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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Netanyahu to Speak in D.C.; ISIS Releases 19 Christian Hostages; GOP Vows Immigration Fight; Russians Mourn Murder of Boris Nemtsov

Aired March 02, 2015 - 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: Happening now: Israel prime minister waking up in Washington one day before his controversial speech before Congress against White House wishes, expected to spell the dangers of a nuclear deal with Iran. A risky move, but will it pay off for Benjamin Netanyahu?

Team coverage of our big story this morning starts right now.

Welcome back to EARLY START this Monday morning. I'm Christine Romans, nice to see you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman. Nice to see you, everybody. Thirty-one minutes after the hour.

Developing this morning, tension between the Obama administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has really reached a peak. That as Israeli leader arrived in Washington, preparing to speak later this morning to the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC.

Tomorrow, the prime minister will speak before Congress. Both speeches are expected to be highly critical of the negotiations between the United States and Iran, over Iran's nuclear program.

The Israeli prime minister has said he believes that the nuclear program, which Iran says is peaceful, poses a threat to Israel's very existence.

For the latest, let's bring in CNN White House correspondent Erin McPike.

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ERIN MCPIKE, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak in just a few hours, but this rift has been growing throughout the weekend. We have heard congressional Democrats speak out on this, including California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein who was on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" on Sunday morning, calling Netanyahu arrogant. And she added this:

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: No, he doesn't speak for me on this. He doesn't at all speak for me on --

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Does that bother you when he says he speaks for all of you?

FEINSTEIN: Yes, I think the Jewish community is like any other community. There are different points of view. So, I think that arrogance does not befit Israel.

MCPIKE: We did learn on Sunday afternoon that the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power will focus her speech at AIPAC on the relationship between the U.S. and Israel. However, she is speaking just after Netanyahu does so it could be a little bit awkward. However, the United States has tried to keep an open dialogue with Israel around this trip. And to that end, Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone on Sunday with Netanyahu about the negotiations over Iran between the U.S. and Iran.

So, we should be getting more details in the coming days -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Erin McPike, thanks for that.

The White House, the Obama administration arguing it is trying to ease the friction with Israel. But it also criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sunday for accepting House Speaker John Boehner's invitation to speak to Congress, without first informing the White House.

Boehner meanwhile defending that invitation, while blasting this administration for letting its relationship with Israel deteriorate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: Has the White House damaged the relationship?

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Well, the animosity between the White House and the prime minister is no secret here in this town.

INTERVIEWER: They made it worse.

BOEHNER: But they certainly made it worse over the last five or six weeks.

The threat coming from Iran and the Iranians having a nuclear weapon is a threat to the region, is a threat to the United States and is a threat to the rest of the world.

This is a serious issue and we're not going to resolve the issue by sticking our heads in the sand. The prime minister can talk about this threat, I believe, better than anyone. And the United States Congress must to hear from him and so the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The American people are not the only audience for Netanyahu speech. He also faces an election in Israel in just two weeks, of course, and his clash with the Obama administration has been controversial to say the least back home.

Standing by live in Jerusalem with the latest on that, CNN's Oren Liebermann.

Good morning, Oren.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Christine.

And just like this speech has split the American public, it has certainly split the Israeli public and Israeli politicians. Many on the right, for example, Netanyahu's Likud Party and the Jewish Home supporting the decision to speak to Congress and seeing this is a valuable opportunity to warn America and Europe about the threats a nuclear Iran poses to the safety of Israel.

On the other hand, those on the left seeing this as purely a political move with two weeks to go before Israeli elections on March 17th. Now what people seem to agree upon here, both politicians and public, is the content of his speech and the threat a nuclear Iran would pose to Israel, the disagreement is on whether this is the best way to warn everybody and whether this is the best way to try to influence -- possibly influence the negotiations.

Now, we have learned more about the content of his speech. Our CNN team traveling with Netanyahu to Washington spoke with the senior administration official. And they say they have insight into the deal and they want the U.S. Congress to know about the insights. Netanyahu's administration worries that the Congress doesn't know enough.

And there are two goals here. The first is to get Congress to put pressure on the administration to make sure any deal at least considers the safety of Israel, and the second is to push back the March 24th deadline for negotiations with Iran on a nuclear deal. That deadline is three weeks to the day after Netanyahu's speech before Congress and only one week after Israeli elections which are, Christine, expected to be very close.

ROMANS: All right. So interesting. Oren, thank you. Nice to see you this morning.

Happening today, Secretary of State John Kerry meets with his Iranian counterpart in Switzerland. It is their eighth round of negotiations this year on Iran's nuclear program, getting the United States to postpone the March 24th deadline to conclude those talks. That's one of Prime Minister Netanyahu's objectives on his trip to the U.S.

BERMAN: ISIS has released 19 Christian hostages. All but one kidnapped last week in northeast Syria last week. That is according to a London-based human rights groups. These Syrians were released on the orders of a self proclaimed ISIS Sharia court.

For the latest, let's bring in senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman. Ben is in Irbil, in northern Iraq.

Ben, what do we know about why ISIS released these men, these hostages?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we understand it is 16 men and 3 women in addition to a man taken hostage a month ago. Now, the reports we are getting out of northeast Syria, Hasakah province, where the kidnappings took place early last week, is that perhaps money exchanged hands to get their release. That most of these people are over the age of 50 and as far as, for instance, ISIS slave markets, they may not be of high value.

This is obviously good news for the Syrian Christian community in northeastern Syria. But keep in mind, there still is as many as 200 people still unaccounted for and believed to be in the hands of ISIS. There were reports last week, John, that some of them had been transported to Raqqa, which is the de facto capital of ISIS in north central Syria. And from previous experience, we know that particularly women, they tend to become slaves sold to ISIS fighters -- John.

BERMAN: It's unusual to see them released like this, these 18, 19 hostages. It does not seem to be the M.O. of ISIS, at least not recently.

Ben Wedeman, thanks so much for being with us.

We are learning details about the British voice of ISIS, the man nicknamed Jihadi John. His real name is Mohammed Emwazi. We are live in London with new details in about 10 minutes.

ROMANS: It is round two of the political fight to fund Homeland Security. Money for that agency runs out in five days after last week's stopgap fix. Republicans under fire for the stalemate, but still trying to keep DHS funding tied to reversing the president's immigration reforms. The Senate has already approved the full year of DHS with no strings attached.

Time for an EARLY START on your money.

Asian and European stocks higher after China central bank cut interest rates to stimulate the economy. The U.S. stock futures are higher. Looks like a good start to March, folks.

It was an excellent February. Look at this -- the S&P climbed 5.5 percent. The biggest gain since October of 2011. The NASDAQ jumped -- look at that -- almost reached the 5,000 level. We have not seen that level since the dot-com bubble.

Legendary investor Warren Buffett knows who will replace him as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Of course, he didn't share the name. But in his very important, much anticipated letter to shareholder this weekend, he said his successor already works at Berkshire and is relatively young. This is Warren Buffett's 50th annual letter to is shareholders since he took control in 1964. The company has soared under his watch. It is now the fourth most valuable company in America trailing only Apple, Google and Exxon.

For 50 years, this guy has been giving common sense investing advice. Like you don't win if you don't play. Like you have to be in the stock market and being out in the stock market is one of the worst mistakes you can make.

BERMAN: All right. Thirty-nine minutes after the hour.

Tens of thousands of Russians protesting after the murder of one Russian leader Vladimir Putin's strongest critics. We're live in Moscow, next.

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ROMANS: Thousands of Russians gathering in Moscow to mourn the death of former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin who was gunned down Friday near the Kremlin walls. Sunday's rally was hurriedly organized as a tribute to Nemtsov.

I want to bring in senior international correspondent Matthew Chance live from Moscow.

What a story, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely incredible. And even today on Monday, here in Russia, people are streaming past this location just in the shadow of the walls of the Kremlin to pay their respects to Boris Nemtsov and lay tribute here. A mountain of flowers that have been put down here, along with messages to Boris Nemtsov and to his family to mark his assassination here on Friday night. And in terms of the investigation, the police have said they are committed to this. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president said he will get to the bottom of this and bring those responsible to justice.

But this sign is very interesting. It says in Russian, propaganda kills. That's what many of the opposition people here and friends and colleagues of Boris Nemtsov say has taken place. That there's an atmosphere in Russia that anyone who is opposed to the Kremlin, anyone who speaks against Vladimir and is seen as an enemy of the state. And it's within that context that, of course, Boris Nemtsov was killed on Friday night, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Matthew Chance, thank you for that this morning -- Matthew in Moscow.

BERMAN: Closing arguments set to begin this morning in the trial of Abid Naseer. He is the Pakistani-born man accused of taking part in the al Qaeda bombing plots in New York, Denmark and England. His trial in federal court in New York featured riveting testimony from five members of the British Secret Service who tracked Naseer in 2009. Those agents wore disguises in court. They were cross-examined by Naseer who represented himself. The jury is expected to get the case this week.

ROMANS: The Justice Department is about to release a blistering report on the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department. According to officials who have been briefed, the report will accuse Ferguson police of making discriminatory traffic stops involving African- Americans, building years of animosity leading up to the shooting death of Michael Brown. Fines from those traffic stops have been critical of balancing the city's budget.

Ferguson officials will likely have to negotiate a settlement with the Justice Department or face a civil rights lawsuit.

BERMAN: The city of Cleveland says the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in a police shooting was directly caused by the boy's own actions. The city is responding to a lawsuit filed by the family. The boy was fatally shot holding a toy gun which officers mistook for a fire arm. There was a 911 call with the caller said it might be a firearm. Video shows the shooting occurred just seconds after police confronted the 12-year-old.

ROMANS: There is dramatic new video this morning of a fatal police shooting in Los Angeles. It shows officers involved an altercation with a man reportedly homeless suspected of a robbery outside a shelter in Skid Row Sunday. It is unclear what precipitated this altercation.

The police say they tried to tase the man, but he kept fighting them. After the suspects reached for an officer's gun, police say three separate officers fired shot at him. Authorities say the incident is under investigation. They plan to review video from various sources as part of the investigation.

The video from various sources, actually. The police may have been wearing cameras on their vests. There will be more evidence. This is a video posted on Facebook. It shows one perspective. There will be more that they will investigate today.

BERMAN: Troubling video.

A Texas nurse who caught Ebola from a patient she cared for last fall is planning to sue the hospital and its parent company. Twenty- six-year-old Nina Pham claims they were negligent, the hospital and parent company. It did not have the proper protective gear for those who treated Thomas Eric Duncan. Duncan died after becoming the first person in the United States diagnosed with Ebola. Texas Health says it's confident a constructive dialogue will resolve this matter.

ROMANS: And there she is with the president. You know, a lot of people said how the nurses behaved in all of these cases in the U.S. They were really heroes.

All right. Forty-seven minutes past the hour.

Details revealed about ISIS executioner. He has been called cold and a loner and strange. We are live in London with the new information, next.

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BERMAN: New details this morning about the ISIS fighter known as Jihadi John. The terrorist defector who met Mohammed Emwazi two years ago in Syria tells the BBC he was a cold loner who wanted to appear in terrorist videos, even describing him as odd and strange.

Let's get more now from CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson in London.

Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

I mean, what is odd and strange about this as well is we get a sort of divergent views of Mohammed Emwazi, Jihadi John. One of the British newspapers here says it spoken to his former employer, a computer company in Kuwait, and the manager of that company said Emwazi was his best employee, an excellent salesman, a nice man. We certainly heard that from the CAGE organization, the activist organization, that has been sort of highlighting his plight and essentially blaming what happened to him on harassment by British intelligence authorities.

There's a journalist here who has recalled now exchanging e- mails about three or four years ago with Emwazi three or four years ago. Emwazi told him he was a dead man walking. He felt under pressure since he was under scrutiny in 2009. People familiar with counterterrorism say here say that if he was drawing attention of the British intelligence authorities, counterterrorism officials, it's because he was either a terrorist himself or was close to people in those terrorist circles and perhaps somebody that the intelligence services hope they can sort of turn into an informer to spy on some of those other people.

What we understand now about the group of young men that he associated with while he was in London after he left university here, after getting that degree in computer studies, that this group had ties to al Shabaab, the forerunner of al Qaeda in Somalia, that they were raising funds for them, that some of the people he fought with al Shabaab in Somalia. One of them later goes on to be killed by a U.S. drone strike in that country. And also, we learned that people in that network that he was with in London were associated with some of the London bombers from July of 2005.

So, this is a more complete picture that we are getting. But cold and odd, that certainly fits with the profile we have come to know of Jihadi John with that knife, John.

BERMAN: Interesting.

All right. Nic Robertson for us in London, thanks so much.

ROMANS: The first Syrian rebel group to receive weapons from the United States has collapsed after losing control of headquarters in Aleppo to al Qaeda. The rebel group Harakat Hazm released a statement on social media saying its movement has been dissolved to halt the bloodshed. The al Qaeda affiliate al Nusra claiming it seized control of U.S. made missiles after routing the rebels.

BERMAN: All right. Developing overnight, North Korea fired two missiles into the Sea of Japan and vowed merciless retaliation as the United States and South Korea started joint military exercises. This triggers a surge in tensions. The missile launches came with a warning from Pyongyang that this year, the military exercises would bring the divided Korean Peninsula to what they call a brink of war.

ROMANS: All right. Silicon Valley is where the money is, right? Not for everyone. More clashes there between the haves and have-nots. That's next.

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ROMANS: All right. Let's get an early start on your money this Monday morning. And the first trading day of March, folks, Asian and Europe stocks mostly higher. China central bank cut interest rates to stimulus the economy and investors love that. U.S. stock futures are up, too.

It's like a pretty good start to March. It was an excellent February. Look at this, the S&P 500 climbed 5.5 percent, the biggest gain since October of 2011. The NASDAQ knocking on the door of 5,000. Haven't seen that level since the dot-com bubble.

Hyundai is recalling more than 200,000 cars in the U.S. for power steering issues. This recall affects 2008 to 2010 Elantra sedans, 2009 and 2010 Elantra Touring hatchbacks. The problem is a flaw in the power steering system, the technology to make steering easier. In some cases, this can disable the system and leave drivers to steer manually.

Yet another clash between the haves and have-nots in Silicon Valley. Bus drivers who shuttle employees to Apple, Yahoo, eBay, Zynga, a lot of other companies, they want to unionize. They want higher wages and a solution for unpaid hours in the middle of the day when busses aren't needed. They are following in the footsteps of Facebook bus drivers who unionized and negotiated higher wages, shift differential, and benefits like health insurance and retirement plans. A lot of people have noted that in Silicon Valley, there's two sort of extremes of tech land very well paid engineers and a very low paid people who take them to work every morning.

BERMAN: Interesting.

All right. EARLY START continues right now.

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