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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Israeli Leader Warns Congress About Iran; Clinton's Camp Slams N.Y. Times Report; Supreme Court Takes Up Obamacare; Blockbuster NFL Trade

Aired March 04, 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: A dire warning from Israel's prime minister creating new controversy this morning. Warning Congress Iran will acquire a nuclear weapon if White House negotiations end with a deal. But will Benjamin Netanyahu's unprecedented stance -- will it backfire?

Team coverage breaking down the reaction from Washington, from Iran and Israel ahead.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you today. I'm John Berman. Wednesday, March 4th, 5:00 a.m. in the East.

And we have new reaction this morning in Washington, Iran and around the world. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech on Capitol Hill, blasting the notion of a nuclear deal with Iran. The prime minister really held nothing back in this address to a joint meeting of Congress that drew repeated standing ovations. The speech, though, is also drawing full-throttle criticism from the White House and from the president himself.

Let's get the latest from CNN's White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski -- Michelle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John and Christine.

I think it's safe to say that Prime Minister Netanyahu did not disappoint. For many of those who wanted to go there and hear him speak. This was an impassioned speech, drawing thunderous applause from the U.S. Congress, especially those Republicans who invited him there without the White House even knowing about it.

Netanyahu laid out first of all that the U.S. is great, standing with Israel, that Iran is bad, calling it a dark and murderous regime. And then, he ripped to shreds this potential deal that the U.S. and its allies are trying to work out with Iran over its nuclear program by the end of this month.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: That deal will not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. It would all but guarantee that Iran gets those weapons, lots of them. That's why this deal is so bad. It doesn't block Iran's path to the bomb. It paves Iran's path to the bomb.

KOSINSKI: The White House tried to downplay this, of course, saying this isn't anything we haven't heard before, that the prime minister presented no viable alternative. Even though President Obama did not watch this speech, he did spend it nearly 15 minutes responding to it.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The alternative that the prime minister offers is no deal, in which case Iran will immediately begin once again pursuing its nuclear program, accelerate its nuclear program, without us having any insight into what they're doing and without constraint.

KOSINSKI: So, now that we've heard Netanyahu, we can see how over the past couple of days, the White House really tried to steal his thunder and preempt virtually everything he said and make an argument against it, saying that if you add more restrictions on to Iran now, more sanctions, or trying to get it to entirely dismantle its nuclear program or set an indefinite time frame on the deal, then Iran just won't take it -- tantamount to no deal at all and in stark contrast to the Israelis, this administration feels that no deal would be way worse than this one.

But keep in mind, Obama did say that at this point, it is more likely than not that Iran rejects this deal -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Michelle, thank you for that.

While Benjamin Netanyahu spoke in the House chamber, an audience just as important was 6,000 miles away in Israel. The prime minister is facing an election in only two weeks, and many back home believe the speech was, in effect, part of his campaign.

For the latest on reaction in Israel, let's bring in CNN's Oren Liebermann. He's live in Jerusalem for us this morning.

Good morning, Oren.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Christine.

And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived a short time ago back here in Israel, landing at the airport. He wasted no time in putting out a statement.

And I want to read a part of the statement because it can easily be viewed as a response to President Barack Obama's statement about no alternative. Netanyahu says in this release, quote, "I presented a practical alternative which would impose tough restrictions on Iran's nuclear program, extending Iran's breakout time by years.

So, there is no doubt that he responded immediately there. And the elections, as you mentioned, are the issue that hangs over all of this. They're less than two weeks away at this point, and they're polling as very close.

In talking about Iran, in talking about Israeli security, Netanyahu talked about what is viewed as his strongest issue in the upcoming elections.

Now, if this wasn't being viewed as a political event before, it is now. Herzog, his main rival, Isaac Herzog, in the upcoming elections, immediately firing back short time after Netanyahu finished his speech. Herzog said that Netanyahu alienated the U.S. and put a strain, an unnecessary strain, on U.S./Israel releases that could only harm Israel in the long run. Herzog promised that in dealing with the threat from a nuclear Iran, he would work with the United States instead of working against the United States.

Just a short time later, Yuval Steinitz, the intelligence minister also a member of Netanyahu's Likud party, came to the prime minister's defense, backing him up saying it was an important speech, a critical speech. The ultimate question that will decide how much this matters is whose opinion changed because of Netanyahu's speech? Those who liked him before like him even more now.

Now, those who didn't like him before don't like him now. So, it depends on those undecided voters to see what they thought, if anything, about how this will affect their vote -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Oren, thank you for that this morning.

BERMAN: It's so fascinating, the debate in Israel, the debate in the United States, the furious controversy does seem to be slowing down the ongoing nuclear discussions between the U.S. and Iran.

The Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif noted that even though the Israeli prime minister is, quote, "trying to disrupt a deal", he says the negotiations are starting to move forward. Secretary of State John Kerry is still in Switzerland for those talks. He heads to Saudi Arabia later this week to reassure King Salman that any agreement with Iran will also be in Saudi interest.

But back to Iran now, what has the reaction there inside that country been to everything that's going on?

Let's bring in senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen who is in Tehran this morning.

Good morning, Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

And there's been reactions both last night right after the speech, as well as reactions this morning that are actually just getting in. There is a session of the Iranian parliament this morning as well. There was also another press conference by the foreign ministry also. It's interesting when you hear the gist of all this because the criticism is pretty vicious. The Iranians, of course, are saying that they feel that Prime Minister

Netanyahu is unfairly stigmatizing them, they say -- or they continue to say that their nuclear program is for solely peaceful purposes. But they also say that the speech will not derail the talks between Iran and the United States. And I do think that that is a pretty important point.

There's a press conference that just happened by the foreign ministry where the spokesperson of the foreign ministry said, quote, "they don't care what Prime Minister Netanyahu says." The negotiations, they say, are going on. But they also say that there are still a lot of issues that need to be discussed and that it's very much up in the air whether or not any sort of deal can be made.

Of course, in the night, we heard a lot of more vicious comments toward the speech. We've heard politicians here in Tehran call the speech sickening, saying that it was for election purposes.

And one of the things that we always have to keep in mind, John, when we hear these debates out of Iran is that, of course, there are aren't who want the negotiations to move forward. They want the deal. They are the ones around President Hassan Rouhani.

But there are those who feel that he should have walked away from the negotiator table a long time hard. The hard-liners who say they're willing to live with sanctions rather than cut a deal with the West.

In the middle, you have the main authority which is the supreme leader of this country who's very much remained on the sidelines and has certainly taken him out of the spotlight a little bit. He says he doesn't believe a deal will come through. He's very skeptical, but nevertheless, he does support the negotiations going on. And it appears as though at this point, at least, the speech by Benjamin Netanyahu did not detail those negotiations, John.

BERMAN: Complicated domestic implications and considerations taken to account in Iran, in Israel and in Washington.

Frederik Pleitgen inside Tehran this morning for us, thanks so much, Fred.

ROMANS: And a deal that is not certain.

All right. Seven minutes past the hour.

Hillary Clinton's camp firing back at "The New York Times" report about her exclusive use of personal e-mails at the State Department. One of her aides telling us nothing shady was going on, that her actions were in keeping with what other former secretaries have done. Clinton made no mention of this issue during a 30-minute speech Tuesday night.

CNN's Brianna Keilar has the latest, including the Republican reaction -- Brianna.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

While heading the State Department, Hillary Clinton relied solely on a personal e-mail account. It's not that strange for a secretary to have a personal account, but only a personal account, this is out of the norm.

And while Clinton may not have broken the law by doing this, she certainly broke with the spirit of the law. Clinton released 55,000 pages of her e-mails to the State Department recently, but she has unilateral control over this account, and Republicans are hammering her for it.

REP. TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: The State Department does not have all of Secretary Clinton's e-mails on its servers. Only she has a complete record. And the committee is going to have to go to her and her attorneys and her e-mail providers to ensure we have access to everything the American people are entitled to know.

KEILAR: A Clinton aide tells me her use of just a personal account was nothing nefarious. She had a BlackBerry before she became secretary, he tells me, and she kept using it after she entered the Obama administration.

But security experts warn there are huge security risks using just a private account. There's no backup system to keep e-mails if they are deleted. Since Clinton left office, the National Archive Laws have changed. Private accounts are only to be used for official government business in the case of emergencies now -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to Brianna for that.

So, the fight to fund the Department of Homeland Security is over. House Republicans abandoning their attempts to gut the president's executive actions on immigration, and instead they passed a clean funding bill that heads off a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. President Obama will sign this measure. There was speculation that allowing a vote on a clean bill could cost the House speaker his job, but most Republicans are praising him at this point for standing up to the White House.

ROMANS: The Supreme Court takes up another legal challenge to Obamacare today. This is the third time, number three, that the high court has been asked to rule on the president's signature health care law. This lawsuit, engineered by libertarians and conservative think tanks, claims that the wording of the Affordable Care Act makes it illegal for the government to offer health insurance tax credit subsidies in more than 30 states. Nearly 10 million Americans could lose their insurance.

BERMAN: This is a big deal that's going on in the court.

Breaking news: the FBI now says it has a suspect in custody in connection with shots fired at an NSA building in suburban Maryland, at a truck in a nearby toll rod and several other shooting incidents over the last few days. No one was hurt in the shooting at the NSA. Two men in the truck were not seriously injured. The FBI has not identified the suspect or said what led to his capture.

ROMANS: Time for an early start on your money. U.S. stock futures down a bit, following a lead from yesterday. The NASDAQ pulled back from 5,000 -- 5,000, a number it crossed on Monday for the first time in 15 years. The Dow and S&P 500 also pulling back from records.

Big corporate news this morning. Target is cutting thousands of jobs. No word on an exact number. But most of the layoffs will be at the corporate headquarters in Minneapolis where 13,000 people work.

The changes will happen over the next two years as part of a major restructuring. The company wants to save $2 billion. Target also investing billions to streamline operations to open more small stores and to revamp products to appeal to younger shoppers. That millennial demographic is the holy grail for these retailers.

Companies trying to get back on track. It lost steam during the recession, and then it had a huge, huge security breach, a cyber breach, during the 2013 holidays that has really hobbled that company.

BERMAN: They sell football cards in bulk right now, so my family is almost single-handedly keeping them going.

ROMANS: All right. Eleven minutes past the hour.

Racism in Ferguson, Missouri. A troubling report from the Department of Justice on the city where unarmed black teenager Michael Brown was shot and killed. What investigators this morning are revealing about the culture of that police department. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This morning, the Justice Department will release a report detailing a widespread pattern of racial bias within the Ferguson, Missouri, police department. This federal investigation was prompted by the shooting of an unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, by a Ferguson police officer last summer.

Let's get the latest from CNN's Ed Lavandera -- Ed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and John, the report expected to be released by the Justice Department today confirms what many residents here in Ferguson say that they have known for quite some time -- the accusations that the Ferguson Police Department has been involved in widespread racial bias for years.

Some of the statistics expected to be released in this report include showing that during a two-year period, even though the city of Ferguson is 67 percent black, it found -- the report found that 93 percent of all arrests involved African-Americans, 90 percent of traffic citations were issued by police officers were given to African-Americans, 85 percent of all vehicle stops involved African- Americans. And at any time a Ferguson police officer used force, 88 percent of those times, it involved African-Americans.

And many leaders here say that what they hope this will do is send a message throughout St. Louis County and other cities like Ferguson here in the area. Many community leaders here say that this is not just confined to Ferguson, that it happens throughout the area. City officials here in Ferguson have not commented publicly on this report yet.

They say they are reviewing it. And on Wednesday, later today, are expected to have some sort of press conference, some sort of comments after they review all of the report -- Christine and John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that, Ed.

We're learning more this morning about the homeless man who was fatally shot by Los Angeles police officers. Demonstrators marched from Skid Row to Los Angeles police headquarters Monday to protest the shooting which was all caught on video. Police say the suspect was known as Africa. He was shot when he reached for an officer's gun. Reports say he was a French national, and he was wanted for violating parole on a bank robbery conviction.

BERMAN: The jury is now seated in the trial of accused Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev begins this morning in federal court in Boston. Eighteen jurors were selected, 10 women and eight men, six of them will be alternates, although they don't know who they are yet. That will not be told them until they go into deliberation, which could be months from now.

Tsarnaev is charged with killing three people, injuring 264 after exploding homemade bombs near the marathon finish line in 2013. Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty. That trial could last until June.

ROMANS: Testimony resumes later this morning in another high-profile trial in Massachusetts. Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez is accused of murdering his friend Odin Lloyd. A police fingerprint expert will be back on the stand for more cross-examination by the defense.

On Tuesday, he testified that the fingerprints of Hernandez and Lloyd were both found inside a rental car allegedly used to drive Odin Lloyd to his death.

BERMAN: Former CIA Director David Petraeus striking a plea deal that will allow him to avoid prison time. Petraeus pleading guilty to mishandling classified military information, sharing it with his biographer who was also his mistress.

Under the deal, he will get two years probation and a $40,000 fine. Petraeus resigned as CIA director in 2012 after admitting the affair. Now, he insists the relationship did not begin until after he retired from the military. He's pointing that out because that would have been breaking a completely different law.

ROMANS: And very important military adviser to presidents quite frankly. He's got the ear of presidents, but a very big stain on his reputation, no question.

Alabama openly defying an order by a federal judge to allow gay marriage. The state Supreme Court telling probate judges to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. The court says the previous federal ruling that same-sex marriage bans -- that bans the violate the Constitution does not preclude Alabama's judges from following state law. State law in Alabama defines marriage between as man and a woman.

BERMAN: A blockbuster trade in the NFL. You don't see many of these. The Philadelphia eagles have sent pro bowl running back LeSean McCoy packing. Where did he go? What are the Eagles getting back?

Andy Scholes with "The Bleacher Report", next.

ROMANS: The FAA says congestion at New York area airports could get worse over the next 15 years. JFK, LaGuardia and Newark are already among the airports with the most delayed flights. And now, a new FAA report on airport capacity says the delays out of these New York hubs could jump significantly by the year 2030. That means flights will be delayed 93 percent of the time during peak hours at JFK, 91 percent of the time at Newark, and 81 percent at LaGuardia. The FAA hopes that the ongoing upgrade of the nation's air traffic control system to a satellite-based technology called Nextgen could help.

But in the meantime, New York area flight delays are costing travelers, airlines and airports billions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: You know, blockbuster trades in the NFL, as you well know, Christine, they don't happen often, but we had a big one last night. The Philadelphia Eagles traded their star running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills.

ROMANS: Andy Scholes has more on this morning's bleacher report.

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Good morning, guys.

It looks like Rex Ryan, he's going to want to run the ball with the Buffalo Bills. And apparently, Chip Kelly wants to turn the Eagles into the NFL version of the Ducks. Now, according to the reports, the Eagles are going to send LeSean McCoy to the Bills in exchange for a linebacker Kiko Alonso.

Now, McCoy is born and raised in Pennsylvania and reportedly not very happy about being traded away from home. Alonzo, meanwhile, he will reunite with Chip Kelly whom he played for at Oregon. He is now the eighth former Duck to play for Kelly on the Eagles. The Kentucky Wildcats looking to remain undefeated on the season,

playing at Georgia last night. Bill Belichick and Charles Barkley in the house for this one. And a funny moment before the game, some Kentucky fans were sitting in Belichick's seats. He had to get them removed. The people sitting next to him thought it was hilarious.

As for the game, Georgia, they had Kentucky on the ropes. But the Wildcats, they went on a late 14-0 run to put the game away. They would win 72-64. They are now a perfect 30-0 this season. And Kentucky will likely be everyone's pick to win it all when the brackets come out in a few weeks.

A high school girls basketball team in California has been reinstated after it had been disqualified from the playoffs for wearing pink jerseys. Narbonne High School in California originally was originally kicked out of the playoffs because they wore their breast cancer awareness jerseys in their semifinal game. It's against the rules to wear anything but your normal school colors unless you apply for a special waiver.

After a huge uproar, the team was reinstated and will now play for the city championship. Their coach, however, will remain suspended as a tradeoff for letting the team continue.

Guys, I think it's ridiculous that any team would get kicked out of playoffs just because of the color they were wearing. But, you know, this just goes to show the power of social media. When there was a huge uproar, the decision was eventually overturned.

ROMANS: But the coach is still out. Come on. Rules are rules, I get it. But there should be common sense. But there should be common sense on stuff like that.

SCHOLES: Exactly.

That's what they said. The official said the punishment was not appropriate. There you go.

BERMAN: Lunacy.

SCHOLES: They got the decision right in the end.

BERMAAN: Lunacy.

Andy Scholes, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Twenty-six minutes after the hour.

Israel is warning the United States not to negotiate with Iran, but can Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial speech to Congress derail any deal? We have a new statement from the Israeli prime minister to tell you about right after the break.

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