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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Brown's Stepfather Investigated; Is Woman in Custody ISIS Leader's Wife?; Woman Claims Cosby Abused Her at Age 15; Millenials Ready to Buy Homes; Israeli Prime Minister Dissolves Parliament

Aired December 03, 2014 - 05:30   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Under investigation, did the stepfather of Michael Brown intend to cause violence after Officer Darren Wilson was cleared of wrongdoing in Brown's death? Or was his now infamous outburst just a raw emotional cry of pain?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: NBA great Charles Barkley weighing in on the Ferguson controversy. What he said to CNN about the looting that occurred during the protests, the nationwide anger toward police, and racial tension across the country.

ROMANS: Conflicting reports this morning about whether the wife of ISIS leader has been arrested. Details on this developing student and new information we're getting ahead.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: And I'm John Berman. 29 minutes past the hour.

So was it the outburst of a grief-stricken father or was it a crime? This morning, multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating whether Michael Brown's stepfather, Louis Head, incited a riot last week.

It happened on a Monday after a grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in Brown's death. Head first reached out to comfort Brown's sobbing mother, his wife, and then his rages turned outward.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

ROMANS: There are now two federal investigations into the Ferguson Police Department, Brown's shooting and its aftermath and they are still moving ahead. They are expected to wrap up by the time Attorney General Eric Holder leaves office likely in February.

After days of nonviolent protests in Ferguson, the National Guard is now starting to scale back its presence there. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon is giving no firm timetable, but he has announced a systematic reduction from the nearly 1,300 guard troops stationed in the city.

CNN's George Howell has the latest for us this morning from Ferguson.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The headline out of Ferguson, John and Christine, it really is all about the investigation. Police are promising to look into every angle and to find anyone responsible for the damage that we saw play out here the night of the riots here in Ferguson.

Specifically, they're looking at that video that many of us have seen the video of Michael Brown's stepfather, Louis Head, where he was basically telling the crowd to burn the city down, burn things down.

Remember, we have heard from Michael Brown's mother, Leslie McSpadden saying at that very moment he was just very angry. He was very frustrated at the outcome of the grand jury, and he made those comments in that context.

We've also heard from the family's attorney, Benjamin Crump, saying the same thing. But the police are looking into the possibility that those comments could have changed the mood of the crowd and incited a riot, incited the looting that we saw play out that night.

We understand that the Ferguson Police Department has looked into that and also the St. Louis County Police Department will be looking into it as well.

They have interviewed people who know Mr. Head. They also plan to interview Mr. Head himself. Police again making the point that they're not just singling out Louis head here. They are going to go aggressively to track down anyone responsible.

Anyone that they can determine who was behind the looting and the damage that we saw play out in Ferguson -- John, Christine.

ROMANS: All right, thanks for that, George Howell for us this morning.

Former NBA great, Charles Barkley, is speaking out against the investigation into Louis Head's actions and words. Barkley tells our Brooke Baldwin that police should not be investigating Michael Brown's stepfather for inciting riot. He also addressed the anger across the country between communities and law enforcement following Michael Brown's death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES BARKLEY, FORMER NBA GREAT: The notion that white cops are out there just killing black people is ridiculous. Just flat out ridiculous. I challenge any black person to try to make that point. This notion that cops, cops are actually awesome, you know, they're the only thing in the ghetto from between this place being the wild, wild west.

So this motion that cops are out there just killing black men, that's ridiculous. And I hate that narrative coming out of there, out of this entire situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Barkley also says he as agrees with the grand jury's decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson. You can see more of that interview with Charles Barkley and Brooke Baldwin on "NEW DAY" in a little less than 30 minutes.

BERMAN: We're now getting conflicting reports about a woman detained by Lebanese security officials as she tried to cross into Lebanon from Syria. Lebanese officials have been saying she is one of the wives of ISIS leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.

But in the last hour, the government of Iraq has posted a statement online saying is not one of al-Baghdadi's wives. Iraqi authorities are saying the woman being held in Lebanon is a member of the same tribe and is a member of a terrorist family with connections to al Qaeda.

ROMANS: All right, we expect fireworks this morning when air bag maker, Takata, appears in front of a House subcommittee alongside federal highway safety regulators. Takata ignored regulators' midnight deadline to issue a nationwide recall of air bags that the government says are dangerous.

Now the auto parts manufacturer is risking up to $35 million in fines for failing to comply with the government recall requests. The air bags can malfunction when they are deployed. It explodes and fires shrapnel at motorists.

Some drivers have been killed and law enforcement investigating these crashes say it looks like the victims have been stabbed or shot from the air bags.

BERMAN: Breaking news overnight, a pair of car bomb attacks. First, a blast was reported outside the international airport in Somalia's capital. That is where the United Nations and some western embassies are based in that country. No U.N. staffers were hurt, but at least three civilians and one security worker are reported dead.

Six people were killed following an attack in Yemen. This happened outside the residence of the newly appointed Iranian ambassador. No word yet on who is behind either one of these attacks.

ROMANS: A really sad story in Tennessee this morning. The National Transportation Safety Board investigating the cause of a fatal collision between two school busses in Knoxville, Tennessee, carrying elementary school students.

Two young girls and a teacher's aide were killed in that collision. Nearly two dozen other children were treated at area hospitals. Police say these buses were traveling in opposite directions when one apparently crossed over the median and hit the other.

BERMAN: Breaking overnight, new allegations against Bill Cosby and for the first time, they come from a woman claiming that the comedian sexually abused her when she was underage. Radar Online is reporting in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles by a woman named Judy Huth.

She claims that Cosby molested her in 1974 when she was 15 years old. This allegedly happened at a bedroom in the Playboy mansion when Huth said Cosby gave her alcohol and also a 16-year-old friend, she says. CNN has reached out to Huth, her attorney, and Cosby's attorney for comments.

ROMANS: In 1974, really a lot of questions about the statute of limitations on all this. How much time has passed? That was the first lawsuit we have seen.

BERMAN: There were lawsuits years ago and other people named on it. The issue here is this is a woman was under age at that time.

BERMAN: All right, it's 36 minutes past the hour. Let's get an EARLY START on your money. Asian shares ended the day higher. European stocks up a bit. The U.S. stock futures barely moving, look, the stocks have never been this high. That is the headline. Yesterday, the Dow climbed 103 points. It has never been in history this high.

And a brand-new Zillow report finds millennials will be the biggest home buyers next year. What! Until this point, millennials have largely put off buying homes for a variety of reasons.

They got job prospects, high student debt, but next year, rising rents will likely outpace home values and that could push many millennials to buy -- millennials, by the way, are people like 18 to 36 years old.

Millennials jumping into the market will loosen recent housing gridlock. That's what the report says. They will take starter homes, the gen x, that's you, Berman, looking to sell and make room for -- gen x to buy larger homes from baby boomers.

BERMAN: It's good for the market.

ROMANS: It's absolutely good for the markets. So we'll see. That's the Zillow forecast.

BERMAN: That was an EARLY START on your money. Let's get an early look at your forecast for today. Indra Petersons is here with that.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know what else is good, when it warms up. It was freezing yesterday. Temperatures were in the 30s into the northeast. Well below normal. Today, we're going to be above normal temperatures for one day. You can see that warm air making its way to Raleigh to 65. Even D.C. goes back up.

Of course, the cold air is right behind it. That cold air is going to filter in again and we'll see those temperatures dive back down. Enjoy it. The storm here exiting out of New England today, but still a cold front is kind of lingering so some light scattered showers are going to remain in the forecast.

You can actually see that cold front pushing through. High pressure builds in for tomorrow. It's going to be the best day of the week, late Wednesday into Thursday only to have this guy make its way right behind it. And it's a slow mover so from the south to the Ohio Valley, to the mid-Atlantic, eventually to the northeast.

It's going to be lingering in the mid-Atlantic and the northeast throughout the entire weekend, guys. Temperature wise, Wednesday, 50 degrees, New York City. Then we go back down tomorrow. Not as cool as what we saw yesterday. Temperatures are going back to around average.

Except if you look in the long run, this is the one piece of good news we have. Everyone has been saying, it was so cold early on, at least for the next two weeks everyone is going to be normal or above normal temperatures. That's the one plus out west, still looking for some heavy rain there today.

ROMANS: All right, thanks, Indra.

Big shake-up in Israel, top officials getting the boot. And new elections have been called, what is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu trying to accomplish?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Breaking overnight, a big shake-up in Israeli politics. Israel's prime minister has essentially fired two government ministers and has called for early elections. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the country's finance and justice ministers. In a televised news conference, Netanyahu blasted the pair for attacking his government and policies from within.

Joining us now with the latest is CNN's Ben Wedeman in Jerusalem. Ben, sometimes, the ins and outs of the Israeli politics can be confusing from the outside. This is pretty clear, this is Netanyahu wants to start fresh.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. He wants to start fresh. He wants to get rid of this coalition. Have these elections and he hopes to form a new one. But if you thought Israeli politics are confusing from the outside, from the inside, they're fairly confusing as well.

One opinion poll found that 55 percent of people are opposed to holding elections. The last elections were just 22 months ago and one Israeli newspaper in an editorial today said that this cabinet was possibly the worst in Israel's history.

It's accomplished very little positive, but it's had a series of setbacks. There was this 50-day war with Gaza which many people feel was wildly expensive and didn't accomplish the disarming of Hamas. And Netanyahu has been pushing for a harder line, for instance, against Iran.

But if anything, the west is getting closer to Iran. The economy is in bad condition and Israel has seen its relations with the west, with the United States, become very chilly. Just last night, the French parliament voted to recognize the Palestinian State.

That's after similar votes in the U.K. and Ireland, in Spain and elsewhere in Europe. So, certainly, Israel is seeing itself more isolated than ever before and not much to boast when it comes to this cabinet.

ROMANS: All right, Ben Wedeman for us. Confusing from the outside and from the inside, Israeli politics. Thanks, Ben. BERMAN: About a quarter to the hour right now. Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY." Chris Cuomo joins us now. Good morning, Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": How are you, my TV brother and sister. We are going to take a look at some of the fallout from Ferguson that really is new. First, Michael Brown's stepdad, you remember the incident where the mother was very upset. He's embracing her.

He turns around and he seems to start saying we're going to burn this down, we're going to burn this down. Did he intend to start a riot? He's now being investigated. Is this a case that they could make? Is this a case they should make?

All right, and also we're going to take a look at this hands up don't shoot phenomenon that's going. Some are saying it's based on a false narrative because the grand jury found is that true?

What do we know about the witnesses and what they said about whether or not Michael Brown's hands were up? And is that what people are talking about? Is this just about Michael Brown or is it about something else? We're going to take that on.

Also today, guys, we may get a decision from New York City, a grand jury that is looking at another case that could become something controversial. Eric Garner, the man who was -- he died after being restrained by police officers in New York City, all on videotape. We're going to take that on.

We're also going to get you to international news this morning. Lebanon said it captured one of the wives of the ISIS leader and we're going to take you through what we know about that situation as well.

ROMANS: All right, Chris Cuomo, looking forward to it. So much to take on today, thank you.

Could it be Ferguson all over again? You just heard Chris talking the grand jury expected to make a decision soon in the choke hold death of an unarmed black man in New York killed while he was being arrested by New York City police officers. We've got those details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. There's no official word yet from the White House, but all signs are pointing to Ashton Carter as President Obama's choice to be the next Secretary of Defense. Carter is a former Deputy Defense Secretary in the Obama administration.

We're also learning the White House wanted Chuck Hagel to hold off as resigning as Defense Secretary until this week when the White House hoped a new nominee would be in place. Hagel refused, deciding if he was being forced out of his job, he would announce it as soon as possible.

BERMAN: President Obama meets with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in the Oval Office today. Sure to be on the agenda House Republican plan to challenge the president's controversial immigration executive order without shutting down the government.

So facing a December 11th deadline, Speaker John Boehner announced on Tuesday that Republicans will agree to fend the federal government through next year except for the Homeland Security Department. That's the agency that would carry much of the president's immigration order, carry out much of it.

The Homeland Security would only be funded until March, by which time the Republicans, of course, will control both the House and the Senate.

ROMANS: President Obama urging Congress to approve $6 billion in emergency aid to fight Ebola in West Africa. The president says the U.S. needs to continue to fund basic research and to help build better public health systems in West Africa so that the world can quickly contain future outbreaks.

The president called it a smart investment. Speaking at the National Institutes of Health where scientists are working on a vaccine. The president said the fight is far from over. The World Health Organization says 6,055 people have died in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.

BERMAN: Big case in front of the Supreme Court today. They'll hear arguments that could affect the lives of millions of women. Peggy Young sued her employer, UPS, claiming that the company discriminates against pregnant women.

Young says UPS refused to temporarily re-assign her so she could avoid heavy lifting when she became pregnant. The company instead placed her on unpaid leave. Young said she lost her health benefits and her pension.

ROMANS: All right, in New York, a grand jury investigating the choke hold death of a New York City man is expected to meet today. This incident was caught on video. Eric Garner died last July after Officer Daniel Pantaleo placed him in what looks to be a choke hold.

It happened as Garner was being arrested for selling loose untaxed cigarettes. We're told the decision on whether to indict the officer could come by the end of the week.

BERMAN: Sprint is offering to cut your monthly phone bill in half. We'll tell you what you have to do to get the deal. We'll have an EARLY START on your money next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning. A quick look at stocks around the world, Asia up, Europe mostly up as well. U.S. stocks on fire yesterday. The Dow closed 103 points higher to end at the highest level in history.

Clearly, it has been a very good year for stocks. The Dow is up 8 percent just about. The S&P 500 has gained about 12 percent. The Nasdaq up close to 14 percent this year.

Brand new on "CNN Money" this morning, your tax breaks are in limbo thanks to Washington's dysfunction. Teachers, commuters, college students, is that you? Anyone who lives in a high tax state, this all matters to you.

In the next two weeks Congress is expected to approve a retroactive extension of 50 tax breaks that expired last year. The tax breaks at risk include the tuition reduction and the health coverage tax credit in true Washington style, any decision will likely come down to the wire.

All right, Sprint this morning wants new customers so badly it is offering to cut your Verizon or AT&T bill in half to make the switch. Cut your bill in half. It's a one-day offer. It's this Friday only. Verizon and AT&T customers can present their latest bills.

Sprint will cut the price in half with the same data plan plus unlimited talk and text. This is Sprint's latest attempt to stop hemorrhaging money and customers, one day only.

BERMAN: It's got to be so expensive. Feels like a Hail Mary for the company.

ROMANS: They want customers and that's what they'll do to get them.

BERMAN: At a huge cost?

ROMANS: What will the other companies do to try to keep you? Maybe you're in the driver's seat Friday, folks.

BERMAN: We have a lot to cover this including the investigation in the Michael Brown stepfather investigation. You have to see it. "NEW DAY" with all of it starting right now.