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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Republicans Weigh Immigration Response; Another Cosby Accuser Comes Forward; Tensions Rise as Israeli Authorities Destroy Home of Palestinian; The High Cost of Obesity

Aired November 21, 2014 - 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: Pass a bill. President Obama challenging members of 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: 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 to these allegations.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. John Berman has the morning. It is 29 minutes past the hour.

Up first, the big story this morning. President Obama promising to rewrite America's immigration system without Congress. In a 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.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: 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 is 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 the 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I want to work with both parties to pass a more permanent legislative solution. 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. Congress certainly shouldn't shutdown our government again 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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. The Secret Service said a 23-year-old woman was arrested carrying a gun in a holster under her shirt walking along Pennsylvania Avenue -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, now that the president has laid down the immigration gauntlet, Republicans seemed unsure how to respond. Some are calling his action an illegal power grab, many GOP leaders though fear 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. I don't know if you can see at the cover of the "New York Post," "Bamnesty." It says that will be the tone of the opposition to this. What are you hearing overnight?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Wild guess, Christine, but I think this will be an issue that will be debated up to the next presidential election. This is an issue that Americans all around the country will be debating this morning everywhere.

Should people with no legal right to live in this country, be allowed to stay. One of the states where immigration has historically been a top issue is Texas. A voter there says she worries that the president has taken unilateral action on an issue that in her opinion, should have been resolved by Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I worry about everybody. About him doing it by himself like that. That is not really kosher. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You mean the president taking executive action to do this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. I think it should be done through the House and Congress.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to really admire the people here because they are very bilingual and helpful and I think we should help them as much as we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: But who will this executive order by President Obama benefit? We are looking at some numbers this morning released by the Pew Research Center. According to Pew, there are 11.2 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

The president's initiative would benefit an estimated 3.8 million people, mainly parents with U.S. born children under the age of 18 who have lived in the country for more than five years. Christine, back to you.

ROMANS: It brings up the numbers. Like the Pew numbers. You look at the numbers and you have more than 6 million people who are not eligible for any relief here. So you still then have this sort of class of non-citizens with no rights, doesn't necessarily fix a broken immigration system, it is band aids on a broken immigration system.

ROMO: Yes, what the president is saying is that he is taking a look at the practical side of it. It is impractical to deport 11 million people. You can at least do something about it. But of course, his critics say, illegal is illegal. If they came to this country without permission, they should be turned away -- Christine.

ROMANS: And a bureaucratic mess to sort through all of these people to figure out who gets what kind of relief. You make a very good point. The next president or another Congress could totally change it.

Breaking overnight, Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson is in talks to resign from the department. According to sources close to negotiations, Wilson maintains he did nothing wrong the day he shot teenager, Michael Brown.

He is considering leaving the force to relieve the pressure on fellow officers. If he does get indicted, he will change his mind. The grand jury will decide as early as today to indict or clear him.

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 eight 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 after the shooting a library employee and shooting two students. One victim remains critical and another is in good condition. A third has been treated and released.

ROMANS: All right. What's in store for the weekend? A whole lot of snow in upstate New York and some wild weather perhaps potentially in Texas -- Indra.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A lot going on this weekend. Let's first take a look at what we call the deja vu lake-effect snow. Look at this. This is Tuesday and Thursday. You are looking at the radar from both of the systems.

It is impossible to tell them apart. That is the problem. That is the reason why so many residents this morning in the area are waking up with 7 feet of snow.

So keep in mind and we keep showing this huge amount. They are saying this is not from cleaning the streets and piling up against the road. It is literally how much is sitting on top of people's homes.

Let's say you got 4 feet of snow and a 2,000 square feet home. You are talking about 50,000 pounds sitting on top of your roof this morning. So many are terrified of what this means. Many of these roofs are already collapsing and many people waking up with again 7 feet not 4 feet of snow.

So, what happens from here? Temperatures are warming up. People are saying that's great. We're talking about the snow melting. Not so fast. You don't want see all of that snow melt this quickly. As these temperatures continue to climb, we are talking upper 60s in New York City by Monday.

Same problem exists out towards Buffalo. They are looking for those temperatures about 61 degrees so all of that snow is out there, maybe 4 inches to 8 inches of water equivalency that goes into the runoff and rivers and lakes.

Now we're talking about the threat for flooding so huge concerns going forward from here, really monitoring especially as we get in through Monday. Not only are we talking about warmer temperatures, but we are also be talking about rain making its way through the area.

So let's take it day by day as we go through the weekend here. High pressure is cutting off additional snowfall that will be falling so maybe a little bit more today. After that, it gets cut off, but a look at Chicago. What happens?

The high moves here, all that moisture pulls into the region, a chance for freezing rain in through Chicago tonight. That is through Saturday and Sunday. A low develops and pulls all this moisture out of the gulf and we start to have a severe weather threat.

So Saturday and Sunday, look for anywhere really in the southeast to start to see the huge squall line kind of ramp up. This is key this squall line right here eventually by Sunday makes its way into the Buffalo region and brings a chance for some rain showers into the region and again those very warm temperatures.

So really a lot going on, the concern is still extremely high in the Buffalo region.

ROMANS: Wow. OK, Indra Petersons, thanks for that, Indra.

President Obama offering a fix for high skilled immigration, but some say they are just not enough. The promises are fairly vague at this point.

The president is offering more flexibility for high skilled workers waiting for green cards, more options for foreign entrepreneurs, and expansion of the optional practical training program that allows foreign students to work in the U.S. for a while after graduation.

Still a lot we don't know about the plan, but experts are saying this puts a band aid on the high-skilled immigration problem and doesn't change the green card system over all. There will be a lot of talk in the business all about that this morning.

Also, talking about the stock market, time for an EARLY START on your money, Asian shares ended the day higher. European shares are up as well after European Central Bank President Mario Drogi said the bank is ready to act fast to combat inflation.

U.S. stock futures are also up even just the smallest gains today will mean record highs.

All right, 39 minutes past the hour. Another woman goes public claiming she was sexually assaulted by comedian, Bill Cosby. She is sharing her story for the first time. Why she says she now has chosen to speak out. Her story is coming up on EARLY START.

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ROMANS: Another alleged victim has come forward accusing Bill Cosby of sexual assault. The 68-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 1971.

Through his lawyer, Cosby has consistently denied all assault allegations. In a recent interview with the AP, he declined to elaborate on the claims and asked the reporter to scrap that part of the interview with that line of questioning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

UNIDENTIFIED 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. Be sure to stay with CNN this morning at 6 a.m. on "NEW DAY," we sit down with Linda Traitz, another Cosby accuser who claims the comedian sexually assaulted her when she was 19 years old.

Embattled NFL star, Adrian Peterson, breaking his silence this morning, the suspended Minnesota Viking's running back revealing he spoke last week to his 4-year-old son. The boy he beat and bloodied with a switch from a tree.

In a "USA Today" sports exclusive, Peterson claims the little boy told him I love you and asked if he could visit. Peterson went on to say, quote, "No one knows how I felt when I turned my child around after spanking him and seeing what I had left on his leg.

No one knows that dad sat there and apologized to him and 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's decision to suspend Peterson without pay for the remainder of the season.

Dark details 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 right before the deadly shooting telling them what he wanted to wear at his funeral.

He also asked the 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.

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

Herrera was hurt when he was shot by a sniper while leading a mission on Afghanistan. He's made it his goal to retire standing on his own. The same way he did when he joined the Marine Corps. Best of luck to him.

Let's take a look at what's coming up on NEW DAY. Chris Cuomo joins us. Hi, Chris. Happy Friday.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Happy Friday. We will talk about the president. We will dig deeper. He laid out the plan for executive action. Now we know. The Democrats and White House say this is the most ambitious change in years roundly criticized by the GOP.

But is it about what he did and how he did it or what the impact would be of the plan? So that will be the basis of discussion. We have to figure this out. We will have Josh Earnest, who is the White House's top spokesperson. We're going to have former attorney general, Alberto Gonzalez, who understands not just the law, but the politics of this issue very well because they are going to sue now.

They are going to be people who are critics who are going to sue on the basis of this. Is it constitutional? Will it hold? What does it mean and will the changes happen for the president? All of that.

And then all eyes on Ferguson, we have been told the grand jury could come out with a decision today. What are the main variables? What's going on in that town?

We are hearing about what Officer Darren Wilson, about what he wants for his future and what he expects to come out of this. We will have all of this information looking at today and looking forward right at the top of the hour, my beautiful friend.

ROMANS: Thanks, Chris. Happy that it is Friday. See you shortly.

CUOMO: Absolutely.

ROMANS: Shocking new warnings delivered to Congress about a potential risk to our nation's power grid and other essential systems. All of the details on that coming up.

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ROMANS: 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 according to the head of the National Security Agency.

Admiral Michael Rogers, who also serves as the chief of U.S. cyber command, telling Congress, the U.S. has detected malware from China and elsewhere, on the nation's computer system. He sees a coming trend of nation's exploiting vulnerability to disrupt our economy.

Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians appear to be reaching a breaking point this morning. Officials in Jerusalem are reviving a controversial tactic by destroying the home of a Palestinian man who plowed his car into a crowd of pedestrians killing a woman and baby. The idea is to deter future attacks, but it is provoking anger instead.

Now Israel has arrested three Palestinians and charged with plotting to assassinate the Israeli foreign minister.

Atika Shubert is tracking all of the developments from Jerusalem this morning for us. Certainly nerves are frayed. No question.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a city trying to get back to normal, but very tense especially as Friday prayers and as usually it is tense time anyway. However, there are no age restrictions today for those going to pray in the mosque in the old city.

That may be one way to try and calm things down a little bit. People are still fearful there could be another attack. In the meantime in the days ahead, we've already went to the house of one attacker that was reduced to rubble. It was very tense there.

We talked to the mother there. She told us these kinds of policies really only beget more violence. There is a controversy over it will help. There is an issue of whether it will deter other attackers before going ahead.

ROMANS: Atika Shubert for us this morning in Jerusalem, thank you.

It's 52 minutes past the hour. Need to lose a few pounds? You are not alone. Millions of Americans are clinically obese as we head to the holidays. Wait until you hear how much that is taking a toll on the economy. We will get an EARLY START on your money next.

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ROMANS: All right, let's get an early start on your money. Happy Friday for stocks around the world so far. Asian shares ended higher. European shares are up after the central bank president.

The U.S. stock futures are following Europe's lead. The S&P 500 and Dow closed at records. Stocks have not shattered records, but enough good news to inch them forward to new highs.

The obesity epidemic costing the economy $2 trillion a year, that's makes obesity almost as costly as smoking and armed conflict. Those costs come from lost productivity and health care expenses and early deaths.

More than 2 billion people, about 30 percent of the global population, are overweight or obese. That is expected to grow to half of the world population by 2030. It called for better nutrition labels and public health campaigns.

All right, speaking of food, holidays are for food, family and work? A new poll finds 45 percent of working Americans say there is a chance they will work on Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's.

One in four said they don't have a choice. If you are working thanksgiving, good chance you work in retail. That sparked protests and online petitions to give workers time with their families.

There is a lot to get to this morning. President Obama ordering this sweeping overhaul of what he calls the country's immigration system which is broken. "NEW DAY" is covering that story.