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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Police Across Europe On Guard Against Terror; Icy Road Danger; Middle Class Relief?; Super Bowl is Set

Aired January 19, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The world on high alert this morning as authorities close in on suspects linked to terror plots. Several arrests over the weekend show just how wide the web of terror cells have spread.

Ice danger. Frozen roads leading to deadly car pile ups across the Northeast. The treacherous weather causing bridges, even caused flight delays. What can we expect this week?

Relief could be on the way for middle class families. President Obama is about to unveil next tax proposals. Will they make it past the Republican controlled Congress?

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. John Berman has the morning off. It is Monday, January 19th. It is 5:00 in the East.

Police across Europe remain on high alert this morning as investigators try to unravel a web of suspected sleeper cells. New arrests -- new arrests include five in Belgium, two more in France. Prosecutors say they were crossing into Italy.

And this morning, Belgian officials are seeking extradition of one of several people arrested in Greece. Following Friday's police shootout in Belgium that left two terror suspects dead, one more injured, police there are out in numbers, numbers not seen in 35 years, patrolling the streets, guarding embassies and guarding the country's National Jewish Museum.

In Brussels, senior international correspondent Ivan Watson.

Ivan, what's the latest?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

European diplomats, foreign ministers are gathering here in Brussels for the first time since the deadly "Charlie Hebdo" attacks. And at the top of their meeting for this meeting is the discussion of counter terrorism efforts and the threat they perceive to European countries. In the meantime, we are getting details for the first time on one of the suspects that was arrested in a police raid here in Belgium in the eastern town of Verviers, Thursday night, when some of the suspects opened fire on police and were subsequently killed. The third man was arrested and identified by his attorney as Marouane

El Bali, a Belgian citizen hailing from this city of Brussels. Now, he is being charged, the defense attorney says, with participation in a terrorist organization, with possession of explosives and with prohibited possessions of weapons and with armed rebellion.

The defense attorney insists his client is innocent of all terrorism charges. He says that El Bali was only in the apartment that was raided by Belgian police Thursday night because he was there to deliver a pair of shoes to his friend. He also says that his client has no criminal record and was working as a security guard.

El Bali comes from the Mullenbeck (ph) neighborhood here in Brussels. It is a neighborhood with very high unemployment, with a very large population of first and second and third generation immigrants from North Africa. That neighborhood was again raided by police on Sunday and the mayor there tells us they had to beef up security precautions not only for the headquarters of police in that neighborhood, but also for the individual police officers themselves -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Ivan Watson for us this morning -- thanks for that, Ivan.

In France now, a source with knowledge of the investigation into the Paris terror attacks tells CNN this morning that police are seeking two people whose DNA was found on Amedy Coulibaly's belongings. Coulibaly killed four hostages in a kosher market before police shot and killed him. Three women held in connection with the Paris attacks were released on Sunday. Now, the prosecutor's office says nine others are still being interrogated.

I want to bring in our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson. He is live now from Paris for us.

Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

And, of course, for the police, any leads connecting other people to Amedy Coulibaly is hugely important, concerns that a group around him may be continuing potential threat for follow-on attacks. He was well armed on and that is where some of the DNA was found. That is where the DNA was found on the guns and ammunition and magazines in his apartment, a clip holding bullets. DNA found on that. Leading police to suspect at least one other person may have been aware of the weapons that he had there, a large number of weapons he had there and with him on the attack at the kosher supermarket.

Also, DNA that French media is saying is believed to have been found in a car that Coulibaly is believed to have used to get to the kosher supermarket on Friday the day he perpetrated that attack. So, these two leads for the police very, very important associated with Coulibaly. Security remains very, very high, 10,000 French troops on the streets here. This is unprecedented. But the judgment and view of the French people here is that the government is taking the right steps at this time. The polls in favor of the president had jumped 21 points in favor, prime minister up 17 points, too.

So, the sense is that the French people appreciate what their government is doing and giving them stronger approval ratings -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Nic Robertson for us this morning in Paris -- thank you for that, Nic.

Now to a possible truce as the battle for power intensifies in Yemen. A Yemeni official says an immediate cease-fire has been agreed to between with the government and Houthi Shiite rebels.

Now, fighting between the two sides apparently is still raging near Yemen's presidential palace. But there may be a larger looming threat. As the government deals with this, there are concerns that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula may ultimately benefit, AQAP.

Senior correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is the only Western TV journalist in Yemen and we're pleased that he joins us now live to sort of unravel this for us and explain why this is so important in the context of what's happening in Europe right now -- Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, just to bring you up to date with the events on the grounds. Behind me, we've heard this continued shelling. There are clashes still near the palace and administration. This is a predominantly Shia movement called the Houthis who have been good in taking ground in Yemen the past month, particularly at most of the capital, too, where they have checkpoints.

They got into a dispute over closed roads with presidential security, who were trying to protect presidential staff and whoever starts the fighting we don't know, but there are now intense clashes here and some breaking news I can bring you, too. We are hearing from officials close to the president that after a meeting to try an organized this cease-fire that the president had with the prime minister and political officials from the Houthi movement. The prime minister was leaving, and he came across some gunmen who opened fire they say on his convoy.

Now, they suspect the gunmen were ally to the Houthi movement, and that's the presidential officials. The Houthi say no, nothing to do with us at all, and they condemn the attack. So, this is possibility of a third party here trying to foment trouble. The president was out to make sure the violence stopped to get the cease-fire going.

But all we see every hour, in the city now, are more plumes of dust and smoke suggesting the fighting is ongoing, an extraordinarily tense situation here. And it's important basically because the more Yemen is chaotic, the easier life is for al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula is here. That's how they got a foothold here in the first place, the beginning of this year, years-long civil conflict is now intensifying, increasingly sectarian between Sunni groups and then the predominantly Houthi on the other side.

What we're seeing potentially today, according to those close to the president, he is said to be safe in his residence. But we are seeing a bid to takeover the building, the presidential administration, but it's the symbol of power in Yemen. The fight on the streets now, many think, determines who's going to run this country -- Christine.

ROMANS: And, Nick, so deteriorating security situation there, it really matters to counterterrorism operations going on in Europe.

WALSH: Well, this is how they first got foothold. AQAP got a foothold because it was a failing state. Now, it looks more like a failed state frankly as the institutions are simply, they are struggling to hold on to power. Remember, Afghanistan with Taliban, where there was a power vacuum there, in which al Qaeda were guest of the Taliban.

Here we see, a power vacuum. Some frighten cities we're told by diplomats seeking potentially some sort protection from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. They are a big part of the tribal, a lot of are Yemeni themselves. So, a real situation here where the worst the country spirals in anarchy, the easier it is for al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula to exist here and call attacks on the West -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Nick Paton Walsh for us this morning in Yemen, thank you for that Nick, certainly frightening.

CNN is going take an in-depth at the battle against terrorism. Tonight, two CN special reports. At 9:00, Jake Tapper looks at "Inside the Paris Attacks", and then at 9:30 Eastern Time, "NEW DAY's" Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota anchor "The War Within Islam", taking a look at what can be done to eradicate violent extremism.

Some 200 Yazidis are free this morning, released by ISIS militants who held them captive in Iraq for more than six months. A Kurdish official says once they were freed, the Yazidis walked to the checkpoint south of Kirkuk. U.N. officials say most of those freed were elderly. They were children or they were sick. Likely, they were slowing down the Islamic militants.

Below freezing temperatures and rain creating a nasty conditions on the roads in the Northeast. This was the scene on Interstate 76 outside Philadelphia, up to 50 cars involved in this chain reaction crash. We're told one person died.

The same scene playing out in the Northeast, 100 people slamming into each other in Interstate 84 in eastern Oregon. That crash left one Tri-Cities, Washington are man -- look at this sandwiched between two semis in his crumpled Chevy pickup truck. He survived. "NEW DAY" is going to speak with Kaleb Whitby about the horrifying crash of what he was thinking when he was stuck between those semis. That will be at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

Back to cold weather, with more storms in the forecast for the northeast. Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for an early look at your weather.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey. Good morning, Christine. Yes, let's take a look at what's happening here because we had a messy

scenario, of course, on Sunday with the hundreds of accidents across the Northeast. Temperatures were in the 20s. We had rain showers across the board, a lot of slick conditions.

The storm system is finally on the move, pushing in towards the Canadian maritime, if you're tuning in from the northern portion of New England. Certainly, you're going to get some action here with four to 10 inches in around portions of, say, in Northern Vermont and New Hampshire, one to four inches there. And even some freezing rain possible into the early afternoon hours across this region, about half a million under the advisories and warning. But the storm will push out of here with residual moisture in place. It will be gusty over much of the metro cities across the Northeast.

Look at New York City, the average is 32. In fact, the next few days stay at or above average, but it will be very windy, you feel considerably colder than this. And even a possibility for some flurries there on Wednesday morning with some wet weather moving in.

High pressure large and in charge across the Southeast, with temperatures unseasonably mild. You deserve it out here from Atlanta toward Dallas, pushing close to 70 degrees over the next 24 hours, changes in the weather. Another cold spell here ahead of us over the next couple of days. You see the storm as it exits the picture, another storm does drop. We're going to get shots of storms over the next few days. So, we'll watch this as we head in towards the middle of the week.

BERMAN: All right. We will watch it, indeed. Thank you, Pedram.

President Obama gives his annual State of the Union Address to Congress. And White House aides were in force on Sunday talk shows pushing the president's marquee proposal: tax cuts for the middle class. The president wants to make sure middle income earners benefit from recent improvements in the economy, and he wants tax cuts paid with tax and fee increases on banks and wealthy Americans. That plan had Republicans out in equal numbers to say not a chance.

CNN's Erin McPike is at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, President Obama is unlikely to get what he wants here because of how he wants to raise the revenue.

Let's talk about that. He wants to raise tax rates on capital gains and dividends right now. That rate is 20 percent. He wants to raise it to 28 percent. He also wants to impose a new fee on large financial institutions.

As you can imagine, this was big talk on the Sunday morning shows. Dan Pfeiffer, a senior advisor to President Obama, was on NBC's "Meet the Press" and then Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz was on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION." And as you will hear here, they were on very different pages.

DAN PFEIFFER, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR COUNSELOR: A simple proposition that now that the economy is in a stronger place it's been in a very long time, we need to double down on our efforts to deal with waste stagnation and declining economic mobility. And so, the simple proposition that we should ask the wealthy to pay a little more and invest more in the middle class, give the middle class a raise.

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: It's a nonstarter. We're not just one good tax increase away from prosperity in this nation. This nation had its all-time highest, the record number of receipts coming into the Treasury. Are you going to actually grow the economy and jobs, are entrepreneurs going to be better off, or small businessmen are going to be better off with more taxes and more government? No.

MCPIKE: But here are the tax cuts that President Obama ultimately wants to offer. He wants to give a tax credit for dual income families up to $500, and then, also, he wants to triple the child tax credit to $3,000.

Now, keep in mind also that this is just a starting point and we'll be hearing a lot about this over the next few months as both Republicans and President Obama wrangle over tax reform -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Erin McPike, thank you for that.

Time for an early start of your money this morning. European shares mostly higher. The European Central Bank meets this week and will likely announce bond-buying stimulus measures. Asian shares are lower. China's benchmark index plunged almost 8 percent this morning. Regulators there are penalizing three brokerages from breaking rules around risk margin trading.

The U.S. stock market closed for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the holiday. So little break in what has been a crazy January. Triple digit moves for the Dow. It almost becomes a norm, and we are seeing that in commodities like oil and copper. Analysts expect even more big swings for the foreseeable future.

A shooting near the vice president's home putting authorities on alert. Now, an investigation on the way to who fired the shots and whether they were targeting the Biden residence.

And terrifying moments on the JetBlue flight in Texas. A pilot forced to hit the brakes when another jet crossed him on the runway. How did this happen?

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ROMANS: Good morning. Welcome back.

The Secret Service and the FBI are investigating who fired multiple gunshots from a car outside the sealed perimeter around Joe Biden's house in Delaware over the weekend. The vice president and his wife were not home at the time. Agents have been searching the area for bullets and shell casings. Police reported a second shooting nearby a short time later. It is not known if the two are related.

By the time hackers broke into Sony Pictures computer system and stole sensitive information and effectively destroyed the studio's network, the NSA had already penetrated North Korea's secure computer network. That's according to "The New York Times", quoting unnamed officials. Experts briefed on the operation and newly disclosed NSA document.

"The Times" reports with the NSA's access to North Korean pictures is the major reason for the administration's high level of confidence when it accused North Korea of the Sony cyber attack. CNN has not independently confirmed that report.

For the first time, Boko Haram insurgents have crossed the Nigerian border, attacking a village in Cameroon, kidnapping 80 people, killing three. Once again, many of those abducted are children. This as thousand of troops from neighboring Chad are beginning to arrive in Cameroon in the help in the regional battle against Boko Haram.

Fierce fighting rages again in Ukraine. Ukraine's government now saying it reclaimed almost all of the area in and around Donetsk airport. You're looking at an aerial view of the heavily damaged airport. This unfolding as thousands attended a state-sponsored rally in Kiev where 13 civilians killed when their bus came under rocket attack last week. Kiev blames the attack on pro-Russian separatists. Kiev says it launched the counteroffensive in response to the separatists' stepped up attacks.

The FAA is investigating a near disaster on the ground at New York's JFK airport over the weekend. A JetBlue flight cleared for takeoff was barreling down the runway at full speed when the pilots suddenly hit the brakes. Another plane crossed over the runway. According to JetBlue, the Caribbean Airlines plane crossed without authorization. The FAA says the closest the two planes came to each other was 2,800 feet.

The FAA is also investigating another plane incident. This time, they're looking into the cause of a smoke condition that force a Delta jet heading from Atlanta to Japan to return shortly after takeoff. Officials say a pilot on another plane reported smoke coming from the Delta flight's landing gear just after it departed Atlanta. The Boeing 777 was carrying 291 people onboard.

It has been decided. Two power house teams will face off in the Super Bowl. But who is expected to come out on top? The reigning champ in Seattle or the mighty Patriots? Laura Rutledge has the "Bleacher Report". That's next.

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ROMANS: This year's Super Bowl is now set. The defending champs Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots will play for it all in Phoenix, Arizona.

Laura Rutledge has more in the morning's "Bleacher Report". Hey, Laura.

LAURA RUTLEDGE, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey there, Christine.

And, yes, both the Seahawks and Patriots are teams a lot of people expected to make the Super Bowl.

But for Seattle, it didn't look good in the final minutes in their game against the Packers. The Seahawks have committed five turnovers and pretty much done before the onside kick. It bounces off the Packers player and Seattle recovers. That sets up Marshawn Lynch who takes it to the house. The Packers would tie the game with the field goal sending it to overtime.

Then, the Seahawks, well, they decide they will finish the deal. They're going to finish the deal. Russell Wilson finds Jermaine Kearse for the game-winning touchdown. Seattle is going back to the Super Bowl for the second straight year.

CNN's Rachel Nichols caught up with winning coach Pete Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE CARROLL, SEAHAWKS HEAD COACH: We just need to keep believing and know it was going to happen. And that's how we have been doing it, counting on one another all year long. It was never more important to show that. Those guys totally got it, they went ahead and do business and took care of it. A great fricking win.

RUSSELL WILSON, SEAHAWKS QUARTERBACK: I have seen a lot of great wins and I've seen a lot of sports. I think the resilience of our football is unmatchable.

AARON RODGERS, GREEN BAY PACKERS: It's going to be a missed opportunity we will think about it the rest of my career. We were the better team today. We played well enough to win. We can't blame anybody but ourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RUTLEDGE: The AFC championship did not keep you on the edge of your seat nearly as much as the NFC. Since the Patriots handled the Colts easily, Tom Brady was doing Tom Brady things, basically dominating. He threw for three touchdowns in pouring rain mind you. Patriots blowout the Colts, 45-7. And Brady is now the first quarterback ever to play in six Super Bowl games.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BRADY, PLAYING IN 6TH SUPER BOWL: We had a lot of good teams in the past. This one is going to have to win a very important game to kind of leave our legacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RUTLEDGE: So, the Sony Open in Hawaii already wasn't going well for pro-golfer Robert Allenby as he missed the cut Friday. But it turned out that was the least of his worries. You are looking at a selfie he took after he was kidnapped, robbed and beaten up in Honolulu.

Now, Allenby said he was at a wine bar before the kidnapping. But he does not remember what happened next. A retired military service member found him in the park about six and a half miles from the bar without his cell phone and wallet. Police are reviewing surveillance video hoping to find potential suspects.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT ALLENBY, PRO GOLFER: Being hit, thrown in a trunk, dumped six miles away from where I was in the middle of nowhere with nothing. But, you know, I'm just very thankful I'm alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RUTLEDGE: Well, he is not looking so good, Christine. Allenby said he thought the whole thing was out of a movie. It is not something you expect to happen to you. Grateful he is OK.

ROMANS: Well, we hope authorities can look at some of that surveillance video and just figure out what happened. That's for sure.

RUTLEDGE: Right.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that. Nice to see you, Laura.

Twenty-five minutes past the hour. Authorities cracking down on terror suspects across Europe over fears of an imminent threat from sleeper cells. Security stepped up at major sites this morning. We are live on the ground.

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