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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Report: Israel Spying on Iran Negotiations; Yemen on Edge of Civil War; Brainwashed Into Working for ISIS?; Afghan President Meeting Obama. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired March 24, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans. John Berman is in D.C. all week. It is Tuesday, March 24th. It is 5:00 on the nose in the East.

Breaking overnight: accusations emerging that Israel has been spying on negotiation with Iran over a nuclear deal, almost from the very beginning.

It's "The Wall Street Journal" reporting here. "The Wall Street Journal" reporting that Israel eavesdropped on negotiations, in addition to getting information from confidential U.S. briefings, informants and European diplomatic contacts. Israeli officials denied -- they denied directly spying on U.S. negotiators. "The Journal" says it spoke to more than a dozen current and former U.S. and Israeli diplomats, lawmakers and intelligence officials.

Let's bring in CNN's Oren Liebermann. He is live for us in Jerusalem.

Oren, first, what were the spies allegedly doing with this stolen information?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN REPORTER: And, Christine, that is the second part of what we're seeing here is these allegations. First, the allegation from "The Wall Street Journal" is that Israel was spying. And second, the allegation that Israel was using that information, feeding it to Congress and trying to use the information to affect Congress and to influence Congress to stand up to a deal, to try to block a deal with Iran. So, Israel trying to use that influence as a way of influencing the negotiations on the Iran deal -- Christine.

ROMANS: What is Israel's response been to this report? They say they are not directly, directly spying on these negotiations.

LIEBERMANN: A very, very strong denial here from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, saying that the first part of this article that Israel has been spying is completely wrong. Here is a statement they gave us a short time ago. Let me read this to you.

"These allegations are utterly false. The state of Israel does not conduct espionage against the United States or Israel's other allies. The false allegations are clearly intended to undermine the strong ties between the United States and Israel, and the security and intelligence relationship we share."

So, what we have seen from the Israeli government and prime minister's office, a very strong denial of the basis of this 'Wall Street Journal" article.

ROMANS: How will this affect the relationship between the White House and Israel? This is already a strained, strained relationship.

LIEBERMANN: And that could be the long term effect of what we're seeing in this article. These allegations here that a relationship that's already been strained and we've heard a few times over the last few weeks that it's hit an all-time low. It could find itself at a new all-time low as relationships or relations between these two world leaders keeps getting worse here in Israel.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks so much for that report. Again, the blockbuster report from "The Wall Street Journal" this morning is what everyone is talking about. Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem.

Now, that report of Israeli spying comes with one week left before the deadline to reach a framework for a deal. The State Department announcing that Secretary Kerry returns on Thursday to Switzerland where negotiations with Iran are currently on a break.

So, what will he face when he gets there?

Joining us now, senior international correspondent Nic Robertson.

Nic, well, here, we have been watching this progress on the nuclear negotiations and then these accusations of Israel spying. A new, very serious wrinkle.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Indeed. And one of the points of "The Wall Street Journal" makes is Israel sent a delegation to Paris to try and influence their position, the French position, and, of course, the French have a place at the table, so they actually get a voice. So, the implication, it's not just sway politics in the United States, that Israel will use this information to try to gain, you know, a voice and a stronger voice inside those talks. P5-plus-1, United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia, China.

The state of the talks right now, as Secretary Kerry said on Friday, that progress has been made, but much more needs to be done. The Iranian position seems to be quite entrenched. The president there is talking about progress, but the supreme religious leader Ayatollah Khamenei in Iran is saying at the moment, you know, the United States is in effect bullying Iran and Iran will not cower and give in to bullying.

And the foreign minister who will sit down in front of Secretary Kerry on Thursday is what is expected. His position has been, look, you can choose the United States and allies. Stop pressuring Iran and the team at the negotiations. Take that pressure off and you will get an agreement. So, the talks are still in a very rocky situation. A lot of important

ground and agreement have yet to be made. And, clearly, the implication of the article is, is that Israel will be using its information to try and leverage more of what it wants from its own allies inside those talks.

ROMANS: Complicated chess report, no question. And "The Wall Street Journal" report really showing just how high the stocks are.

Thank you so much for that, Nic Robertson, from London this morning.

Four minutes past the hour.

A U.N. official declaring Yemen on the brink of civil war. Yemen, the elected government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi is calling on other Persian Gulf states to intervene to help stop Houthi rebels advancing across Yemen, and to help bring President Hadi back to power.

[05:05:00] This as we learned Britain has also pulled the last of its forces out of Yemen. The U.S. evacuate more than 100 Special Operations troops over the weekend.

Now, security experts say these developments are crippling American counterterror efforts in the region, raising the possibility that Yemen could become a fertile staging ground for global terror.

We're also learning new details this morning about those 11 medical students we told you about suspected of traveling to Syria to work in ISIS-controlled hospitals. Now, the group includes seven Britons, an American and a Canadian. A Turkish lawmaker says he believes they were, quote, "brainwashed". But the students' families are now saying those students went to the border between Syria and Turkey to offer voluntary medical help to refugees and they have since disappeared.

Meanwhile, Iraqi troop efforts to push ISIS out of the city of Tikrit, those efforts we understand still halted by the hundreds of IED booby traps ISIS has planted all over the Tikrit city center.

For the latest, let's bring in CNN's Jomana Karadsheh. She's been following all of this. She's live for us in Baghdad.

Jomana, let's begin with the medical students. What do we know about them, their motives, and where they are?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, there's a lot of mystery surrounding this case, where they are, what they're doing.

As you mentioned, a Turkish opposition lawmaker says that he is convinced that they arrived in Turkey and went to Syria and to ISIS- controlled territory. He says he is convinced they've gone to work for the terror group there working at hospitals.

Family members are already in Turkey on the border trying to track down their children and they said in a joint statement that their children went to Turkey to the border area where we know there's a lot of refugees there. They said they went to help these refugees. They are there as medical workers and that they disappeared after arriving in Turkey.

From what is, from this lawmaker, he said they arrived into Turkey on March 12th. They came in on two flights. A group of ten arrived on the flight from Sudan. That is where they were studying medicine. Eight had graduated fresh, graduate doctors now, and three others in the final year as medical students there.

And then on that same day, another one arrived from Toronto. Now, we do not know their whereabouts right now, their motivations for traveling to Syria.

But, of course, their families are very concerned. They are there and trying hard to get answers for this because it is really concerning phenomenon that many are seeing now with Westerners traveling into ISIS-controlled territory. Many of them joining ISIS' ranks. But, of course, at this point in time, it is unclear where these 11 are and what are motivations to travel to Syria are -- Christine.

ROMANS: And the parents just must be terrified.

Let me ask you about Tikrit and Iraqi military's I guess slowing of its advance because of all of the IED booby traps. Is there a feeling that the Iraqi military will they be able to take this town once and for all?

KARADSHEH: Well, the Iraqis are very confident about this, Christine. They say, as you recall, this offensive started on March the 1st. They did make real advances there, took over a lot of territory around Tikrit. It's a joint operation with the Iraqi military, and also Shia militiamen backed by Iran.

And what they say is that they now have ISIS militants surrounded inside Tikrit. But they are unable to continue this advance at this point, something they say that will resume at any moment. What is stopping them they say was resistance in the form of hundreds of improvised explosive devices, a large amount of those and also car bombs in the city and snipers positioned on the roads to stop this advance of the Iraqi forces.

So, they are concerned about a mass casualty situation. They're worried about damaging infrastructure. At least that's what the Iraqis are saying publicly. But they are still determined, Christine, to take Tikrit. That would be a major victory for them. This would be the largest city, the main -- one of the main cities they retake from ISIS since last summer.

ROMANS: All right. Jomana Karadsheh, thank you so much for that.

There is new evidence this morning that ISIS is making tentative steps to expand its recruiting efforts into Afghanistan. Take a look at this exclusive CNN video of an ISIS recruiting session in Afghanistan. It appears to be a small very early effort, but a U.N. official tells us there is real concern ISIS could gain a foothold, adding to the challenges the Afghan government already faces fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban.

This morning, Afghanistan's new president, Ashraf Ghani, meets with President Obama. Ghani's number one mission, convincing the president to slow the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops. The Afghan president warning that pulling all American troops out of this country by the end of 2016 as planned, he says that would have devastating consequences for the security situation in Afghanistan.

Senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta has latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[05:10:00] JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine, President Obama is expected to shed some light today on his updated plans for winding down the war on Afghanistan. He will do that after a meeting with Afghanistan's new president, Ashraf Ghani, who was in Washington, a visit with top administration officials. President Obama had said he would slash the current number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan by half from around 10,000 now to roughly 5,000 by the end of this year, before an almost total withdrawal by the end of 2016.

Ghani wants the president to reconsider that timeline. For now, administration officials say while they are looking at the pace of the U.S. pullout, the plan is to still have a small number of troops in Afghanistan as President Obama leaves office.

Here is what White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest had to say about that.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're talking about in the neighborhood of 1,000 to 1,500 troops. At this point, the U.S. troop presence is around 10,000 in Afghanistan. The question is how much flexibility is there in the drawdown between where we stand today and at that end point in 2017.

ACOSTA: And the White House has high hopes for Afghanistan's new president. Ghani is well-known in Washington. He once worked near the White House for the World Bank and lived in D.C. suburbs.

Both the president and President Ghani will hold a joint news conference later on today, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Thanks for that, Jim.

Let's get an early start on your money this Tuesday morning. CNN Money correspondent Alison Kosik joins me now.

Good morning, Alison. We've got several hours before the markets open. But how are futures looking so far.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: It's been quiet right now. Stock futures, Christine, are just up slightly right now. Stocks kind of taking a breather after the run up last week. Now, yesterday, we saw the Dow and S&P 500, they pulled back just a

little bit. NASDAQ closed lower as well, although it is still above 5,000, near its March 2000 high. We are still going to be watching the NASDAQ to get that new record high that we have not seen happen in 15 years.

ROMANS: So, we have seen stocks have just an incredible rally over the past six years. Where is the smart money saying now is the value in the markets?

KOSIK: Let me take out my crystal ball. Well, that's probably not a good idea. Let's go to analysts, because according to some of the biggest private equity terms, there are big deals in oil. The co- founder and CEO of the Carlyle Group said yesterday, he is more bullish on oil than any other sector in the world. Oil prices have tumbled from over $100 a barrel last summer to less than $50 now.

Oil companies have slashed spending and cut jobs. Oil stocks, they tumbled at 20 percent or more, and it's really unclear with oil prices, when oil prices might bounce back. But still, some of these analysts are saying, this is where you want to be. This is where you want to put your money. You know what they say, no risk, no reward. But that's how only some feel when they're investing.

ROMANS: There are a lot of investors when they see a crash like that. And it has been a crash in oil prices.

KOSIK: They see an opportunity.

ROMANS: They see an opportunity on some of those shares.

All right. Thanks for that, Alison.

KOSIK: You got it.

ROMANS: Twelve minutes past the hour.

Shocking story of a gang rape at a college fraternity published in "Rolling Stone", making headlines around the world. But now, a police investigation reveals a very different story.

Plus, brand new this morning, Angelina Jolie opening up about new steps, dramatic steps she has taken after doctors reveal possible signs of early cancer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:16:12] ROMANS: An investigation by police in Charlottesville, Virginia, finds no substantive basis to support allegations by University of Virginia student that she was gang-raped at a campus fraternity. "Rolling Stone" published the accuser's account, and later issued an apology when her story was discredited.

We get more from CNN's Rosa Flores.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, after a four-month investigation, Charlottesville police coming forward and saying that they found no evidence to support the alleged UVA rape case that was published in "Rolling Stone" magazine of a woman that only went by the alias of Jackie.

You probably remember this from last year. "Rolling Stone" coming forward with very graphic details of seven men raping Jackie, then coming forward and publishing an apology. Many news organizations, including CNN, poking holes into that story.

Now, police say that Jackie did not cooperate with authorities, with investigators. But investigators interviewing 9 of the 11 members of the fraternity house where this allegedly happened. They sifted through phone records and they also uncovered a photograph of that fraternity house that they say was electronically stamped on the date of the alleged attack and that just nothing added up.

Now, this is not the only investigation going on. "Columbia Journalism Review" sifting through records, through the reporting, through the editorial and "Rolling Stone" magazine telling CNN that they planned to publish the results of that review in early April. Now, the police chief says this investigation is now suspended, but open. What does this mean? Well, the police chief telling CNN that means that they believe that perhaps something did happen to Jackie and that they are hoping that someone will come forward -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Rosa Flores, thank you so much for that, Rosa.

Now, the prosecution in the trial of accused Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev nearing the end of its case. Jurors expected to hear more from a terrorism expert who testified Monday how a person can become radicalized without traveling, or actual communications with terrorists. He also pointed out similarities in jihadist literature and the tweets by Tsarnaev, and also pointed to his writing in the boat before his capture and some of the language and verbiage there.

Utah's governor signing a bill to give the state a back-up plan for executions, firing squads. Lawmakers approved the measure earlier this month that OKs death by firing squad if lethal injection drugs are not available. Those drugs are in short supply nationwide. Utah is the only state to allow a firing squad as an alternative method of execution. Utah currently has eight inmates on death row.

This morning, we are learning Angelina Jolie, the actress, the director, has had her ovaries surgically removed to prevent the possibility of cancer. In an op-ed column in "The New York Times", the actress said a recent blood test showed early markers that could be a sign of ovarian cancer. Jolie calling it a moment of clarity realizing what's really important in her life.

You may remember, she had preventative double mastectomy two years ago to reduce her risk of getting breast cancer said it runs in her family. Her mother died of ovarian cancer. Jolie described it as a personal decision and acknowledges it is not the right move for every woman.

All right. No one ever doubted her prowess on the pitching mound. Now, 13-year-old sensation Mo'ne Davis showing us what kind of person she is, coming to the defense of a college baseball player thrown off his team for insulting her. Andy Scholes has this in the "Bleacher Report" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:32] ROMANS: A college baseball player kicked off his team over the weekend about an offensive tweet about Mo'ne Davis. But Mo'ne is asking the university to give him a second chance. A little bit of class in a situation that started with no class.

Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Christine.

Yes, Mo'ne Davis, if you remember right, he captured the nation with her dazzling performance in the Little League World Series last summer. And Disney recently announced they're going to be making a movie about here called "Throw Life Mo". Well, the college player at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, he reacted to that news of the movie by sending out an offensive tweet. The school quickly kicked him off the team. But when appearing on sports center yesterday, Mo'ne said she e-mailed the school hoping he would be reinstated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MO'NE DAVIS, 2014 LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES PITCHER: Everyone makes mistakes and everyone deserves a second chance. I know right now he's really hurt and I know how hard he worked just to get to where he is right now. I mean, it was hurtful on my part, but I know he is hurting even more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Such a classy move.

Bloomsburg University released a statement saying in part that they stand by their decision. But they will review the matter.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft says there is no smoking gun when it comes to his team's involvement in "deflate-gate." Kraft told that to reporters at the NFL's annual owner's meeting. Now, we could find out the result of the deflate-gate investigation zone.

Commissioner Roger Goodell Peter King that Ted Welsh is, quote, "nearing the end of his investigation."

[05:25:01] The Cleveland Browns are expecting Johnny Manziel be back on the field when the team starts off season workout next month. That's according to ESPN. Manziel's attorney said he checked into a rehab facility on January 28th, in an effort to be a better family member, friend and teammate. Manziel is expected to compete with newly acquired Josh McCown for the Brown's starting quarterback position.

Over the weekend, this video of Villanova's piccolo player crying after the teams lost to NC State went viral. The girl's name is Roxanne Chalifoux. And last night, Jimmy Fallon, he had her own his show and Roxanne, she got to play her piccolo, along with The Roots. And then, Fallon asked her what was going through her head when she saw herself crying on the jumbotron.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROXANNE CHALIFOUX: All I could think about is my dad is at the game. I did not want him to see my crying. But then it turned into everyone saw me crying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Pretty cool move, Christine. Fallon gave Roxanne a pretty nice gift basket right there. He had some ice cream, a Teddy Bear, and then he came along with some Taylor Swift tickets. She's a big Taylor Swift fan.

ROMANS: Whoa!

SCHOLES: So, she's going to get to go see her in concert.

All for getting caught crying as her team was losing in March Madness. So, you know, good things come out of bad moments like that.

ROMANS: Team spirit, I love it. I love the piccolo. What a nice instrument, the piccolo.

All right. Thanks, Andy Scholes.

Breaking overnight, a new report claiming Israel has been spying on nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. But who did the spies supposedly give that stolen information to?

We're live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Breaking overnight, Israel accused of spying on nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran, using that information to pit Congress against the White House.