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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Protesters Arrested in Ferguson; Trump Returns to the Campaign Trail; Toxic Spill Pollutes River; Armed Attacks Across Turkey. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired August 11, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:30:30] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight. New arrests in Ferguson, Missouri. Protesters and police facing off in a new night of demonstrations.

Donald Trump back on the campaign trail facing criticism from Hillary Clinton. And this morning, Megyn Kelly, the FOX News host, responding to his controversial comments about here.

State of emergency declared. A toxic spill turns a Colorado river orange, turns a Colorado river orange. Millions of gallons of water polluted with heavy metals, a problem for residents and farmers.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It's 30 minutes past the hour.

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 to protests and civil disobedience, marking the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown's death. But the violence paled in comparison events overnight Sunday. That's when multiple rounds of gunfire erupted and police shot at an 18-year-old who they say fired at them first.

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

CNN's Jason Carroll is in Ferguson. He has more on last night's protests and these 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, thank you for that, Jason.

Happening today, Donald Trump's first appearance on the campaign trail since last week's debate and the billionaire's controversial comments about the FOX News anchor Megyn Kelly. Trump will keynote a Lincoln Day Republican Party event in eastern Michigan. Trump has said he won't apologize to Megyn Kelly. And now, she says she certainly will 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 with 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 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."

[04:35:00] Hillary Clinton weighing in on Trump tying him to the rest of the Republican field during a campaign swing through New Hampshire.

CNN's 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 Zeleny, unusual, I think you're absolutely right there.

Now, Donald Trump will get his chance to respond to Hillary Clinton's comments in just a few hours. He will be interviewed live on NEW DAY during the 7:00 hour.

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.

Senator Chuck Schumer says breaking with President Obama and opposing the nuclear deal with Iran is one of the most difficult decisions he ever had to make. New York's Democratic senator laying out his reasons for rejecting that Iran agreement, insisting the Iranians have only one real 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 for us this morning -- thank you, Michelle.

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

Time for an early start on your money this morning. A look here at stocks around the world are mostly lower.

[04:40:01] A shock from China, allowing a one-time depression of its currency. E.U. officials reached a deal on the Greece's new bailout. U.S. futures are down, stepping back from that huge Dow rally yesterday. The Dow rallied 240 points, snapping a seven-day losing streak.

Watch Google shares today. Google announcing a major corporate restructuring, forming an umbrella company called Alphabet run by Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Google's senior vice president of product will run Google's core business as CEO.

Some departments will spinoff under Alphabet, sub-companies forming their own companies really -- the makers of the driverless car, Google X, Nest, Google Ventures, what started really as a search engine does all kinds of things. Company restructuring to reflect that, trying to show where the value is, what parts of the company are losing money. And investors really seemed to like it. At one point this morning, in pre-market, Google shares were up 6 percent. So, watch that one today.

A toxic river spill. Environmental disaster much worse than originally believed. Millions of gallons of water polluted with dangerous chemicals and heavy metals. Next details, next.

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ROMANS: All right. A state of emergency this morning in Colorado. The Animas River turning a toxic orange color, five days after contaminated by the EPA. Now, the agency, the EPA, admitting it accidentally sent 3 million gallons of sludge into the river, which is now laced with a host of dangerous chemicals like arsenic and lead and cadmium.

[04:45:03] We get the latest from CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: 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.

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? I mean, it's just -- to look at the pictures, it's just so sad. 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: Christine, 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. And so, we just don't know how much of the water went into the crops. We don't know how much absorbed by the crops. There are so many questions out there.

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

ROMANS: And, clearly, an investigation into what happened and why the EPA made that mistake, how the EPA could have allowed 3 million gallons of that water into the -- sludge into the river. That is an investigation to continue.

Thank you, Elizabeth.

Legionnaires' disease outbreak in New York killed 12 people in the South Bronx. City and health officials say two more cooling towers tested positive for the Legionnaire's bacteria. For those officials report no new cases of the disease in the last week, So far, there have been 113 cases diagnosed since July 10th, 76 patients treated at hospitals. New York's mayor proposing new legislation to require all existing cooling towers in the city be registered for inspections with the Department of Buildings.

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 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 from TMZ.

The U.S. consulate in Turkey attacked. A new wave of violence in the country as it increases its support in the war against ISIS. We are live after the break.

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[04:52:11] ROMANS: 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, one of America's allies in the region.

For the latest on the relationship between the U.S. and Turkey, the escalating violence there. I want to bring in senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh for us this morning.

Hi, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, while those six F-16s are there in Incirlik, in southern turkey, to attack ISIS in the days ahead, the attack targeting the U.S. consulate, ISIS weren't behind it. Instead, it was a relatively obscure Marxist/Leninist group known by the Turkish initials, the DHPKC.

Now, two female gunman authorities say were behind it. One injured and caught, the other at large. The consulate is saying stay away from large gatherings here in the capital. It was as you mentioned, one of many attacks. The total of five in the last 24 hours across Turkey. One just this morning, bringing the total number of Turkish security officers killed in the southeast of the country, seemingly, according to authorities by the Kurds.

Remember, Turkey is a complex war here. It is bombing ISIS, yes, along with the U.S., but it's also hitting long term adversary the Kurds, the PKK, in southeast Turkey as well. That has officials confused.

The PKK thought to be behind three attacks. One soldier shot death on the military base this morning, another killed in a helicopter and four killed police, that is by roadside bombs yesterday. A bloody past 24 hours or more here in Turkey. We have yet to see the U.S. bombing campaign launched from here properly underway.

Turkey under criticism for hitting the Kurds who are the awkward ground troops. A different branch of the Kurds doing the fighting against ISIS from all the same political allegiance. The U.S. wants to stay on the side of Turkey, to be able to use the military base in the south, but this conflict now in its fourth year with ISIS in the mix, so complicated. And the U.S. now finding, I think, what should be key ally here, member of NATO often complicating its role -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Nick, thanks for that, from Istanbul this morning. Thank you, Nick.

Wouldn't you like to see more money in your paycheck? Wages are stuck in neutral, but not everywhere. I'll take you to the cities seeing the biggest raises, next.

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[04:58:54] ROMANS: Welcome back. Good morning. I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an early start on your money this morning.

A look here at stocks around the world, mostly lower. A shock overnight from China, allowing a one-time depression of its currency. E.U. officials reached a deal on Greece's new bailout. U.S. stock futures are down right now, stepping back from a huge Dow rally yesterday. The Dow up 240 points. That snapped a seven-day losing streak.

Hillary Clinton unveiled the cornerstone of her domestic agenda. She wants to make college affordable, a chance for students to graduate without debt and allowing people with loans to today to refinance at lower interest rates. The plan would cost $350 billion over 10 years.

Who pays for it? Clinton wants the richest Americans to foot the bill. The Clinton campaign told CNN Money it's similar to a plan from the president that would limit deductions for those making $250,000 a year or more.

Republicans like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio slammed the plan. They say it is a huge tax increase, new taxes on the rich.

Workers are seeing paltry wage raises across the country, paltry. But some are seeing enviable results. In Columbus, Ohio, wages grew 6.2 percent in the last year. That's much better than the overall 2.1 percent growth nationwide.