communications between Secretary Clinton and her to staffers.</s>ROMANS: The Veterans Administration and its systems for tracking requests for medical care is so unreliable. It is impossible for the department to know how many veterans still need treatment or whether those veterans are even still alive. That's according to a new report by the V.A. inspector general. He found of the 847,000 vets waiting for care in the V.A. medical enrolment system, 307,000 have died. That's more than one-third. As many as 10,000 applications have been lost in the last five years.</s>BERMAN: President Obama winding up his Alaska visit with the taste of the Arctic. He visited a tiny whaling village on the barrier island of about 400 residents, could be forced to move because melting ice is raising sea levels. The president warning the time to act on climate change is now.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, the good news is we made a lot of progress in the last six years. But I'm here to tell you we've got to do more. We've got to move faster. We're not moving fast enough. And for the sake of our kids, we've got to keep going. America has to lead the world in transitioning to a clean energy economy.</s>BERMAN: The president is the first sitting president to cross the Arctic Circle. He is calling for an international agreement to reduce carbon emissions.</s>ROMANS: All right. Time now for an early start on your money this morning. Stocks moving higher, Chinese markets are closed for a holiday for the rest of the week. That means the big swings we've been seeing aren't spooking global markets today. European stocks are higher, so are U.S. stock futures. You know, yesterday stocks surged. The Dow up 293 points. Those gains led by tech giants Apple, up 4.3 percent. Microsoft had a good day. Stocks are getting attention with wild swings, but important things that matter to Americans, pocketbooks are looking up. Home prices are rising. A new report from Zillow out this morning, brand new, shows fewer homeowners are under water. And the ADP employment report showed solid growth last month in jobs growth. We're going to get a better look, of course, tomorrow morning when the grand daddy of economic reports, August jobs.</s>BERMAN: The granddaddy of them all, and you'll be the grand marshal of the parade.</s>ROMANS: Grandmommy, why do we say granddaddy?</s>BERMAN: It's a good question. A good question.</s>ROMANS: I'll think about that.</s>BERMAN: Happening now. Investigators following the new leads in the search for three men suspected of killing a police officer. We have new information coming in overnight. That's next.