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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Obama Willing to Listen, Drawing A Line; The War on ISIS: Obama Looks to Congress; Abducted Nurse Found Alive; Miami Herald: A-Rod Admitted PED Use to Feds

Aired November 06, 2014 - 05:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama vowing to work with Republicans or without them. Congratulating the GOP on their election victory, but promising to go it alone if they can't find common ground. The president and the Republican leaders of Congress had to say overnight, that's ahead.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The president shifts strategy when it comes to fighting ISIS in Syria. He will now ask Congress to vote. We are live with the latest.

ROMANS: A Philadelphia nurse whose violent abduction caught on camera, she has been found alive. Her suspected captor behind bars this morning. We're breaking down the latest developments in that dramatic case.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. It is Thursday, November 6. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East. Great to see you.

And this morning, President Obama is adjusting to a drastically changed political landscape. Republicans set to take control of both houses of Congress. The president wasting no time extending an olive branch, he has set up a meeting with the congressional leadership for Friday. Doing that while he's still arguing for his own relevance.

President overnight issued an open letter to the American people that says, quote, "While I'm sure we will disagree on issues that we're passionate about, I'm eager to work with Congress over the next two years to get the job done."

Now, he had a big news conference Wednesday. Everyone looking to see how he would act, what was his demeanor be? He delivered sort of the same message that he is listing, willing to work with Republicans, but not willing to give up his agenda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What stands out to me, though, is that the American people sent a message. So, to everyone who voted, I want you to know I hear you. To the 2/3 of voters who chose not to participate in the process yesterday, I hear you, too. I'll be reaching out to both Mitch McConnell and John Boehner and

other Republicans, as well as Democratic leaders, to find out how it is that they want to proceed. And if they want to get a bill done, whether it's during the lame duck or next year, I'm eager to see what they have to offer. But what I'm not going to do is just wait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Topping of list the president says he's not willing to wait for is immigration reform. The president says he intends to take executive action on his own before the end of the year to, as he puts it, improve the functioning of our immigration system. Obama adds he expects some Republicans to be angered or frustrated by those actions.

Right on queue, the man expected to be the next Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, says Republicans will use their newly won control to stop the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: It is like waving a red flag in front of a bull to say, if you guys don't do what I want, I'm going to do it on my own.

And the president has done that on Obamacare. He's done it on immigration and threatening to do it again.

I hope he won't do that, because I do think it poisons the well for the opportunity to address a very important domestic issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, Senator McConnell is set to take over as majority leader starting in January, the terms of McConnell's relationship with President Obama, they are set to change in a big way. The president says he is certainly going to be spending a lot more time with the Kentucky senator and having once mocked the idea of getting a drink with McConnell. He did that at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

President Obama says he would now enjoy having some Kentucky bourbon with him.

Our chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash has more -- Dana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Mitch McConnell has gotten the call he has been waiting for his entire political life, a congratulatory call from the president, for seizing the GOP majority and for becoming the presumptive Senate majority leader.

Now, he has been thinking and planning and plotting for months about how to handle this power once Republicans got it. Again, not just control of the Senate, but total control of Congress. Now, McConnell knows Republicans have to lead. He made that very clear. They can't just win elections. They have to show that they can govern.

That was the thrust of message in an op-ed in "The Wall Street Journal", penned by both McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner. They set a conciliatory tone. And said they know they have to prove early on that they can legislate. They plan to start right in January when the new Congress comes in, putting some issues on the floor of each chamber, that they can pass.

But, you know, just because they hold votes, doesn't mean it's the end of gridlock. The president has a veto pen. One he only used twice in six years, which is kind of unbelievable. But Democrats have controlled the Senate since the president has been in office. And they would not let legislation go to the White House he wouldn't sign.

But, as for the president, he did offer a sort of Kentucky bourbon summit with McConnell, so they can talk about areas of common ground and build a relationship which both men say is cordial, but we know from sources that it's certainly not be very close. But what's unclear is let's say they could even do that. Do we really think that a lame duck president and a Republican leader with an unruly caucus can cut deals? That's the big question -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: A big question indeed. Dana Bash, thank you for that this morning.

President Obama also signaled a big change on the war on ISIS, calling for new authorization from Congress for the use of military force. This marks a significant reversal of the administration's claim. Up until now, the use of force authorizations against al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein were enough.

I want to turn to Nick Paton Walsh with more on that this morning.

Good morning, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, perhaps Barack Obama seeking Congress authorization or at least discussion here suggests we're in for a longer campaign against is. Perhaps, too, ahead of the 2016 presidential elections, maybe this is Democrats' strategy to see what the Republican ideas on ISIS if they don't agree with the White House strategy right now.

But, today, day by day, in fact, we see the strategy shifting. It appears that overnight, there had been some new air strikes. According to one monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, these air strikes hit an area called Idlib, in the northwest of Syria, where the Nusra front that previously have taken territory there from moderates in last week or so, the Nusra front has been hit, apparently, one vehicle of theirs near the border crossing point and another headquarters, the target of the air strikes say the monitoring group. But also something new and very different, too -- a headquarters belonging to a group called Ahrar al-Sham. This is a group who are not considered a terrorist organization by the United States. They have not pledged allegiance to al Qaeda, even. Many in fact considered them to be a amongst the moderates in Syrian rebel ranks, despite the conservative ideology at the heart of what they do.

So, if indeed these explosions were the result of coalition airstrikes, Washington will have to explain why a new group is on the terror organization list they are willing to hit here and why they decided to broaden their strategy here overnight and why it is that some groups who some consider moderate, certainly some Syrian citizens are thankful for protecting them in the civil war against the Syrian regime, why Washington now have them in their crosshairs, if it is indeed the case -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, thanks for that, Nick, this morning.

And President Obama says nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers being deployed to Liberia will not be treating Ebola patients. But more than 70 doctors and nurses from the U.S. public health will begin treating infected health care workers this week. Now, that group is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The president is also asking Congress for more than $6 billion in emergency funding to fight the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

BERMAN: Dr. Craig Spencer appears to be gaining the upper hand in his battle with the Ebola virus. The New York doctor is said to be improving at Bellevue hospital, listed in stable condition.

What did they say about him this morning?

ROMANS: He is playing the banjo and riding a stationary bike.

BERMAN: He was so bored, he asked for somebody to get his banjo so he can play it in his hospital. Banjos make everything better.

City health officials tell us that one person who was quarantined after coming into contact with Dr. Spencer, that person has now been released and is Ebola free.

ROMANS: All right. More than 24 hours after polls closed across the country, there are a handful of Senate and gubernatorial races still up in the air. Alaska and Virginia are too close to call. A third race in Louisiana is heading to a runoff next month. Among the gubernatorial races with close finishes, Vermont and Alaska, still yet to be resolved.

Time for an early start on your money. Republicans win. Stocks hit records. U.S. stock futures down a bit right now, but it was a record day yesterday.

The Dow jumped at the open, up 100 points, closed at a record. The S&P finished at a high. Investors are hoping more Republican leadership means more pro- business policies. Those policies could be especially beneficial to certain industries, utilities and energy stocks which soared yesterday. There's plenty of speculation Republicans will now push through approval of the Keystone pipeline, making it easier to export liquefied natural gas.

Yesterday, European stocks climbed on the GOP win, but today the focus shifts. The European Central Bank policy meeting. Stocks are lower there and also in Asia mixed.

You know, when you look through history since 1945, when you have a Democrat in the White House and Republican control of the Congress, those are the best returns in general for the stock market. So, that is one thing the historians going back and looking at the scenario.

Look at history. If that is a guide, those are good situations for the stock market.

BERMAN: I would like to see the savings accounts of historians and how right there and how good they are in all this.

All right. New developments in the violent abduction of a Philadelphia nurse. This victim found alive. Her suspected kidnapper behind bars. Dramatic developments overnight. That's just ahead.

ROMANS: Plus, a big chill is moving in bringing in the first taste of winter. Jennifer Gray is tracking how cold it's going to get. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: A dramatic development in Philadelphia as a woman whose abduction was caught on video found alive in Maryland. Carlesha Freeland-Gaither is already out of the hospital. Her alleged kidnapper, he is behind bars this morning. The developments come as much-needed relief to her family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEISHA GAITHER, MOTHER OF KIDNAPPING VICTIM: She was very upset. She was crying. She just was asking for me, to tell me she loved me, she missed me, to come get her.

REPORTER: What did you say to her?

GAITHER: I'm going to get my daughter. I'm going to get my daughter.

CHARLES RAMSEY, PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER: He is a vicious predator. He is off the streets and hopefully he will be in jail for the rest of his life. That's the only thing he deserves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So, how did police track these two down? This abducted woman down? CNN's Jean Casarez has the latest developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police made the announcement a little after 7:00 last night that Carlesha Gaither has been found alive. She was found in Jessup, Maryland. And police say she was in the car of her abductor pulled over to the side of the road. They were able to locate him because they were able to locate his vehicle.

They moved in, they apprehended him and they rescued her. She was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, police say.

They began to question her. She's been through a lot but they will find out more in the upcoming days. They do believe, though, this is a stranger abduction.

Now, it was just Sunday night at 9:40 and you can see the video here. It is extraordinary horrific video of a kidnapping caught on tape from a surveillance camera that happened to be on and rolling that Sunday night.

As you can see, her kidnapper, with purpose, walks across the street, walks down to where it is believed she got off a bus, finds her, introduces himself or speaks to her and minutes later, the kidnapping begins. She can hardly struggle because of the force of that kidnapper as he walks up her that street toward his car. She fights and loses her cell phone. He actually gets her into his vehicle.

The windows of the back passenger area were broken out by Carlesha, but he sped off. There is video of him taking her ATM card to get money and going to a convenience store. But it's that that surveillance video that helped locate who we know as 37-year-old Delvin Barnes being held this morning on attempted murder out of Virginia, waiting federal charges in this case in Pennsylvania -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Thanks, Jean Casarez for that.

A troubling story out of Washington. A man there in custody in Washington state after allegedly killing his girlfriend and posting pictures of her body online. Amber Lynn Coplin was found dead in her apartment on Wednesday. Her boyfriend, David Kalac was arrested after police say he posted pictures of her body with chilling descriptions of the slayings and challenging authorities to find him and kill him. Police say Kalac texted a friend Tuesday morning and telling the friend he would read about him in the news.

ROMANS: Activists in Ferguson, Missouri, they are hoping to head off any potential problems with the grand jury deciding not to indict Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown. Members of the Don't Shoot Coalition are asking prosecutors for 48 hours notice before announcement is made to the public. That request is now being considered. The grand jury decision is expected to be handed up by the middle of the month.

BERMAN: A federal grand jury now hearing testimony on whether George Zimmerman violated Trayvon Martin's civil rights when he fatally shot the Florida teenager in 2012. You will recall that Zimmerman was acquitted of second degree murder in the criminal case last year.

ROMANS: All right. Virgin Galactic forging ahead, just a week after losing SpaceShipTwo in a deadly dramatic crash in the Mojave Desert. Now, the company's announcing plans to resume test flights as early as next summer, but it has to finish construction of the new craft in time. The spacecraft it lost is a half billion dollars piece of science and machinery.

Now, the company also confirming 20 customers who plunked down $250,000 each to reserve their spot on the future flight to space, they now have now asked for a refund, John.

BERMAN: Snow in North Dakota just the beginning. And there will be a lot more coming in the months ahead. About 2 inches fell in the first snowstorm there. Like I said, you can bet more is on the way.

ROMANS: Jennifer Gray has an early start of your forecast.

Hello, Jennifer.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, good morning, guys. That snow has pushed east. We are looking at it in portions of Michigan, Wisconsin. Only about an inch or two inches expected.

So, nothing major there. The big story on the picture today, all the rain. You can see stretching from New York City all the way down to Houston, actually some very much-need rain across drought stricken Texas. San Antonio got in on the action. Houston pushing into southern Louisiana.

Also, the Northeast, we're seeing quite a bit of rain from D.C., Philly, all the way up to New York. And cooler temperatures behind that. Right now, temperatures are right around 49 degrees in New York City, 56 in D.C., 48 in Chicago.

Temperatures aren't going to warm up much. The cold front is going to sweep through. Temperatures are going to continue to fall over the next couple of days. High temperatures today in New York, 55 degrees. That's three degrees below normal.

D.C., you are at 66. Then by tomorrow, the cooler air will filter in. D.C. will be at 49 tomorrow. That's about nine degrees below normal. New York at 52. Then as we go on to Saturday, even cooler with high temperatures in the upper 40s -- John and Christine.

ROMANS: Jennifer, thank you. Maybe thank you for that. Yes, thank you.

GRAY: No problem.

ROMANS: Fifty-one is not 31. All right. Berkeley, California, the first city in the nation to pass a soda tax. The measure was approved. It imposes a penny a tax on sugary beverages. Soft drink makers spent more than 10 million bucks to defeat this new law, but a large infusion of cash from Michael Bloomberg helped fund last pro-sugar tax advertising. Bloomberg tried unsuccessfully to ban super size sugary beverages when he was mayor of New York.

BERMAN: I looked it up. Mayor Bloomberg donated $40 million to different campaigns in this political cycle.

ROMANS: Wow. I think he's one of the biggest individual donors out there.

BERMAN: I have to imagine.

All right. A confession to tell you about from Alex Rodriguez. We will tell you what the embattled Yankee third baseman reportedly told federal investigators behind closed doors. A different story he was saying in public about performance enhancing drugs.

Andy Scholes has the smile. What's behind that smile? We will tell you in the bleacher report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. Get a pen and pad out because Alex Rodriguez apparently said he did use steroids after denying and after that time he denied it.

ROMANS: Andy Scholes. What is happening in the bleacher report this morning?

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, good morning, guys.

You know, when the Biogenesis scandal broke, A-Rod was adamant, repeating over and over again, I did not use steroids while playing for the Yankees. Then he was under oath, he did use steroids, according to "The Miami Herald" in a report. They say A-Rod met with DEA agents back in January and after given immunity, he admitted to using banned substances between 2010 and 2012.

Now, A-Rod told them he took testosterone cream, testosterone gummies and injected himself in the stomach with HGH. A-Rod was recently reinstated after being suspended for the entire 2014 season, a reminder he signed through 2017 at $20 million a season.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was the first person to take the stand in the Ray Rice appeal hearing yesterday. That's according to most reports. Goodell testified for more than two hours. Now, there is a gag order on the hearing. So, what he said is still unknown.

The big question with Goodell is what did he know and when regarding the tape of Rice striking his then fiancee. Both Ray and Janay Rice are expected to testify later today. All right. To the NBA, it's been a rough start for LeBron. The big

three in Cleveland. Cavs and Jazz last night, the game was tied with three seconds to go, and Gordon Hayward, the fade away at the buzzer. Jazz win the game 102-100.

The Cavs now 1-3 to start the year. So, not the start everyone was hoping for in Cleveland, but not exactly time to hit the panic button just yet. You know, the big three in Miami, they struggled the first year together, but they eventually got things going and went to NBA finals that year. So, not time to hit the panic button just yet.

ROMANS: I got to go back to A-Rod. You guys are sports guys. I just got to know, how can you know like a winner if you cheated? Doesn't it take away the point of winning?

SCHOLES: That's everyone in baseball for the entire '90s.

BERMAN: Exactly. Except for the 1990s and some of the 2000s, I'm sure you are completely right.

ROMANS: Call me naive.

BERMAN: Andy Scholes, great to see you this morning.

ROMANS: All right. President Obama congratulating the newly elected Republican-led Congress, vowing to work with them or against them. We are breaking down the complicated new relationships in Washington, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)