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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Obama: "You Can Come Out of the Shadows"; Ferguson Cops in Talks to Resign; Mysterious Packages; Iran Nuke Talks Down to the Wire

Aired November 21, 2014 - 04:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Executive action. President Obama ordering a sweeping overhaul of what he calls the country's broken immigration system; as Republicans slam the president, calling his actions illegal.

Breaking overnight: Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson in talks to resign with the department as all eyes return to the grand jury now. An indictment in the shooting death of Michael Brown could be handed up today.

Mysterious packages. The gunman sent mystery mail to eight of his Facebook friends to set to arrive today. Could the packages contain clues as to why the FSU grad opened fire on campus? We have the very latest on that story.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. John Berman is off today.

It is Friday -- Friday, November 21st. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East. Nice to see you all this morning.

Let's begin with the president. President Obama following through on the promise to overhaul the immigration system without Congress.

In the primetime address Thursday night, the president made a moral and legal argument to the American people for protecting millions of undocumented immigration from deportation. And he dared furious House Republicans to deal with it or come up with a plan of their own that he can sign.

Senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPODNENT: Christine, it was a rhetorical side of President Obama we don't hear often, quoting President Bush and Scripture from the Bible as he urged Americans to show compassion to the millions of undocumented immigrants covered under this executive action.

Here's the plan the president laid out in his speech: Undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and legal residents who have been in this country for five years receive what's called deferred action -- meaning, they won't be deported.

Also covered under the president's plan, an expanded number of children who were brought to the country illegally, the so-called DREAMers.

On enforcement, the administration is beefing up border security. But immigration authorities will now target undocumented felons and what the administration calls recent border crossers, as in people who crossed since January 2014.

The rest of the undocumented immigrants, like parents of DREAMers, take on lower priority status for deportations.

OBAMA: I want to work with both parties to pass a more permanent legislative solution. And the day I sign that bill into law, the actions I take will no longer be necessary. Meanwhile, don't let a disagreement over a single issue be a deal breaker on every issue. That's not how our democracy works. And Congress certainly shouldn't shutdown our government again just because we disagree on this.

Americans are tired of gridlock. What our country needs from us right now is a common purpose, a higher purpose.

ACOSTA: After the speech, immigration protesters gathered outside the White House mainly in support of the president's plan. People were chanting "Obama amigo".

There was one incident outside the White House. Secret Service says a 23-year-old woman was arrested carrying a gun in a holster under her shirt walking along Pennsylvania Avenue -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Jim Acosta, thanks for that, Jim.

Now the president has laid down the immigration gauntlet, Republicans seem unsure how to respond. Some are calling his actions an illegal power grab, but it's a slippery slope with many GOP leaders fearing an outright rejection of the president's plan could alienate the fastest growing group of voters in the nation.

Rafael Romo live from the CNN Center in Atlanta with the reaction to the president's primetime address.

Good morning.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine. Good morning.

As you would expect, there has been mixed reaction to the president's announcement mainly along the party lines. Republicans are deeply opposed to suspending deportations under the president's executive order. While Democrats seem to support the president's decision in general.

But let's focus on the people. At an RV park in Donna, Texas, people who heard the news also had mixed reaction to the president's initiative.

Let's hear what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think maybe we should give them a chance. Those that have been here a long time and their children were born here, because I don't believe in tearing their families apart.

BOB CLEMENTS, WISCONSIN RESIDENT: They are here legally, yes, but not to allow -- we have veterans that need homes and these people that are here illegal, no, I'm all the way against it. I mean, we should take care of what we've got here, our own people that are in need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

R0MO: Meanwhile, the Pew Research Center has released new numbers based on the president's announcement. According to Pew, the president's executive order would benefit, listen to this, Christine, an estimated 3.8 million undocumented immigrants, mainly parents with children born under the age of 18 who have lived in the country for more than five years. Two-thirds of those who would benefit, two- thirds, are immigrants from Mexico -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Rafael Romo, thank you for that this morning. Nice to see you.

Breaking overnight: Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson reportedly in talks to resign from the police department. According to a source close to the negotiations, Wilson maintains he did nothing wrong on the day he shot teenager Michael Brown, but CNN's Evan Perez tells us the officer's final decision depends on the grand jury's decision whether or not to indict him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The expectation that they have is, you know, obviously, if he gets indicted, he is in for a tougher fight, right? He has a trial ahead of him on all those things. So, this could be off the table.

So, you know, just the fact these talks have been going back and forth for the past few weeks tells you that this has been very sensitive. And he could yet change his mind. But, you know, we're told these are in the final stages and his plan is to resign as a way, again, to help his fellow officers trying to move on and help heal the community here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: A grand jury is expected to decide as early as today whether to indict Officer Wilson.

New details this morning about the gunman who opened fire inside a crowded library at Florida State University. Earlier this week, 31-year-old FSU graduate Myron May told friends on

Facebook to expect a package from him on Friday. Those friends have been told to call police immediately when those packages arrive today. May was killed by campus officers early Thursday morning after shooting a library employee and two students. One victim remains critical, another is in good condition, a third has been treated and released.

Seven feet of snow in bruised and battered Buffalo. Emergency crews from all over the state of New York converging on the crippled city, helping clear roads, rescuing more than 50 people from the roof of their homes.

Close to three feet of new snow fell in areas Thursday. Three feet of new snow. Ten deaths now blamed on this historic storm.

CNN's Martin Savidge has more for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, here's an example of the work that's going on. This is elements showing up from the New York National Guard. They are just part of what -- well, a large army that is made of both military, as well as private industry that's coming in to try to help.

Clearing the streets, that's sort of the name of the game going on here. Right in the background here, you've got all of these dump trucks that have come in. They are using front-end loaders and they're literally having to lift the snow off the ground, and get out of the street, put in dump trucks and haul it away, find open space and dump it there.

Take a look at this. I mean, this is just one example of one home and what they're up against. All of this snow, try to get your van out of the driveway. This was hours and hours of work eventually.

They realized maybe they should finish it off another time. Here is another vehicle here. You can see.

And cars are actually kind of hidden. You can lose them in the landscape here. There is so much heavy snow and it's blown over them that -- well, if you didn't see the fender sticking out, you would not know there was a vehicle here.

There is more snow that is coming and that's why this is a race against time. They want to try and clear as much of the main thorough ways as they can before more snow starts to pile in. It's essential for getting emergency traffic, getting people in and out. They made progress, but they still got a long way to go. They are hoping today they continue to make progress.

Christine, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Martin Savidge, thanks for that.

The worst is when you dig it out and the snow plow comes by and blocks you back in.

An early look at your weekend weather now with Chad Myers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A very good morning to you.

Although it is cold morning in the Northeast, cold across New York City. The high is 36 in New York. But it's never going to feel like that with the wind that's blowing through the buildings for sure.

Lake-effect snow machine finally turned off for Buffalo, finally, like they didn't see enough with those two rounds.

Thirty-two is the high in Chicago, 31 is the high in Minneapolis for today, and 69 down in Dallas.

There is a severe weather event beginning to set up for the weekend, down across parts of Dallas for tomorrow, maybe across the Southeast for the rest of the weekend. It's an event a lot like what you'll see in the spring where the warm air tries to come up, and a cold air -- cold front tries to push it all back down. The low pressure center developing in the Central Plains.

I know we think of severe weather in the spring, but it can also happen in the fall when the cold air tries to push the warm air down compared to the spring where the warm air is trying to come back up to the north and say, goodbye winter.

So, we do have that chance all the way through the weekend. We'll keep watching it for you on CNN.

You guys up there have a great morning and great day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Oh, thanks, Chad. We will.

Time for an early start in your money this morning. It looks like stocks could end the week with more records. U.S. stock futures pointing higher right now. And even just tiny gains could mean another record day.

Yesterday, the S&P 500 and the Dow rose a bit to close at records. Sound familiar? Stocks have not exactly been shattering records, but there's enough good news to inch them forward to the record highs. Positive reports on inflation, home sales and falling jobless claims did the trick yesterday.

Obamacare sign ups have been overstated. The administration previously reported 7.1 million people were enrolled in Obamacare health plans by mid-October. But now, officials say that was a mistake. Only 6.1 million Americans enrolled. The higher number included people with standalone dental plans. The over-count was discovered by a House committee.

All right. Bill Cosby facing new allegations from another woman claiming to be a victim of sexual assault. What she claims the comedian did to her decades ago, that's coming up.

And Adrian Peterson speaks out. The embattled NFL player talking about his child abuse charges and why he feels he deserves another chance to play in the league.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Another woman has come forward accusing Bill Cosby of sexual assault. Sixty-eight-year-old actress Louisa Moritz detailing abuse claims to TMZ, saying Cosby forced her to perform oral sex on him. Moritz known for her role in "One Flew Over the Coco's Nest", says the incident happened in her dressing room, right before she made an appearance on "The Tonight Show" in '71.

Through his lawyer, Cosby has consistently denied all assault allegations.

In a recent interview with "The A.P.", he declined to elaborate on the claims and urged the reporter to scrap the part of the interview with that line of questioning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL COSBY: Can I get something from you that none of that will be shown?

REPORTER: I can't promise that myself. But you didn't say anything.

COSBY: I know I didn't say anything, but I'm asking your integrity that since I didn't want to say anything, but I did answer you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Cosby's comedy tour continues tonight in front of a sold out crowd in Florida. Stay with CNN at 6:00 a.m. on "NEW DAY". We sit down with Linda Traitz, another Cosby accuser who claims the comedian assaulted her when she was 19 years old.

Embattled NFL star Adrian Peterson is breaking her silence. The suspended Minnesota Vikings running back revealing he spoke last week to his four-year-old son, the boy he beat and bloodied with a switch from a tree. In a "USA Today" today sports exclusive, Peterson claims the little boy told him, "I love you" and asked if he could visit. Peterson went on to say, "No one knows how I felt after I spanked him and saw what I had left on his leg. No one knows that dad sat there and apologized to him, hugged him and told him that I didn't mean to do this and how sorry I was."

The NFL Players Association is appealing the league decision to suspend Peterson without pay for the remainder of the season. A dark detail emerging about the student who opened fire at a high

school in Marysville, Washington. Detectives say Jaylen Fryberg sent a text message to his parents before the shooting telling him what he wanted to wear at his funeral. He also asked relatives to apologize to the victims families.

The 15-year-old gunned down five students last month, including two of his cousins, before killing himself. His motive remains unclear.

Investigators are trying to figure out what sparked a deadly blast on an offshore oil platform 12 miles off the coast of New Orleans. This happened just before 3:00 Thursday afternoon. One person was killed, three others injured. Officials say the rig was not in production at the time. The damage was limited to the explosion area. No pollution has been reported.

A special day for one of our nation's heroes. Captain Derek Herrera will walk across the stage Friday afternoon at Camp Pendleton to receive his Bronze Star. The paralyzed vet will do it with a help of an exoskeleton, a wearable robotics device that will give his body the power to stand.

Herrera was hurt when he was shot by a sniper while living a mission in Afghanistan. He's made it his goal to retire standing on his own, the same way he did when he joined the Marine Corps.

Shocking new warnings deliver to Congress about a potential risk to our nation's power grid and other essential systems. The frightening details coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. Welcome back.

China and at least one or two other countries has the capacity to launch a cyber attack that could cripple the nation's power grid. That is according to the head of the National Security Agency, Admiral Michael Rogers, who also served as chief of U.S. Cyber Command, telling Congress the U.S. has detected malware from China and elsewhere on the nation's computer systems. And he sees a coming trend of nation's exploiting vulnerabilities in America's cyber systems to disrupt our economy.

Just three days left for six world powers to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran and the prospects are looking grim. Officials close to the negotiations say there are sharp differences between the two sides. There is already talk about extending the deadline. That's triggering calls for tougher sanctions against Iran in Washington.

I want to go to Vienna live this morning and bring in our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson.

Really a big distance between these parties this morning.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's what we are hearing. You have the Russian deputy foreign minister yesterday saying that these talks are happening in very tense conditions. That at the moment, it's a very tough situation, that essentially the talks aren't going well.

Secretary Kerry coming in yesterday and saying that he wants to get a deal done by Monday, that he is still focusing on that. But it can't be any deal. It needs to be a deal that cuts down Iran's pathways to making a bomb. He's been clear on that.

Today, you will see the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, you will see the British foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, arriving here. Hammond himself has said he doesn't believe as things stand right now, there can be a deal made. He is talking about even if there is a little bit of progress, that maybe there could be an extension to these talks.

So, it's not looking good to get a resolution by Monday. And we heard from the International Atomic Energy Agency chief yesterday saying that, you know, he is the one that is overseeing the U.S. resolution and the monitoring on Iran right now. He says there are 12 unanswered questions from Iran. And he can't be sure that Iran is only pursuing peaceful nuclear power at the moment.

So, all of this clouding the talks making it very tense. And we are waiting to see today if they can shift it forward. Optimism is not very high at the moment, Christine.

ROMANS: Optimism not very high. But the stakes are.

Thank you so much, Nic Robertson, this morning, live in Vienna.

Dramatic testimony on Capitol Hill from a woman who described being hit in the face with shrapnel when her Takata airbag deployed in an accident. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE ERDMAN, TAKATA AIRBAG DEFECT VICTIM: When the impact occurred, shrapnel from my car's airbag shot through the airbag cloth and embedded into my right eye and cheek. I was instantly blinded on my right side. Since that day, I have endured multiple surgeries and therapies. I have more to go still. My vision will never be the same. I will never be the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Takata auto executives, safety regulators, all coming under fire during Thursday's hearing. You see there, a Takata executive said the company is trying to ramp up its production of replacement parts for its faulty air bags, but it said it might not be able to move quickly enough. Some 16 million cars Takata airbags have been recalled worldwide. More than 10 million of them in the U.S.

President Obama exercising executive power to overhaul the nation's immigration system. The details and the backlash coming up on EARLY START.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Pass a bill. President Obama challenging members of the Congress opposing his sweeping immigration overhaul, as Republicans slam the use of executive authority, calling it a power grab. So, what's next for nearly 5 million undocumented immigrants?

Breaking overnight: Officer Darren Wilson may resign from the Ferguson Police Department as the community remains on edge waiting for the grand jury to decide whether or not to indict him in Michael Brown's death.

Bill Cosby, new allegations this morning. Another alleged victim comes forward. Why these women are speaking out now? And will the comedian finally respond?

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. John Berman has the morning off.

It is Friday. Twenty-eight minutes past the hour.

Up first, President Obama following through on his pledge to rewrite America's immigration system without Congress. In the primetime address Thursday night, the president made a moral and legal argument to the American people for protecting millions of people in the country illegally from deportation. And he dared furious House Republicans to deal with it, or come up with their own plan that he can sign.