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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Coalition Against ISIS Meeting; Japan Scrambles to Save Hostages; Boehner Bypasses Obama Invites Netanyahu; Some in Paris Cell May Have Escaped

Aired January 22, 2015 - 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: Chaos in Yemen. Threatening the White House war on terror. A U.S. ally pushed to the brink of collapse as al Qaeda in the country increases its presence and issues a new warning to the West. We are live with the latest.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now. World leaders meeting discussing how to battle is. These meetings happen as time ticks down as two men held hostage by the terrorists.

ROMANS: No charges expected for the former police officer who shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Why the Justice Department will not bring charges against Darren Wilson? That's ahead.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: And I'm John Berman. About 29 minutes past the hour right now.

We do begin this morning with a crisis in Yemen that could give al Qaeda a new foothold and give that organization new power. So, there is now a tentative deal between the U.S.-backed government and rebels who've been attacking the president's palace in Yemen for days. It is not clear whether this truce will hold any longer than last one.

Yemen is a hotbed of terrorism. Al Qaeda's affiliate claims to have planned and funded some of the Paris terror attacks. A leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula released this new video calling for jihadists to launch lone wolf attacks at home and in Europe and also against the United States.

And also new, ISIS now believed to be active and recruiting inside Yemen. The Obama administration sees that country as crucial for obvious reasons to the war on terror. But this morning, that partnership anything but stable.

I want to bring in our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, for the latest developments. Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Regional experts believe that Yemen is tipping towards a failed state here. You have the Houthis who crashed into the capital back in September surrounded the president in the last couple of days that forced him to sign a new deal, which gives more power to the Houthis that will anger many of the Sunni tribes in the country.

The Houthis don't seem to be satisfied with this land grabbing the capital potentially wanting to push and take greater control of some of the key oil regions and putting them in confrontation with the Sunni tribesmen there.

The concern is that this deal, however shaky it is, just may not hold at all. If you look at Yemen's recent history, al Qaeda has always been able to take advantage there of any instability. That's why it is doing so well over the past few years.

When the president there in 2011, an assassination attempt left him almost dead, al Qaeda at that time, was able to leverage the instability and take control of three states in the country. With the U.S. help, Yemen managed to beat them back a little bit over the last few years.

But they will take advantage of the Sunni tribal anger against the Houthis, who were viewed as being sheer, who were viewed as having support from Iran. This will help al Qaeda drum up and get more support from the Sunni tribesmen and generally themselves take advantage of areas of the country that they would be able to train, recruit more people.

This is the organization that brought the underpants bomber that sent printer bombs that were only detected on flights to the United States. When they make a threat like the lone wolf threat attack they are stating right now, this should be taken seriously.

Yemen right now in al Qaeda has what it wants, fertile ground and the space that would even get bigger -- John.

BERMAN: Al Qaeda has what it wants, chilling words from Nic Robertson. Of course, the United States is watching the situation very closely because there are many American personnel at the U.S. Embassy right now looking out for their safety. All right, Nic, thanks very much.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, the battle against ISIS is at the top of the agenda this morning in London. That is where Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting with 20 member nations in the coalition to defeat the Islamic terror group.

Now discussions are focusing on the military campaign on financing and foreign fighters coming to Iraq and Syria to join the battle. CNN's Atika Shubert joins us now live with the very latest. Good morning, Atika.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. That meeting has started a short distance from here at Lancaster House. It is being cohosted not only by Secretary of State John Kerry, but also Britain's foreign secretary, Philippe Hammond.

And as you mentioned, those will be the main topics, taking stock of how the fight against ISIS is going and what is going to be the next phase. So far, air strikes have been able in the view of many involved in the coalition to actually halt the advancement of ISIS towards Baghdad to sort of contain ISIS.

But what happens next? How do you equipped, train, and reorganize, the forces fighting against ISIS specifically in Iran and Syria? This is probably the main point of discuss.

How to train and arm, for example, rebel groups in Syria to fight against ISIS and also the Iraqi forces, which clearly need a lot of help in getting organized and fighting against ISIS as well.

ROMANS: All right, Atika Shubert for us this morning live in London. Thank you, Atika.

BERMAN: They are having these meetings with the Japanese government trying to save the lives of two hostages. Officials there scrambling and trying to communicate somehow with ISIS. Islamic terror group demanding $200 million ransom or they will execute these two men by Friday.

The Japanese prime minister has cut short a trip to the Middle East to deal with the crisis. That is happening as these meetings are going on in London between the United States and coalition partners to try to find a way to defeat ISIS.

Let's turn to Will Ripley right now on the ground in Tokyo with more on the Japanese efforts to save these two hostages -- Will.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, we cannot under estimate the urgency that is happening around the clock now here in Tokyo and also reaching to other nations including Jordan and Turkey trying to open a line of communication with ISIS and trying to get a conversation started, and at least buy more time.

Because as we stand right now, we are less than 20 hours away, 20 hours away from ISIS threat to murder two innocent Japanese men, who were taken hostage last year. The Syrian guide who took one of the men, Kenji Goto to the border is speaking out now.

Saying that he warned him not to cross into Syria, and not to go into ISIS-controlled territory and he had to make the call to Kenji's wife, the mother of his young children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a very hard phone call to make, right, to call the wife?

ALAAEDDIN AL ZAIM, SYRIAN FIXER FOR JOURNALIST KENJI GOTO: I know that. But when I call her, she is very strong woman. Also, he is very strong. Anytime he wants to do his job very well. If it is danger, he isn't afraid. Sometimes we go into dangerous places. He's not afraid. He tells me this is my job. I am journalist. I have to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: Unnamed government sources are saying here in Tokyo that kanji's wife received an e-mail in December after his husband disappeared from someone demanding a ransom of $8 million or $16 million. Now they are trying to confirm whether that e-mail came from ISIS.

But if it did, John, it may be a sign that this group would be willing to accept a sum of money smaller than the $200 million they demanded in the new video.

The question, though, is the Japanese government willing to pay and what would ISIS take? Right now, the line of communication is still not open as the government in Tokyo tries to reach out -- John.

BERMAN: There are governments like the United States, which says, you know, it will not pay any ransom no matter the amount in that is very much a debate that Japan is having at this moment. Will Ripley for us, thanks so much.

Some other news, a grand jury has indicted an Ohio man allegedly plotting to bomb the U.S. capitol. The 20-year-old Christopher Lee Cornell is facing two counts of attempted murder of government employees.

Each count carries a possible 20-year sentence. He is also facing firearms charges. Cornell was arrested outside a Cincinnati gun shop last week after purchasing two M-15 assault weapons and 600 rounds of ammunition.

ROMANS: The White House calls it a breach of protocol. House Speaker John Boehner has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress next month and make new case for new sanctions against Iran. Something the president is against.

Let's bring in global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott live in Jerusalem. Good morning, Elise. It's complicated politics all the way around This is the prime minister of a nation coming to the United States to speak to Congress and the president wasn't consulted.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That is right, Christine. Usually these things between the White House and Congress, when you invite a leader are closely coordinated. This is the third time Prime Minister Netanyahu has come to address Congress.

He is no stranger to doing this. This is really a poke in the eye to the Obama administration by House Speaker Boehner. To bring Prime Minister Netanyahu, they both share a similar attitude toward Iran. They feel that President Obama is not being tough enough on Iran.

They want to impose more sanctions for his part during his State Of The Union address, President Obama threatened to veto the sanctions. But it's really interesting here in Israel, the Israelis particularly in the opposition from Prime Minister Netanyahu feel he is trying to angle himself for an invitation to Congress. When the Israeli elections are in a few months and when he gets this rousing welcome from Congress, last time he spoke, he got 29 standing ovations. He is lifted up in the eyes of the Israeli public and they feel -- they are crying foul.

ROMANS: All right, Elise Labott, thank you so much for that.

BERMAN: It's 38 minutes after the hour. High level talks on normalizing relations between the United States and Cuba held in Havana. These initial discussions will focus on trade and travel and reopening embassies in both capitals. These talks come weeks after President Obama and Raul Castro ended six decades of official estrangement between the two nations.

BERMAN: An abrupt about face by House Republicans dropping plans to debate a bill that would ban virtually all abortions after 20 weeks. Objections from female lawmakers and others left the GOP leaders short of the votes they needed to pass it.

The vote has been scheduled to coincide with the gathering of anti- abortion activists marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe versus Wade decision that legalized abortion.

BERMAN: President Obama issues an executive order to try to better coordinate federal programs in the Arctic Ocean. The president says this is necessary as it responds to decades of climate change that have transformed the Arctic, its features and accessibility. One Alaska senator says the order does not do enough. It focuses too much on climate change and not enough on infrastructure.

ROMANS: As for the political climate in Washington, the Republican- controlled Senate on record saying climate change is real. It is not a hoax. That measure passed by a 98-1 margin. Senators voted down a pair of amendments to the bill saying human activity is part of it.

BERMAN: President Obama on the road selling his middle class economic programs and other ideas he presented in the State Of The Union address. The president will speak at the University of Kansas.

After that, he returns to Washington where he will face interviews from these hard hitting YouTube stars. They range from makeup expert, Bethany Mota, the self-described queen of the internet, Glozell.

ROMANS: What does a makeup artist asks the president?

BERMAN: Look, a lot of times journalists say, look, he's not taking our questions, how is he taking these YouTube people's questions? The fact of the matter is, he can take questions from all -- as long as he does take questions from reporters.

ROMANS: Those YouTube people have an awful lots of viewers too, you know, I mean, lots and lots of people watch them. So I mean, it's a new audience for the president.

All right, time for an EARLY START on your money, Asian shares ended the day higher. The European shares they look cautious. The Euoropean Central Bank is expected to announce a big bond buying stimulus program later this morning.

Remember the U.S. had one of those. We got rid of ours. Europe needs it. U.S. stock futures are up. Yesterday stocks climbed for the third day in a row. The longest winning streak so far this year.

Layoffs coming for two big American companies, yesterday, eBay announced 2,400 job cuts. That's about 7 percent of its work force and American Express cutting 4,000 jobs this year. That's 6 percent of its staff. Both companies reported a rise in profits last quarter, but they are trimming, trimming right here.

Federal investigators expected to file no charges in Michael Brown's deadly shooting. Why Officer Darren Wilson won't face a jury next.

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BERMAN: The Ferguson police officer who shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown will not face criminal charges. The FBI has completed its investigation of Darren Wilson. The case is now officially in the hands of federal prosecutors.

But sources tell CNN the Justice Department has already determined there is not enough evidence to file charges against the former officer. The formal announcement is expected before Attorney General Eric Holder leaves office this spring.

ROMANS: New troubling video this morning of a deadly police shooting on a New Jersey street. This is a chilling encounter captured on dash cam video in Bridgeton, New Jersey.

Officers pulling over a blue jaguar for running a stop sign, this is late last month when suddenly the driver of the car, passenger in the car, defies a police order. Emerges from the car and watch what happens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show me your hands! Show me your hands! Don't you move! Get him out of the car, Rog. We have a gun in the glove department! You reach for something, you're dead! Keep your hands right there! Show me your hands! No, you're not! Don't (inaudible) move! Don't you (inaudible) move!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The 36-year-old Jermaine Reid killed by officers, the use of a deadly force being investigated now by county prosecutors. Police did recover a gun from the car and Reid had a criminal record spending 13 years for shooting three troopers as a teenager.

BERMAN: City council members in Newtown, Connecticut voting to tear down the home where Adam Lanza lived. Lanza shot and killed his mother before going to the Sandy Hook school killing 20 children and 6 educators before taking his own life.

ROMANS: A fire that tore through a New Jersey apartment complex. Hundreds of people displaced at the Avalon at the Edgewater Complex along the Hudson. It is remarkable the number of people out of the building. Officials say everyone in the four-story building appears to have gotten out safely.

BERMAN: New information about the fatal metro incident in Washington, D.C. Members of the National Transportation Safety Board call what happened earlier this month on the yellow line completely unacceptable. A member says the air intake system was not turned off. It drew smoke in the passengers' cars. One died and many others sickened by that smoke.

ROMANS: New details emerging this morning in that shooting at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. The surgeon who was shot dead had treated the mother of the gunman. Stephen Pasceri shot the doctor in a foyer before turning the gun on himself.

BERMAN: I was born at that hospital.

Jay Leno coming to the defense of the accusers of Bill Cosby, he says he doesn't understand why it is hard to believe dozens of accusers. He says, quote, you go to Saudi Arabia and you need two women to testify against a man. Here you need 25.

Also hearing from Malcolm Jamal Warner, who played Cosby's son on the NBC sitcom, he tells billboard magazine. It is difficult to see Cosby face the allegations of sexual assault.

ROMANS: A new terror warning this morning, suspects on the run in the Paris terror attacks. They think they could return to kill again. We are live in Paris with these new developments next.

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BERMAN: New this morning, France is ruling out measures aimed at safeguarding against terror. This is after the Paris attacks organized by Islamic terror groups.

The French prime minister announced what he calls exceptional measures including spending about $500 million, hiring thousands of new law enforcement personnel. Sources are telling CNN that the Paris attackers may have urged associates to leave France weeks ago.

That of course is what Amedy Coulibaly's wife Hayat Boumeddiene did. Officials are worried that those who left Paris could come back to Europe for more attacks. Let's bring in Jim Bittermann with more on the story.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The prime minister said there are 3,000 in the country right now who should be watched all the time and under surveillance. That is one reason he asked for all the money and extra men to be added to the security apparatus.

This is not the type of people we see on the streets like the law officers and army. These are people behind the scenes doing research on the internet and tracking people down. Now we got word a few minutes ago, John, that in fact, there has been a breakthrough at least in one aspect of the Kouachi brothers case, the two attacking the "Charlie Hebdo" magazine.

And that is those who left France for Turkey on the 2nd of January, that was before those attacks, his name is Tsaku Diakabi (ph). He was picked up trying to get into Syria. They have now extradited him to France.

He will appear before the investigating judge this morning to see if any charges laid with that. The interesting part of it, for me, anyway, in fact, it shows the Turks and French are cooperating on watching suspects that may be under warrant of arrest that the French put out that they are interested in bringing back to France for charges for trial.

The Turks are cooperating. They managed to extradite under an arrest warrant last year. They are picking up and sending him back to France and he is going to be appearing before an investing judge this morning -- John.

BERMAN: It's very interesting. Of course, everyone is looking at Turkey right now as a gateway to Syria and Iraq for people trying to join ISIS. They are cooperating more with these terror investigations. That is a big sign for the battle against terror in Europe indeed. Jim Bitterman, thanks very much.

ROMANS: All right, ten people killed and other 20 injured as fighting intensifies in Eastern Ukraine. The conflict between pro-Russian rebels and Ukraine's military has been increasing for days.

An agreement had been reached by Russian and Ukrainian diplomats settling on a dividing line between the sides. Both camps are supposed to pull their heavy weapons back nine miles from the demarcation line. But there was no agreement made to withdraw troops at all and today, at least ten fatalities in Donetsk at a bus stop.

Fuel costs plunging, including the price jet fuel. That should be great for airfare. Wait a minute. Airfares are rising. I have an EARLY START on your money next.

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ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on money this morning. European shares really cautious right now. Stocks waiting for this important decision from the European Central Bank. The bank is expected to announce a big bond buying program. It would 50 billion euro a month. It's a stimulus to help that fragile European economy. U.S. stock futures are higher. Stocks climbed for the third day in a row.

Oil prices down a bit this morning. The past few days, oil is fluctuating between $45 and $49 a barrel. Oil was above $100 a barrel last summer. This is a painful price for energy companies especially projects getting off the ground. The national average for a gallon of regular is ticking down, $2.04 a gallon.

BERMAN: They are giving it away.

ROMANS: This is the longest streak of falling price in six years. You know, cheap fuel is not translating into cheap flights.

BERMAN: Not giving it away.

ROMANS: Jet fuel is every airline's biggest expense. Jet fuel cut in half last year. Ticket prices are up 2 percent. What gives? Airlines are filling record seats, 83 percent of the seats filled last year. Why would an airline lower prices when they have good demand?

Passengers are not benefitting at all from the lower jet fuel prices. Southwest Airlines, S&P 500's best performing stock last year, if you are a shareholder, you had 121 percent return last year.

BERMAN: They are charging higher ticket prices because they can.

ROMANS: You will pay it.

BERMAN: Time running out for two hostages held ISIS. "NEW DAY" picks it up starting right now.