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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Dies; Yemen's Government Resigns; Japan Awaits Word on Hostages' Fate; Obama Won't Meet With Israeli Leader; Patriots: No Explanation for "Deflate-Gate"

Aired January 23, 2015 - 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: Upheaval in the Middle East. The leader of America's most important ally in the region dies overnight. The government of another key partner crumbles -- changes that could spell trouble for the U.S. war on terror. This morning, the U.S. moving workers out of the region as al Qaeda looks to increase power there.

Live team coverage, ahead.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The deadline passes for two hostages held by ISIS, threatened with execution of Japan does not pay a huge ransom. This morning, we are waiting for word on their fate, that as world leaders meet to formulate a plan for the fight against the terrorist.

We have live team coverage ahead.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. Good to see you today. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It's 5:00 in the East. It's Friday, January 23rd. Friday.

And a lot of news going on this morning.

Breaking overnight: the leader of the most powerful American ally in the Middle East has died. Later today, the funeral for Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. He died at age 90 on Thursday after coming down with pneumonia. His half brother, Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, he has been declared Saudi Arabia's new king. The country, of course, key to the U.S. war against ISIS and al Qaeda in the Middle East, key to stability in the region.

I want to bring in our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson for the very latest.

Good morning, Nic. You know, you describe this king as someone who you know, by Western standards -- certainly not up to Western standards on human rights and religious freedom, but a step ahead of his peers.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He certainly was and the continuity that the Saudi monarchy tries to maintain and handing power and established the crown prince, Salman, and now King Salman. Now, all of this is about continuing to sort of project that stability.

But what we saw King Abdullah do during the last few years of his reign was expand the spending on the Saudi Arabian army, up to $150 billion defense spending projected over the next few years. So, Salman in that context, if he continues with that spend and that vision, will be a strong ally for the United States and the region.

King Abdullah had watched what Saudis considered counter-playing and a damaging role following from the Arab spring, backing organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood. Saudi Arabia and King Abdullah finally decided to take the lead in the region and stand up and become the lead player. And that's what it's done.

So, it's key at the moment in the fight against ISIS. It's going to be key or potentially key going forward for the instability in Yemen, contributes billions of dollars to the Yemeni government or did. So, the questions right now that will concern strategists in the United States, will Prince Salman continue supporting the strong Saudi military, supporting a very aggressive action, more aggressive than most people would like in the West at least against ISIS, and what will he do about Yemen?

Typically with Saudis, again, it's the progresses of power from one pair of hands from the other. They like it to be smooth. In the short-term, we should expect no change. We need to see the about the longer term.

ROMANS: And that will be what we're really be telling.

All right. Nic Robertson, thank you for that, Nic.

BERMAN: So much news in that region. Happening this morning: another key U.S. ally descending into chaos. It has already opened the door to al Qaeda.

The government of Yemen is in shambles this morning. The president and prime minister and cabinet have all resigned. They did in the space of the few hours.

Officials say they want to wash their hands of what they call destructive political chaos. That in the wake of the deal that gives rebel insurgents more power there.

Up until now, the Yemeni government has been a key ally in the fight against al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula. That terror group is already killing the political vacuum in that country.

In response to this turmoil, the U.S. embassy in Yemen has reduced its staff.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh joins us live now with the latest.

Good morning, Jomana.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Now, what happens next? That is the big question. Who replaces President Hadi, the government that have pretty much collapsed yesterday?

Now, with this political uncertainty, this political chaos and a political vacuum in the country, there is a lot of concern here that as we have seen in other places, terror groups do take advantage of this kind of environment and the fear here is that AQAP, al Qaeda's branch in Yemen, will do the same. That it will operate more freely, takeover more territory, and with the sectarian rift widening in the country, it will able to draw more support.

Now, and also, the government of President Hadi has been a key U.S. ally fighting AQAP on the ground. It has allowed the United States to carry out drone strikes against the ground. The fear is now, what will happen? Who will assist the U.S.?

As we are seeing the Houthi movement, the Shia rebel group that is gaining more power, consolidating its control over the capital Sana'a and the government there has been fighting AQAP. But it's not really a U.S. ally. It's historically backed by Iran. And one of the group's main slogans has been "death to America". And it is opposed to U.S. drone strikes there.

So, real concern about who will be assisting the U.S. in its war on terror in Yemen in fighting AQAP at a critical time as we are seeing what seems to be the group really trying to reassert itself on the international scene as a major terror organization after it claimed the attack on the "Charlie Hebdo" in Paris? John?

BERMAN: The last thing the U.S. wants, the last thing the U.S. is a new opportunity for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula which they have right now to grow.

Jomana Karadsheh for us -- thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. The deadline for Japan to pay a huge ransom for two hostages held by ISIS has passed. No word so far this morning on their fate. The Islamic terror group said he would kill the two men unless Japan hands over $200 million.

The Japanese government has been scrambling over the last couple of days to contact ISIS, while saying at the same time it will not yield to terrorist threats.

We've got Will Ripley in Tokyo now. He has been following all of this.

Will, what is the state of play here? There's been a broadcaster in Japan who has been reportedly in contact with ISIS, but the government not saying whether they have paid the ransom or whether they have been able to contact the Islamic State.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the government has been saying all along that they didn't have a direct line of communication with ISIS. And yet, public broadcaster NHK says they have been e-mailing with a spokesperson for the organization which really begs the question, Christine, how is it a media outlet here in Japan is able to get a line of communication with the terror group, but the Japanese government using and reaching out to Jordan and Turkey, is unable to have discussion was the group? Especially if Tokyo is in some capacity willing to sit down at the bargaining table, if you will, to try to hammer out some kind of a deal.

Of course, all of that, any details of a deal are totally speculative for those of us on the outside because the Japanese government continues to say publicly that they are not negotiating with terrorists. But they won't answer direct questions about whether or not they will consider paying a ransom.

And the fact the ISIS spokesperson e-mailing the public broadcaster here in Japan also wouldn't comment on whether negotiations were happening and kept talking about a ransom, even as recently as emails that were earlier this morning. It makes us think that perhaps even though this deadline has passed, there may still be some chance of discussions which, of course, the families of the two men are desperately hoping for, especially given the devastating the passing of the deadline earlier today.

ROMANS: Well, it could explain talking to the media and not talking to the government, could be explained that ISIS wants to maximize the public relations value of these two men and not serious about real negotiations, just trying to get some headlines here. We just don't know.

All right. Will Ripley in Tokyo -- thank you.

BERMAN: Secretary of State John Kerry in London meeting with allies in the battle against ISIS. They announced some significant progress in that fight.

The secretary said that Iraqi ground troops in some 2,000 coalition airstrikes have retain about 270 square miles of territory. Another U.S. diplomat revealed an internal Pentagon count of ISIS fighters killed. They say 6,000 ISIS fighters have been killed, including half the terror group's command. There is no way to confirm that. But that number is interesting.

Turning now to CNN's Atika Shubert in London.

Atika, what's the latest?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is interesting claim to hear those numbers. But the fact is we don't know exactly how much of the command structure of ISIS has, in fact, been degraded.

Yesterday, in that meeting about the coalition against ISIS, John Kerry mentioned the territory that has been taken from ISIS as a result of more than 2,000 airstrikes and ground troops. But, clearly, it's not enough to defeat ISIS yet.

And the main message to come across is that more equipment, training, funding is needed to get those ground troops in position to defeat ISIS, specifically Iraqi forces, but also opposition forces in Syria. And John Kerry mentioned in the meeting yesterday that the training of those Syrian opposition forces will begin in the spring in neighboring countries.

So, this is a fight for the long haul. That is something that he reiterated, and he also said that this sort of coalition meeting with the core members, about 20 core members will continue every month to update on the progress against ISIS.

BERMAN: All right. Atika Shubert for us in London, thanks so much, Atika.

Iraq is calling for more weapons in its battle against ISIS. But as oil prices plunge, Iraq is hoping that Western allies will provide all the arms they need on credit. Why? Iraq's prime minister says the oil problem has been disastrous for Iraq's economy. Oil exports accounts for about 85 percent of Iraq's budget. The drop in prices poses a new challenge, a challenge that country does not need in the ISIS fight.

ROMANS: It just finally got back to record production after all of the disruption of the past 15 years. And now, prices plummet. So, really tough, tough for their budget.

All right. U.S. military bases in Europe are stepping up security measures following the recent attacks in Paris. And, of course, the continuing intelligence information that these foreign fighters are returning to their home countries from Iraq and Syria. Officials from the U.S. and European command, they're not specifying the exact steps being taken. Generally, these types of security measures include physical checks of people and vehicles coming into bases.

Time for an early start on your money this morning. Stocks climbing -- European and Asian stocks are up. So are U.S. stock futures.

You know, the big push behind this rally is the European Central Bank, its decision to launch a big stimulus. The U.S. got out of the stimulus game, but now, Europe is getting into it because it needs help with the fragile economy. This news also boosted stocks yesterday. The Dow had a nice day, with 260 points higher, the fourth day in a row of gains.

Oil -- look at oil right now. It's up just a bit after news of thing death of Saudi Arabia's king. Saudi Arabia is a leader in OPEC, had huge influence on energy prices. Saudi officials have repeatedly said they will not cut oil production, because they don't want to lose market share to the U.S. and others.

It is unlikely -- the read this morning, it's unlikely the new king will alter that stance to try to push prices higher. So, you are seeing a muted reaction this morning in the oil prices. A change of control in that country, this huge oil reserve, the largest producer in the world. Obviously, a change in control causes some uncertainty in the oil prices.

BERMAN: The first thing he says about oil, the entire world economy will watch.

ROMANS: Oh, yes.

BERMAN: President Obama sat down with three pre-selected YouTube so- called stars on Thursday. This was all part of his post state of the union effort to reach out to a larger audience than the White House normally reaches. It may not have gone exactly as the White House planned. Watch what happens when Glozell Geen hands over green lipstick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLOZELL GREEN, POPULAR YOUTUBER: OK, my mom said when you go to somebody's house, you have to give them something. Don't come empty handed.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: OK, all right.

GREEN: I have green lip stick. One for your first wife, I mean --

OBAMA: My first wife?

GREEN: I mean, I mean --

OBAMA: Do you know something I don't?

GREEN: Oh!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: I think his reaction was pretty funny.

BERMAN: That's right. He said the right thing. Some of the YouTube people asked genuine policy questions. So, there you go. They took a selfie because this is 2015.

What do you think? Worth it?

ROMANS: Tweet us or find us on Facebook. Was it presidential, was it brilliant, was it unpresidential, was it silly? I'm wondering what people think. I said it wasn't really presidential earlier and I'm getting some heat on Facebook this morning.

BERMAN: Yes. If you disagree, please direct your hate to Christine Romans on Twitter and Facebook.

ROMANS: If you agree, talk to Berman.

BERMAN: President Obama, he may have met with these YouTube stars, but he will not meet with Israel's leader. The White House turns its back on Benjamin Netanyahu when he plans to come to the United States in March. We are live as this drama gets bigger and bigger. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: New developments this morning in the Israeli prime minister's planned speech to the U.S. Congress. The White House has announced the President Obama will not meet with Benjamin Netanyahu when he comes to Washington on March 3rd. The official line is the president doesn't want to influence the election in Israel, which happens in just a few weeks after the prime minister's visit.

This development just when you thought the relationship between these two men could not get more complicated or some say worse, it has.

Let's bring in global affairs correspondent Elise Labott live from Jerusalem.

Good morning, Elise.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Well, Prime Minister Netanyahu's decision to accept the invite by House Speaker Boehner not playing well in the United States where the White House is clearly really upset. Here in Israel, Israelis are also upset. They feel that Prime Minister Netanyahu is trying to use this for his own political gain. Israelis are going to the polls in an election just two weeks after Prime Minister Netanyahu speaks to Congress.

And this morning, in one of the leading Israeli papers, there's a quote from an American official, saying Prime Minister Netanyahu spit in the face of this White House. So, this move inserts Israel into the fight between President Obama and Congress over Iran, where Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech is to be critical of U.S. policy towards Iran, but it also inserts the United States into the election here by going to Congress and getting the rousing welcome that he has in the past. Prime Minister Netanyahu really tries to make himself look really big in the eyes of the Israeli public, John.

BERMAN: Of course, there are people on the ground where you are who say that could back fire. It is such an interesting dynamic story. Elise Labott has got a great piece up on CNN.com. I encourage all of you to read it at least twice.

Thanks so much, Elise.

ROMANS: So, who the president meet with? Well, mayors from cities and towns across the country. The president will host a White House reception for the mayors after they spent the day with meeting with cabinet members and senior administration officials.

It should be pretty interesting. That is where the real work gets done, right? It's the mayors --

BERMAN: The mayors are the men and women who do stuff.

ROMANS: They're the ones who really fill the pot holes.

BERMAN: Indeed. All right. Someone who wants a job bigger than mayor? Jeb Bush. The man doing everything he can right now to prepare for a presidential run. He gives a huge speech today in San Francisco. Everyone will be watching for any greater sign that he's running for president, as if there needs to be a greater sign than raising money for a presidential campaign.

On Thursday, though, what a meeting he had. He met with the man named Mitt Romney who, of course, has run for president twice and may try again for a third time.

ROMANS: Look at the reporters in Salt Lake City who care for it.

BERMAN: I know. Hey, Jeb, what are you doing here?

A Bush aide said the meeting was planned before Governor Romney suggested he might run for president again. Both camps said it was a friendly meeting. They talked about policies and the future.

What kind of future are we talking about? One where they both run for president? Fascinating.

ROMANS: Even a year ago, when you think about the potential scenarios for the Republican field, right? Would you put Mitt Romney in there?

BERMAN: No, because he told us, no, no, no, no, no, no.

ROMANS: So, that's what sort of makes politics interesting.

BERMAN: Indeed.

ROMANS: You never knew what's going to happen.

All right. The federal trial of accused Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, you know, it's not going to begin Monday as scheduled. Opening statements have been pushed back. It is taking longer than expected to seat a jury. The judge is expected to announce a new start date next week.

Meantime, defense lawyers are asking for a third now to move this trial out of Massachusetts. They claim 68 percent of potential jurors already believe Tsarnaev is guilty. He is charged in the 2013 marathon bombing that killed three people and injured more than 260. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.

BERMAN: Transit officials in the nation's capital say a breakdown of radio communications hampered emergency responders trying to reach passengers stuck on that smoke-filled metro subway transit. One person died on that train from smoke inhalation. Federal safety officials say ventilation fans in the tunnel near L'Enfant Plaza station were not functions as intended when investigators tested them shortly after this accident.

Big winter storm on the way for the weekend for right here. Let's get meteorologist Pedram -- sorry, Derek Van Dam today for the latest. DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A very soggy start to the early

weekend across the Southeast. We have a storm system developing across that region. Temperatures stay around 40 degrees for the New England coast.

We have a storm that will bring hefty amounts of rainfall to the Florida Panhandle today. Look at these impressive totals, anywhere between 2 and 4 inches between Tallahassee and Orlando.

Then, we'll start to track this system as it heads up to New England coast. Most our computer models keep it offshore. Nonetheless, a band of precipitation still expected to impact New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, as well as Washington through Saturday afternoon and evening.

We have the potential of a quarter to a half an inch of ice where you see that shading of pink. And on top of that precipitation, it changes over into the form of snow. They could experience 2 to 4 inches locally.

Then, we will monitor a clipper system dropping south out of Canada, bringing snowfall to the upper Great Lakes end of the weekend. That low will move off the East Coast by Monday, bringing more snow to New York.

Back to you, John and Christine.

BERMAN: All right. Thanks, Derek.

So, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, they plead ignorance. They have no explanation for what might have caused these footballs to lose their air. Andy Scholes has the details in the "Bleacher Report", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and the biggest football star on Earth, Tom Brady, had separate news conferences and told reports they had nothing to do with under-inflating footballs.

ROMANS: Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Andy.

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

Belichick and Brady basically pushing all in yesterday with the "we have no idea how this happened". Belichick started things off saying he was shocked when he first heard of deflate-gate and he didn't really even know much about the process of how footballs end up on the field. Belichick passed the buck to Brady and told reporters to ask him how he likes his footballs and Brady surprised everyone when he came out and said he also had no idea how 11 of the footballs ended up under-inflated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TOM BRADY, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK: You know, I didn't alter the ball in any way. I have a process I go through before every game where I go in and pick the balls that I want to -- the footballs that I want to use for the game.

BILL BELICHICK, PATRIOTS HEAD COACH: I can tell you in my entire coaching career, I have never talked to any player, staff member about football air pressure. That is not a subject that I have ever brought up.

BRADY: I have no knowledge of anything. I have no knowledge of any wrongdoing. Yes, I'm very comfortable saying. I'm comfortable saying nobody did it as far as I know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Well, not many people were buying what Brady was selling, including Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman. Aikman said Brady had to be involved and that the Patriots should be punished harsher than what the Saints were for bounty-gate.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TROY AIKMAN, HALL OF FAMER QUARTERBACK: It is obvious that Tom Brady had something to do with this. For the ball so then, deflated, that doesn't happen unless the quarterback wants that to happen. I can assure you of that.

The punishment for the Patriots and/or Bill Belichick has to be more severe than what the punishment was for the New Orleans Saints.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SCHOLES: If you remember the Saints head coach, Sean Payton, he was suspended for the season for bounty-gate.

Guys, one revelation from Brady's said the NFL hasn't contacted him yet about deflate-gate. You think the NFL would want to wrap it up as we head into super bowl week. Maybe they are struggling to find any evidence.

BERMAN: Well, that's exactly the thing. Like, first of all, it is weird they did not talk to Brady as of yesterday afternoon. I have no explanation for that. But one of the reasons they may not be coming forward is because if there isn't an explanation for how it happened, if no one is owning up to it, there are no witnesses, what do you do? I mean, what do you do?

SCHOLES: I think an equipment manager or ball boy will have to take a fall for this at some point, because like you said, John, there is no explanation other than one of them taking the air out of the footballs.

BERMAN: Right. Short of someone coming forward or short of definitive evidence that someone there did do it, the NFL is in a tough situation here, I think. SCHOLES: Yes, definitely.

BERMAN: Crazy. Everyone hates the Patriots. I mean, they do. I mean, everyone hates the Patriots. It's a crazy, crazy time.

SCHOLES: There'd be a lot of Seahawks fans on February 1st. You can see that.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Andy.

SCHOLES: All right.

ROMANS: Chaos in the Middle East. Leader of the region has died. The government of another key partner in another key ally in the war on terror crumbles. It could mean chaos for the U.S. as it fights al Qaeda and ISIS in the area. We'll examine that next. Live team coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)