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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Global Market Worries; Collapse Wipes Out $3.5 Trillion In Value; Donald Trump Hits Back At Clinton; Trump Promises To Fire Any Illegal Workers; Baltimore Police Commissioner Fired; SF Mayor: Murder Suspect Shouldn't Have Been Free. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired July 09, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Chaos on Wall Street. The New York Stock Exchange shut down amidst wild stock market swings in China and a new bailout bid from Greece.

[05:30:05] Live team coverage breaking it all down ahead.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump unplugged, does it come in a plugged in version? The CNN interview that made so much news, Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, and more. Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is 30 minutes past the hour.

BERMAN: We have breaking news overnight, historic vote, just a short time ago, a few hours ago, the South Carolina House passed a bill that orders the removal of the confederate battle flag from the grounds of the capitol in Columbia.

The final vote came in the wee hours of the morning. It was 94-20. Governor Nikki Haley will now sign this measure. The debate lasted 13 hours and featured passion pleas by lawmakers to make the confederate emblem there a thing of the past.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNY HORNE (R), SOUTH CAROLINA STATE HOUSE: Any of you vote to amend, you are ensuring that this flag will fly beyond Friday and for the widow of Senator Pinckney and his two young daughters that would be adding insult to injury and I will not be a part of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: You can see the passion there. That debate for 13 hours. The renewed discussion about the confederate flag was sparked by the murder of nine people in the African-American church last month.

Governor Nikki Haley applauding the vote with a statement that said, "It is a new day in South Carolina, a day we can be proud of, a day that truly brings us all together as we continue to heal as one people and one state."

That flag could come down as soon as tomorrow. State police are investigating numerous death threats against South Carolina lawmakers that were received during the debate.

ROMANS: All right, turmoil around the globe this morning. Computer glitches freezing up the New York Stock Exchange for hours yesterday. United Airlines, even the "Wall Street Journal," all having computer glitches.

The Chinese stock market plunging despite the government's struggle to break its fall, and Greece seeks yet another bailout. The Federal Reserve is worrying now the Greek crisis will hurt the U.S. economy.

We have live team coverage this morning from Shanghai and Athens. But first, a look at the latest on the market, Asian stocks are up. It has been a crazy day, a technical term, it has been a crazy day --

BERMAN: Bonkers.

ROMANS: The Shanghai Composite first dropped 3 percent at the open and then turned around and jumped 6 percent. The Chinese government is doing everything it can to prop up the market to prevent a collapse, to stop the bubble from bursting.

The European stocks are higher right now. There are hopes of an agreement in Greece's debt crisis. U.S. stock futures are higher. They are bouncing back after chaos yesterday.

At 11:30 a.m., the New York Stock Exchange suspended trading and all the trades move to other exchanges. The stock exchange stayed shut for nearly four hours. It was an internal technical issue.

The NYSE says not a cyber-breach. Over at the United Airlines, it shut down. Fleet ground worldwide on its own computer glitches. United says it fixed a bad router, but it disrupted travel all day. That will ripple into the morning.

And the technical problem at the "Wall Street Journal," a 504 error message greeted visitors to the "Journal's" home page. None of these glitches appeared to be related.

The Homeland Security folks have weighed in from Washington and these seem to be separate issues. It raises concerns about how interconnected the world is and how quickly something can go wrong.

BERMAN: Now let's get straight to China right now where there have been epic swings in the market after historic losses. Let's get the latest from CNN's Ivan Watson in Shanghai. Good morning, Ivan.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. That's right. Today, the Chinese stock market, finally a little bit of good news with 6 percent growth in the stock market, first good news in weeks. Why should we care about this?

Well, first of all, China is the second largest economy in the world. Since June 12th, when the Shanghai stock exchange was at its peak, it has tumbled more than 30 percent, wiping out more than $3 trillion in wealth. Now a lot of people said before this stock market crash, this stock market was really a bubble. It didn't make sense that it was the fastest growing stock market in the world at a time when the Chinese economy itself was growing at a slower rate of speed than it enjoyed in the past.

And of course, that growth attracted millions and millions of ordinary mom and pop Chinese investors, housewives and taxi drivers and university students. A lot of these people did not know a lot about investing in the stock market.

A lot of them borrowed money to invest. As they have seen the value of their stocks plummet, it has created, according to the Chinese government, to the regulating commission here, a mood of panic. The Chinese government has been pumping billions of dollars into trying to buy up stocks.

[05:35:06] It has been freezing IPOs and also a lot of Chinese companies, roughly half of them listed on the stock exchange have suspended buying and selling completely. That maybe has helped a bit of confidence in today's buying and selling. We don't really know where this wild ride is going to take China next -- John and Christine.

BERMAN: It interesting to see the communist government control the somewhat uncontrollable. Ivan Watson for us in Shanghai this morning, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right, new this morning, fears from the Federal Reserve that the financial crisis in Greece could spill over to the United States.

ROMANS: In Greece this morning, a fresh rush of fear. New concern that Europe may not buy the latest bailout proposal, has folks rushing to buy whatever durable goods they can, anything that may hold value if the bottom falls out of the Greek economy, which it could within days.

CNN's Isa Soares joins us now live from Athens with the latest. Good morning, Isa.

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Good morning, Christine. Today is all about deal or no deal. We are waiting. Greeks will be waiting anxiously to find out what their prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, put forward in his proposals.

Will they go far enough? He requested a three-year bailout. The amount, we are not sure, but suggestions are anything around 50 billion. That is exactly what the IMF said the country needed to survive for the next few years.

We also know the Greek government has submitted a formal request. Some sort of debt relief. Will they get debt relief? We know that Europe has been pretty divided on this or will they then have to do some sort of debt restructuring. The message, though, this week has been exceptionally clear from Europe. They are not singing from the same hymn sheet, but Alexis Tsipras got the message loud and clear. You either put your house in order financially or you get out.

Important to note the majority of people are backing Alexis Tsipras. There is euphoria on the streets on Sunday. You will have a lot of pressure today to submit proposals that Europe will be pleased with and they go far enough.

That includes really changing the pension system and as well reforming its economy and the tax system. People here will be taking to the streets today to show Europe their heart is in it, but also to show Alexis Tsipras that this is it.

This is a time for him to redeliver on the promises that he has been promising all his people since he took power in January. Of course, while we wait for that, people continue to queue for the 60 euros wondering if this is it. Is this the end? Will they be out?

BERMAN: Wondering if 60 is the best they can do for a long time. All right, Isa Soares for us in Athens, thanks so much.

New this morning, Donald Trump lashing out at his rivals one by one. In an interview with Anderson Cooper that first aired overnight, he took aim at Hillary Clinton.

The former secretary told CNN she was very disappointed in Trump's description of Mexican immigrants as drug dealers and rapists. Trump accused her of dodging media questions about her e-mails.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She has a lot to hide. She doesn't want talk to the press. Look, she was the worst secretary of state in the history of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Also new this morning, a Republican source tells CNN that Republican Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Trump to voice concerns that Trump is hurting the party. Priebus says he has, quote, "spent four years trying to make in-roads with the Hispanic community."

Now on top of all of this, there is growing controversy over a Trump hotel project that according to the "Washington Post" has undocumented immigrants working at the construction site. CNN's Joe Johns has that.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, a rare moment of uncertainty for Donald Trump, the billionaire presidential candidate who is known for speaking his mind and decisively about a whole range of issues.

It is about Trump's construction projects including one going up in Washington, D.C. where he has hired a top project management company to oversee the job. Questions have been raised about whether any of the workers on the site are undocumented immigrants.

It has become a real issue especially in light of Trump's highly controversial comments at his campaign kickoff about Mexican immigrants who cross the border into the U.S.

In a revealing interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Trump gave an honest answer about employees working on his construction projects in general. Admitting that he cannot say for certain there are no illegal immigrants on any of the jobs.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": Can you guarantee that you don't have illegal or undocumented workers working for you in hotel projects or various projects?

TRUMP: I can't guarantee it. How can anyone? We have 34 million in the country. I used to hear 11. Now it is 34 million. I cannot guarantee anything. I can say this we work hard to make sure everybody is legal as opposed to illegal.

[05:40:04] JOHNS: There was more controversy surrounding the Washington, D.C. hotel project that is supposed to open at the end of this year or sometime in 2016.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: The celebrated chef and entrepreneur, Jose Andres, became the latest Trump partner to drop out of a venture with him due to his controversial comments about immigrants. Andres had planned to put a new restaurant inside the hotel -- John and Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Joe Johns, thank you, Joe. Donald Trump is also making it clear he is standing by a retweet on his page that took a personal jab at his rival, Jeb Bush. It said Jeb Bush has to like Mexican illegals because of his wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If my wife were from Mexico, I think I would have a soft spot for people from Mexico. I can understand --

COOPER: You think that influences his position on illegal immigration?

TRUMP: I think it could, I mean, maybe it should.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My wife's from Mexico. I love her dearly. You can love the Mexican culture. You can love your Mexican-American wife and believe we need to control the border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Jeb Bush's wife and he have been married for 41 years. She is not a very public person. She has been a private person and focused on her family. You know, to see her brought up, I guess, is sort of an unusual because she is such a private person.

BERMAN: You see candidates talk about other candidates' wives?

ROMANS: Baltimore's police commissioner fired following a crime surge in the wake of Freddie Gray's death. We got those details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:45:10]

BERMAN: Breaking news overnight out of Chicago. A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Boston forced to abort takeoff at midway because of mechanical problems. One of the 143 passengers recorded video that shows sparks coming of the wing there. A fire department spokesman says an engine caught fire. Southwest says no one was hurt. The plane is being inspected.

Baltimore's embattled police chief is out. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings- Blake announced the removal of Commissioner Anthony Batts on Wednesday saying the people of Baltimore deserve better. Batts was widely criticized for his response to the riots that came after the death of Freddie Gray.

Earlier, police union report criticized his leadership saying officers received confusing orders during the riots. The mayor says she is responding not to the union report, but to a dramatic spike in homicides. The deputy police commissioner, Kevin Davis, will now serve as interim role.

This afternoon, a memorial service for Kate Steinle, the woman fatally shot on a San Francisco pier. New details are emerging about the apparently random killing and how the suspect who had been deported five times managed to get his hands on a murder weapon, a gun stolen from a federal law enforcement officer.

Let's get more now from Kyung Lah in San Francisco.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Christine, we are learning much more about the weapon and how all of this began. It started with the break in of a car. That car belonged to a law enforcement officer with the Bureau of Land Management.

Inside that vehicle was his government issued handgun. That 40- caliber gun ended up here at the pier. It is not clear exactly who broke into the vehicle. What we do know is that this suspect, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, found it wrapped in a t-shirt, he says, to an interview with a local television station and then that gun went off.

We also heard for the first time since the murders happened from the mayor of San Francisco. He says that Lopez-Sanchez should not have been released. He put the blame squarely on the sheriff. We are anticipating the sheriff will hold a conference later today to respond to that allegation -- John, Christine.

BERMAN: All right, thanks to Kyung for that. Severe storms moving to the east coast this morning. Just some dramatic video showing flash flood rescues. We will bring you that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:50:00]

BERMAN: Severe weather in store for parts of the northeast and mid- Atlantic today. Flash flooding is a problem in one rural Pennsylvania County. Emergency teams had to rescue several people when water rose quickly after heavy rain put creeks and rivers on local roadways.

Cleaning up in East Canton, Ohio after some major storm damage there, residents say that powerful winds ripped huge trees on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was so fast we did not have time to be scared. We did not realize what happened until we came back up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, let's bring in meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri, for the very latest.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. Look at the severe storm centered right over the portions of northeast. This will be your afternoon forecast here when it comes to these storms beginning to blossom. We know the front will be shifting on toward the direction as we head over the next couple of days.

We have a severe weather threat. On the scale of one to five, it is a two, and it includes about 18 million people, so Philly and Washington and Baltimore, the main threats with damaging winds, potentially some dangerous lightning strikes as well.

But look at how uniformed the temperatures are, from Abilene at 76 coming off the heels of the historic rainfall to New York, more than 1,500 miles away, still at 76 degrees and again, keeping it pretty mild across the eastern half of the country.

So the storms will pop up into the late morning hours from Detroit to Cleveland. Pittsburgh gets it at lunchtime. By dinner time, Philly and New York will have strong storms that we are watching this afternoon.

Watching a tropical depression, this one is poised to become our tropical storm. This would be Elle. As it forms, it is 600 miles away from Hawaiian Islands. We think in the next couple of days, it gets close, but no direct impact, but high surf and small craft advisory in place if you are traveling toward the Hawaiian Islands -- guys.

BERMAN: All right, Pedram, thanks so much.

Bubble popping, economies collapsing and a technical glitch shutting down the New York Stock Exchange. Serious threats to your money coming up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right, welcome back. I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an EARLY START on your money. Stocks around the world are higher, but it's not the whole story this morning. A lot going on, Asian stocks are up. The Shanghai Composite dropped 3 percent at the open then turned around jumped 6 percent. The Chinese government doing everything it can to stop this bubble from popping and prop up the markets.

European stocks up on hopes of agreement in Greece. Greece expected to submit proposals for a reform plan today to avoid bankruptcy and stay in the European Union.

Here in the U.S., stocks bouncing back from market chaos yesterday. At 11:30 yesterday, the New York Stock Exchange suspended trading and all trades went to other exchanges. The exchange says it had an internal technical issue. This was not a cyber-breach. That glitch did not exactly add to investor confidence. The Dow fell 261 points yesterday, now at a five-month low.

BERMAN: It turns out computers can fail completely without it being some kind of cyber --

ROMANS: There is human error and then there is computer error. Both of them are very disruptive.

In Oregon, news to make community college free, the state passed a bill that will cover the cost of tuition for students who apply to state and federal grants. If the governor signs the bill, Oregon will become the second state to offer community college.

Tennessee passed a similar program last year. Earlier this year, President Obama made a proposal to make the first two years of community college free. So this idea in states gaining ground at least in Tennessee and Oregon, but you have to have a low cost solution for students.

BERMAN: All right, just hours ago, South Carolina voted to remove the confederate flag from the state grounds. The governor will sign this measure. It is a NEW DAY in South Carolina and NEW DAY starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: A new day for South Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is my sincere desire that this bill does not pass.

BERMAN: The final vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take a symbol of hate off these grounds on Friday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trading came to a stop on the New York Stock Exchange.

ROMANS: The selloff in China and a bailout bid from Greece.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The music just stopped.

ROMANS: Panic for investors around the world.

TRUMP: People love me. You know what? I have been very successful. Everybody loves me.

COOPER: There is actually no correlation between illegal immigration and crime.

TRUMP: Anderson, you're not a baby.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The first thing we can agree with Donald Trump, Anderson Cooper is no baby. That is beyond partisan attack. Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY. It is Thursday, July 9th, 6:00 in east.

We do begin with breaking news. The confederate flag is coming down in South Carolina. Lawmakers approving a bill to remove a symbol that went up 50 years ago as an act of defiance against the civil rights movement and it is now coming back and going down in the name of tolerance.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: It took 13 hours of debate including an emotional and tearful plea by one lawmaker. The decision marks a stunning reversal in that state three weeks after nine people were killed at that African-American church in Charleston.

CNN's Nick Valencia is live for us in Columbia, South Carolina with all of the breaking details. Good morning, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. It is truly a historic day here in the state of South Carolina. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives here voting by a decisive margin to bring the confederate flag down in a marathon session that lasted well into the night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): More than 12 hours after passionate and oftentimes contentious debate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a part of our future. It is part of our past.