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EARLY START

CNN Exclusive: Clinton Talks to Voters & Trust; San Francisco Pier Slaying: Suspect's Gun Belonged to Federal Agent; Subway Spokesman's House Raided by FBI; Greece Shows Up With No Written Proposal; Chinese Stocks Plunge. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 8, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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


[04:00:11] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Stunning new information in a San Francisco murder, igniting an immigration debate. An undocumented repeat felon accused of murdering a young woman where investigators say his gun came from. That's ahead.

Subway drops spokesman Jared Fogle. His house raided inside a child pornography investigation.

A CNN exclusive: Hillary Clinton giving her his national interview since entering the race for president. Why she says voters should trust her. That's ahead.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I am Christine Romans. It is Wednesday, July 8th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East. John Berman has the morning off.

Nice to see you all this morning.

New this morning: Hillary Clinton sitting down with CNN for her first national interview for the 2016 campaign. The former secretary of state rejecting suggestions that voters have trouble trusting her. Instead, Clinton blamed onslaught of unfounded right wing attacks for raising questions in people's minds. She emphasized that she trusts the American people to, quote, "sort it all out."

Senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar is with Mrs. Clinton in Iowa and has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton has been dogged recently by a couple of controversies. One, her e- mail practices while she was secretary of state. She used a personal address only. She picked the e-mails that she turned over to the State Department. And then she wiped her personal server of those e- mails.

Also, the Clinton Foundation, corporate and foreign donations to her family's charity. I asked her about this fallout and if she is at all to blame for it. I'm wondering if you can address the vulnerability that we have seen you dealing with recently. We see in our recent poll that nearly 6 in 10 Americans say they don't believe that you're honest and trustworthy. Do you understand why they feel that way?

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think when you are subjected to the kind of constant barrage of attacks that are largely fomented by and coming from the right and --

KEILAR: But do you bear any responsibility for it?

CLINTON: Well, you know, I can only tell you that I was elected twice in New York against the same kind of onslaught. I was confirmed and served as secretary of state. And I think it's understandable that when questions are raised, people maybe are thinking about them and wondering about them. But I have every confidence that during the course of this campaign, people are going to know who will fight for them, who will be there when they need them, and that's the kind of person I am, and that's what I will do, not only in a campaign, but as president.

KEILAR: And that seems to be her campaign messaging on this, that voters can trust her to fight for them. It's a turn of phrase that is very important to note as her campaign tries to deal with this narrative that she isn't honest and trustworthy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that, Brianna.

The Jeb Bush campaign responding this morning to Clinton's comments about his stance on immigration. A spokesperson says the former governor believes immigrants should be able to earn legal status after paying fines, taxes and learning English.

Hillary Clinton also speaking out on immigration on our CNN interview, criticizing San Francisco's lenient treatment of undocumented immigrants as sanctuary city. She blames San Francisco's sanctuary city law and local officials for failing to hand an undocumented felon over to federal authorities before the man shot a woman to death at a public pier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: The city made a mistake. The city made a mistake not to deport someone that the federal government strongly felt should be deported. So I have absolutely no support for a city that ignores the strong evidence that should be acted on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Breaking overnight: new information in a San Francisco shooting. A source with knowledge of the investigation telling CNN the gun used by the suspect belonged to a federal agent. This news coming as the suspect who has admitted in TV interviews to shooting Kate Steinle pleads not guilty to murder. For the latest, let's go to CNN's Sara Sidner in San Francisco.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, another strange twist in this case. A source with knowledge of the investigation told us that, indeed, the gun that was used in this trace actually traced back to a federal agent. Now, we don't know which one and we don't know how that all came about, but we understand that the gun was recovered in this case.

This is happening on the same day that the suspect Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez was in court. He was asked whether or not he was guilty or not guilty of the crime of murder in the Kate Steinle case and he said, in Spanish, not guilty.

He was also asked several other questions, but really the only answer he kept giving the court was not guilty. He seemed not to understand some of what was going on in court. His attorneys say he only has a second grade education and that he had no prior violent felonies in his past, that this was a complete accident, a random act.

[04:05:07] He has also talked to a couple of local stations here in jailhouse interviews and gave conflicting information when asked about this particular case. His next court date is July 20th. He is being held in jail on a $5 million bond -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: There is some question this morning about whether he understood the questions asked of him when he was in those TV interviews, admitting to her killing.

This morning, officials investigating a deadly mid-air collision between an Air Force fighter jet and small private plane over North Carolina. Two people aboard the civilian aircraft are killed. The military pilot, though, safely ejected.

Listen to the woman who witnessed the crash as it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just seen one plane coming this way, one going this way and then, it exploded in mid-air and fireball. And then the plane landed in my yard! I can't do this!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Just remarkable. So, rare to have a small plane and F-16 collide. Official say the F-16 was on an instrument training mission into Joint Base Charleston.

New this morning, the Subway sandwich chain cutting ties to pitchman Jared Fogle after an FBI raid on his Indiana home. Investigators seized computers and other electronics as part of an investigation that subway says may be linked to child pornography charges against another man, a man who used to work for Fogle as head of the Jared Foundation. That is an organization that fights childhood obesity.

Following events for us, CNN's Ryan Young with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, and this is an involving investigation. In fact, we have been watching it for the last day or so. I can tell you investigators showed up around 6:30 in the morning and they went through the home.

In fact, we see video of them coming out with hard drives and computers. We also have been told they brought special investigative dogs that can sniff out hidden electronics and brought them around the perimeter of the home.

We do know when they arrived the family was inside sleeping. His wife and two kids were allowed to leave. Jared stayed for most of the afternoon.

But police, so far, not telling us what's going on with this investigation. We do believe it's connected to a former Jared Foundation employee who has been charged with several counts of child pornography.

Now Subway, late in the afternoon, released this statement that said Subway and Jared Fogle have mutually agreed to suspend their relationship due to the current investigation. Jared continues to cooperate with authorities and he expects no actions to be forthcoming.

Both Jared and Subway believe this was the appropriate step to take.

People in the neighborhood tell us they were shocked.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only thing I ever see around his home are happy people doing their yard, waving, so I'm shocked and I'm sad, of course and saddened, a great figure in our community. Just have nothing bad to say about him.

YOUNG: And, Christine, something we noticed throughout the afternoon, it seemed like Subway started going through the Web site and dropping Jared's name from several sections of the Web site. Authorities are waiting for investigators to give comments on what they found during this investigation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Ryan, thank you for that this morning.

The U.S. and world powers once again extending their deadlines on talks on Iran. So far, there have been no breakthroughs in the negotiations and both sides trying to hammer out a final nuclear deal by the end of the week.

Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is in Vienna with the very latest. Bring us up to speed, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It seems like a slow morning today. You know, everything was building to a head yesterday. The deadline got extended for three days yesterday. As we have seen the sort of cycle of the talks, the day after the sort of supposed deadline day when things slip, tends to be a slower day.

What we heard from officials leaving the meetings yesterday, we heard from the French foreign minister saying that, for him, there had been moments of tension in the talks, that the possible military dimensions has Iran used nuclear weapons or used their nuclear knowledge to build weapons has that been addressed fully yet for him? It seems not.

The other issue for him -- the research and development of Iran's nuclear technology and how long that will be held and that seems to be an issue. We heard from the E.U. foreign policy chief describing how they touched on the most difficult and sensitive issues and that it was painful to touch on them. But she said that was necessary.

And listening to a senior administration official last night, describing the nature of the talks and why they weren't able to get an agreement yesterday as everyone had hoped for, the nature of negotiations, this senior administration official described, is that you get as much as you can agreed before you push to those final lost issues in the hope that the other side feel that a lot has been agreed, they don't want to lose that, and they will make those final concessions and that is where it seems to be right now.

[04:10:01] At the moment, we are hearing that the sense is that while a lot of progress has been made, no one is still sure if a deal can actually be done -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Nic Robertson, thank you for that in Vienna for us this morning. I know you'll keep us up-to-speed if there are any developments.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter stunning senators during his testimony on the U.S. strategy to defeat ISIS. He told the armed services committee saying the U.S. has trained 60 fighters and far from the cry of training 5,000 fighters each year, just 60.

Carter says it's hard to find fighters who are willing to focus only on ISIS and not the Assad regime.

Former CIA Director David Petraeus calling for U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan past 2016. Petraeus says meeting the Obama administration's goal of withdrawing troops by the end of the next year, would be a mistake. He fears a complete withdrawal would reverse serious gains made against the Taliban since 9/11. Petraeus says the U.S. military went in to ensure Afghanistan never serves as a sanctuary for terrorists and he says the importance of that mission continues.

The U.S. Army set to cut 40,000 troops the next two years, according to a leaked document obtained by "USA Today." The layoffs likely to affect the army's foreign posts. An additional 17,000 civilian Army employees will also be laid off. The document says the reduction is due to budget constraints.

Breaking overnight. New fallout for Bill Cosby after admitting he got drugs to give women for sex. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: New fallout in the wake of revelations that Bill Cosby obtained drugs to give women he intended to have sex with. Two African-American TV networks Bounce and Centric announcing they are pulling reruns of "The Cosby Show." And a statute of the comedian has been removed from Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park in Orlando. The bust came down after the park closed on Tuesday night.

While support for Cosby is eroding, he still has his high profile defenders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:15:03] WHOOPI GOLDBERG, THE VIEW: I don't like snap judgments because I've had snap judgments made on me. So, I'm very, very careful, and, you know, save your texts, save your nasty comments because I don't care!

(APPLAUSE)

Only because -- and I say this -- I say this because this is my opinion and in America, still I know it's a shock, but you actually were innocent until proven guilty. He has not been proven.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: More than two dozen women claim Cosby sexually assaulted them. Many say they were drugged. Cosby has long denied the allegations and has never been charged with a crime. As for the latest revelations, his publicist says we have no plans to issue a statement.

Moving the Confederate flags from the grounds of South Carolina's capitol looking like a fait accompli. The state house of representative voting overwhelming to send the flag bill directly to the floor for debate beginning today. It followed a similar final vote in the Senate. Two-thirds majority in both chambers is needed to send the bill to Governor Nikki Haley who has made it clear she will sign it.

The effort to remove the Confederate flag grew out of a shooting last month in a historic black church in Charleston last month. That suspect, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, was indicted Tuesday in a rampage that left nine people dead. Roof also faces three counts of attempted murder. Authorities say those charges are related to the three victims who survived the attack.

An independent review of the Baltimore Police Department begins today. Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts requested the review to assess the actions of police during the Freddie Gray riots and how the department could improve. Twenty-five-year-old Gray was fatally injured in police custody in April and sparking nationwide protesters and widespread looting and arson in West Baltimore. The police department will be releasing its own report on the unrest today as well.

Another round of severe storms ready to hammer large parts of the U.S. today. A flood threat stretches from the central Appalachians to Texas. The same front that hit Indiana hard Tuesday.

Look at that. Heavy rains, submerging neighborhoods, streets and homes flooded. Emergency officials helping folks evacuate their homes. One woman says the same thing happened to her 16 years ago and now, without insurance, she says this is nothing short of a nightmare.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have water over my shoulder and inside my house! I have nothing! Nowhere to go. Nothing! We have nothing left!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Devastating flooding.

Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for the latest.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, Christine.

You know, parts of 18 states, and about 35 million people dealing with flood watches and warnings this morning and remarkable rainfall totals on Tuesday for parts of the country.

Abilene, Texas, single wettest day ever observed in recorded history. Previous record from the 1920s was about 6 1/4 inches on record. Indianapolis, about 4 1/2 inches, also a record in Fayetteville, Arkansas, picking up 2 1/2 inches of rainfall. And the concern again, pretty expansive area. You track it. That is 1,700 miles stretch of land yet again, dealing with wet weather over the next 24 or so hours.

Showers are scattered in nature. Some working their way west of Dallas this morning. Look at the temperatures ahead of the front. Up around 80 in the nation's capital and New York at this hour. In fact, it's warmer up in New York than Panama City in the morning hours. You notice, the cooler temperatures are in place. The pool of cool air eventually pushes off to the east and quickly warms right back up by the latter portion of the week, and you go back up above average by Sunday and Monday -- Christine.

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

Breaking news this morning: world markets in chaos. China's stock market is in a free-fall. Greece, days away from being kicked out of the euro. Live team coverage breaking it all down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [04:22:21] ROMANS: A new deadline for Greece. A disaster in China stocks. European stocks are up right now and hopes for a solution in Greece's debt crisis.

Eurozone leaders say Greece has until Sunday to agree on a new bailout plan. This is Greece's last chance to avoid tumbling out of the euro and which would be a first and a huge unknown for stocks around the world.

Separately, a blood bath for Chinese stocks. The shanghai composite sell 6 percent and more than half of all companies listed have stopped trading. They halted trading. Half of the Chinese stock market not trading. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 8 percent. The government is doing everything it can.

But investors are not convinced, and there was those big, big efforts by the government so far, don't appear to be working.

We got team coverage tracking both of these important stories from Hong Kong to Athens. I want to start first in Greece right now, facing a hard and fast deadline this morning.

Europeans officials at the Euro Summit demanding Greek officials produce a written proposal by tomorrow on how they are going to save their crashing economy and then a final deal by Sunday. Otherwise, Greece will be forced out of euro.

Live in Athens, CNN's Isa Soares live with the latest.

These are really the last days and hours really of negotiations to stay in the euro.

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. Good morning to you, Christine.

The message from Europe yesterday couldn't be any clearer: get your house in order, get your financial house in order. The proposals put in or get out. Europe clearly irritated, clearly very angry at the fact the finance minister and prime minister turning up to those key meetings with no proposals and no credible and serious proposals for the future of their country. The finance minister showed up with bullet points and from a notepad from the hotel and he gave apparently very good oral speech on what those proposals could be but nothing written.

Now, we are expecting today Greece to put in a bailout request and then they have until the end of the week to put through those credible proposals. Those proposals have to include reforms, very credible reforms. The reforms have to be tougher.

Europe said it all along now that the economy has deteriorated at such a rate, they have no choice but to put through those the reforms. We heard, at the moment, we are hearing from Alexis Tsipras speaking in Strasburg and he's basically talking about the same line. He says he wants socially just and economically sustain solution for Greek proposals and he said his country has become an austerity laboratory. And to give you an idea what is at stake here is the front page, "Euro or Drachma This Sunday".

[04:25:04] It comes down to this, Christine.

ROAMNS: All right. Isa Soares, thanks.

I know you'll keep us posted on all the developments.

Now, to China where the markets are in free-fall. Many stocks there shed the maximum allowed in a day, 10 percent. Trillion of dollars wiped out. Securities officials there describe a mood of panic and irrational dumping of shares.

Joining us live from Hong Kong with the latest, CNN's Andrew Stevens.

And Stevens -- Andrew, you cannot overstate how dramatic this move has been. In three weeks, you've had something like 30 percent shaved off the value of the stock market.

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And on top of that, you've had a lot of effort being made by the central authorities in Beijing to stop this, Christine, and they have not been able to.

This is the key here. Beijing, which leads so much from the front with economic policy, with all sorts of policy and how cheery the market was going up, they can't stop the slide, despite of what all these measures they are putting in. They are ordering the state-owned institutions to start buying the big caps, the small caps.

They set up this market stabilization fund. They are doing whatever they can to try to bring this to a close and it's in the just working. We are starting to see a bit of contagion as well. Hong Kong, you showed the numbers there. A big fall in Hong Kong.

Important to remember, these are two very separate markets and two very different jurisdictions but obviously, there's very strong linkage there. Hong Kong is down by 6 percent and the biggest fall since 2008.

At this stage, there is no clear indication that the authorities in China are getting on top of this. And also what you said, which is also extraordinary to so much of our viewers, that they have suspended all half the shares on the Shanghai and the Shenzhen stock exchanges, these are two main stock exchanges have now been suspended with no better reason that it's too much market volatility so they are closing shop. They are literally freezing out investors in and they can't get out now if they want to.

So, that sends a message to investors saying where is the credibility here, who can we trust and what can we do?

ROMANS: You used a very important word there, "contagion". I mean, this is a Chinese bubble that is bursting. It's mostly Chinese investors exposed to this, not American investors, but it is the second largest economy in the world when you have a crash in a stock market of any economy.

It can send -- it can be -- there can be contagion and send a chilling effect on consumers and businesses so we will very closely watch that.

Thank you so much, Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong.

A CNN exclusive Hillary Clinton in her his national interview since entering the race for the president taking on Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. What she had to say, next.

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