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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
China Explosions: Dozens Dead; Donald Trump Surges in Iowa; FBI Picks Up Clinton Email Server; Former President Carter Says Cancer Has Spread; China Lets Yuan Fall 3.7 Percent in 3 Days. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired August 13, 2015 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:31] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Dozens dead, hundreds injured in a series of huge explosions. The fire still burning this morning. We are live.
Donald Trump on top of Iowa. New CNN poll showing the Republican presidential candidate widening his lead in the race for president.
Former President Jimmy Carter announcing he has cancer and it is spreading. Details ahead.
Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It is Thursday, August 13th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East. Nice to see you this morning. John Berman has the week off.
New poll numbers let's start there new poll numbers have Donald Trump opening a significant lead in Iowa. Despite or maybe because of the controversy he provokes, the billionaire Republican tops the CNN/ORC poll at 22 percent among likely caucusgoers. That's eight points ahead of his rival.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more on that and on the Democratic contest from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.
A week after the first Republican presidential debate, after all of the fallout cleared, Donald Trump remains squarely on top in the key state of Iowa which kicks off the 2016 contest early next year.
Our new CNN/ORC poll shows that Trump is leading the field at 22 percent. That's eight points higher than his closest rival Ben Carson, who also saw a big boost since the debate. He is now in second place at 14 percent. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker had been the leader in Iowa, but now, he is in third place at 9 percent.
And take a listen to this -- Jeb Bush is tied at 5 percent with Senator Rand Paul and Senator Marco Rubio. That's assured challenge for him in Iowa. But now on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has a commanding lead in the state. She's 19 percent higher than her closest rival Bernie Sanders. It's shaping up to be a busy few days of campaigning in Iowa. The Iowa state fair starts today. Most of the candidates will pass through in the coming days, including Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and so many, many more.
Christine, you now how great the Iowa state is. It starts today and we'll be out there -- Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Jeff Zeleny. And yes, Iowa state fair, one of those things you must do in your life. Really great.
Two minutes past the hour.
Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server in FBI hands this morning. A lawyer for the data services company that manages Clinton's private email system telling "The Washington Post" that late Wednesday afternoon, the FBI picked up the server that Clinton used when she was secretary of state. This as Clinton faces new attacks over her use of a private server from Republican rivals Donald Trump and Jeb Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): I mean, what she did is a real problem for her. I don't know frankly that she'll be able to run because it just looks to me the whole e-mail thing is a very criminal situation. And it could cause problems for years to come.
JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And you have Hillary Clinton who is the secretary of state, dealing with confidential information with classified information thinking it was OK to use a private server, thinking that her server would be safer than the State Department's fire walls. We need a president that recognizes that there are threats in the 21st century that are dramatically different than the threats of 30 years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: CNN's Elise Labott has the latest on this email controversy more from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, you remember in March, Secretary Clinton refused to surrender her private e-mail server to the House panel investigating the Benghazi attack. But Clinton saw that request from Republican Chairman Trey Gowdy as a political ploy. Now, she says she will answer Justice Department concerns about the security of the email server and she is now turning it over to the Justice Department, along with a thumb drive of work- related e-mails. Now, this comes amid new disclosures from the intelligence community
that two of Clinton's e-mails contain top secret information, the highest classification available. But that info was never marked classified by the State Department and Clinton may not have known it should have remained on a secure system.
Still, as the email probe expands to Clinton's former State Department staff, it is taking a toll on her presidential campaign. A new Monmouth University poll found more than half of registered voters think Clinton's e-mail should be subject to a criminal investigation, 38 percent think she had something to hide.
Of course, it's also providing an opportunity for 2016 Republican contenders to excite tehir base -- Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that, Elise Labott.
Republican presidential candidate John Kasich defending his finally calibrated position on immigration this morning. Campaigning in New Hampshire, the Ohio governor defended millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally as, quote, "some of the hardest working, God- fearing, family-oriented people you can ever meet".
[04:05:10] It's a view sure to create controversy in the GOP.
But Kasich tells CNN's Dana Bash says this does not mean he favors citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Immigration.
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes.
BASH: You talked about granting citizenship to -- ultimately, to some undocumented immigration --
KASICH: No, that's not --
BASH: OK, you said I'm not closed to it. Everybody in this country needs to feel like they have the opportunity.
KASICH: Right.
BASH: Explain where your position is.
KASICH: Right, I would prefer for them to be legalized once we find out who they are, because I think they contribute a lot to America.
But I don't favor citizenship, because as I teach my kids, you know, you don't jump the line to get into a Taylor Swift concert.
BASH: You're leaving the door open to citizenship ultimately. KASICH: Yes, but let me be clear, I don't favor it, and I'm not sure
we would ever have to do that. Let's make citizenship, getting in here legally, that's my view on it. But, you know, I'm just not going to pound my table on all these things, and say, my way or the highway. I mean, I will on some things, but I've got to be careful about that.
Because you know what? I actually think about what it would be to be president. So, do you ever noticed when people run for presidents, they make lots of promises and they never keep them?
BASH: No, I've never noticed that.
KASICH: OK. Well, I do. OK? And you know why? Because they make promises they can't keep, because they don't know any better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Kasich is surging in the polls in New Hampshire. He's now up to third place, close behind Jeb Bush in second and Donald Trump, of course, leading the pack.
Jimmy Carter is battling cancer. America's 39th has surgery to remove a mass from his liver earlier this month. Carter confirming doctors discovered cancer during the procedure. Cancer that has spread to other parts of his body. The 90-year-old Carter says he will release more details when all the facts are known next week. President Obama calling the former president to wish him a speedy recovery and we do as well.
History unfolding in Cuba. Secretary of State John Kerry traveling to the island nation tomorrow. He will raise the American flag over the reopened U.S. embassy in Havana. It has been 70 years since a U.S. secretary of state made the visit, 70 years. Kerry says human rights will be the top issue when he meets with Cuba's minister. Kerry also plans to meet with opponents of the Cuban government, but those dissidents will not be invited to the flag-raising ceremony.
The NSA has used its phone surveillance program to search for operatives of the Iranian government and terrorist organizations that are linked to Tehran, that's according to "The New York Times". Sprint and AT&T are listed as participants in that operation. The new disclosure coming just weeks before Congress scheduled to vote on a nuclear deal with Iran.
Overnight in Baghdad, at least 36 people killed when a bomb exploded in a crowded vegetable market. Iraqi officials say the bomb was loaded on a truck when it blew up in a mostly Shiite area. Dozens more people wounded. It is not clear who was behind that blast. But ISIS has claimed responsibility for two other deadly bombings near Baghdad this past month.
Breaking news overnight: explosions rocking a warehouse in northeast China, killing at least 44 people, many of them firefighters. This disaster unfolding in the port city of Tianjin. Hundreds more are injured, many critically, and dozens of firefighters, dozens of firefighters are missing at this hour. The blast at a facility that handles hazardous materials knocked down
doors, blew out windows for miles. The videos are very dramatic, the situation is very grave.
I want to get the latest on the situation from CNN's Will Ripley. He is there in Tianjin, China -- Will.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, good morning. It has been a very difficult day as the number of dead and injured continues to rise, 44 now confirmed dead, including 12 firefighters on the scene of the chemical fire that then turned into a series of really powerful explosions.
I'm going to actually turn this camera around to show you the vantage point. I am standing more than a mile from the blast site right now. But you can see the extent of what the blast did. It blew out the windows to the convention center. It has disabled a light rail station.
I can't zoom in. But all of the windows in the apartments are blown out. And so, people were running outside last night trying to escape. They didn't put their shoes on. And they were running through shards of glass.
And, often, the distance there, you see the smoke plume. That is the fire that continues to burn. Firefighters had to suspend their efforts because they don't know what toxic chemicals are burning right now. Until they get clarity of what is exactly going into the air here, they simply don't believe it is safe for firefighters to try to fight this.
We notice in our throats today as we walk around, there is a bit of a chemical smell, certainly not as strong as it was last night, Christine.
[04:10:01] But think about the fact that 15 million people live in this city and a number of them are still displaced. There are major parts of the city that are closed off right now, with state of emergency in effect that they try to contain this explosion, figure out if there are more victims or survivors that need to be rescued, and that, of course, the investigation into how this happened -- Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Certainly some dramatic pictures and certainly a very grave situation. Will Ripley for us this morning in that port city, a mile away from the blast site. They're still damage there. Thanks for that, Will. We will check in with you again as the morning progresses.
Let's get an early start on your money this morning. China devaluing its currency for the third straight day. Since Beijing's surprise move, yuan has lost more than 3 1/2 percent of its value against the dollar, and this has roiled world markets, slamming stocks, slamming commodities, slamming currencies around the world, and complicating the Federal Reserve's plans to raise interest rates in the U.S.
The feeling this morning, though, China's devaluation spree may be coming to an end.
Let's bring in business correspondent Alison Kosik for a look at how world markets are reacting this morning, after three dramatic days.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right. And it's that inaction that China is promising is part of the reason you are seeing stocks higher around the world right now.
Asian shares are up despite China devaluing the yuan for a third day in a row. That's also driving up stocks in Europe and stock futures here in the U.S. as well. That's because just a few hours ago, China's central bank came out and saying, listen, let's be calm, calming the global fears of the yuan plunge in recent days, saying it has no more plans to devalue the currency.
China's central bank is billing it as free market reform, but experts say it's all about making exports future, and a weaker yuan means a stronger dollar which winds up hurting U.S. exporters.
Yesterday, stocks closed mostly higher in the U.S. Despite all the craziness, the Dow fell less than one point. The NASDAQ and S&P wound up in the green up about 0.1 percent.
Christine, it is interesting day to see the Dow fall so much and kind of make up some really good ground by the closing bell.
ROMANS: So interesting, the world markets. I mean, you see oil markets at six-year lows and currency and bonds and everything moving, it's very dramatic.
KOSIK: It is.
ROMANS: All right. Thank you, Alison.
The U.S. launching air strikes from Turkey for the first time. We are live after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:15:22] ROMANS: The U.S. military launching its first manned air strikes against ISIS from Turkey. Just last month, the Turkish government agreed to allow the U.S.-led coalition to use its strategically critical bases to fight those extremists. That means shorter flight times targeting ISIS positions in Syria.
Let's get the latest from CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh live from Turkey.
Good morning, Nick.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, the runway behind me in the distance has been busy in the last few hours or so. We have seen two F-16s taking off. We cannot tell if they are American or Turkish to the speed they're flying. Turkey is always using this base behind us here.
But the key thing now that we know officially, the Pentagon has begun attack strikes here against ISIS, is that it reduces the flight time to Syria to a mere 15 minutes. That means that the tempo of refueling, rearming for those F-16s that are based here right now, maybe more in the future, we don't know, is significantly reduced. And it means that they focus much more on targets of opportunity if they see them below them there, there are drones flying out of here to assist that as well.
And on top of that, too, we are hearing that it was yesterday that they went after targets inside Syria. So, this is clearly a bid to trying to intensify the fight against ISIS inside northern Syria here, where they have the stronghold. There is a lot of talk from Turkish officials here about their desire absolutely not shared by American officials to create some sort of safe zone in northern Syria along the Turkish border and we may get some government flowing or more moderate fighters to hold both the Kurds and radicals out and ISIS too. It's a long shot, but it shows the Turkish are much more invested in this kind of talk in some sort of intervention in Syria.
But the use of the planes behind me here has been so complex for the Americans to negotiate. Now, it's here. It will significantly benefit their ability to hit ISIS inside Syria, Christine.
ROMANS: Six U.S. F-16s, a 15-minute flight. Stepping up the tempo of those attacks, but stepping up the risk to the American personnel, Nick.
WALSH: Certainly. That is always one possibility. But bear in mind, you know, the capacity for ISIS to take jets down is pretty limited. We do know they managed to pilfer some Syrian military supplies, there may be other things in Iraq they laid their hands on. But frankly, the speed at which these jets travel on, the height that they travel at, too. The risk is small, but it is still there. But it's possibly something, which given the reduced flight time here, too, they can mitigate as well -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Nick Paton Walsh for us near Incirlik in Turkey, thank you for that, Nick. We'll talk to you again soon.
The head of the EPA calling the toxic spill in Colorado caused by her agency tragic and unfortunate. Gina McCarthy toured the banks of Animas River Wednesday. That's where EPA crews accidentally poured toxic chemicals into the Animas River during cleanup in an abandoned gold mine. They were trying to prevent seepage of those chemicals and accidentally somehow released them. She has now ordered a temporary halts to that work. Levels of contaminants in the water are now dropping. Colorado's governor says he expects the river to reopen soon.
In California, one wildfire burning out of control just as crews gain the upper hand on the other. The rocky fire northwest of Sacramento is now 95 percent contained. Officials expect the blaze to be fully extinguished soon. But the other fire to the south grew to 20 acres, burning through dry, very terrain. So, far it has destroyed 43 homes and scorched 70,000 acres of land.
Three new Bill Cosby accusers now coming forward. The women, Colleen Hughes and Linda Ridgeway Whitedeer and Eden Tirl appearing with attorney Gloria Allred during a news conference Wednesday. Each of them describing encounters they say they had with Cosby when they were in their 20s. Allred, who represents 21 other Cosby accusers, says the comedian's attorneys have indicated to her that he intends to be at the October deposition.
Heavy rains, possible flash flooding in the southeast today. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has the latest for us.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Christine.
We have a nice day across the East Coast of the U.S. high pressure in control to bring sunshine to New York as well as Boston and the nation's capital. But it's this stationary front that's going to be responsible for some hefty rainfall going forward once again for Florida. This is something we're going to monitor very closely.
Also, we have a weak cold front dropping south, that will bring stronger storms to the western Great Lakes region today.
[04:20:04] Here's our rainfall totals going forward through Saturday. Perhaps anywhere between two and four inches for the central and eastern portions of the state.
The West really starts to heat up again under this upper level high pressure system, especially near the four corners. Look at these temperatures, easily breaking the 100-degree mark near Phoenix. Las Vegas, more of the same. Salt Lake City in the mid-90s.
And the point being here is that some of that heat will slowly edge eastward. So, we can kiss the hot temperatures good-bye in the Big Apple. We start to wallop into the lower 90s by the end of the weekend.
Back to you.
ROMANS: All right. It will feel like summer, no question. Thanks, Derek.
Twenty minutes past the hour.
China devalues its currency again. What that means for your money, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: China's central bank doing its best to soothe markets this morning. Today marks the third straight day that the central market devalued its currency, China's currency. The first bank first lowered the exchange rate for the yuan Tuesday, describing it as a one time fix. Since then, it did it twice more.
Now officials say they have, quote, "adjusted" yuan enough and they expect depreciation is, quote, largely finished. That's why world markets are breathing a sigh of relief this morning.
Ana Coren live in Hong Kong for the very latest.
Ana, the Chinese done with this experiment?
ANA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, let's hope so. At least that is what the Chinese are saying. And the markets today here in Asia would certainly reflect that.
[04:25:04] Things looking a little bit more positive. People interpreting this as the currency not going to drop any lower. But in saying that, it's China, we know how volatile it has been over the past few months.
Obviously, the official word out of China is that it's allowing market forces to intervene and determine the value of the yuan. And remember, this is what the U.S. and IMF, the International Monetary Fund, has been pushing for sometime. But analysts not so convinced. Certainly, many of those that I've spoken to today believe that this is really just another indication that the Chinese economy is much weaker than what official figures suggest.
We know that they are hurting. The consumer spending is certainly down as is construction. So, by devaluing the currency, that perhaps survived the economy and certainly stimulates at exports obviously. Exports cheaper and much more competitive on the global stage.
But there is no deny that it has rattled world markets the past couple days. Everyone has taken a hit. And you have to say, Christine, from the sharp reaction that we have seen, that people are no longer believing what the Chinese are saying. You know, the hope for 7 percent growth over this year, people are very skeptical that will be realized, even more so now with the devaluation of the yuan, Christine.
ROMANS: The presidential season here in the U.S. Of course, it lasts much longer here in the U.S. than anyplace else in the world. But you will hear more about China and its motives with its currency and with its policies I'm sure on the campaign trail, especially among the Republicans. We already have.
Ana Coren, thank you for that very much.
All right. Death toll rising after a series of explosions. Dozens killed. Hundreds injured. Many still missing. We are live right after the break.
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