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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

New Arrests in Ferguson; Trump Returns to the Campaign Trail; Toxic River Spill; Rory McIlroy Ready to play in PGA Championship. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired August 11, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: In Columbus, Ohio, wages grew 6.2 percent in the last year. That's much better than the overall 2.1 percent growth nationwide. Also seeing big gains, San Francisco, Virginia Beach, Louisville, Kentucky, rather, Rochester, New York.

In all of these cities, unemployment below the national average, moving down quickly. Wage growth has been the missing ingredient in this recovery. Many Americans don't feel it. Towers Watson, a consulting firm, says 3 percent is the wage increase you can expect next year. Don't spend it all in one place.

EARLY START continues right now.

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ROMANS: 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 facing new criticism from Hillary Clinton. What she reveals about their relationship, ahead.

State of emergency declared. A toxic spill turns millions of gallons of river water orange from Colorado to New Mexico, three times larger than originally believed. A horrific mistake that has people in Colorado -- Durango, Colorado, fuming this morning.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It is Tuesday, August 11th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

Arrest overnight in Ferguson, Missouri, after frustrated demonstrators confronted police, a few throwing rocks and bottles. It was a full rowdy end to the full day that organizers dedicated to protest and civil disobedience, marking the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown's death.

But the violence paled in comparison to the events Sunday when multiple rounds of begin fire erupted and police shot at an 18-year- old they say shot at them first. His name is Tyrone Harris. He is hospitalized in critical condition.

He now faces multiple charges, including five counts of armed criminal actions. His aunt denies he fired on police. Karen Harris tells CNN he didn't have a gun, he did not have a gun, he was running for his life, she said, in the midst of other people's gun battles.

CNN's Jason Carroll is in Ferguson for us this morning. He has more on last nights 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: Jason Carroll for us this morning from Ferguson -- thank you, Jason.

Happening today, Donald Trump's first appearance on the campaign trail since the debate and the billionaire's criticism of 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 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 apologize for doing good journalism. So, I'll continue doing my job without fear or favor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: 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.

[05:05:04] 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."

Hillary Clinton also weighing in tying him to 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, thanks for that, in New Hampshire for us this morning.

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

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 now 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.

New York Democratic 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 have more from 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, thank you for that.

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.

[05:10:01] The Senate votes on that agreement in mid-September.

A disturbing study kept secret by the federal government for nearly four years. Finds 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 fatigue 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.

Time for an early start on your money. A quick look at stocks around the world, mostly lower. A shock from China allowing a one- time depreciation of its currency. Greece says its lenders agreed to terms of a new bailout. U.S. stock futures are lower, stepping back from what was a huge rally yesterday. The Dow up 240 point yesterday, a big day, a seven-day losing streak, excuse me, now broken.

Watch Google shares today. Google restructuring its business, separating out the advertising and search business from its diverse unprofitable so-called moon shots. All these things they do, like driverless cars and other aspirational technology ideas. The umbrella company will be called Alphabet. It will be run by Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Google's senior vice president of products will run the company's core business as CEO.

Some of the departments will spin off to their own companies under Alphabet, like the makers of the driverless car, Google X, Nest, and Google Ventures.

Happening now, a state of emergency. A toxic spill turning millions of gallons of river water orange from Colorado all the way to New Mexico. A disaster. I'll bring that to you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: A state of emergency has been declared in Colorado this morning. The Animas River turning a toxic orange color. Five days after it was contaminated by the EPA, the EPA admitting it accidentally sent 3 million gallons of sludge into the river which is now laced with dangerous chemicals and heavy metals.

[05:15:03] Arsenic and lead among them.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that 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.

ROMANS: All right. Severe thunderstorms all along the East Coast. Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

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.

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: All right. Pedram, thank you for that, Pedram.

All right. Golf's final major set to take place this weekend. Will the world's number one player, Rory McIlroy be ready to tee it up?

Andy Scholes has the bleacher report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:12] ROMANS: All right. Big news this morning from the world of golf. Rory McIlroy says he is ready, 100 ready to play in the last major tournament.

Andy Scholes has more on this morning's bleacher report.

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good morning, Christine.

Yes, Rory missed the British open after hurting his ankle playing soccer with some of his buddies. But he's healthy now and ready to defend his PGA championship title this week. The world's number one golfer played a practice round at whistling straits in yesterday.

The tournament is going to tee off on Thursday, and all eyes will definitely be on Rory's grove. He will be playing with U.S. Open champ Jordan Spieth and British Open winner Zach Johnson.

New Royals pitcher Johnny Cueto made his debut in front of Kansas City fans last night. And he did not disappoint. He threw a four hitter as the Royals beat the Tigers, 4-0. Cueto struck out eight. He did not let a runner get past second base. Cueto is the first pitcher since Cliff Lee in 2009 to throw a shutout in the National League and American League in the same season. And he got a pretty cool Gatorade bash for doing it.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker is showing support for ALS awareness and Tom Brady. Baker wore a free Brady T-shirt during the ice bucket challenge on the steps of the State House yesterday. Brady and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell meanwhile are scheduled to be in a Manhattan federal court tomorrow morning to participate in a settlement meeting over the Deflategate.

And, finally, you have to see this video from the tour of Utah. A rider going too fast down this hill and crashes right into that Porsche. The rider's name is Matt Bromiear. He tweeted from the hospital. All good in the hood, guys. Thanks for the messages.

[05:25:01] So, Christine, he wasn't in too bad a shape. He's broke some ribs and his pelvis. But he shouldn't Amazing after seeing that video. That could have gone much, much worse.

ROMANS: He says all good. That did not look good. None of that looks good. I'm glad he has a sense of humor. We wish him a speedy -- maybe not a speedy recovery. Speedy is what got him on this problem in the first place.

SCHOLES: Slow and steady recovery.

ROMANS: Thanks, Andy Scholes.

All right. Twenty-five minutes past the hour. State of emergency in Ferguson. New arrests overnight. Police and protesters facing off, details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Breaking overnight: New arrests in Ferguson, Missouri. Protesters and police facing off in a night of demonstrations.

Donald Trump back on the campaign trail facing new criticism from Hillary Clinton. What she reveals about her relationship. Why she went to his third wedding after all? That's ahead.

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. Twenty- nines past the hour. Nice to see you this.

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.