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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Clinton Campaign Rolls Out 1st TV Ads; MH370: Experts in France to Examine Plane Piece; California Wildfires Spreading; American Pharoah Wins Haskell Invitational. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired August 03, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Fresh off acquisition of DirecTV, AT&T just launched the first combined TV and cell phone plan.

[05:00:00] That means customers can pay for their satellite TV, their cell phone, their Internet services all in one place. Another perk, they can watch their favorite shows anytime on a TV, computer, tablet, smart phone. How much does it? Two hundred bucks a month.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Like EARLY START, you can watch your favorite shows, like EARLY START.

ROMANS: Exactly.

BERMAN: Which continues right now.

(MUSIC)

BERMAN: Some big shakeups in the race for president. Donald Trump fires a top adviser days before the first presidential debate. Hillary Clinton launches a new pitch to voters as speculation grows that she could face powerful new competition within her own party. It rhymes with Smiden.

ROMANS: Happening now: experts examining a plane piece washed ashore in the Indian Ocean as the search widens for debris that could be from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. We've got live team coverage breaking down these new developments ahead.

BERMAN: California on fire. Dozens of homes destroyed. Thousands evacuated. And this morning, the flames are spreading. We have an update, just ahead.

ROMANS: Dramatic situation there.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Nice to see you. It's Monday, August 3rd, 5:00 a.m. in the East.

ROMANS: Let's start with politics. The political world this morning buzzing over a possible shakeup in the 2016 race. "The New York Times" reporting Vice President Joe Biden has begun exploring a White House run. "The Times" reports that the vice president's late son Beau strongly lobbied his father to run in the months before he died. The Democrats close to Biden tells CNN he has not made up his mind, and that is likely to wait past August to decide.

A Biden spokeswoman says the family is still grieving and that speculation about a White House is, quote, "premature and inappropriate". The 72-year-old vice president would face a daunting prospect catching up with Hillary Clinton, who has already raised millions. She has staffed up significant field operations in early primary states.

The Clinton campaign is not worrying about a decision by Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER PALMIERI, CLINTON COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: We will let him make his decision. The -- however hard it is to secure a Democratic nomination, it's however hard it is. And we have no illusions. We never thought that this was going to be easy. There's a lot of views in the Democratic Party, and, you know, we'll be prepared to handle whatever comes our way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So, the Clinton campaign rolled out its first set of TV ads overnight, along with $1 million ad buys in both Iowa and New Hampshire. In one ad, Clinton tells the story of her mother Dorothy, who grew up in poverty and was helped by a teacher.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When she needed a champion, someone was there. I think about all the Dorothys all over America who fight for their families who never give up. That's why I'm doing this. That's why I've always done this, for all the Dorothys.

I'm Hillary Clinton and I approve this message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: On the Republican side, there's just as much drama where a campaign consultant for frontrunner Donald Trump became ensnared in a scandal over a racially charged Facebook racial posts issue.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has the latest from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, the Donald Trump campaign announcing on Sunday that they have fired one of their political advisors Sam Nunberg. This after it was uncovered last week that there were some Facebook postings of his that were racially charged, dating back to 2007.

Now, he has denied any wrongdoing, said that those posts weren't his. But on Friday, the campaign said they would investigate these claims and by Sunday he was gone. Now, all of this controversy comes as the spotlight right on Trump as he enters the debate stage on Thursday night as the frontrunner, and certainly, there's an understanding on his part that he has somewhat of a target on his back being the frontrunner.

And he said over the weekend that he predicts that a lot of his opponents will come after him. He says he is not going to throw any punches, at least not the first one.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I always counterpunched and you have to counterpunch. But I'm not looking to start anything. A lot of people say they are getting ready and they have their lines given to them by the pollsters. You know, everything is perfectly put down by a pollster, what to say and how to attack me. And, you know, if that comes, it comes. And I'll have to handle it at the time.

SERFATY: And Chris Christie this weekend downplayed Trump's recent rise in the polls, saying that anyone can do well for a month. And he said it's up to Trump if he wants to be a serious candidate to bring that on Thursday night's debate stage. Here's what he told Jake Tapper on "STATE OF THE UNION."

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that Donald is going to be as serious a candidate as Donald wants to be. And he's going to determine through the depth of his answers and the seriousness of his answers whether he's a serious candidate or isn't. That's what I mean by campaigns matter. Anybody can do well for a month in this business, especially if you have talent and you have personality. And Donald has both of those things. So, let's see how it goes over the course of time.

SERFATY: Meanwhile on the Democratic side, there's a potential here for a shakeup as well. Sources telling CNN that Vice President Joe Biden is considering a run.

[05:05:01] He is being encouraged by friends and his advisors.

And it does seem that at the heart of this is what his son Beau Biden thought before he passed away in May. Sources telling CNN that he encouraged his father to make a run. Now, we do know that Biden has not made up his mind. At this point, he is expected to potentially decide in the next month or so after he discusses it with family -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Thanks, Sunlen.

The Senate votes tonight on a bill to halt federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Senate Democrats are confident the measure will not get the 60 votes needed to advance. Some Republicans are calling for a government shutdown if it's defeated.

Now, Rand Paul is not one of them, but he does want the funding pulled after the undercover videos that sign the spotlight on Planned Parenthood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They, you know, are manipulating the baby, turning the baby around to get to body parts and then selling the liver and the doctors cavalierly saying, oh, well, yes, livers are popular right now for sale, I think most Americans don't want their tax dollars going to this. So, I think when something is morally repugnant to so many people, why should tax dollars go to this?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Senator Paul says he wants to see the millions that go to Planned Parenthood instead fund thousands of community health centers that provide the same services without performing abortions.

ROMANS: Today, the White House will announce a major climate change plan designed to dramatically reduced greenhouse emissions from coal- burning plants. The president calls it the biggest and most important step ever taken to battle climate change, as you can see on that Facebook page.

The plan calls for a 32 percent reduction in power sector carbon pollution by the year 2030, as well as more aggressive, a more aggressive transition to renewable energies, wind and solar.

Republicans are vowing to take the administration to court over the plan. And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already sent a letter to governors in all 50 states urging them not to comply.

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, the president has authorized the use of air power to defend a new American-backed fighting force in Syria. This is raising the risk that the U.S. could end up with direct combat with Bashar al-Assad's regime. The White House says the Pentagon-trained forces are committed to fighting ISIS, not Syria's government troops. But if these U.S.-backed forces are attacked by either or Assad's troops, the U.S. will use air power to protect them.

BERMAN: All right. New information this morning on the investigation into Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Preparations underway in France to begin examining this part of an aircraft wing, the flaperon, that washed up last week on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean. Authorities in Malaysia say the flaperon is from a Boeing 777. Conclusive word on whether it's from MH370, that will have to wait until the examination starts on Wednesday.

For the latest, let's bring in CNN's Saima Mohsin. She is at France's aviation lab near Toulouse.

Good morning.

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

This is the right place for that flaperon to come. Experts, foreign teams and scientists in the highly specialized labs in the world where they will be taking look at that what we know now to be a flaperon from a 777 aircraft. But not yet confirmed to be from the MH370. This is the place to do it.

It arrived here, Christine, under lock and key under sealed container driven with a police escort. And over the weekend, it was shut then. This is the first time this lab opened since it arrived here.

Now, a team of experts are flying in from around the world. The United States NTSB, French authorities, of course, civil aviation authorities here in France and Malaysia. Malaysia transport police and Malaysian airline officials, and a new addition over the weekend, Chinese officials will also be joining this team.

They're gathering today in Paris for an initial meeting. The French prosecutor has remained tight lipped releasing only some statements. But we have managed to get through to them today, and they tell us that today, they will be swapping information. They've got so far from the investigation, and deciding together how exactly they want to proceed.

Now one point is to remind everyone that there are two parallel investigations going on here. There's a reason I mentioned the French prosecutor. And that is because the passengers' families from France, the four passengers onboard MH370 from France have launched a civil case of manslaughter related to potential hijacking or terrorist activity on MH370. So, the French prosecution is leading the investigation and they will be joined by Malaysian judicial officials as well.

Meanwhile, there is another piece as well delivered to France. You will remember it may have been a piece of suitcase. That is being examined of the criminal institute in Paris -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Saima Mohsin for us near Toulouse, thank you for that.

BERMAN: Now, the search for aircraft debris is expanding and intensifying this morning. On Reunion Islands, teams scouring the beach. Officials say about a dozen objects found along the shore have been brought to police, including a piece of metal stamped with Chinese lettering.

[05:10:04] But authorities say none of the objects has anything to do with MH370, at least not yet.

For the latest, let's turn to CNN's Erin McLaughlin live on Reunion Island. Erin.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Well, they're not just searching here on Reunion Island, but they're also searching on the nearby Mauritius Island as well as the Seychelles Island, which is over a thousand miles from here. Coast guard combing the waters, searching for any clues.

This morning, Malaysia's transportation minister tweeted that this are is consistent with drift analysis done by experts. So, Malaysian authorities asking authorities in the area for help in identifying any potential debris.

Now over the weekend, volunteers scouring the beaches of Reunion Island. And this is very a difficult task, especially when you consider that the ocean is very, very large, and it has a large amount of garbage as well. So, there's plenty of room for false alarms.

Yesterday, some eight police officers were called out to a nearby beach. They identified and collected a piece of metal calling that metal an object of interest. Now, AFP released a photograph of that metal. It shows twisted metal with Chinese characters. And that's created a lot of buzz online, on social media sites in China. People speculating that metal might be connected with some sort of Chinese tea kettle.

So, it really illustrates that police are taking every lead very, very seriously. But so far, they found nothing that they are tying directly to a missing plane MH370.

BERMAN: You can see, though, why the interest level is raised so much. Erin McLaughlin on Reunion Island for us -- thanks so much, Erin.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money this Monday morning. Asian stocks and U.S. stock futures are lower. European stocks looking a bit more optimistic.

But in Greece, there's no optimism anywhere actually. Stocks down 30 percent this morning. The stock market reopened today. It was closed for five weeks.

There are restrictions on local investors to keep money from flooding out of the banks. They will only be allowed to buy shares with existing cash. They cannot withdraw from the Greek bank accounts.

The stock market and the banks shut down at the end of June to prevent a collapse. Banks reopened two weeks ago after Europe agreed to a new bailout, but withdrawals are still limited to 420 euros a week. That's when -- you shut a stock market and when it reopens, everyone runs for the exit.

BERMAN: That's what happens when a country all but implode economically.

ROMANS: Exactly.

All right. Twelve minutes past the hour. Happening now: dozens of homes destroyed, thousands evacuated as wildfires raged across California. New developments overnight.

Plus, caught on camera. Look at that. Look at that tornado touching down. We'll tell you the story behind this just remarkable picture. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [05:16:06] ROMANS: Welcome back.

A state of emergency has been declared for all of California where at least 21 wildfires are burning right now. The worst of them has already destroyed two dozen homes and threatens thousands more in northern California. Hundreds of families have been evacuated, and authorities say the Rocky Fire 100 miles north of San Francisco is barely 5 percent contained.

BERMAN: Look at those pictures right now. The big question right now is, will the weather help firefighters there? Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John and Christine.

We have over 20 fires raging across California as we speak. We focus in on the Rocky Fire. Look at the terrain across the area, almost 3,000 firefighters having difficult time navigating the steep cliffs and really getting at the individual spot fires. It's only 5 percent contained at the moment. Over 54,000 acres have been burned so far. And look at that, 6,000-plus structures threatened from this.

Unfortunately, the weather is really not going to play along too much. Still sunny and dry through the rest of the week, and it appears the humidity levels will stay low and the wind remain light to moderate.

This is what some of the ground looks like in the arid parts of California. Remember, we have 46 percent of the state under an exceptional drought.

Take a look at his incredible video from NASA. This shows the rainfall conditions over the past six months. And notice the colors over the eastern half of the United States compared to the west. We certainly wish we had that rainfall in California, but that's just not the case.

That's the severe weather today across the New England area, and that is going to mean large hail, damaging winds possible for Pittsburgh. And New York, your heat wave coming to and end by the middle of this workweek.

Back to you.

ROMANS: All right. Derek, thank you for that.

This amazing weather video just in. Look at this white tornado silhouetted against black clouds. This is tearing across the field southwest of Des Moines, part of the severe thunderstorm system causing hail and wind damage. No damage reported from this particular twister.

BERMAN: A manhunt underway this morning in Tennessee for a suspect who is accused of murdering a Memphis police officer. Saturday, officer and Marine Corps veteran Sean Bolton was gunned down after he spotted an illegally parked car and approached. Detectives say Bolton actually interrupted a drug deal and got into a struggle with this man, Tremaine Wilbourn, who shot him several times.

Wilbourn remains at large this morning. Bolton's fellow officers are determined to capture him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONEY ARMSTRONG, DIRECTOR OF POLICE SERVICES: When you look at this individual, you are looking at a coward. He's a coward. He literally destroyed a family. Look at the impact that has had on this department, this community, this city for less than two grams of marijuana.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The mayor of Memphis says the White House has contacted city officials to show support. U.S. marshals have joined the manhunt for Wilbourn. They're offering a $10,000 reward.

ROMANS: The FBI, ATF and Homeland Security are now investigating two explosions outside New Mexico churches ahead of Sunday services. The incidents came in Las Cruces, that's about 40 miles north of the Mexican border. The first explosion tore apart a mailbox outside a Calvary Baptist Church, and the second explosion was in a trash bin outside the Holy Cross Catholic Church. No one was injured.

BERMAN: American Pharoah cannot lose. Competing in the first race since winning the Triple Crown. Look at that amazing horse go. Andy Scholes with the details in the bleacher report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:18] BERMAN: Tragedy at the ballpark. A 9-year-old bat boy has died after being hit in the head by a practice swing.

ROMANS: Just breaks your heart.

Andy Scholes, he's got more on this morning's bleacher report. Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, guys.

Yes, this is definitely a heart breaking story. Kaiser Carlile was a volunteer bat boy for an amateur team in Liberal, Kansas. He was running out to get a bat on the ground in the on deck circle during Saturday night's game.

But the batter never saw him. He took a practice swing and hit the young boy in the head.

Kaiser was wearing a helmet, but the force was still devastating. The umpire, a full-time firefighter and paramedic, begun CPR right away. Kaiser was rushed to the hospital, but died hours away. Our thoughts go out to his family.

All right. The legend of American Pharoah continues to grow. The people's horse won yesterday's Haskell Invitational. His first win since claiming horseracing's Triple Crown. And no one is sure when American Pharoah will race again, but he has an automatic entry in the $5 million Breeder's Cup Classic in October.

All right. Check out this video from yesterday's NASCAR race in Poconos. Brad Keselowski coming in for a pit stop and overshoots his box and runs into his pit crew. One guy went flying into the hood, while another landed pretty hard on the ground. Both guys thought popped right up, went to work on a car. Lucky no one was hurt right there.

And, finally, you've got to stop what you're doing and look at this viral video. Australian daredevil Robbie Madison is the first person ever to surf a wave on a dirt bike. This is just incredible. He spent two years building a motorcycle with skis. Madison, he was the stunt double for Daniel Craig in the James Bond film "Skyfall."

[05:25:04] So, so cool.

And, John, in case you didn't know, today's Tom Brady's 38th birthday. I wasn't sure if you were going to actually be here today, or if you in the entire day preparing for the festivities.

BERMAN: We're having a time-out in our relationship, Andy. We have taken a time-out to see what happens. There's a judge involved. They are trying to get it worked out in the next four weeks.

SCHOLES: The mediation, yes.

BERMAN: Exactly.

ROMANS: No red velvet cupcakes from your house to his today. All right.

BERMAN: Thanks, Andy.

ROMANS: Thanks, Andy.

SCHOLES: Have a good one.

BERMAN: All right. The race for president intensifies this morning. Donald Trump fires an adviser. Hillary Clinton's camp braces for new competition. Look at the bottom right hand corner, that man.

We'll break it all down, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: It's a big shake up coming to the race for president. Days from his first Republican presidential debate, Donald Trump fires a top adviser, Hillary Clinton preparing for her first television ads, as speculation mounts she'll face a powerful, new challenger.

BERMAN: The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, it widens this morning. New islands being examined for debris as experts, they tried to figure out if that first plane piece that washed ashore does belong to MH370. We have live coverage coming up. ROMANS: Wildfire spreading this morning across California. Dozens of homes destroyed. Thousands evacuated. The latest on the firefight ahead.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Thirty minutes past the hour right now.

And the political world is buzzing this morning over a possible shakeup in the 2016 race. "The New York Times" reports Vice President Joe Biden has began actively exploring a White House run.