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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Clinton Apologizes For Private Email Server; Trump To Headline GOP Iran Deal Rally; Judge Frees Kentucky Clerk From Jail; Stephen Colbert's "Late Show" Debut; E.U. President: "We Are Not In A Good State"; Stocks Up Around The World. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired September 09, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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


BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: -- the Clinton campaign's ability to really cut through with a message that resonates with voters so for the first time after months of resistance, Hillary Clinton trying to turn the corner on this by very directly apologizing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In retrospect, certainly, as I look back at it now, even though it was allowed, I should have used two accounts, one for personal, one for work-related e-mails. That was a mistake. I'm sorry about that. I take responsibility.

And I'm trying to be as transparent as I possibly can to not only release 55,000 pages of my e-mails, turn over my server, but I am looking forward finally to testifying before Congress, something I've been asking for nearly a year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: That is certainly a big change from what Hillary Clinton said on Monday to the "Associated Press." She said she didn't have anything to apologize for because what she had done at the State Department using a private server, using a personal e-mail, was allowed -- John and Christine.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Brianna. With Ellen Degeneres, Hillary Clinton apologized, quote, "for the confusion" caused by her use of the private server. She also attacked her Republican opponents as out of touch and out of date. But for the most part, this interview with Ellen showcased Clinton's personal side and seemed to target a key constituency, women.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I think it's just a reality that we're held to a higher different double standard. And it gets a little old, to be honest, but you just forge ahead. Don't let -- all these beautiful, young women who are here, don't get discouraged. Don't give in. Don't give up. Don't quit -- on the dream, on the future.

And I actually think -- you know, look. I'm not asking people to vote for me because I'm a woman, but I think if you vote for somebody on the merits, one of my merits is I'm a woman, and I think that makes a big difference in today's world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Interesting. That interview was taped Tuesday at Rockefeller Plaza in New York. It airs on Thursday. You can see Pink there, the rock star. You can see Amy Schumer and also the little girl who is a presidential history expert, 5 years old, in what looks to be a Hillary Clinton pant suit. Seriously. I mean, I haven't seen it. I don't know if that's a joke or not, but it is interesting, isn't it?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: It is interesting. Kids always steal the show, by the way.

All right, a big Republican rally against the Iran nuclear deal set for the U.S. capitol today. Slated to speak, Donald Trump, he reviewed his message in an op-ed posted on "USA Today's" web site calling the agreement bad, poorly constructed, terribly negotiated.

Trump writes, it was amateur hour for those charged with striking this deal with Iran demonstrating to the world the total incompetence of our president and politicians. A Trump presidency will force the Iranians back to the bargaining table to make a much better deal. CNN's Sara Murray picks up the story from there.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, John and Christine. Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail today right here in Washington, D.C., where he's holding a rally to protest the Iran deal. He's going to have plenty of firepower with him.

Joining him is Senator Ted Cruz, who is also running for president, as well as former vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin. They're expecting a pretty big turnout for that event.

Now, most of yesterday Donald Trump spent his time sparring with Jeb Bush. Trump released a video on Instagram criticizing Bush as a candidate who makes voters fall asleep, calling him low energy once again. The real jab came where he showed a woman at a Jeb Bush event actually falling asleep.

(VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Now, Bush managed to hit back. He released his own video on Instagram. It shows Donald Trump praising former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying she would be a great person to negotiate a deal with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Who would you like representing the United States in a deal with Iran, with this regime there?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think Hillary would do a good job. Hillary's always surrounded herself with very good people. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Obviously, that is a tough pill for Donald Trump to swallow today as he gets ready to hold this big rally here in Washington, D.C. Back to you, Christine and John.

BERMAN: All right, Sara Murray, thank you so much.

Kentucky County clerk, Kim Davis, is free, but right now it's an open question about whether she will stay that way. A federal judge released Davis from jail, saying that he was satisfied that her deputies were issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as he ordered.

Moments after her release, Davis spoke. You can see it right here to a cheering crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM DAVIS, ROWAN COUNTY CLERK: I just want to give God the glory. His people have rallied, and you are a strong people!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Many Republican presidential candidates are weighing in on this controversy. Ted Cruz was there in Kentucky. Mike Huckabee stood right next to her as she gave those remarks to supporters. But not every candidate has endorsed the refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[05:35:02] MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've already told her that if somebody needs to go to jail, I'm willing to go in her place and I mean that because I'm tired of watching people being just harassed because they believe something of their faith.

JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't agree with the court's decision, but I've said that I was going to accept the court's decision.

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I would do with this woman is to move her to another job where this is not an objection for her.

TRUMP: I'm a very, very strong believer in Christianity and religion, but I will say that this was not the right job for her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The judge has ordered Davis not to interfere with her deputy clerks when they issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples or if she does interfere, the judge said she'll send her back to jail.

So far she has not said what she plans to do when she returns to work. One party that's objected, Survivor. She came out to the song "Eye of the Tiger" and Survivor said we did not grant Kim Davis any rights to use "Eye of the Tiger." I would not grant her the rights to use Charmin, says the statement. Wow!

ROMANS: Not "The Eye of the Tiger."

Stephen Colbert's big late-night debut, how'd he do? We're breaking it down next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, the moment so many of you have been waiting for if you stay up past 8:00 at night, which I don't. The debut of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," now part of history. The premiere featured George Clooney and Jeb Bush as guests.

[05:40:00] But all eyes on the new host, you can see him right there, Stephen Colbert. How did he do? One man knows the answer. Brian Stelter, CNN media correspondent, host of "Reliable Sources." Big moment, Brian.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. "The Late Show" is an American institution thanks to David letterman. And now Colbert has to keep it that way. Now, Colbert has to take the reins and hopefully do it as long as letterman was able to, 22 years.

He got off to a very strong start last night, extra-long episode. He taped for hours in the newly renovated Ed Sullivan Theater. Then they edited down to an extra-long episode.

And I guess for our west coast viewers, it just aired. This is him talking about how long he was preparing for this one hour of TV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW": We've been working so hard, so very hard to get the show ready for you. And I have to say, as long as I have nine months to make one hour of TV, I could do this forever. With this show, as many people have asked, with this show, I begin the search for the real Stephen Colbert. I just hope I don't find him on Ashley Madison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Obviously setting his character from Comedy Central, figuring out the real him. I'm curious to see how long he can keep that going, that idea he's searching for the real Colbert. But it certainly worked last night.

And by the way, he still did a pretty traditional monologue. People wondered if he was going to blow up the format of late night. Maybe at a time when everything feels like it's changing in TV, it's nice to have some things stay the same.

There's the desk, the monologue. Yes, it is on the left side, that was a change, but if that's what passes for change in late-night, some things are definitely staying the same. ROMANS: He appeals to millennial fans. There have been some people brought up on news, quite frankly, knowing the Jon Stewart, the Stephen Colbert take on things, how is he going to break through when he is not his full conservative bombastic other self?

STELTER: It seems to me he wants to show some seriousness, even though there's the requisite silliness of late-night. Have some serious conversations. We see that with bookings this week, the CEO of Uber.

With Jeb Bush last night, they had some fun. They pretended to prepare for a mock debate with Donald Trump. But there were also some relatively tough questions. Here's one of their exchanges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've been using Jeb since 1994.

COLBERT: Yes.

BUSH: It connotes excitement. It connotes --

COLBERT: Jeb! How many of us, when we got excited about things, didn't just go, "Jeb!"

BUSH: All in Florida, they do, when they see me, most of them, either out of happiness or deep anger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: It's interesting, at one point Colbert used his own brother to say to Jeb Bush, we know you love your brother, but how do you differ from him politically?

BERMAN: There could be news, Thursday night Joe Biden is going on the show. Joe Biden will have to answer questions about whether he's running for president and he more pull some weight than he has today.

STELTER: I have to imagine that if you're Joe Biden and his team, why would you agree to appear on the new Colbert show if you're not planning on making some news or at least intending to keep stirring the pot.

BERMAN: Because it's fun.

STELTER: That's true. That's true.

BERMAN: But I agree that something will happen.

STELTER: It was sort of a relatively late booking. They had mostly firmed up the plan for the week then they added Biden. I'll definitely be watching on Thursday to see what he says. By the way, Colbert wanted Clinton for this first show, wanted Hillary Clinton. She passed. She went to Jimmy Fallon's show instead. She'll be on "The Tonight Show" instead. We're seeing a brand-new booking war in late-night. BERMAN: All right, Brian, great to have you with us. Thank you so much.

ROMANS: Let's look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY" this morning. Alisyn Camerota joins us now. Hi, Alison.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: As you know, Hillary Clinton apologizes. Our political pundits will be here to tell us whether that puts the e- mail questions to rest finally.

And Chris Cuomo may weigh in on that as well. Also, Donald Trump is speaking about the migrant crisis in Europe. We will get his solution to that this morning.

Also, violent crime is up in New York City. Who is to blame? According to the former New York City police commissioner, Ray Kelly, it is the mayor's fault.

Well, we have both the mayor and Ray Kelly on NEW DAY live with us this morning. So that ought to be interesting. So we'll bring you all of that when we see you in about 16 minutes.

ROMANS: All right, thank you so much for that.

Thousands of migrants pouring into Europe, governments split over exactly what to do. The European Union is meeting right now as this crisis unfolds. We've got live team coverage next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:48:16]

BERMAN: Happening now, European leaders meeting in France to grapple with the spreading refugee crisis. Hundreds of refugees in Hungary broke through police lines at a holding camp. CNN was right in the middle of the chaos as mothers and fathers, some without shoes carried their children on their shoulders for miles.

Police surrounded many of them and then ultimately returned them to the camp they had been in. Now thousands of refugees making their way onto trains bound for Austria with Hungarian police no longer checking visas.

The crisis straining Turkey as well as Syrian refugees pour into that country. They're trying to find their way to Greece or really anywhere they can.

CNN is covering the story from every angle this morning starting with CNN senior international correspondent Frederick Pleitgen in Berlin -- Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. And one of the reasons why you see so much chaos at the borders of Europe is there simply isn't any single European policy to deal with these crises and to make sure that there is a safe way for these people to come here to the European Union. There's a big meeting going on today of the European Union where they're trying to get some sort of common policy going. And the head of the European Commission said that right now, quite frankly, he believes that Europe is failing.

He says that the European Union is neither acting according to European principles nor is it acting particularly as a union. And the big problem that they have is that there are two sets of countries within the E.U.

There are countries like Germany that feel that they need to take in many of these refugees and are willing to take in more. They see all of this as a humanitarian issue.

But then there's other countries like Hungary and Eastern European countries, who feel that they want to take fewer refugees, and they so this as more of a border-control issue. That's the balance that they're trying to strike.

[05:50:01] And one thing that the European Commission has said is they want the distribution of refugees to be more equal within the E.U. to not have the mass of these refugees come to Germany, but to come to other countries as well.

But on the other hand, they also said Europe does they'd to do more to fortify its borders simply to make sure that the immigration towards Europe is more controlled.

Those are the proposals that are on the table right now. The big question now is, are the European countries going to be able to come to some sort of agreement -- John.

BERMAN: It may be too late to control what's happening now. Fredrik Pleitgen for us in Berlin, thanks so much.

ROMANS: Now to Turkey where Syrian refugees are overwhelming, one port city, hundreds of refugees carrying backpacks, carrying garbage bags full of belongings. They're hoping to embark on what could be a very dangerous boat ride to Greece.

Our coverage of the migrant crisis now continues with senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, from Turkey.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, we're coming to you from the Agean Sea. This is a major illegal crossing point for thousands of people a day trying to get into Europe from Turkey.

They come there the Turkish coast along different stretches of the Turkish coast on small boats, often on not very seaworthy boats, and then they head out to sea.

Over there, for example, to the island of Lesbos, that is a Greek island. This is one of two islands that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says is receiving from 1,000 to 3,000 new migrants and refugees a day. Now, the smuggling business here is not only sophisticated, it is also very brazen. We were in the Turkish port city of Ismir, which we saw was jammed with Syrian refugees sitting on their backpacks, holding plastic bags filled with life jackets that were being sold openly on the street.

And they were waiting for the call from smugglers to jump on buses, to take them down to different points on the Turkish coast. We've obtained video of very overloaded rubber inflatable pontoon boats that set out in broad daylight and head to Greece.

This is a major challenge because some of the Syrian refugees we talked to, they've just arrived, flown in from Syria to Turkey, in the last couple of days. They're determined to get to Europe. So the Europeans better get ready -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Ivan Watson, thank you for that. Wow, what a treacherous journey.

United Airlines' top executive forced to resign, a big surprise there. We're going to tell you why next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:56:35]

ROMANS: Welcome back this Wednesday. Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning. Asian markets soared, closed higher here. Look at Japan, up almost 8 percent, that's a huge move, the biggest one-day gain for the Nikkei since 2008.

You've got big rallies in European shares. Also U.S. stock futures are moving higher after a really great day on Wall Street yesterday. The Dow surged 390 points, the second biggest gain for the year, picking up cheap stocks all around. The S&P 500, the Nasdaq also up more than 2 percent, tech stocks leading the rally there.

The CEO and two of the top executives of United Airlines out, the company announced their resignation in a statement in the wake of an internal investigation triggered by an ongoing federal probe.

Here's what the government has been looking into. United's dealings with the former head of the New York/New Jersey Port Authority including whether United added a flight convenient to the home of the Port Authority chairman owned in South Carolina.

They called it the chairman's flight. United says it is cooperating with government investigations. Watch this space. That's really interesting.

Jon Bon Jovi having a tough time doing business in China apparently. The band was set to headline a big tour next week in Beijing and Shanghai, but China's Culture Ministry has canceled the upcoming shows.

No official reason given yet, but social media buzzing it may be due to Bon Jovi using the Dalai Lama in a video backdrop five years ago and also using some imagery in some of his videos in recent years of the 1989 Tiananmen Square standoff and the like. So we'll see what happens. He's still playing in Macau.

BERMAN: You cannot silence Jon Bon Jovi.

All right, Hillary Clinton now with a new apology overnight. A Facebook post getting a lot of attention. "NEW DAY" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLINTON: I could have and should have done a better job. I'm sorry about that. I take responsibility.

TRUMP: If I win, I will tell you something, a lot of different things will be happening in this country.

BUSH: I don't think Barack Obama has bad motives. I just think he's wrong on a lot of issues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kim Davis is free!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reality is what law did she break?

DAVIS: His people have rallied, and you are a strong people!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pilots quickly aborted the takeoff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I opened up the cover of my window and just saw flames on the engine.

UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: Passengers literally running for their lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're running now with these migrants and refugees who just broke out of the holding area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cafes are selling life jackets.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, September 9th, 6:00 in the east.

So you want an apology from Hillary Clinton? Guess what. You got one. The Democratic frontrunner telling ABC News, Facebook and others she is sorry. You think that ends it?

CAMEROTA: Well, Clinton says she takes full responsibility for using a private e-mail server. This just a day after insisting she had nothing to apologize for, and she's not the only presidential hopeful making candid admissions.

CNN's coverage begins with senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. What's the latest, Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. How many ways can you say I'm sorry? Hillary Clinton is trying to find out, going further than she's ever gone before in talking about that private e-mail account she used while she was secretary of state.

Now, until now she's expressed regret, but has stopped short of saying she was sorry for her actions. In an attempt to turn the page though and move from this controversy that shaken her campaign, she's now saying it directly as she did last night.