Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

At Least One Killed In Northern Illinois; Storm Tears Through St. Louis Area; Moments Before The Fatal South Carolina Shooting; Iran Nuclear Deal In Trouble?; Rebels Overrun Key Sunni Province In Yemen. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired April 10, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Christine Romans. It's 30 minutes past the hour this Friday morning. It's nice to see you here, everybody. Breaking news this morning, a deadly string of tornadoes is tearing across the Midwest, that outbreak including at least 14 reported tornadoes across three states.

That's according to the National Weather Service. Now officials say the path of destruction across Illinois alone more than 25 miles long.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, there is a twister, a huge one, in Northern Illinois near the city of Rochelle. Look at that. Officials say that severe storm killed one person in nearby Fairdale, to another view of the tornado with pelting hail in Illinois. Residents of this neighborhood ran to their basements for shelter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDSEY MANNING, ILLINOIS TORNADO VICTIM: We were here. It was hailing. We thought it would miss us. We started getting calls from people that the chain of that tornadoes heading our way. We quickly went to the basement and could feel the tornado right over our house and came out to this. I feel like it is a bad dream. Something I would watch on the news somewhere else. Not in my neighborhood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Emergency officials say the tornadoes and high winds caused multiple injuries and widespread damage. This building leveled in Rockford, Illinois. The fire department there tweeted they were having a hard time getting access to the devastated areas because of all that damage and debris.

ROMANS: In Missouri last night, another severe storm blasted through Chesterfield just west of St. Louis. Fire officials say some 15 buildings in an industrial area damaged. Some of them almost destroyed. But no one was injured, officials say, because it was after business hours and those still there got out as quickly as they could.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID BERNARD, ESCAPED STORM DESTRUCTION: There was a lot of wind and sideways rain. You couldn't see anything. I started hearing crashing back in the shop area of the building. I went back there and saw that the vents have been ripped out of the roof and the back part of the roof was separating from the wall of the buildings. It was lifting up. Probably wasn't the best place to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: In Iowa, look at those ominous storm clouds. Wow! In Clinton, Iowa, there was a twister that downed trees and power lines and scattered debris. Officials say luckily there were no injuries there reported.

ROMANS: Meteorologist Derek Van Dam tracking these storms for us. He joins us with the very latest. That's something. Looking at that video of that truck just flipping over because of the wind, it really shows you the power of these storms.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Terrifying and extraordinary all at the same time. Really we need three different types of ingredients to get this type of a severe weather outbreak that we saw on Thursday. You need warm moisture air and some sort of instability in the atmosphere and you need a trigger mechanism like a cold front.

That was the perfect storm that we saw set up yesterday by Thursday evening. In fact, as that storm moved west of the Rochelle region, you can actually see the dark shading of purple that is potentially what we call a debris ball where sometimes our radars can pick up on the debris the large wedge tornadoes pick up.

It gets recognized by radar systems. Now at the moment, our cold front that's caused the wicked weather across Illinois continues to march eastward. We currently have an expiring tornado watch across parts of Ohio and into Kentucky.

We now have a newly issued severe thunderstorm watch. We are going to be monitoring that closely in portions of West Virginia in the line of some stronger thunderstorms. We still have the collision of warm moist air and cold dry air behind our cold front.

That is going to set the stage once again for the potential of severe weather today. But not as widespread as what we experienced yesterday. We do however have the possibility of strong damaging winds, large hail in excess of 1 to 2 inches and isolated tornado cannot be ruled out.

This includes the nation's capital and further south towards Atlanta and all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. We will include portions of Texas in that slight to enhanced chance of severe weather. There goes the cold front marching eastward.

Cold and windy weather settling in behind it and wind gusts today across the great lakes in excess of 30 miles per hour at times, and a few thunderstorms for you guys too in New York City.

ROMANS: Yes, All right, thanks for that, Derek. It's so interesting.

This morning, we have video that brings new perspective to a police officer shooting of an unarmed man in North Charleston, South Carolina. That officer, Michael Slager, is now in jail facing murder charges.

Dash cam video released by state officials does not show the shooting itself, but does show important moments leading up to it as Walter Scott is pulled over and questioned by Officer Slager.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SLAGER: Do you have your license registration and insurance card?

WALTER SCOTT: I got my license.

SLAGER: OK, let's start with your license. The reason for the stop is your brake light is out.

SCOTT: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: CNN's Brian Todd is in North Charleston, picks up the story for us there.

[05:35:03] BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, the latest development in this case is a dramatic one, the release of the dash cam video from the squad car of Officer Michael Slager.

The video shows what appears to be a routine traffic stop, Walter Scott's vehicle pulling into the parking lot of the Advance Auto Parts store, Officer Slager getting out, and going over to the car, and talking to Walter Scott on the driver's side, talking to him for several minutes.

And then Officer Slager comes back to his vehicle. Walter Scott appears to get out of his vehicle briefly and put his hand up, but then he goes back in his vehicle.

A few seconds later, Walter Scott emerges from his vehicle on this videotape and seen taking off running to the left side of the screen. That is the extent of that videotape. We don't know why Walter Scott took off running.

That is going to be a key gap that has to be filled in this case. Another new development, we have just interviewed another witness. We have exclusively interviewed another witness who has come forward to talk about what she saw on the day of the shooting.

Gwen Nichols is her name. She was in the neighborhood. She saw a scuffle between Walter Scott and the officer. She did not witness the actual gunshots, but she did say they scuffled a little bit and then she saw Walter Scott go into that vacant lot where he was later shot.

She did hear the gunshots, though, and she described to us how she felt when she heard them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GWEN NICHOLS, WITNESS: I started to cry. I'm sorry. I started to cry because I thought about the altercation with my son and it could have been my son. It could have been any one of these young black men around here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Gwen Nichols referred to her son there because she says her own son had his own encounter with the North Charleston Police that was somewhat similar. That her son was pulled over for a routine traffic stop and they ended up kind of roughing him up a little bit and arresting him so she could certainly relate to what happened to Walter Scott on that day -- John and Christine.

BERMAN: Thank you, Brian Todd for that report. Cracks starting to appear in the framework for a nuclear deal with Iran, here in the United States, the Senate is closing in on a plan to give Congress a chance to review the deal, which could complicate the negotiations.

Iran's supreme leader will not agree to a deal unless economic sanctions are lifted on day one. CNN's senior international correspondent, Frederik Pleitgen is following all the latest developments for us. Good morning, Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Remember how some people said after that interim deal was reached that there were only some details that needed to be worked out. Well, it turns out those details could very well be stumbling blocks.

You mentioned the biggest one of them for the Iranians at least is the sanctions relief. They say that sanctions have to go away immediately when a deal is implemented.

The supreme leader said that and the president of the country said that in a speech yesterday as well. It's kind of interesting because yesterday was nuclear day in Iran. That's not the only stumbling block in all of this.

The high level defense official in Iran also said that military sites would not be inspected by inspectors coming in. The U.S. said inspections should be open to the entire country. Inspectors should go anywhere.

Also, another top level Iranian official said work would not be halted at any of the Iran nuclear facilities. Of course, we know that in the fact sheet that the U.S. put out, only the nuclear facility would be allowed to continue uranium enrichment.

There are differences of opinion. The supreme leader said maybe there will be a deal by June 30th and maybe not. There are many things that need to be worked out before a deal can be put in place.

BERMAN: It will be an interesting couple of months here. Frederik Pleitgen for us, thanks so much, Fred.

ROMANS: All right, meanwhile, tension mounting this morning between Iran and Saudi Arabia over the conflict in Yemen. Those Iranian- backed Houthi rebels have overrun the capital of a key Sunni province despite Saudi-led airstrikes to stop their advance.

Iran's supreme leader is lashing out, calling the Saudi campaign genocide. CNN senior international correspondent, Nima Elbagir, is live in Jabudi with the very latest. Good morning.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, those comments come against the background of entering the third week of the Saudi coalition led air strikes. They are still unable to break the back of that Houthis forces advance.

That city in southwest of Yemen that has now fallen to Houthi forces. It brings them very close virtually on the door step of the natural gas facility with its Arabian Sea platforms. That could have ramifications not just for Yemen, but for the broader region.

Meanwhile, we are hearing reports that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula inside Yemen is taking advantage of this security vacuum to take more territory. They have taken the port city and now Reuters is reporting that the black flags of al Qaeda have been flying in a number of districts.

[05:40:09] All of this, as the humanitarian crisis further deteriorates. The Red Cross has finally managed to get some supplies in as has the U.N. children agency, UNICEF, but they are telling us it is nowhere near enough -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Nima, thank you so much for that really complicated and worsening situation there for sure.

It's 40 minutes past the hour. Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning, European stocks are headed for a 15-year high this morning. Greece met its IMF payment deadline. Greece came up with the money and avoided default for now.

Here in the U.S., the Dow is up for the year, one good day away from 18,000. Here is what could screw it up, falling corporate profits, higher interest rates, and crashing oil prices.

You have five days left to file your income taxes. The average refund received so far, just over $2,800, 67 percent if you already files. The IRS has paid out about $220 billion, haven't filed, the IRS has advice. Don't panic, John Berman, or you're going to file for extension.

BERMAN: I have five days. You have to get it done.

ROMANS: Do you have it all organized?

BERMAN: I have it almost all done. I use the software. I have a simple life, my entangled investments.

ROMANS: Entangled investments.

BERMAN: Exactly.

ROMANS: All right, an investigation launched after police are caught beating a suspected robber on camera, the story behind this disturbing video next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:45:04]

ROMANS: Breaking news this morning, at least one person dead after twisters ripped across the Midwest, at least 14 tornadoes reported in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. One person killed in northern Illinois where a tornado shredded homes and toppled trees in one St. Louis suburb.

In one St. Louis suburb, a violent storm damaged 15 buildings and a twister that touched down in Eastern Iowa spared densely populated areas, but did down trees and power lines.

BERMAN: All right, police caught on camera accused of excessive force. An investigation now launched after cameras caught San Bernardino County deputies just seemingly pummeling a man. This was following a bizarre horseback pursuit. This pounding went on for 2 minutes and involved as many as 11 officers.

The man was repeatedly struck. Even though we are told his hands were behind his back. The incident allegedly stemmed from an identity theft investigation.

ROMANS: All right, let's take a look what is coming up on "NEW DAY." Michaela Pereira joins us this morning, this Friday morning. You're following that tornado outbreak too.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Yes, we are keeping a very close eye on it -- Christine and John, the tornado that ripped through the heartland overnight. We are going to take a look at the damage. Incredible what people are waking up to this morning in several states.

Illinois seeing some of the worst, we are going to speak with the sheriff. His very home was destroyed. We will check in with officials on the cleanup that they are facing today. What conditions will hold.

And also everyone is talking about this police dash cam that has been released showing the traffic stop leading up to that deadly shooting in South Carolina. What insight does it give us about what happened?

We will speak with several law enforcement experts. Do we need to talk about new police training? Does it need to change? We will speak with basketball legend, Kareem Abdul Jabbar. We are going to talk to him about race relations after he wrote an op-ed about this shooting. I can't wait to hear what he has to say.

ROMANS: Me too. Thanks, Michaela.

BERMAN: Really interesting. All right, it's 46 minutes after the hour. There could be a new breakthrough today for U.S./Cuba relations. We will have all the details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:50:44]

BERMAN: The president is in Panama this morning. He is expected or could have an historic face-to-face discussion with Cuban leader, Raul Castro, and that could happen as soon as today. Also, as soon as today, the president might remove Cuba from the list of governments that sponsor terrorism.

CNN's senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, has more.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, all eyes will be on what could be a historic encounter with President Obama and Cuban leader, Raul Castro, here at the Summit of the Americas, a summit of Latin American leaders that takes place later on today.

Now they have spoken on the phone before and they did shake hands back in 2013, but nothing like what we may witness later on today. Now one anything we should point out is that this interaction comes as the State Department is recommending that the Obama administration remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

That is a key stumbling block. It is believed to re-establishing embassies in both Havana and Washington. There was a lot of speculation that this would all been taken care of by now.

But the president when he was asked about normalizing relations with Cuba earlier on Thursday and dismissed the notion that this is taking too long. Here is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: In terms of the overall process of establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba, I think that they are proceeding as I expected. I never foresaw that immediately overnight everything would transform itself. That suddenly Cuba became a partner diplomatically with us the way Jamaica is for example. That's going to take some time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: One sign of the difficult work that lies ahead, a couple of fights have broken out in Panama City between pro-Castro Cubans and dissidents from the island, who have traveled here for the summit while none of that is expected to really pose much of a threat to the summit that is taking place over the next couple of days. It is a reminder of the hard feelings that still exist on the island -- John and Christine.

BERMAN: Our thanks to Jim for that.

ROMANS: All right, Google consistently rated the best place to work. So what does it take to get a job at Google? The inside scoop next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:56:25]

ROMANS: It's Friday. Let's get an early start on your money. The Dow one good move away from 18,000, but corporate earnings could foul that up. We have a couple of weeks of good profit reports that could keep things on hold here. The Apple watch is here.

You can officially pre-order an Apple Watch this morning or you can try one on in the Apple store. There is a variety of watch bands, a couple of different faces. It's the first new product in five years. So far, we are not seeing big lines like for the iPhone.

In London and Hong Kong, there is more media than customers. The company has really been pushing people to try them on in the stores but order them online.

Early reviews are it is really hard to get used to, very steep learning curve, but worth it. It unshackles you from checking your phone all the time.

Google doesn't care where you went to college, doesn't care. Google's head of People Operations says it doesn't matter where you went to college. It doesn't matter what your grades are or if you can answer those famous brain teasers like why is a man whole cover round. Those are dumb questions.

So what does matter, leadership, cognitive ability and something called Googleliness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LASZLA BOCK, HEAD OF PEOPLE OPERATIONS, GOOGLE: For us it's not are you like us, we actually look for people who are different because that diversity gives us great ideas. We look for people who are intellectually humble and willing to admit when they are wrong, and people are contentious, who care about the environment around them because we want people to think like owners, not employees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: How do retain top talent? By making sure their job is like a mission, what they like to do and I think they are making the world better. He has looked at 25,000 resumes and what are his tips for any kind of job you're trying to get?

Forget the gimmicks. Just make your resume great. He said somebody sent him a shoe with the resume in the shoe saying he's trying to get the shoe in the door. That didn't work, a gimmick that did not work.

BERMAN: It is still also subjective. The guy hires a lot of people. So you need to listen to him, but still other companies do it differently.

Deadly destructive tornadoes tearing through the Midwest, "NEW DAY" picks up that right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, there goes cars. I saw head lights go flying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a tractor-trailer on top of a building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The back wall fell right on top of us and we were trapped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dash cam video now released.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taser. Taser.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear the shots?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I started to cry.

BERMAN: Cracks are starting to appear in the framework of the nuclear deal with Iran.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: This is not done until it's done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop aerial bombardment, stop operations on the ground.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The jury still out, it's not over yet.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Don't you someday want to see a woman president of the United States of America?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is Hillary Clinton finally ready to throw her hat in the ring?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to NEW DAY. It's Friday, April 10th, 6:00 in the east. And we do begin with breaking news, tornadoes tearing through the Midwest and the pictures and the sounds show devastation.

More than a dozen tornadoes touching down across three states, Illinois, hardest hit, wind gusts so strong, a tractor-trailer was no match. Watch this, and that was the least of it.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Look at the video. The powerful tornadoes leveling homes and reducing everything in their path to rubble. At least one person is dead, the full extent of the damage remains to be seen.

So let's get to CNN's Brian Young on the phone in one of the hardest- hit areas, Rochelle, Illinois. Brian, tells us what you're seeing.

BRIAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Right now, the winds are heavy here. We are waiting for first light because all around us you can see some of the destruction that's happened here. Power lines are down, tractor-trailers turned over.