Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Home Depot Massive Hack, Obama Faces Critical Decision on ISIS; Deadly Southwest Floods; Preliminary MH17 Report Released; Ray Rice Suspended Indefinitely

Aired September 09, 2014 - 04:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The hunt for ISIS. Today, President Obama meeting with lawmakers to share his strategy on how to take down the terror group. One day away from addressing the nation.

This morning, new clues on what the president's plan will look like as investigators get closer to identifying the mass ISIS executioner who has already killed two U.S. journalists. We are live in Iraq with the very latest.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: deadly historic floods across the Southwest. Hundreds rescued from the rising waters, and the threat from these severe storms not over yet.

ROMANS: Security breach at Home Depot. Tens of millions of customers may have had their credit card information stolen -- a cyber attack that could be bigger than any other going on for months now. We're breaking it all down.

BERMAN: That's a heck of a way to wake up.

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

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's Tuesday, September 9th, it is 4:00 in the East.

Let's begin this morning start with that huge hack. Home Depot confirming a hack of its payment system that could affect tens of millions of Home Depot customers. This is likely the largest ever breach of a retailers network. Home Depot says hackers remained in its computers unnoticed for five months.

BERMAN: Oh, wow.

ROMANS: Dating back to April. In that time, these hackers stole credit card data. No evidence yet though they stole debit card pins. This breach affects customers who shopped at 2,200 brick and mortar stores, 2,200 stores in the U.S. and Canada.

BERMAN: That's like everybody. Everybody shops at Home Depot.

ROMANS: No official confirmation yet of how many people have their information compromised. "The New York Times" however reporting it could be more than 60

million people. That's 20 million more than the hack at Target that simply rocked the retail world and caused them all to seriously change how they are considering using payment systems.

So, now, what if you shopped at Home Depot in the last five months?

BERMAN: Like everyone else.

ROMANS: The company is offering free identity protection, credit monitoring services to anyone who paid with a card recently. Home Depot will roll out chip and PIN technology at all U.S. stores by the end of the year.

Security experts say many retailers simply are not prepared to defend against the attackers and protect your sensitive information.

I can tell you, John, that for sure, the banks that are watching very carefully for any kind of information that has been -- on your credit card, that has been compromised and you'll likely to be hearing from your banks if there's any kind of breach that you would like to deal (ph).

BERMAN: Check your statements. Listen to people like Christine Romans about changing your password because this one is the biggest ever and it's Home Depot after Target. I mean, these are places where everyone shops.

All right.

(MUSIC)

BERMAN: President Obama getting set to brief lawmakers on a strategy to fight the threat from ISIS with an address to the nation set now for tomorrow night. Details on what the president might say are few and far between. But congressional leaders could get some clues from the president today.

The big question on Capitol Hill right now: could a vote on military action be scheduled soon, possibly even before the midterm elections?

This is a CNN poll shows that most Americans do not think the president has a clear strategy to beat back ISIS, at least not yet.

CNN's Michelle Kosinski has more now from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

Right. We saw this poll just come out by CNN, saying that 67 percent of the respondents answered no when asked, does President Obama has a clear plan for dealing with ISIS? And, of course, the White House knows that there has been confusion out there. I mean, they have been dealing with this question over, is there a strategy or is there not a strategy for about two weeks now.

And so, we think that is why they want to have this big presidential address that will be at some point on Wednesday for the president to again layout what the plan is, at least up to this point. But even after more than an hour of tough questioning by the press, it was hard to tell from the White House what exactly would come out of this address. I mean, the White House has laid out its strategy several times now. We know that part of that strategy at least, when dealing with moving beyond Iraq and into Syria, still involves building a coalition, laying the groundwork before a decision is made.

And the White House was even asked directly, has a decision been made on air strikes in Syria? And they would say, well, the U.S. is willing and ready to go whenever necessary to deal with ISIS. Not really answering the question.

What they would say is that this address will be a conversation, as they put it, with the American people, as to what is the best way forward and what tools are at the disposal of the U.S.

We also heard Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday say that this will be a chance for the president to really clearly layout what he described as a coordinated global strategy.

So, we think that the president will lay out the plan up to this point. We don't expect necessarily any big decisions to be announced -- although the White House is holding it as a surprise whether there will be news or headlines coming out of the address and he'll be able to say, well, in this coalition that is being built, what up to this point, will each country have committed -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: It's a big moment for the country and big moment for voters and a big moment for the world, as we all watch this.

Meanwhile, Iraq has a new unity government this morning. After weeks of political gridlock, Iraq's parliament has sworn in both Sunni and Kurdish deputy prime ministers, with the share goal of taking down ISIS.

Secretary of State John Kerry is heading to the Middle East today. He will be stopping in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, attempting to tighten the alliance against the Islamic extremists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: That almost every single country on Earth has a role to play in eliminating the ISIL threat and the evil that it represents. For some, that will mean military assistance, both direct and in the form of training, arming and advising, equipping. For some, it will mean contributing to the desperately needed humanitarian relief efforts. For some, it will mean helping to identify, track and cut off ISIL's funding.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: Now, the initial plan to overcome ISIS could take three years, which, of course, make the end after the conclusion of President Obama's term in office.

U.S. officials say they may have identified the masked man seen on video beheading James Foley. The identification is not 100 percent, but an official tells CNN they do have a pretty good idea of just who it might be. Authorities also breaking down the video of Steven Sotloff's execution to determine if it was carried out by the same man as many people do believe.

CNN spoke exclusively with the spokesman for Sotloff's family. He said Steven Sotloff was sold to ISIS by moderate Syrian rebels. And the White House has not been supported, the say, of the Sotloff family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: He was sold at the border.

BARAK BARFI, SOTLOFF FAMILY FRIEND: Yes, we believe that the so- called moderate rebels that people want our administration to support, one of them sold him probably for something between $25,000 and $50,000 to ISIS and that was the reason that he was captured.

The relationship between the administration and the Sotloff family was very strained.

COOPER: Strained?

BARFI: Yes. We do not believe they gave us the cooperation we need. And the Sotloff -- once Steve appeared on that video, the Sotloff family made one simple request of the administration and they were rebuffed on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: A number of senators have reintroduced a bill authorizing $10 million for information that would lead to the conviction of anyone involved in the murders of James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

ROMANS: Meanwhile, Iraq's new government has plenty to contend with, as it begins its tenure, a Sunni town north of Baghdad came under heavy attack from ISIS Monday, after being surrounded by the terror group for months. One suicide bomber struck at the city's perimeter, another penetrated into a market in the center of town.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is live for us in Baghdad this morning with more on the situation on the ground.

Good morning, Jomana.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Christine.

It really has been rare seeing Iraqi politicians meet deadlines over the years, but yesterday, they did that. They came together and formed this government. And the government has been sworn in, perhaps a sign of the pressure Iraqi politicians have been under, especially from the United States.

The lineup is very much familiar faces. Politicians we have seen over the years. Kurds, Sunnis and Shias all come together in this government.

Now, the real challenge here is to see how these political rivals are going to work together. This is the real tough task. It's what comes ahead. How will they come together and put their differences aside and also prove to the Sunni population that this government is not just about changing of prime minister or not just about swearing in a new government, that it's going to be a real change in policy and attitude when it comes to the Sunni population who will be key in the fight against ISIS. So, the challenge remains ahead.

And, Christine, as you mentioned, that town, 35 miles north of Baghdad, has really come under heavy attack. We have spoken to residents there.

And, you know, we covered different stories of towns with minorities and town with Shiites. This time, Sunni militants, ISIS is militants are surrounding a Sunni town. And the people in this town say they will fight until its last breath. They say they've tried al Qaeda in Iraq in 2006 and they have seen the horrors and massacres. And they will not allow ISIS to come into their town.

But they say Iraqi government is not helping them and they want support from the United States. They're asking for U.S. airstrikes to help break the siege around their town.

ROMANS: They will fight to the end, but they need help.

Thanks, Jomana Karadsheh.

You know, new questions being raised this morning about a Boston area mosque with connections to Islamic radicals, including a social media experts for ISIS. At least ten suspected or convicted terrorists worshipped at the Cambridge mosque. Among them, the accused Boston marathon bombers and Ahmad Abousamra, who was raised in Boston, disappeared in 2006 and has now reemerged as the propaganda mastermind for ISIS.

Law enforcement officials say that's too many accused extremists to ignore.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIETTE KAYYEM, FORMER DHS ASST. SECRETARY: At some stage, we have to accept reality, which is a number of people who have taken up arms against Americans, either here in Boston or abroad with ISIS, have an affiliation with that mosque.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: A spokesperson for the Islamic Society of Boston which runs the mosque says, quote, "If we ever observed any criminal or violent behavior, we would immediately intervene and notify the authorities.

All right. Eleven minutes past the hour.

Deadly floods smacked in the Midwest, Southwest rather. Dramatic rescues caught on camera as we learn just how bad the damage would be and who needs to be on alert today.

BERMAN: And Ray Rice cut by the Ravens, suspended indefinitely by the NFL. But only after video emerged showing him punching his girlfriend. Why did this take so long? Andy Scholes breaks it all down for us. He's here with us. It comes right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Extreme rainfall causing problems in the Southwest. We got flooding in Arizona, leaving one woman dead when her car was swept away. In moments of sheer terror for a man plucked from his car just before it was submerged. The firefighters said the driver thought he could make it across the rushing water. But the force of the flood ended up pushing him off the road and into some brush and trees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had a rope in place and we walked over to him. We had to smash his window to pass him equipment because he couldn't get his windows down anymore. We're able to pull him out through the window. We couldn't get the doors open. And we secured a life vest and helmet, and walked him to the shore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Terrifying.

BERMAN: Lucky dude.

ROMANS: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer declared an emergency as forcing -- flooding forced to closures of some roads and schools there in Arizona.

BERMAN: Similar situation in Nevada where record-setting rain left roadways looking like this, with just dangerous rushing water. The water left cars and trucks stranded on that road for miles and miles. Two hundred kids were actually trapped in their elementary school in the southeast town of Moapa. They were evacuated safely.

ROMANS: Children had to be rescued from a day care center in Portsmouth, Virginia, because of flooding. Rescue workers had to get 35 children and several employees across the flooded parking lot by boat. An apartment complex across the street was also evacuated. Many residents lost all their belongings to waist deep water in just a matter of minutes.

BERMAN: Back West in California, there were more than 40 water- related rescues reported in the Palm Springs area alone. One school evacuated after the slow-moving storm flooded roadways and knocked out power. Major roads were packed much of the day by floating debris, stalled cars and the flood waters.

An official from the California highway patrol called this one of the worst storms he has seen in the reason on.

ROMANS: Wow.

BERMAN: Now, the threat from the severe weather is not over, when Nebraska and Iowa are expecting storms this afternoon.

That's why we want to check in and get the latest with our forecaster, Chad Myers.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Christine and John, good morning.

A great day across the Northeast today, low pressure off the East Coast is going to drive some rain and some clouds into your area. And you're only going to be in the 70s for highs. That's going to be nice compared to what's up here in the Upper Midwest. Chilly there.

I mean, temperatures in Minneapolis are going to drop in the 60s from the 80s where they are today. Look at Kansas City, just to make a mental note -- 89 for today in Kansas City, 74 in New York, 74 in D.C. But it's the cold front that will run through the Upper Midwest, almost like a springtime cold front that will make severe weather for Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis and maybe Cincinnati and Cleveland, all the way back down to St. Louis for tomorrow. We will keep you advised.

There could be some tornadoes on the ground tomorrow because remember I told you what Minneapolis was going to look like. Here it comes -- 62 is the high in Minneapolis, only 74 in Kansas City. That's the cold air that's going to push into the warm air. When that happens, the warm air goes up. And we get severe weather.

Enjoy your day up there. Kind of cool and kind of a little bit rainy at times for New York City, but not all that bad -- Christine and John.

ROMANS: All right. Chad Myers -- thanks for that, Chad.

We have breaking news on CNN. The Dutch preliminary report on the MH17 disaster is in. Here's what we know so far, the jet was hit by high velocity shrapnel. There was no sign of mechanical failure. One interesting note on this -- the black boxes were not tampered with, despite concerns pro-Russian rebels have done something to them before handing them over.

Also, the flight recorder shows the crew never said a thing before the plane was hit on route to Kuala Lumpur -- never said a thing.

BERMAN: We had no idea what was coming.

ROMANS: We'll have much more on this report later this hour.

BERMAN: Eighteen minutes after the hour. The new head of the V.A. says he is worried the department will not be

able to attract enough doctors to reduce long delays faced by veterans waiting for medical care. Robert McDonald says the V.A. will need to hire tens of thousands of new doctors and nurses to help fix the shortage. The waiting list scandal exposed in part by CNN forced the abrupt resignation of McDonald's predecessor, Eric Shinseki.

ROMANS: More states are reporting children hospitalized with the severe respiratory virus. The CDC says this rare strain of a common Enterovirus is affecting more children than usual for this time of year. One hospital in Kansas City says it's treated nearly 500 children. Cases have now been reported in a dozen states stretching from Utah to Georgia.

If you notice, John, that's really where part of the country where go to school in mid-August. So, they've been in school for a couple of weeks and this thing is moving around. Officials say children with severe cold symptoms and difficulty breathing should be seen by a doctor.

BERMAN: We had back-to-school night, last night, a lot of people worried about this.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: This morning, Ray Rice is a man without a team, really. Without any prospects for landing a job anytime soon. The Baltimore Ravens cut the running back after a video surfaced right here showing him knocking his future wife unconscious for a punch inside an elevator at an Atlantic City casino. That happened back in February.

ROMANS: It's awful to watch.

BERMAN: The NFL suspended Rice from the league indefinitely now. We're going to talk about that.

Andy Scholes is following the developments.

We're thrilled to have you here with us, Andy. You know, it's a shame it's not a story that is awful to see.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, guys. The big question now is, did the NFL see this video before they suspended Ray Rice for just two games? They say they didn't. Multiple reporters who cover the league say they did.

Now, either way, Ray Rice is no longer a member of the Baltimore Ravens and he is suspended indefinitely. He will have to apply for reinstatement if he wants to play again. Just like the league office, the Ravens say they had not seen the video until yesterday when TMZ released it. Last night, during their regular media availability, Coach John Harbaugh who originally had Rice's back when this all be begin, he spoke about the team's decision to release him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN HARBAUGH, BALTIMORE RAVENS COACH: We had a meeting. It was not a long meeting. We came to the decision that we came to, to release Ray and that's what we did. So, you know that.

I had a chance to talk to Ray, along with Ozzie, this afternoon after we did it. You know, I have nothing but hope and goodwill for Ray and Janay. And we'll do whatever we can going forward to help them, you know, as they go forward and try to make the best of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: We are still waiting to hear from Commissioner Roger Goodell about all this. The guy soon, the Ravens is going to actually host the Steelers on Thursday night. It's a couple of days. It would be interesting to see exactly what he has to say about all of this.

There's a lot of questions about if they saw the video or not.

BERMAN: Here are my top two. Did they see the video and if they saw the video and issued only a two-game suspension, you know, Roger Goodell is going to have problems that I think a lot of people calling for his job.

And the second thing is, why does it take such a video to give a heavy suspension? When you have -- you know, you have these reports of domestic violence.

ROMANS: We always knew that he knocked her out.

SCHOLES: What did you think was on the video, right? Either way, it's not going to be good.

BERMAN: Bad situation. Andy Scholes, nice to have you here.

ROMANS: The fourth American infected with Ebola and on the way home to the United States, what we know about the latest U.S. case as the crisis in Western Africa spirals out of control. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: A fourth U.S. citizen infected with Ebola virus is coming back to America for treatment. The unidentified patient contracted this disease in Sierra Leone and will be cared for in the isolation unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Now, this patient arrives this morning.

President Obama pledging more U.S. aid to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to stop the outbreak in West Africa -- an outbreak we should tell you that is worsening.

The crisis in Liberia is far more severe than anyone thought. Thousands of new cases expected there over the next three weeks. Officials from the World Health Organization say conventional treatments to control the spread of the disease, conventional treatment to control the spread not working. More than 2,100 people in four West African states have now been killed by Ebola, more than half of them in Liberia.

BERMAN: Tens of millions of Americans may have had their credit card information stolen. Home Depot hit by a huge security breach -- I mean, huge. You need to hear about this. We'll tell you everything you need to know right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)