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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Police Officer Charged With Murder; North Charleston Officials Speak; Hackers Penetrate White House Computers; U.S. Speeds Involvement In Yemen; Shell To Buy BG For $70 Billion; Jury Resumes Hernandez Trial Deliberations; Job Openings At 14-Year-High. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired April 08, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A police officer accused of murder this morning caught on camera. Shooting an unarmed black man in the back as that man tried to run away. This morning, how the officer will defend himself and what the victim's family is now saying.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Disturbing video.

BERMAN: Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's 31 minutes past the hour. We begin there, developing this morning, a South Carolina police officer remains behind bars. An officer behind bars, he is charged in the murder of an unarmed black man who was running away following a traffic stop for a broken taillight.

North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager arrested after this disturbing video emerged.

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ROMANS: Let's bring in CNN's Ed Lavandera for the very latest.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, this dramatic video has ended with Officer Michael Slager, a five-year veteran of the North Charleston, South Carolina, Police Department being charged with murder.

This comes incredibly quickly. This shooting took place Saturday afternoon, just four days ago, and the state law enforcement department there in the state of South Carolina has charged him with murder.

In this video, it's dramatic, you see in the initial moments of the video, the victim in this case, 50-year-old Walter Scott, very close to the officer but starting to run away. You see some objects fall to the ground. Officer Slager apparently said that he feared for his life or he felt like he was in danger because the victim had reached for his taser. But Walter Scott gets about 25 feet away, 4 seconds later and eight shots, Walter Scott drops to the ground. He is later pronounced dead at the scene.

And then one interesting piece, if you look closely at the video, at one point you see Officer Slager go back to where the initial confrontation had taken place and then drop something next to Walter Scott's body. It's not clear if that is the taser.

But then moments later, he goes back and picks up that very same object. It is clear, John and Christine, that this video played a dramatic role in these murder charges being filed against Officer Michael Slager -- John and Christine.

BERMAN: Now, on top of the state murder charges, Officer Slager faces an FBI investigation for possibly violating Walter Scott's civil Rights. He's also likely to be named in a civil lawsuit planned by Scott's family. They were outraged and obviously heartbroken as they spoke to media last night.

Their lawyer called Slager, quote, "A cop who felt like he could get away with just shooting someone in the back." Walter Scott's brother, Anthony, remembered him as a Coast Guard veteran and the father of four children.

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ANTHONY SCOTT, SHOOTING VICTIM'S BROTHER: I have -- I had two brothers. I had two brothers, but now I have one brother. But out of my brothers, he was the most outgoing out of all of us. He had -- he knew everybody. He knew -- he knew family I didn't know.

He knew he had friends I didn't know. He was well known in the community everywhere. And he was just an outgoing type of person and loving and kind. That was just his nature.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: City officials in North Charleston also stepping in front of the cameras following Officer Slager's arrest. The mayor saying he is grateful that someone was there to capture this shooting on camera and to step forward with the video. The police chief saying he has been devastated by the actions of his officer.

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MAYOR KEITH SUMMEY, NORTH CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA: The video is very demonstrative of exactly what happened.

[05:35:07] Without the video -- and that was the only witness there was, actually, was the gentleman that was making the video -- it would be difficult to ascertain exactly what did occur. We want to thank the young person that came forward with the video. EDDIE DRIGGERS, NORTH CHARLESTON POLICE CHIEF: You've been around me a long time and you know I think that all of these police officers on this force, the men and women, are like my children. So you tell me how a father would react to seeing his child act -- do something. I'll let you answer that yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: South Carolina political figures reacting to the police shooting and murder charges as well. In a statement released overnight, Governor Nikki Haley said, "What happened in this case is not acceptable in South Carolina."

And on Twitter, Senator Tim Scott said, quote, "After watching the video, the senseless shooting and taking of Walter Scott's life was absolutely unnecessary and avoidable. My heart aches for the family and our North Charleston community. I will be watching this case closely."

ROMANS: All right, also new this morning, U.S. officials investigating a breach of White House computers by Russian hackers. U.S. officials briefed on this investigation say the White House hack goes back to that damaging intrusion into State Department computers we've been telling you about since last year. Our justice reporter, Evan Perez, picks up the story from Washington.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: John, Christine, Russian hackers in recent months broke into sensitive parts of the White House e-mail system. They even could see parts of the president's schedule not disclosed to the public in realtime.

The hackers are believed to be working for the Russian government and according to U.S. officials they pulled off one of the most serious cyber breaches of the U.S. government agencies.

This breach is one reason why U.S. intelligence officials recently increased warnings about the cyber threat from Russia. The White House disclosed suspicious activity in its unclassified e-mail systems in October.

But officials say even unclassified e-mails contain sensitive information that's valuable to foreign spies. The hackers got in first by breaking into the State Department's e-mail servers. Then they tricked someone into giving them access to the system serving the executive office of the president.

Federal agencies are now warning employees to beware of so-called phishing e-mails. These appear to come from trustworthy e-mail accounts, but actually contain malicious software which gives hackers the ability to take over their computers -- John, Christine?

BERMAN: Our thanks to Evan for that.

Happening now, the United States is deepening its involvement in the battle for Yemen. State Department officials say the U.S. is speeding up delivery of weapons and increasing intelligence sharing with Saudi Arabia.

For two weeks the Saudis have been launching airstrikes against Houthi rebels, who they say are being trained and armed by Iran. For the latest, let's bring in senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson live in Saudi Arabia. Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John. That increased intelligence sharing could be very useful for the Saudis. What we are told at the moment is this is not information that the U.S. will give the Saudis to help them to target things, specifically not give them target information.

However, when the Saudis do build their target list, the understanding is that U.S. intelligence officials could review that and use their knowledge and information to warn the Saudis. This military target may be close to a civilian target to help the Saudis mitigate against collateral damage.

That was certainly a problem yesterday. A military base was targeted. A school was close by. The children were just coming out of lunch break, and six of the children were injured when the school was hit.

We heard of another incident as well where a lack of intelligence for the Saudi Air Force seemed to lead to a loss to their side on the ground. One of the southern separatist commanders, who ostensibly is on the same side of the Saudis, said that 20 of his tanks and heavy armor were hit in a Saudi airstrike because they don't have the coordination on the ground.

He said they had won them in a battle from the Houthi side and now lost them essentially to his allies in the Saudi-led coalition strikes. So all this additional help is what the Saudis need at this time, it appears, and the clearest indication yet, speeding up the supplies of weapons, again, an indication really that the Saudis intend to continue this air campaign for some time to come -- John.

BERMAN: Nic Robertson for us, it's so interesting to see the U.S. representation in Saudi Arabia, giving very direct approval of what's going on there. Nic Robertson, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right, a big deal this morning, big oil getting bigger. That's the top story this morning in money. Shell is buying BG Group, a British firm with prized oil fields off the coast of Brazil.

[05:40:05] It's a $70 billion deal. If completed, it would add 25 percent to Shell's oil and gas reserves and 20 percent to production. Energy prices, of course, have cratered from over $100 a barrel last summer to about $50 a barrel now.

And that puts producers in a crunch. Bigger firms use this. They swoop in maybe to take over. Shell just the latest to add to its expansive portfolio and rock-bottom oil prices also mean layoffs in the oil patch.

Since June, there have been more than 50,000 oil job cuts in the U.S. that's because of the falling price of oil. This is CNN money analysis for you, folks, layoffs in the first quarter in oil, in energy jobs in the U.S. are up almost 4,000 percent.

In many cases, those are very decent-paying jobs, too. So we keep saying there was so much action in petroleum engineering, for example and now not so much, there are some layoffs there. But if oil prices rise again, you can expect that energy companies will just as quickly start hiring.

BERMAN: Also acute regional effects like in North Dakota and Texas and places like that.

All right, about 20 minutes until the hour right now. We have explosive new revelations in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial. The former NFL star's attorneys with a shocking admission about the day that prosecutors say Aaron Hernandez killed his friend. That's next.

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ROMANS: Jurors convening again today in the murder trial of ex- football star, Aaron Hernandez. During closing arguments Tuesday, Hernandez's lawyer acknowledging for the first time his client was at the murder scene. CNN's Susan Candiotti picks up the story.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A day of passionate closing arguments by both prosecutors and defense in the case of Aaron Hernandez. Prosecutors for the very first time identifying Hernandez as the trigger man in the shooting death of Odin Lloyd.

And defense attorneys for the first time saying that Aaron Hernandez was, in fact, at the crime scene, saying this, calling him a 23-year- old kid, who in their words witnesses something committed by somebody he knew indicating that they are trying to shift the blame on the two other people who were in the car that night.

Now, the jury spent about an hour and a half deliberating and will have their first full day of deliberations beginning in the morning at 9:00 a.m. -- Christine and John.

ROMANS: Such interesting developments. Susan, thank you for that.

Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY," Wednesday edition, Chris Cuomo joins me now with that. Hi, Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: How you doing? Obviously, we have this developing story that is very troubling. It is a disturbing case in South Carolina. You're looking at it right now.

A man clearly running away, clearly fired upon by a police officer, who does not seem to be in any imminent threat from anything of the suspect who shoots multiple times, now charged with a homicide.

The question is, what happened before this videotape came out? What were the authorities saying? What was the officer saying? What was his lawyer saying? Very important for us as we continue to try to understand how these cases come out and cause so much outrage. We're also going to talk to the brother of the victim as well as members of law enforcement to get both sides of this situation. But that video is going to drive our story.

U.S. officials say Russia is behind the cyber-attack on the White House, the computer system, of course, while no classified information was breached this time, the question is how do they do this? What if they do it again and how do you stop this access to sensitive material which could clearly compromise national security?

We'll have experts as well as Christiane Amanpour weighing in. All right, Christine, those are the two big stories, but we'll take you through everything.

ROMANS: I recently asked the treasury secretary what keeps him up at night, and he said cybersecurity in Washington, cybersecurity. All right, thanks, Chris.

It's 47 minutes past the hour. ISIS cleared from Tikrit, but evacuated residents still they are afraid to return home. We bring that you story next.

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ROMANS: A week after Iraqi forces reclaimed Tikrit from ISIS, many families are very hesitant about returning home. They fear ISIS fighters may not be completely out of the area and now they're stranded in makeshift camps in Baghdad. Senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon, has that story for us in Baghdad.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. We've been speaking with a number of families from the province where Tikrit is located, and none of them have gone back home. Now, one family we spoke to from the city of Tikrit itself, very concerned about the remaining pockets of ISIS resistance, also concerned about the explosives that ISIS has left behind.

But they're saying that even if and when Tikrit is deemed safe enough for them to go back home, they're probably going to wait and see, the father of two young girls we met, two teenage girls, saying that he simply does not trust the situation.

There are also great concerns amongst these Sunni families that the Shia volunteer fighting force that has been responsible for a lot of the gains made against ISIS could potentially carry out revenge attacks against them.

A lot of these families living in fairly decrepit housing, half- constructed buildings. Some of them are from areas in the province that are actually been liberated three to four months ago, but they still are waiting before they go back.

Not just because their homes have been destroyed, but again, because they are that concerned about the potential security situation. It's not a risk at this stage that they are willing to take, at least not until they hear some sort of guarantee from the Iraqi government that they will be secured and that the region will be safe enough for them to be able to go back home -- John and Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Arwa Damon in Baghdad, thanks, Arwa.

Critics of the deal to curb Iran's nuclear program are being called disingenuous. Those words straight from the head of the CIA, John Brennan told students at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, critics should not rip apart a solid deal.

He said it is impossible to expect Iran to dismantle everything. Brennan did say, though, he understands why some could have reservations.

Big oil getting bigger this morning, the biggest oil merger in 20 years, that's next.

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ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on your money, Wednesday edition, another big merger, the biggest oil merger in perhaps 20 years that has European and Asian shares mostly higher, a big morning for Hong Kong. U.S. stock futures are up as well.

Shell is paying $70 billion for British gas producer, BG Group. Oil stocks soaring, the first super merger in oil in at least a decade. Crashing oil prices are making tie-ups more attractive. These companies can cut costs dramatically when they tie up like that.

Help wanted. The number of job openings in the U.S. is at a 14-year high, 5.1 million job openings in February, the first time above 5 million since January 2001. This is one of my favorite job market charts.

This is the number of job seekers for each opening. That number keeps falling. Fewer than two people now looking for work for every job opening, at the worst of the recession, seven people, seven unemployed people, were vying for each job opening. That was terrible math.

Senator Elizabeth Warren says the minimum wage simply must rise. She told Conan O'Brien last night about her mother's minimum-wage job at Sears.

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SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: And here's the key part. That minimum wage job saved our home. It saved our family, but it was a time in America when a minimum-wage job would keep a family of three afloat. We must raise the minimum wage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

WARREN: So other families -- (END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: There's been a big push by states and companies to raise the minimum wage. But at $7.25, the federal minimum wage has not been raised since 2009. And when adjusted for inflation, it's at a decades-long low compared with the cost of living.

A police officer charged with murder, shooting an unarmed black man in the back, dramatic video, now murder charges. "NEW DAY" picks up that story right now.

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UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: Shots fired. Shots fired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if there was no video. What if there was no witness?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dogs get treated better than this guy did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This looks like cold-blooded murder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hackers working for the Russian government obtained access to the White House email system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Russia has been active in the espionage phase.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've been targeting our infrastructure for a long time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in the peak of our air campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've expedited weapons deliveries. They cannot overrun Yemen by force.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A jury set to decide the fate of Dzokhar Tsarnaev.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He faces 30 different counts, 17 of those charges coming with a possible death sentence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, April 8th, 6:00 in the east, Michaela Pereira is off, JB joins us this morning. Good to have you.

BERMAN: Nice to be here.

CUOMO: A lot of news for you, a South Carolina police officer charge with murder this morning after repeatedly shooting an unarmed black man in the back killing him.

New video is the key, it is the distinguisher, making this case different than so many others, the incidents shows from the video.