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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

New Arrests in Ferguson; Trump Returns to the Campaign Trail; State of Emergency: Toxic River Spill. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired August 11, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:20] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight: new arrests in Ferguson, Missouri. This morning, protesters clashing with police in another night of demonstrations.

Donald Trump back on the campaign trail today, facing criticism from Hillary Clinton. What she revealed about their relationship, ahead.

State of emergency declared. A toxic spill turns millions of gallons of river water orange three times larger than originally believed.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It is Tuesday, August 11th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East. Good morning, everyone. John Berman has the morning off.

All right. Arrests overnight in Ferguson, Missouri, after frustrated demonstrators confronted police, a few throwing rocks and bottles. It was a rowdy end to the full day that organizers dedicated of protests and to civil disobedience, marking the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown's death. The violence paled in comparison events overnight Sunday when multiple rounds of gunfire erupted and police shot at an 18-year-old who they say fired at them first.

Tyrone Harris is hospitalized. He is in critical condition, now faces multiple charges, including five counts of armed criminal action. His aunt denies he fired on police. Karen Harris tells CNN he didn't have a gun and was running for his life in the midst of other people's gun battle.

CNN's Jason Carroll is in Ferguson for us this morning. He has more on last night's protests and those arrests.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, well, police ended up making a number of arrests out here on West Florissant, where we are right now. A number of protesters have gathered on one side of the street. On the other side of the street, you can still see a significant number of law enforcement standing by and waiting. You've got members of the St. Louis County police and state troopers who are out here.

The demonstrators were primarily peaceful for the most part. And then at one point, there were a number of protesters who stood in the middle of West Florissant Street. When that happened, that's when police moved in and made several arrests. They repeatedly warned our protesters to stay out of the street.

I spoke to the representative from the state troopers who are out here. I asked him, I said, "What is your main goal?" Christine, he said, "We just want to keep things peaceful." And by and large, they were able to do that, with the exception of those who got out into middle of the street, and caused some of the problems that we saw out there.

In terms of the protesters, you can see a number of them have been gathering out here on the street. There is no curfew, Christine, so they are allowed to stay out as long as they want, so long as the demonstrations are peaceful.

When I spoke to one of the demonstrators, I said, "It seems like so much work still needs to be done." And he said, "We are still angry." It's been a year since Michael Brown's death, and still they are not seeing the changes they want.

When I spoke to members of law enforcement, they, too, agree that there needs to be change. But they said that however people come out there to express themselves, it must be peaceful.

So, once again, several arrests that we saw made out here, right here on West Florissant, still, a year after Michael Brown's death. A number of people in this community say more work still needs to be done -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Jason Carroll for us this morning in Ferguson, Missouri, thanks for that, Jason.

Happening today, Donald Trump's first appearance on the campaign trail since last week's debate and the billionaire's controversial criticism about FOX News anchor Megyn Kelly. Trump will keynote a Lincoln Day Republican Party event in Eastern Michigan. Trump had said he will not apologize to Megyn Kelly and now, she says she will certainly not apologize to Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Apparently, Mr. Trump thought the question I asked was unfair and felt I was attacking him. I felt he was asked a tough, but fair question. We agree to disagree.

Mr. Trump did interviews over the weekend that attacked me personally. I've decided not to respond. Mr. Trump is an interesting man who has captured the attention of the electorate. That's why he's leading in the polls.

Trump, who is the frontrunner, will not apologize. And I certainly will not apologizes for doing good journalism. So, I'll continue doing my job without fear or favor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: If there was a brewing feud between Trump and FOX News, the air now seems to have cleared. FOX News chairman Roger Ailes and Trump speaking by phone. Ailes calling the conversation, quote, "blunt but cordial", expressing 100 percent support for Megyn Kelly.

Trump's tweeting, "Roger Ailes just called. He's a great guy. He assures me that Trump will be treated fairly on FOX News. His word is always good."

Hillary Clinton also weighing on Trump, tying him to the rest of the Republican field during a campaign swing through New Hampshire.

[04:05:00] Our Jeff Zeleny was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

Now, Hillary Clinton adding her voice to all the criticism of Donald, calling his comments offensive and outrageous, for whichever adjective you would like to use, she said.

Now, this is very interesting. Hillary Clinton is closer to Donald Trump than most any other candidate in this race, including the Republicans. Of course, she's received contributions from him. She attended his third wedding.

So, she was asked about that in New Hampshire. She said the reason she went to the wedding is she thought it would be, quite simply, entertaining.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's entertainment. I mean, look, it's all entertainment. I think he is having the time of his life, you know, being up on that stage, saying what he wants to say.

I didn't know him that well. I mean, I knew him. I knew him. I happen to be planning to be in Florida. I thought it would be fun to go to his wedding because it's always entertaining. Now that he's running for president, it's a little more troubling.

ZELENY: But, Christine, she took every opportunity to paint this entire Republican field with a broad brush of Donald Trump. She singled out Marco Rubio, the senator from Florida. She said that his abortion comments made during the debate last week were simply out of touch and out of date. By singling out Marco Rubio, it's a sign that the Clinton campaign has their eye on him.

But Hillary Clinton, again and again, when asked about Donald Trump, said his comments have no place in this presidential campaign. He is not a serious contender. She said he is simply enjoying the entertainment.

So, now, she is finally weighing in. We'll see what the Donald Trump campaign continues along in this very unusual 2016 presidential campaign -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Jeff, thanks for that.

Donald Trump will get his chance to respond to Clinton's comments in a few hours. He will be interviewed live on "NEW DAY" during the 7:00 hour. Don't miss that.

Rick Perry's campaign could be in trouble. The former Texas governor has stopped paying his staff in South Carolina. Perry's campaign chairman in the state says for now, everyone has agreed to keep working in a volunteer capacity. Perry's handlers insist he remains committed to competing for the nomination in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Chuck Schumer says breaking with President Obama and opposing the nuclear deal with Iran is one of the most difficult decisions he has ever had to make. New York's Democratic senator laying out his reasons for rejecting that Iran agreement, insisting the Iranians have one goal. Sanction relief.

We get more from CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine.

Right, just hearing his words underscores how important and how disputed the Iran nuclear deal is. This is Chuck Schumer, poised to be the next Democratic leader in the Senate. And this is the first time we are hearing from him after the stunning early announce. That he does not support the deal. He spells out his reasons, too. He said he thought about this for a long time, consulted the experts and listened to the briefings and did not let politics influence him.

He lists three reasons for not going for the deal. First of all, he doesn't feel the inspections are sufficient. That they're not anytime, anywhere. That it could take 24 days to gain access. Also, 10 to 15 years down the road, Iran would be a threshold nuclear state.

And then there's this.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: And then, there's nonnuclear parts. Iran will get all sorts of money once the sanctions are lifted, and they will use too much of that money, in my judgment, to create real problems in the Middle East. They will fund Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen and Assad in Syria. They will also be able to use it to build an ICBM, which could only be aimed at the United States, since they have enough missiles to reach Israel and Europe.

KOSINSKI: Schumer also disputes that the only alternative would be eventual war with Iran. He says, why not go back and try to get a better deal. And President Obama has acknowledged that in any negotiation, but especially this one, either side was not going to get everything they want.

But the White House could not see this more differently than Schumer does. The White House insists it is the best deal possible. And that 10 to 15 years down the road if Iran did try to break out and build a nuclear bomb, that breakout time would be longer than it is today. The U.S. would be able to detect that and would be able to respond -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Michelle Kosinski, thank you for that, Michelle.

Now, the White House did get good news on Monday. Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii announcing he will back the Iran nuclear deal, becoming the 16th senator to do so. The Senate votes on the agreement in mid-September.

A disturbing study kept secret by the federal government for nearly four years. The nation's says the nation's air traffic controllers are dangerously sleepy. "The Associated Press" obtained a copy of the study which blamed long work hours for chronic that endangers the safety of the national air traffic system.

A 2012 study found 20 percent of controllers committed significant errors in the previous year. Six in 10 air traffic controllers admit they have fallen asleep on the job.

[04:10:00] Time for an early start on your money.

Quick look at stocks around the world mostly lower. A shock this morning, a shock from China. Usually keeps a tight grip on its currency, allowing a one-time depression.

E.U. officials reached a deal on Greece's bailout. U.S. futures are also down, stepping back from a huge rally yesterday. The Dow rallied 240 points after a seven-day losing streak.

The big corporate story this morning, Google now has a new parent company. Google announced a major corporate restructuring. That means it formed an umbrella company called Alphabet, which Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will run. And they tapped Google's senior vice president of product to run the company's core business as CEO.

Some departments will spinoff into their own sub-companies under Alphabet, including the makers of the driverless car, Google X, Nest, and Google Ventures, basically a whole new corporate structure. Umbrella at the top is Alphabet, and all these other companies, very diverse array of companies underneath. Stock is up big time, by the way.

Ten minutes past the hour. Happening now, state of emergency declared in New Mexico. A toxic spill turning millions of gallons of river water orange. A spill that is much bigger than originally believed. We are live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: A state of emergency has been declared in Colorado. The Animas River turning toxic orange color, five days after it was contaminated by the EPA. The agency admitting it accidentally sent 3 million gallons of sludge into that river. That river is now laced with a host of arsenic and lead.

We get the latest from CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

Elizabeth, this is a really big and dangerous mistake.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely, Christine. As one top toxicologist put it -- Elizabeth, this is a major, major problem. And the reason why is because of these heavy metals that were in sludge, things like cadmium and arsenic and lead and mercury.

[04:15:01] Christine, when you compare the levels in the sludge to what's considered the EPA acceptable levels, we're talking mercury at 10 times the acceptable levels. Arsenic, 800 times. Lead, there was a reading that was 11 times of what's considered acceptable level by the EPA.

Now, these toxic metals, they can cause cancer, they can cause kidney problems, they can cause developmental problems in children. Now, what we don't know is how many people drink from this water and did it reach all of these people before the warning was given to shut it off. Now, if health problems emerge, it would take years, if not decades for them to come out -- Christine.

ROMANS: And besides drinking, what else is this water used for? It is a sad issue. It's a beautiful part of the country. It's obviously looks like it's spoiled.

What do they use the river for?

COHEN: They also use the river to irrigate crops.

ROMANS: Oh, no.

COHEN: That's another big problem, because the plants absorb this, especially cadmium, which is really toxic. Cadmium is one that toxicologists told me it just sort of eats it up. We don't know how much of the water went into the crops. We don't know how much absorbed by the crops. There's so many questions out there.

I wrote email after email to the EPA yesterday to get answers. They did not respond.

ROMANS: All right. Thank you so much for that, Elizabeth Cohen, for us this morning.

Got to get to the bottom of that.

Legionnaires' disease outbreak in New York now has claimed two more deaths, 12 people in the South Bronx. But city health officials report no new cases in the last week. A sign that the outbreak may be waning.

So far, there had been 113 cases diagnosed since July 10th with 76 patients treated at hospitals. The New York's mayor proposing new legislation that would require all existing cooling towers in the city be registered with inspections with the Department of Buildings.

New developments in the 2014 "Slender Man" case. A Wisconsin judge has ruled 13-year-old Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weir will be tried as adults for allegedly stabbing a friend 19 times and leaving her in the forest last May.

Prosecutors say they wanted to probe their loyalty to the Internet-born fictional monster Slender Man. Charged with attempted first degree intentional homicide, the teens could face sentences of up to 65 years each. If tried in the juvenile court system, the girls would be held until 18. Because the girls were just 12 years old at the time of the attack, the father of one of them believes it is a mistake to try them as adults.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIA FELLO, REPORTER: What is your biggest concern?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is a little girl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Geyser and Weir will be arraigned on August 21st.

A 20-year-old New Jersey man arrested for allegedly trying to join ISIS. Nader Saadeh with conspiracy to provide material support to the terrorist group. He appeared in court Monday, but did not enter a plea. Prosecutors say he traveled from New York to Amman, Jordan, last May trying to reach ISIS territory. His mother, 23-year- old Allah Saadeh was arrested in June on similar charges.

Developing this morning, a White House aide charged with assault after allegedly shooting at her boyfriend, a U.S. capitol police officer. Barvetta Singletary helped handle President Obama's relationship with the House of Representatives.

Authorities say she grabbed her boyfriend's gun during a fight last Friday. They say she fired a round at the floor. No one was hurt. She has been released on bond and due back in court next month.

Donald Sterling now suing his girlfriend V. Stiviano and TMZ over the scandal that forced him to sell the Los Angeles Clippers. He says the release of the recorded conversations where he made racially charged remarks, those recordings violated his privacy and caused damage on scale, quote, "scale of unparalleled and unprecedented magnitude". An attorney for Stiviano says Sterling has no claim to privacy because his remarks were made in front of Stiviano's sister. No comment yet from TMZ.

Severe forecast thunderstorms in the forecast all along the East Coast today, folks. Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for the weather.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Christine, hopefully, you're having a fantastic Tuesday morning. Look at the showers, they're beginning to move in across portions of the Northeast, really across the Delmarva region, Western PA, working their way towards western New York state.

The models are doing a good job because I expect the intensity to pick up between 9:00 to noon and early this afternoon. And the intensity could bring in heavy rainfall in New York City, Philly. Possibly of one to two inches around JFK by the afternoon hours, while down towards at around say northern portions of Delmarva, could get upwards of four inches inside the next couple days.

Temperatures, though, yesterday, 83. We say goodbye to that. In Boston, down to 73. Not too bad across New York City, about 80 degrees or so. Pretty seasonal for this time of year. What is unseasonable, the extreme heat down across the south, 13 million still underneath the heat advisories that we're dealing out there.

[04:20:01] Notice a cooling trend back up to the upper 90s, which is where they should be for Dallas by later this week.

All right. Quick glance here, because first, you had measure showers, one of the more prominent meteor showers of the year, taking place and we have near new phase of the moon, meaning the skies would be dark. You get away from the major cities.

Tonight, poor conditions across the northeast, but as we head into Wednesday night, improving conditions there for some meteors, upwards to 100 shooting stars per hour if you get outside -- Christine.

ROMANS: A hundred shooting starts per hour, wow. Thanks for that, Pedram.

The U.S. consulate in Turkey attacked, violence escalating as the country's partnership with the United States in the war on ISIS enters a new phase. We are live after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Happening today, the U.S. consulate in Istanbul is expected to reopen after it came under fire Monday. Turkey's state run news agency says the attack was launched by members of the leftist group angry at America's military buildup in Turkey. The attack came one day after the U.S. deployed six F-16 fighters and 300 military personnel at the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey. It was just one of three armed attacks Monday across Turkey, which is one of America's allies in the region.

For the latest on the escalating violence there, I want to turn to senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh -- Nick.

[04:25:01] NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, I must stay away from crowded areas here. This is the height of tourist season, the commercial capital of Istanbul.

And, yes, as you pointed out, there's two gunned women, in fact, that they blame for the attack on the consulate. The target not hit. But one gun woman injured and the other on the run. As you said, they are from a relatively obscure Marxist, Leninist group known by its Turkish initials, the DHKPC.

Now, it's really related it seems, this attack politically toward ISIS. Yes, you say the motivation was American build up here, but it's not part necessarily of that war. ISIS weren't behind this attack.

At the same time yesterday, you mentioned Turkey being the other target of the Turkey's renewed military campaign here. Yes, they are hitting ISIS with the jets, but they're also hitting their long time adversary here, the Kurds, who've long wanted a separatist in the southeast off this country. In fact, just this morning, the sixth now Turkish security member killed in the southeast of the country.

This one killed on the military base. Another one killed in a helicopter yesterday. Four killed by roadside bombs remote-controlled detonator.

So, Turkey suffering here in its fight against the Kurdish separatists, allowing the U.S. into a base in the south base of the country. You mentioned the six F-16s moving into Incirlik, perhaps soon the days ahead to begin bombing ISIS targets in northern Syria.

The question that many in Turkey are asking is they are being hit in Istanbul and in the south by Kurds and obscure Marxist, Leninist group, where does ISIS and their potential retaliation fits into all this?

We haven't necessarily seen that in certainly the last few days of the wave of violence. That I think has many on edge here. Quite what will the spillover of Turkey and the U.S. increasing military operations against ISIS be here in relatively fragile Turkey -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Nick Paton Walsh for us this morning -- thank you for that analysis. Thanks, Nick.

State of emergency in Ferguson, new arrests overnight. Police and protesters face-off. Details next.

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