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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Jordan Hangs Convicted Terrorist Al-Rishawi; Deadly Metro North Train Crash; Search for Survivors in TransAsia Plane Crash; ISIS Recruiting American Teens

Aired February 04, 2015 - 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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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Jordan fights back, executing two terrorists hours after ISIS released shocking new video showing their Jordanian hostage burned alive in a cage. Live team coverage tracking what we're learning this morning ahead.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: investigators on the scene after a New York passenger train smashes into an SUV. Seven people killed. A dozen injured. We have new developments on this crash, ahead.

ROMANS: Dramatic video capturing the moment a plane with 58 people on board crashes into a river. Right now, a frantic search for survivors. We're live ahead.

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

BERMAN: Good to see you this morning. I'm John Berman. Thirty-one minutes after the hour.

We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world.

Breaking overnight: the kingdom of Jordan has executed two terrorists, one of them the woman who ISIS tried to trade for the life of a captured Jordanian fighter pilot. Jordan hanging would-be suicide bomber Sajida al Rishawi at dawn, doing that after ISIS released the horrific video that appeared to show this pilot being burned alive. CNN is not showing any part of this video. It's ISIS propaganda.

But Jordanians are outraged this morning. People around the world are outraged. In Jordan, there are demonstrations on the streets, demands of vengeance, and the government there is vowing to oblige. A spokesman says the pilot's blood will not be shed in vain.

Jordan's King Abdullah cut short a visit to Washington to return home. He is expected to land in Jordan shortly.

CNN's Becky Anderson joins us now for the latest. Becky, good morning.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

And the king's arrival in about a half hour coincides with a statement by the father of First Lieutenant Muath Kaseasbeh, the executed pilot. In the past few minutes, he demanded the following, nothing short, he said, of annihilation of ISIS. And the father went on to say that he wants to revenge the blood of his son's executions. He said that the would-be female suicide bomber and one other overnight not enough, he said.

Assessing the mood both in Jordan and here in the region, I have to say at least at this hour, that if ISIS thinks that the latest evil will cause regional players in the U.S. fight against them to crack in their support, then they have seemingly miscalculated, John.

King Abdullah, as you say, due back from Washington in the next 30 minutes. There are crowds gathering at the airport as we speak. And he has vowed, quote, "punishment and revenge" for the death of the pilot. The king describing ISIS as a deviant criminal group.

He is expected to visit the village near the south of the country to pay his condolences to Kaseasbeh's family and members of the tribe, a crucial tribe that provides an enormous amount of military force for the effort against ISIS.

And just one other thing, the UAE's foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed has said in the past few hours, and I quote, "The heinous and obscene act represents a brutal escalation by the terrorist group." He went on to say, "It is a defining or the defining moment."

I have to say, watch this in the hours, days and weeks to come because it feels certainly like a watershed moment at this point. The question is, how the ratcheting up of the effort, if that is what it's going to be in this U.S.-led coalition against is will manifest itself -- John.

BERMAN: The defining moment. Strong words.

Becky Anderson for us in the UAE -- thank you.

ROMANS: We are not showing that video but we are describing it, and it is brutal. It's heinous. And it is the apparent murder by ISIS of that pilot, Muath al-Kaseasbeh. It's prompting shock and outrage across the region and around the world.

This propaganda video, a clear effort to rally new fighters to Syria and Iraq, to energize and electrify the kind of people who are attracted to this brutality. At the same time, the terror group has launched a new attack against the city of Kirkuk. Iraqi, Kurdish Peshmerga forces fighting back, trying to stop this ISIS advance.

Standing by live just miles from the front line in that fight is international correspondent Phil Black. He's got the latest.

Good morning, Phil.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

ISIS continues to prove that this region in northern Iraq that it is a potent fighting force. That is despite a great increase in pressure by both Kurdish fighters on the ground here and international air power from above, those two forces together have successfully to a significant degree slowed down the ability of ISIS to advance across this region. Certainly not to the degree that it did when it first charged in here last year, claiming huge amounts of territory, including the city of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq. It remains very firmly under ISIS control.

But that is where Kurdish fighters are now trying to push back ISIS forces, circle that town, choke it off, and separate it from is- controlled territory in Syria. That's the strategy. And it has proceeded with some degree of success, really putting pressure upon ISIS. Yet despite that pressure, ISIS has, as you've said, recently lashed out and opened up a new front in the fighting here around the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, seizing territory there.

Kurdish forces have launched a counterattack, seizing back some of the ground, but the fighting is now intense. It is daily, and it does appear to be a significant effort by is to seize yet more territory despite the fact that it is under pressure both on the ground and from the air -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Phil Black for us this morning in Erbil -- thanks, Phil.

BERMAN: Before leaving Washington, Jordan's king met with President Obama at the White House. The president said that the video, if authentic, confirms the depravity of ISIS, as if there needed to be any more confirmation at this point. Jordan says it believes the pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh had been dead for weeks by the time that ISIS began bargaining for his life. Officials from Jordan say they think he was killed on January 3rd.

For the latest on U.S. diplomatic and intelligence efforts, let's bring in Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr -- Barbara.

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BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, if the claim the pilot was killed back on January 3rd is true, that's a very specific date. How would anybody know that? The U.S. intelligence community looking for any clues it had some intelligence, officials say, but nothing corroborated about when all of this took place. There might be two ways that they might eventually know.

Intercepts of ISIS communications or perhaps the Jordanian intelligence services had some trusted agents on the ground that gave them some information about all of this. But as the Jordanians react in horror and vow revenge, President Obama also very strongly issuing a statement saying that the U.S. stands with Jordan. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think we'll redouble

the vigilance and determination on the part of a global coalition to make sure that they are degraded and ultimately defeated.

STARR: And again, that horrifying video being scrutinized frame by frame by the U.S. intelligence community for any clues about the perpetrators -- John, Christine.

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ROMANS: All right. Barbara Starr in Washington, thank you for that, Barbara.

Now, more breaking news this morning, NTSB investigators on their way after seven people were killed north of New York City when a commuter train slammed into a Jeep on the tracks. This is during the prime hours of the evening commute. Officials say the gates at the crossing near Valhalla came down on top of the jeep which had stopped on the tracks. Now, the driver of the Jeep apparently got out to look at the car and attempted to drive forward before being hit head on by the oncoming train.

The Jeep's driver was killed along with six people on the train which burst into smoke and flames. The impact sent the electrified third rail through the entire front car of the train and shoved the SUV the length of ten train cars.

Passengers describe the ordeal.

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JAMIE WALLACE, PASSENGER: There was a passenger that ran past me. He had blood on his face. And people were pulling the windows off, trying to get out through the emergency window.

DEVON CHAMPAGNE, PASSENGER: A car caught on fire, and the first car caught on fire and the second one, but we were able to get off in time. But it was scary.

FRED BOUNOCORE, PASSENGER: The train went silent. You could tell there was panic going on towards the front of the train, like "Walk back! Walk back! Walk back!"

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ROMANS: Hundreds of passengers and other cars evacuated through the back of the train, a frigid night. They took shelter at nearby businesses. This is the deadliest accident in the history of the Metro North Line. And investigators on their way to try to figure out exactly what went wrong.

BERMAN: What a horrifying scene. This happened right in the middle of rush hour. People headed home.

Hundreds of people ride this train at any one time. An average of 650 passengers, I was reading overnight. Seven dead, what a tragedy. Amazing that there were so many survivors, though.

ROMANS: Yes, hundreds of people evacuated.

All right. Breaking news this morning: the death toll rising as rescuers search for survivors of this deadly plane crash. We're live with new information, next.

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BERMAN: Shocking video of a TransAsia plane crash landing overnight into a river in Taiwan. Final seconds of this flight, just shocking, captured on dash cam video courtesy of a Taiwan affiliate TVBS: Fifty-eight passengers and crew were on board. At least 13 people were killed, at least 13. Many more still unaccounted for this morning.

I want to bring in David McKenzie. He is monitoring what is a rescue effort for us.

David, what can you tell us?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, it's quite incredible when you look at that dramatic footage of the plane. A turboprop flipping over, cart-wheeling over right after takeoff, smashing into the barrier of that highway, and then plunging into the river near Taipei and Taiwan. But there's really more than a dozen people were out of that crash alive with varying degrees of injury, incredible considering both the crash and that it landed in water and that the fuselage was partially submerged and upside down.

Rescuers rushed to the scene, more than 100 of them, to pull passengers out of the plane. As you say, they are still missing, but they're trying desperately to find -- they managed to retrieve the flight data recorders. That could give us an idea of just what went wrong. The airline has apologized, but at this stage, it's unclear what happened to cause this deadly crash, John.

BERMAN: What happened? I mean, it is stunning to see that plane go down. I'm sure everyone did see it. The fact that it was in such public view probably helped with the rescue effort. But again, amazing there are people emerging from that crash alive.

David McKenzie watching that for us -- thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. Here, President Obama's immigration action will be front and center at the White House today. He's expected to meet with young undocumented immigrants from across the country who are shielded from deportation because of his executive orders.

It's part of the White House plan to promote immigration reforms that could prevent millions of undocumented immigrants from being deported. Republicans in Congress are mounting their own campaign to undo those reforms.

BERMAN: The Environmental Protection Agency says the recent drop in global oil prices could spark increased development of Canada's oil sands, if the Keystone oil pipeline is approved, and that would increase greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA review could influence President Obama's long awaited decision on the proposed 1,200-mile pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf Coast. The president has said one of his chief concerns about the project is its potential impact on the environment.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money. Oil prices are finally climbing, and that has been helping stocks. U.S. stock futures, they're barely moving right now, but yesterday, it was a big rally for the Dow, up 305 points. The Dow in two days is up 500 points.

Energy stocks led the rally. Energy stocks up about 3 percent yesterday. And there's growing speculation oil prices have finally found a floor.

Oil prices have been crashing. This has been an oil market crash, seven-month-long crash. Last week, they reached a six-year low. Now prices, though, are climbing up 20 percent just in the past few days. The biggest three-day spike since January 2009 at the end of the recession.

Why here? Producers are starting to address the supply glut. They are canceling projects. They are reducing investment, plus more rigs are sitting idle to bring prices back up.

BERMAN: All right. More weather to tell you about. You thought it was over, but a clipper system is headed across the Midwest and Northeast. It could bring more snow.

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri tracking the weather for us -- Pedram.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good Wednesday morning, John and Christine. Show you what's happening around New England this morning. Across portions of the Great Lakes, another clipper system beginning to exit the picture. Temperatures cold enough to support the snow. Going to be one of those Christine Romans crispy snowflakes coming down across portions of New England.

New York City, you'll get a few flakes out of it, too, but I don't see much in the way of accumulation. Very void here of any moisture when it comes to the storm system lacking it. You take a look to the South. We do have a gulf storm system that's going to develop in the next couple days. A secondary clipper system also develops.

Now, the forecast as we head on in from Wednesday night into Thursday, depending on this gulf track, the storm of that gulf track is going to really dictate where and how much snowfall we're going to get come Thursday across New England.

So, here's our best estimations at this point. Generally less than an inch from New York City southward into Philly. Interior New England, four to six inches. Boston potentially three to five inches of snowfall by Thursday night across that region.

But the temperatures take a nosedive across New York City, 40s into the 30s, eventually the 20s for a high temperature. Look at Boston, gets down to 19 degrees. That is your high temperature come Saturday afternoon across the region. And of course into the overnight hours, minus three on Friday morning there across Boston. New York will be down into the single digits. Seven for a low.

Hang in there, guys.

ROMANS: Hang in there.

BERMAN: No fun.

ROMANS: Thanks, Pedram.

BERMAN: All right. Growing concern this morning that ISIS could be spreading its ideology here in the United States. The FBI talking about sleeper cells in this country. That's coming up next.

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BERMAN: Breaking overnight, Jordan has executed two terrorists including a would-be suicide bomber. This is the woman that ISIS had been trying to get released from death row, the hanging of Sajida al- Rishawi was Jordan's response to this heinous new ISIS video. The video which CNN is not airing shows the apparent burning alive of Jordanian fighter pilot Muath al Kaseasbeh.

The Jordanian king, King Abdullah is on his way back to Amman in Jordan right now. He's expected to land very soon. He cut short a visit to Washington. The king did meet with President Obama. The president condemned what he called the viciousness and barbarity of ISIS. He expressed solidarity with the people of Jordan.

ROMANS: All right. Now to the terror threat at home. A top FBI official says terror groups like ISIS are successfully using social media to target and recruit teens around the world including here in the U.S.

Justice correspondent Pamela Brown spoke with the head of the FBI's counterterrorism division about these young, homegrown extremists.

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

We had the rare opportunity to do an exclusive interview with the head of the FBI's counterterrorism division, Michael Steinbach. We discussed a range of threats facing Americans. And he was very candid. He said it's been a struggle keeping up with all the Americans coming and going to Syria and that he would be lying if he said the FBI has not lost track of some Americans, citing the sheer volume of travelers and the ease of travel to Syria as just a couple of reasons why.

And one of the key questions we wanted an answer to is whether there are sleeper cells in the U.S. here's what he said. Have you seen people in the U.S. coordinating to launch an attack?

MICHAEL STEINBACH, FBI'S COUNTERTERRORISM DIVISION: We have seen individuals collaborate, of course.

BROWN: In the U.S.?

STEINBACH: Yes.

BROWN: So, are there ISIS cells in the U.S.?

STEINBACH: There are individuals that have been in communication with groups like ISIL who have a desire to conduct an attack, yes.

BROWN: That are living in the U.S. right now?

STEINBACH: Correct.

BROWN: Steinbach also says there is a growing trend of ISIS recruiting young U.S. teens as young as 15 years old. He says ISIS has been successful at pushing out a false PR narrative on social media, and that narrative is being sucked up by kids the U.S. he says there have been several cases where they've been able to stop teens from getting to Syria. But he can't say with certainty American teens haven't made it over there. He says the FBI needs parents' help combating this problem -- John and Christine.

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ROMANS: That is fascinating. All right. Pamela Brown, thanks for that.

All right. Oil prices are rising. They're rising finally. It may be bad news for drivers eventually, but it's good news right for the stock market. I explain in an early start on your money, next.

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ROMANS: Let's get an early start on your money this morning. Oil prices are climbing and Wall Street is loving it. The Dow climbed 305 points yesterday. It's up 500 points in just ht first two days of February. Energy stocks leading the way.

Oil prices, it looks like they have found a floor after crashing now for months. Prices are rising up 20 percent in the last three days. That's the first meaningful move up we've seen in a long time and the biggest spike in oil since January 2009 at the end of the recession.

So, does that mean the end of $2 gas? Not yet. But gas prices are ticking higher. The national average for a gallon of regular is $2.11 this morning. It's a 5 cent increase from yesterday. Gas prices ended a record 123-day slide last week. They're expected to keep climbing a bit headed into the spring.

So, at least your portfolio is bouncing back, but your gas bill when you fill up is getting higher, too. BERMAN: Easy come, easy go. A lot going on this morning.

EARLY START continues right now.

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