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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Rebel Flag Fight Gains Momentum; New York Prison Break: How They Did It; Obama Changes Hostage Policy; Bobby Jindal Joining GOP Race; Powerful Storms Slam East Coast. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired June 24, 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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[04:31:01] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: New calls this morning to drop the Confederate flag. Across the nation, politicians and businesses taking swift new action to ban the old symbol of the South.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Tools hidden in their hamburger. Stunning revelations on how two dangerous killers escaped from prison.
Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Thirty-one minutes past the hour.
Happening now: new momentum building across the South to banish those Confederate battle flags. Leaders in at least seven southern states debating everything from the removal of the Confederate symbol from the state flag to striking it from license plates. The flash point for the flag controversy, South Carolina where a racist killer gunned down nine people in an African-American church last week in where protesters are demanding the removal of the Confederate flag from the state capitol grounds.
CNN's Ryan Young is in Columbia, South Carolina, with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, a lot of debate about the flag behind me, the Confederate flag. There was a large group of people who came here today that talked about taking the flag down.
But across the United States, the conversation has now gotten a lot of steam. In Mississippi, where the Confederate flag is a part of the state flag, they're talking about taking that off as well. And in North Carolina and Georgia, they are talking about removing the Confederate flag from state-sponsored license plates.
But in Virginia, that move has been made. The governor doesn't want it on the license plate any more.
GOV. TERRY MCAULIFFE (D), VIRGINIA: Although the battle flag is not flown on our capital square, it has been subject to considerable controversy, and it has divided so many of our people.
YOUNG: And that flurry of activity continued in the business world as well. Walmart, Kmart, Sears, Amazon, and eBay have all decided to stop selling the Confederate flag. This conversation has been sparked by the deaths of nine people, and now, it started a wave -- a wave of people seeing the Confederate flag, for so long, a symbol here in the South, getting removed all at once -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Thanks, Ryan, for that.
You know, big retailers have joined that movement, as Ryan said, to take town the flag. You're not going to find merchandise online or in stores at Walmart, Amazon, eBay, Sears, Kmart.
The CEO of Walmart told CNN Money's Cristina Alesci yesterday that selling those items featuring the flag was an oversight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG MCMILLON, CEO, WALMART: We just don't want to sell products that makes anyone feel uncomfortable and we felt like that was the case. This was a right thing to do.
CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Were you shocked to see that kind of merchandise on Walmart's platforms?
MCMILLION: I was surprised, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: While top retails are shunning the symbol. Some smaller stores have seen their sales spike in the last few days. Even Amazon saw items bearing the flag soared more than 2,000 percent before the company took those items down.
BERMAN: I have to say, we're dealing with seven now since this horrific act in Charleston, South Carolina, in the speed at which everything has changed is stunning.
ROMANS: I think it's really surprising.
BERMAN: It is stunning.
You know, Lindsey Graham even after the incident on Friday, he refused to call for the flag to come down. Yesterday, we spoke to him and now, he says God helps out South Carolina if the flag does not come down. The pace of political change is extraordinary.
ROMANS: It really is. But one thing to remember is just taking the flag down, while very important and symbolic, doesn't fix the underlying problem of racism in America. That is something that needs more work.
BERMAN: Very true. Many of the Republicans running or expected to run for president in
2016, they are now also calling for the removal of the Confederate flag within hours of each other. Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, John Kasich, Rick Perry, Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham and Chris Christie, they all endorsed the call from the South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to vanish the flag from the capitol grounds.
Two sort of holdouts, Senator Marco Rubio and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. They're sticking to their position that the flag issue is one that the state should decide for themselves, which is what is happening in South Carolina.
Hillary Clinton applauded the growing momentum against the flag.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton applauded the growing momentum against the flag.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Recognizing it as a symbol of our nation's racist past that has no place in our present or our future.
[04:35:00] It shouldn't fly there. It shouldn't fly anywhere.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Notable where Mrs. Clinton was giving that speech, in Florissant, Missouri, which is right next to Ferguson, Missouri. So geographically important as well.
Another Democratic candidate, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, he spoke out against the flag. He calls it a relic of our nation's stained racial history.
New police audio and video giving us a fuller picture this morning of the man who confessed to killing nine people inside that Charleston church last week. North Carolina police released dash cam video of last Thursday's fairly low-key arrest of the shooter.
The 911 recordings released Thursday, they are anything but ordinary. Dispatchers can't hide their surprise at call from a flower shop employee who recognized the killer from media reports almost 250 miles from where the shootings took place. Listen to this.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just got a third-person telephone call behind a vehicle matching the description of the Charleston shooter.
UNIDENTIIFED MALE: The suspect looks like the subject they are talking about on the news from that Charleston shooting.
(END AUDIO CLIP) BERMAN: Let's get more on the arrest video now from national correspondent Martin Savidge in Charleston.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Good morning, Christine.
Thanks to this new video that's been released by the Shelby Police Department, we can now see and hear how 21-year-old Dylann Roof who was then the most wanted person probably in all of America, was taken into custody. And the remarkable thing, especially as you look at that dash cam video, is that he seems completely compliant and he seems actually quite docile for a man who is accused of being a mass murderer and taking nine lives.
And as you listen to the police transmissions, one of the things you find out is that the real trip wire to all of this was a concerned citizen, someone who saw something and then said something to the authorities.
The other thing to note is the radio traffic seems to show is that even though this is a very small and rural police department, they seem to have done everything right. The officers were in all of the right places and if you read the incident report of the one officer who makes the approach to the vehicle, you got to imagine that his heart is beating about a thousand times a minute because he knows he is going up against a vehicle that has an armed suspected mass murderer inside.
He, in fact, shouts out to Dylann Roof to put his hands on the steering wheel, who does, in fact, do that. And he shouts a number of other commands for Roof to follow and it appears that Roof follows every single with one of them. He's taken into custody with no violence.
And then, a search of the vehicle reveals the Glock semiautomatic pistol in the back seat, which is believed to have been the murder weapon. And then also one other item, a pillow, which could suggests how Roof had spent the night sleeping in the car on the run -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Thank you, Martin.
Still no sign of two convicted killers who escaped from prison in upstate New York, but their stunning new information from Joyce Mitchell, the prison worker who helped them break out. Joyce Mitchell tells investigators she put hacksaw blades in frozen hamburger meat and convinced a prison guard to deliver it to inmate Richard Matt, which the guard did without passing it through a metal detector first. That's against policy.
The lawyer for that prison guard insists his client was duped by Mitchell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANDREW BROCKWAY, ATTORNEY FOR GENE PALMER: She has conned many individuals inside of the prison. She would curry favors amongst the prisoners. She'd bring them baked goods. She was just very good at what she did. And my client fell for it. I mean, if he is guilty of anything, Anderson, is that he is a very trusting individual and he's looking forward to telling his side of the story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Probably best not to be too trusting what you're prison guard.
For more, we turn to national correspondent Jason Carroll in Cadyville, New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, that prison guard now in question. His name is Gene Palmer. I have spoken to his attorney at length.
He said that, yes, Gene Palmer did, in fact, help to smuggle in that frozen slab of hamburger meat but his attorney tells me he did not know what was inside that meat. Inside the meat, as you now know, hacksaw blades that Joyce Mitchell had allegedly put inside to be smuggled inside the prison.
We are also learning more information about Joyce Mitchell, herself. Apparently for several months, she vouched for both Richard Matt and David Sweat, convincing other guards there at the facility that they were good guys, that they could be trusted, and in fact, bringing in baked goods to curry favor with other guards.
Also, we are hearing that she went as far as recommending to prison officials that David Sweat's cell be moved right next to Richard Matt. All of this information coming forward as her husband Lyle Mitchell has come forward, speaking about all of those allegations surrounding his wife.
LYLE MITCHELL, JOYCE MITCHELL'S HUSBAND: She told me that Matt wanted to her pick him up and she said, well, I never leave without Lyle, never. And he said, I'll give you some pills to give him to knock him out and then you can come pick us up.
[04:40:02] She said, I can't do this. And then, she told me he started threaten that somebody inside the facilities was going to do something to me to harm me or kill me or somebody outside the jail if she didn't stay with this.
CARROLL: Prison policy now under review. In fact, the New York state inspector general has joined the effort in terms of looking at everything that took place in that prison before the daring escape -- Christine, John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Jason Carroll, thanks so much.
Happening now: French President Francois Hollande just finished an emergency meeting with his defense council over new revelations that the U.S. spied on him and his predecessors. Documents released by WikiLeaks Tuesday show the National Security Agency eavesdropped on Hollande, as well as former French leaders Jacques Chirac, and Nicolas Sarkozy.
The spying reportedly spanned a period from 2006 to 2012, also targeted the communications of cabinet ministers and the French ambassador to the United States. A statement from the French defense council calls the eavesdropping unacceptable.
ROMANS: Where is your French line there?
BERMAN: Exactly. You know, the French are upset about this.
ROMANS: They are.
BERMAN: The question is, how upset? Upset enough to do something about it as upset as the Germans were when it came out because that affected U.S. policy or --
ROMANS: Two countries spying on each other a lot.
BERMAN: Yes.
ROMANS: It's the public release of that that is embarrassing.
BERMAN: Problematic.
ROMANS: All right. Will it soon be OK to negotiate with terrorists? A big policy change coming from the White House. Details next.
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[04:45:06] ROMANS: Happening today, the Obama administration set to formally announce a shift in its policies regarding Americans held hostage overseas. Families will no longer be threatened with criminal prosecution if they pay ransom in an effort to secure their loved ones' release.
We get this morning from CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John and Christine.
Right. Finally today, we're going to hear the result of this review of hostage policy that the White House launched last summer. Some of these details have already come out. I mean, we know they want to build this fusion cell or an intergovernmental group that's going to better coordinate how they deal hostage cases and how they deal with the families. I think one of the most striking changes is that even though U.S.
policy isn't going to change, that the U.S. does not make concessions to terrorists, does not pay ransom to terrorists, the government is no longer to threaten families who might want to do that on their own, and, in fact, may even help them in some cases, as we know the FBI did in the case of Warren Weinstein only recently.
Now, those two things may seem deeply add odds philosophically but here is how the press secretary says he views it.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think it is difficult to -- I certainly wouldn't want to put myself in a position in which I judged their reaction or their motivation to do one particular thing or another, because I can't imagine what it's like to be in that situation, to imagine, you know, a mother or a father or a husband and wife or a son or daughter in that situation. I think it's hard to -- to even hypothetically make a judgment about their motivations.
KOSINSKI: Of course, we'll be hearing much more about this today.
Also, some family members of U.S. hostages are going to be meeting with the president. We expect him to make a statement, although we're not sure if he'll take any questions on the subject.
But, you know, not all of the families that the White House has dealt with over the years chose to take part in this process. I think most notably the family of Warren Weinstein who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in April -- he was held by al Qaeda -- they are highly critical of how the government dealt with them through the process, and they're also critical now of what the White House wants to do moving forward.
Also, we should say, that there is a bipartisan group now in Congress in both houses who wants to propose their own legislation on hostage policy because they, too, are unsatisfied with what the White House has come up with -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Our thanks to Michelle for that.
So, severe storms, they've turned deadly. Homes destroyed, flights cancelled, and this is not over yet. We have amazing pictures of the weather devastation across a big part of the country and a prediction of what's coming next.
Stay with us.
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ROMANS: A line of severe storms have marched across the country this week, finally slamming down on the East Coast. Heavy rain, hail and lightning that sparked fires and deadly high wind, even a few powerful tornadoes.
And this dangerous weather, it's not over, folks. A new line -- a new line of powerful storms is taking aim right now at the Upper Plains and Midwest again.
BERMAN: Tuesday's fierce thunderstorms hit Philadelphia in the area, packing near hurricane-force winds, look at some of these pictures, so many trees down, some falling on houses, others on the cars.
One woman said she thought a tornado was coming.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I grabbed my kids, I ran into on the basement. It was terrifying. It was loud. And you just saw something like out of a movie when you see the debris going around and around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Look at dramatic photo. Lightning over the Delaware River, wow, and there was a calm after the storm.
See, this is a picture of a sunset, allegedly --
ROMANS: It's real.
BERMAN: -- after a severe line of storms passed through.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: It was orangey and glowy.
BERMAN: It's beautiful. I just --
ROMANS: It's real.
BERMAN: -- think it looks like a Michael Bay film.
ROMANS: No, New York looks like that, too. It's just interesting eerie orange.
Violent storms turning deadly in Maryland. Emergency officials in Montgomery County saying a driver died in an accident involving a downed tree and a power pole. Large chunks of hail pummeling Baltimore as temperatures in the 90s Tuesday.
Yes, the city issued a code red heat advisory.
Now, in addition to some damage, power outages, Amtrak disruptions. The storm left behind another spectacular sunset.
BERMAN: Allegedly.
ROMANS: Out of Lutherville, Maryland.
Amtrak service has been restored but there may be some residual delays today.
BERMAN: Heavy rains and high winds, ripping through New York, flooding streets, knocking out power. Look at these pictures, just stunning pictures from this weather. Lightning just through the sky. It hit buildings, sent everyone running for cover.
ROMANS: Take a look at this mall in southern New Jersey, badly damaged. The suspected twister there.
Winds nearly 80 miles an hour, flipping cars, ripping off rooftops. Shoppers rode out that particularly storm in the Macy's basement.
BERMAN: There is more weather in the forecast today. Severe stuff happening. Let's get right to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri -- Pedram.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.
What a wild day it was across parts of the Northeast. A lot of wind reports, upwards of 300 storm related reports, a vast majority of them associated with powerful winds and some wind related damage.
But here's the perspective this morning for thunderstorms as active as they come across portions of Tennessee at least in the last couple of hours. Three hours span, 1,500 lightning strikes across Tennessee, but they are beginning to fall apart as they're pushing in towards the Deep South, and the severe weather threat really going to be confined out there towards portions of the Midwest.
Chicago, one of the cities we're concerned about for this afternoon as active weather certainly in the forecast, 20 million people going to be impacted by it again. Chicago takes the large number there, out of areas around northern Illinois.
But here we go, model indications, storm pushing on Des Moines, Sioux City, eventually working their way towards central Illinois afternoon and evening hours. You can see this reignite here across northern Illinois as well.
By the trend, going to be a cooler one for New York City. The temp dropping back down to reality, even below average for the first time, getting close to 70 degrees since the 4th of June. So, pretty impressive stuff, and notice a 7 degree cooling trend from this time yesterday. As far as the high, 92 in New York, today, will shoot for 85 degrees, and the trend over the next couple of days keeps it pretty comfortable. Send it back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Pedram.
All right, parents, is your kid graduating in the near future? I'm going to tell you the top place to work. CNN.
BERMAN: It's number one.
ROMANS: Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [04:58:20] ROMANS: All right. I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an early start on your money this morning.
Stocks record highs here. Look at the NASDAQ. Yes, the NASDAQ in shape to a record close for the second day in a row. It's had a huge year, finally topping its dot-com era high.
I want to show some of the big drivers of that growth. Look at Netflix, Smith and Wesson, Amazon, Kraft. These are household names. Netflix shares, by the way, have doubled this year. The price tag for one share of Netflix, $680. The company just announced a 7-for-1 stock split to make it more affordable.
All right. Wages stubbornly stuck during the recovery. Finally, big retailers like Walmart is starting to raise their wages. Now, some critics say wages of the second largest employer are still too low, subsidized actually by government aid really, when you think about all of the other benefits that low wage workers get. Walmart's CEO told CNN's Money Cristina Alesci, higher wages would hurt workers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCMILLON: If we set that rung too high, we will have fewer jobs, we won't be able to hire as many people, we won't have as many part- timers that enable them to go to school while they are working. It reduces the employment base in the country potentially. So, I think our job at Walmart is to be that ladder of opportunity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Walmart certainly isn't the ladder for everyone. The typically retail worker there, 35 years old.
OK. According to a brand-new survey exclusive to CNN Money, the top place college students want to work is Google. No surprise there. We've seen that in survey after survey. Google has have become a sign of prestige, but the famous perks don't hurt.
Also near the top best places for new grads, the big four accounting firms, PWC, Ernst & Young, KPMG, plus Goldman Sachs, the investment bank. There you go.
John, you're out of the -- we're not new grads. We're out of that stage.
BERMAN: EARLY START continues right now.
