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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Missouri Teen Shot by Officer; Christmas Storm Nightmare; President George H.W. Bush Hospitalized; Tributes Grow to Slain NYPD Officers; NY Congressman Pleads To Tax Evasion; Stock's Santa Rally

Aired December 24, 2014 - 04:30   ET

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

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Deadly storms, tornadoes tear through several states, killing at least four people. And the rough weather isn't over. A travel nightmare is in store for 98 million people this week.

Remembering the fallen as protesters take to the streets. Demonstrators ignore mayor De Blasio's request and they march as the two New York police officers slain this weekend are remembered.

A big day for the Dow, topping 18,000 point for the first time in history. What does it mean for the economy, and more importantly for you?

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. John Berman has the week off. It is Christmas Eve, 30 minutes past the hour.

Breaking overnight, police in Berkeley, Missouri, near Ferguson, said one of the department's police officers shot and killed a man at a gas station after the man aimed a handgun at the officer. This was just after 11:00 p.m. Central Time. . "The St. Louis Post-Dispatch" reports the victim is 18-year-old Antonio Martin identified by his mother Toni Martin. We will bring you details. Berkeley police say St. Louis detectives are investigating. We're going to bring you the details as we get them.

Fierce weather ushering in a holiday travel system this morning. A line of severe thunderstorms spawning deadly tornadoes on the Gulf Coast. One twister ripped through Amite, Louisiana, damaging several homes, knocking down trees and power lines. No injuries reported there, thankfully.

But the tornado system that tore through Marion County, Mississippi, killed two people. Two more in nearby Jones County.

Another tornado tore the roof off this day care center in Sumrall, Mississippi. Luckily, all 35 children and seven staffers at that center were unharmed. They were moved to a nearby bank for safety.

Mississippi's governor is declaring a state of emergency for these storms, and all that is just the beginning of the weather trouble for holiday travelers.

CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera joins us now with the latest on this storm system, and the Christmas forecast.

Merry Christmas Eve. A lot to report from your department this morning, Ivan.

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, no question about it. I think the severe weather threat is going to continue to diminish as we head through the early morning hours here. It's still there for extreme southern Georgia and parts of Florida. But I think at this point, we're going to be talking heavy rain, gusty winds, delays at the airports.

And you just slow down on the roadways here, but the severe weather threat, the life-threatening conditions that we saw yesterday from these tornadoes touchdowns, I think that will diminish and will be gone by the time we get midday. So, certainly excellent news.

And, by the way, Atlanta, you're done with the heaviest of weather now. So, any delays will be just residual delays and visibility delays early on this morning. And then conditions will begin to improve. It's still, a pretty good line of showers and storms rolling through southern Georgia and into northern Florida.

All of this, of course, part of the storm system that did spawn those tornadoes that yesterday will continue to provide us with heavy rainfall. Flood watches are in effect for parts of Alabama, and all of this will head out to eventually the northeast where New York and Boston will be getting in on heavy rains and gusty winds and that will likely cause significant delays at the airports, probably anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes along the Eastern Seaboard.

By the way, on the backside of it, as we've been talking about this, it's going to be a snow event for Chicago. We could be talking for snow for the metros here across the east, and it's going to be a wet one, but certainly not a snowy one. So, there's that.

ROMANS: Wet, but not snowy in the northeast. And Chicago gets a white Christmas. Congratulation, Chicago.

Thank you so much, Ivan.

All right. There's breaking news overnight: former President George H.W. Bush has been taken to the hospital, complaining of shortness of breath. A statement from his office says the 90-year-old's trip to Houston Medical Hospital is purely a precautionary measure. Bush was hospitalized you might recall two years ago for bronchitis.

A doctor at NYU School of Medicine tells us doctors will be taking a close look at the former president's doctor's heart and lungs.

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DR. DEVI NAMPIAPARAMPIL, NYU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE (via telephone): At the age of 90, I mean, the thing that we would be most concerned about in general is heart disease. Is it a sign of a heart attack? Is it something else that's going on with the heart? If it's somebody that's had bronchitis before, you might wonder, well,

could there be something happening with the lungs? You know, could this be something related to asthma or things along those lines?

So, you always check the heart and lungs. You check what is most dangerous first. But at the same time, this president has been in very good health, you know, in general, compared to a lot of people his age.

But it could be something that's not necessarily a danger. I mean, people are having a lot of heavy meals, right, for the holiday problems for the holiday season. Sometimes, you have reflux or have other things that trigger a call or might cause some shortness of breath.

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ROMANS: A White House spokesman says President Obama has been made aware of the elder Bush's hospitalization. The Obamas send the ex- president and his family their good news, a spokesman says.

Turning now to New York, still a city in turmoil. Caught on one side between continuing anger over police violence, protesters jamming the sidewalks, chanting against what they call racist cops. And on the other side, mourning over the murder of two police officers, with tributes across the city to Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu.

Mayor Bill de Blasio leading a moment of silence at city hall in honor of the fallen men.

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MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: I want to ask everyone assembled here, and everyone who is watching and listening all throughout New York City, all throughout our nation, to now bow our heads in memory of Officer Ramos and Officer Liu.

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ROMANS: CNN's Martin Savidge is at Brooklyn for us at the site of the memorial to the slain NYPD officers.

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MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

The tributes and the memorial here continue to grow as people are drawn as they have been for the past several days. Last night, there was another tribute that was done. This one involving lights in the city of New York. City hall had requested that public buildings as well as landmarks dim their lights for five minutes from 9:00 to 9:05 as part of a tribute to those officers that were killed here in Brooklyn.

It was actually 24 hours of tributes. Earlier in the day, the mayor, Mayor de Blasio, and his wife came to his memorial site here. It was an unannounced visit. They spent some time.

And then later in the day, the mayor held a moment of silence at city hall.

There's also a moment of silence here as a number of officers that were gathered and the public, again, took part. The funeral for the first officer, that's Officer Rafael Ramos, is going to be held this weekend. The White House has already announced that vice president will be here. And it's also announced that the mayor of New York will also be attending, that despite the calls by some to say that he should stay away given the divide that's been noted between the police department and the mayor's office.

But those political experts and those in law enforcement that I talked to said it would be unheard if the mayor didn't attend. It is bound to be a very emotional time -- Christine.

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ROMANS: It really is. Thank you so much for that, Martin.

You know, that emotion, that sadness across New York City, tempered by tension as protests against police violence continue in New York and across the country.

CNN's Sara Sidner has more on that.

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SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The call from New York City's mayor to protesters marching against police tactics was largely ignored. The mayor had asked that protests stop until the bodies of the two slain police officers who were targeted and killed were laid to rest.

But the demonstrations didn't miss a beat. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in New York. They took to the streets in Ferguson and Milwaukee to continue demonstrating against the killing of unarmed black folks at the hands of police officers. Nearly all of the protesters however that we spoke to expressed their condolences to the officers' families. But all of them also said it was not a reason to take even a day off from marching.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They didn't give Mike Brown two days, Trayvon Martin two days, Eric Garner two days, Tamir Rice two days, so why would we stop this international, this national movement that's so much bigger than two cop lives. You know, I'm sad for the families that it affected, but our whole community is grieving.

SIDNER: Police unions have expressed the tone of some the protesters could endanger police officers. The New York police union even put some of the blame for the officers' killings on protesters they say are inciting violence. The union officer blamed the mayor for his support of the protest.

Protesters and the mayor have balked at that. So far, protests have continued for nearly five months now since the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9th. Nothing so far has stopped them -- Christine.

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ROMANS: All right. Sara Sidner for us in Los Angeles, thank you, Sara.

Sony Pictures, controversial satire "The Interview" cancelled last week now un-cancelled. The comedy about an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, it has had a rough month to say the least. Huge cyber attack on the movie studios and threats of a possible real world attack on the theaters that dare to show the film. When major theater chains dropped the film, Sony said it had to choice but to take it from distribution. And now a reversal, more than independent 200 theaters are set to open on Christmas Day.

CNN's Will Ripley has been following the story for us. He is live in Beijing with the latest.

Good morning, Will. Why the change?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you that this is certainly a very limited release, as you pointed out, Christine, where just 300 or so theaters are going to be showing this film as opposed to up to 3,000 that had originally planned to show "The Interview", but then, as you mentioned, pulled out as the threats escalated.

Oddly enough, here in China, this story is receiving almost zero attention in the media whether you're watching television or reading the newspaper, or even if you do an online search, you won't find any information about the Sony hack. Even as the Chinese government now is responding to the United States request that it'd try to crackdown on this end, on North Korean hackers potentially crossing here into China, to launch these cyberattacks where they have a far greater Internet infrastructure, as opposed to the single internet line into Pyongyang into Chinese servers as we've seen in recent days is quite fragile and can go down from time to time, Christine.

ROMANS: You know, so interesting, you're in Beijing. And we -- when the United States has its negotiations with China for all kinds of things, trade, currency, human rights. It is really important to remember that China is basically the negotiator for all things North Korea in the region, right? I mean, the Chinese have a very important role here in keeping North Korea at bay, and for potentially punishing or regulating North Korea, am I right?

RIPLEY: Yes, you're absolutely right. Because, you know, unlike the United States and North Korea which have no diplomatic relationship whatsoever, China is North Korea's, by far, biggest trading partner. Essentially, the North Korean economy would collapse without China's financial support in the form of trade and other business types of things, North Korean citizens if they get permission from their country, they can come here without a visa. They have relatively unrestricted access to this country.

And so, China is essentially telling the United States, we're not going to get involved here. We're not going to be an intermediary. While China says they condone cyberattacks like this, they certainly condone any illegal activity. They're also telling the United States that they need to communicate directly with the government of North Korea, which is very unlikely to happen. So, what you have is situation where China is in the middle saying, we're not going to be the intermediary here. We're going to keep moving forward as we intend to do. What North Korea does perhaps is their business, even though we condone any illegal activity.

ROMANS: Condemn. I think you mean to say condemn any illegal activity.

Thanks, Will Ripley. Thank you for that.

A time for an early start of your money this morning.

The Santa rally is in full swing. The Dow flew past 18,000 for the first time ever. Do you know the Dow has soared, 1,000 points since just last week? The Dow closed up 65 for its second record close of the week, 36 record close of the year. The market just could keep going.

Futures slightly higher right now. You can thank also a strong third quarter GDP for yesterday's run. The U.S. economy grew at an incredible 5 percent pace, the fastest pace in 11 years. Add that to the second quarter's 4.6 percent growth. That's the best two quarters since 2003. And that has not gone unnoticed by the American public.

For the first time in seven years, the majority of the public thinks the economy is good. A remarkable, remarkable turnaround in sentiment, likely because of crashing gas prices.

President Obama enjoying a nice bounce in the polls heading into the New Year. With the economy ticking up and the president taking decisive action on immigration and Cuba, the latest CNN/ORC poll puts the approval rating at a 20-month high. Take a look these numbers, 48 percent approve of the president's performance, 50 percent do not. President Obama enjoying increased support women, independents and millennials.

A former Navy SEAL who claims he killed Osama bin Laden is now under investigation. CNN has learned that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is trying to determine whether Robert O'Neill revealed classified information. The former SEAL Team 6 member, he made several television appearances last month, retelling the story of Operation Spear, the incursion into Pakistan that led to bin Laden's death.

That brazen gun smuggling ring involving current and former Delta Airline employees, this is being called a huge wake-up call for the nation.

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KENNETH THOMPSON, KINGS COUNTY DA: Now, this scheme really poses a threat in terms of terrorism. They could put guns on the plane this time. They could have easily put a bomb on one of those planes.

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ROMANS: This, as we're getting our first look at surveillance video, one of the subjects, that's Mark Henry, at both Atlanta's Hartsfield- Jackson Airport and JFK Airport. The Delta employee was fired in 2010 after taking at least taking 17 guns this year on commercial airlines from Atlanta to New York City airports. Three other people are charged in the probe. A TSA spokesperson says the agency is investigating and will use the findings to improve current security processes.

It's Christmas Eve, and one of the most popular places to visit this time of year is the Bethlehem, the birth site of Jesus Christ. But with big security threats across the Mideast, how is the city preparing? A live report is next.

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ROMANS: The celebration of Christianity's holiest days begins in just hours, depending on where you live in the world. In Rome, Pope Francis is set to lead Christmas Eve mass formerly known as the Solemnity of the Lord's Birth at the Vatican, starts 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

And another renowned Catholic mass begins a short while later in Bethlehem. Midnight mass at the Church of Nativity, on the site, tradition says it's the place of Christ birth. That begins at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

CNN's Ian Lee is in Bethlehem live for us this morning.

Good morning, Ian.

IAN LEE, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Christine.

A beautiful day here in Bethlehem. Festivities getting under way here. We have Christmas carols going on here. Tight security as usual, because of all the dignitaries are showing up here, including the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who gave his Christmas message saying that the Palestinians Christians are not a minority but an integral part of their society.

I have a fun fact for you. You may know the Nativity scene. And when you think about the Nativity, you think of a barn, wooden barn, and animals and Jesus, and Mary and Joseph inside. Well, in fact, according to tradition, it wasn't a wooden barn but actually a very large cave. So, that's something I've been learning today, Christine.

ROMANS: A large cave. There were swaddling clothes? Can you confirm there were swaddling clothes?

LEE: Well, according to my sources there were. So, we can go with that.

ROMANS: All right. Ian Lee, thank you so much. A beautiful picture from there. And certainly, a holy day for many Christians around the world.

Santa, the reindeer and his sleighful of gifts are just about on their way. That's according to the same high-tech technology the U.S. military uses to defend the nation's sky. Every year, they use that technology to track Santa.

That's right, NORAD's Santa tracker displays St. Nicholas' location online. And two volunteers manning a tool free hotline. The Web address, folks, save this in your browser, noradsanta.org.

A congressman who was just reelected pleads guilty to tax fraud. Will Michael Grimm stay in office or be forced to resign? That's next.

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ROMANS: New York Congressman Michael Grimm vowing to stay in office despite pleading guilty to felony tax evasion charges Tuesday. The Republican also admitting publicly to hiring undocumented workers, lying under oath and obstructing federal and state officials.

CNN's Tom Foreman has the latest on this story from Washington.

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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Christine.

Congressman Grimm came out of court both chastened and defiant. Chastened in that for the very first, he's publicly saying, yes, I did something wrong, I did help falsify a tax return. This is related to a business he ran, a restaurant, where he was accused of all sorts of things, including hiring people who are here illegally, falsifying records, basically trying to hide a lot of money from the tax man.

He said that he did do that and that he was wrong. But he was defiant in this sense, once again, he echoed a theme that he's raised all along, which is that this is a political witch hunt of people just out to get him.

Listen.

REP. MICHAEL GRIMM (R), NEW YORK: I know that some of people are going to use to demonize me. They've going to use this for political purposes, like they've done for the last three years. And for every person that's made a negative comment, there have been more than tenfold that have made very positive comments, they're telling me how they're keeping me in their prayers and how they're thinking of me.

FOREMAN: He won't be sentenced for several months now. He could get up to 30 months. He may get no time at all, it's all up to the judge, we'll have to stay about that.

But the big question is, will he remain in Congress? And right now, he is saying, yes, he will. There is a lot of pressure on Republicans, certainly from the Democratic there is, for him to be taken out of office and for him not take his seat again. But he's saying he's going to. He also says he's spoken to the

leadership, to John Boehner's office, won't talk about what they said, but that he's going to stay in that office. So, that theme has not changed all along. He's always said he was elected unanimously by the people there in New York. And that he intends to fulfill the office that they elected him to. That is not going to change at all despite his guilty plea -- Christine.

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ROMANS: All right. Tom Foreman, thanks for that, Tom.

In Sydney, Australia, authorities arresting two suspects on terrorism charges. One of the suspects allegedly had documents in his home detailing plans to attack government targets. Australian federal police do not believe that an attack was imminent and there's no specific threat against the prime minister or any other official. But they are beefing up security in high-visibility locations for the Christmas holidays.

The U.S. has paid $3.2 million directly to Alan Gross to settle a lawsuit by his company over his imprisonment in China -- Cuba, rather. Sorry, Cuba. The check was cut by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Gross' firm, Developmental Alternatives of Washington, D.C., had been seeking $7 million to recover costs related to his five-year long Cuban incarceration. The direct payment to Gross settles the company's claims.

Here's a gift giver's wake-up call. Keurig is recalling more than 6 million of its coffee makers. I'll tell you why and get an early start on your money, next.

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ROMANS: All right, let's get an early start on your money this Christmas Eve.

The Santa rally in full swing. The Dow above 18,000 for the first time in history yesterday, on news that the U.S. economy grew at 5 percent in the third quarter. That's the fastest pace in 11 years.

The S&P also managed another record. It has surged over 200 percent since bottoming out in March 2009. Look at that, the bull market over 2,000 days old. Those are the little corrections. We haven't had one in a long time. The market could keep climbing today. Futures higher right now.

The stronger economy not going unnoticed by Americans. For the first time in seven years, the majority of Americans think the economy is good. That is a remarkable turnaround and sentiment.

You can thank crashing gas prices. They have fallen for a 90 straight days straight according to the AAA. Average prices dropped $2.35 a gallon, down $1.33 since the summer peak, putting extra cash in Americans' wallets this holiday season, and apparently a little more confidence in the polls. You may want to think twice before putting a Keurig under the tree

tomorrow. The company is recalling 6.6 million coffeemakers after receiving 90 reports of burn related injuries. The recalled model is the K-10 mini plus, which can let hot liquid escape during brewing. Keurig will ship a free repair kit to customers with a defective brewer.

EARLY START continues right now.

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