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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Hack Attack: U.S. Points to China; Attack Encouraged by ISIS; Rick Perry Joins GOP Race. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired June 05, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:24] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Developing overnight, a huge hack attack emerging. The target: millions of workers. And the U.S. pointing the finger at the Chinese government. The latest development straight ahead.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Encouraged by ISIS. The man Boston police say planned to behead a well-known conservative activist communicated online with the terror group. New details emerge about why police decided they could no longer wait to take action.

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

ROMANS: Nice to see you. I'm Christine Romans. It is Friday. It is June 5th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the east.

This morning, millions of current and former federal employees scrambling to check their bank statements and their credit reports after a huge hack that breached their personal information. Now, federal officials say nearly every U.S. agency was hacked, affecting up to 4 million current and former employees of the executive branch. The most stunning detail of all is the source of the hack. Investigators believe that hack originated with the Chinese government.

CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John and Christine. Right, we are hearing from the Office of Personnel Management that this enormous hack has happened, possibly the biggest government hack we have seen, affecting up to 4 million former and current government employees who may have had their personal information accessed.

This office of personnel is kind of the HR department of the federal government. They were actually trying to update their cybersecurity when they realized in April that it looked like an incursion happened. Now, we know more detail about this. And those employees are being contacted.

There's reports out there that this could have come from China. For now, the White House is not commenting on that. But the federal government has been plagued by the attacks, especially in the past year. I mean, we heard about the White House and State Department computers being accessed. Just in the last week, some 100,000 Americans had their personal tax information accessed within the IRS. That hack supposedly originated from Russia, at least that's what U.S. officials believe.

But both China and Russia have been suspected in numerous hacks in the past. In some cases, it's even thought that the governments were behind them. As for China, U.S. officials believe there's even an element within the Chinese army that is planning and launching cyberattacks.

It is unclear if that was the case here. But we expect to hear more information about this in coming days -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Our thanks to Michelle at the White House.

Intelligence officials tell CNN investigators believe hackers working for the Chinese military are compiling an immense database of Americans information. It is not clear what exactly the purpose of that database is. The Chinese government is rejecting the claims that it is behind the cyber attacks. In a statement, the Chinese embassy says, "Cyberattacks across countries are hard to track and therefore, the source of attacks is difficult to identify. Jumping to conclusions and hypothetical accusations is not responsible and counterproductive."

There are new details this morning about the Boston area suspects authority says were initially plotting to behead conservative activist Pamela Geller before turning their attention to police. Officials say at least one of the men in the plot was being encouraged to launch an attack by people overseas connected to ISIS.

We are also learning more about why law enforcement moved when they did to question Usaama Rahim. Officials knew from the wire tap that Rahim called his father earlier to say good-bye.

CNN's Pamela Brown has the latest more from Boston.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Christine, we are learning more about the role ISIS played with the alleged Boston terror plots -- the plot to behead Pamela Geller in New York, according to authorities, and a separate plot to target law enforcement here in Massachusetts.

According to U.S. officials I have been speaking with, one of the three men involved with this conspiracy allegedly had been in contact with known ISIS terrorists overseas. That contact happened through social media we're told and that the men believed that they were acting on behalf of ISIS. However, the family of one of the men, Usaama Rahim, who is shot and killed on Tuesday, said it's news to them that he had to do with ISIS.

Here's what the attorney had to say.

RON SULLIVAN, RAHIM FAMILY ATTORNEY: The family, of course, is aware of various media reports that suggest that Usaama Rahim had been radicalized by ISIL. That comes as an absolute surprise to the family.

[04:05:01] They had not perceived any conduct or change in demeanor.

BROWN: And we're learning from the Boston police commissioner, William Evans, that Rahim was put under 24/7 surveillance around 10 days ago. That's when he apparently bought those three knives from Amazon.com, according to the commissioner. Authorities were growing increasingly concerned that he was becoming operational.

And apparently on Tuesday, there was a heightened concern because they believed he may be boarding a bus with one of those knives and launch an attack. That is why, we're told, those five officials approached him in the parking lot -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Pamela Brown -- thank you, Pamela.

Usaama Rahim's brother, Ibrahim, is backing off his initial claim that officers shot his brother in the back. After police screened security video of the shooting for Rahim's family, Ibrahim admitted his initial posts were wrong. But he told CNN's Erin Burnett, the family is still not convinced Rahim had ties to ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IBRAHIM RAHIM, BROTHER OF BOSTON TERROR SUSPECT: Of course we dispute it. We don't know that Usaama, that to be a fact about Usaama, as his relatives at all. We are a Muslim-American community.

And, you know, I think really you have to start speaking more about the Muslims of America and not the Muslims in Syria who are doing the bad things who don't like America. Speak about the Muslims who actually live here who love America. That's me. That's Usaama. That's the Rahim family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: New this morning, a remarkable setback for ISIS. A top Air Force general has revealed that ISIS propaganda accidentally revealed the location of an Islamic State headquarters building that coalition bombers then blown up hours later.

International correspondent Nick Paton Walsh joins us now live from Baghdad.

Good morning, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, these comments from an Air Force general you mentioned, General Carlisle, show really I think what many have known that ISIS proliferately posts locations where they stand all over social media, sometimes, in fact, stupidly, not switching off the geotagging of those posts, in fact saying precisely where they are.

But you can geolocate as it is called certain things by seeing the hills around or the terrain around them. That seems to be what happened in one case which clearly according to the claims in the "Air Force Times", one particular moron, the phase was used in ISIS, the picture of one next to the key headquarters they claim, and 22 hours later, they say, three JDAM bombs, that's about $60,000 worth of explosives landed on that location after a lot of work by the air force to see where that was.

But it falls in the broader messages trying to make it sound like they are getting the upper hand, frankly, against ISIS, despite evidence to the contrary on the ground, they were saying yesterday in the military circles that 13,000 ISIS fighters had been, quote, "taken off the battlefield". Little, frankly, to see what is done on the ground here. We are hearing the fight for Anbar will get a boost by 800 special Iraqi troops moved in to try and boost that operation. All we have been hearing in the past few days is the setback of the forces around that town.

The fact that ISIS cut off the key dam near that starving local population and those security forces are amassing for the counterattack for the water they need for basic life. So, a very complex task still here. Particularly in the oppressive heat -- John.

BERMAN: Water is a precious resource there. Nick Paton Walsh for us in Baghdad, thanks so much, Nick.

ROMANS: All right. New this morning, the death toll climbing following Monday's cruise ship disaster on China's Yangtze River. The eastern star is now upright and all hope gone of finding anyone alive. What had been a rescue operation now is a recovery mission.

Chinese officials say a total of 97 bodies have been found, just 14 people rescued. The last of them on Tuesday. More than 300 people 300 people missing in what may be the worse Chinese shipping disaster in more than 60 years.

BERMAN: New this morning, Edward Snowden speaks out in the op- ed "New York Times". Snowden speaks in favor of changes to the Patriot Act, which strip the NSA's authority to store data on Americans phone calls.

Snowden writes, "We are witnessing the emergence of a post- terror generation, one that rejects the worldview defined by a singular tragedy. For the first time since the attacks in September 11th, 2001, we see the outline of a politics that turns away from reaction and fear in favor of resilience and reason."

Now, this all comes in "The New York Times" reports that the administration secretly expanded the NSA's warrantless surveillance of American internet traffic, in an effort to battle foreign computer hacking.

ROMANS: And again, we have another big story about a potentially Chinese government hacking the United States federal government database. That's unreal.

Rick Perry is the next candidate joining the pack in the Republican race for president. The former Texas governor launching his 2016 campaign and hoping to erase the memory of his embarrassing first run in 2012.

[04:10:03] On Thursday, there was no mention of his current felony indictment of abuse of power charges. Instead, Perry pushed his leadership skills.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLI)

RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have dealt with crises after crises, from the disintegration of the space shuttle to hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ike, to the crisis at the border, and the first diagnosis of Ebola in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Perry is the tenth Republican in the field, which will grow again when Jeb Bush officially enters the race. Now, his announcement -- that's right, he has not officially entered the race. But he looks like he's in it, doesn't it?

BERMAN: He has set the date to make the announcement.

ROMANS: He is announcing something on June 15th.

BERMAN: He hopes he's going to announce on June 15 he's running. In a completely unrelated note, a green light for the little pink pill. An FDA advisory panel voted to recommend approval of Flibanserin, which is better known and easier to say as female Viagra. The drug is designed to treat hyperactive sexual disorder. This is the third time it was reviewed by the FDA, which in the past has rejected it from having too many side effects. It now awaits official FDA approval.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning.

U.S. stock futures barely moving. You know, it was an ugly day. The Dow dropped 170 points, thanks in part to more problems for Greece. Greece postponed the loan payment that was due to the IMF today. The country desperately needs cash to avoid default and a possible exit from the eurozone.

There's a lot more to consider today for investors, starting with the May jobs report. That comes at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Plus, we will hear from OPEC. The cartel expected to keep output the same, in order to hold on to its market share. It keeps squeezing U.S. producers.

There is still a supply glut out there, an oil glut. Oil prices dipping a bit this morning, about $57 a barrel right now. That is up from lows earlier in the year. But remember, a year ago, it was over $100. It used to be when prices sank a little bit, you have OPEC cutting production, prices come back up.

Now, OPEC keeping prices -- keeping up with the same and waiting for U.S. producers to be sort of the free market model and U.S. producers to get pinched and cut production.

BERMAN: Fighting (ph) for a market share.

ROMANS: That's right.

BERMAN: Severe weather ahead today for the Central Plains. Let's go to meteorologist Derek Van Dam for an early look at the weather.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Great Friday morning, John and Christine.

We have the possibility of another round of severe weather today across the plains and into the Rockies, stretching eastern towards the Midwest as well. We also have a very warm weather trend in store for the weekend across much of Texas. Cool along the East Coast, including the Mid-Atlantic States. But there is a warming trend in store for you as well. More on that in just one second.

Here's the chance of severe weather, large hail and damaging winds that includes the northeastern sections of Colorado, just outside of the Denver region. We could pick up pockets of 1 to 3 inches of rain in the slow moving thunderstorms across portions of Nebraska and into South Dakota that stretches east toward Missouri and Iowa.

Here is the set up. Low pressure system east of the Rockies funneling in the thunderstorm activity as it makes its way towards the mountain regions. I mentioned hot weather across Texas. Look at those daytime highs for Dallas.

Across the east coast, we see things warming up by Saturday and Sunday into New York City.

Back to you.

ROMANS: All right. Derek, thank you for that.

It's the mystery causing tension in Northern Colorado. Three people gunned down in last two months. At least two of them linked to the same shooter. The latest on that investigation coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:16:32] BERMAN: Deepening questions about a rash of unsolved shootings making people in northern Colorado than easy. The latest, a 65-year-old man was fond fatally shot just blocks from his home in Loveland. Now, local police, county sheriffs and the FBI are forming a task force to investigate if a serial shooter is on the loose.

Dan Simon has the latest from Colorado.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, this street is where the latest victim, 65-year-old William Connole, was shot. He was actually just a few blocks from his house when he was gunned down.

Now, at this point, authorities are not saying there is a firm link to the other shootings, only there is a likeness. At this point, an agency task force is investigating whether or not there is a connection.

As we have been recording, this is the third shooting in this area in the past six weeks. In late April, a 20-year-old woman was shot in her car as she was about to get on the freeway. She was shot through the neck and survived. A month later, a 48-year-old man was shot along a country road. His bike found nearby.

Authorities say those shootings were committed by the same person, both victims shot twice. But they are not revealing anymore similarities in terms of what happened in the shootings. The question, of course, is whether the same person may be responsible for this third shooting.

John and Christine, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Dan, thanks for that.

Federal authorities in Baltimore are ramping up their efforts to find drug store looters. At least 70 people are suspected of stealing huge amounts of prescription narcotics during the violence that broke out following Freddie Gray's death. Officials say more than 175,000 doses or units of prescription drugs are now on the streets. They believe those stolen drugs are what fueled May's records spike in murders.

BERMAN: The Air Force offering new protections for transgender troops. So, how will this affect their ability to serve? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:22:01] BERMAN: U.S. Air Force is easing its rules concerning transgender troops offering them more protection against potential discharge. In the past, a service member diagnosed with gender dysphoria or identifying as transgender was typically discharged on medical grounds. Those decisions were made by doctors and commanders. The new policy requires that such actions be reviewed by high level officials at Air Force headquarters.

ROMANS: Three U.S. senators, including John McCain calling for an end to the practice of using the practice of taxpayer money to honor the military at sporting events. McCain says the Super Bowl champion Patriots and two other franchises, they have received hundreds of thousands of dollars for flag rollouts and color guard and other events recognizing members of the military. Overall, the Pentagon paid out $7 million over a three-year period. In a statement, the NFL says the amendment McCain and others are pushing for, quote, "paints a distorted picture with NFL teams and the military."

BERMAN: A thrilling end to the game one of the NBA finals. The Golden State Warriors, they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, and that man, LeBron James, despite a heroic effort, the final score, 108-100. The Warriors trailed most of the game, but they took over in the extra session. They scored the first 10 points in overtime.

You know, it was never close in overtime. Steph Curry had 26 points for Golden State. LeBron James had 44 for the Cavs. Kyrie Irving left the game hurt in overtime. Game two is Sunday in Oakland.

ROMANS: American Pharoah, a mile and a half from history. With a victory in the Belmont Stakes Saturday, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner would become the first horse in 37 years to capture racing's Triple Crow, which might be the most difficult feat in sports.

Just last year, California Chrome failed in its Triple Crown bid. The last horse to win, Affirmed, in 1978. I think there have been 13 horses who have done the first two legs, who won the first two legs.

BERMAN: It's not easy, it turns out.

ROMANS: It's not easy.

BERMAN: A bigger competition is brewing. The "CNN QUIZ SHOW" is back. And this time five CNN anchors who haven't won "Celebrity Jeopardy" and one who has. We will take you back to the '70s. Here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: So, it's Richard Quest, me, you, Brooke Baldwin, Alisyn Camerota, and who else?

BERMAN: Bill Weir.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Should we start to smack up now?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Bill Weir.

BALDWIN: Oh, Mr. Traveler. Bill Weir knows a lot of stuff.

BERMAN: So, here's a thing about Alisyn -- she won the last quiz show. She was on the winning team.

LEMON: Yes.

BERMAN: You weren't.

LEMON: Saturday in the park --

BERMAN: I'm not going to sing with you.

BILL WEIR: John Berman, since he won "Celebrity Jeopardy", is insufferable.

(LAUGHTER)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: What do you mean "since he won"?

BERMAN: We're going to win.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: John Berman --

BERMAN: Massachusetts.

COOPER: That is correct.

WEIR: The other team is Baldwin and Quest.

COOPER: I'm hoping Richard Quest is going to be wearing a white polyester suit.

QUEST: Staying alive, staying alive --

WEIR: He's a foreigner.

QUEST: Remember, rock started in the '70s in the U.K.

[04:25:00] WEIR: She's a kid.

BALDWIN: Oh, I was part of the '70s. Bring it.

QUEST: Bring it on, bring it on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: That is not fair to call you insufferable. It's not fair. But I will say for anyone --

BERMAN: Accurate.

ROMANS: Anybody who doesn't know John Berman. In the breaks, he has cards and he is studying trivia. This is true. He is studying.

BERMAN: There is nothing trivial about it. I have to say, this quiz show is outstanding. Do not miss it. "CNN QUIZ SHOW: THE SEVENTIES EDITION", Monday night at 9:00 Eastern.

Look, you have a picture of Anderson there. He is just the host. That's why he is smiling. He looks so happy because he has all the answers in front of him.

ROMANS: How many contestants?

BERMAN: There are six.

ROMANS: And how many have won "Celebrity Jeopardy"?

BERMAN: Just one. Well, no, but Anderson actually won twice, which he tells me every time he sees me.

ROMANS: All right. We will watch, John.

Twenty-five minutes past the hour.

This is being dubbed the biggest breach ever of government computer networks. Millions of federal employees may have had the personal information hacked and the U.S. is blaming the Chinese, who are not taking those accusations kindly. The latest when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Developing overnight, one of the biggest government hacks ever. Personal information of millions of Americans stolen in this hack of government computers. Officials now putting the blame on China. What could Beijing be planning to do with all this information? We have the very latest moments away.

[04:29:58] ROMANS: The man killed by Boston police for allegedly plotting a terror attack was urged to carry out his plot by ISIS. Now, details emerging about the phone call that accelerated the investigation. Who did the suspect call?