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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Obama to Meet With Congressional Leaders; Obama Wrote Iranian Leader About ISIS; Former SEAL Says He Killed Bin Laden; Kidnapping Suspect Linked to Second Attack; Tensions Tear Jerusalem

Aired November 07, 2014 - 05:30   ET

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

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Beginning in just hours, President Obama meets with the new leaders of the next Congress. This is for the first time since Tuesday's elections. The Republicans who will now be in control, they will be there. The question is will this be a friendly meeting or the first of many confrontations.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: New help could be coming in the war on ISIS and from a very unlikely place, Iran. Could the U.S. partner with Iran to fight those terrorists?

BERMAN: A troubling past revealed. The man accused of abducting a Philadelphia nurse may have struck before. Who else police say this man attacked? Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's 31 minutes past the hour this Friday morning. Change is coming. President Obama and the man soon- to-be majority leader, Mitch McConnell having their first meeting later today along with the rest of the House and Senate leadership.

And judging from the tone of remarks made over the couple of days, by the president and congressional Republicans, there is a pretty good possibility of a face-to-face confrontation.

CNN White House correspondent, Michelle Kosinski, has more for us this morning.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John and Christine, yes, maybe we could all use a bourbon summit as it has been called after hearing this back and forth over the last few days, these warning shots.

This is all supposed to be presented in this new spirit of cooperation. Listen to the speaker of the House, John Boehner, talking about the possibility that the president could take executive action on immigration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER: I believe the president continues to act on his own. He is going to poison the well. When you play with matches, you take the risk of burning yourself and he's going burn himself if he continues to go down this path.

The American people made it clear Election Day they want to get things done and they don't want the president acting on a unilateral basis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: We did hear the White House say repeatedly that the president is open to doing things differently. That if he sees areas to make some changes without getting into specifics that he will make changes in order to get things done.

They say that progress starts now with this big meeting today at the White House, 16 congressional leaders. The White House says it is a beginning point to look at what everybody wants to get done and find those of areas of common ground.

Some obvious starting points would be things like ISIS, immigration, Ebola. So if the optimistic view that is being put out there, this is a rededication to let's really work together now.

The reasonable question is why wasn't this done a long time ago? The White House acknowledged that yes, even on the part of the president, more could have been done.

We asked the question, you know, one of the biggest criticisms you hear the president from both Democrats and Republicans is that he doesn't reach out enough, doesn't engage enough. They said sure that that is true to some extent, but they put the onus on Republicans.

Saying that in the past, Republicans saw a political gain and trying to oppose everything the president wanted to do and that now just maybe they could see some benefit in finding that common ground -- John and Christine.

BERMAN: All right, our thanks to Michelle Kosinski, at the White House.

Other big news from the White House this morning, word of a secret letter sent last month by President Obama to the supreme leader of Iran with possible cooperation in the war against ISIS.

This is not the first time that President Obama has written the Ayatollah Khomeini. In fact, this is the fourth time since he became president.

The "Wall Street Journal" reports that any cooperation between the U.S. and Iran in the fight against ISIS would depend on reaching a deal on the future of Iran's nuclear program.

The administration refuses to confirm that the letter even exists and denies that there is any coordination with Iran or any link to a nuclear deal. Congressional Republicans are not at all happy about the reports of this dialogue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEN PSAKI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: Obviously, we understand that they have a concern about the threat of ISIL, which they have expressed as well. But I would not look at it as a path to a different type of coordination.

BOEHNER: I don't trust the Iranians. I don't think we need to bring them into this. I would hope the negotiations that are under way are serious negotiations, but I have my doubts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: On Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry begins negotiations or renews negotiations with Iran's foreign minister on the possible nuclear agreement. The White House puts a chance of reaching a deal at about 50/50.

ROMANS: A U.S. airstrike in Syria has apparently scored a big win in the battle against terror. A U.S. defense official says a major attack on the Khorasan Group is believed to have killed its most skilled bomb maker, a Frenchman, David Drugeon.

Intelligence officials believed the 24-year-old French national was developing non-metallic bombs that could be snuck through airport security. The Pentagon says the airstrikes hit five Khorasan targets.

A Syrian human rights group says civilians were also killed as they were anti-Assad fighters for Jabat Al-Nusra and Arar Al-Asham. Two groups that have not made terror attack against western targets a priority so far.

BERMAN: A former Navy SEAL says he is the man who shot Osama Bin Laden. Robert O'Neill had been a SEAL for 15 years at the time of the 2011 Bin Laden raid that's according to the "Washington Post."

Now he is the target of criticism. Some in the military community wonder how he could claim to have fired the kill shot when at least two others in Bin Laden's room fired the weapons as well.

Some critics fault O'Neill for seeking attention at all and others say O'Neill is taking a serious risk by acknowledging his role.

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JONATHAN GILLIAM, FORMER NAVY SEAL: He sacrificed a lot in doing this whether he is the real shooter or not, he's put a bull's-eye on his back. That is bigger and a lot of ways than the bull's-eye that Osama Bin Laden had on his.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": Are you talking about an actual bull's-eye from Jihadists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, his family and himself. He is on the speaking circuit. Anybody who sees this guy is a target when they are in a room with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: O'Neill says he was only willing to publicly acknowledge his part in killing Bin Laden after being outed by a military blog earlier this week.

ROMANS: All right, time for an early start on your money, a higher open for stocks, which would cap another big week of gains. The Dow and S&P 500 sitting at record highs, but if that continuous depend on the big jobs report.

The October jobs report is out later this morning, looking for 230,000 jobs created and a 5.9 percent unemployment rate.

Big news this morning, a new report claiming Japanese auto parts maker, Takata, hid results of test of faulty air bags.

The "New York Times" cites two former employees of Takata, who says engineers were alarmed at what they found during tests in 2006, but the report says instead of alerting regulators, executives ordered technicians to delete the test results.

The first airbag recall wasn't issued until two years later and now ten different automakers have recalled vehicles because of the failed air bags. These air bags can explode and the inflator basically turns into a missile, shrapnel.

The Center for Auto Safety says there have been four deaths and dozens of injuries tied to the defect.

A disturbing new detail revealed about the man accused of kidnapping a Philadelphia nurse. She is not the only woman police say he attacked.

Plus an arctic blast is coming your way, millions in its path. Indra Petersons is tracking the plummeting temperatures with a smile on her face.

BERMAN: She will stand in the path. She will block this.

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BERMAN: New details this morning about the man who allegedly snatched a woman off the street in Philadelphia. The victim, Carlesha Freeland-Gaither was rescued Wednesday night by police in Maryland.

She was found inside Delvin Barnes' car. Now police say they have a confession from the 37-year-old suspect and this is not the first time he has done something like this. Listen to his closest friend who says he is stunned by these charges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We used to chill and hang out. He's a good guy. He is always looking to help somebody, always looking to bend over back backwards. I don't believe it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So who is Delvin Barnes? What do police know about the suspect and his past? Jean Casarez takes a look.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Federal charges have now been brought against Delvin Barnes in the abduction and kidnapping of Carlesha Freeland-Gaither and transporting her across the state lines into Maryland.

This was brought in the eastern district of Pennsylvania. While this is all happening, Barnes waived extradition to come right back here to Virginia where he lives to face local charges of attempted capital murder.

In a strange irony and twist of fate, this local case may have helped save the life of Carlesha. It was a month ago police say that a young 16-year-old local girl was walking along the street and they say that Barnes kidnapped her, hit her with a shovel and put her in the trunk of a car transporting her to a home.

She was then police say assaulted. Out in the backyard, he made her take her clothes off. He began to allegedly dig a grave saying, I'm going to kill you at the same time dousing her with bleach and then gasoline setting her on fire.

She escaped. She survived. She was taken to a local hospital and she given a forensic rape examination. That perpetrator DNA was matched to Delvin Barnes. But at that time, police say, which was about a week ago, he fled the state.

It's that DNA that led them to Delvin Barnes in Philadelphia via the surveillance camera. When local police saw that video, they recognized him and saw a decal on his car, which led to a local car agency here.

And lo and behold, a GPS tracker was put on Barnes car because he was a credit risk. Immediately, local police called ATF and said we have located the car and that is when they rescued Carlesha.

Carlesha at this moment is with her family and she is safe. She is trying to understand and comprehend what has happened to her. But her family is grateful and tell me she is our hero -- Christine, John.

ROMANS: All right, Jean Casarez, thank you for that. A big chill on the way this morning. Indra Petersons, is it an early end to fall or early start to winter?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Early start to winter in a big way. A lot of people think we have a storm. This is what we are talking about. Hardly, yes, there is a low still cruising up the eastern seaboard exiting out of the area today.

But not before dumping about a foot of snow in northern portions of the Maine, the back side of that wrapping around that cool air and still bringing some scattered showers in through the northeast.

Take a look at these temperatures. Enjoy them. They are not here to stay. Notice how mild it is across the entire country. Now we have to talk about what is changing. Remember, what you know about Super Storm Sandy, you had a strong hurricane. The remnants of that combined with another cold system. It's exactly what we are dealing with right now.

We have a super typhoon, a huge, massive typhoon off the coast of Japan. It is now extra tropical, but it is combined with the cold polar jet stream to the north.

So outward to the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, we now have massive 50-foot waves out there. It will impact all of us. Take a piece of rope and you see the ripple wave continue down the country with the jet stream.

The cold air will impact us by next week that cold air down in through the southeast bringing temperatures a good 20 degrees below average for even this time of year.

Here is the cold air in place right now, hardly the story. This cold air will spread to the east for the weekend. Another cold front kind of kicks on through this weekend reinforcing that cold air, but it is not that arctic blast expected to come our way about Wednesday through Friday of next week.

Notice how far south this cold air goes, guys. Look at the temperatures. This is starting Monday of next week. You know Minnesota is in the 50s today and going to the 20s in New York City. These are not the lows, dropping further than that by next week so yes, early, early start to winter.

BERMAN: I was looking ahead, lows in the 20s by the end of next week.

PETERSONS: Prepare yourself.

ROMANS: Got to go find the mittens and the gloves everybody.

Let's take a look at what is coming up on "NEW DAY." Alisyn Camerota joins us this morning. It's Friday, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": I have my cashmere on. I'm ready. Thanks so much, guys. They don't have to like each other, but they do have to work together. President Obama set to meet with congressional leaders today including the soon-to-be Republican majority leader.

Lots of key issues to discuss so we will have reports from Washington. And we will speak with the president's former press secretary, Jay Carney, on how this is going to work.

Plus, lots of developments in the terror fight. The U.S. is believed to have taken out a key al Qaeda bombmaker, but still concerns about the spread of his influence.

There is sickening video of ISIS fighters mocking women as sex slaves. The president also reaching out to Iran's leader about ISIS and leading Republicans are outraged about that. We will have all the latest for you when "NEW DAY" begins at the top of the hour. ROMANS: All right, thanks.

BERMAN: It's 47 minutes after the hour. New violence on the streets of Jerusalem caught on camera. Tense situation playing out this morning. We're live in Israel next.

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BERMAN: Serious tension in Jerusalem this morning and serious concern that it could get worse. Palestinian demonstrators have been throwing rocks and fireworks at Israel riot police.

These police have fired back with tear gas. One Palestinian did turn himself into Israeli authorities on Thursday. They say he admitted to smashing his vehicle into the crowd of Israelis the day before.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin is live on the ground in Jerusalem this morning. Erin, give us a sense of what's going on right now.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Israeli hospital officials confirming to CNN this morning that a second victim has died from the attack on a Jerusalem tram station earlier in the week.

Israeli media is identifying the victim as a 17-year-old Israeli teenager. Meanwhile, here outside the old city, the situation is calm. As you can see, I don't know if you can see, worshippers exiting the site known as the sanctuary and to Jews as the temple mound.

Friday prayers are over. There is still a very heavy security presence out on the streets of Jerusalem over this way, as you can see, some Israeli police are packing up to leave this area.

This is a very different scene than the clashes we saw unfolding inside the site on Wednesday when Israeli forces were clashing with Palestinian youth.

I was actually outside the entrance to one of the sites where Israeli forces were clearing the area using stun grenades and rubber bullets.

Hours later, a 38-year-old Palestinian man drove a van into a tram station colliding with a group of people killing two Israeli citizens as well as injuring about a dozen.

I spoke to the wife of the perpetrator. She told me that it is her belief that the attack was motivated in part by the clashes that had unfolded early in the morning and Israeli measures put in place at the site.

As for things now, the situation here again is calm, but still a deep suspicious among the members of the status quo of the site that Jewish members are allowed. Today, only men over the age of 35 and women were allowed inside the site to pray -- John.

BERMAN: Erin McLaughlin, calm right now, relatively speaking, but several hours more to go today, you will keep your eye on it for us. Thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right, 53 minutes past the hour. In hours, the October jobs report comes out what we are expecting and what it could do for the markets, hinge, futures are higher. An EARLY START on your money is next.

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ROMANS: Time for an EARLY START of your money this Friday. Stock futures are higher. Markets in Asia are lower, but you know, investors here in the U.S. remain optimistic about the U.S. economy. The Dow and S&P 500 sitting near records highs after gains yesterday.

Another round of record highs that could depend on the big October jobs report. Here is a preview of that. The Labor Department will release those numbers at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

Here is what economists surveyed by CNN Money expect, 233,000 net new jobs created in October. Slightly lower than September's reading, but that was a good reading in September. The jobless rate expected to hold steady at 5.9 percent, the lowest in five years.

Another important number to watch will be wage growth. This is an important number for the Federal Reserve when it will decide to raise interest rates which are still at historic lows. We see jobs added. We need to see gains of what people are making.

The recovery is full of low-wage jobs. We will bring it to you live. It is really the most important economic report in the world because the health of the American labor market depends on that.

BERMAN: The most important Friday of every month for Christine Romans. All right, in hours, in addition to the jobs report, President Obama meets with Republican leaders of Congress. That for the first time since the bruising midterm election on Tuesday, what will go on inside that room? "NEW DAY" gets word from people who have been there before that starts right now.