Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

President Obama to Address the U.N.; Lone Wolf Threat; Ebola Outbreak Exploding; Parents of Missing American Speak Out; Recent Grads' Top Five Places to Work

Aired September 24, 2014 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Global pitch. A day after airstrikes in Syria, President Obama goes to the floor into the United Nations, rallying them to join the fight against ISIS. Can he, can the president, convince the world it's time to wipe out this terror group?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And lone wolf warnings after the strikes against ISIS and a separate al Qaeda cell, law enforcement officials are being warned to remain vigilant and be alert for possible lone wolf attacks. How serious is this threat?

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

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's 30 minutes past the hour.

Breaking story this morning: President Obama will be at the U.N. giving a crucial speech addressing worldwide concern over emerging threats from new terror groups like ISIS and Khorasan, justifying the ongoing military response from the U.S. and Arab allies, including 200 airstrikes against targets in Syria on Tuesday.

Discussing new worries that these Islamic militant groups are training or inspiring westerners to launch terror attacks in Europe or America.

We've got complete coverage this morning. First to senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta is in New York. He's got a preview of the president's long day ahead -- Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, later this morning, the president will give a major address here at the United Nations where a senior administration official says Mr. Obama will talk about the general unease that the world is feeling right now because of the dangers posed by these new terror groups, ISIS and Khorasan. The president will also go on to talk about the importance of building global coalitions, to take on these threats.

Later on today, the president will sit down with the new Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. They will, of course, talk about the airstrikes that had been taking place in his country, and also next door in Syria. Mr. Abadi has already told CNN he'd like to see more of those airstrikes in the weeks to come. And then later on in the afternoon, the president will do something

he's only done once before, and that is to chair a meeting of the U.N. Security Council. Before, he did it on the subject of climate change. This time around, it will be on the subject of foreign fighters. The president wants to talk about the dangers posed by those foreign fighters -- Americans and Westerners who go down to Iraq and Syria, train with ISIS and other terror groups and then come back to the United States, with the potential there of wreaking havoc on the home front -- John and Christine.

BERMAN: Our thanks to Jim for that.

Now, we're learning more about this morning about air campaign against ISIS and also the other Islamic militant groups in Syria, at least one group in Pentagon officials say the air strikes involving the U.S. and five Arab allies began at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, they continued throughout the night.

In all, some 200 bombs and missiles were dropped. About three quarters of them -- I heard 96 percent, were precision-guided bombs. We're also learning a little more about who did what in Tuesday's air strikes.

CNN's Becky Anderson is standing by right now at the United Arab Emirates, one of the five Arab nations that took part, Becky, we understand actually dropped bombs in these attacks.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, correct. They participated as opposed to just supporting here in the UAE. Qatar, one of the other five in a support role, but the UAE and Bahrain and Saudi out of the GEC (ph) region where I am now, I'm in Jordan, actually acted out of the air, we know, dropping bombs, their planes getting safely home, their air forces.

So, yes, real participation, the importance of Arab allies, John, as you know, cannot be understated.

President Obama will be joined in New York, at the U.N. today, by huge delegations from these nations regionally. And let me tell you why, if you talk to the man on the street here and to anybody in government, they say it is about time that Arab nations stepped up to the plate and said this is our war. They asked for help in Syria, they asked for help in degrading and destroying is. But in the end, this is an Arab that needs to be addressed by Arab nations.

And I was interested to see the editorial in one of the main newspapers today, perhaps invoking the view of the man on the street here.

I just quote to you, the perversion of ideology and religion that ISIS presents poses a real danger to the region. It's an ideology that will be easily defeated. Air strikes are only the first steps. They can degrade but they will not destroy ISIS, and that's really important.

So, what happens next and what Obama suggests is sort of interim stage. We know the end game is to degrade and destroy. But what happens in the meantime and how long this goes on will determine just how much support he continues to get from these Arab allies.

But I've been asked, you know, what's the feeling on the street? These are Sunni Arab countries fighting a group which fights in the name of Sunni Islam. And the story you'll get here as long as this is quick and this is effective, and they can degrade and destroy, one of the problems, and this is not the only problem this region has. The rise of political Islam is a real concern to the UAE and others in this region.

But get rid of this, nail it and they can move on but it has to be swift and it has to be done effectively, John.

BERMAN: The air strikes just the first step, as you say, not clear I think to people in the United States, at least, what all of the next steps are. That does remain to be seen, a lot of people watching that here and where you are.

Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi, thanks so much.

ROMANS: And, in fact, the editorial board of "The New York Times" saying that there needs to be more public debate, and we need to think through all of those things, the president needs to think through all of those things a little bit more clearly, kind of a pretty scathing editorial in "The New York Times."

BERMAN: And Congress should get in the game also.

ROMANS: Right.

All right. Huge numbers of Kurdish refugees fleeing ISIS fighters this morning. As many as 200,000 in the last few days according to a Syrian human rights group. They're jamming into the border area between Syria and Turkey. But Turkey has slowed the flood. It's allowing to cross into the country, closing several border crossings.

We're looking at live pictures right now there on the Turkey-Syria border. We've been watching these spots for the last couple of days. Watching these crossings into Turkey from Syria.

There for us this morning is CNN's Phil Black.

Phil, this flow to these border crossings started well before you saw these bombings by the U.S. and five of its Arab nation partners. There are advances that ISIS is making that is disrupting and terrifying, quite frankly, these Kurdish refugees.

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, in these hot, dry, very difficult conditions, they are still coming. Behind me is a barbed wire fence and that this is the Turkey-Syria border. This is as close as we can get to it because Turkish security forces are keeping us at this distance. But even through here, through the dust, through the heat haze, we can see large crowds of Syrians who are still trying to flee their country, to escape ISIS. They have come some on foot, some by car carrying whatever meager

possessions they can, including livestock, and really, for the most part, all they can do, under this baking sun is just wait, because the Turkish authorities are now being very cautious. They are heavily regulating the numbers that are allowed to cross over, opening the border only for a short period of time each day. It will happen today, we're told. We don't know precisely for how long. We don't know how many people will be let across.

Some of the people over there, we've been told, have been waiting for days. There's some effort to give them supplies. We've seen food and water literally thrown over that barbed wire fence to try and help them to try and make their life just that little bit more comfortable.

So, it is interesting to note, they are still coming in big numbers, although not in the hundreds of thousands that we've seen in the recent days. We don't know if that is a direct consequence of the airstrikes in that region of northern Syria behind me, Christine.

ROMANS: Phil Black with those pictures again. The second day we've seen those jammed border crossings as people are just trying to flee ISIS and find safety in just grueling heat.

BERMAN: The human toll there.

And a reminder, by the way, that millions of people have suffered in Syria over the last several years there, that civil war has raged on.

Now, we know much more this morning about the shadowy terror network called Khorasan that U.S. forces hit separately in Tuesday's air strikes, really two completely different set of operations going on. The White House says a group of al Qaeda veterans, one analyst called them an al Qaeda all-star team, was plotting an attack against the United States, possibly Europe. Officials say it included a bomb designed to pass undetected through airport security.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told CNN that the attack that Khorasan was planning was well along, in development and imminent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADM. JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We know that they were very close to the end game in their planning. We don't know exactly where the attack that they were planning would go take place. That's why we said we think it was either in Europe or the homeland. So, there's some information that we probably didn't have all the way down to the exact detail.

That said, we know they were close. We know that they had a very serious intent to conduct an attack on Western targets. And that drove a lot of urgency last night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: And just to connect the dots, you might, which is a few months ago, we said that officials would be having extra scrutiny at airports in Europe, coming into the United States, because they were looking for -- remember, extra pat-downs, extra security, maybe secondary security, maybe even security before you got on the plane, after you'd been through the boarding process, this is all tied together. There were really big concerns among intelligence officials about this.

BERMAN: It goes to show how much goes on behind the scenes in some of --

ROMANS: Absolutely.

All right. Well, officials believe Tuesday's air strikes have at least temporarily disrupted attacks in the U.S. organized by ISIS and Khorasan. They're warning now the air campaign may spark attacks by homegrown violent extremists.

OK, a bulletin sent by the FBI and Homeland Security urges law enforcement agencies: stay vigilant, keep an eye on social media for anyone encouraging violence and reprisal for U.S. military action in Syria.

BERMAN: It is life in prison for Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith. He was sentenced to New York Federal Court on Tuesday. The 48-year-old convicted back in March of conspiring to kill Americans and provide material support to terrorists. Prosecutors say Abu Ghaith acted as a spokesman for al Qaeda following the attacks on September 11, 2001.

ROMANS: The Iraq war vet who scaled a White House fence and got into the executive mansion, he was questioned twice by Secret Service agents in the last two months. In July, Omar Gonzalez was arrested during a traffic stop. He had an illegal shotgun, a man of Washington, with the White House circled inside his car. In August, he was stopped outside the White House with a hatchet in his waistband. On both occasions, Secret Service agents interviewed Gonzalez and determine he was not a threat.

BERMAN: It was friendly hatchet apparently.

ROMANS: We're looking at video of him walking in the front door of the White House.

BERMAN: One-point-four million people in Liberia and Sierra Leone could be infected with the Ebola virus by the end of January. That grim and starting scenario from the Centers for Disease Control which says Ebola could kill hundreds of thousands of people and also embed itself in the population for years to come.

There's another warning, this from the World Health Organization that says if we do not get this outbreak under control, Ebola could become a permanent part of life in that country, in West Africa, spreading as routinely as malaria or even the flu.

ROMANS: That is terrifying.

BERMAN: Very dangerous. ROMANS: Forty-one minutes past the hour. Time for an EARLY START on your money this Wednesday morning. European stocks are lower. Asian shares ended mixed U.S. stock futures pointing higher. It looks like stocks could reverse some of this week's losses if that holds.

You know, last week, the Dow hit a record high. This week, it's been just two days of trading, it's been down 200 points. If you want to talk about a true correction in the works, a 10 percent drop.

Concerns about growth in Europe and China weighing on markets as our U.S. airstrikes in Syria adds another factor of uncertainty.

Another factor sending stocks lower, Alibaba hype is over. Stocks fell $87 a share. That's down more than 12 percent from its high during Friday's debut. A reminder, $68, you think, oh, it's a little than 68, the IPO, well, only the insiders, the people on the deal got the $68. You bought it at $90, you're down now.

BERMAN: Down 12 percent.

Forty-two minutes after the hour right now.

Coming up, President Obama meets today with the new prime minister of Iraq. This man so crucial in the fight against ISIS. Christiane Amanpour sat down with him exclusively for his reaction to the new round of U.S. air strikes. Does he think it's enough?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Happening today: President Obama will meet with Iraq's new Prime Minister Haider al Abadi. Both are in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. And this meeting comes at a pivotal time. The Iraqi prime minister just assembled a new, more inclusive Iraqi government to battle ISIS threats.

In his first major international interview since his appointment, he sat down with our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour for a CNN exclusive. She asked him what he thinks of the Arab coalition that has joined the fight against ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAIDER AL-ABADI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: We have warned in last two years, this is a danger. This is a blood game. This will end in a bloodbath if nobody stops it, nobody listening. They thought everybody was immune from this danger and only Iraq sees this part of the danger.

But now, I think we're happy. Personally, I'm happy that everybody is seeing this danger so that they are going to do something about it. I hope they do something about it and they do it right, and they don't do it their own way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The prime minister says he hopes airstrikes do not lead to the rise of other terrorist element instead of ISIS.

ROMANS: Well, President Obama has a number of major challenges to address to the United Nations. One topic he's emphasizing is the environment. The president spoke Tuesday urging all nations to commit to containing pollution and reducing carbon emissions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But there should be no question that the United States of America is stepping up to the plate. We recognize our role in creating this problem. We embrace our responsibility to combat it. We will do our part. And we will help developing nations do theirs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: President Obama also announced majors to help the developing countries better prepare for climate change.

BERMAN: The man described as a person of interest in the disappearance of Hannah Graham is now officially a suspect. Police in Charlottesville, Virginia, issued an arrest warrant for 32-year-old Jesse Matthew. He is charged with abduction with intent to defile in the case of a missing University of Virginia student who went missing 11 days ago. Police believe Matthew was the last person to see Hannah Graham, a restaurant surveillance tape shows him following her.

ROMANS: In Northeast Pennsylvania, the manhunt goes on for this guy, suspected cop killer Eric Frein. Schools in the Pocono Mountains district have now reopened for the first time since last week. As the man who found Frein's Jeep the finally connected him to the fatal shooting of a Pennsylvania straight trooper, that man who found the Jeep is speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM NOVAK, FOUND ERIC FREIN'S ABANDONED JEEP: When you actually shoot somebody and kill somebody, a trooper, a conservation officer, federal agents, you attack all of us because those are the guys that watch us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Frein, a survivalist, has been at large for nearly two weeks now. Police believe he may be hiding in a bunker that he built before the deadly ambush. And they do say they are closing in on him.

BERMAN: Coming up for us, an American believed kidnapped in Syria two years ago. He vanished without a trace with no word from his captors. His parents are now speaking out to CNN, and they are desperate for information.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: The parents of an American journalist kidnapped in Syria say they are fed up with the way the government is handling their son's situation. Thirty-three-year-old Austin Tice was abducted from a Damascus suburb in 2012. Since then, his parents have waited for word, a vigil they call excruciating and they say their interactions with the U.S. State Department have not made it any easier.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Houston with that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The family of Austin Tice lives here in the city of Houston, Texas, this is where they've stood vigil, trying to get their son back for more than two years. But the Tice family says they've now grown increasingly frustrated with the U.S. response in handling their son's hostage situation. They say this is a process that's broken. They say they're frustrated with way the U.S. government has kept information they believe to be vital to her son's case close to the vest and haven't brought to his parents.

We sat down with them for an extensive interview to talk about this very issue.

You've been told the U.S. government has various pieces of information that you think would benefit you?

DEBRA TICE, MOTHER OF AUSTIN TICE: Absolutely, we've been told that.

MARC TICE, FATHER OF AUSTIN TICE: Yes.

D. TICE: We can't share this information with you because you do not have clearance.

M. TICE: We don't know what the information is, but we don't want to be treated or feel like we're being treated as a security risk.

D. TICE: To our own child. This is my son and my personality says the mother bear will find the cub, and I'm looking for my cub.

LAVANDERA: Marc and Debra Tice hope that speaking out publicly about their frustrations that it will help them in their efforts to get their son back home safely -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. The White House and the State Department does did not respond for CNN's request for comment on Tuesday when we asked them Austin Tice's story.

BERMAN: New details this morning about three Afghan army officers who disappeared while taking part in an officer training in Massachusetts. They are now in U.S. immigration custody after trying to enter Canada on the rainbow bridge in Niagara Falls. The Afghan officers faced removal proceedings as a result of immigration violations. Authorities have said the men did not pose any danger to the public.

ROMANS: All right. Coming up, maybe you've heard of inversions? The tax strategy companies use to keep billions of dollars offshore and out of the hands of the IRS. It's basically rejecting your American citizenship as a country so you can have smaller tax bills. Those are small tomatoes. Next, some bigger loopholes out there.

We'll explain and get an EARLY START on your money, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. A minute to the top of the hour. Let's get an EARLY START on your money.

European stocks lower, Asian shares ended the day mixed. U.S. stock futures, though, pointing higher. It looks like stocks can reverse the losses if this holds. The Dow has fallen more than 200 points, so far, this week coming down from last week's record highs. That dropping fuelling talk again that a correction is necessary and in store eventually. The market hasn't had a 10 percent drop since 2011.

The Treasury Department trying to stop companies from relocating their headquarters overseas to dodge American taxes, but that's only a small step in corporate tax reform. Before these new rules were announced, the government estimated those inversions, that's what it's called, could cost about $20 billion in lost tax revenue over the next decade.

Compare that to the $400 billion it will lose if lawmakers choose to renew temporary corporate tax breaks that expire every few years but regularly extended. No expectations for Congress to address corporate tax reform, of course, this year.

The top place where new college grads want to work -

BERMAN: CNN!

ROMANS: No, John. Google. Google topped CNN Money's list this year again. It's known for innovation, from Google Glass to self-driving cars, plus a lot of employee perks like free food, cool offices. The rest of the top five, the so-called Big Four, the four largest audit firms. They include Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, and Deloitte.

Guess who I'm going to sit down with today?

BERMAN: Who are you sitting down with today?

ROMANS: Eric Schdmit.

BERMAN: That's a big interview.

ROMANS: (INAUDIBLE) Google. I'm going to ask him, why is it such a good place to work?

BERMAN: EARLY START continues right now.