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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Hannah Anderson Meets Friends, Community; Egypt on Edge; Trouble in the Tropics

Aired August 16, 2013 - 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: A surprise from 16-year-old kidnapping victim, Hannah Anderson. Her first public appearance since being rescued from the man police say murdered her brother and her mother.

ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: Day of anger in Egypt. Protesters promising to return to the streets after hundreds were slaughtered by the country's military. We are live there.

BERMAN: And trouble brewing in the tropics. The storm set to soak parts of the country this weekend. What you can expect and what has Indra Petersons so concerned.

SAMBOLIN: Yes, she's going to explain it. It was a very complicated, long explanation this morning. She says she promises to dumb it down for us at 5:00 in the morning.

BERMAN: So even we can understand it. If we can understand it, you guys are great shape.

SAMBOLIN: Absolutely.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. We're really happy you're with us this morning. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.

BERMAN: And I'm John Berman, and it is Friday and I need it. It is August 16th, 5:00 a.m. in the East.

SAMBOLIN: All right. We're going to begin this morning near San Diego, where a teenage girl kidnapped and taken on a 1,000-mile journey made her first public appearance. As we find out more about what was found inside the home of the man who took her captive.

Casey Wian has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hannah Anderson's arrival at a fundraiser for her family came as a surprise to her relatives and friends.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This night was an unexpected reunion, honestly. All our friends were here. It was like we haven't skipped a beat.

WIAN: The media were invited to Boll Weevil Restaurant in Lakeside, California, but weren't allowed inside during Anderson's reunion. BRETT ANDERSON, HANNAH'S FATHER: Hannah sends her love. She is doing good day by day. And we'll just keep moving forward from here.

WIAN: Wearing "Hannah Strong" and "Pray for Hannah" T-shirts, neighbors, friends and the grandparents helped raise money for Anderson's mother and brother's funeral.

ANDERSON: I wanted to say thank you all for coming. This is a small community that we are part of. And the community came together, put on a great fund-raiser for Hannah, and, hopefully, her future and healing.

WIAN (on camera): What does it mean to this community to have to go through this ordeal?

STEVE RYAN, LAKESIDE RESIDENT: It's horrifying he did what he did. It's sickening. And I just want to put them all to rest.

WIAN: The fundraising event drew a large crowd. Raffle ticket sales, cash donations, and 20 percent of the restaurant sales all donated to the Anderson family.

ANDERSON: We have a lot of expenses in front of us. Right now, we are looking for her future and getting her settled.

WIAN: A family hoping to help Hannah adjust after she was kidnapped by her father's best friend.

BRANDON FAMBROUGH, HANNAH'S COUSIN: And you keep hearing the term Uncle Jim, he really was like an Uncle Jim to them.

WIAN: Meanwhile, we are still learning new information about what police discovered at DiMaggio's burned down home.

This newly search warrant obtained by CNN affiliate KFMB says that police discovered a handwritten note and D&C letters from Hannah. The detectives say proves DiMaggio had dominion and control over that house. Police also recovered incendiary devices, leading them to believe the house fire was caused by human actions.

Casey Wian, CNN, Lakeside, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: We want to go to Egypt now where they are bracing for more chaos this morning. The Muslim Brotherhood is calling for mass protests, a day of anger set to begin just hours from now, and late word that the Army has now closed off entrances to Tahrir Square. This comes as families bury the dead from the crackdown this week.

At least 580 people were killed after police moved in to break up sit- ins which were organized by supporters of the ousted President Mohamed Morsy. Thousands more were injured.

Our Reza Sayah is live in Cairo for us this morning.

We are bracing for this day of anger. What's the latest?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, during this conflict, we have had a lot of days here in Egypt where you can feel the tension and the anxiety. This is one of those days, because the stage is set, once again, for more clashes, more violence between Egyptian security forces and supporters of the ousted President Mohamed Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Muslim Brotherhood backers, Morsy backers called for mass demonstrations today throughout the country and including here in Cairo, the protests are in response to Wednesday's deadly crackdown against the two, six-week long sit ins in Cairo. Those crackdowns killed hundreds of people.

Brotherhood backers are marching from different locations in Cairo, and they are meeting in a square called Ramses Square. It's a couple miles away from iconic Tahrir Square, which is, of course, the home base for anti-Morsy demonstrators. And that's why there's been a lot of soldiers, armored personnel carriers deployed in key intersections to make sure the Morsy backers do not head towards Tahrir Square.

Yesterday, we saw more fallout from Wednesday's crackdown, scores of police stations, scores of churches torched and attacked. All of this appears pay back for Islamist backers of the Muslim Brotherhood because of what happened on Wednesday, John. And today is going to be a good barometer of this conflict.

We are going to find out if Wednesday's crackdown demoralized the Muslim Brotherhood or if it inspired. So, a lot of people are watching closely today's events.

BERMAN: A lot of anxiety, somewhat troubling, Reza, that after all the tension that has been there this week, you say today could be one of the most precarious.

Our Reza Sayah for us in Cairo this morning -- thanks, Reza.

SAMBOLIN: Five minutes past the hour. In the wake of the violence, the U.S. has now canceled joint military exercises with Egypt set for next month.

President Obama condemning what is happening there while on vacation at Martha's Vineyard and calling on both sides to stop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Let me say that the Egyptian people deserve better than what we have seen over the last several days. And to the Egyptian people, let me say, the cycle of violence and escalation needs to stop. We call on the Egyptian authorities to respect the universal rights of the people. We call on those who are protesting to do so peacefully and condemn the attacks we have seen by protesters including on churches.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SAMBOLIN: The State Department is said to be reviewing its Egyptian aid programs. The administration has so far resisted calls to stop giving $1.5 billion in military and economic assistance to the Egyptian government.

BERMAN: A Qaeda, a growing threat inside Iraq. That comes from secretary of state, John Kerry. Kerry bluntly accused them of launching assault against innocent Iraqis carrying out an increasing number of suicide bombings, including car bombings. Two leaders met in Washington on Thursday, at least two dozen people were killed in a wave of bombings in backgrounds.

SAMNBOLIN: And new warnings about America's nuclear power plants. The group called the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project says every one of these country's 107 nuclear power plants is vulnerable to high force terrorist attack, especially the ones that are along the coast line. The group was asked to conduct the study by the Defense Department. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is disputing these findings, insisting the nation's nuclear power plants are, quote, "adequately protected."

BERMAN: Grim testimony at the court martial of Major Nidal Hasan. Pathologist testified that the Fort Hood massacre suspect shot at least five of his victims while they were lying helplessly on the ground. Also, he fired 12 rounds into one soldier who tried to rush him.

Hasan is charged with killing 13 and wounding 30 others in the worst mass shooting ever at a U.S. military base.

SAMBOLIN: All right. So, turning to what's being called a tropical annoyance out over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. But forecasters say it could bring a lot of rain to the Gulf Coast over the weekend.

Our Indra Petersons tracking it all.

You are one busy woman.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Definitely, yes. I want to show a couple of things. First, I want to show you Erin, because a lot of attention is now towards Erin. But keep in mind, it's only one-mile- per-hour over tropical storm strength.

Plus, I want to show the location. It is so far out there that even by the time you get to the middle of next week, and actually dissipates into a depression. And again, still way out in the ocean.

What we are focusing on is something that has not been named yet. So, let's look at the peninsula. A 50 percent chance it develops into something. Regardless, look at the moisture that had already been sucked into Florida. This is what we're watching, all of that tropical moisture.

Take a look at the track. It's actually a little bit different than yesterday. If it does develop, it looks like it's to push into Texas. So, keep that in mind as we go towards the beginning of next week. But for this weekend, it has a bigger impact. The reason for that, that stationary front that continues to drench the Southeast, that guy is still here. We are pulling in all the tropical moisture and combination with it. And this low will actually pull the stationary front backward which means even more rain will go into the Southeast and eventually thread up the Eastern Seaboard.

So, how far as how much rain we're talking about, we're talking about so much rain? Three to five inches possible in Tallahassee. Charleston, two to four inches.

I want to show you the timing of this, because notice all along the Gulf, we're talking about this heavy rain. So, Friday, you can see that moisture already pulling into Florida and even into Georgia.

As we get through Saturday, we see it spread back to Louisiana and Mississippi. Notice towards the mid-Atlantic, the moisture and chance for showers, of course, nothing like the South. Either way, you will see those clouds rolling in. And by Sunday, you are looking at that developing and really bring some heavy rain toward Texas, and still raining in the southeast.

So, we are talking about the combination bringing eight inches of rain that have been soaked all summer long, but flooding potential is high.

BERMAN: And that's what has me most concerned, is that rain is just really stuck there in the Southeast.

PETERSONS: Yes, this unbelievable amount of rain. This summer, we have seen way over, 10 to 15 inches over.

SAMBOLIN: I was going to ask you then, how many inches of rain cumulatively have they seen?

PETERSONS: Yes, I mean, every one place is different but some 10 to 15.

SAMBOLIN: Wow, all right.

BERMAN: Indra, thanks so much.

PETERSONS: Yes.

SAMBOLIN: Thank you.

All right. So, kind of good news/bad news. It's a deal for the believers convinced we are not alone on the universe. Do you believe this?

BERMAN: Oh, yes.

SAMBOLIN: OK. So, here, the CIA is now officially acknowledging the existence of super secret Area 51. It's newly released documents that include a map of the base's location in the Nevada Desert.

Would you go, Berman? BERMAN: Yes.

SAMBOLIN: You would?

BERMAN: Yes.

SAMBOLIN: But there's no mention of alien autopsies or UFOs. The government says Area 51 was merely a testing sight for surveillance during the Cold War.

BERMAN: And you believe that?

SAMBOLIN: I do.

Conspiracy theorists like you, of course, are not buying it.

BERMAN: If they are not doing the alien autopsies there, where are they doing them? I mean, come on. They are doing them somewhere?

SAMBOLIN: Yes. I'm going to send you a link. Did you see the story? And the picture with this history.

BERMAN: I've been to Roswell, New Mexico.

SAMBOLIN: A big alien head.

BERMAN: It's awesome.

SAMBOLIN: It's not real.

BERMAN: I have been in the UFO museum.

SAMBOLIN: You believe all this snuff.

BERMAN: I think it's fun.

SAMBOLIN: OK.

BERMAN: Coming up, the NSA caught breaking the rules. The government reportedly spying on Americans when the NSA should not have been doing so.

SAMBOLIN: And a Florida baby can't wait to be born. A woman in labor, falling to the floor of a hospital lobby. We have the dramatic delivery, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAMBOLIN: Welcome back to EARLY START. Glad you are with us this morning.

So, we have new revelations this morning about the NSA and its spying programs. An internal audit and other documents obtained by "The Washington Post" shows the agency overstepped its legal authority thousands of times since 2008 when Congress gave it widespread power to keep tabs on overseas phone calls and on e-mails. Among the reported missteps, intercepting a large number of calls made in Washington, D.C., when a computer system mistook D.C.'s 202 area code for Egypt's dialing code 20. And the NSA also reportedly collected some data without getting the OK of a spy court.

The NSA responded to report, saying it encourages its staff to come forward when all of these mistakes happened.

BERMAN: As for the man who gave to "The Washington Post" these documents, admitted NSA leaker Edward Snowden, he remains in Russia this morning amid what is a seemingly growing fight between his family and his advisers over the way forward.

"The Wall Street Journal" says Snowden's father has grown critical of the people who have been helping his son. And now, Snowden, himself, has put out a statement saying his father doesn't speak for him. Crazy.

Let's go now to Moscow and CNN's Phil Black.

Phil, what's going on here, a family battle?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, tension and division in the Snowden camp, John, not between father and son, between Edward and Lon Snowden, it would seem, but among the advisers, those people who are surrounding both men, working with them and advising them. Lon Snowden's legal team recently expressed concern about the advice that Edward is getting here in Russia from WikiLeaks, from the journalist Glenn Greenwald, who Snowden has been working with from the beginning, on the NSA stories.

And Snowden here in Russia, heard about these statements, didn't like them and has issued a statement of his own, smacking them down. He sent it to "The Huffington Post" and this is what it said. "Neither my father, his lawyer, Bruce Fein nor his wife Mattie Fein, represent me in any way. I ask journalists to understand that they do not possess any special knowledge regarding my situation or future plans, and not to exploit the tragic vacuum of my father's emotional compromise for the sake of tabloid news."

It sounds pretty serious, but it seems the father/son relationship is still strong. We know that the Snowdens have communicated directly for the first time since Edward Snowden fled the United States. They chatted online using some sort of encrypted chat service. These lawyers didn't want them to do it. They didn't think it was worth the risk. Partially, because they are going to be reunited face-to-face in the not so distant future.

Lon Snowden has a Russian visa, he says, and he will be traveling here in the near future. He's not giving a specific date for his arrival just yet, but he's talking late August, early September.

BERMAN: A flair for the dramatic, the tragic vacuum of his father's emotional compromise.

All right. Phil Black in Moscow, thank you so much. SAMBOLIN: Another news organization has become the victim of hackers. This time, it's "The Washington Post" Web site which was hacked by a group that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Newspaper says readers of some stories online were redirected temporarily to the Web site of the Syrian electronic army. That group claims to have hacked the Web site and Twitter feed of a number of news organizations, including the BBC and "The Associated Press".

BERMAN: Still a mystery, what caused a UPS cargo plane to crash on approach to the airport in Birmingham, Alabama, killing the pilot and co-pilot? Officials say that a preliminary investigation shows no evidence of engine failure prior to impact. They also ruled out the problem of runway lights.

Answers could be found in the cockpit voice and flight data recorders which have now been recovered.

SAMBOLIN: And some dramatic and very good news. This is from Florida, where it looks like a pregnant mom got to the hospital just in the nick of time. She was in labor and the baby didn't want to wait. She only made it as far as the check-in desk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN PRIVATA, MOTHER: I was in the wheelchair. But that said, at the same time, it's out, it's out. And I take my panty out and (INAUDIBLE) to the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

SAMBOLIN: It's out, it's out.

A nurse was rushing to get to work and she stopped to help. That's when a six pound, eight ounce baby girl Diana came into the world. She is doing fine as you are seeing there. And mom is as well.

BERMAN: Welcome, Diana. Well done. Well done. That one a flair for the dramatic.

SAMBOLIN: What a story. I love those stories. How were you born, check this out?

BERMAN: I would be happy to tell mine they were born inside the hospital room. Thank you very much.

SAMBOLIN: All right. So, coming up, the markets tumble. What's putting fear in the heart of Wall Street? And the big question, could the sell off continue today?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAMBOLIN: It is a beautiful morning here in New York City. We hope a beautiful day for one resident of this fine city. Whose birthday is it? Yes, Berman.

BERMAN: Happy birthday, Madonna.

SAMBOLIN: It's Madonna's birthday! It's her 55th birthday. I hope I look like her when I'm 55.

I don't know if she's heading to a party or not, but we wish her a very happy birthday.

BERMAN: Doesn't look a day over 54.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Thirty years since her first album, 30 years.

SAMBOLIN: How do you know? You must be a big Madonna fan.

ROMANS: No, I heard it the other day, and I thought 30 years, I mean, wow --

BERMAN: Material girl, that's like a good segue into "Money Time, right?

ROMANS: That's right.

BERMAN: In honor of Madonna, we're going to talk about material things.

Christine Romans is here for "Money Time".

ROMANS: Happy birthday, Madonna.

Let's talk about your stock investments. Futures are higher this morning after stocks had the biggest one day percentage drop since late June. It's been an ugly day yesterday. And it's been an ugly two days.

The Dow's first back-to-backdrop since June. The Dow fell 225 points. That's about 1.5 percent. The S&P and NASDAQ also down big.

So, what's troubling stocks right now? We're getting closer to September. That's the time many think the Feds will begin the so- called -- they're calling it the Septaper. That's slowing down on its bond-buying program.

U.S. jobless claims yesterday fell to the lowest levels since October 2007. That's great. Unemployment line is shortest since 2007, awesome. But that gives the Fed room to pull back its support for the economy.

We've also got very weak consumer spending signals from big retailers like Walmart and Macy's and making those worries news for companies like Cisco, the world's largest Internet router maker, the business is soft. Inconsistent is what the CEO said. That affects business spending. You've got stocks still up double digits. It's still a very, very good year. Some people are saying it's a pullback to refresh. The bulls are saying perfect time to buy more stocks. The bears saying, hey, it's just a little too scary out there to be making good commitment in the stock market.

BERMAN: The Madonna plunge. A brief Madonna plunge.

ROMANS: A brief Madonna plunge.

All right. Warren Buffett, speaking of Madonna, Warren Buffett, there are so many similarities, he stepped into a hot environmental debate. Buffett's company Berkshire company bought a half billion dollars stake in Suncor last quarter. This is according to recent stock filings. Suncor is a Canadian oil company that drives most of its current production from oil sands.

Preventing oil sands expansion is the main reason why environmentalists are urging President Obama to reject the Keystone pipeline. Oil from oil sands thought to emit 17 percent more greenhouse gases and traditional crude oil.

But analysts say Buffett is really just interested in the stock as a good old fashioned value. That very well mean that is a bullish play on oil sands and oil sand production.

A BlackBerry CEO stands to make $55.6 million if he sells the company and loses his job. That's the amount that Thorsten Heins will receive if BlackBerry has a change of control. "Bloomberg News" says that figure includes salary, incentive payments, equity awards, being CEO isn't bad.

If you can get it, especially, we told, BlackBerry, the company exploring strategic alternatives. That means they could be selling BlackBerry. Very big smartphone race, BlackBerry was number one. Now, it's just tumbling.

BERMAN: All that money, you can buy a lot of iPhones.

ROMANS: Or Madonna albums.

BERMAN: Exactly. Thank you, Christine Romans.

SAMBOLIN: All right. Coming up, an emotional day in court. Michael Jackson's ex-wife on the record about the toll the King of Pop's death has had on their daughter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAMBOLIN: Protesters returning to the streets of Egypt today just days after hundreds were killed by the country's military.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know how she couldn't do anything but help our case. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Michael Jackson's ex-wife on the record about the star's death. What she said that could shake up the wrongful death lawsuit.

SAMBOLIN: And a warning this morning for dog and cat owners. A big pet food recall to tell you about.

BERMAN: Happy breakfast.

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

SAMBOLIN: Nobody is getting dog or cat food this morning.

BERMAN: Dogs and cats are. Some of our most loyal viewers.

SAMBOLIN: Don't feed them until we tell you about this pet recall.