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EARLY START

7,000 Pages of New Hillary Clinton E-mails; President Obama Fights Global Warming; New Details on the Execution-Style Murder of a Houston Sheriff's Deputy. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired September 1, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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


[04:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: New e-mails from Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server released overnight while you were sleeping. 7,000 pages showing frustration with the way her department handled secrets.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama fight against global warming.

ROMANS: New information in the execution-style murder of a Houston sheriff's deputy. What investigators are saying about the suspect's past and why they think he did it.

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

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. 30 minutes past the hour. While were you sleeping, the State Department released e-mails from Hillary Clinton's time as Secretary of State. 7,000 pages in the set. Many are routine, but some are eye catching over the private e-mail server. In one, she expresses frustration with the treatment of a document on the Israeli Palestinian conflict as if it were classified sending it over the classified messages system.

Secretary Clinton wrote to an aide, it's a public statement. E-mail it. Once she receives remarks, she responds that is certainly worthy of being top secret. Another e-mail from Chelsea Clinton blasts the international relief effort in Haiti and urging her mother to quickly change the relief paradigm on the ground. More than 100 e-mails marked classified retroactively. Elise Labott has more.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, 125 of the 7,000 e-mails released last night have information that has now been upgraded to classified. Percentage wise, that is double than the previous charge and it suggests the State Department is erring on the classified more because of the scrutiny. The information was not marked classified at the time.

The majority were upgraded because they were released to the public. They received the lowest level of classification. Still we see this issue as dogging the presidential campaign. She is already taking a hit in the polls on honesty and trustworthiness. She lost about one- third of her support in Iowa. You have seen her change her tone in the past week, acknowledging some people have legitimate concerns of the private server use. Admitting it wasn't the best decision.

We have a long way to go after yesterday's batch. That is just a quarter of the 55,000 pages of e-mails released. Every month, a new batch is going to be released. It is fodder for the Republicans and every time Clinton is forced to talk about the e-mails, she is not talking about issues that are important to Americans. John, Christine.

ROMANS: Elise Labott, thank you.

A new challenge to Donald Trump's supremacy. The billionaire now tied with Ben Carson at 23 percent in the New Monmouth University poll. The first time in a month Trump has not led the pack. Carson's gain is Walker's loss. Look at Carly Fiorina in there at number three at 10 percent. The top three people in there are not politicians. Six weeks ago, the same poll had Walker in front at 22 percent. Having any kind of elected office resume not really good.

BERMAN: Experience in the job is not vital.

A sharp jab at Jeb bush from Donald Trump. Donald Trump going after Jeb Bush on immigration. A message posted on Instagram. Used a short clip over remarks Bush made last year that undocumented immigrants come to the United States to provide for their families. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, they broke the law, but it's not a felony. It's an act of love.

(END VIEO CLIP)

BERMAN: A couple notable things. Trump posted this on Instagram. He has a huge social media following. He can get a lot of reach. The other thing, a lot of people noting this blast is reminiscent of the Willie Horton ads produced against his father, George H.W. Bush. This seems deliberate. This morning, Jeb Bush will be in Florida and tour a high school and host a town hall in Miami.

[04:35:00] ROMANS: Candidates further back in the pack are doing what they can to get attention. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is polling under 2 percent. He dropped by "The Tonight Show" to trade quips with Jimmy Fallon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, LATE NIGHT TV HOST: Donald Trump is in the lead of all of the polls. Is this a surprise?

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Not surprising. Of course he is. It is wonderful and beautiful. I'm not worried about Donald. I have to worry about myself and we will see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That was Chris Christie. Polling at 2 percent. He won Jimmy Fallon over.

Joe Biden will march in one of the biggest labor day parades. 60,000 people will turn out to March in Pittsburgh. Union workers could be a key base of support for Joe Biden. Born in Pennsylvania. Then, of course, moved on to Delaware. Biden is considering weighing the possibility now of running for president.

ROMANS: President Obama in the Alaskan wilderness today planning a glacier hike and boat tour. Part of the white house plan to use the arctic as a backdrop for the climate agenda. Already he has taken global warming deniers to task. In an unusually blunt speech in Anchorage. We have Jim Acosta there with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, President Obama delivering an urgent message on climate change. The president is sounding the alarm on climate change. Melting glaciers and record high temperatures. The president delivered the speech to the arctic nations, including Russia on Monday night. In his address, he hinted at Republicans in congress who stood in the way of his climate agenda.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Any so-called leader who does not take this seriously or treats it like a joke, is not fit to lead. The time to heed the critics and cynics and deniers has passed. The time to plead ignorance is surely passed. Those who want to ignore the science, they are increasingly alone.

ACOSTA: The president renamed Mt. McKinley difficult in Alaska Denali. Next, he will see the effects of climate changes first hand. He will visit a glacier with Bear Grylls as they talk about global warming and he will travel to northern Alaska where he will become the first president to visit the arctic to hear from fishermen who are seeing their livelihoods threatened by climate change and White House official described this journey as a signature trip of the Obama presidency.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: There could being spectacular pictures today. Not happy about all of this. Two Ohio politicians are furious that the president renamed Mt. McKinley back to Mt. Denali. Original name for the tallest peak. House Speaker John Boehner and Governor John Kasich say it disrespected William McKinley. Not far from the football hall of fame which I visited this summer. Donald Trump is going further than Boehner and Kasich. He says President Obama wants to change the name of McKinley to Denali. Great insult to Ohio. I will change it back.

ROMANS: How many years was it Denali before McKinley?

BERMAN: Forever. McKinley wasn't even president when it was called McKinley. The gold prospector hiking up there and he said let's name this McKinley.

ROMANS: This is why you are a celebrity "Jeopardy" champ.

ROMANS: President Obama now just three votes short of the Iran nuclear deal. 13 democrats still undecided. Later today, we will find out how two key swing votes play out. Democratic Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Coonz are set to announce their answers for the deal.

[04:40:00] BERMAN: And the satellite images confirming the bell temple in Palmyra has been destroyed. The images show the temple of Bell obliterated.

ROMANS: Time for an EARLY START on your money. Disappointing numbers on Chinese manufacturing. Europe shares are down. U.S. stock futures are down. 2 percent right now. That will be an ugly start to September following the August down fall. Yesterday, the Dow fell 115. This is what August was like. Down more than 1,100 points. The biggest drop since May of 2010. Wal-Mart cutting worker hours at stores. The move comes four months after Wal-Mart raised wages. Wal- Mart says this effects a small fraction of stores. It gave 500,000 workers a raise to $9 an hour. Some critics are saying don't cut hours because you are paying more.

BERMAN: A troubling history revealed about the suspect in the execution-style murder of the Sheriff's Deputy. New information about his past and why authorities think he did it.

[04:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Texas prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for a suspect charged in the execution-style killing of a sheriff's deputy. Shannon Miles made his first appearance in court on Monday to face capital murder charges. Authorities are trying to determine why he shot deputy Darren Goforth 15 times. No apparent provocation. The Harris County sheriff talking to CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF RON HICKMAN, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS: At this juncture, we find no other motivation other than the fact that he was wearing a uniform which makes it a random issue.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": The president of the fop has said he believes this should be labeled a hate crime. Do you think that should be the case?

HICKMAN: I think if we can demonstrate he was isolated and selected because he is wearing a uniform, that would qualify.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: We are learning the suspect has a rap sheet and mental illness. CNN's Ed Lavandera has more.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have learned in 2012, Miles was arrested and criminally charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He never went to trial on that charge. Instead, he was found mentally incompetent to stand trial and sent to a mental hospital. Prosecutors issued a subpoena trying to track down health records here in the Houston area. This comes as one of Miles' attorneys says one of the things they will do is order a psychological evaluation.

The mental health issues here is something investigators and prosecutors will dig deeper into as this case moves along. Here at pump number eight at the Chevron gas station where Deputy Sheriff Goforth was shot and killed on Friday night, the outpouring of support continues. Thousands of people have been streaming by here leaving flowers and teddy bears and balloons and messages of condolences for Goforth's family. Many people had to hear and see the suspect in this case for the first time in court today. Some of the gruesome details of the way the murder unfolded here in the parking lot very troubling and very powerful and emotional scene in the courtroom. Christine and John.

BERMAN: Ed Lavandera, thank you. The Supreme Court refusing to intervene on behalf of the Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis. She has denied marriage licenses to same-sex couples because it conflicts with her religious beliefs. Her refusal now could result in fines or jail time.

ROMANS: The deflategate hearing in New York attended by Roger Goodell and Tom Brady lasted four minutes.

BERMAN: Who looks better?

ROMANS: They both look dashing.

BERMAN: Come on.

ROMANS: The two sides were unable to agree. It's not like they are walking the runway.

BERMAN: I just objectified Tom Brady.

ROMANS: The judge will intervene in the case. He is a good-looking man.

BERMAN: He is. I would ask the judge, Judge Berman, no relation, do the right thing.

Chaos in Europe as migrants are escaping war zones looking for any place to call home. This is a serious, serious situation. We are live where hundreds arrived overnight in Germany. That's next.

[04:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: New developments this morning in Europe's escalating migrant crisis. Train loads of men, women and children, mostly from Syria flooding into Austria and Germany. The asylum rule is eroding. All governments in Europe must bear the burden equally according to Angela Merkel.

We have CNN's Frederick Pleitgen in Germany this morning. Fred, this is a situation that needs to be dealt with immediately. FREDERICK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. We can see that here

this morning in Munich, John. If you look behind me, hundreds of people just arrived here at the Munich train administration. They is gone through Hungary and Austria. Many held up along the way. At this point, migration laws are falling apart. There is a system in place that is supposed to put the refugees equally in all countries. At this point in time, it appears the Germans that are telling the Iraqis and Syrians that all of them can come there and apply for asylum. That is what people are doing.

If I ask Martin, my cameraman, to pan this way, Germans brought a couple of buses here that people are trying to get on to. This is done in a fairly orderly fashion as you would expect in Germany. These people are going to be brought to temporary shelters. That is not necessarily the case in other countries. We have seen harrowing scenes of people staying out in the heat and for days with little food or water. The situation is different here. You can really feel how all of the European countries are having a lot of trouble coming to terms with the flood of people that's trying to get into Europe, especially from Syria and Iraq. We have spoken to Afghans as well. John.

BERMAN: Frederik Pleitgen, thank you.

ROMANS: A lot of buzz in the business world because the CEO says she is having twins and she's going to work the whole time. The latest in the parental leave debate next.

[04:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an EARLY START on your money. I have a smile on my face. An ugly start to the month for stocks. Asian and European shares lower. Disappointing Chinese numbers. U.S. stocks futures falling sharply. The Dow plunged more than 1100 points in August. The biggest drop since May 2010. Concerns over China and looming interest rate hike and oil. Berman, look at this. Oil logged the biggest three-day rally since the 1990. Iraq invaded the oil fields of Kuwait. Opec may consider cutting production and the U.S. cut estimates for oil production.

BERMAN: Not by tons.

ROMANS: A little. That was enough for the speculators to think that everyone has it wrong. Oil prices could stay low for so long. After that three-day run, oil down almost 4 percent right now. Watch oil. That will be a big story here this week. How much time should women take off work for maternity leave? Marissa Mayer says as little as possible. She announced she is expecting identical twins.