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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Cosby's Sex Confession; Iran Nuclear Negotiations: Deadline Day; Greece's Financial Crisis: Europe to the Rescue?; Murder Charge in San Francisco Shooting; Pope Delivers Open-Air Mass in Ecuador. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 07, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:11] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning: Bill Cosby's stunning confession, admitting to getting drugs to use on women for sex. Court documents unsealed. We have the whole story ahead.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A deadline day to reach a nuclear deal with Iran closer than ever, but roadblocks in the way. We are covering the story like only CNN can. Live at the negotiations in Vienna and inside Tehran.

BERMAN: Greece running out of money. An emergency meeting happening right now. Is this the breaking point in the financial crisis? We're live.

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

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Tuesday, July 7th. Nice to see you, everybody. Four a.m. exactly in the East.

Breaking overnight: a stunning admission by comedian Bill Cosby -- an admission that he obtained a powerful sedative to give young women he wanted to have sex with. Cosby also admitted in court documents released overnight, he actually gave Quaaludes to at least one woman. But he was stopped by his lawyer from answering when he was asked whether he ever gave the drugs to women without their knowledge. Women who publicly accused Cosby of rape, they say the new revelation proves what they have been saying all along.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATTI MASTEN, SAYS BILL COSBY RAPED HER: Complete validation across the board from all of us. Complete validation. He will definitely be known as the most prolific serial rapist in the United States of America. No doubt, Dr. Huxtable will be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Cosby made the admissions under oath in the 2005 lawsuit filed by one of more than two dozen -- two dozen women who accused him of rape. The documents came out Monday after "The Associated Press" went to court to compel their release. "The A.P." reports, at least two women they willingly took drugs Cosby

gave them. Cosby has never been criminally charged. He has vehemently denied wrongdoing. CNN's efforts to contact his attorney for comments on these new disclosures have been unsuccessful.

BERMAN: Happening now: the deadline is today for Iran and the six world powers to reach a nuclear deal, but with new apparent issues arising, an extension is looking more and more likely. Iran is asking to lift the 5-year-old arms embargo as part of overall sanctions relief. The U.S. and its European partners in the talks have opposed lifting the ban on import or export of conventional arms. Both sides are now saying the burden is on the other side to make hard decisions.

So, again, at 4:00 a.m. Eastern Time, where do we stand in these talks? The deadline ostensibly now-ish.

Let's go to our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson live in Vienna.

Good morning, Nic. What's the status?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, this morning, you really get a sense of urgency and of the unexpected, an unannounced meeting of the P5-plus-1. That Secretary of State John Kerry meeting with the French ministers, German foreign ministers, British foreign secretary, the Chinese and Russian foreign ministers as well. What we saw yesterday, these meetings were then followed by a meeting with the Iranians. They had two of those last night, going into the early hours of this morning.

No indication yet what has been discussed, what gaps may have been narrowed or even widened. Both sides saying this is the moment of opportunity. As we heard from the Iranians, they say they want the United Nations resolution to put an arms embargo on Iran, which they say is separate from the talks. They say they want that lifted. It is a red line for them that they make the broader nuclear agreement. Of course, that is a red line for the United States and other nations involved as well.

Questions remain about how much agreement there is on that nuclear research and development. Iran wants more than scheduled to get, as we understand, the possibility of inspections across Iran. Some details unresolved there. Of course, this key issue of the sanctions of the United Nations resolution and arms embargo, perhaps the dominant feature.

But, of course, I have to stress at this stage, John, we don't know what's happening behind the closed doors, but what we do know is, these meetings are bigger, more frequent than in the past and perhaps greater sense of urgency can be read into that -- John.

BERMAN: And higher profile as well. We said today is a self-imposed deadline. July 7th was the new self-imposed deadline.

Are there any real hard dates where they have to come out with an agreement by, Nic? ROBERTSON: I think the sense here is and we heard this from the

Iranians and we've heard it from everyone else. That this is of opportunity, that gaps have been narrowed, that they can do it now and it's far better to get a deal now than walk away. At some point in the future, you have to restart from the beginning.

That said, the Iranians -- the Iranian senior diplomat who was briefing just yesterday said in the meeting yesterday, said that it doesn't matter to them.

[04:05:01] They understand the political constraints for the United States. There's no deadline for them to get a good deal and they're quite happy to let this go a little longer than the deadline of today.

And they said that there really isn't a deadline. What we are seeing at the moment is a sense of urgency and completion that's necessary to be done soon. The reality is, this does look like it is set to slip for days and who knows quite how long, John.

BERMAN: Positively, no one is running away saying things are breaking up or walking away in a huff right now. That's for sure.

Nic Robertson in Vienna, thanks so much.

ROMANS: That's the view from Vienna. What are people saying in Iran?

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has spent a lot of time there in recent weeks, interviewing top Iranian officials, speaking to men and women on the streets, gathering views on the nuclear deal as well. Fred joins us now live from Tehran.

Fred, we often hear the information is tightly controlled by the government. How much do people know about these negotiations and what do they think?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's a very interesting question, Christine. One of the things we have been seeing is there have been a lot of rumors flying around here in Iran, especially if you look at Iranian media. There's one media outlet that essentially said that they heard that President Obama was begging the Iranians to get some sort of agreement because he needs it more than them. Of course, there is absolutely nothing to verify that.

One of the things that's interesting, though, is that most Iranians are actually very much up to date and very well-informed about what is going on in these negotiations, because they realize that this is very much a pivotal issue to them. And, you know, Nic just said there are constraints on Americans, but there's a lot of political constraints here in Iran as well.

On the one hand, you have a majority of the population that is very young, very well educated, huge tech sector. They want to get rid of the sanctions. They want a deal as fast as possible.

But you also have a very strong minority group of hard liners that don't want to budge an inch. And that is certainly something that the Iranian government has to navigate not only in the final agreement, but also in these pivotal hours leading up to a possible final agreement to make sure they get a message out here that the hard liners here are willing to swallow.

So, the Iranians realize it's pivotal time. They know that their messaging is very important at this point in time and really you get the sense it could go either way. But it certainly would be a big moral boost to a majority of Iranians to get a deal through, because a lot of them are suffering under the sanction, Christine.

ROMANS: You know, yesterday, the oil had the biggest decline. Oil had the biggest decline, Fred, in five months. The world markets saying they think that there is optimism and prospects for a deal that would release Iranian oil exports to the oversupplied market. So, another way, another interesting way to watch this deal making unfold.

Fred Pleitgen, thanks for that, Fred.

BERMAN: Really amazing to have Fred inside Iran --

ROMANS: Yes, it is, isn't it?

BERMAN: -- as it's still happening. You have a unique perspective on these developments, major word about this.

Happening now, an emergency summit in Brussels. European leaders struggling to solve the crisis that has engulfed Greece and now threatens the European Union. The European Central Bank has turned down the request by Greek banks for cash. Without euros, Greek banks, they can't reopen and will remain shuttered through at least tomorrow.

Greeks lining up at ATMs where they can only take out 60 euros per day. But, you know, that number can actually go down today. Greeks are at the summit. They will present their plan for a new bailout deal, I should say their proposal. It will be interesting to see how the Europeans look upon that new proposal.

CNN's Isa Soares live for us now in Athens.

And, really, at this point, Isa, the clock is ticking.

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. Good morning to you, John. Good morning to you, Christine.

This is Greece's last chance to show it really wants to stay in the currency and within the European Union. They have to go into these meetings. First of all, a euro finance ministers meeting. Later on in the day, there is a leader summit. So, basically, they're going to meet with the finance ministers, the proposals are going to be in the table, and then they're going to discuss these proposals.

It is important to point out at previous meetings, Greece has gone into these meetings with just ideas, just ideas and nothing else. What Europe is saying, we need something more sustainable, something more credible that we can work with. We heard this morning, about an hour ago, from Jean-Claude Juncker,

the European Commission, he has this to say. He said, "It is time now for those with common sense", and I'm quoting here, "and reason to negotiate." He said, "We don't expect a deal today. It is time for us to talk, to really come face-to-face with each other and show tolerance for each other."

Because you remember, John and Christine, the last time they met, Greece walked out of the talks and the announcement of the referendum. So, now, it's up to Greece to show they are serious about this and for Europe perhaps to show they can meet Greece somehow halfway.

Will Germany and everyone be prepared to give Greece some sort of debt relief? That is going to be the question.

[04:10:00] Who is prepared to give up the most, Greeks perhaps have the most to lose, to be completely honest, because the banks don't have any money left -- John.

BERMAN: The grown ups are about to sit down at the table. We will see what happens after this meeting.

All right. Isa, thanks so much.

ROMANS: Yes, the banks closed until Thursday. So, imagine in a modern economy not being able to go to the bank, just remarkable.

Investors are still hoping that European leaders can make a deal happen this morning.

European shares are moving higher. London is down a tad bit. U.S. futures up a half percentage point.

Markets in Athens are closed. Of course, the banks closed. The country tumbling toward bankruptcy. It would certainly mean exiting the Eurozone.

It wouldn't be able to have the euro as the official currency. It would have to issue like paper IOUs and figure out how to create a currency -- it's unbelievable.

Now, there is some hope European leaders won't let that happen. Yesterday, stocks fell in Europe and U.S. following Greek citizens voting no on Europe's bailout terms. The Dow ended down 47 points. Wall Street is certainly paying attention to this crisis unfolding on the other side of the world.

But I would say that in the United States, stocks are not in panic mode. You know, the resignation by the finance minister is taken by a sign that the Greek government is serious about talking with the Europeans.

BERMAN: If these talks fall apart, you will see anxiety in the United States.

ROMANS: Absolutely, this is not over. BERMAN: This morning, the defense secretary and Joint Chiefs chairman will head to Capitol Hill to update Congress on the U.S. strategy to defeat ISIS. Ash Carter and General Martin Dempsey will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The president and the administration say that victory against ISIS will not happen overnight and the U.S. cannot go it alone. To win, the administration says, the terror group's money and human resources and ideology must be targeted.

Despite the 5,000 coalition air strikes, the White House and others say that local forces in Iraq, Syria and North Africa will be needed to defeat ISIS on the battlefield.

ROMANS: All right. A Mexican man illegally in the U.S. is now charged with murder in the San Francisco pier shooting. He will be in court in just hours as the victim's family speaks to CNN about her death.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:07] ROMANS: Welcome back this morning.

The man charged with killing a San Francisco woman at a popular public pier is set to be arraigned for murder today. The undocumented immigrant admitted to killing Kate Steinle, claiming it was an accident. That admission has shut a firestorm of outrage, directed both at him and San Francisco's sanctuary city law.

Now, that city ordinance bars handing immigrants and convicted felons like the suspect in this case, it bars the city from handing them over to federal officials about a court order or a warrant. The San Francisco sheriff is defending the law saying it's vital to public safety.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSS MIRKARIMI, SHERIFF, SAN FRANCISCO CITY AND COUNTY: When you look at how people were just so fearful to reporting and encountering local law enforcement, how they were really preyed upon, that changed dramatically when we enacted sanctuary city laws.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The family of the victim -- the family wants to stay out of the sanctuary city debate and keep the focus on their loved one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD STEINLE, KATHYN STEINLE'S BROTHER: All I feel now is love and I'm thankful that I had the time that I had with her because she was the most amazing sister. If I was able to talk to Kate right now, she would say, hey, Brad, it's OK. Just spread my memory and spread love and I know that would make her smile.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So sad. Killed by someone who shouldn't have been here.

From San Francisco, CNN's Sara Sidner has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez is now being formally charged with murder by the San Francisco district attorney in the case of Kathryn Steinle. Kathryn Steinle was killed right behind me on Pier 14, when shots rang out from the stranger and she was hit from the upper body and died at the hospital.

Her family says they want no part in what has become a political debate in this case. The debate is over undocumented people being here and how they are treated by local, state and federal authorities. In this particular case, the outrage has grown because it turns out that Lopez-Sanchez was deported to Mexico five times before this happened.

He was expected to be deported a sixth time according to immigration and enforcement, but they did not get the chance to do that because he was then sent to San Francisco jail because of an old warrant after he left federal prison. That warrant was ten years old. It was on a drug charge that the San Francisco district attorney decided to drop. They did not charge him.

And so, the sheriff's office decided he would be able to be let free because the laws of the city, because it is a so-called "sanctuary city", allow for that.

Now, ICE, which overlooks immigration, had asked San Francisco to go ahead and tell them when he was being released, but the department did not do that. The sheriff's department instead releasing him saying that does not follow the policy of the city.

This has become a conundrum between the locals and the feds, and that is what's caused a lot of the consternation from lay people who say we cannot understand how this happened. Someone who's been convicted several times of crimes and deported several times still manage to be free on the street. And now in this tragic murder, we will have to see if justice is served.

Sara Sidner, CNN, San Francisco, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to Sara for that.

The fate of captive prison escapee David Sweat may be determined in a disciplinary hearing. Details of that hearing, though, are being kept under wraps. Authorities say it will be closed to the public. The date and the time will not be released.

Sweat is now confined to a small cell in a special maximum security prison in Romulus, New York. An attorney for Joyce Mitchell, the worker who was tasked with helping

them escape, said she described pills given to her by Richard, allegedly meant to incapacitate her husband Lyle. Mitchell is charged with helping Matt and Sweat break of prison. But her attorney denies she was ever part of a plot to harm her husband.

ROMANS: More testimony today from a prominent psychiatrist, specializing in schizophrenia at the trial of accused Colorado movie theater gunman James Holmes. She is expected to say Holmes was legally insane when he killed 12 people and wounded 70 inside an Aurora, Colorado theater. Two court-appointed psychiatrists who testified for the prosecution claimed Holmes was sane at the time.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Holmes have pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

BERMAN: Attorneys for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are seeking a new trial for the Boston marathon bomber who was sentenced to death last month. His lawyers took the first step Monday filing a preliminary motion in an effort to have this conviction and deaths overturned.

[04:20:00] Before a judge formally sentenced him, Tsarnaev expressed remorse to the families of the victims, also the survivors of that attack.

ROMANS: Authorities in Granite Falls, Washington, they say one person was killed Monday and four others injured in an ice cave collapse. It is the second day that part of the big four mountain side gave way. Look at that, officials have not been able to recover the body because of the danger from another possible collapse. One of the injured is said to be in critical condition.

BERMAN: The Confederate battle flag may not fly much longer in the grounds of the South Carolina capitol. The state senate has voted 37- 3 in favor of removing the flag from the statehouse grounds. Final vote is expected today.

If that also gets 2/3 approval, the bill then goes to the South Carolina house. The South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has said that the Confederate flag needs to come down. Now, if the bill makes it through without changes, it could happen by the end of the week.

ROMANS: All right. A big and enthusiastic turnout for Pope Francis touring through South America. Look at the crowds. He is set to speak in just hours. His new message of hope, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Pope Francis in South America today. Look at these crowds he's getting there. Fresh off the open air mass in Ecuador, its largest city of Guayaquil, where hundreds of thousands of faithful gather to hear the pontiff delivers his message on the family, that's the message in line with this mission to inspire social and economic justice. One million are expected to attend the pope's second mass in Ecuador's capital city this morning.

[04:25:05] CNN's Rosa Flores has more from Ecuador.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hundreds of thousands of faithfuls broke bread with Pope Francis today in Ecuador. Now, part of his visit to Latin America also includes Bolivia and Paraguay. It's no mistake that the pope chose these three countries to visit because of the needs of these countries.

First of all, they have large indigenous population. They also have high poverty rates and environment degradation, very much in line with his current encyclical and he has been sending a message of hope, a message of peace, a message of unity. That was part of what we heard today during his mass that he celebrated in Guayaquil, the city that's just southwest of where I'm standing right now.

Now, one thing that he mentioned was service. He mentioned that service is the real love, but that service is not charity. And he wanted to make that very clear because in his encyclical for example, he mentioned that the developed countries to take care of the countries that are very much in need. These three countries fall in that category.

Now, as we look forward, his next mass is tomorrow here in Guayaquil, and we will have to see what his message will be during that mass.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Rosa Flores, thank you for that, Rosa.

Breaking news this morning, a stunning admission from Bill Cosby. New -- brand new unsealed documents -- they reveal the comedian, says he obtained drugs to give to women to use on women for sex, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)