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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Death Toll Rises in Carolinas Flooding; Hillary Clinton Unveils Gun Plan; Dow Rallies 304 Points; Russian Ground Troops in Syria; Israel Rocked by Week of Violence. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 06, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:20] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A flooding disaster in South Carolina. The death toll is rising. The waters rage around that state. Dams breached. Homes washed away. Hundreds of rescues. We have the latest on the damage.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN ANCHOR: The mother of a young man spared in last week's Oregon shooting speaks to CNN. She talks about how her son is recovering from the trauma as Hillary Clinton unveils her plan to combat gun violence. Details are moments away.

Good morning. And welcome to EARLY START. I'm Michelle Kosinski. Christine Romans has the morning off.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Great to have you here this morning.

KOSINSKI: Thanks.

BERMAN: It is Tuesday, October 6th, 4:00 a.m. in the East, and there is serious peril in South Carolina this morning. The rains are tapering off, but the flood dangers in some cases, rising. Eleven storm-related deaths in South Carolina so far. Two in North Carolina. Those numbers could rise this morning.

President Obama has declared a major disaster ordering federal aid to help in the recovery effort. The mayor of Columbia says he expects things to get worse before they get better with damage in the billions of dollars. The problem now, flooded streams flowing into swollen rivers. Officials say 18 dams have breached or failed in the storms including this one you're looking at right here in Lexington.

Near Columbia, a mandatory evacuation has been ordered downstream of the Overcreek dam after a breach there.

KOSINSKI: Officials say crews have performed hundreds of water rescues. Helicopter crews, dozens more from the air. Some 1300 National Guard troops called in to help 250 state troopers.

Here's a rescue of a different sort. This man risking his safety to secure caskets that floated right out of a gravesite.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAYNE REEVES, RESIDENT: That's somebody's family out there. Show respect. This is respect. We got to respect the dead. I mean, that's families suffering. They had their family out there, popped up out of the ground. I think it's the human thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: With the latest on the flooding, CNN's Boris Sanchez in South Carolina.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are standing on Highway 301 in Manning, South Carolina. And if you take a look behind me, this major highway that leads all the way to Florida is covered in flood water. At least as far as the eye can see. We're looking at possibly a mile covered in water and all around there are vehicles that are submerged. Debris scattered across the road. Officials tell us they don't know exactly when this water is going to recede. Possibility into the coming days. If not, the coming week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. NIKKI HALEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: This is not over. Just because the rain stops does not mean that we are out of the woods. We very much still have a vulnerable situation that's out there. I'm still going to ask citizens to please stay inside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Despite the obvious problems here, there are some signs of progress. The lights are back on in town and the water is slowly but surely receding. Though again, we are not sure whether or not it's going to be raining into the coming days and making this situation possibly worse.

Boris Sanchez, CNN, Manning, South Carolina.

BERMAN: Our thanks to Boris for that.

When can we expect things to turn around? Let's get straight to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri -- Pedram.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Michelle, good Wednesday morning to you guys. The last band of rain showers finally beginning to taper off across the South Carolina. That is the good news here. Myrtle Beach to Wilmington getting in some light showers on this historic rain event that is finally coming to an end.

High pressure tries to build. So we go back into a dry pattern. Unfortunately, this does not mean the flooding concern, even the flash flooding concern, is done with. And we'll show you exactly why because once you bring the land over the Palmetto State down and you look at the terrain that we're dealing with over this region, we're talking about the northern portions of South Carolina across the Appalachians.

You have these mountains up to about 3500 feet high across the northern area of the state. Of course, you bring the rivers down, downstream you go towards the lowlands and eventually towards even some of the marshier areas where you have hundreds of rivers, estuaries, all of the waters that have rained up stream have to find their way back downstream. They want to get into the Atlantic Ocean, of course. So if there is any sort of blockages, any sort of levees or dams that have been jeopardized, you're talking about the waters being a major issue downstream for some of these communities.

We'll leave you with these. Some before and after images coming out of parts of South Carolina. Notice some of these areas in the bottom of your screen, the low-lying areas that go down this hill into portions of the tennis court that is down there. The after perspective shows you the tremendous amount of flooding that took place, especially in these low-lying areas across South Carolina, guys.

KOSINSKI: Thanks, Pedram.

New developments in the search for that missing cargo ship in the Caribbean. The Coast Guard now focusing on a hunt for survivors after concluding the ship El Faro sank on its way to Puerto Rico under the fury of Hurricane Joaquin. Coast Guard officials say they found survival suits, life boats and life rafts, but no signs of survivors so far. That's a devastating blow for the families of the Florida based ship's crew. The crew included 28 Americans.

[04:05:08] BERMAN: You know, this morning the White House has announced that President Obama will travel to Roseburg, Oregon, on Friday. He will visit privately with the families of the victims of last week's shooting, this as we learn new details about the young man spared by the shooter.

CNN spoke with the mother of Matthew. She asked that we not use his last name. The gunman apparently spared Matthew's life so that he could hand police an envelope containing a flash drive with the shooter's writings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUMMER SMITH, MOTHER OF STUDENT WHO SHOOTER SPARED: He's different. He will never feel the same. He will never feel complete security again. He doesn't know how to deal with it right now. I don't even think he can register what happened yet. It's just too much.

The shooter gave him what he was told to give to police. He was then sent to sit in the back of the room facing the room and to watch what was going on. Matthew said that he froze. He didn't make a single move. He was afraid to look away, that if he made anything -- did anything to make the shooter notice him, that he would be shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I don't know how you process something like that.

Hillary Clinton is responding to the Oregon shootings with new proposals for gun legislation and executive action.

CNN's Brianna Keilar has latest.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Michelle.

Hillary Clinton unveiled a series of proposals aimed at stemming gun violence in the wake of the shooting at the Oregon community college last week. She said she wants to close the gun show loophole and she's willing to take executive action to do so if Congress can't act, which it has shown it doesn't have an appetite to do.

She also says she wants to stop domestic abusers from being able to purchase a firearm. And she wants to give gun violence victims the opportunity to sue gun manufacturers.

Clinton became rather emotional here in New Hampshire as she introduced the mother of a 6-year-old who was killed in the Sandy Hook massacre of 2012.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So many of the parents of these precious children who were murdered have taken the unimaginable grief that they have been bearing and have tried to be the voices that we need to hear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: When Clinton ran for the Senate in 2000, she had a pretty liberal proposal of supporting a national gun registry. In 2008 when she ran for the presidency, she moderated her views on guns a little bit. But now this run for the White House, she is tacking left, taking on the NRA with fiery language. She tries to really get some more support here in New Hampshire in the polls.

Bernie Sanders actually has a more moderate position when it comes to guns and he is beating Hillary Clinton in the polls in New Hampshire by double digits -- John and Michelle.

KOSINSKI: Thanks, Brianna.

And Joe Biden could make up his mind about running for president by this weekend. That's according to "Politico" which reports several close confidantes visited the vice president recently and believe he is leaning toward running. A former Senate colleague is quoted in that report saying Biden still loves what he does and feels he can contribute in a meaningful way.

BERMAN: We shall see.

Donald Trump has a new target. He is hitting back at Stuart Stevens, the top strategist for Mitt Romney's campaign in 2012. Stevens told CNN's Jake Tapper that the Republican frontrunner is afraid of losing and Stevens made this prediction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STUART STEVENS, FORMER ROMNEY STRATEGIST: I don't think he's going to be on the ballot by February 1.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Really?

STEVENS: No.

TAPPER: You think --

STEVENS: I mean, I think he said it tonight that the greatest sin in his value system is to be a loser. And most people who run for president lose. I don't think he'll risk it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: A Stuart Stevens trivia right there, who was once a writer on "Northern Exposure."

Donald Trump fired back -- it's true. He was. Donald Trump fired back tweeting, "Political strategist Stuart Stevens who led Romney down the tubes in what should have been an easy victory has terrible political instincts."

KOSINSKI: Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz says he does not expect to win Republican House members backing this week in his bid to become speaker. But he doesn't believe frontrunner Kevin McCarthy will have enough support to replace John Boehner when the House a full vote at the end of the month. Chaffetz slammed McCarthy and decided to challenge for House speaker after the majority leader acknowledged the Republican investigation into the 2012 Benghazi attack could have been politically motivated.

BERMAN: California now the fifth state to allow doctor-assisted suicide. Governor Jerry Brown signed the so-called "Death with Dignity" measure into law. It will permit doctors to prescribe lethal doses of drugs to quicken the deaths of terminally ill patients. Vermont, Oregon, Montana and Washington state, they have similar end- of-life laws.

It is time now for an EARLY START on your money. Alison Kosik is here with that.

Hay, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you and we're watching stocks. They're looking a little weak this morning. European shares are lower. Investors are digesting some weak factory data from Germany this morning and U.S. stock futures are lower as well.

[04:10:04] This follows a fantastic Monday for stocks. The Dow climbs 304 points yesterday and the S&P 500 extends its five-day winning streak, climbing about 6 percent in the past week. One thing giving Asian stocks a boost this morning, the U.S., Japan and 10 other Pacific rim countries reached an agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. That trade deal is going to knock down tariffs and import quotas for 40 percent of the world's economy. That would make it cheaper to import from and export to new Asia Pacific markets.

Now critics are warning, though, this is a bad deal for American workers. But keep in mind this deal is by no means certain. Expect a big fight in Congress. A lot of opposition from presidential hopefuls and this battle in Congress, they can go on for months.

KOSINSKI: Yes.

KOSIK: For months and months and months.

KOSINSKI: Easily. Easily.

KOSIK: Yes.

BERMAN: Bernie Sanders already come out against it. Donald Trump came out against it.

KOSINSKI: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

KOSIK: When did you hear about Hillary?

KOSINSKI: I mean, depending on who you talk to, it's either the best thing to ever happen to the U.S. economy or it is the worst thing for American workers. It's like there's no middle ground.

KOSIK: There's no middle. It's black or white at this point.

BERMAN: And it's interesting, the White House had to work so hard to get to this point and they're not guaranteed the votes in Congress.

KOSINSKI: That's true. Yes. As always.

BERMAN: Be very interesting to see.

Other big news this morning, Russia. Are they putting combat troops on the ground now in Syria? The United States says that is the case. What does that mean for the battle against ISIS? What does it mean for Russian involvement in that country?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: New tensions this morning between the United States and Russia as Moscow steps up its military involvement in Syria. U.S. officials believe Russia has now moved combat troops into Syria -- ground troops. Russia has said its military operation is intended to wipe out ISIS. But the U.S. suggests that CIA-backed rebel groups opposed to the Assad regime, they might be the real target.

CNN's Matthew Chance following developments for us live in Moscow this morning.

Good morning, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. That's right. This U.S. intelligence report suggesting that the Russians are moving in ground troops to support an imminent ground defensive in Syria against opposition groups opposed to Bashar al- Assad, their longtime Syrian ally.

[04:15:12] I mean, that's certainly not been confirmed by the Kremlin. In fact they categorically denied that they intend to put any boots on the ground beyond what they've already got there. Remember they got hundreds of Russia troops. There are already 600 Russian Marines or the equivalent effectively providing force protection. They've also got weapons specialist who are training the Syrian army in how to use the weapons that Russia has been selling the Syrian government as well over the past couple of years.

And so there are already troops on the ground. The question is, are they moving in more troops to support what would be a major ground offensive potentially against the opponents of Bashar al-Assad? Again, the Kremlin categorically denying that. If it is true, it would be a major development -- John.

BERMAN: Of course the issue here, Matthew, is what we saw before with Russia in Ukraine and Crimea as well, where there were troops, observers said, that were clearly of Russian origin fighting in those areas and Russia has flat-out denied it. Obviously a more difficult situation for Russia to get troops into Syria. It's not across the border but still there is some history here.

CHANCE: Yes, there is. And, you know, to a certain extent, Russia has undermined its credibility with its experience in -- experience in Ukraine and in Crimea as well. I mean, look, that they -- we had the head of the Parliamentary Defense Committee here saying yesterday to Interfax news agency that look, Russian volunteers could go and fight with the Syrian army. We couldn't do anything to stop them. They'll probably do it for the money, he said. And that's kind of what they were saying in eastern Ukraine as well.

But, I mean, everybody pretty well knows that those volunteers or a lot of them in eastern Ukraine were essentially Russian regulars that have taken their badges off their uniform or run the military command. But, you know, there is such sensitivity to the idea of deploying ground troops in any conflict zone amongst the Russian public that it seems Kremlin tries to hide that.

BERMAN: Yes, the term Russian volunteers, though, big room for gray area there.

Matthew Chance for us in Moscow this morning. Thanks so much, Matthew.

KOSINSKI: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ramping up security operations to defeat what he calls a wave of terror. Thousands of police have been deployed in Jerusalem and soldiers have been dispatched with orders to enter Arab neighborhoods and demolish the homes of terrorists. Those demolitions are now underway. All this after five days of escalating violence that the Israelis are now blaming on a terror cell affiliated with Hamas.

Let's go live to Jerusalem and bring in CNN's Erin McLaughlin now.

Erin, what can you tell us about the situation? I mean, it just -- the tension just seems to be getting worse.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Michelle. Well, the demolitions took place overnight in east Jerusalem. The homes demolished belong to two Palestinian men blamed for carrying out a deadly knife and axe attack on a synagogue. And the other home demolished last night belonged to a Palestinian man blamed for carrying out a deadly bulldozer attack in Jerusalem.

Now both of those attacks taking place last year and in both cases, the attackers were killed. So it would seem in this action, Israeli government trying to send some sort of message. Palestinian officials are reacting to this with outrage saying that it's a form of collective punishment.

Part of a series of measures that was announced by the Israeli government last night that includes increasing security presence here in Jerusalem as well as the West Bank, it also includes taking a rare step of sending in Israeli riot squads into some of the Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem.

All of this it would seem designed to show on the part of the Israeli government there in control of the situation as violence has been escalating here in Jerusalem as well as the West Bank.

KOSINSKI: A scary situation on a cross-country American Airlines flight. The pilot dies mid trip leaving his co- pilot to land the jet. You'll hear him describe the situation from the cockpit next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:22:43] KOSINSKI: Some frightening moments for passengers on board an American Airlines flight from Phoenix to Boston after they learned the pilot was sick and the plane made a rapid descent for an emergency landing in Syracuse. Here's how the cockpit alerts air traffic control when the captain who later died became ill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED AMERICAN AIRLINE CO-PILOT: Medical emergency. Captain is incapacitated. Request handling for runway one-zero landing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Ambulance will meet you in the south de-ice pod.

UNIDENTIFIED AMERICAN AIRLINE CO-PILOT: All right. Are they going to have a way to get into the airplane quickly or do we need to go to a gate?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They will have a way to get into the airplane quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED AMERICAN AIRLINE CO-PILOT: Understood. As long as they have a way to get on the airplane quickly. We'll need them to get to the captain. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KOSINSKI: The pilot has now been identified as Captain Michael Johnston. His wife says she has been told the likely cause of death was a heart attack.

And we have a major Cheerios recall to tell you about. General Mills says nearly two million gluten-free boxes are being recalled because they may contain wheat. In effect Honey Nut and regular Cheerios in the classic yellow box. The company is converting five varieties of the popular cereal to gluten free. Officials say there have been at least two reports of illness due to wheat allergies.

BERMAN: If you have wheat, if you're going to be gluten-free there.

All right. A possibly huge scandal in the big money world of fantasy sports. Essentially there are allegations of insider trading. It involves two major fantasy companies, DraftKings and FanDuel. The "New York Times" reports a DraftKings employee won $350,000 in a week placing bets at the rival site using data from his own company that was not available to the public. The company issued a joint statement in response to the cheating concerned saying nothing is more important than the integrity of the games, adding they have, quote, "strong policies in place to ensure employees do not misuse any information at their disposal."

What they did here is really interesting. They had data about who most people were betting on. And if you have that, you can bet against that. You can bet on some of the players not being played.

KOSINSKI: OK.

BERMAN: It's hard to sort of get it. It's a more of a mathematical algorithmic thing than like fixing games.

Anyway, the other big sports news. The New York Yankees rallying around pitching great CC Sabathia. Sabathia shocked the baseball world when he announced he was checking into an alcohol rehab center just as his team prepares for a one-game wild card playoff against the Houston Astros. He says he will not play at all this post-season.

The Yankees are now adopting the rallying crying of "Win one for CC." Alex Rodriguez is applauding Sabathia's courage for, quote, "admitting he had a problem and raising his hand for help."

[04:25:12] Hoping he does well. He's supposed to be one of the really, really nice guys in the game. And it's -- it was very shocking to see. I mean, even in the playoffs.

KOSINSKI: Right.

BERMAN: He goes into alcohol rehab, the problem must be pretty big to do that.

KOSINSKI: Yes. But at least, you know, things like that are pretty openly talked about now.

BERMAN: Also priorities. I mean, good for him. KOSINSKI: Yes.

BERMAN: Putting his family and his health first.

KOSINSKI: Definitely. Definitely. Well, the damage estimates now are in the billions after epic flooding in South Carolina. The state now facing monumental rebuilding with many forced to start from the ground up. We will take you there next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSINSKI: Flooding of historic proportions in South Carolina. The state inundated as dams breach and rivers wash up onto roadways. The death toll is rising. But hundreds are stepping up to rescue their neighbors. We have the latest.

BERMAN: A survivor in last week's mass shooting in Oregon now telling -- now his mother is telling CNN how her son is recovering from the trauma and just the harrowing tale he has. This as Hillary Clinton unveils her plan to fight gun violence. Details just a moment away.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

KOSINSKI: I'm Michelle Kosinski in for Christine Romans. It's now 29 minutes past the hour.

The weather situation in South Carolina going from bad to worse. Even as the rains taper off this morning. The danger remains high in many parts of the state following widespread flooding and destruction. The death toll continues to rise with officials tallying an 11th storm related fatality in South Carolina in addition to two in North Carolina.

President Obama has declared a major disaster ordering federal aid to help in the recovery effort.