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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

A Confident State of the Union; Tracking Paris Terror Attackers; Rebels Take Over Yemen's Presidential Palace; Will Japan Pay $200 Million Ransom?

Aired January 21, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: the responses pouring in to President Obama's State of the Union Address. He presented a surprising bold new agenda. But will the president's promises get through or lead to more gridlock?

We'll break down the big moments, the big applause lines, and the big moments of controversy this half hour.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans. It is 30 minutes past the hour.

President Obama struck a confident tune last night, seemingly undaunted as he gave his State of the Union speech to an entirely Republican-controlled Congress. The president putting forward the agenda of an economic populist aimed at ensuring the middle class enjoys the fruits of the economic recovery.

Senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, this was not a speech from a president who sees himself as a lame duck. In the State of the Union Address, President Obama came out and declared the nation's economy is on the rise. But he also offered up his prescription for lifting up the middle class, raising taxes and fees on the wealthy and big banks in exchange for new tax breaks or middle income earners.

Now, as part of the middle class economics scheme, the president also talked about free community college, but he also covered other subjects. He asked lawmakers to give him a vote to authorize force on ISIS. He called on Congress to lift the embargo on Cuba, slammed the Keystone pipeline, vowed to veto Iran's legislation.

But he also called on the country for a better kind of politics at this turning point of the presidency away from 9/11 and the financial crisis, and towards the future. Here's what the president had to say. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Fifteen years into this

new century, we have picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and begun again the work of remaking America. We have laid a new foundation. A brighter future is ours to write. Let's begin this new chapter together. And let's start to work right now.

ACOSTA: The president will take his message to Idaho later today, and then Kansas on Thursday. Those are both red states. But a Democratic source tells me the president will be visiting more red states in the coming months. He wants to engage Americans who don't agree with him to sell his agenda. And also coming soon, the president's budget, which includes that tax plan, one Republicans have already deemed dead on arrival -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to Jim.

You know, Jim highlighted one of the lines there on the president's speech last night. He said, we picked ourselves up, we dusted ourselves off. That is a direct reference to his first inauguration speech nearly seven years ago where he said, we need to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off and move forward on the economy.

So, what you saw last night was essentially saying mission accomplished on part of the economic recovery. So, it was very interesting to hear that.

ROMANS: But not everybody feels that wages have been stagnant. You got a stock market that's doubled. Best jobs picture in six years, but people don't feel it. And that's why there's an attack on pushing the middle class.

BERMAN: Obviously, the Republicans did not agree they took a much dimmer view of the economy in their rebuttal following the president's speech.

Freshman Iowa Senator Joni Ernst spoke of stagnant wages and lost jobs and the hurt caused by cancelled health care plans. She seized on the mandate for change that Republicans say they won the November elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JONI ERNST (R), IOWA: Americans have been hurting, but when we demanded solutions, too often, Washington responded with the same stale mindset that led to failed policies like Obamacare. It's a mindset that gave us political talking points, not serious solutions. That's why the new Republican majority you elected, started by reforming Congress, to make it function again. And now, we're working hard to pass the kind of serious, job creation ideas you deserve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Away from Capitol Hill, the president's speech got mixed reviews. A CNN instant poll found a generally favorable response, 51 percent of Americans who watched the speech had a very positive reaction. That is up from last year. And significantly better than the response George W. Bush received at the same point in his presidency.

Some political figures mulling White House bids for 2016 also weighed in. Hillary Clinton, you know, she may run for president. She praised the speech in tweet saying, "It pointed a way to an economy that works for all." She added, "Now, we need to step up for the middle class." Look at that #fairshot and #fairshare. I bet we hear that again.

On Facebook, Republican Jeb Bush praised Joni Ernst's rebuttal and advise the president to be mindful of the strong message American voters sent in November and work with the new Republican congressional majority.

ROMANS: As the economy continues to grow in the next year and a half, this is how -- this is the debate that will be framed for sure in the next election.

Let's fact-check the president's statement about the economy. He boasted strength of the recovery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: At this moment, with the growing economy shrinking deficits, bustling industry, booming energy production, we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on earth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. Let's look at the numbers. That's mostly true. Job growth was the strongest since 1999 last year. Unemployment keeps falling. But hiring has not pushed wages up. And many Americans feel like they are just getting by.

How about his claims on oil?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: America is number one in oil and gas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: True. The U.S. passed Saudi Arabia a few years ago in terms of oil production. It's also the top producer of natural gas.

And finally, let's fact-check this on paid sick leave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Today, we are the only country on Earth that doesn't guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: That is true. But remember, a few states have passed bills to offer paid family leave. Some states have taken this on themselves.

But on these points about an economy that is growing again, it is true. You know, the stock market has more than doubled. The job creation -- the job opening is the highest in 14 years, but not everybody feels it. And that's what the president has really to tap into.

BERMAN: But that's why he talked about the middle class economy. He seems to have found that narrow zone to thread that needle.

ROMANS: Right. And social media was buzzing as Americans and lawmakers took to Twitter and Facebook to sound off on the president's speech. One particular part of the State of the Union Address went viral on Facebook. It first prompted shock laughter and then a lot of applause. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I have no more campaigns to run. My only agenda --

(APPLAUSE)

I know because I won both of tell me.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Ooh. That was a big dig of the Republicans.

BERMAN: It was huge dig. Now, that wasn't scripted. That wasn't a line that was scripted. A lot of time, unscripted lines are planned. We don't know if that line was planned there.

But I think that sent a huge message that this president is not going to roll over because he lost in the midterm. Democrats loved it. I guarantee you Republicans did not like it. So, it will only create more of the controversy that surrounds this president and his relationship with the other party.

Republicans they did stand up and cheer the president in a few points, notably when he invoked the U.S. fight against global terror.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We stand united with people around the world who've been targeted by terrorists, from a school in Pakistan to the streets of Paris.

(APPLAUSE)

We will continue to hunt down terrorists and dismantle their networks and we reserve the right to act unilaterally as we have done relentlessly since I took office to take out terrorists who pose a direct threat to us and our allies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: President Obama gave much the same message of support to French President Francois Hollande in a phone conversation earlier in the day.

Later today, the French prime minister set to outline new anti- terrorism measures at a news conference in Paris. All this as investigators in Paris pore over new surveillance video -- look at this -- this is obtained exclusively by CNN. It appears to show the Paris gunman Amedy Coulibaly and his partner Hayat Boumeddiene, they seemed to be doing is casing a Jewish institution in Paris. Simply chilling.

Let's turn to senior international correspondent Nic Robertson who is live in Paris with the latest this morning.

Good morning, Nic.

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

The very latest we have from the prime minister leading off his press conference now, saying that there are 120,000 police officers spread out across France, tackling this issue.

We heard from the French prosecutor a little earlier, saying that they're making good progress on getting information on about Amedy Coulibaly, saying that the four persons they still hold on with him when he purchased the car that was used in the attack, that three of them at least had been involved in purchasing weapons. One of them, their DNA found at the crime scene. However, not saying -- the prosecutor not saying that they had direct knowledge of the attack.

But what's interesting, however, the names that have been listed, they're not Muslim names. Tony, Kristof, just two of those names. The indications are, and certainly the impression the prosecutor is giving is that these are criminals with criminal records, who were involved in buying weapons, but not necessarily knowledge of the impending attack.

We're expecting to hear more from the prime minister right now. And his flank to this press conference by the interior minister, foreign minister, defense minister, justice minister, which gives an impression of the range of scale and scope of areas that they -- that we're going to hear from them on as to how France is going to combat this terrorist threat that is now affecting the population here -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Our Nic Robertson in Paris, that investigation ongoing. So many threads to follow. Thanks, Nic.

ROMANS: OK. Happening now in Belgium, the country's public prosecutor getting set to address a police operation Tuesday, very close to the border with France. So far, officials have only said that 82 people were evacuated from 33 apartments and this operation went calmly. No comment yet on whether this was a terror-related operation as suspected.

Meantime, officials are searching for Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected ringleader of an ISIS-linked Belgian terror cell. CNN has obtained tape of Abaaoud defending ISIS tactics. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELHAMID ABAAOUD, SUSPECTED RINGLEADER: It's not fun seeing blood spilled, but it gives me pleasure from time to time to see blood of the disbelievers run because we grew up watching, we've grown up, seeing on TV, in the whole world the blood of Muslims being spilled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: He also calls on Muslims to find honor through jihad and martyr them.

BERMAN: Now to Yemen where Shiite Houthi rebels have successfully staged a coup that have overtaken the presidential palace in Sana'a. Yemen's minister of information tells our Nick Paton Walsh the president is no longer in control in Yemen. There are concerns that a government collapse could send that country into a full-scale civil war. It is a level of chaos that has already being exploited by radical groups, especially al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which, of course, claimed credit for the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks.

There are growing concerns about U.S. interest there. A U.S. embassy vehicle was shot at near an embassy checkpoint Monday night. Two Navy warships have now moved into the Red Sea, ready to evacuate Americans from the embassy if need be.

ROMANS: Breaking overnight, a Palestinian man has been arrested after nine people were stabbed on a bus in Tel Aviv. Israeli police are calling this a terror attack. The attacker was eventually chased down, shot by police and arrested.

It's the latest in the string of attacks against the Israelis in recent months. Several of them have been deadly. The Islamic militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, praised the stabbings as brave and heroic.

Japan vowing to save hostages taken by ISIS. But will the country -- will Japan pay the $200 million ransom demanded by the terrorists? We're live in Tokyo with the very latest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: President Obama once again made clear that he will veto the current Keystone pipeline bill that is working its way through Congress. The president instead called last night a wide-ranging program to reinforce America's infrastructure. Republicans in their response, they were equally clear, that they do not plan to let the issue drop, even framing the pipeline as a jobs bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERNST: One you've probably heard about is the Keystone jobs bill. President Obama has been delaying this bipartisan infrastructure project for years, even though many members of his party, unions and a strong majority of Americans support it.

OBAMA: Let's set our sights higher than a single oil pipeline. Let's pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan that could create more than 30 times as many jobs per year, and make this country stronger for decades to come. Let's do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The Senate which, of course, is now led by Republicans, resumes consideration of the Keystone pipeline bill when it meets this morning.

ROMANS: Right now, the Japanese government using every diplomatic channel available to make contact with ISIS and convince the extremist group not to execute two Japanese hostages. ISIS wants $200 million in ransom to spare these two men's lives. It is not clear this morning whether Japan will pay it.

Will Ripley live on the ground in Tokyo, tracking the very latest developments for us.

And these two men, so sad that they're in the hands of ISIS. We know that the United States is not in a position to negotiate in terms of ransom with terrorists. What's the position from the government of Japan?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Japan officially has never paid a ransom, although there were some hostages released in Iraq several years back where there was some speculation in this country that perhaps a deal had been worked out secretly. And there is now similar talk here amongst some that perhaps the government may be working backchannels to try to work out some kind of a deal.

But, look, Christine, the facts are this. No country in the world has ever paid as large a sum as what ISIS is demanding -- $200 million, it would be, frankly, impossible for any country to pull together those kinds of funds in a matter of three days to secure the release of two hostages. And to give that kind of money, to put that kind of money in the hands of a terrorist group like ISIS.

Think of how many more people would be in danger, how many more lives would be at risk if a group like ISIS were to get its hands on that kind of money all at once.

So, the question now, what is the Japanese government willing to give? And what will ISIS be willing to accept to spare the lives of Kenji Goto Jogo and Haruna Yukawa, two men who have found themselves in a horrible situation right now, a devastating situation for their friends and their family in this country.

But public message that we're getting from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who just landed here in Tokyo a short time ago, is that Japan will not bow down to terrorists, Christine. But we'll see what happens in the backchannels in the coming days. Certainly, a lot of people here are hoping for the best. But certainly --

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: Quickly, how did they fall in the hands of is?

RIPLEY: These two men met in Iraq, we're hearing from friends, one I just spoke with a short time ago, they met less than a year ago, freelance journalist Goto was giving Yukawa tips about how to survive in the Mideast. Yukawa wanted to start a private military security business.

And so, we're told that Goto actually felt responsible for the fact that Yukawa went back, tried to go it alone in the Mideast and was captured. And it's believed that Goto actually went back to Syria to try to look for this man, to try to help because he felt personally responsible. And we'll be hearing from them in the coming hours as we're putting those interviews (ph) together, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Will Ripley, thank you so much for that, Will, in Tokyo this morning.

BERMAN: Forty-eight minutes after the hour.

FOX News could face legal action over its coverage suggesting parts of Paris are off limits to non-Muslims. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, says the network insulted the city. She insists that so- called Muslim no-go zones do not exist. The mayor tells them that she plans to sue for the prejudice and the honor and image of Paris. FOX has repeatedly apologized.

ROMANS: Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is doubling down on his contention that some Western countries have allowed Muslims to establish autonomous no-go zone neighborhoods in cities where Islamic traditions trump regular laws. Some see this as part of a political strategy in his part, an effort to make Jindal stand out from a pretty crowded field of potential candidates for 2016 Republican nominations.

BERMAN: An NFL investigation into so-called deflategate, reportedly found that 12 of the 11 footballs used by the New England Patriots in Sunday's AFC Championship game were under inflated. This is huge news, folks. The Patriots, they went on to win the AFC championship game and go to the Super Bowl.

Now, ESPN reports they have investigated the balls used by the Patriots and found they had too little air in them, way too little. Two pounds too little. That could make the ball easier to grip. Easier for Tom Brady to throw, easier for Patriots players to catch. The Patriots would have been in control of their own footballs on the sidelines. The Colts would have used different balls.

If the Patriots did this deliberately, it would have given them an advantage, an unfair advantage. The Patriots won 45-7 in that game. So far, there has been no official comment from the NFL, according to

ESPN. The league has not yet determined what, if any, penalties the Patriots could face. You know, typically, in the past, this type of violation, you get a $25,000 fine. It could be worse.

But this was AFC title game. It was 11 out of 12 footballs. It's really bad.

ROMANS: And was it a Colts player who caught a ball and said, wait a minute, this doesn't feel right?

BERMAN: So, a Colts player picked off a pass from Tom Brady. Felt the ball, and was like, hey, wait a minute, talked to his coach told the refs, the refs checked it out. And now, we're learning that according to ESPN, that 11 of the 12 footballs used seem to be deflated.

ROMANS: John Berman, sports education for me is always so great. I know about pine tar, I know -- all the things I know about because you have explained how it works.

BERMAN: This is like what America does, is watch the Super Bowl. And if one of the teams is there --

ROMANS: And this is your team, Berman.

BERMAN: Look, but you know what? Cheating is bad. I think we could all take a stand against it.

New reaction this morning to the president's State of the Union Address. What did those watching the speech think? CNN's digital dial test tracking the reaction, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: It is all about the economy. CNN's dial testing of viewers who watched the State of the Union Address, found that Democrats and Republicans reacted similarly. That is except when it came to economic issues, interesting.

CNN's Tom Foreman has the numbers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When you look at the respondents on our digital dial test, you can see some very clear trends here. Yes, the Democrats in blue, by and large, agree with what the president said, the independents a little more squishy on it, and the Republicans, that's the roller coaster ride, they disagree a great deal, particularly on the economy.

Listen and watch how they responded to this.

OBAMA: Today, thanks to a growing economy, the recovery is touching more and more lives. Wages are finally starting to rise again.

FOREMAN: You can see it right there, Republicans way down at the bottom. They just are not buying this, even though Democrats are.

Another thing Republicans are not buying is the idea what to do about it, particularly with the bigger plans. Take a look at the part where he talked about college and how that could be the key to moving some people along in this economy.

OBAMA: And yet, we still live in a country where too many bright striving Americans are priced out of the education they need. It's not fair to them. And it's sure not smart for our future. That's why I'm sending this Congress a bold new plan to lower the cost of community college, to zero.

FOREMAN: Yes, look at that. The independents and Republicans are kind of with him as long as he's talking about college in general. The minute he starts talking about a program to give college education away, then suddenly, they're not happy.

And what about the question of minimum wage? That's another issue that came out. It's been a hot button issue. These are all pretty popular on the Democratic side. But again, watch the reaction.

OBAMA: And -- and everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage. I say this, if you truly believe you can work full time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year -- try it. If not, vote to give millions of the hardest working people in America raise.

(APPLAUSE)

FOREMAN: And we saw that time and time and time again, the economy remains the dividing line. Democrats say it's going well. Republicans say, they're just not convinced.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Tom Foreman, thanks for that.

Oil prices keep on plunging. That's good news for drivers. But it's a very bad news for some American workers.

An early start on your money, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right, let's get an early start on your money this morning.

U.S. stock futures a bit lower right now after President Obama's previous State of the Unions, stocks have fallen 0.5 percent the next day. One stock I'm watching this morning, Netflix. The streaming giant added 4.3 million new subscribers last quarter.

BERMAN: Wow.

ROMANS: And the company says it has big plans for expansion. In the next two years, Netflix aims to be in 200 countries, less than 50 right now. The stock is up 15 percent before the bell. So, watch Netflix this morning.

Oil prices are falling, crude oil about $47 a barrel right now. It has been cut in half since last summer, and that means job cuts. Texas-based oil company Baker Hughes is the latest, plans to slash 7,000 positions, cut capital spending by 20 percent. That's a big trim, folks. Cheap energy is great for consumers, but it's devastating for those energy companies, which have expanded and expanded and expanded, and now they're trimming a bit.

BERMAN: Big problems in Texas ahead.

All right. EARLY START continues right now.