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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Will Ferguson's Police Chief Step Down?; NASA Rocket Explodes After Liftoff; Security Increased at Federal Buildings
Aired October 29, 2014 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight: sources telling CNN that Ferguson's police chief could soon step down. That town still reeling from the police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown and preparing for what might happen if the officer who shot him is not charged. We've got the latest developments this morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Fire in the sky. NASA's unmanned rocket explodes seconds after liftoff. This morning, investigators trying to figure out just what went wrong.
BERMAN: Security watch at thousands of federal buildings across the country this morning. Terror threats forcing the Department of Homeland Security to sound the alert. We'll tell you what we're learning, just ahead.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It's Wednesday, October 29th, it is 4:00 a.m. in the East. Nice to see you this morning.
Let's begin with breaking news from Ferguson, Missouri. There is word the police chief there could soon step down. Government officials familiar with ongoing discussion tell CNN that Chief Thomas Jackson's departure would be part of efforts to reform the Ferguson Police Department, following the shooting of an unarmed teenager Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson.
Chief Jackson and the mayor of Ferguson deny those reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Is there a plan in place to have Chief Jackson stepped down?
JAMES KNOWLES, MAYOR OF FERGUSON, MISSOURI: No.
REPORTER: Are you getting any pressure from any other federal --
KNOWLES: People have been saying that for months, I mean, for him to step down. But we've stood by him this entire time. So --
REPORTER: There's nothing --
KNOWLES: There's no change on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: There's growing concern in Ferguson about what might happen if Officer Wilson is not indicted in the Michael Brown shooting. School officials in St. Louis County writing to prosecutor Bob McCullough, asking him to announce whether Wilson will be indicted at night or on a weekend, to avoid putting students in the middle of any possible protests, telling CNN's Sara Sidner, if there's no indictment, the reaction could be violent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY DAVIS, PROTESTER: That's what some people say. I've heard a lot of people saying it. Some people say it will be a part of blowing it up, you know, if he doesn't get indicted. I just hope it doesn't get bad. I hope they don't like -- you know, I hope nobody gets hurt.
GABRIELLE HANSON, PROTESTER: I know they're going to be really upset with the government building. I've heard about curfews that are going to happen. People are still thinking that they're going to be able to protest and some people are scared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Officer Darren Wilson has not been seen in public since shooting Michael Brown. At least six felony drug cases have been dismissed because Wilson failed to show up in court.
BERMAN: This morning, key questions what about caused a rocket crucial to the future of NASA to explode just as it was lifting off. An unmanned NASA-contracted rocket exploded at the spaceport in Wallops Island, Virginia. The debris did crash down on the launch pad, spewing fiery wreckage everywhere. There were no injuries but it did cause damage to property and vehicles.
Quite a picture. The Orbital Science's Antares rocket was carrying 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station. This morning, NASA and its partners are trying to determine exactly what went wrong.
Let's get more now from CNN's Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. Hey, Christine.
This was really a cataclysmic launch that happened just moments after this Antares rocket took off. People who are watching over from across away, you could hear people just gasp out loud as they felt the explosion. That's about three quarters of a million pounds of thrust being released all at once as this thing blows up in an unexpected way.
The company that was contracted to do this, Orbital Science, has a $1.2 billion contract to get supplies up to ISS over a number of trips. This is about the third of those trips. It has vowed that it will look into this to figure out what went wrong, saying, of course, right now, it's far too early to know what happened.
They do know that nobody was hurt. The safety protocols are in place to keep everyone far away from any sort of rocket launch like that, which is unmanned.
But there is a real cost of this. There was about 5,000 pounds of gear going up, some of it food for the ISS crew. A lot of the rest of it space gear that they needed and experiments, experiments that are obviously important to all the researchers who are sending them up toward the ISS.
The plan was for this to fly on the first stage of this rocket for about four minutes, and then that stage would release the second stage, which was a new design, was going to kick in and it was release the payload called Cygnus and then grabbed by the robotic arm from the ISS and pulled in. That payload is not going to come back until December.
But, now, of course, it was all lost. So the space community has to regroup and figure out how to make up for that loss. There are other launches coming up fairly soon from Russia that will take some supplies up and make a difference.
And no sooner than December, there could be another private launcher, contract launch by SpaceX. That would be out of Cape Canaveral, Florida. But for the time being, Not only that they have to figure out what went wrong with this rocket, but whether or not it did damage to this launch facility, which is very important here and whether or not that will have a future impact on supplying for the ISS, and the privatization of the space program.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: That's right, Tom Foreman. The privatization of the space program, they're doing it a new way now. And this is interesting to see this little setback here.
BERMAN: Yes, this time it didn't work.
ROMANS: It didn't work.
BERMAN: But, you know, NASA has had its own problems when it did itself, too. So --
ROMANS: All right. That's right.
Five minutes past the hour.
The Department of Homeland Security this morning ordering security tightened at nearly 10,000 -- 10,000 federal buildings across the country. A department official tells CNN there's no new intelligence, no specific additional threat to the government buildings as secured by the federal protective service. Officials described the move as a precautionary measure following two attacks last week on the Canadian government. Specifics on the new security measures are not being disclosed for obvious reasons.
BERMAN: New concerns this morning that hackers have hit the White House computer system. Sources tell "The Washington Post" the cyber intruders are believed to be working for the Russian government. The breach is causing temporary service interruptions. White House officials insist that no classified networks were penetrated. The FBI, the National Security Agency and the Secret Service are all now investigating.
ROMANS: The lead investigator in the 2012 scandal involving Secret Service agents paying for prostitutes in Colombia has quit when investigators suspected he had hired a prostitute himself. David Nieland was caught on video during the probe by Florida sheriff's deputies, was later identified by a woman who said he paid her for sex. Nieland resigned from the Department of Homeland Security in August denies those allegations.
BERMAN: This morning, new progress in the fight against Ebola in the United States. Nurse Amber Vinson was released from an Atlanta hospital. Vinson caught Ebola while caring for Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. At a news conference, Vinson thanked those who helped save her life and stressed that the fight against Ebola is not over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMBER VINSON, FORMER EBOLA PATIENT: As a nurse and now someone who has experienced what it's like to be cared for through a life- threatening illness I'm so appreciative and grateful for your exceptional skill, warmth and care. While this is a day for celebration and gratitude, I ask that we not lose focus on the thousands of families who continue to labor under the burden of this disease in West Africa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Vinson's release from isolation leaves just one person hospitalized from Ebola in the United States. That is Dr. Craig Spencer who got the disease working with Ebola patients in Guinea for Doctors Without Borders.
National correspondent Miguel Marquez has the very latest on this condition.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, John, Dr. Craig Spencer remains in serious but stable condition here at Bellevue Hospital. His case sparked a national firestorm about health care workers on the frontlines in Ebola stricken areas and coming back to the U.S.
The president now weighing in.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But we don't want to do things that aren't based on sciences and best practices, because if we do, then we're just putting another barrier on somebody who is already doing really important work on our behalf.
MARQUEZ: The president taking a not so veiled shot at state governors like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and New York's Andrew Cuomo, who imposed a mandatory quarantine for workers returning from Ebola stricken areas. That issue now a growing national debate.
Meanwhile, the 5-year-old boy who was her at Bellevue who they thought might have Ebola, it turns out he had a respiration infection. He will be taken out of isolation to remain at Bellevue to be taken care of -- John, Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Miguel Marquez, thanks for that, Miguel.
Now, the nurse released after a weekend spent quarantined in New Jersey, she said she will not agree to mandatory isolation in her home state of Maine. Kaci Hickox treated Ebola patients in West Africa. She was isolated against her will after she flew to New Jersey, even though she had no symptoms and tested negative for the Ebola virus. Her lawyers say she will not comply with Maine where health officials ask that she remained under quarantine for 21 days.
New Jersey Governor Christie remains unapologetic about confining that nurse to a tent and dismisses her threat to sue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Looks like you're going to have to defend this in court?
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: Well, whatever. Get in line. I've been sued lots of times before. Get in line. I'll be happy to take it on.
REPORTER: Governor, do you have any (INAUDIBLE) about the tent and those conditions?
CHRISTIE: No, Kelly, the tent was inside the hospital. It's called an isolation tent because she needed to be isolated because she was suspected to have Ebola. So, no, I had concerns -- and, by the way, neither the CDC who is on the ground in University Hospital monitoring the condition she was in. She had access to the Internet and we brought her take-out food.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Meanwhile, health officials in New York are apparently softening their quarantine even further. New guidelines issued Tuesday called for travelers arriving from West Africa to be allowed to choose where they want to be held in isolation -- somewhat different than Governor Cuomo's warning last week that travelers might be held at a government-regulated facility.
BERMAN: At the same time, President Obama is calling for monitoring instead of quarantine. The U.S. Army has decided that troops returning from Ebola-stricken West African nations into mandatory isolation. They will not be able to have physical contact with their families or anyone else for 21 days. The administration explains the difference between soldiers and civilian medical volunteers as a matter of efficiency.
ROMANS: All right. Ten minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money this morning.
So far, it's a great day for stocks around the world, folks. Asian stocks much higher right now, strong corporate earnings and Japanese manufacturing data. The reason: looks like European stocks will follow that lead this morning.
Here in the U.S., futures are mixed after a great day for stock investors yesterday. The Dow climbed 187 point, that's about 1 percent. That puts the Dow above 17,000 for the first time since October. That's right, almost erasing October's ugly performance.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ did even better, ending the day up 1.7 percent right now. NASDAQ futures playing lower. Why? Facebook a big reason. Facebook shares down 8 percent. Facebook is having huge success in mobile advertising, but executives warned costs will increase dramatically next year, as the company makes investments, and that big investment forecast has investors in stock a little concerned this morning.
BERMAN: All right. Fans in San Francisco, a little concerned this morning. Why? They stunk last night. The Royals just crushed them in game six of the World Series. It was essentially all over by the second inning when the Royals sent about 36 men to the plate scoring about 127 runs.
It was the biggest shutout margin. The final score was like 11-0. It was the biggest shutout margin since 1985. And the last team to do that was the Royals in the World Series several years ago.
What was the final score last night? It was 10-0 last night. It was 11-0 in 1985.
But this sets up the most exciting thing in sports and therefore the most exciting thing on earth. A game seven tonight, winner-takes-all. The Royals against the San Francisco Giants at the Kansas City Kauffman Stadium. That would be exciting.
ROMANS: Your energy and enthusiasm for sports stories is -- surpasses any other story.
BERMAN: what's interesting, though, is excited as I am about tonight, last night was -- it was a ridiculously bad game. The giants in the second inning just rolled over completely and it was over. And now, we have tonight.
ROMANS: We got another game.
BERMAN: Thirteen minutes after the hour. The fight against ISIS in Syria intensifying this morning as new help arrives. We're live with who will soon be on the battlefield. ROMANS: Plus, lava just yards away from homes in Hawaii. Dramatic
new video overnight, ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Developing overnight: Kurdish Peshmerga troops have reached a milestone on their journey to reinforce Syrian Kurds fighting ISIS in Kobani. The first contingent landing at an air strip in Turkey overnight. The second group traveling by land with heavy weapons is due to arrive in the coming hours.
Now, the initial Peshmerga reinforcements are expected to cross the border in Kobani later today.
I want to turn to international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh. He's live on the Turkish-Syrian border for us.
Nick, tell us the latest on this movement of Peshmerga troops.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, some of the reinforcements as we understand have entered Kobani, but they weren't the ones that the Syrian Kurds inside defending the city we're expecting. As you say, we're expecting Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga who are on route now over land, thirty-eight vehicles at least we understand, traveling slowly through Turkey towards the officials border crossing behind me and on the plane.
Those who entered, though, at about 5:00 this morning, after which our crews here have heard consistent heavy gunfire from inside the city. Those who entered are in fact Syrian rebels, we understand, from speaking to one Kurdish fighter inside the city, and the man, commander Abdul Jabbar al-Oqaidi, who says he's leading that Syrian/Turkey group.
Turkey has said they wanted to send Syrian rebels in to help the defense of Kobani, and it must have been a surprise to those Syrian Kurds in that city when at dawn this morning, the first to cross were not Peshmerga but in fact Syrian rebels. That may be the reason why we've heard such consistent gunfire behind me in the past hour or so.
And in the hours ahead, those Peshmerga will have to enter. It's going to be tricky, Christine, there are airplanes above me as I hear, and it must be coalition jets, and we're heard air strikes this morning.
But it is an intense battlefield there in the area in which they want to push those Peshmerga and maybe they want to continue to clear the area behind the official crossing, or it could be because ISIS are pushing back. Unclear, but certainly volatile hours here near Kobani, Christine.
ROMANS: Clearly. And, you know, the American government recently had been saying that, you know, the fall of Kobani was not a critical item for -- you know, for what their goal was in fighting ISIS. But it looks as though there is a real effort under way here to try to keep that -- keep that city out of the hands of ISIS. WALSH: Well, certainly. I mean, yes, Kobani is not in itself a
strategic city. Aleppo, the largest city in Syria, is potentially about to be besieged by the regime, has its access cut off. That's not got what focused because this city behind me is visible from Turkey and it's become for all sides, a psychological token in some ways.
The coalition want to show their airpower can push ISIS back. ISIS wants to show, using a British hostage John Cantlie as a, quote, "their war reporter" inside, that they are on the forefoot here. And it's vitally important for Syrian Kurds, their broader ambition for some sort of independence and separatism on the Turkey/Syrian border.
It has become a very important symbol for where the border is going and the fight for it I think about to change significantly in the hours ahead -- Christine.
ROMANS: About to change significantly. Thank you so much -- Nick Paton Walsh for us this morning.
BERMAN: We're hearing this morning from the father of one of three Denver girls who tried to fly to Syria to join ISIS. He says his daughter was confused and had no role would be if she actually connected with the extremists. He goes on to call his daughter and her friends, his word, stupid little girls. And said he is troubled by who might be responsible for recruiting them online. The girls were stopped earlier this month in Germany by the FBI forced to return home.
ROMANS: A friend of Boston marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is expected to appeal his conviction on two counts of lying to federal investigators. It took a jury six days to find Robel Philippos guilty of trying to conceal evidence. His lawyers insist he was jut a confused 19-year-old who was outraged when he learned what Tsarnaev had allegedly done. He faces eight years in prison and $250,000 fine for each conviction and his sentencing is in January.
BERMAN: Word this morning of a possible break in the suspected cop killer Eric Frein. Police in Pennsylvania say the fugitive may have been spotted by a resident in a private community in the Poconos. They are not releasing any other details. Frein allegedly opened fire outside a police barracks six weeks ago, killing one officer and wounding another. He has been on the run ever since.
ROMANS: It's a slow motion natural disaster on Hawaii's big island. As many as 50 homes in the town of Pahoa are directly in the path of the lava flow from the erupting Kilauea volcano. Residents just now beginning to evacuate, but officials say if they wish to stay to witness the destruction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARRYL OLIVEIRA, HAWAII CIVIL DEFENSE ADMINISTRATOR: There will be an opportunity for them to remain on site, provided it's safe to do so, and photograph, document, as well as observe what's happening to their property. It's a means of them possibly recovering some of their expenses or recovering from this event, as well as provide closure because it a very traumatic experience to go through. It's something that could be drawn out over months.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Drawn out over months.
With 2,000-degree lava, some places it's now chest high.
BERMAN: All right. Twenty-one minutes after the hour.
Republicans hoping to take over the Senate, they are getting a helping hand this morning.
ROMANS: Plus, is Sarah Palin ready to run for office? What she's now saying, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: A late shift in political donations this campaign season. Business groups are backing for Republican candidates than Democrats in key Senate races. And in some cases, they're even betting against incumbent senators. This is according to "The Wall Street Journal."
An expert tells the paper that the change of heart for the political action committees is in part a signal to the group's policy preferences. But partly and perhaps more importantly, a sign of who they think is most likely to win.
ROMANS: President Obama on the campaign trail as we count down to the midterm elections. He spent yesterday in Milwaukee trying to give Mary Burke a boost in her race to be governor of Wisconsin. She's trying to unseat Republican Scott Walker in a race that, you know what, this one could really go down the wire.
The president less of a liability for Democrats in Wisconsin. A recent poll shows his favorability rating there about 10 percent higher than in national polls.
BERMAN: He's going to the most blue parts of mostly blue states on this trip.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton will be in Iowa today trying to rally Democrats and put Senate candidate Bruce Braley over the top there. His name is Braley, although many people supporting him can't seem to say that.
ROMANS: Not Bailey, Braley.
BERMAN: Braley.
He's in a tough battle with Republican State Senator Joni Ernst. They are vying to replace Democrat Tom Harkin who is retiring after 30 years. Democrats are trying to hang on to the seat, but Ernst has a very slight move in polls. Bill Clinton going to the state this weekend to campaign for Braley.
ROMANS: It's a nail-biter in Iowa. The other interesting thing that it's first open seat I think in 25 years. They keep their politicians for a long time.
BERMAN: Tom Harkin, he's retiring after 30 years in the Senate and he's the junior senator of the state of Iowa.
ROMANS: I know.
BERMAN: Grassley has been there even longer.
ROMANS: I remember him coming to my kindergarten class. I mean, that's how long he's been around.
All right. Twenty-seven minutes past the hour.
BERMAN: An unmanned rocket exploding in the sky, just seconds after liftoff. This morning, investigators trying to figure out what went wrong and what it means for the future of space travel. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
