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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
CIA Director: Enhanced Interrogation "Useful"; Federal Government Shutdown Averted; Fight Against ISIS Getting Stronger; Oil Prices Fall Below $60; Powerful Storm Pummels West Coast; Iconic Model Accuses Cosby; Tension After Death of Palestinian Official
Aired December 12, 2014 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Defending the CIA. Its director criticizing the Senate report that detailed the torture of terror suspects after 9/11. Refusing to say enhanced interrogation methods were torture or that they were ineffective. The growing controversy this morning.
Government shutdown side stepped for now. The House narrowly passing a trillion dollar bill to fund the government. The spending fight moves to the Senate where lawmakers in both political parties are promising to fight the budget bill.
Storms pummel the West Coast -- rain, snow, dangerous winds, tearing through communities in California, Oregon, Washington, the worst storm in years. It's not over yet. We are tracking what you need to know.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans this Friday morning. It is 30 minutes past the hour.
The battle over the CIA's use of harsh interrogation techniques escalates as CIA Director John Brennan holds an unprecedented news conference at agency headquarters, defending the techniques, that it's producing useful intelligence.
But Brennan calls it unknowable, whether that information could have been obtained without harsh interrogation. And while he would not call it torture, he did not use the word "torture". Brennan admitted officers used techniques that went beyond what they had been legally authorized.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BRENNAN, CIA DIRECTOR: In a limited number of cases, agency officers used interrogation techniques that had not been authorized, were abhorrent and rightly should be repudiated by all.
The detainees who were subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques provided information that was useful and was used in the ultimate operation to go against Osama bin Laden. Again, I'm not going to attribute that to the use of the EITs. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Top Bush administration officials fighting that the firestorm created by the Senate's 500-page torture report. Bush-era attorney Michael Mukasey claimed the techniques did not violate the law. While CIA director Michael Hayden argued that rectal feeding and rehydration was not an interrogation technique at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
MICHAEL HAYDEN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Jake, I'm not a doctor and neither are you. What I am told is, this is one of the ways that the body is rehydrated. These were medical procedures. And to give you a sense --
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: You're really defending rectal rehydration?
HAYDEN: What I'm defending is history. To give you a sense as to how this report is put together, this activity which was done five times in each time for the health of the detainee, not part of the interrogation program, not designed to soften him up for any questioning.
MUKASEY: The torture statute says you can't, under color of law, cause -- intentionally cause somebody severe physical or mental pain or suffering. So, severe physical suffering or pain isn't defined. Severe mental pain or suffering --
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: So, it gave them a lot of wiggle room.
MUKASEY: It's defined in durational terms. It has to last beyond what's tragic. What the CIA did did not violate that statute.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
ROMANS: Worldwide rage over harsh interrogation building. Harsh words now coming even from U.S. allies. Germany calling CIA torture gruesome. Other countries like China and North Korea accusing the U.S. of hypocrisy for indulging in torture while pointing the finger at them for human rights violations.
CNN's Ian Lee joins us now live from Cairo.
And, Ian, the U.N. -- the U.N. is saying the U.S. has lost the moral high ground here. The U.N. calling for prosecutions.
Any chance that will happen? And if it doesn't, then what happens next?
IAN LEE, CNN REPORTER: Christine, we have seen a strong international call for the prosecution of Bush-era officials, especially from human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as the United Nations. One U.N. official involved in the human rights works talked to our Christiane Amanpour recently. Take a listen to this.
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BEN EMMERSON, U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL: Whether the program produced actual intelligence or not is irrelevant. The obligation to prosecute crimes of torture is an obligation resting on the United States, because it's party to the Torture Convention. And whether or not actionable intelligence resulted makes no difference to the legal liability of those who committed the crimes of torture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: Well, it seems very unlikely that the Obama administration will actually prosecute these people. So far, they resisted calls. There are other avenues to take. One is going to European courts which has seen more willing to investigate the U.S.'s use of torture. There have been convictions in the past. Although, the U.S. has been very reluctant and not handed over people to serve sentences in European jails.
The other option comes from the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union who said that the Obama administration could actually pardon these Bush era officials. And while they would let be off the hook, it could send a strong message to anyone who would contemplate using torture in the future.
ROMANS: Right. Ian Lee for us this morning in Cairo -- thank you, Ian.
Now, the president is set to sign a bill that will keep the federal government's lights on following a House vote last night, narrowly approving a big spending bill and avoiding a government shutdown.
Chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash this morning on Capitol Hill with the latest.
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DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, crisis aver averted. The government is remaining open. The funds are continuing to flow, but not without a lot of chaos here on Capitol Hill.
Now, late last night, just hours before the government was going to run out of money, the House finally passed a very large $1.1 trillion bill to keep the government running for an entire year. It was very, very close. It passed by only two votes. It wasn't clear up until the last minute that they were even going to put the House vote on the floor.
And here's why -- this was not supposed to happen. People are used to brinksmanship here on Capitol Hill. But this particular spending bill was the product of Democratic and Republican negotiations in the House and Senate. So, they thought they would be able to pass this.
But things began to unravel big time when House Democrats led by the House Democratic leader split from the White House and split from Senate Democrats and started to say that they don't like some of the things that were in this bill -- things that they said hurt a consumers and for the wealthy like rolling back Wall Street reforms and campaign finance laws being changed, lifting caps that allowed wealthy donors to give even more money than they do now.
So because of that, there -- it was not clear whether the votes were going to be there and at the end of the day, you saw the White House chief of staff come here to Capitol Hill and try to convince House Democrats that this is the best that they can do. This actually big picture sets Democratic priorities before Republicans take over in Congress.
So, this actually finally did pass. But you had strange bedfellows at the end of the day. You had Republicans and Democrats leadership hand-in-hand working together, while you had liberals and conservatives opposing this -- just proves that compromise is important to talk about, but it is not easy when you have times of hard and vocal wings in both parties.
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ROMANS: All right. Dana Bash, thanks for that analysis.
President Obama's hand in the war on ISIS getting stronger this morning. On Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved new war powers. The measure authorized the president to use military force against the Islamic terror group, but it would limit large scale ground combat operations unless it's deemed absolutely necessary to protect or rescue U.S. soldiers or citizens.
Outrage over the deaths of two unarmed black men by white police officers still gripping this nation. Attorney General Eric Holder will be in Chicago this morning to discuss race and law enforcement issues in the wake of what happened in Ferguson and in New York City. It is latest in the series of meetings he is holding on building community trust. Meantime, hundreds of minority congressional staffers walked off the job Thursday.
This action protesting the grand jury's decisions in the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. This as Eric Garner's daughter Erica staged a die-in Thursday in New York City in memory of her father. His mother was also there calling for justice.
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GWEN CARR, ERIC GARNER'S MOTHER: Just as he we want everyone to stand together, stand with us. It's been that way and I want it to stay that way. It's not for just my son or your son. It is for everyone's son.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Thirty-eight minutes after the hour. Time for an early start on your money this morning.
Falling oil prices spooking markets. European stocks are down again this morning, so are U.S. stock futures. It looks like a tough end to what has been a wild week. Yesterday, the Dow snapped a three-day losing streak. It actually rose 63 points. A strong retail sales boosted stocks, but oil reached fresh lows. And that is now weighing on markets again.
Oil fell below $60 a barrel for the first time since July of 2009. This is great for consumers. This means big savings at the gas pump. It means a stimulus into the American economy. It is scary for oil producers. International energy says oil prices are likely to keep falling, thanks to booming supply in the U.S. The IEA also cut its outlook for oil demand next year because of growth worries in some markets.
Happening now. The West Coast pummeled with rain and snow and 100- mile-per-hour winds. It's been called the worse storm in years and it's not over yet. We are tracking what you need to know right after the break.
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ROMANS: Huge storm battering the West Coast. Gusty winds and torrential rain, communities crippled, flights canceled, subways shutdown, streets under water.
Look at the scene in San Francisco. Cars submerged. The rain making it treacherous for people to get around, winds also packing a punch, toppling trees. You can see this one uprooted, crushing this SUV parked in a driveway.
Now, two children were hurt when this tree came crashing down on the school playground in Santa Cruz. Emergency crews rushed to save an 11-year-old boy pinned underneath the tree. He is OK. Another young girl who was struck by branches. She was treated for minor injuries. One person was injured in San Jose when heavy rain caused a partial roof collapse at a Safeway grocery store. People inside at the time described the scene a pure chaos.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just hectic. You just hear loud noises and crashing. And it's just really scary. I had to call 911 and just freaked out.
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ROMANS: Besides the rain, there was also snow. You can see this blizzard coming down in the northern sierra. At least two feet of snow fell there.
I'm going to show you a couple of daredevils making the best of the rough surf, rough surf -- get this -- on Lake Tahoe. The storm's gusty winds made for pretty impressive waves for these surfers.
In Oregon, though, a homeless man was killed when a tree toppled on his tent in Mt. Ashland. The 40-year-old son said the tree fell across his dad's arm and chest. The teenager said he tried to give his dad CPR, but it was just too late. Strong winds also picked up sheet metal causing it to fly to a high
rise in downtown Portland, metal shattered a window in a lawyer's office. People inside had to duck for cover fast.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was coming so fast, I had about one second to turn away from the window so my back was to the window. It blew in and shattered glass went everywhere, totally. And papers, it was like being in a tornado. My papers in my office were flying in all directions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: One of the lawyers suffered a nick to the face. Fortunately, no one else was seriously hurt in all that.
So, is there any relief in sight for the West Coast? Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam for an early look at your weather.
Those pictures really tell a powerful story. Are they going to get some relief at least from the wind?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Christine, so do these numbers. In fact, just a bit of interesting information to pass along to you. In 2013, the entire year, San Francisco only reached over 3.5 inches. Since Thursday, we're just shy of that in San Francisco. Just a bit too much too quickly, that is why we have seen the flooding.
This is the latest radar throughout the region. Slowly starting to subside in the San Francisco Bay region. In fact, the National Weather Service has dropped the flood watches across the area. Now, we're focusing attention toward Los Angeles.
Of course, we know what happens when it rains for morning rush hour. Not a good combination. We're going to look at trouble conditions from Los Angeles, to San Diego, to the morning.
Look at these wind gusts recorded on Thursday. That's tropical-storm force winds. And in higher elevations, hurricane-force winds. Still high wind warnings for Southern California and much of Nevada, and even into parts of Utah and New Mexico.
We're also looking across the rest of the country where we have sunshine across the southeast and cold weather near you, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that, cold weather near me. Thank you, Derek.
Another Cosby accuser steps forward. This time Beverly Johnson, an iconic model from the '70s. In an essay for "Vanity Fair", she details an incident where she says Cosby drugged a cappuccino he made for her at his home during a read through for a role on "The Cosby Show."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEVERLY JOHNSON, MODEL: In the second sip, I knew I had been drugged, and I had been drugged really good. He was getting angry, he was pissed and he grabbed me by my arm and dragged me down the brownstone stairs. He threw me in the taxi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Johnson says Cosby escorted her out of his home when she wouldn't stop cursing at him.
CNN has reached out to Cosby's attorney. We have not heard back yet.
Stay with us. Johnson will join us live during the 8:00 hour on "NEW DAY."
New questions are being raised about a magazine story on alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia. The college students described as friends of the alleged rape victim Jackie have come forward and are challenging key details of that story. Two of her friends told ABC News some of "Rolling Stone's" article is false.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN, FRIEND OF ALLEGED UVA VICTIM: The reason that we did not go to the police was because Jackie didn't want to.
INTERVIEWER: Jackie said to you, I don't want to go to police. She said those words to you?
RYAN: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: They attribute to you in this article as saying, she is going to be the girl who cried rape and will never allowed into any fraternity party again. Did you ever say that?
KATHRYN HENDLEY, FRIEND OF ALLEGED UVA VICTIM: No.
INTERVIEWER: So, this is not true.
HENDLEY: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Police in Virginia are still investigating the alleged assault.
Happening now: tensions rising in the Middle East. Hamas readying a military march to Gaza this morning. We are live, next.
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ROMANS: Tensions will be high on the West Bank today, following the death of a top Palestinian official during a confrontation with Israeli troops. Israeli and Palestinian authorities offering conflicting accounts of the death. Even conflicting autopsy results. CNN's Ben Wedeman is live in the West Bank this morning for us.
Ben, what's the latest?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we understand actually there is one autopsy report, but the problem is different interpretations.
The Palestinians say that Ziyad Abu Ein died as a result of violence, of being hit by Israeli troops, grabbed by the throat and inhaling tear gas. The Israelis say he had a heart condition and he died. It may have been brought by the stress of the situation, but fundamentally, he had a heart condition and that's what caused his death.
So, we are expecting trouble on the West Bank. We are at the checkpoint where already we see burning tires and some stones thrown already. Israeli security forces are on alert in the West Bank and in Jerusalem in anticipation of trouble -- Christine.
ROMANS: You know, Ben, following -- causing more attention really, France and Ireland calling for the recognition of Israeli state, how is Israel reacting?
WEDEMAN: Well, this is just the latest European country to do so. France, Sweden, Spain and U.K. have all had these symbolic non-binding votes recognizing the Palestinian state. It appears for the declining support for Israel in Europe given that the conflict that has been going on for some time.
The United States has made an honest effort to try to resolve the conflict. But the feeling is among many European diplomats that Israel does not want to give up its settlements in the West Bank and resolve the problem.
ROMANS: All right. Ben Wedeman this morning for us in Ramallah -- thank you, Ben.
Fifty-four minutes past the hour.
Walmart cutting the price of the iPhone 6 and by a lot. We'll get an early start on your money, next.
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ROMANS: Happy Friday. Let's get an early start on your money today.
Falling oil prices spooking stock markets. U.S. stock futures are down right now. It looks like a tough end to a wild week. Yesterday, the Dow snapped a three-day losing streak and rose 63 points.
The U.S. economy is steadily improving, but falling oil prices is a big concern. Crude oil is below $60 a barrel for the first time since July 2009. This morning, the International Energy Agency says oil prices will keep falling thanks to booming supply in the U.S. The IEA also cut its outlook for oil demand next year because of growth worries in some markets.
Walmart is slashing iPhone prices. Shoppers can now get an iPhone 6 for $129, an iPhone 6-Plus for $229. That's a $50 discount from the standard price.
Walmart is also cutting prices on the Samsung Galaxy, the Xbox and PlayStation gaming systems and televisions also, betting that discounts on electronics are a good way to lure in holiday shoppers. Strong retail sales in November, an encouraging sign for businesses this month.
SeaWorld CEO is stepping down. CEO James Atchison will resign effective February 15th. He's going to take a $2.4 million lump sum payment with him and $8 million in stock options. The theme parks got a ton of negative attention after CNN's "Blackfish" document a killer whale attack on trainers.
Ticket sales were down more than 5 percent in November, and the stock is down 43 percent this year. Visits to the parks are down.
EARLY START continues right now.
