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Key Players Take Center Stage; Trump Makes First Campaign Stop In Michigan; Clinton To Hand Over Private Email Server; Donald Trump Leads Republican Rivals; Police Take Swift Action Against Rookie Officer; European Markets Plunge After China Devaluation; U.S. Seeks New Ways To Contain ISIS; Trump Leads Latest Iowa And New Hampshire Polls; Migrants Clash With Police On Greek Island; Growing Number Of Abandoned Children In China. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired August 21, 2015 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:11] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Under fire Hillary Clinton agrees to turn over her private e-mail server to investigators.
Under pressure, China devalues its currency for a second time in two days. A look at winners and losers.
And under investigation, archaeologists say they may have found the final resting place of Nefertiti.
Welcome to viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Rosemary Church and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
And we begin here in the United States with a trio of high-profile contenders for the White House. Two of them trying to quell controversies, the third, perhaps, inviting controversy of his own with comments about the rise of ISIS.
So let's begin with Donald Trump. The reality TV star and Republican frontrunner brought down the house at a campaign stop in Michigan, the home of the U.S. auto industry. Trump railed on his opponents and doubled down on his controversial stances. He started with U.S. trade policies with China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: China has no respect for President Obama whatsoever. They're making it impossible for our businesses, our companies to compete. They think we're run by a bunch of idiots.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Trump blasted Mexico for sending what he says are unwanted people into the U.S. and he vowed to create more U.S. jobs by reducing illegal immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Mexico is going to pay for the wall and they're going to be happy about it. You know what? They're going to be happy about it because the cost of the wall is peanuts compared to the kind of money they're making.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: A pair of new polls from Iowa and New Hampshire showed Trump still leading the Republican field despite an uneven debate performance and a controversial comment that many people think referred to a female journalist's menstrual cycle. Trump is confident he can win over the skeptics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think we're going to do very well with a lot of votes. We are going to do very well with the Hispanic vote and great with the women vote. If you look at in Nevada, they did the poll and I'm leading in the Hispanic vote because I create jobs and I will be creating tremendous numbers of jobs. So I think we're going to do great.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Trump has also been critical of Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton and her use of a private e-mail server which she -- while she was secretary of state. Clinton now says she will hand over that server to Justice Department investigators. CNN global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott has more.
ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Originally, Hillary Clinton said she would not hand over her private server. That was a request by the chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, Trey Gowdy. And that was seen more of a political move by the chairman.
But now Secretary Clinton says she will hand over her private e-mail server and a thumb drive containing all of her work-related e-mails that has been kept by her attorney, David Kendall to the Justice Department.
In a statement provided to CNN, Clinton spokesman, Nick Merill, says that Clinton, quote, "pledged to cooperate with the government's security inquiry." So she's not going to add fuel to the fire to any of these House panels, but certainly wants to be seen as cooperating with the government concerns.
This taking place as investigators of Clinton's private e-mail server have morphed into various investigations not only on classified information on the server, but also to include many of Clinton's former staff at the State Department have been asked to hand over their e-mails.
On Tuesday, the inspector general of the intelligence community said it has identified at least five e-mails that contained information on Clinton's private e-mail server that has since been classified so a lot of concerns about whether classified information was kept on that server.
[03:05:01] Secretary Clinton now saying she will hand over that server to satisfy concerns by the government. Elise Labott, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: For a closer look at how Hillary Clinton's e-mail troubles are likely to play out and the continuing popularity of Donald Trump, I spoke with CNN political commentator, Tara Setmayer and I began by asking her how Trump continues to gain support from voters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He is running his campaign like a reality show, the same way he was running the "Apprentice." You know, he is treating this the same way. This is all about the Trump brand and about his personality and he is capitalizing on the emotion that people feel when they see someone that just says it like it is and they go, yes.
It's like the tabloid aspect of American politics that draws people to that kind of mudslinging. Frankly, I don't think it's good. I think eventually it's going to wear off. How soon I'm not sure. All of this is based purely on emotion and no substance thus far.
CHURCH: Yes, and the problem is, he is a loose cannon, isn't he? The Republican Party machine must be very unsettled by what's happening. The other presidential candidates are hardly getting a look in. What happens if Trump wins the Republican nomination? What's that going to mean for the party? Is it even possible, do you think?
SETMAYER: I don't think that Donald trump is going to win the nomination. This is a phenomenon that we've never seen before and you are absolutely correct that the party officials and the folks in Washington have no idea what to do. We've never seen anything like this before in American politics. He defies the laws of political physics and gravity here. Everyone is trying to figure it out as they go along.
CHURCH: So what happens if Trump doesn't win the nomination and decides to run as an independent? He's indicated the possibility of that. What is the likely impact going to be on the Republican Party and of course, those presidential candidates who haven't had much of a say and also on Hillary Clinton's future?
SETMAYER: Well, that would be a complete disaster for the Republican Party. We've seen this happened before. This happened in '92 when Ross Perot ran as an independent and he siphoned off a significant portion of the vote enough to allow Bill Clinton to win.
Bill Clinton only won with 43 percent of the vote in 1992 because Ross Perot took double digits away from George H.W. Bush. So if Donald Trump decided to run as an independent or third party candidate, it would be a disaster.
You might as well hand the presidency to the Democrats, whoever that might be. It would be a boom for Hillary Clinton or whomever that would be. CHURCH: Yes, and you mentioned Hillary Clinton, wanted to talk about her and her e-mails, that of course the issue that has dogged her campaign and continues to do so. Her private e-mail server is being turned over to the Justice Department. How likely is it that that will put to rest some of the trust issues she has with voters?
SETMAYER: I think this is going to get worse. Every week we are hearing more stories. You had two inspector generals here who have investigated this and they have found there were in fact classified emails in one of the batches that they reviewed even more closely after she said she never sent classified material.
It came out today or yesterday, I guess it was, that her server, that the inspector general found there were two top-secret e-mails that were sent out of those four that they examined more closely, which can be very problematic for her.
CHURCH: Yes, we will still be talking about Hillary Clinton's problems with e-mails and Donald Trump of course. Tara Setmayer, thank you very much for joining us, CNN political commentator. Pleasure to talk to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Meantime, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is proposing his plan to fight ISIS and Islamic extremism. He spoke to supporters late Tuesday in California. He says he would impose a no-fly zone over Syria and embed U.S. troops with Iraqi forces. He also took aim at President Obama and Hillary Clinton for pulling combat troops out of Iraq too soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And where was the secretary of state? Where was Secretary of State Clinton in all of this? Like the president, himself, she had opposed the surge, then joined in claiming credit for its success, then stood by as that hard- won victory by American and allied forces was thrown away.
It was a case of blind haste to get out and call the tragic consequences somebody else's problem. Rushing away from danger can be every bit as unwise as rushing into danger and the costs have been grievous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Jeb Bush there and Hillary Clinton's campaign says Bush's remarks are, quote, "A pretty bold attempt to rewrite history."
[03:10:03] A senior Clinton adviser says it was the invasion of Iraq by President George W. Bush that gave rise to ISIS.
Police in Missouri have released a video they say shows a suspect waving gun drawing protest in Ferguson. Police say 18-year-old Tyron Harris is the man. You see him here in the white t-shirt. He is accused of firing at officers and was critically injured when they fired back. Now Harris is facing a number of charges including assault on law enforcement. His family insists he was running for his life.
A white police officer in Arlington, Texas, has been fired and could face criminal charges after allegedly shooting and killing an unarmed African-American teenager. Arlington's police chief says that rookie officer, Brad Miller, was fired for exercising poor judgment.
Miller was responding to a burglary call at a car dealership where he killed 19-year-old Christian Taylor. Police say there was no physical altercation between Officer Miller and Taylor.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has more details about what happened that fateful day at the car dealership including reaction from the brothers of the victim who are trying to cope with their brother's actions that day, but also the actions of the officer.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has been a swift and quick response from the Arlington Police Department firing the white police officer that shot and killed an unarmed black teenager.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The night 19-year-old Christian Taylor vandalized and broke into an Arlington, Texas, car dealership, rookie police officer, Brad Miller, made troubling and catastrophic decisions. That is the scathing critique from the city's police chief.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The facts available demonstrate that Officer Miller exercised inappropriate judgment.
LAVANDERA: This is how the investigators say the events unfolded leading to the shooting death of Christian Taylor. Taylor had driven his jeep through a glass wall into the showroom area of the dealership. Police radio traffic captured when Taylor is spotted inside.
Officer Miller broke away from his partner and entered the building alone against department protocol. Miller told investigators Taylor was screaming obscenities and moving toward him.
Investigators say Miller fired his first shot when Taylor was seven to ten feet away. Investigators say there was no physical altercation. The officer's partner and training officer, Corporal Dale Wiggins then deployed his taser and right after that, Miller fired three more times, killing the 19-year-old football player.
Miller told investigators he feared Taylor would overpower him, but the police chief said he has serious concerns about Miller's justification for the shooting.
WILL JOHNSON, ARLINGTON POLICE CHIEF: This fear and feeling of isolation was a result of his poor decision to enter the building without assistance and without an arrest plan. LAVANDERA: Adrian and Josh Taylor are Christian's older brothers, they can't explain the 19-year-old's behavior in that car dealership lot Friday morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was tough to watch. We just know that wasn't him in that video, not in his right mind, the little brother we grew up with. We're still looking for answers as well.
LAVANDERA: Taylor's family doesn't understand how the young football player who was 5'7" and weighed 170 pounds could hurt two police officers.
(on camera): Do you think there's any way that Christian could have threatened these officers' lives?
JOSH TAYLOR, VICTIM'S BROTHER: Knowing my brother he wouldn't dare. He didn't threaten anybody ever. He never would harm anybody.
ADRIAN TAYLOR, VICTIM'S BROTHER: I just fail to see the immediate threat they would have had if he is unarmed to feel like that was the best option or the best route to go.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Arlington Police investigators agree with Taylor's family and now a 49-year-old rookie police officer has been fired and a grand jury will decide if Officer Brad Miller will face criminal charges.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera, CNN, Arlington, Texas.
CHURCH: In South Korea, police tell CNN an 80-year-old man set himself on fire during a protest outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul. Bystanders rushed to help put the fire out. The man was taken to a local hospital where he is being treated for non-critical burns. The protest was calling for Japan to apologize for forcing Korean women to work as so-called comfort women during World War II.
We'll take a short break now. But still to come, stocks in Europe are falling hard as China devalues its currency for the second day running. We will have the numbers and take you live to Beijing to find out why many say the government is not playing fair.
[03:15:06] Plus, chaos on a Greek island, police call in reinforcements after clashes break out among migrants waiting to get immigration papers. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Breaking news this hour out of Europe where financial markets are getting hit hard by China's announcement it was devaluing its currency yet again and we are seeing there are the markets. Look at those numbers.
The arrows are all heading down. Germany's DAX lost more than 2.5 percent there. In France, the market's down nearly 2 percent so just extraordinary numbers. And this is now the second day in a row that the People's Bank of China has devalued the Yuan.
As CNN's Steven Jang joins us live from Beijing with the details. Steven, the devaluation of the Yuan affects exports and other currencies, of course, and has had a negative impact on global markets. Explain China's thinking behind the strategy and why it's doing it now?
[03:20:04] STEVEN JANG, CNN PRODUCER: Rosemary, the timing was certainly interesting. Tuesday's announcement came days after a very poor export data signaling another headache for the slowing economy here in China. But China now being the world's second largest economy and a major trading partner with global -- with the globe's major economies this latest news is sending ripple effects throughout the international community.
That's why in the U.S., for example, but have presidential candidate Donald Trump implying that China is a currency manipulator. This is something you will be hearing more and more. This is not something new.
The U.S. has long accused China of keeping its currency artificially low to help exporters. But the Chinese Central Bank says it is letting market force play a bigger role in devaluing of the Yuan which had been artificially strong despite a strong economy. And they say it is more reflective of the reality of a slowing economy here.
CHURCH: Steven as we mentioned, China has devalued the currency for a second day. How likely it will devalue the currency again or is this it for now?
JANG: That's right, 3.5 percent devaluation in two days, that's something we haven't seen in 20 years. This is big news. But the central bank today actually came out with a lengthy statement trying to say the initial adjustment -- this initial shock would not persist.
Because according to the Chinese Central Bank there are several factors at work here including the economy despite growing at a lower 7 percent rate it is still respectable in a global environment compared to previous years of double-digit growth, slower by still 7 percent is a respectable figure.
Secondly, China's trade surplus is huge against many countries and also the currency, the Yuan has been increasingly globalized. That's why this move is needed to basically make this currency exchange rate more market-oriented -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right, Steven Jang joining us there live from Beijing, many thanks to you for explaining that to us. We appreciate it.
The U.S. financial markets did not respond well to China's currency devaluation. The Dow lost 212 points to finish down more than 1 percent on Tuesday. The Nasdaq and the S&P also lost ground.
As we've seen in the financial markets the devaluation of the Yuan can have a far-reaching impact around the world. CNN's Richard Quest explains why it matters. RICHARD QUEST, CNNI HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": When you look at how the Yuan moved you see all these effects, whether it's going up or down. In this case, obviously it's falling. Immediately we see the dollar getting stronger and that means more exports from the United States. They become more expensive, a clear negative.
And Chinese goods, they of course, become cheaper which means a more competitive battle. In its short and easy terms, devaluing the Yuan is bad for U.S. exporters and brilliant for Chinese exporters. But there's more to it than that.
You have to look at other currencies closely tied to the Yuan that are also losing value. The Australian and New Zealand dollars and Brazil's Real were down because commodity prices also, they are priced in dollars. And those countries are big commodity exporters.
Oils, minings, metals, they're all losing ground. At its most simplistic, you can see the Yuan's move as Chinese exports and the U.S. exports and the rest of the world. In the wider picture over the longer term you are left with the conclusion that there is a much bigger political play underway. Richard Quest, CNN, New York.
CHURCH: A Mississippi couple is behind bars after they were accused of conspiring and attempting to support ISIS. A judge ordered them held without bail on Tuesday after they tried to travel to Syria over the weekend. The trip was allegedly disguised as their honeymoon.
The 22-year-old man is a son of an imam in Mississippi and the 20- year-old women's father is a Mississippi police officer. Both accused are former students of Mississippi State University.
[03:25:08] Meantime inside Syria and Iraq ISIS is fighting to expand its territory and the United States is trying to find new ways to stop the group. CNN's Barbara Starr looks at the U.S. options and obstacles in the region.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): American F- 16s at any time could begin striking ISIS from their base here in Turkey. Some strikes may be aimed at the Turkish-Syrian border where ISIS forces just moved in after al Qaeda left. Strikes will try to pave the way for putting U.S.-trained moderate rebels back into Syria after their unit was decimated in an attack.
MARK TONER, DEPUTY U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: This has been a difficult process to vet these people to train them, to get them back into what is a very fluid and dynamic situation.
STARR: The Pentagon trying to figure out how to salvage the training effort. More than 70 additional rebels may finish their training in the next few weeks.
LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: We need to find a group willing to be our boots on the ground and the ones we have chosen right now aren't it. STARR: Defense Secretary Ash Carter moving beyond just working with the rebels.
ASH CARTER, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: There are other capable ground forces fighting both the regime and ISIL. I gave the example of the Syrian Kurds, but we'd like to see more.
STARR: The initial strikes could also be aimed at targets in Iraq. ISIS on a new rampage in most all where up to 300 civil servants may have been killed in recent days. The U.S. had credible intelligence a mass killing was being planned, but no way to stop it, a U.S. official tells CNN.
ISIS also still massing forces around the Baiji oil refinery, but the U.S. taking extra steps to keep air force pilots safe. When bombing runs are made, the U.S. wants to send up stand by helicopter rescue forces from this second base in Turkey in case a pilot goes down. Right now they have to come from further away in Erbil in Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And the reason all of this is so important? ISIS is still bringing new fighters into Syria and Iraq as fast as the coalition can kill them. That is the latest U.S. intelligence estimate. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
CHURCH: Donald Trump still leads a crowded pack of Republican presidential candidates, but some have moved forward while others have fallen behind. The status of the GOP field is just ahead.
Plus Greek police yield batons and fire extinguishers after scuffles break out with migrants. We're back with that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:31:32]
CHURCH: Welcome back to viewers in the United States and of course all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. We do want to check the headlines this hour.
China has devalued its currency, the Yuan, for the second day in a row. The central bank set its referenced rate 1.6 percent lower today. Some analysts say it's a sign the country's economy is faltering. Tuesday's devaluation sent world financial markets tumbling.
Hillary Clinton will hand over her private e-mail server to U.S. investigators. Critics blasted her for not using a secure government server during her time as secretary of state. Clinton says she has given all work-related e-mails to the State Department and will continue to cooperate with the investigators.
Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, made his first campaign stop in Michigan Tuesday since last week's debate. He gave a speech that boasted support among women and Hispanic voters, key groups in national elections.
Two new polls show Trump leading in Iowa and New Hampshire, but there are some changes in the middle of the pack. Dana Bash has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the first contest state of Iowa, Donald Trump is leading for the first time according to a new Suffolk University poll edging out Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who spent months treading lightly around Trump and is now taking the gloves off.
SCOTT WALKER, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is using the same old tired talking points of the Democrats. They didn't work in the past. They are certainly not going to work in Iowa.
BASH: Trump's rise in Iowa comes as he told CNN's Chris Cuomo he still won't rule out running as an independent.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): I have to keep that door open. If I'm not treated fairly I may use that door.
BASH: And the bombastic billionaire is defying convention once again admitting to and owning being a whiner.
TRUMP: I am a whiner and I keep whining and whining until I win.
BASH: Trump is trying to redeem himself with female voters after a public feud with Fox News' Megyn Kelly.
TRUMP: I cherish women. I will be so good to women. I will work hard to protect women.
BASH: The new Iowa poll shows that despite controversial remarks about women, Trump is at 14 percent winning with female voters in the first caucus state. His GOP opponent isn't buying it.
RAND PAUL, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Vulgarity does not equate with insight. It does not equate with a vision for the country.
BASH: Trump's lead has narrowed in the first primary state of New Hampshire, on the upswing to breakout stars from last week's debate.
Ohio Governor John Kasich catapulted from barely registering to third place in New Hampshire. Conservative voters not turned off by comments about same-sex marriage.
GOVERNOR JOHN KASICH, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I went to a wedding of a friend of mine who happens to be gay.
BASH: And former CEO Carly Fiorina, who couldn't even get on the main debate stage last week moving up in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BASH: The candidates who are not doing as well or as much of a story is those who are. Chris Christie's numbers have dropped so much that he is at 3 percent in this new poll there. Rick Perry's campaign is no longer paying staff. They are asking them to volunteer.
[03:35:05] Though Jeb Bush was not banking on a win in Iowa he is in seventh place there, which is troubling to some supporters. Dana Bash, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: Investigators examining debris near the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash site in Eastern Ukraine say they have made a disturbing new find. They say fragments of the debris might be from a Russian-made surface-to-air missile system, but they caution it's too early to know for certain. The plane was shot down last year killing off 298 people on board. Evidence from a separate Dutch investigation has indicated the jetliner was struck by a missile fired by pro- Russian rebels.
Police on the Greek island of Kos are calling in reinforcements from Athens after clashes among migrants waiting to get immigration papers. The authorities couldn't provide water, shelter, food, or sanitation. The situation has since calmed down, but the chaos is more evidence of how Greece is struggling to cope with the growing number of migrants. Isha Sesay explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Immigration overload. Tensions are running high on the Greek island of Kos, where hundreds of migrants gather in a long crowded queue waiting to register with local authorities.
Standing in the sun for hours, the heat takes its toll. One woman faints. A father with a small child struggles through the crowd to reach the front of the line. Frustration mounts until tempers flare and several scuffles break out.
Police try to reestablish control by spraying the crowd with fire extinguishers. Hundreds flee in panic and those who are left describe the conditions on the island as third-world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No toilets, no water. People have been waiting for more than ten years -- ten days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We only want to go from this island because we live in a miserable way. No bathrooms, no places to sleep in.
SESAY: Kos is a few kilometers from the Turkish coast making it a prime destination for thousands of migrants fleeing Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Hundreds arrive daily aboard these inflatable rubber boats seeking the quickest way to Europe and what they hope will be a better life, but it's the island is overwhelmed and many migrants say they reached their breaking point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What can I say? Is this Europe? If this is Europe we're going back to Syria. SESAY: The ASP news agency reports at least one police officer was suspended following Tuesday's clash and a Greek news agency quotes the island's mayor saying there is a risk of bloodshed if the situation degenerates further. Isha Sesay, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: It was a wild weather day in the United States from flash flooding that washed away cars down crowded city streets to a giant dust storm that blanketed an entire city.
Plus this couple is going to the chapel and going to get married over and over and over again. We'll have that just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:42:03]
CHURCH: In China, CCTV is reporting four people have been rescued after a landslide swept through a mining company's living quarters. All of them were rushed to the hospital and are in stable condition. Forty people are still missing. The landslide buried five dorms and three houses. Residents living nearby have been evacuated.
And now to wild weather that has wreaked havoc in two U.S. states. Look at this giant wall of dust also known as a haboob in Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday. It diverted flights and knocked out power to thousands. In parts of Colorado heavy, rain triggered flash flooding that swept away cars and everything else in its path. Incredible images there.
Meantime the drought in Southern California has forced officials to come up with a unique way to save water in reservoirs in the Los Angeles area. Pedram Javaheri is here to explain it to us. Talk us through this and how it works exactly.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's fascinating. What the city has done over four reservoirs they deployed 96 million plastic balls the size of apples filled with water. They sent in 20,000 of them on Tuesday. But what the hope is here that the surface area of the water is covered up because they are weighted down so they are all bunched up together and the sun doesn't shine own the water.
The scientists say they save 300 million gallons of water from evaporating in the air and algae blooms would not take over the water as well. Some controversy around this, plastic into the water, but the city is going to do what it can at this point to preserve what little water they have.
The sun of course shines down on the water and you have evaporation take place on the order of about a billion liters. But you put this in and it reduces the algae growth and about 36 cents per plastic ball. But it's supposed to save money when it comes to not losing water to evaporation.
In parts of Europe, temperatures about 5 Celsius above average in the last week and a half and a severe drought in Germany and Poland. Video coming out of Germany is showing you the river levels so low, impacting the tourism and shipping industry and the hydroelectric power industry with the water levels dropping with the tremendous heat that has been in place over this region.
Bringing you back to the graphics, the Persied meteor showers are on us. We are right in the middle. You look at the northeastern sky from 10:00 at night to 3:00 in the morning. It's one of the best meteor showers of the year.
[03:45:12] This year because we are near a new phase of the moon meaning the sky is dark, if you get outside you can see up to 100 meters streak across the sky in an hour. And tomorrow at this time take a look at about 3:00 in the morning local time.
CHURCH: That's interesting. Don't be distracted and drive into a pole.
JAVAHERI: And being away from the city helps.
CHURCH: Thank you so much, Pedram.
Want to turn to China now and a growing number of children are being cast aside by their parents. Experts say about 100,000 have been abandoned in recent years, many because they have medical conditions. Will Ripley reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the faces of China's most vulnerable, surviving in a system overwhelmed. Abandoned children, like the newborn Beijing police pulled from a public toilet last week. Her mother long gone. The little girl likely becoming yet another Chinese orphan.
This boy's parents abandoned him at 3-month-old, botched surgery left him paralyzed from the waist down.
(on camera): You lived here all your live, right?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes.
RIPLEY: Long time, nine years.
(voice-over): The oldest at this orphanage in Beijing, the defacto big brother, no parents here, only staff and volunteers like Canadian missionary, Kristina Weaver.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't deserve this kind of life.
RIPLEY: China's hundreds of foster homes are no longer full of healthy girls as they were at the height of the one child policy. Today nearly all of China's unwanted children have disabilities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I look in their eyes, I see stories and hurt. RIPLEY: Despite rapid economic growth, welfare experts say the world's second largest economy lacks in adequate social safety net resulting in hundreds of thousands of orphans.
(on camera): How big is this problem?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Huge.
RIPLEY (voice-over): The associate director of Children's Hope International, Melody Jang, says that many parents can't afford to care for kids with special needs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very, very hard to find a family for him. We waited for nine years. He waited nine years.
RIPLEY: A family that promised to adopt him backed out. Many of his friends found homes and moved away. Finally an American family is filing paperwork to adopt him.
(on camera): Dad, mom, three sisters and grandparents. That's a big family.
(voice-over): The Wilson from the Kansas City area are trying to raise $36,000 in adoption costs. If I have parents, he says I can live and have a life. His new life is likely months away, an eternity for a young boy waiting nine years for a family.
Suddenly no more words, only tears, pain felt by far too many children abandoned, desperate to find parents, to have homes, to be loved. Will Ripley, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And we do want to tell you that since CNN first brought you this story, the family has been able to raise $35,000 for the adoption. We'll continue to keep you updated on that. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:53:58]
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, I do want to introduce you to America's youngest mayor, 3-year-old James Tufts was chosen to lead the tiny town of Dorsett, Minnesota. His skills on the campaign trail helped give him an edge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES TUFTS, MAYOR OF DORSETT, MINNESOTA: Thank you. For coming and please vote for me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will. It's very nice to meet you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
TUFTS: Welcome to Dorsett. Please vote for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Politics runs in the Tufts family. James' 6-year-old brother Robert served as mayor for two years. His advice for his youngest sibling, be nice and no potty talk. Great advice there.
For most wedded couples getting married once does the job, but a Canadian couple says once is not enough as Bonnie Allen reports.
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BONNIE ALLEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With a majestic backdrop of glaciers and icebergs, Karl Fixx (ph) and Sandy Bye (ph) got married off the coast of Greenland two weeks ago.
[03:55:09] Unlike most brides and grooms there were no cold feet here. These two have done this before 12 times in different countries.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is our marriage certificate from Timbuktu.
ALLEN: They have certificates from about half the ceremonies. Carl likes to joke that his wife can't divorce him because no lawyer in the country can dissolve all of their marriages.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be better or for worse because she has no choice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Too many weddings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Too many places. It would be too expensive.
ALLEN: Sandy, a dentist, and Carl a retired construction company owner got married the first time 11 years ago in South Africa and Sandy lost their wedding certificate. So on a trip to Timbuktu in West Africa, Carl found a local official to marry them again in the Subsaharan desert. It inspired a Hindu ceremony in Nepal. Traditional ceremonies in Ethiopia and Mozambique, in each one, they embraced local customs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we have 30 people just spitting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the tradition. Just spit up in the air.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Until we were wet.
ALLEN: How many of these ceremonies did the bride plan?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: None. Not one.
ALLEN: It's all Carl. For some, he spent months secretly planning the surprise. For Vegas it was an impromptu decision.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A hunk-a burning love.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It reaffirms that he is in love with me. ALLEN: The couple will marry in Mongolia next month. Carl admits he likes the weddings and the honeymoons.
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CHURCH: Sure he does, 12 times, how about that? I'm Rosemary Church. The news continues here on CNN.
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