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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Israeli Prime Minister Slams Iran Deal; Kenya Names University Terror Attackers; Houthi Rebels Fight for Aden; Week in Sports. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired April 06, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:11] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: It is 5:00 in the East. EARLY START continues right now.

Selling the deal. President Obama with his most extensive comments yet on why the Iran nuclear agreement is best for all countries, including Israel. But Prime Minister Netanyahu isn't swayed. We'll tell you what both of them have to say this morning.

Officials in Kenya hunting for a terror mastermind. They've identified the man they say led the attack in last week's deadly siege at the university. Who is he? Where could he have fled? We are live in Kenya.

Failure of journalism. "Rolling Stone" under fire after a review called out the publication for not following the most basic guidelines before a graphic article about an alleged gang rape at UVA. The fallout and the apology, that's ahead.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday, April 6th. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East. John Berman has the morning off.

This morning, new perspective from key players in the developing deal to curb Iran's nuclear program. President Obama in an interview with "The New York Times" acknowledging widespread criticism and Israeli reluctance toward the framework hashed out last week in Switzerland. But the president said he is, quote, "absolutely committed to making sure the Israelis maintain their qualitative military edge over Iran and their Arab neighbors." The president reinforced his argument that the deal, this deal, is the best way to protect Israeli's security. Something he says he takes very seriously.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would consider it a failure on my part, a fundamental of my presidency if on my watch or as a consequence of work that I've done Israel was rendered more vulnerable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The president's interview was just one part of an all-out lobbying offensive from all sides that included Israel's prime minister slamming that deal on CNN. National correspondent Sunlen Serfaty has more from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, the prime minister says this is a bad deal. He wants more pressure, more sanctions on Iran. And he's working with Congress. He is trying to get them to block this deal and hold off for a better one. So he is lobbying members directly, revealing that he's spoken to two-thirds of members of Congress personally.

Now the White House anticipated this. And that is why they're putting up President Obama, directly calling members of Congress, calling the top congressional leadership, and reaching out to world leaders.

Now the two leaders, Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama, have had a well-documented tense relationship. But in an interview with CNN's Jim Acosta, the prime minister indicated that his opposition to this bill is not in direct reference to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I always respect both the presidency of the United States and this president of the United States. But as the prime minister of the one and only Jewish state, when I see a country, a terrorist regime committed to our destruction, and not only to our destruction, having the path, a clear path to the bomb, it's my obligation to speak out as I'm doing now, as I'll do in any forum.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And there are many in Congress who are receptive to Prime Minister Netanyahu's argument here. They are skeptical of this deal. They believe that it doesn't do enough to roll back Iran's nuclear program, both Republicans and Democrats. But one top Senate Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein, she's a leading voice on intelligence issues on Capitol Hill, she had some blunt criticism of Netanyahu. She says she believes that this campaign he's waging to derail this deal is doing more harm than good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: I think he said what he's had to say, and to be candid with you, this can backfire on him. And I wish that he would contain himself because he has put out no real alternative. In his speech to the Congress, no real alternative. Since then, no real alternative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And Congress will be back in Washington after recess next week and there are a whole series of bills lined up and waiting for President Obama to challenge him over the details of the deal -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Sunlen at the White House for us this morning, thank you for that.

New developments this morning in the terrorist attack on a university in eastern Kenya that killed 142 students and five security officers. The Kenyan government naming the mastermind of that attack by al- Shabaab militants, Mohamed Mohamud. The Interior Ministry had previously posted a most wanted notice for him, offering a reward equal to $215,000.

The father of another suspect in the Garissa University College attack named by the government spoke to CNN over the weekend. He said his son went missing soon after graduating law school in 2013. The father said he had really given up on his son.

[05:05:06] For more now, let's bring in CNN's Christian Purefoy live from Garissa.

So tell us about the man authorities believe ordered this attack.

CHRISTIAN PUREFOY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, the Kenyan Interior Ministry has named the mastermind Mohamed Mohamud. They say he is in control of the militias along Somalia's long, porous borders. Somalia, remember, is al-Shabaab. And it's about a four- hour drive from Garissa town from the site of the attack.

Now he's in control of many of attacks across the border into Kenyan territory and they say he was also behind a similar attack on a bus coming down to Garissa where the attackers, the terrorists went into the bus, pulled everybody out, separated Christians from Muslims, and then began to kill the Christians.

So exactly the same modus operandi as the one that we saw just a few days ago here at the university -- Christine.

ROMANS: Christian, a local politician saying that his son was one of the -- was one of the shooters. Tell us about that.

PUREFOY: Yes. In his speech, the Kenyan president said that, you know, the problem with this attack is that many of those involved were deeply embedded in society. And this is one of the four main attackers that went into the university to commit this crime has been named as Abdirahim Abdullahi, 20-something-year-old who went to university, worked for a short time at a bank, and then his father who we spoke to said he didn't see him since. That was about 2013.

And that is a serious problem for the Kenyan authorities because this is a homegrown terrorist. This is not someone coming across the border. This is someone actually getting radicalized in Kenya -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Christian, thank you so much for that, in Garissa for us this morning. Thanks.

A bombshell move from "Rolling Stone" magazine following a scathing report from Columbia University School of Journalism slamming the magazine for failing to engage in, quote, "basic, even routine journalistic practice."

"Rolling Stone" now issuing a retraction of a discredited article about a woman who claimed she was gang raped at the University of Virginia. But despite the missteps, "Rolling Stone" publisher Jann Winter has decided not to fire anyone, saying he believes the mistakes were not intentional.

The author of the story, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, now issuing an apology. She says this, "Reading the Columbia account of the mistakes and misjudgments in my reporting was a brutal and humbling experience. I want to offer my deepest apologies to 'Rolling Stone's' readers, to my 'Rolling Stone' editors and colleagues, to the UVA community, and to any victims of sexual assault who may feel fearful as a result of my article."

UVA president Teresa Sullivan issuing a fierce response to the Columbia Review, saying, "'Rolling Stone's' story did not to combat sexual violence and it damaged serious efforts to address the issue. Irresponsible journalism unjustly damaged the reputations of many innocent individuals and the University of Virginia. Such false depictions reinforce the reluctance of sexual assault victims already feel about reporting their experience lest they be doubted or ignored."

Deans of the Columbia Journalism School will speak today about their investigation.

Closing arguments today in the trial of the Boston Marathon bomber. Insiders say the jury could even get the case before the end of the day. After more than three weeks of testimony from 96 witnesses, they have to decide if Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was pushed by his older brother into carrying out attack and whether the 21-year-old deserves the death penalty.

Lawyers for Aaron Hernandez will begin their first and possibly only day of defense testimony in his murder trial today. The legal team for the former New England Patriot was -- has said it expects to put on its only witnesses Monday, then rests. The prosecution spent more than two months laying out its case, accusing Hernandez of shooting and killing Odin Lloyd. Deliberations could begin as soon as tomorrow.

Questions swirling around Hillary Clinton this morning and her all- but-announced run for president. We are told aides have been instructed to be ready starting today for a campaign rollout. And top Democratic activists in Iowa and New Hampshire privately say they have been placed on alert. Clinton will declare soon with the first announcement expected on social media. The Hillary watch picked up steam last week when Clinton's team signed a lease for office space in Brooklyn.

New York City police are on the hunt for a man believed to have fired shots in the parking lot outside a casino in Queens. They say 22- year-old Jaquan Roberts was involved this Friday, in the Friday night shooting which followed a wild melee inside. Hundreds of people were involved in the fight. Several were hurt.

This fight reportedly broke out after people got fed up with the slow service at the bar. Three men are already facing disorderly conduct charges in that incident. Wow.

The ongoing California drought hurting the whole country. That's because California is the nation's bread basket growing more than a third of the vegetables consumed here, two-thirds of its fruits and nuts.

[05:10:07] Lack of water in California has been a problem in California for four years now, a four-year long drought. That sent prices higher for several states last year. Berries, broccoli, grapes, melons, lettuce, peppers all saw a big spike. You could see prices climb again this year because of the drought. The drop in oil prices makes transporting food from California cheaper. The strong dollar means the U.S. can import more crops.

But the drought has already forced farmers to abandon thousands of acres. And now farmers are deciding if they should plant less next year. Those decisions could affect food prices and production longer term.

The severe weather threat in the middle of the country may be just beginning for the week. For more on that, let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with an early look at your forecast.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, Christine. Hopefully you had a fantastic Easter weekend. Look at these temperatures across the country today, 60s and 70s. Mid-60s in New York City. You can't complain with that, although we do have some clouds on the increase. The temperature trend going to remain mild. Areas around Minneapolis on the cool side at 42 degrees, but severe weather threat generally going to be a minimal, kind of an isolated pocket today.

It will gradually expand as the week progresses and we'll touch on that from Monday into Tuesday and Wednesday. And notice Wednesday into Thursday, it gets quite expansive. And that's the concern, by midweek, as some of these storms have the potential to easily be the most significant of the season.

In fact, look at the next seven days. Going to be a wet pattern across much of the eastern half of the country with areas around portions of Arkansas up to six inches of rainfall, while New York again generally cloudy and showers the next few days. But the temperatures do stay in the 60s, with the exception of Tuesday and Wednesday when we cool off into the 40s and 50s.

And notice in Chicago, as well, the cooling trend is there. We do expect a moderating trend towards the latter portion of the week -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that, Pedram.

The battle for territory in Yemen heating up overnight. Rebels fighting for a key port city. Forces loyal to the president trying to hang on. The very latest live from the Middle East next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:15:04] ROMANS: An American family in mourning right now for the first U.S. citizen identified as having been killed in the expanding warfare in Yemen. Jamal al-Labani went to Yemen to bring his pregnant wife and 2-year-old daughter back to California. Instead, he was killed by a mortar strike in the southern city of Aden.

Houthi rebels now battling to take Aden, the last stronghold of troops loyal to the president. To the north, Saudi-led airstrikes pounding Yemen's Houthi occupied capital of Sana'a. The fighting there causing widespread blackouts but failing to dislodge those rebels.

For the very latest, I want to bring in CNN's Becky Anderson, she's live from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

And Becky, this is overnight really all of these factions trying to hold on to their territory.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's chaotic. And as Jamal al-Labani's family is mourning, 12 nights into this Operation Decisive Storm. And the humanitarian situation on the ground is being described as dire. For example, in the port city of Aden, that strategic city down south, there are areas where there is no water and no power. And one witness this morning, in the past hour or so, describing the city as a ghost town. Inhabitants nowhere to be seen. The city scale of destruction, he said, clearer by the day.

Now aid agencies have been really struggling to get any emergency supplies into the area. We do understand that the Red Cross is flying two emergency flights in today with staff and with supplies. But clearly, as things get worse on the ground in what -- this country which is verging on a failed state if not one already, this can't come quickly enough.

So as far as the warring factions are concerned, well, you rightly point, it seems the Houthi militia ideologically and materially backed by Iran as far as the Saudis are concerned, seemed to be holding on to Sana'a and seemed to be making progress in Aden. So insofar as these airstrikes are concerned, the idea was to degrade the militia on the ground. And that simply doesn't seem to be happening here in Riyadh.

The president is here -- of Yemen, President Hadi. He is trying to form a new government of some sort. There are discussions going on about a political solution to this as well. But we seem to be an awfully long way off. The Saudis say any talks would have to go through the GCC and the Houthis on the ground say they are prepared to talk, but not to the, and I quote, "aggressors."

So as far as a political solution is concerned, lots of talk, but no walking the walk, as it were as present. No talk here today of any imminent ground troops. But as this thing wears on, the people on the ground are simply having the most awful, awful time. And as we've said before, and we'll say it again, what goes on in Yemen, doesn't stay in Yemen. We know that al Qaeda is capitalizing, taking advantage of this chaos. Things looking really bleak.

ROMANS: All right. Becky Anderson for us in Riyadh, thank you so much. And you're right. Yemen is so important for regional stability there.

Eighteen minutes past the hour. The Justice Department now launching a criminal investigation into the company responsible for spraying a chemical that may have sickened a Delaware family. This happened last month when this family was vacationing at a villa in the U.S. Virgin Islands. We are told Steve Esmond is unable to talk or move. His wife is in occupational therapy now. And their teen sons remain in critical condition.

Rescue on the southern Mediterranean Sea. Italian coast guard and navy ship saved nearly 1500 migrants from five vessels off the coast of Libya Saturday. Rescuers intercepted distress calls from three of the migrants' boats. The other two were found en route to those. The migrants were taken to the island of Lampedusa or ports in Sicily.

Illegal entry into the E.U. is on the rise with more refugees fleeing instability in the Middle East and Africa.

All right. It's down to Duke and Wisconsin. The Blue Devils and the Badgers set to square off for the NCAA championship tonight. And with Kentucky out, Kentucky is out, who cares about brackets?

Andy Scholes has the details live from Indianapolis and our "Bleacher Report" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:22:56] ROMANS: It started with 68 teams, and now we're down to two. Duke and Wisconsin set to battle it out for the national title tonight.

Let's go now to Andy Scholes. He is in Indianapolis with a preview of the big game in this morning's "Bleacher Report."

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Hey, good morning, Christine. Yes, a lot of people are still hoping Kentucky would be alive in this going for that perfect season. A colossal match-up against Duke in the final Wisconsin spoiled all that. But this Badgers-Blue Devils final matchup still has plenty of star power. Both sides have -- future NBA first round picks.

Duke of course has Jahlil Okafor, he's expected to go number one in June's NBA draft. He's been unstoppable so far in this tournament. Wisconsin, meanwhile, has Frank Kaminsky. Better known as Frank the Tank. He was this year's College Player of the Year.

Duke is trying to win Mike Krzyzewski his fifth national championship while Wisconsin is trying to capture its first title in 74 years.

Yesterday CNN's Rachel Nichols, she sat down with both coaches to see what they were telling their players about this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI, DUKE HEAD COACH: Well, I think the main advice I've given them is how to handle the Final Four. There's so much and so how do you stay yourself during this time. But I do think being in the Final Four has helped me get my team emotionally ready better.

BO RYAN, WISCONSIN HEAD COACH: Just stay in the moment. To stay who you are. Be us. I had to say that Saturday 40 times. Guys, let's just be us and not -- let's play the way we played to get here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: According to the odds makers in Las Vegas, this game is a tossup. It's as close as they come. And you're going to have to stay up late if you want to watch this. So the tipoff set for 9:18 Eastern on CBS.

Now just down the street from here at Bankers Life Field House, Pacers star Paul George, he made his return to action eight months after suffering that gruesome broken leg. He received a standing ovation from the crowd when he came off the bench in the first quarter. And George notched his first point of the season on his very first shot. Ended up with 13 points and a 112-98 win over the Miami Heat.

[05:25:05] All right. Get your peanuts and cracker jacks out. The 2015 baseball season is now official underway. Jon Lester took the mound for the Cubs last night. His first start after signing a $155 million deal in December for Chicago. But it was Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright who stole the show. He threw six shutout innings in St. Louis, so 3-0 win. This is the first time the Cubs have ever been shut out in consecutive season openers.

And, Christine, all the other 28 teams around baseball are going to kick things off later today. So this is always a great sports week yet.

ROMANS: Yes.

SCHOLES: You got opening day of the national championship in college basketball and the Masters gets going later this week. So just nonstop sports going for you.

ROMANS: All right. Fun for you. Fun for Berman who has the day off.

All right. Thanks so much. It's nice to see, Andy.

Universal's "Furious 7" left other pictures eating its dust this weekend. Look at that, raking in $143 million at the box office. This is the seventh film of the "Fast and Furious" franchise. It is the last movie made by actor Paul Walker. No doubt a big draw for audiences. "Furious 7" was still in production when Walker was killed in a car crash in 2013.

To put this weekend's $143 million into context, the first "Furious" film released in 2001 made $144 million domestically grand total.

All right, 26 minutes past the hour. President Obama laying down the line for Israel. He vows a nuclear deal negotiated with Iran will not jeopardize the Jewish state. He says the U.S. will stand with Israel if Tehran gets aggressive.

Will it be enough to convince the Israelis? We are live in Jerusalem next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Point, counter point. President Obama and the Israeli prime minister not ready to budge from their positions on the Iranian nuclear deal.