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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
McCarthy Withdraws from Speaker Race; Terror Concerns Over Syrian Refugees; Nobel Peace Prize. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired October 09, 2015 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN ANCHOR: Homeland security with a warning about Syrian refugees heading to the U.S.
[04:30:04] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And in 30 minutes, the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced. We will break down all the top contenders.
Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.
KOSINSKI: I'm Michelle Kosinski. It's half past the hour.
Chaos in Congress is something we talk about quite a lot. But this time, House Republicans are searching for a new leader. And the big question, who wants the job?
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy dropping a bombshell by dropping out of the race for House speaker. That's leaving a leadership void Republicans are scrambling to fill. The California Congressman once the frontrunner to replace to John Boehner, but now he says the party needs a new direction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MAJORITY LEADER: I'll stay on as majority leader. But the one thing I found in talking to everybody, if we are going to unite and be strong, we need a new face to help do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: House Republicans are hoping to convince Wisconsin's Paul Ryan to step up and run for speaker when they meet behind closed doors later this morning. So far, the former vice presidential candidate has declined the offer twice.
We get more from CNN's chief political correspondent, Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Michelle, shock, stunned, complete disbelief. We have run out of words to describe the feeling among House Republicans, what we witnessed and what we were part of when Kevin McCarthy went into what we thought would be an anti-climatic event. We thought he would get the majority of votes within the Republican caucus to be the nominee for House speaker.
And then before it started, it was over because we were learning very quickly standing outside the door that Kevin McCarthy, instead of giving his speech about why he wanted to be the House speaker, gave a speech of why he was dropping out of the race.
Lots of reasons why he did that. First and foremost, because it was going to be very tough to get the majority of the House, 218 votes, at the end of October. And another, we are told, if he did get that, it would be hard to govern. Right now, the question is, who is going to be House speaker? Somebody has to do the job. At this point, the name of the game is Paul Ryan.
Problem is he doesn't want the job and he made that very clear from the get-go. He doesn't want it. He wants to continue his current position of chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. It is a tax writing committee.
He is a self described policy wonk. He was looking forward to trying to reform the tax code and doing that with his current perch, and then may be leaving the House, not staying in Congress forever. He is a young man.
But he is getting a lot of pressure. House Majority Leader John Boehner is trying to convince him to stay. Others are trying to convince him to put his hat in the ring. There is a meeting later this morning among House Republicans where they're going to try to begin to sort out their differences and try to figure out if they can find that person to replace Kevin McCarthy to be in the running who can get the majority. All we know is John Boehner, the current House speaker, still insists he is out of there at the end of October -- John and Michelle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: That closed-door meeting at 9:00 a.m. So, if you hear from Paul Ryan, anyone, before 9:00 a.m., tweet us @earlystart.
KOSINSKI: Are we going to show somebody who's got to do it? Maybe --
BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE) could jump in.
KOSINSKI: He could step in for a while.
BERMAN: All right. So, with McCarthy out of the race for speaker, who exactly is left? Well, even before McCarthy withdrew, Utah's Jason Chaffetz, he declared he was running. Daniel Webster of Florida as well, he had the backing of the so-called freedom caucus. Webster wants to change some of the rules in the house.
Also in contention, just a few of the names out there, Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has even said he would be interested. You do not have to be a current member or member at all of the House to be speaker. It could be anybody. It could be one of us.
So, now, among the list of people officially declaring they're not running, at least not now, Washington's Kathy McMorris Rodgers. She's the highest ranking woman among the Republicans in Congress and Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, who is the chairman of the Select Committee on Benghazi.
KOSINSKI: This is unbelievable that there is a scramble to find somebody.
BERMAN: You know, this used to be a job everyone wanted. This morning, it's a job that no one wants. And that says something it and of itself.
KOSINSKI: Well, now, Donald Trump is taking credit for knocking McCarthy out of the race for House speaker. Trump expressed doubts about McCarthy's fitness for the position last week after the majority leader slipped and rebelled the House Select Committee on Benghazi was politically motivated or he implied that at least to hurt Hillary Clinton. Listen to Trump's reaction to McCarthy's decision to pull out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A lot of people are giving me credit for it because of the level of toughness. We need somebody that's very tough, and I have been saying that. I think Kevin is a nice guy. But we need somebody that is tough and smart. Not just tough. We need somebody very, very smart and can do the right thing for the country.
[04:35:01] Kevin was showing that it was a hard thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: Chris Christie campaigning in New Hampshire says voters don't care about the speaker race. He says the American people just want the dysfunction in Washington to end.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is an inside Washington, D.C. game, but I have to tell you the truth, Jake, nobody in America could care less about. They don't care who the speaker is going to be. What they want a Congress that's actually going to do something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: He may well be right.
Dr. Ben Carson praising McCarthy for his decision to withdraw from the speaker race. He says the California congressman is unselfishly putting the party ahead of his own political ambitions.
BERMAN: All right. Ben Carson not backing down from comments he made about how he says he once deflected an armed robber in a fast food restaurant. Carson drew some criticism for suggesting that he would have rushed. He would have tried to tackle the mass shooter in Oregon. Instead of sitting back and getting killed.
Earlier this week, he told a story about how a would-be robber once put a gun in his ribs in a Popeye's restaurant. Carson claims what he did at the time was said he redirected the gunman to hold up the store employee instead. Now, he's trying to explain why he did not attack the suspect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is somebody who comes into a joint to rob it. Not somebody who sequentially killing people.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: But you didn't know he was going to rob the joint.
CARSON: I did know that.
BLITZER: He potentially could have killed you.
CARSON: I did know that.
And the fact of the matter is, you know, maybe this is a level of sophistication that people learn from living on the streets. I knew that guy was not there to murder everybody.
BLITZER: How could you possibly know that? He had a gun.
CARSON: I knew he was not there to murder all the people. I knew he was there to rob the place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right. Some new comments from Ben Carson now triggering new controversy, comments he made yesterday on CNN. He suggested that the Holocaust might have been prevented if more Jews had guns.
This is what he told Wolf Blitzer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: But just clarify, if there had been no gun control laws in Europe at that time, would 6 million Jews been slaughtered?
CARSON: I think the likelihood of Hitler being able to accomplish his goals would have been greatly diminished if the people have been armed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The Anti-Defamation League is blasting those comments, calling them historically inaccurate.
A reminder: do not miss the first Democratic debate. It will be on CNN. It is hosted by CNN and Facebook jointly. Our coverage begins from Las Vegas, 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Tuesday. Though, I had to say, stick with us, until then. A whole lot of fantastic pre-game coverage starting like right now.
KOSINSKI: And President Obama travels to Roseburg, Oregon, today. Nine days after a gunman killed nine people at a community college. He's not expected to receive a very warm reception, though. Despite the shooting, residents in the conservative town are angry about the president's gun control plan. They're planning protests, accusing him of politicizing the tragedy. Mr. Obama will spend time with the families of the victims. But at least one parent of a survivor is refusing to meet him.
BERMAN: With the United States agreeing to take in 10,000 more Syrian refugees to help with the growing refugee crisis in Europe, top national security officials are sounding a new warning. The heads of FBI and Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center tell a Senate committee there are serious gaps when it comes to the U.S. ability to screen all of these refugees.
Let's get more now from CNN's Evan Perez in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EVAN PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Michelle, top national security officials say there are gaps in data that the government will use to screen potential Syrian refugees. Now, the U.S. says that plans to take in 10,000 refugees in the next year. The chief of the FBI, the Homeland Security Department testified on Thursday in a Senate hearing. They say that incomplete intelligence information poses a problem for screening Syrian refugees.
Here is FBI Director Jim Comey discussing the challenge.
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: My concern there is there are certain gaps. I don't want to talk publicly in the data available to us.
PEREZ: Officials are trying to avoid a repeat of problems in screening Iraqi refugees in the past decade. U.S. authorities failed to flag terror suspects who entered the country among legitimate refugees. In 2013, these two Iraqi men were sentenced to long prison sentences in Kentucky after their fingerprints were found on explosive devices used against U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
Now, officials say they believe the U.S. is doing a much better job in how it screens these refugees. That's a key part of reassuring lawmakers and the public to support helping more refugees -- John, Michelle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSINSKI: It's a tough one with countries around the world trying to figure out what they can do. Thanks a lot, Evan.
Well, there are new concerns this morning about Russia's military campaign in Syria after four Russian cruise missiles launched from the Caspian Sea fell short of their target in Syria and landed instead in a rural part of Iran.
[04:40:00] The Russians deny missing any of their targets. NATO officials are condemning Moscow after meeting of defense ministers in Brussels on Thursday. They're concerned about the timing of Russia's decision to launch 26 cruise missiles across 900 miles of terrain into Syria.
Let's go live to Moscow and bring in CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance.
So, Matthew, now, Syria -- now, France is jumping in to initiate air strikes against is in Syria. But what impact is that expected to have for the coalition?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the skies are getting more crowded, aren't they, over Syria? But at least they're clear, unlike here in Moscow, a snow storm has suddenly approached us.
But, you know, a lot of coordination has to take place. There are military to military talks between the Russians and the United States. The U.S. leading a coalition of 60 countries carrying out airstrikes against ISIS position, including France, of course, and they are doing that.
But there's no question at this point of cooperation. The two sides, if you like, have got completely different strategic visions of what should happen in Syria. The Russians are backing Bashar al Assad and Syrian government. The West, the United States in particular backing some elements of the opposition groups that the Russians are now bombarding.
And so, again, coordination yes, that's happening, but cooperation, not so much.
KOSINSKI: Thanks, Matthew.
BERMAN: All right. Time now for an early start on your money. Alison Kosik joins us with that.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you.
I'm watching stocks around the world. They're actually going in different directions. Asian shares are higher this morning. European shares are following their lead, but U.S. stock futures are slightly lower. Now, yesterday, the Dow had another triple digit rally, closing up 138 points. That's five days in a row of gains for the Dow.
The big winner yesterday? Oil. The price for crude oil just above $50 a barrel right now, the first time since July. It is still lower than prices were a year ago. And that means those low gas prices will stick around.
Now, today, the average price for a gallon of regular is $2.32. That is almost $1 cheaper than this time last year. That means you can save $360 just this year on gas.
So, the question is, what are they doing with all that extra money? They are spending it. at least according to a new report by the JP Morgan Chase Institute. What the bank did was look into bank records and found that 80 percent of the savings going out the door. And about 20 percent of that extra savings from gas money, people are spending at restaurants.
So, at least people are enjoying themselves.
KOSINSKI: People are tired of cooking the same meals.
KOSIK: Hear hear. I'm with you. The same meal.
KOSINSKI: Spending more. Going out to the restaurants. That's good for the economy.
BERMAN: For macro economy. Maybe not with kids with college savings.
(CROSSTALK)
KOSIK: Always the practical guy.
BERMAN: There's always time for that.
All right. Thanks, Alison.
All right. South Carolina bracing for more flooding. A new warning for the state's governor. I'll tell you what she had to say, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:46:38] BERMAN: New flooding concerns this morning for already hard hit South Carolina. The governor there, Nikki Haley, she warns the state is not out of the woods just yet. Those rivers are so swollen already. They could soon spill over their banks again.
Haley says areas northwest of Charleston could be flooded over the next 72 hours. This warning comes after the governor toured storm-ravaged parts of the state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. NIKKI HALEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: What we saw was devastating and I'll tell you, you are seeing boats in yards. You are seeing houses under water. You are seeing damage at levels we never thought we would see.
The problem is, more is coming. We saw that. We saw the water levels high. We see the water moving. We see which way it's going, and it's coming here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: Yes, this has been going on for days. For more on the flooding threat still facing South Carolina, we turn to CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John and Michelle. Even though the rain has temporarily come to an end across South Carolina, there are still flash flood warnings in effect for the greater Charleston area. This is for the potential of flooding into this early weekend.
Remember, the rivers just to the north and east of Charleston, like the Santee River, still expected to crest, even some at 24 feet. That could lead to the possibility of major flooding heading into Saturday and Sunday.
On top of this, there's also additional rain in the forecast. Look at this. This is the radar. You can see an oncoming cold front and that is going to bring anywhere from 1 to 2, even locally up to 4 inches of rainfall for the areas that were hardest hit last week by the heavy rainfall. You can see the cold front sweeping across the Great Lakes, already cooling our temperatures.
And guess what? We're going to cool the weather across the New England coast. Well, temperatures taking a nose dive with the passage of the cold front. But, again, unfortunately, bringing rainfall to many areas that do not need it. Look at D.C. 66 on Saturday. New York, 64.
Back to you.
BERMAN: All right. Derek, thanks so much.
Any minute now, we will know the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. That announcement coming just minutes away.
So, who are the top contenders? We'll tell you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:52:26] BERMAN: All right. Just minutes from now, the esteemed Nobel Committee will award the Nobel Peace Prize.
Among the contenders, Pope Francis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Secretary of State John Kerry, his Iranian counterpart Javad Sharif, for their work in helping forge the Iran nuclear deal.
So, who will win? We are hoping there is one man with the answer. CNN's Phil Black monitoring developments for us from London.
Good morning, Phil.
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
The truth is we just don't know. No one does. Apart from the five members of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. They are the only ones who know who the 273 nominations were. They are the only ones who know the size, the makeup of the short list whittled down, if you like. And then, over the last few day, they are the ones who voted and selected this year's winner.
So, we can speculate and we can perhaps more accurately follow the money. Follow the money across the betting agencies. They all have the German chancellor Angela Merkel as the clear winner this year for the work and moral practical leadership in dealing with Europe's refugee crisis. Interesting as nominations closed in February, she would have been nominated with the work dealing with Ukraine.
But since then, she had taken a strong leadership role with dealing with the refugee issue. That would be a controversial choice. Not everyone in Europe approves of the way that she has handled it, the way she's effectively thrown open Germany's border.
The other high profile candidate you mentioned is Pope Francis, someone who is considered a favorite last year and whose message and influence has grown since then. He was said to have played an active role in normalizing relations between the United States and Cuba. And there are other grassroots type activists. People certainly would not have heard of, but made a difference in saving and improving lives, like the Eritrean Catholic priest who basically takes phone calls from refugees who are in trouble crossing the Mediterranean, and gives their coordinates to the Italian coast guard.
A long way down the betting list, you will find Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart with the Iranian nuclear deal. That's a long way down because I guess the deal itself is still not a total reality. Its impacts are not known. And, of course, there's always a possibility and the Nobel Prize does it often, of coming up with a completely unknown. Surprise result. But we will know very soon, John.
BERMAN: Five minutes, Phil, to break this story before the official announcement to get to work. Thanks so much. Phil Black for us in London, appreciate it.
[04:55:00] KOSINSKI: Well, the next time you want to binge watch your favorite show on Netflix, it might cost you a little more. We'll get an early start on your money, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: It is time now for an early start on your money. Alison Kosik is here with that.
KOSIK: And good morning. We are seeing Asian shares ending higher this morning. European shares following their lead. But U.S. stock futures are lower.
Yesterday, the Dow had another triple digit rally, closing up 138 points. That makes it five straight days of gains for the Dow. The S&P 500 closing above 2,000 for the first time since August.
All right. It's going to cost some Netflix subscribers more to watch "Orange on the New Black" and stream the latest movies. Looks like Netflix is hiking its standard plan by a dollar to $9.99 a month. Michelle is kind of freaking out here.
The plan lets people watch programming on two devices at the same time. The price hike is effective immediately for new subscribers, but won't affect existing subscribers for a year. Netflix premium and basic plans will stay at the same price. So, it looks like Netflix has a way of hooking you to the shows and giving you no exit even if it's hiking those prices.
KOSINSKI: Binge watching is the American pastime now.
KOSIK: It has become that.
BERMAN: It's the American way.
