2015. where is john berman? he is where the candidates are sharpening their attacks. with a new washington post poll that shows donald trump expanding his wide lead and ben carson in second place. all others scrambling to device the strategy to end trump's reign. rand paul says someone has to bring him down. republican party chairman reince priebus warning jake tapper that he can expect to referee a tough game. >> all of these candidates will do in order to benefit their own campaigns and there will be more elbows thrown at that debate. >> it all should make for an exciting second debate in simi valley, california. that is where athena jones is. >> reporter: good morning, alison and christine. we are two days away from the debate in simi valley, california. the stage is set. the podiums are ready. as you know, one of the big things is the strength of outsider candidates like donald trump who is the gop frontrunner and ben carson who is not far behind him and carly fiorina. fiorina is the new addition to the stage here in primetime. she spoke with her outsider status. >> i have been in and around washington for a long time. it is not a mystery. the secret is professional politicians want everyone to think it is so hard to do what we do. that's hog wash. it is not so hard. most of the stuff is common sense and good judgment. people are frustrated. >> reporter: meanwhile, scott walker, once a serious contender like in iowa, but have sunk in the polls talked about why it is a good thing he held elected office. take a listen. >> remember, barack obama never run anything before. he is a lousy president. i have actually got things done. >> reporter: difficultguys, it huge opportunity to make an impress with vo impression with voters. this is the chance to have an effective moment on voters. thanks, athena jones. that debate is one you don't want to miss. donald trump will face protesters when he speaks at the american airlines center in dallas. groups bringing in anti-trump demonstrators as far away as houston for what one calls a march against hate. trump pre-viewed his long awaited tax plan. he would cut taxes on corporations so they would bring foreign profits back to the u.s. >> bring the money back to the country. we have $2.5 trillion out of the country. corporations don't bring it back because they have a massive tax. we have to make it so they can bring it back. we will have a lot of money pouring into the united states if i get elected. >> ben carson is walking back criticism of donald trump's faith. he told nbc news that trump lacks humility and fear of the lord was inappropriate. >> it wasn't meant as an attack and it was spun that way by the media because they enjoy a fight. they love to have a gladiator scene. it wasn't my intention. i will not allow it. >> carson turning trump's recent put downs back against him. telling nbc, quote, you don't have to be loud to be energetic. you can find debate coverage here on cnn. the main event airs wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. the undercard debate is at 6:00 p.m. bernie sanders surge and hillary clinton's slide are unmistakable in the washington post poll. hillary clinton is down 21 points in the same poll since july. sanders is up ten points over the same period. joe biden is third at 21%. there are new developments in the e-mail controversy. the company that managed her private server has not indication the server was wiped. that means the e-mails she deleted from the server could possibly be recovered. meantime, clinton is promising to be nicer to the media. she told a washington church on sunday that her former pastor pointed to a verse when it was suggested she improve her relation was reporters. >> i got some advice from dr. wagerman this morning, which i promise i will put into effect. basically said if you are going to read and listen to romans 12, you got to be nicer to the press. so to my friends in the press, i will certainly take that to heart. >> a different part of the bible comes to mind as bernie sanders heads to lynchburg, virginia. the democrat socialist spoke to the christian liberty university. that is certain to be a more skeptical crowd than those over the weekend. in south carolina, crowds cheered. >> federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a starvation wage. you can do the arithmetic as well as i can. it just does not add up. that is why we need to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. $15 an hour. >> sanders proposing free tuition at public colleges. devastation and despair in northern california. officials say 400 homes have been destroyed by a fast spreading wildfire west of sacramento. the governor of california declaring a state of emergency. thousands of residents forced to flee their homes. >> i'm all right. >> everything's okay. this is my parents business. >> the school's gone. the store's gone. a lot of people have dogs stuck up there. >> heart breaking. the so-called valley fire consuming more than 50,000 acres so far. let's get more from stephanie elam in middleton, california. >> reporter: good morning. we want to give you an idea of how intense the valley fire has been. it exploded in size over the weekend. look what it did to this community. this neighborhood just flattened by this wildfire. this is one home that is completely destroyed. you see it is still smoldering a bit. the air quality here is still strong and pungent. this is an active fire that they do not have a handle on at any point right now. you see the fire is getting so hot. it not only took out the home, but cars as well. there is nothing left inside. it melted the windows out of the windshield. this is not the only wildfire. the butte fire is burning due east of here. it is burning thousands of acres. when you take a look at the picture across california, several wildfires are burning. you look at the drought here and it is really dry and hot. you put that all together and resources are spread thin as far as firefighting is concerned. a lot of displaced people and loss as well. alison and christine. >> incredible. >> is there any relief in sight for the firefighters battling the blazes? let's get to meteorologist pedram javaheri. >> good morning, christine and alison. the improving conditions in the forecast. good news for california as we are watching the gulf of alaska. rainfall possibility is increasing from wednesday on. i want to show you the areas. we touched on the 50,000 acres consumed. one of the most prolific fires when it comes to how quickly things went out of control from 50 acres on saturday to 50,000 acres. terrain doesn't help. embers are carried downstream. you do the math of the 24-hour span. the amount of terrain consumed is somewhat on 34 acres per minute. that is how quickly the fires were burning out of control. zero containment. it brings in rain showers on wednesday. we have thunderstorms in eastern oklahoma with high pressure being the dominant feature to the east. cooler temperatures. enjoy the brief taste of fall temperatures in new york. back up to the 80s. even washington closing in on 90. pedram, thanks. later today, president obama will announce new measures to make financial aid easier to access for students. part of the administration's plan to make college more affordable. one of the new steps will allow a student to apply months earlier and determine eligibility for pell grants and student loans. student loans are the second highest form of debt in america. $1.2 trillion. >> time for a 529. time for an early start. china stocks fell. shanghai is down 2.7%. it looks like a good start to the week. european shares are up. u.s. stock futures are up. the best performance in weeks. the dow and s&p up 2%. i'm calling this a fedache. the fed this week will decide whether to raise rates. janet yellen and her team may raise rates. anyone borrowing money. the u.s. economy is steadily improving, but the slowdown in china and turmoil for stocks could change the fed's timeline. this means more expensive car loans and credit cards and variable debt will rise. some think this will end the six-year bull market. we will talk politics this week. >> and the fed may decide to do nothing. >> rates will eventually start rising. the bottom line. refinance your mortgage. rates will rise. a kentucky clerk once jailed for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses returns to work today. but will she comply with the judge's orders or go back behind bars? that's next. to xt l with roc® multi correxion® 5 in 1. proven to hydrate dryness, illuminate dullness, lift sagging, diminish the look of dark spots, and smooth the appearance of wrinkles. high performance skincare™ only from roc®. go to ziprecruiter.com and post your job to over one hundred of the web's leading job boards with a single click. then simply select the best candidates from one easy to review list. and now you can use zip recruiter for free. go to ziprecruiter.com. you forgot the milk! that's lactaid. right. 100% real milk, just without the lactose. so you can drink all you want... ...with no discomfort? exactly. here, try some... mmm, it is real milk. see? delicious. hoof bump! oh. right here girl, boom. lactaid®. 100% real milk. no discomfort. and for a creamy and delicious treat, try lactaid® ice cream. all eyes on rowan county, kentucky this morning when kim davis returns to work. davis wasfusing to issue same-sx marriage licenses. it appears only davis knows what she will do. we get more from cnn's chris welch from morehead, kentucky. >> reporter: the police are saying they are preparing for a large crowd when came davis returns to her job here as county clerk for the first time since being held in contempt of court and spending five days in jail. now the big question remains. will her deputies continue to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples? that is how it worked while she was in jail. now she is in the office with the deputies, will she continue to allow that to happen or step in and put her foot down and refuse these couples from getting marriage licenses. we had known for several weeks now that her attorneys and she had been fighting this and trying to overturn the initial judge's order. they have not had much success. she sent a direct petition to the u.s. supreme court. that did not work. on friday, her team of attorneys sent another appeal in the sixth circuit and no word from the court. >> thank you, chris. later today, the ferguson commission convened by the missouri governor in the michael brown shooting will issue the report. the panel was issued before the grand jury decided not to indict darren wilson in brown's death. it spent the last ten minutes digging into the social and economic conditions in ferguson. the group has already dozens of calls to action involving police reforms. three teenagers under arrest in arizona for shooting rocks at cars and pedestrians using a sling shot. police say the 18-year-olds admitted to doing the attack which appears to be a copycat and not related to the recent string of freeway shootings along i-10 running through the phoenix area. schoolhouse doors remain closed in seattle this morning. still no deal with the district and union for 5,000 striking teachers. talks resumed over the weekend. they are talking, but the district tweeted no agreement. classes in seattle were supposed to start last wednesday. pro basketball has lost one of its all time greats. moses malone. he died sunday in norfalk, virginia. he won at nba title with the 76ers in 1983. he was the first player to turn pro out of high school. malone was 60 years old. chalk up another grand slam title for tennis great novak djokovic. the world's best defeated ferog federer to win the u.s. open. the tenth career grand slam victory. >> federer being called the serena williams of men's tennis. emergency meeting called in europe to deal with the migrant crisis. germany now nearing its limit. adding border controls as thousands of people arrive. we are live after the break. he yes, to survive... ...a crazy busy day? start with a positive attitude... great. thanks. ...and positively radiant skin. aveeno® positively radiant moisturizer... ...with active naturals® soy. to help reduce the look of brown spots in just four weeks. i gotta go. and for gentle makeup removal... try our nourishing wipes to brighten skin. aveeno®. naturally beautiful results®. germany growing more desperate by the hour to slow the tide of migrants. german authorities imposing visa checks at the austria border. the temporary controls for other countries to step up to take other migrants. we have cnn's atika shubert with more. it was weeks ago that germany said come here and now germany trying to tell the rest of europe, we cannot do it on our own. >> reporter: this is exactly what germany's critics have been saying. possibly it was inviting a surge of refugees to come in. what we saw over the weekend was 16,000 coming in, an estimated number. most of them through the munich train station. that is what prompted german officials say we have to take this much more slowly. they stopped all of the trains from austria which was the main route for refugees and imposed border control. they have border police checking the cars coming through for identification and making the decision whether to allow people with syrian and iraqi identification to come through and turning others away. this is normally where refugees would come in. the reception center with the medical tents. because they stopped trains overnight, we have not seen refugees coming in this morning. having said all that, they are still expecting thousands to trickle in over the course of days. they are working overtime to get beds set up at the former olympic stadium here. any commercial building and public building is being set up to facilitate and help all of the thousands expected to come through. it is not sustainable. germany needs help of the neighbors to help accommodate the refugees. >> let me ask you quickly. atika, germany has managed to bring in people and relocate and resettle them with efficiency. are other countries looking at that as a model? >> reporter: a lot of countries are feeling the pressure because of germany. it will take the applications. more than four times it did last year. the question is how are the other countries going to accommodate? here they have gone into emergency measures. not only will we put people in temporary shelters, but build an additional 150,000 of them. we may have to force commercial companies with vacant properties to give up their prope measures other countries may not be willing it take. it is a model to follow if they are willing to do that. other countries are not willing to do that. to give you an example, the u.k. will take a total of 20,000 refugees. compare that to 800,000. there really is a wide discrepancy in the amount of each eu country is taking in. >> and debate of how you rejuvenate your work force and potentially stress a social safety net. thank you for that, atika. we are in the beginning of what will be a multi year migrant issue for europe. >> absolutely. republicans running for president sharpening their attacks two days ahead of the primetime debate. how the candidates are preparing and who is surging in the polls next. new this morning, donald trump and ben carson surge in the poll. now these candidates are preparing. california on fire. hundreds of homes destroyed and state of emergency is now in effect. is there any relief in sight? europe's migrant crisis exploding. germany at its limit. imposing border controls as thousands more arrive. we are live. welcome back to "early start." i'm christine romans. nice to see you. >> thanks. i'm alison kosik. it is half past the hour. republican candidates sharpening their attacks ahead of wednesday's gop debates here on cnn with a new washington post/abc news poll that shows donald trump expanding his lead. all of the candidates in single digits are scrambling to end trump's reign. rand paul saying someone has to bring him down. republican party chairman reince priebus warning jake tapper that he can expect to referee a rough game. >> you know what? every candidate will do what they need to do to benefit their campaigns. there will be more elbows thrown at the debate. you will have your hands full. >> elbows thrown. it should make for assin exciti second debate in simi valley, california. athena jones has more. >> reporter: good morning. we are two days away from the debate at the ronald reagan library in simi valley. the stage is set. the podiums are up and the candidates are getting ready. one of the big themes has been the strength of outsider candidates like donald trump and ben carson and carly fiorina. fiorina is going to be the new addition to the primetime debate stage on wednesday night. she spoke about the outsider status and what she brings to the table. >> i have been in and around washington for a long time. i don't think it is a mystery. i think one the dirty secrets is professional politicians want everyone to think it is so hard to do what we do. nobody else can do it. it's hogwash. it is not so hard. most of the stuff takes common sense and good judgment. people are frustrated because they see no contend er contende actually heldoffice. >> remember, president obama has never held public office before. in terms of running things, he is lousy. >> reporter: guys, this is going to be a huge television audience and opportunity for the candidates to make a strong impression with voters. a lot have not been getting attention in the media. this is their chance to create a moment and have a moment to leave impressions on voters and one that gives them a boost in the polls. >> athena jones, thank you. donald trump and his position have defined how the candidates react. it is interesting to see if they can take back the conversation. donald trump will face protesters in dallas today. latino groups bringing in protesters from houston for what one calls a march against hate. this as two rights groups that contrast ronald reagan's views. this includes the line about a city on a hill teaming with people of all kinds and trump warning of rapists and murderers. over the weekend, trump pre-viewed his long promised tax plan. he told cbs he would end the big tax break for hedge fund managers to bring foreign profit back to the u.s. >> i want to bring the money back into the country. we have $2.5 trillion, john, out of this country. the corporations, rightfully don't bring it back because of the tax to pay. we have to make it so they bring it back. >> trump's plan may be good for corporations, but chief executives should be weary. trump's company has three of his children as executive vice presidents. he says he will reduce taxes with the middle class paying less. and ben carson says his quote was inappropriate. >> it wasn't meant as an attack and it was spun that way by the media because they enjoy creating a fight. they love to have a gladiator scene. you know, it wasn't my intention. i'm not going to allow it to become my intention. regardless of anybody reacting to it. >> carson turning trump's put down s about his energy level. carson telling abc, you don't have to be loud to be energetic. you can find complete debate coverage and debate right here on cnn. the main event airing wednesday at 8:00 p.m. with the undercard debate at 6:00 p.m. don't miss it. on the democratic side, bernie sanders surge and hillary clinton's slide are unmistakable in the washington post poll. clinton is 42% of the registered voters. sanders has 24%. up 10 points in the same period. biden is not a declared candidate and has 19% of the vote. the company that managed clinton's private server has no indication that the server was ever wiped. that means more than 30,000 e-mails that clinton said she deleted from the server could be recovered. clinton is promising to be nicer to the media. she said her former pastor suggested she improve her relations with reporters. >> i got some advice from dr. wageman this morning. which i promise i will put into effect. basically said if you will read and listen to romans 12, you got to be nicer to the press. so to my friends in the press, i will certainly take that to heart. >> i just read romans 12 to refresh my memory. one piece is if your enemy is hungry, feed him. feed the press. and a different part of the bible coming to mind. the one about daniel in the lion's den. bernie sanders heads to lynchburg, virginia. he is set to speak to the christian liberty university. that is certain to be a more skeptical crowd than the ones he faced over the weekend. at three big events in south carolina, crowds cheered sanders' proposals and more than doubling the national minimum wage. >> the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a starvation wage. you can do the arithmetic as well as i can. it just does not add up. that is why we need to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. $15 an hour. >> sanders also proposing free tuition at public colleges and creating jobs with spending on infrastructure. devastation and despair in northern california. 400 homes have been destroyed by the fast moving wildfire west of sacramento. the governor declaring a state of emergency. >> i'm all right. everything's okay. this is my parents business. >> the school's gone. the store's gone. a lot of people have dogs stuck up there. >> the so-called valley fire consuming more than 50,000 acres so far. let's get more from cnn's stephanie elam in middleton, california. >> reporter: good morning, christine and alison. we want to give you an idea of how intense the valley fire has been. it really just exploded in size over the weekend. look what it did to this community. this neighborhood here just flattened by the wildfire. this is just one home here that is completely destroyed. you can see it is smoldering a bit out there. the air quality here is still really strong and stagnant. it burns the eyes. this is still a very active fire that they do not have a handle on at any point right now. as you can see, this fire getting so hot, not only did it take out the homes, but the cars as well. this car just gutted here by the wildfire. there's nothing left inside. it melted the windows right out of the windshield. there is the butte fire due east of here burning thousands of acres and homes lost there as well. when you take a look at the picture across california, there are several wildfires burning and you take a look at the drought we have had out here. it is really dry. it has been very hot. you put that all together and e resources are spread thin as they battle blazes around the clock. a lot of loss here. alison and christine. >> unbelievable the devastation. >> it makes you wonder if there is any relief in sight for the firefighters. let's get to meteorologist pedram javaheri. christine and alison, good morning. the conditions will improve. it looks like it is toward the middle of the week. look at the fire conditions across california. the amount of land consumed and how it transpired. one of the most incredible statisti statistics. 50 acres on saturday and the embers expanded the fire quickly in the mountainous region. when you do the math, 34 acres consumed per minute in the 24 hour period in california. somewhere on the order of half an acre per second. incredible to think how quickly things burn out of control in that region of california. the good news out of the gulf of alaska. the central portion of california for wednesday with the rain possibility up to 60% and temperatures cooler. what is going on here in the eastern side of the country. atlanta, one of the more mild temperatures we have seen in a few months. 79 for the high temperature. pedram, thank you. a kentucky clerk once jailed for refusing gay couples the right to marry heads back to work, but will kim davis comply with the judge's order? next. with ae naturals® soy. aveeno® naturally beautiful results®. you need to eat this special. kellogg's special k... made with whole grains and fiber to help a body thrive. ♪ folic acid and vitamin d... to make a body feel this good. start your day with 150 nourishing calories... in a bowl of special k. eat special, feel special. special k red berries, now with more real strawberries. bleeding gums? you may think it's a result of brushing too hard. it's not. it's a sign of early gum disease... which you can help reverse by using listerine(r). added to your brushing routine... listerine(r) kills up to 99.9% of germs... and helps reverse early gum disease in just two weeks. listerine(r). power to your mouth™! also try listerine(r) floss... formerly reach(r) floss. rowan county, kentucky this morning where kim davis, the clerk who is a national lightning rod as a clerk. she was released last week and it appears davis herself only knows what she will do when she arrives at work. will she allow same s-sex coupl marry? chris welch has more. >> reporter: police are preparing for large crowds as kim davis returns for the first time since being held in contempt of court and spending five days in jail. the big question remains. will the deputies continue to issue marriages? that's how the law states now. now she is in the office with the deputies, will she step in and put her foot down and refuse the couples from getting marriage licenses. we have known her attorneys and she had been fighting this judge's order. they have not had much success. she sent a direct petition to the u.s. supreme court which did not work. on friday, her team of attorneys once again sent another appeal in the sixth circuit court and so far no response from that court. christine. another grand slam title for tennis great novak djokovic. the world's best player defeating former number one roger federer in four sets to win the u.s. open men's final on sunday. it is his second u.s. open title and tenth career grand slam tournament victory. djokovic also beat federer in this year's wimbledon final. an emergency meeting called to deal with europe's migrant crisis. germany at its limit and adding border control as thousands more arrive. we are live after the break. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet? many wbut hope...ms come with high hopes, doesn't work on wrinkles. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair has the fastest retinol formula... to work on fine lines and even deep wrinkles in just one week. neutrogena®. germany growing more desperate by the hour to slow the unending tide of migrants into the country. german authorities imposing visa checks at the austrian border. the temporary controls with a check to the rest of europe. we have cnn's atika shubert with more. atika, you see germany making this decision one day before the meeting in brussels to come up with a plan among eu nations. is there something to be said of the timing of the controls at the border? >> reporter: i think so. it is a clear signal to brussels and eu states that there needs to be a joint asylum policy that germany cannot handle it alone. look at the numbers. on sunday, an estimated 60,000 people coming into the area. most through the train station here behind me in munich. that is not sustainable, germany says. this is why they imposed temporary border controls. they have riot police on the highways and checking identification, people for visas. anyone with an iraqi or syrian identification will be allowed in, but others may be turned back. they are checking the train service. most of the train services have resumed. the main line from austria to germany is suspended. that is the line most refugees were taking. germany is appealing for help from the eu neighbors. not only do they have to take in more refugees, but there needs to be a legal and safe route for refugees to come across and not the deluge of refugees you have been seeing last few days. >> do you think anything substantial is going to come out of the meeting? >> reporter: i think it's very difficult to get a decision in just one day. this is not a summit meeting. it is a meeting to discuss proposals. we have seen tough divides between east and west. slovakia and poland don't want to impose number of refugees on them. and they don't want to be the transit zones in which refugees kind of collect and be registered to figure out which eu country they will go to. it is seems unlikely we will get a decision today. in the meantime, it is still expected to have thousands of people coming in to germany and across austria. it doesn't look like the wave of people is stopping. >> a tough divide while the crisis continues. atika shubert, thanks. parents, do you have a child headed to college? >> soon, yes. >> we have important news for you and a new tool to help you avoid crushing debt before the kid picks the school. that's next. my trusty bow. and free of stuff i don't like. we only eat chex cereal. no artificial flavors, and it's gluten-free. mom, brian threw a ball in the house! many wbut hope...ms come with high hopes, doesn't work on wrinkles. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair has the fastest retinol formula... to work on fine lines and even deep wrinkles in just one week. neutrogena®. welcome back. i'm christine romans. it is a monumental week for your money. the federal reserve could cut interest rates for the first time in nine years. that would shift the foundation under everyone. chief janet yellen and the policymakers could take away the emergency stimulus that has been propping the economy and stocks for six years. the recent turmoil for stocks may complicated fed's timeline. more expensive car loans and credit cards. everyone would feel it. gas prices have dropped 27 cents in the past three weeks. according to the survey, the average price is $2.44. remarkable down more than $1 from a year ago. gas is cheaper than milk. cheaper than bottled water. prices are expected to keep falling as refineries are switching to the winter blend. parents, is your child looking at college? the white house launched a new college scorecard. it gives them important information about how much the typical graduate makes ten years down the road and the average monthly loan payment for a graduate of that college. too many families are borrowing too much money and they don't have the right information to make better decisions at the beginning when the kid is going to college. out of control student debt is a problem. did you know 70% of all student loan defaults are from students who attended for-profit colleges. that is important information. you can see. "early start" continuing right now. new developments in the race for president.