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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Death Toll Rises in Carolinas Flooding; Hillary Clinton Unveils Gun Plan; CNN Money; U.S.: Russian Ground Troops in Syria; Fun With Fuel Cells: Go Off the Grid; Bleacher Report. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired October 06, 2015 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:59:59] MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A flooding disaster in South Carolina. The death toll is rising as waters rage around the state. Dams breached. Homes washed away. Hundreds of people rescued. We will have the latest on the damage.
JOHN BERMAN, 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 now recovering from all that happened. This coming as Hillary Clinton unveils new proposals to battle gun violence. Details just moments away.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.
KOSINSKI: I'm Michelle Kosinski, in for Christine Romans. It's Tuesday, October 6th. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East.
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 continuities to rise with officials tallying an 11th storm- related fatality in South Carolina in addition to 2 in North Carolina.
President Obama has declared a major disaster, ordering federal aid to help the recovery effort. The Mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, epicenter of the flooded region, says he expects things to, quote, "get worse before they get better" with damage in the billions of dollars with flooded streams still flowing into swollen rivers. Officials say 18 dams have been breached or failed in the storms like this one in Lexington. Near Columbia, mandatory evacuation ordered downstream of Overcreek Dam after a breach Monday.
BERMAN: There have been hundreds of water rescues already, dozens more from the air. Some 1300 National Guard troops have been called in to help. 250 state troopers.
I want to show you a rescue of a different sort. Look at this. This man trying to secure caskets that floated right out of a grave site.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAYNE REEVES, RESIDENT: That's somebody's family out there. You got to show respect. This is respect. We got to respect the dead. That's families suffering. They had their family out there, popped up out of the ground. I think it is the human thing to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: That man doing it just out of respect. These pictures are just stunning.
Let's get the latest on the flooding. CNN's Boris Sanchez is in South Carolina.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are standing on Highway 301 in Manning, South Carolina. If you 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 possible 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 exactly when this water will 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.
KOSINSKI: So now the question is when will the rain and flooding turn around in the Carolinas.
Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Michelle, good Wednesday morning to you guys. The last bands of rain showers beginning to taper off across the Carolinas. That is the good news here. Myrtle Beach to Wilmington getting 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 will show you exactly why because once you bring the land over the Palmetto State down and you look at the terrain over the region, 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 ledges (ph) or dams that have been jeopardized, you are talking about the waters being a major issue downstream for some of these communities.
We will leave you with this. Some before and after images coming out of parts of South Carolina. Notice some of the areas in the bottom of your screen, the low-lying areas that go down this hill into the portions of the tennis court down 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.
BERMAN: All right. Our thanks to Pedram for that. The before and after is stunning.
New developments in the search for the missing cargo ship in the Caribbean. The Coast Guard is 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, life rafts, but no signs of survivors. The crew included 28 Americans.
KOSINSKI: You know, whenever something happens, the president is always getting questioned. Is he going to travel there? Is he going to visit with people? Well now we know, the White House is making plans this morning for President Obama to travel to Roseburg, Oregon, on Friday.
[05:05:01] He'll visit privately with families of the victims of last week's mass shooting. This as we learn new details about the young man spared by the shooter. CNN spoke with a mother of Matthew. She asked us that we not use his last name. The gunman 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 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)
KOSINSKI: So in the wake of all this, Hillary Clinton is now responding to the Oregon mass shooting, wading more deeply than ever into the debate over gun regulation.
CNN's Brianna Keilar is with the candidate in New Hampshire. She has the 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. 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 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 and taking on the NRA with fiery language as she tries to 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?
BERMAN: All right. That's Hillary Clinton. That's Bernie Sanders. What about Joe Biden? Well, reports he could make up his mind about running for president by this weekend. That's according to Politico, which reports several close confidants visited the Vice President recently and believe he is leaning toward running. A former Senate colleague is quoted in the report saying, "Biden still loves what he does and feels he can contribute in a meaningful way."
KOSINSKI: The hype. The hype.
Well don't look now, but Donald Trump has a new target. He's lashing out at Stuart Stevens. You know him. Mitt Romney's top strategist from 2012. Stevens claims the Republican frontrunner is, quote, "afraid of losing." Listen to this shocking prediction he made to CNN's Jake Tapper.
(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. I mean, I think he said it tonight. The greatest sin in
his value system is to be a loser. Most people who run for president lose. I don't think he will risk it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: It did not take long for Trump to fire back, tweeting, and it's so tempting to use his voice here, but it is a tweet, so I won't. "Political strategist Stuart Stevens who led Romney down the tubes in what should have been an easy victory has terrible political instincts."
BERMAN: California now the fifth state to allow doctor-assisted suicide. The governor there, 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 have similar end of life laws.
Let's get an EARLY START on your money now. Alison Kosik here.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Seeing some red arrows. Good morning to you. Stocks are looking a bit weak this morning. European shares are recovering from losses from earlier. U.S. stock futures just down a bit. This following a fantastic Monday for stocks. The DOW climbed 304 points yesterday. The S&P 500 wound up extending its five day winning streak, climbing about 6 percent in the past week.
Now one thing giving Asian stocks a boost this morning, the U.S., Japan and ten other Pacific Rim countries reached agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The trade deal will 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. But critics are warning it is a bad deal for American workers.
[05:10:00] But the deal is by no means certain. Expect a big fight in Congress and a lot of opposition from presidential hopefuls. You can expect this to be one of the talking points we'll hear as we're getting this through Congress. This could take months. I wouldn't be popping that champagne bottle anytime soon.
BERMAN: They'll get 90 days to review it, you know, which means it will come up for a vote right in the middle of the presidential campaign season. Bernie Sanders already says he's against it. Donald Trump says he's against it. And the president has to lobby members of his own party hard to try to get this through.
KOSINSKI: We have the TPA and the TAA. Now it's time for the TPP, right?
BERMAN: You and me.
KOSINSKI: Is Russia putting combat troops on the ground in Syria? The U.S. says that is the case. What it means for the war against ISIS and U.S. relations with Moscow, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSINSKI: Tensions between the U.S. and Russia are still growing as Moscow steps up its military involvement in Syria. U.S. officials believe they've now moved combat troops into Syria. Russia has said its military operation is intended to wipe out ISIS, but the U.S. suggests rebel groups opposed to the Assad regime may be the real target.
CNN's Matthew Chance is following these developments live in Moscow.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much. That's right. There's been a lot of condemnation coming from the United States, but also from NATO. Within the past few minutes, there's been a press conference, a news conference by the NATO secretary general. His name is Jens Stoltenberg. He has been condemning Russian action in Syria, saying they should stop striking at civilians and striking at opposition to the Syrian government and instead focus their efforts on hitting ISIS or ISIL as they call it in NATO and the United States as well.
[05:15:10] Also a lot of condemnation about the Russian incursions with their fighter jets into Turkish airspace. Turkey is nextdoor to Syria. Latakia, the air base in Syria where Russians are basing their airstrikes as of is pretty close to the Turkish border. On two occasions over the weekend, Russian fighter jets made their way for a few seconds on each time into Turkish airspace and turned back into Syria. They were intercepted by Turkish warplanes, provoking a strong diplomatic protest as well from Turkey. NATO saying that it stands behind its Turkish ally. Turkey is, of course, part of NATO and says they've got to strengthen joint security as a result of this.
So again, that incident underlining just how dangerous it is that Russian warplanes and NATO warplanes coming into such close contact with each other.
KOSINSKI: Right. Thanks so much, Matthew.
BERMAN: The Pentagon is blaming the Afghan government for a deadly U.S. airstrike that killed 22 people in a Doctors Without Borders medical clinic in Kunduz. General John Campbell, the top commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan says the weekend airstrike was requested by Afghan leaders to help drive the Taliban out of the city. Doctors Without Borders is calling for an independent investigation.
Scandal now erupting in the world of fantasy sports. Huge money at stake. Why you might not be competing on a level playing field with some of the biggest companies out there. Coy Wire has the details in "The Bleacher Report" next.
KOSINSKI: The quest for clean renewable energy. Entrepreneur Elon Musk says it is one of the biggest challenges facing the planet. Fuel cells could be part of the answer.
Rachel Crane introduces us to the Bloom Box.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELON MUSK, CEO, TESLA AND SPACEX: I think the biggest problem that earth faces this century, or has to be solved this century, is sustainable energy production and consumption. We have to make electricity in a sustainable way. We either solve that or there will be huge economic collapse towards the end of the century independent of any environmental impact.
RACHEL CRANE, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Electricity is costly and it is vulnerable. So what happens when the grid goes out? Bloom Energy is not the grid, but they power big companies helping them transition off the grid with a fuel cell-based energy they call a Bloom Box.
KR SRIDHAR, CEO, BLOOM ENERGY: What the Bloom Box does is it takes a fuel and converts that into electricity with in-between steps.
CRANE: KR came up with the idea while working at NASA. He was trying to figure out how to get astronauts power and oxygen on Mars when he stumbled upon an electrochemical reaction that put off a lot of energy.
ARNE BALLANTINE, VP OF SYSTEM ENGINEERING, BLOOM ENERGY: This is a fuel cell.
CRANE (on camera): This is a fuel cell.
BALLANTINE: You'll notice it's got two sides.
CRANE: Right.
BALLANTINE: So we're going to put these plates on top like that. And then we'll put another one of those cells in another plate and another cell and stack them up. Then the voltages add up and I start to have enough voltage that I can do things like power homes, power buildings, power whatever I'd like to power.
SRIDHAR: Just as a personal computer changed the world, a personalized electricity generator is going to change the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:21:42] BERMAN: All right. Brace yourself, folks. A scandal erupting in the big muddy world of fantasy sports over what amounts to allegations of insider trading.
KOSINSKI: Coy Wire has more on this morning's "Bleacher Report." Coy.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: Top of the morning to you both. Yes, this involves two major fantasy companies, DraftKings and FanDuel. "The New York Times" reports a DraftKings employee won $350,000 in a single week placing bets at the rival site using data from his own company that was not available to the public. The companies issued a joint statement in response to the concerns saying nothing is more important than integrity of the games, adding they have, quote, "strong policies in place to ensure employees do not misuse any information at their disposal," end quote.
Also, we should mention that CNN's parent company, Time Warner, have made an investment in FanDuel.
All right. Moving on. Big time controversy during Monday Night Football. Lions, Seahawks, under two minutes to play, Calvin Johnson hit by Kam Chancellor. Fumbled the ball through the endzone. It should be a touchback, but check again as K.J. Wright appears to bat the ball out of bounds. By rule, the Lions should get the ball back at the spot of the ball being knocked loose. The official missed the call, Seahawks get the win, 13 to 10.
The New York Yankees, they're going to be without starting pitcher CC Sabathia for the remainder of the playoffs this season. Sabathia announcing yesterday he has an alcohol problem and is entering rehab to get help. An admission that came as a surprise to teammates and coaches. Sabathia released a statement that said in part, "I owe it to myself and to my family to get myself right. I want to take control of my disease and I want to be a better man, father and player."
Sabathia wasn't slated to take the mound for the Yankees tonight in their do or die American league wild card game against the Houston Astros. That honor going to Masahiro Tanaka, the Yankees' best pitcher this season. Tanaka has never started a Major League postseason game, but he does have plenty of playoff experience while playing in Japan. Now the young upstart Astros, they are playing with confidence. They are sending Dallas Keuchel to the mound tonight. He's a 20-game winner this season, MVP worthy, bard. No doubt, John Berman, I think you will agree to that. That game is in New York tonight at 8:00 Eastern. Guys.
BERMAN: I think while everyone is thinking about CC Sabathia, we're all rooting against the Yankees. But Coy, let me ask you this. You played pro football. There were some people on Twitter who after CC made his announcement they said, oh, my gosh, he should have waited until after the playoffs. I don't hear that at all among the players. I think they all realize that he did what he had to do with the time he had to do it.
WIRE: Yeah. That's a great point, John, and I think it adds to how strongly he feels about this. What a great statement. He even said, it was a much longer statement, that he is doing this because he knows how this will be heard by the youth who look up to him. If he is going to do this at this moment when his team is about to go to the playoffs, it is a strong statement that this is important to him and to anyone else out there battling this disease, it should be that important to them as well.
BERMAN: And he called it a disease, which I think is just as important as anything. All right, Coy, great to ahead you this morning. Thanks so much.
WIRE: Thanks, guys. BERMAN: All right. The damage estimates now in the billions. The epic
flooding in South Carolina. More than 1,300 members of the National Guard deployed.
[05:25:01] We're going to speak to emergency officials from the South Carolina National Guard to get the latest information on what is happening now in that state. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: Flooding of historic proportions in South Carolina. That state just inundated as dams breached, rivers washing on roadways. The death toll this morning is rising. Hundreds stepping up to help in the rescue. We will hear live from the National Guard in just a moment.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.
KOSINSKI: I'm Michelle Kosinski, in for Christine Romans. It's 28 minutes past the hour.
BERMAN: There is serious peril in South Carolina this morning. Yes, the rains are tapering off, but the flood dangers in some cases rising. 11 storm-related deaths in South Carolina so far. 2 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 the one you're looking at right here in Lexington.
Near Columbia, a mandatory he 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 1,300 National Guard troops called into help 250 state troopers.
Here is a rescue of a different sort. This man risking his safety to secure caskets that floated right out of a grave site.
