three americans and a britain honored in france for preventing a terror attack on a moving train on friday. we are live in paris with what these men have to say about the events. another day of talks for north and south korea. latest starting to emerge. can war be prevented between these two neighbors? and joe biden had a big meeting as he mulls a run for president of the united states. who he sat down with and why it

could shake things up for the democratic race for 2016. it is interesting to see as this all comes together. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm george howell. >> i'm christine romans. good morning, george. a lot going this morning. first, three humble americans honored in france after preventing a possible massacre on a high speed train from amsterdam to paris. alek skarlatos and spencer stone and anthony sadler took down the man who has ties to islam. the trio is speaking out for the first time. >> i feel our training mostly kicked in after this assailant was subdued, frankly. when it came to medical care and things like that and providing security and making sure there wasn't another shooter. mostly it was gut instinct.

>> just gut instinct and survival. the three americans and british citizsicitizen meeting presiden hollande. and painting a different picture for us is correspondent nic robertson live in paris. nic, it is different to see these difficults up on the podium with the french president being awarded for their gut instincts. >> reporter: absolutely. the french president said these men are an inspiration for all of us. he talked about how they potentially they were going to sacrifice their lives to save so many people. the gunman on the train, his lawyer has tried to claim he was merely on a run when he found the weapons in the park. he had more than 300 bullet was him. there were 500 or more people on

the train. these men saved many lives. the carnage is what the president said that could have happened. still so hard to believe. they described their own actions this way. >> i turned around and saw he had what looked to be an ak-47. it looked like it was jammed or wasn't working. he was trying to charge the weapon and alek said let's go. we tackled him. alek took him down on the ground and i put him in a chokehold. alek took out a box cutter and started jabbing at me with that. we let go. all three of us started punching him while he was in the middle

of us. i was able to grab him again and choke him unconscious while alek was hitting him in the head with the pistol of the rifle. >> reporter: they risked their own lives. the president hollande is not just giving them france's highest reward, but trying to show the french people and people around the world that they should be an inspiration. he took the words of anthony sadler who said when you are faced with a crisis, you have to act. that is what the french president said. he repeated those words. something quite to happen. the french with the transport and interior ministry will tighten up on security. the message here and the example of the young american heroes as they are called here, we all have a role to play when faced with terrorism. we are strong when we are

united. that is what the french president said. >> a danger on public transport. the reminder of the lone wolf threat. let's not give short trip to the british gentleman who saw them down the train corridor. it is a reminder you don't know how you will react, nic, until something actually happens. there were other heroes on that train, i think. >> reporter: there were. the president paid tribute to one of them. a frenchman who doesn't want to be made public. he will receive an honor later. the french president said he will receive honor. the train staff who helped in the aftermath of the attack and subduing. he paid tribute to them as well. a french-american man spencer stone saved this man's life by

putting his fingers on a bleeding artery and saved his life on that train. not just an honor, but example for everyone. it's a very high tribute that this french president has paid here. i have to say we're talking to people across the country this weekend. they all say these young french men deserve all of the honor and respect they are given. >> three young americans. thank you, nic. what a story. so well it ended the way it did. now the tensions on the korean peninsula. over the weekend, north and south korea have been holding high level talks at the village inside the demilitarized zone. the talks are taking place against the back drop of mutual distru distrust. let's go to seoul and kyung lah with the latest on the talks.

>> reporter: no specific take away yet. we don't know if anything has been accomplished. we know these talks have been very long and the second round stretching beyond 24 hours. we are getting an indication of what is a major stumbling block. south korea's president is demanding an apology from north korea for putting land mines in the demilitarized zone for injuring two soldiers. she said without that, she will not remove speakers along the demilitarized zone on the south blasts propaganda to the north. this propaganda, which is called propaganda which is news and pop music is a major insult. these talks are long and difficult. meanwhile, south korea's defense ministry is defect detecting troop movement on the north. they have seen 70% of submarines

on the northern side leaving the base. while all of the talks have been about peace, george, certainly we are seeing on the ground indicates preparations for some sort of conflict. >> the talks continue and you say that north korea, according to reporting, is building up its military. i know that area around the demilitarized zone has been evacuated, but for people nearby, is there a concern as the talks continue? >> reporter: that evacuation order has not been lifted. what we are hearing is that people are no longer in the shelters. a lot of this you just get numb to it. the towns along the demilitarized zone is dangerous and the government is urging them to stay in shelters, a lot of them are simply not now the talks are stretching into days. >> cnn's kyung lah live in seoul, south korea. thank you. now to politics. more speculation that vice

president joe biden could make a run for president in 2016. he met with a key democrat, senator elizabeth warren. we have athena jones to talk about it. >> reporter: this is the biggest story on the weekend on the democratic side. we learned the meeting took place at the vice president's request and took about two hours. during the meeting, the vice president said he was serious thinking about making another run for the white house. this would be his third bid for the presidency. he asked senator warren for her thoughts on that. they talked about economic policy and foreign policy. this is significant because senator warren is a liberal icon. she has a lot of fans who want her to make her bid for the white house in 2016. she hasn't endorsed any

candidates. senator warren is not the only big name democrat the vice president met with. jim webb talked about his meeting with the vice president on "state of the union." take a listen. >> i met with joe biden for an hour one an one last month. i have great ward for joe biden. i think his family and him personally have shown a tremendous amount of dignity over the past several months that have gained the respect of the country. private meetings are best left that way. i would not get into another individual's potential campaign. it is not surprising he is sitting and talking to someone with a strong economic record on issues. >> reporter: you have the meeting with senator warren. we know the vice president says

he will plan to make an announcement about the potential run in the next month. his advisers said he has to decide by october 1st. that is the time period we are looking at. we should know what the vice president has decided. back to you. >> athena jones, thank you. on the republican side, donald trump is willing to take donations, but not from lobbyists who expect something in return. he talked about his rival jeb bush over if jeb bush has what it takes to be president. >> i think he's a nice person. i don't think he has the energy. you need energy for this job. you can't be soft. we're a country that's in trouble. we need a person with a lot of smarts, a lot of cunning and a lot of energy. jeb doesn't have that. i think he's a very nice person. if he became president, good luck. it's another bush. it's going to be the same old

story. >> jeb bush for his part heads to the texas/mexico border today to talk immigration and border security in mcallen, texas. he is getting feedback over his use of anchor babies. and his rival ben carson is advocating drone strikes. he tried to clarify that position on cnn on sunday. >> wouldn't there be some instance where some innocent lives might get killed? >> read my lips. listen very carefully to what i'm saying. i said there are caves -- there are caves that they utilize. those caves can be eliminated. there are a number of possibilities. that could be one of them. i'm not talking about killing people. no people with drones.

>> carson saying to read his lips and said the national guard should be used to secure the southern border. time for an early start on your money. a brutal, ugly morning for world stock markets. asian stocks plunging right now. shanghai's benchmark is down 8.5% today. european stocks are diving. u.s. stock futures. look at the dow futures arrow down 2%. that's a huge move. the dow on friday tumbling a stunning 531 points. overall, the dow plummeted more than 1,000 points last week. the stock market is in correction territory down more than 10% for the first time since 2011. why? major concerns about china's economy. uncertainty of the fed hike and tumbling oil prices. oil is below $40 a barrel for

the first time since 2009. booming supply and weakening demand. the global selloff is raging. alumin aluminum, zinc and copper. when you have copper plunging, there are concerns about worldwide demand. you will see pain in the stock market and 401(k). >> you get a sense this is long term? >> sometimes you see a big selloff like last week and you find buyers. we have no buyers. we had record highs in the stock market. some saying a correction was necessary. a lot of people saying you needed a correction. you are in the middle of it right now. >> it is bleak. a popular air show in the u.k. turns tragic. a plane comes crashing down on a busy road. the death toll and anger are both climbing this morning. we are live in the u.k. next.

the future of air shows in the u.k. in doubt after a deadly crash near brighton with a military jet slamming into cars on the busy highway. the death toll now climbing. the death toll could go as high as 20. investigators trying to figure out what went tragically wrong. cnn's ian lee has more. >> reporter: we are on the edge of the highway. the wind sock and white building. that is how far they are keeping us away because there is still hazardous material. they are expecting to remove the aircraft. they are bringing in a crane to haul it away. that is when they expect to find

more bodies. one of the biggest indicators is families still calling and their loved ones are missing. they say that is one of the main reasons they think people are still out there. that is easy to see why. the crash was enormous. police going through it to figure out what happened and recover the bodies. >> ian lee, thank you for that. the death toll could rise to 20. just really a devastating scene. thanks, ian. a race car driver is fighting for his life after a crash. we'll have more on this story next. here's a little healthy advice. take care of what makes you, you. right down to your skin. aveeno® daily moisturizing lotion with 5 vital nutrients for healthier looking skin in just one day. aveeno®. naturally beautiful results® bill's got a very tough 13lie here...... looks like we have some sort of

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air lifted to the hospital. he is in a coma and in critical condition. an apology from cris carter. the nfl condemning the statements he made on an nfl symposium. he was captured on camera advising first area players to have a fall guy in their crew in case they get in trouble. now carter is backing away and he says seeing that video makes him realize how wrong he was. every person should take responsibility for his own actions. i'm sorry and i truly regret what i said that day. espn releasing a statement saying they disagree with the remarks and made that clear to him. it is two for the price of one at the national zoo in washington, d.c. the giant panda mei xiang gave birth to a pair of beautiful

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three americans getting a heroes welcome in paris. recognized for stopping a potential terror attack on a train headed for paris. we're live in france with more on the ceremonies and what these three americans have to say. what an amazing story. on the brink of war. north and south korea getting ready for another round of talks over the demilitarized zone. both with high demands. can they avoid furth further escalation? what vice president joe biden sat down with and what this means now he is expanding the talks outside his circle. well co welcome back to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm george howell in for john berman. let's start with the story of the three americans and british citizen honored for bravery

after shutting down a possible massacre before it could happen on friday. this played out on a high speed train from amsterdam to paris. the american alek skarlatos, spencer stone and anthony sadler. people are not tripping on these names now, because these men did a heroic thing. they subdued a gunman who french officials say has ties to the radical islam. >> i feel our training mostly kicked in after this assailant was already subdued, frankly. when it came to medical care and things like that and providing security and making sure there wasn't another shooter. in the beginning, it was mostly gut instinct and survival. >> french president francois hollande says their heroism is an inspiration to all.

the suspect's lawyer is painting a different picture. we have cnn's correspondent nic robertson live in paris. the story about these men coming together today to be honored by the french president, what was it like? >> reporter: it is huge for them. i talked with the british gentleman chris norman after he came out of the meeting. he was still shaking. he said he was so emotional about it that he could not believe this is a huge honor the president has given the three american heroes. the tributes are not higher than what the president paid them. spencer stone led them in. his arm still in a sling and bandaged where the attacker sliced him with a box knife. he said his thumb had to be stitched back on. he was led with friends anthony sadler and alek skarlatos.

the french president telling the world they deserve this honor, but what they had done was an inspiration for everyone. they acted and put their own lives at risk. this is how spencer stone described literally taking down the gunman. >> i turned around and saw he had what looked to be an ak-47. it looked like it was jammed or wasn't working. he was trying to charge the weapon. said let's go. the shoulder and- alek came up after he tackled him and took the gun. i put him in a chokehold. he kept pulling more weapons. a handgun. alek took that. he then took out a box cutter and started jabbing at me with that. we let go. all three of us started punching him while he is in the middle of us. i was able to grab him again and choke him unconscious while alek

was hitting him in the head with the pistol. >> reporter: ultimate carnage is what the french president said could happen on the train. the gunman had more than 300 bullets and more than 500 people on the train. this is how he paid tribute to the three americans. >> nic, now to the suspect. >> translator: terrible massacre. i want to thank you for what you have done and it was on friday that the whole world was able to admire your courage and your calm and your sense of responsibility. this solidarity which allowed you without weapons, unarmed, to overpower this individual who was armed to the teeth and you were ready to do anything. your heroism should be an example for all. >> reporter: an example to all.

the french president will do their best to improve railway security around the country. what these men did should remind all that in faces of violence, these men showed the highest degree of what is possible by standing together. french president could not have said anything higher in praise to the men in the words he said today. george. >> nic, quickly here about the suspect. the french officials say el khazzani has ties to radical islam. what more can you tell us about that? >> reporter: sure. his attorneys same that he says he found the weapons in a park in a bag with a mobile phone and got on the train in brussels. he was just going to rob people. he has a track record of radical islamists in spain and belgium. he went to turkey. he came back in july. he is believed to be associated

with isis members there. he already put one algerian student here, pushed him to attack a church. that was thwarted in april. he is associated with a degree or cell of isis people trying to plot and perpetrate attacks with young radical muslims like him inside europe. that is a growing concern. george. >> that news conference, the french president saying there were 500 people on the train and the suspect apparently had hundreds of bullets on the ready. that will play out in courts. nic robertson, thank you so much. >> one of the interesting details of the story, these three young men were supposed to be in the first class seats. could not find their seats. went to a different carriage. they went back to find their seats. found their original seats and moments later, this gunman entered their lives. >> what were you saying about the training? >> that is interesting.

spencer stone was asked did your training kick in. he said after we subdued the gunmen. when spencer stone, injured, went and put his fingers in the neck of a wounded passenger and pressed until the artery stopped bleeding and saved that man's life. such a great story. with the tensions and rhetoric elevated in the korea peninsula, the south and north have been holding talks in the demilitarized zone. talks taking place against a back drop of mutual distrust. we have cnn's kyung lah live in seoul with the latest. >> reporter: the mutual distrust is an understatement. it is an indication of why the talks are stretching into 24 hours. what we are hearing from south korea's president is she wants an apology from north korea. she wants north korea to

apologize for setting land mines in the demilitarized zone. these land mines went off and hurt two soldiers. she said without it, she will not remove what is a major insult by north korea. the giant speakers that south korea set up on the southern side which is blasting pop music. north korea views this music and news as propaganda and insults. what the south is detecting in the north is troop movements. these troop movements are doubling of artillery forces on the frontline. the south is saying they are seeing 70% of the north submarines leaving bases. the assumption is they are called into service. christine, the olive branch with the north apparent south is

belies reality on the ground. >> a dangerous situation still. thank you for that. 38 minutes past the hour. time for an early start on your money. asian stocks plunging. shanghai's benchmark down 8.5% just today. european stocks are diving. u.s. stock futures are pointing to a very, very ugly open for u.s. investors. on friday, the dow tumbled 531 appointments. the biggest point drop in years. overall, the dow lost more than 1,000 points last week. the market is in correction. corrections, by the way, can be refreshing. we have not seen one in several years. record highs just this spring. there have been double digit gains for three years. the investors think the correction may not be a bad thing.

reverse course now. why? what is the trigger here? big concerns of china's economy. its growth is slowing quickly. uncertainty of the interest rate hike and when it will come and tumbling oil prices. commodities plunging around the world. quite destabilizing for countries who depend on those things to run their books and the energy companies that are part of your stock holdings. those have been collapsing. >> it is a concerning time. i'm concerned to see what happens today. >> this is not the time what to figure out on your 401(k). now to politics. more speculation that vice president joe biden may be leaning forward a run to the white house. it follows reports that biden met with a key democrat this weekend to talk about it. we get more from cnn's athena jones from washington. >> reporter: good morning, george and christine. this is probably the biggest

political story of the weekend on the democratic side. my colleague, jeff zeleny broke the story. this meeting took place at the vice president's request and lasted two hours. we are told that during the meeting, the vice president said he was seriously thinking about making another run for the white house. this would be his third bid for the presidency. he asked senator warren for her thoughts on that. they talked about economic policy and foreign policy. this is significant. warren is a liberal icon. she has fans. fans pushing her to make her own bid for the white house in 2016. she has declined to do that. she will sit this out. she hasn't endorsed any candidate. an interesting tid bit to learn this weekend. senator warren is not the only big name democrat biden has met with. jim webb talked about his

meeting with biden. he talked about it on "state of the union." >> i met with joe biden last month. i have great regard for joe biden. i think his family and him personally have shown tremendous dignity over the last several months that gained respect over the country. i would not get into another individual's potential campaign. it doesn't surprise me he is sitting and talking to someone who has a strong record on economic issues. >> reporter: the meeting with senator warren. we know the vice president has told his associates he plans to make a decision in about the next month. his advisers have told him he has to decide by october 1st. that is the time period we are looking at. back to you. athena jones, the plot

thickens. on the republican side, donald trump is willing to take donatio donations, but not from lobbyists who expect something in return. trump kept up the attack on jeb bush. questioning if he has what it takes. >> i don't mind jeb bush. he is a nice person. i don't think he has the energy to do this job. you can't be soft. we're a country that's in trouble. we need a person with a lot of smarts and a lot of cunning and a lot of energy. jeb doesn't have that. he is a very nice person. if he became president, good luck. it's another bush. >> jeb bush heads to the texas/mexico border. bush getting support from hispanic republican whos who ad the use of the term anchor babies is upsetting, but not a

concern for the campaign. the army now called in to keep the peace. we are live on the ground next.

welcome back. violence raging in beirut. lebanese army units deployed in response to clashes with police and protesters angry over uncollected garbage in the city

streets. police fired tear gas and water cannons on the crowds. more than 400 people were injured in the weekend violence. our senior correspondent nick paton walsh has the latest for us. nick, what is the latest there? >> reporter: as you said, over 400 injured. the lebanese red cross said that. the government came out and stamping their authorities bringing an end to the clashes between the police and frpropetr protesters. there is a sense of clean up and almost getting back to normal. there was a debate if they should call people back out in the streets. at the same time, 6:00 today. they called that protest off. there is social media backlash. the trash is just the tip of the

iceberg. it is the dysfunction of government here and years of corruption and parliament unable to decide who they want to be president. and deciding to renew their own term because they could not pass election laws. a new sense of dysfunction in the elite and that is like electricity, water and trash collection. it became too much. they were met by a tough response. that marked a large number of people on the streets. a small minority clashed with protests which clashed with police. that is what we saw last night. now the arm y are out. we have to see if that translates into the political solution. >> from the images, we get the sense that people are fed up. nick paton walsh, thank you. and now back tracking after

some very bad advice he gave to a group of rookies. what did cris carter say that has him in hot water?

indy race car driver justin wilson fighting for his life after being struck by debris from the car that crashed in

front of him at pocono race way. it sent wilson's car crashing into the wall. he was air lifted to the hospital. he is in a coma and in critical condition. >> wish him well. an apology from nfl hall of famer cris carter. espn and nfl condemning comments he made on a video from the 2014 symposium. he was captured on camera to advise first year players to have quote a fall guy in case they get in trouble. he says now, seeing that video makes me realize how wrong i was. i was brought there to educate young people and instead i gave bad advice. i'm sorry and truly regret what i said. >> he stood up quickly and said

he was wrong. two for the price of one at the national zoo in washington, d.c. the giant panda mei xiang giving birth to a pair of cubs start night. zookeepers had no idea she was expecting a second cub. this is the third time giant panda twins have been born in the united states. so far, mom and her babies are said to be doing fine. they are switching off. experts are taking one of the babies and putting it in the incubator and measuring it and watching it and mom bond with the other one back and forth. interesting. they really don't look like pandas in the beginning. >> not really. switching from cute to scary. >> nothing cute about this scary stock market. it is scary. don't touch that 401(k) just yet. i'll give you a reason not to panic. that's next.

welcome back. a brutal day for stocks. asian shares are plunging.

u.s. stock futures are diving. on friday, the dow tumbled 531 points. the biggest one-day drop in four years. the market is in correction. down 10% for the first time since 2011. some are in their own personal bear markets. apple, exxon and walmart among them. down sharply. investors are fleeing stocks and commodities and copper and zinc is down. china, the world's second largest economy is flailing. with chaos in the market, what should you do now? now is not the time to find your 401(k) long in this morning. don't react to every scary headline. if you have been in stocks the

past few years, you are riding huge gains. a pullback can be normal and healthy. two ways you could feel the market chaos immediately. bond yields are falling. gas prices are likely falling to $2 a gallon soon. "early start" continues right now. it's the top of the hour. three american heroes honored in france credited for preventing a potential terror attack on a moving train friday. we are live in paris with what these men have to say about the stunning series of events. another day of talks on tap for north and south korea. the latest behind the dust up. biden had a big meeting as he mulls a run for president. who he sat down with.