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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Promises Specifics Soon; Clinton Agrees To Hand Over Email Server; Top GOP Leader Meets Israeli President; Stocks Lower Around The World; FBI: Couple Planned To Join ISIS; China Devalues Currency For Second Day. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired August 12, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump leading in new polls, telling voters why his controversial comments on with women and minorities won't hurt him, and he is launching new attacks on his competitors.

New details about Hillary Clinton's e-mails as her private server is handed over to the Justice Department.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It's 30 minutes past the hour. John Berman has the week off.

Let's start with the big rally in Michigan. Nearly 3,000 people cheering Donald Trump Tuesday night at his first campaign event since last week's debate. Now the billionaire presidential candidate was a keynote speaker at a Republican fundraiser in Birchrun, Michigan.

Basking in new poll numbers that show him maintaining his lead in Iowa at 17 percent and followed by Scott Walker and Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush came in seventh in this Suffolk University poll at 5 percent, behind Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and Carly Fiorina.

At the Michigan event, Trump declared he can win, despite recent controversies, even with women and Hispanics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are going to do very well with the Hispanic vote. We are going to do 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. I will be creating tremendous numbers of jobs.

So I think we are going to do great and then the women's health issues, I'm for that. I watched Jeb Bush give the worst answer the other day. I think that is going to be his 47 percent. Now he then went and he said he misspoke. How do you misspeak about that?

I will be great on women's health issues. I cherish women and I will be great on women's health issues. Believe me.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: CNN politics reporter, Sara Murray was at the Trump campaign event last night. Sara has the latest for us.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, Christine. For Donald Trump, it was a warm and raucous welcome here in Michigan yesterday. He took the stage and it seems like immediately, the crowd was on their feet, cheering about his plans to secure the border, cheering about the idea of Donald Trump as the next president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We are going to get the wall built and it's going to be built right and Mexico is going to pay for the wall. Mexico is making a fortune off of the United States. Mexico -- excuse me, Mexico is going to pay for the wall and they are going to be happy about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Now when I talked to voters here, not everyone was sure he could actually win the Republican nomination, but they said they liked the way he talked not sounding like a politician and they said it was refreshing.

As for his recent fiery exchange with Megyn Kelly, a lot of the women I talked to here dismissed the idea it could hurt him with female voters. They said it's just politics as usual. They are over it and it's time for the rest of us to get over it too.

Now for those voters who are hoping that Donald Trump would offer some specifics, today was not the day for him to do it. He did tell the media that he would have some more plans coming within the next two weeks, with specific numbers in terms of job creation, but we are still waiting to see when those are actually going to come out.

For now, it seemed like the crowd was perfectly pleased to hear Donald Trump's normal stump speech with a little bit of an edge. It was not your normal political event and I think the Trump campaign is perfectly happy to have an event that does not look like a political rally. Back to you, Christine.

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

New trouble this morning for Hillary Clinton this morning, for the first time, a new poll of New Hampshire Democrats shows the former secretary of state trailing. Likely voters there picked Clinton second after Bernie Sanders, 37 percent to 44.

Sanders, of course, is the senator from the neighboring state of Vermont. Vice President Joe Biden came in third at 9 percent. He hasn't even officially decided to enter the race, of course.

On another front, Clinton has now agreed to turn over her private e- mail server to authorities. That decision came the same day an inspector general for the intelligence community told lawmakers at least five e-mails on that server contained information that later turned out to be classified. Senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny has the latest.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. This is a significant development in the ongoing questions over Hillary Clinton and her decision to use that private e-mail during her time as secretary of state.

Now, the new information is this. She has instructed her attorney to hand over that private e-mail server and a thumb drive of all of her work-related e-mails to the Justice Department. This is the biggest acknowledgment yet that the Clinton campaign believes this is a significant issue that has taken a toll on her credibility.

Her campaign spokesman, Nick Marrow told CNN, quote, "She pledged to cooperate with the government's security inquiry, and if there are more questions, we will continue to address them." He also said, quote, "The e-mails have been stored in a safe and secure manner."

[05:35:03] But, Christine, this comes only a week after the FBI said they wanted to look into the security of the e-mail to see whether any classified information could have been contained on that server.

By turning over this to the Justice Department, this almost ensures the fact that this story will follow her for the rest of the campaign this fall and into next year -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Jeff Zeleny, thanks for that.

Jeb Bush blaming the White House and Hillary Clinton for the chaos in the Middle East. In a foreign policy speech at the Reagan Library, Bush targeted Clinton's tenure as secretary of state, insisting she and the president made the world less safe with their decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That premature withdrawal was the fatal error, creating the void that ISIS moved in to fill and that Iran has exploited to the full as well. ISIS grew while the United States disengaged from the Middle East and ignored the threat.

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 and then joined and claiming credit for its success.

Then stood by as that hard won victory by American allied forces was thrown away and in all of her record setting travels, she stopped by Iraq exactly once.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Bush will be in Las Vegas tonight to host a town hall and his campaign confirms he will be a guest on Stephen Colbert's late show debut next month.

Ohio Governor John Kasich has signed Thomas Rath to head up his campaign in New Hampshire. It's a move many political insiders are calling a blow to Jeb Bush. Rath is the former attorney general of New Hampshire. He is a longtime political fixture in this primary state and served as is a senior adviser to Mitt Romney, Bob Dole and George W. Bush. Rath says he took on Kasich because the country needs him.

A delegation of three dozen GOP congressmen set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. The group is trying to build momentum against the Iran nuclear deal ahead of an expected voting Congress next month.

A top House Republican leader is also sitting down with Israeli's president and talking with CNN about the Iran deal. CNN's Oren Lieberman is in Jerusalem with the latest this morning.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. It won't be too much of a surprise when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells the 36 Republicans here he should have a very sympathetic year as he lobbies against this deal since many of those Republicans are already lining up to vote against the deal when it comes to Congress next month.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has been perhaps this deal's most outspoken critic lobbying against the framework deal and the final deal and now seeing how many congressmen he can convince. Before meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, the Republicans met yesterday with President Rovin Rivlin (ph), who also lobbied against this deal.

Painting it not only as an issue for Israel's security and regional stability, but also as a threat to American security. Before the Republicans here, there were 22 Democrats on their own trip who sat down with the leader of that delegation and asked him what did you hear?

And he said, what Netanyahu said to him wasn't in any way surprising, but some of his own concerns about the deal, the congressman's concerns about the snapback of sanctions and about inspections, they resonated with what he heard from the prime minister.

We asked the congressman how will you vote? How will the other Democrats vote? He hedged there. He said they are all going to take their time and think about it and see what they are hearing from the administration and their constituency before deciding which way to vote.

On the other hand, the Republicans are coming out against this deal. The question in the end will be how many, if any, of those Democrats were the president and prime minister of Israeli here able to convince -- Christine.

ROMANS: OK, Oren Lieberman in Jerusalem, thanks for that.

Iraqi forces may be on the verge of retaking Ramadi from ISIS. According to U.S. military officials, the Iraqis have the city surrounded and preparing for a final assault to recapture Ramadi. About 10,000 Iraqi troops are in position for the offensive and about a third of them have been trained by U.S. advisers. ISIS took control of Ramadi back in May.

Time for an EARLY START on your money, a big day around the world, folks, stocks are sinking right now. Asian shares are down as China devalues its currency for the second day in a row and driving European shares lower and U.S. stock futures are also lower.

Now China Central Bank is billing this as free market reform, but experts say, no. They think it's about making exports cheaper. The surprise move signals the economy may be in worst shape than expected.

A weaker Yuan, the Chinese currency, means a stronger dollar and hurts U.S. exporters by making their goods more expensive abroad and it could hurt their stocks. It also complicates the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates as early as next month.

Yesterday the Dow fell 222 points. Apple plunged 5.2 percent because of its big presence in China. Investors around the world are running away from risky assets like stocks and commodities and currencies and they are rushing into safe havens like government debt. If you want to refinance your mortgage, now is a good time.

[05:40:01] A Mississippi couple arrested and accused of trying to join ISIS. How they hoped to use their honeymoon to get to Syria, next.

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ROMANS: A Mississippi couple facing federal charges for trying to join ISIS. Police say the newlyweds were arrested at the airport pretending, according to authorities, to be on their honeymoon, but they had a more troubling trip in mind.

Let's get the latest from CNN's justice correspondent, Pamela Brown.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Christine. This is a young newlywed couple from Mississippi who allegedly used their honeymoon as a cover-up to go to Syria and join ISIS according to the FBI.

The man is 22-year-old Muhammad Dakhla and his wife, 20-year-old woman, Jaelyn Young. They were arrested at a Mississippi airport on Saturday. From the outside this was a seemingly normal couple.

Young is the daughter of a Vicksburg, Mississippi police officer and who was studying chemistry at the Mississippi State University, and she recently converted to Islam, law enforcement officials say.

Her husband graduated last spring from Mississippi State and is the son of a local imam. According to the complaint, Young seemed to be the most enthusiastic about joining the terrorist group.

In fact in one conversation online, she allegedly boasted about how the two could help ISIS saying, quote, "I am skilled in math and chemistry, and worked at an analytical lab here at my college campus. My partner is very good with computer science and media. We learn very fast and would love to help."

[05:45:03] Now in July, she also allegedly said on social media that she supported the shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that killed four Marines. The two were first put on the FBI's radar back in May from their social media posts. They appeared in court on Tuesday in Mississippi and were denied bail. Back to you, Christine.

ROMANS: All right, what a strange story. Pamela Brown, thank you for that.

All right, 45 minutes past the hour. Let's take a look what is coming up on NEW DAY. My friend, Michaela --

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: I saw that big smile that you greeted me with. What a nice thing.

ROMANS: You got to smile this early in the morning, Michaela. You just got to smile.

PEREIRA: We are in this together. We certainly are.

We have a busy show and of course, we got a lot of big political headlines to talk about today. Hillary Clinton is finally turning over that e-mail server to federal officials after months of resisting. How will this affect her campaign?

Obviously Donald Trump is a big conversation here on the show getting a whole lot of love on the road in Michigan as he slams his GOP and Democratic rivals. The first polls after the GOP debate are out. We will discuss them.

How did the controversy over Trump's Megyn Kelly comments affect his standing? We will break it all down and a panel of guests joining us including former Governor Christine Todd Whitman on NEW DAY. That's just ahead.

ROMANS: Looking forward to what she has to say about that. Thank you for that, Michaela. Talk to you soon.

All right, China stunning the world's financial markets devaluing its currency for a second day in a row. It has huge implications for markets here at home and for your money right now. I'll tell you what it is.

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[05:50:13]

ROMANS: All right, world financial markets stunned this morning, China devaluing its currency for the second day in a row. When China devalued the Yuan yesterday it said it was a onetime move and now investors don't know what to believe.

What this means for you right now, lower interest rates as investors flee stocks for safer assets like bonds. It's a great time to lock in a low rate on a mortgage. Refinance your loan, if you can. It's also good for gas prices, oil at a six-year low yesterday and could go down to maybe $2 a gallon for gas by early this fall. For your stock portfolio, you've seen an instant reaction too. A lot of fear in global markets and 401(k) is less valuable today than it was yesterday.

So what is China's next move? I want to bring in CNN's Will Ripley. He is live for us this morning. Will, this is one of those esoteric things, currencies and pegs. It is clear international markets have been seized by what China is doing.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Shocked, absolutely shocked, Christine because this really marks a dramatic policy change. This is turning into a global chess game and nobody knows what China's next move will be.

You know that investors hate one thing more than anything else and that is instability. And for many years, no matter what was happening in the rest of the world, the Chinese Yuan because it's a fixed currency and not free-floating based on the market levels was a bastion of stability.

But that has changed with this dramatic surprise policy shift, China lowering the Yuan not once, but twice and because China's economy is based on exports. They produce low-cost items and export them at low cost.

Devaluing their currency means that, for example, if you were going to buy an American product with Chinese Yuan and it was 100 Yuan two days ago, now it would be about 104 Yuan so you're paying more. Not great news for Chinese consumers who are buying products that come from other countries.

But it means the American exports are that much more expensive and that is the concern that there could be a ripple effect. Other countries may start to rely on a stable Yuan and may be affected and that is why there is -- you see the markets dropping -- Christine.

ROMANS: Right. When you talk about bastion of stability some long criticized not for stability but for actually China manipulating the market to its own advantage. So that its -- its exports have preferential treatment in world markets and, for years, policymakers around the world have begged them to have free market reform.

The Chinese Central Bank saying this is part of free market reform, but critics over here are saying, no, no, no. This is about China trying to give its exports another leg up because the dollar has been strong recently and China's economy is not growing as quickly as it used to be. Which is it, free market reform or China trying to protect itself?

RIPLEY: Well, look, you can't deny the fact that Chinese exports are down. The numbers came in from July they are down more than 8 percent. That is bad news because this economy's fantastic growth over the last several decades has been based on the fact that it can provide cheap exports. And so they are stacking the deck, if you will, in their favor to provide more cheap exports. Now the International Monetary Fund, they are saying that this is long overdue. They want to see the Yuan become a free-floating currency and we are definitely going to have to watch how the markets respond -- Christine.

ROMANS: It is certainly very, very interesting. A few phrases that reporters don't like to use except in rare occasions, we don't like to use the words panic or crash and don't like to talk about currency wars because it's bad for everyone.

We will you have watching that and we will continue to watch it as well. Will Ripley, thanks for that great analysis.

All right, oil prices because of this, oil prices at a six-year low. So this is good news for you at the gas pump at least right now. If it's not good for your 401(k), it's good for your gas pump and I'll explain why coming up.

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[05:55:00]

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an EARLY START on your money, stocks are sinking around the world. The big story, around the world, this China move. Asia, European stocks lower. U.S. stock futures are lower. China devalued its currency for the second day in a row. This is a move widely seen to boost Chinese growth and exports at the expense of the Europeans and the U.S. exports.

Investors around the world are running away from risky assets like stocks. They are rushing into safe havens like government debt. Folks, this is the top story on newspapers around the world. It matters to your money today. We'll continue to follow that for you very, very closely.

All right, Hillary Clinton handing her private e-mail server over to the Justice Department. "NEW DAY" picks up that story now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: What would President Trump do? I only care about one thing, making America great again. You are going to love President Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His brand is really toxic for the Republican Party.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do expect him to become the GOP nominee.

TRUMP: I'm a whiner and I keep whining and whining until I win.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The server will remain private.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": Hillary Clinton handing over the private e-mail server. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has affected the credibility how voters view her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Level of disclosure that is unprecedented.

ROMANS: Police releasing surveillance video they say shows a teen pulling a gun from his waistband just before officers shot him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give him some help. Please get him some help!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, August 12th, 6:00 in the east. You got Mich and me with Ana Cabrera. Good to have you again.

There's a big development in the Clinton e-mail scandal. Team Hillary will turn over the private server she used as secretary of state. Something she has resisted doing for months. The big question is why and what it means. We have answers ahead.

PEREIRA: We also have another question, how is it going to affect Clinton's campaign? Meanwhile, her top Republican rival at the moment, Donald Trump, gets a big reception in his first campaign event after the debate.

We have complete team coverage for you starting with CNN's senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. Good morning.