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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Benjamin Netanyahu Gives Victory Speech; Air Force Accused of Trying to Join ISIS; Republicans Unveil 2016 Budget; March Madness Tips Off. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired March 18, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Herzog has called Netanyahu to offer his congratulations. Last night, the prime minister gave a victory speech, exalting in the comeback victory. Earlier polls days ago put him several seats behind in this race. But what happens now. Many observers now say the prime minister faces the serious challenge in reuniting the country after some very harsh words, right after the final moments of this race.

[05:00:00] Many observers now say the prime minister faces the serious challenge in reuniting the country after some very harsh words, right after the final moments of this race.

Let's turn now to CNN's Oren Lieberman standing by live in Jerusalem with the very latest.

Good morning, Oren.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, John.

And one of the questions we'll try to figure out over the next few days is were the polls wrong from the very beginning or did Netanyahu really stage an incredibly dramatic come back are from four seats down to five seats up.

Regardless, that's not what Netanyahu is worried about right now. He saw the results and his victory. He knows, as you said, a resounding victory with a very, very comfortable margin of victory for him and his right wing coalition.

Now, it's up to him or it certainly looks like it will be up to him to put together a coalition government. Yesterday, when we saw the exit polls it was a very close race and it looked like he had a slight edge in the ability and necessity of putting together that government. Now, when we see what are unofficial results but actual numbers from the ballot boxes, as opposed to just exit polls, we know he has a much easier path to putting together a right wing government.

We know he's a master politician. He's a master dealmaker and he'll use that to his advantage as he proceeds over the next few days, calling, talking to the other parties, wheeling and dealing, which is necessary to create a coalition government here, offering certain ministry seats. But that's up to him, that's what he knows how to do well. He has been prime minister for six years and he will be able to hold on to his seat, put together another coalition government. Isaac Herzog meanwhile thought it was a close race. It looked to be a

very close race from the polls, up until the very last minute, then we saw those results, we saw that Isaac Herzog will not have a chance to put together his government. Instead, it will be Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Again, John, Netanyahu gave that victory speech last night, this morning looking at the numbers looks like he can celebrate that victory.

BERMAN: Indeed.

Oren Lieberman for us in Jerusalem, thanks so much.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, Secretary of State John Kerry is this in Switzerland for a third day of nuclear talks with Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. Iran's negotiators are already claiming major progress, telling state news media that 90 percent of technical issues have been worked out. American diplomats meanwhile are saying there are, quote, "still some tough, tough issues to work out."

Senate Republicans are not backing down on their controversial letter to Iranian leaders. No regrets at all is how the letter's author Tom Cotton puts it.

Let's bring in senior international correspondent Nic Robertson. He's at those negotiations in Lausanne.

Good morning, Nic.

You know, the Iranians are saying there's a lot of progress made, only 10 percent difference on these technical issues, but that 10 percent gap is still pretty large when you're talking about the thorny issue of nuclear -- the nuclear race.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And it's always been the problem in these negotiations, it's the last bit that's the hardest bit.

You know, the meeting between Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Zarif this morning, it's still TBD, the time hasn't been firmly penciled in yet. Just two minutes ago, the Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif walked past me here, just had a 20 minute walk along the water front here, it's a beautiful morning in Lausanne.

And I shouted out to him, "How is it going, sir?" He said, "It is going." So, I said, "Where is it going?" And he said, "We are trying."

He looked like a man who was relaxed, he was smiling a lot, he obviously had a huge security entourage with him, but he took 20 minutes out this morning to take a walk by the water. You know, you get the sense that although there's pressure on, you know, how much needs to be done in the remaining time before the deadline, the 31st of March, that there is a sort of pause this morning. There were three meetings yesterday between Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Zarif, you know, about five-and-a-half hours in total, five hours in the day before.

This morning, there seems to be a pause, not the clear what that pause is, but we are expecting another meeting later today, Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Nic Robertson for us in Lausanne -- thank you, Nic.

BERMAN: Happening this morning: a U.S. Air Force veteran goes before a judge. He's accused of attempt to go join ISIS in Syria. The experienced airplane mechanic was caught and turned back by Turkish authorities in January. U.S. investigators later found a letter on his laptop in which he allegedly declared himself a mujahedeen.

Let's get the latest from CNN justice correspondent Pamela Brown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Christine, according to court documents, 47-year-old Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh from Neptune, New Jersey, who was at one point a mechanic for American Airlines trying to travel to Syria to join ISIS. Also, he was in the Air Force for several years, where he trained in the installation of maintenance of aircraft engines and weapons systems.

People I've been speaking to in law enforcement say that's concerning because he could have brought his expertise to the terrorist group if he made it over to Syria to join ISIS as authorities allege in this criminal complaint. And according to that complaint, Pugh left the Air Force in the '90s and worked for several private aviation companies in the U.S. and the Middle East as an airplane mechanic. In January, he allegedly flew from Egypt to Turkey, trying to cross into the border of Syria.

[05:05:00] Turkish officials apparently questioned him and according to court documents, he told them that he was a pilot with U.S. Special Forces and he was in Turkey to vacation. However, Turkish officials denied him entrance after he refused them access to his electronics, and then sent him on a return flight to Egypt.

The criminal complaint says it appeared Pugh's electronics had been tampered with, once he arrived in Egypt. Egypt then deported him to the U.S., and he was arrested by the FBI in January.

After a search of Pugh's laptop, the FBI said it did recover some evidence. More than 180 jihadist propaganda videos, including an ISIS video that shows the execution of multiple prisoners. They also found -- agents found Internet searches for borders controlled by the Islamic State and searches for ways to cross from Turkey and to Syria.

Pugh's defense attorney tells CNN his client will plead not guilty when he faces a judge -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Pamela, thank you.

Developing overnight, a letter intended for the White House has tested positive for cyanide. The Secret Service is conducting more tests right now to confirm that initial finding. The agency is not saying whether the letter was addressed to President Obama. A law enforcement official tells CNN there were no injuries. There was no exposure concerns for the screening facility employee who opened that letter.

BERMAN: Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock is resigning in the face of growing questions about extravagant spending, sort of the scandals began about an article about his "Downton Abbey"-inspired decor in his office. The 33-year-old Republican has been dogged by accusations he has used campaign funds and taxpayer money to finance a lavish personal lifestyle. In a statement, Schock says the constant questions have made it too difficult to serve. House Speaker John Boehner says Schock is putting the best interests of his constituents in the House ahead of had his own. He will step down at the end of the month.

ROMANS: The new director of the Secret Service facing out with outraged lawmakers. Joseph Clancy grilled by a House committee about a series of embarrassing scandals at the agency, including this latest incident involving two agents who allegedly disrupted a late night bomb investigation at the White House.

Clancy confirming he did not find out about that for five days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH CLANCY, U.S. SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: It's going to take time to change maybe some of this culture. There's no excuse for this information not to come up the chain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The House Oversight Committee has decided to open its own investigation of the Secret Service. Director Clancy will be back on the hot seat next week.

BERMAN: Republicans will formally unveil their 2016 budget today. It calls for higher military spending, using some budget gimmickry there. Deep cuts to social services and eliminates deficits within a decade, so say Republicans. It also assumes $2 trillion if savings from the full repeal of Obamacare. Even if it does pass both houses of Congress, the president would never sign it. The president's budget proposal would raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for infrastructure and education upgrades.

ROMANS: Kentucky Senator Rand Paul will reportedly make his presidential candidacy official next month, a campaign source tells the "Associated Press" Paul plans to announce in a speech in Louisville April 7th, a day after the NCAA championship in which the University of Kentucky is heavily favored. The first stops for Paul in the days after the announcement will be Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. BERMAN: Important states I'm told.

ROMANS: They are.

BERMAN: So, Donald Trump, you may see him on TV promoting his various wears. He says this time, he's really, really serious about seeking the 2016 Republican nomination.

ROMANS: This time?

BERMAN: "The New Hampshire Union Leader" reports that Mr. Trump will launch a presidential exploratory committee today. The report says the businessman will not renew his contract with NBC for "The Apprentice". This announcement comes ahead of a visit to New Hampshire on Thursday for meetings with a group of veterans and local business leaders. Take it as you will.

ROMANS: Nine minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money.

Asian and European markets are mostly higher. Stock futures also up here, bouncing after a Dow tumble of 120 points. Oil prices really the trigger for that. Oil prices down to lows not seen since 2009. Also, investors this morning nervous about how quickly the Federal Reserve plans to start raising interest rates.

Today comes down to one little word, the word "patient". For months, the Fed and Janet Yellen have said they will be patient when raising interest rates. Investors think the central bank will finally remove that promise from its statement today, signaling a rate hike could come as soon as June. The rate is coming. It's coming. I'm telling you right now.

BERMAN: Axl Rose would not be happy. All you need is a little patience.

ROMANS: I'm going to be humming that now. Thank you, all day.

BERMAN: Nine minutes after the hour.

Friend of Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the witness stand facing questions about guns, drugs. Details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:12:49] BERMAN: Testing resumes in just a few hours at the trial of accused Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Prosecutors called their 69th witness on Wednesday, Stephen Silva, a close friend of the defendant. He told jurors about loaning Dzhokhar a gun, a few months later, the Tsarnaev brothers allegedly used that gun in a their violent escape attempt.

Let's get more now from CNN's Rosa Flores.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, from smoking pot to hanging out with a pot dealer, jurors really learned a lot about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev personally on Tuesday. Most of those damning details coming from Stephen Silva.

Now, this man claims to be Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's best friend from back in high school. They used to hang out and smoke pot, he says. Now, Silva also says that he used to sell pot, that he needed a gun for his pot business. He obtained a gun and that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev asked him for that gun, never returned it.

Now, prosecutors say that that gun is connected to the Boston bombing case. And we should also add that Silva is testifying in a jumpsuit. Why? Because he's pleaded guilty to drug and weapons charges. And you guessed it, those weapon charges are for that gun that's now linked to the Boston bombing.

One other important keynote about Tuesday in court, and these are new revelations, new writings, not the manifesto, but carvings on that boat that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev used to get refuge. It says, "Stop killing our innocent people, and we will stop," end quote.

Again, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may not say a word in trial or in court, however these writings, these carvings could help determine if he lives or if he dies -- John, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Rosa Flores, thank you for that, Rosa.

Robert Durst is waking up in a new correctional facility this morning. He's been transferred about an hour outside New Orleans, to a center equipped to deal with the mentally ill. A judge set a detention hearing for Monday. Durst facing murder charges in Las Vegas, gun charges in New Orleans and a revived murder investigation in New York.

[05:15:02] Police raided Durst's home in Houston Tuesday.

BERMAN: The judge at the trial of Colorado movie theater massacre suspect James Holmes set opening statements for April 27th. That is more than a month ahead of schedule.

The 27-year-old Holmes is charged with killing 12 people, wounding 58 in the Aurora theater shooting. He's pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Officials say jury selection moving along faster than expected. One of the potential jurors in the Aurora case is a survivor of the 1999 Columbine massacre. The judge qualified the jury candidate after the person assured the court that he could be fair.

ROMANS: Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez may have been angry at Odin Lloyd, the man he's accused of murdering. A witness testifying at the Hernandez trial says that the defendant was staring Lloyd down as he talked to a mutual friend at a nightclub, two days before the alleged murder. Jurors are expected to hear more testimony today on the crime scene and the impression from Nike sneakers Hernandez wore.

BERMAN: The four-year drought in California has become so severe that the state's restaurants are now banned from serving water to customers unless they request it. Fines for breaking that new law could reach $500. Scientists are now sounding the alarm, but unprecedented water shortages, increased wildfires, farm foreclosures, and huge economic losses in that region for years to come.

So, the playing around in the NCAA basketball tournament on. The Hampton Pirates moving on, but, you know, their next opponent is not bad at basketball. Andy Scholes with the details on the "Bleacher Report" next.

ROMANS: Retirement is about a lot more than golf and bingo these days. How about skydiving around the world sound? CNN Money caught up with one man who saved, planned, and retired the right way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICH GRIMM, RETIREE: My first jump in 1980 we're over this cornfield in Ohio and it was out of a little Cessna 182. So I was in the plane and there was this older gentleman in front of me and so when they opened the door and he climbed out to hold on, as he let go he went, wham.

Right there, I was in had mass panic and I was is scared and I was thinking this is the stupidest thing in the world and I was holding on with a death grip and he's like, go, go, go, go, and I just let go and closed my eyes and big old round World War II parachute opened up and then I looked down and I was like, wow. This is pretty cool.

My I name is Rich Grimm. I'm a retired firefighter from Ontario, California. Now, I jump out of airplanes. As you get older and running into burning buildings starts to get a little more painful, so I started thinking about changing gears and retiring from the fire department and starting a full-time skydiving center.

Most fire departments have a retirement system. When I turned age 50 after 31 years, I receive a pension. It allowed us to pursue our dreams -- pursue my dream, not my wife's dream, let's say.

During my fireman career I was always skydiving recreationally as a hobby and I realized that maybe I could turn this crazy hobby into a full-time business. And then when I retired in 2010, we started a full-time skydiving center for first timers and experienced skydivers in Ocean Side, California and then we do these once a year exotic skydiving trips somewhere cool in the world.

It just kind of snowballed. It's one of these things I kind of just, no pun intended, fell into.

We're here in Costa Rica. This is one of our yearly trips.

I'm way too young to be this old, I'm not going to move into some senior citizen gated community. I want to be out there jumping out of airplanes as long as I can and having fun. It's a pretty good retirement gig.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:02] BERMAN: Sort of like the prelude, the very beginning stages of March Madness already here. The first of the playing games now completed. One ended with an epic rally. The other one reaching out to a higher power.

ROMANS: Andy Scholes has more on this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Andy.

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

Yes, the opening matchup of the first four games featured Hampton taking on Manhattan and the award a date with undefeated Kentucky in the round of 64.

Now, Hampton, a team with a losing record going into this game pretty much dominated from start to finish beating Manhattan 74-64. They get extra points from me though for mimicking the moving major league after each made free throw. That is pretty cool.

Hampton, they are going to be massive underdogs against Kentucky and their head coach Edward Joyner is looking for some divine intervention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDWARD JOYNER, HAMPTON HEAD COACH: Hold on. I told you I had Jesus on speed dial. So, hey, Jesus, first of all, you can't play so I ain't worried about you being hot. OK. Fine. They want to know how much of a mountain and what our odds are.

Hello? Hello? I guess he will get back to me so I will get back to you. It's a heck of a mountain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: The other game last night looked like it was going to be a snoozer. BYU led Ole Miss by 17 at the half. But the Rebels went on a huge run in the second half. Two minutes to go, Stefan Moody hits the three in transition. That gives Ole Miss the lead and they will hold on to win beating BYU 94-90. They will now meet Xavier in the first round tomorrow.

The games are going to continue tonight on TruTV starting at 6:40 Eastern. Robert Morris takes on North Florida. That's going to be followed by Dayton, playing on their home floor against Boise State.

Retired NFL linebacker Chris Borland is now speaking out. The 24-year is walking away from football to prevent any future brain-related injuries that could affect his long-term health. Borland explained his decision to retire after just one season to ESPN's "Outside the Lines".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[05:25:00] CHRIS BORLAND, RETIRED AFTER ONE YEAR IN NFL: I've had close friends who said why don't you just play one more year, a lot more money, you probably won't get hurt? I just don't want to get in a situation where I'm negotiating my health for money and who knows how many hits is too many and my end goal is a long-term picture. It's not -- I'm not the willing to sacrifice 15 to 20 years of my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Great news for Cincinnati Bengals player Devon Still and his daughter Leah. Devon has been documenting on social media Leah's fight against pediatric cancer since last year. And yesterday, he posted this picture on Instagram saying, "That moment you get the best news you have ever received and don't know what to do, so you just flex." We got Leah's scans back tonight and the doctors told us they didn't see any active disease in her body. Just great, great news for Leah and Devin right there.

Guys, still time to fill out your brackets, they're not due until tomorrow morning before the games officially get going. Of course, you can go to CNN.com/brackets play with all of us along here at CNN.

And, Christine, I know who you're going with to win it all, Iowa State, right?

ROMANS: You know, even Berman said he's going to put Iowa State in his final four.

SCHOLES: I have them on my Final Four, too.

ROMANS: But they've been playing great. So, don't do it for me, Berman, do it for Iowa State.

BERMAN: Why do I have to choose? I can do it for both of you.

Andy Scholes, thanks so much.

ROMANS: Good to see you, Andy.

SCHOLES: Have a good one, guys.

BERMAN: Israel's prime minister claims a huge victory, a surprising margin from Benjamin Netanyahu when many predicted he would lose. How did he manage to finish so strongly and what happens next? We're live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:30:00] ROMANS: Happening now, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming a huge victory in an election many thought he could possibly lose.