News Wrap: Refugees clash with Hungarian police at border

GWEN IFILL:

Violence erupted today between Hungarian police and thousands of people now blocked from entering the country. The clashes came at a key crossing point in a new barrier stretching 110 miles along the border with Serbia.

At the same time, the flow of mostly Syrian refugees shifted to a new front-line state: Croatia.

Jonathan Miller of Independent Television News reports on the day's developments.

JONATHAN MILLER:

On the Serbian side of the frontier, tensions ratcheted up, anger rose and tempers frayed in the late summer heat. Hungarian riot police held firm. From above, a Hungarian police helicopter kept watch.

Suddenly, frustrations exploded into open hostilities on this, the southern front in the migration war of 2015, tear gas forcing the refugees and the migrants to beat a retreat, eyes stinging, women and children among those now backing away. Others, enraged, retaliated, flinging stones at the Hungarian police, who, in turn, brought out the water cannons.

Rumors of trouble on the Hungarian front have been passed back down the lines to Belgrade and on south to the Macedonian border. By social media and word of mouth, a grand diversion was agreed upon, a new overland route, bypassing water cannon and razor wire. The long marchers set a brisk pace to the northwestern Serbian cornfields towards Croatia, the E.U.'s newest member.

The finishing line still some way off, ahead, the E.U.'s new front line. This dusty farm track is the Serb-Croat border. Croatian police had deployed a reception party. They don't want refugees from distant conflict zones wandering through unmatched mine fields from the Balkan wars 20 years ago, the last time hundreds of thousands trudged through this region towards Western Europe.

We entered Croatia ourselves by a more formal route and in the nearby town of Tovarnik found a refugee crisis center. A Croatian government minister was observing.

Is Croatia prepared for what's about to happen?

SINISA VARGA, Health Minister, Croatia:

We have been following what's happening in the surrounding countries, in Serbia and Hungary, for the past month. We have been following the situation. And we have prepared all protocols and we want to be a good host for people transiting through Croatia and into the European Union.

JONATHAN MILLER:

And transit, it is, for nobody we spoke to wants asylum here in the Balkans.

Next stop for these people, Slovenia, like Hungary, part of the Schengen visa-free zone, after which they can all pretty much head where they please, no restrictions. At least 10 busloads arrived on this border today, but after what has happened on the Hungarian frontier this afternoon, you can bet that the multitudes will soon be on their way.

GWEN IFILL:

This evening, Serbia's government accused Hungary of brutal and — quote — "non-European behavior," and sent more police to the border. In turn, Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, announced his government will extend the border fence to parts of its frontier with Croatia.

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared the refugee crisis is Europe's fault. He said Western support for rebels in Syria has escalated the fighting, and driven people to flee. Speaking to Russian reporters, Assad also criticized what he called European double standards.

PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD, Syria (through interpreter):

Europe is to blame for the problem of refugees. How can one be indignant about a drowned child and remain silent about the death of thousands of children, elderly people, women and men killed by terrorists in Syria? Europe supports terrorism and provides protection for terrorists, calling them moderates.

GWEN IFILL:

The Syrian leader didn't directly address the Russian military buildup in his country. But he did accuse U.S. officials of willful blindness for refusing to coordinate attacks on attacking Islamic State forces.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Washington in November to discuss the Iran nuclear deal directly with President Obama. The two men have had chilly relations, and Netanyahu had urged Congress to block the Iran deal. That effort failed.

The president pressed congressional Republicans today to steer clear of another government shutdown. A partial closure could happen October 1, unless lawmakers approve money to keep things running. But Mr. Obama warned a Business Roundtable gathering today that demands to defund Planned Parenthood could block a budget agreement.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, United States:

The notion that we play chicken with an $18 trillion economy and global markets that are already skittish, all because of an issue around a women's health provider that receives less than 20 cents out of every $1,000 in the federal budget, that's not good policy-making.

GWEN IFILL:

Later, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also rejected a shutdown, and warned against what he called exercises in futility.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), Majority Leader: We need to deal with the world we have. We have a president who deeply supports Planned Parenthood and will not sign a bill that defunds it. And even if he did sign such a bill, it wouldn't work, because this would only take a small portion of the funds away from Planned Parenthood.

GWEN IFILL:

Instead, McConnell said he will seek temporary funding to keep federal operations going through late fall.

Income and poverty were virtually unchanged in the U.S. last year over the year before. The latest Census Bureau report finds median income was about $53,700, down very slightly. The poverty rate rose a bit to 14.8 percent of the population. A separate report found the number of Americans without health care insurance dropped nearly 3 percent.

A 14-year-old Muslim boy spoke out today about being hauled out of school in handcuffs in Irving, Texas. Ahmed Mohamed is an amateur inventor who brought a homemade clock to school on Monday. His teacher said it looked like a bomb, and he was taken away.

Today, he welcomed the outpouring of support on social media, where the incident sparked allegations of anti-Muslim profiling.

AHMED MOHAMED, Student:

I felt pretty down that no one would know about this, but I guess there's always supporters online and social media. It brought me to the point where I could — I could see people who don't care for me, but every other person. It made me really happy to see all of these people support me and support others.

GWEN IFILL:

Mohamed was suspended for three days, but he said he won't be returning to the school.

Meanwhile, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg invited him to visit. And President Obama tweeted that the clock was cool, and asked the teenager to come to the White House.

Wall Street scored gains today, with energy stocks leading the way. They shot higher, along with oil prices, after inventories of crude oil fell. In turn, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 140 points to close at 16740. The Nasdaq rose nearly 29 points, and the S&P added 17.

And, in Colorado, retailers selling marijuana offered door-buster specials today, hoping for a windfall. Recreational use of pot is legal in the state, but taxes, totaling 25 percent, were suspended for the day due to a quirk in state law. As a result, customers came out in droves, hoping for bargains. And stores handed out coupons and deals.