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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Russia Escalating in Syria; ISIS Gaining in Afghanistan; Biden Decision Imminent? Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired October 07, 2015 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:30] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New concerns this morning about Russia. Action inside Syria troops on the ground, the planes in the air. The United States is not the only country issuing dire warnings right now. Word just coming in of new strikes overnight. We are live with the latest.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: ISIS influence growing in Afghanistan. That's according to a top U.S. commander who says the situation on the ground could mean big changes. Could U.S. troops be forced to stay there?
BERMAN: A Biden family meeting. Could the questions finally be answered? Will he enter the presidential race as soon as Monday?
ROMANS: Has he answered the question? That's what I'm wondering.
BERMAN: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Wednesday, October 7th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East. Nice to see you all this morning.
Breaking overnight: Russia launching new airstrikes in Syria. The strikes against rebel held provinces in western Syria come with the help of shelling from forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad. This according to a U.K.-based human rights group which says the clashes are the heaviest in the last month. This comes after NATO's secretary general has confirmed the latest incursion by Russian fighter jets into Turkish air space. Turkey, a NATO member which also has strong ties to Russia, is warning that Moscow risks, quote, "losing a friend".
Meantime, Secretary of State John Kerry is entertaining the notion of a no-fly zone in Syria to protect civilians caught in the civil war, this despite President Obama's consistent rejection of that idea.
Joining us with the very latest now from Moscow, CNN's Matthew Chance -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much, Christine. That's right. There is a lot of intensification of Russia's airstrikes across Syria right now, targeting what they say ISIS positions, with what was suspected to be positions of other rebel groups in opposition to their Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad. So, that's been taking place. Also, this controversy you mentioned
about the incursions by Russian aircraft into Turkish airspace. There have been two such incursions of the course of the past several days, provoking strong diplomatic protests from Turkey, which as you mentioned is a NATO ally, NATO itself says it is not acceptable, it does not believe that these incursions are an accident, supposedly sent out to provoke Turkey in some way by these Russian warplanes.
At the same time, though, is all this controversy, there has been an olive branch of sorts handed out by the Russian defense ministry, they are saying they are now prepared to do a deal with the Pentagon to coordinate over their airstrikes against the Islamic States. This is something that's been discussed in military to military talks over the course of the past several day, they're now saying that just some final details to be worked out before a deal is done, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Matthew Chance for us this morning, live in Moscow -- thanks, Matthew.
BERMAN: Escalation in other conflict with high stakes for the United States. The top American commander in Afghanistan says U.S. plans to draw down troop levels there may have to be changed. General John Campbell tells the Senate Armed Services Committee that ISIS and al Qaeda are getting stronger in Afghanistan. He says this has forced them to recommend changes to existing plans that will cut U.S. troops strength by almost 90 percent.
Campbell did not say what troop levels he is proposing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. JOHN CAMPBELL, COMMANDER OF U.S. FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN: We've seen the rise of Daish, and increased al Qaeda presence in Afghanistan due to Pak mil operations. Now, we have strong partners in President Ghani and the chief executive Abdullah. As a result, I put forward recommendations to adjust this new environment while addressing our core missions, train, advise and assist, the Afghan security force and to conduct counterterrorism operations to protect the homeland.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: General Campbell also added nuance, or you could say altered his explanation for an airstrike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz that killed 22 people, after earlier saying that the strike came in as a response to a request by Afghan forces, Campbell said it was, quote, "a U.S. decision made within the U.S. chain of command."
ROMANS: All right. Breaking overnight, a decision from Joe Biden may be imminent. Will he or won't he run for president? A source close to the vice president tells CNN's Gloria Borger that there will be what is described as a family conversation at Biden's home in Delaware this weekend to discuss his possible candidacy. And the source says this conversation could be conclusive.
Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, going about her campaign as usual this morning on a swing through Iowa. [04:05:00] CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Davenport with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning from Iowa, John and Christine.
Hillary Clinton is beginning a second day of a campaign swing through this key state, and she'll be campaigning in Mt. Vernon and Council Bluffs, Iowa, today.
She is trying to project an image of certainty, in this very uncertain Democratic race. Of course, Bernie Sanders has been surging, and Joe Biden is waiting in the wings. But Hillary Clinton is focusing all of her attention, at least publicly, on the Republicans in the raise. And we've learned that she has reached out to them directly. She sent them signed personal autographing copies of the book, "Hard Choices". She said this to an Iowa audience on Tuesday night.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are so many of them, they could have a book club. And if they want to know how you put together a coalition that imposes international sanctions on a country like Iran, they can read about it, because that's what I did.
ZELENY: Of course, even as she tries to project strength among Democrats by saying that she can take on Republicans, it is that uncertainty in the Democratic presidential race that is really hanging out there. Democrats want to know if Joe Biden is going to get in this race.
We are told by people who have been talking with them in recent days he is leaving the impression that he is leaning towards running. But all the caveats apply, he still has not reached a decision yet. So, we will not yet know, probably today, but in the coming days, definitely in the next two weeks, I am told, he will make this decision.
Of course, this race will go on all leading up to that first Democratic debate next Tuesday on CNN in Las Vegas -- John, and, Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: All right. Jeff, thanks so much.
New developments on the Republican side: Donald Trump in Iowa this morning. He will speak about his new tax policy at a rally today. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush in Iowa as well. He is now taking barely veiled shots at his former political protege Marco Rubio for spending days away from Washington. Rubio is a senator, instead Marco Rubio has been on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We should cut the pay of elected officials that don't show up to work. I don't know about you, but this idea -- this idea that somehow voting isn't important. What are they supposed to do? They should go to the committee hearings. They should vote.
The idea somehow the private sector when you don't show up for work I get a pay cut. Why should it exist in state capitals as it does, and why shouldn't it exist in Washington, D.C.?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: You know, I call that barely veiled. It wasn't even barely veiled. It wasn't veiled at all. It was a direct shot at Senator Marco Rubio, who missed the vote on Tuesday, this one on a defense policy bill.
Senator Rubio is on a campaign spring swing right now through New Hampshire, where he has faced some question about it. Ben Carson taking some heat for comments he made about a school shooting in Oregon. Carson told FOX News that he would have gone after the gunman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Not only would I not cooperate with them. I would -- I would not just stand there and let them shoot me. I would say, hey, guys, everybody, attack him. He may shoot me but he can't get us all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Ben Carson says he would have done.
Donald Trump says civilians with guns could have stopped the shootings in Oregon. He says he supports the right to own assault weapons. He told CNN's "NEW DAY" that, quote, "the bad guys are going to have them anyway."
ROMANS: Democrats last night launching an effort to abolish the House Benghazi Committee, arguing the committee was a partisan political tool aimed solely at hurting Hillary Clinton. Their amendments to kill the Republican-led Benghazi investigation failed along party lines in the rules committee. The effort comes a week after the Republican expected to be the next House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, gave the Benghazi committee credit for politically damaging Clinton and many say giving Clinton a gift.
BERMAN: Six thousand federal inmates will be released from prison in an effort to fight prison overcrowding and provide relief to inmates given harsh sentences in some drug cases. The move follows the decision by the U.S. sentencing commission last year to lower maximum sentences for drug offenders. The release is the largest in the Bureau of Prison history in the first of what could be tens of thousands of early releases.
ROMANS: Tragedy strikes at Ft. Campbell after a soldier was shot dead during a training exercise. It happened around 10:30 Tuesday morning. The identified soldier was taken to the hospital on the Kentucky army base. Doctors could not save him. The shooting currently is under investigation. Officials said they do not suspect foul play.
BERMAN: The former president of the United Nations General Assembly is accused of taking bribes and tax fraud. Josh Ashe is charged with taking over a million dollars over several years in exchange for favors and for not reporting it to the IRS. The U.S. attorney says Ashe sold himself in the U.N. for things such as Rolex watches, custom suits and a private basketball court, something everyone needs.
The U.N. secretary general office says Ban Ki-moon is shocked and deeply troubled by this news.
ROMANS: All right. Nine minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money this morning.
A good morning for stocks, folks. European and Asian shares higher after oil prices rose overnight. Oil prices breaking out of a one month trading range. U.S. stock futures are up, too.
One stock following that trend this morning, we are watching Yum Brands.
[04:10:01] The parent company of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, those shares are plunging before the open. The company said it's not likely to meet its earnings goal for the year in part because of scandals over the quality of food sold in China.
Forty thousand Fiat Chrysler workers ready to go on strike. Negotiations between the United Auto Workers and the car company have broken down. And now, the union says it's terminating its current labor contract at midnight Wednesday, and threatening to strike starting Thursday. It will be the first U.S. auto strike since 2009. It could cost an automaker an estimated $300 million a day.
BERMAN: Just after all that free press for Fiat from the pope's visit. Now they're going on strike.
ROMANS: Exactly.
BERMAN: All right. The rain is over. But residents in South Carolina are being warned, you have to be careful in these flood waters after these historic storms. Hundreds of thousands of people are without clean water this morning. We're going to get the latest from South Carolina, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: In South Carolina, the rain has finally stopped after two weeks. But so many rivers and streams still rising from the record volume of water that just submerged hundreds of roads and bridges. Eleven dams there failed. You're taking a look at one right now. The death toll from the floods also rising. Seventeen people have now lost their lives in South and North Carolina.
Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina, is warning residents about hidden dangers within the deep flood waters.
The state highway patrol shared this picture of what happened when two cars went around road blocks.
Making matters even worse, for more than 400,000 people, the water undrinkable. Donations have been pouring in.
The coast guard still engaged in an active search for survivors from the cargo ship El Fargo that sank in the Atlantic with Hurricane Joaquin bearing down. More debris has been located as we learned a power failure may have left the ship helpless against the powerful storm.
[04:15:01] CNN's Martin Savidge tells us investigators right now hard at work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.
While the U.S. Coast Guard is focused on a search and rescue effort, trying to find survivors, the NTSB has a different job. Their job is to try to determine what happened, why it happened, and, if necessary to then instigate changes that would prevent a strategy like this from ever happening again.
At their briefing last night, they pointed out that this vessel has on board something very similar to what we have all become knowledgeable of, like a flight data recorder. Only in this case, they call it a voyage voice recorder. And that device apparently records everything that occurred onboard the vessel in the last 12 hours leading up to whatever catastrophic event struck it.
That information would be vital for the NTSB's investigation, because right now, they do not have a lot to go on. But to find it, you pretty much have to find the ship. And that's believed to be in very deep water.
And again, like the flight data recorders, there is something called a pinger. And the voyage data recorder has one and its batteries have a time frame of about 30 days. I asked if they have been listening and have they heard anything? The answer so far is no -- John, and, Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Such a sad story. Martin Savidge, thank you for that.
Even with no rain in the forecast for the Carolinas, the situation there still dangerous.
I want to bring in our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri -- Pedram.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, good morning to you, guys.
High pressure is back, and that's the good news here, is we are finally getting about dry conditions across parts of South Carolina. And Columbia will drop off the temperatures over the next couple of days, some thunderstorms possible. But, generally, beyond Saturday, everything looks dry, so a pretty good expansive area of high pressure will keep us that way, while we do have cold temperatures lock in across much of the northern tier of the country. We have the freeze threat in place where you would expect the ice box of the U.S., International Falls, working their way just north of Minneapolis, around St. Cloud, also seeing very cold conditions this morning. Generally clear over this region.
Temperatures dropping off into the mid-30s. They would warm up into the mid and upper 50s across that region. A gorgeous perspective in New York City. Down in Atlanta, we make it to about 81 degrees.
But we leave you with this, because, of course, South Carolina has had issues, but southern California, the single driest location in North America, they also have record rainfall, about a half an inch came down, which doesn't sound like much when you compare to the 11 plus in Columbia that occurred during this particular event. But that is 29 percent of their annual average, which is just shy of two inches. Compare that to South Carolina, of course, a much largely infrastructure, and substantially much more damage occurred across this region. But about 26 percent of normal. But still damage across parts of California -- guys.
ROMANS: All right. Pedram, thank you for that.
For the second day in a row, a health scare in the cockpit forces a plane to reroute in midair. We'll tell you what happened next.
BERMAN: Also, the Yankees lost. It's true.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:21:30] ROMANS: For a second straight day, reports of a midair scare for airline passengers. United Airlines Flight 1614 en route from Houston to San Francisco, making an emergency landing in Albuquerque after the co-pilot passed out during the flight.
Now, he was able to walk off the plane, he was taken to a local hospital. This comes a day after an American Airlines pilot, 57-year- old Michael Johnson died of an apparent heart attack while flying from Phoenix to Boston. That plane was diverted to Syracuse. And our thoughts go out to them afternoon.
BERMAN: It's so sad.
ROMANS: Yes.
ROMANS: A city official in Dothan, Alabama, is facing assault charges after striking a local television reporter. The incident captured on video shows reporter Ken Curtis asking City Commissioner Amos Newsome if he would resign in the face of voter fraud allegations linked to his election.
After putting his hand in Curtis' face right there, you can see, Newsome just strikes the reporter's cheek, drawing blood. You can't do that. Newsome was arrested and could face up to a year in jail. ROMANS: A landmark CNN study goes inside the secret world of teens
revealing they are largely addicted to social media. Child development experts studied the social media habits of more than 200 8th graders, analyzing what teens say to each other on social media and why it matters so much to them. Fifteen percent reported receiving inappropriate photos, an overwhelming number of parents, 94 percent, said they didn't realize the amount of fighting that occurs on social media.
BERMAN: So interesting. Look, kids do dumb, destructive things. The problem with social media is it's such an efficient tool with which to do it.
ROMANS: And kids -- it's an age when there is an obsession with yourself and you are learning about who -- you know, a selfish obsession with yourself and when you give kids a tool on social media, they really can be so cruel.
BERMAN: It is harder for parents to monitor. So, interesting study, worth looking at for all parents out there.
The New York state attorney general launching an investigation of two media football sites, Draft Kings and Fan Duel. It comes after allegations of cheating, basically insider trading by employees. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is looking into whether they gained an unfair advantage known as Daily Fantasy Football by exploiting access to non-public information. He has asked the site for details on how to prevent fraud.
ROMANS: Big business. A lot of people are concerned about that.
BERMAN: If you can't believe in fantasy, what can you believe in? Right?
ROMANS: It's true.
BERMAN: All right, Kansas City, here they come the Houston Astros headed to the American League Divisional Series after shouting out the New York Yankees 3-0. That means the Yankees did not score a single run, not even one run on their home field.
Dallas Keuchel, a Houston ace, was fan-freaking-tastic. He dominated the Yankee lineup. He pitched six scoreless innings on three days rest. The Astros had two dingers. The only run they needed was a home run (INAUDIBLE) first pitch (INAUDIBLE). Carlos Gomez also added a homer for the Astros.
Game one of that series is Thursday. It actually it was a bit of a victory for the Yankees, because they actually had fans in the stadium for the first time in months?
ROMANS: What about the Red Sox?
BERMAN: My Red -- you know -- we wish we resisted as badly as last night. You are correct in that statement. I would love the right to be embarrassed like the Yankees were. But it's a good point. ROMANS: All right, 24 minutes, 25 minutes past the hour.
[04:25:00] Russian forces, new strikes overnight decidedly increasing their presence in Syria civil war. Could the trio of Russia, the U.S. and Turkey be doing more harm than good in the battle against ISIS?
The latest details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Happening now, Russia launching new strikes overnight against rebels in Syria. The strikes coupled with help from Bashar al-Assad forces adding chaos to a grim situation. We are live in Moscow.
BERMAN: ISIS surging in Afghanistan. A top U.S. commander now says the situation could mean changes for American troop levels there. How long will they now stay? We are live in Kabul.
ROMANS: With the clock ticking, Joe Biden apparently on the verge of his big decision. A family meeting planned in Delaware this weekend. Will it help sway him to jump into the 2016 race? We have brand-new information, moments away.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: I'm John Berman. About 29 minutes past the hour right now.
And breaking overnight, Russia launching new airstrikes in Syria, hitting targets in the western part of that country. This appears to be a coordinated assault in conjunction with forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad. This all according to a U.K.-based human rights group which says the clashes are the heaviest in the last month.
And this comes after NATO secretary general has confirmed a second incursion by Russian fighter jets into Turkish airspace. Turkey, which is a NATO member, has long ties to Russia, is warning it risks quote losing a friend. Secretary of State John Kerry now apparently entertaining the notion of a no-fly zone in civilians caught in a civil war. This is interesting because it goes against a lot of what President Obama has said about that idea over the last several months and years.
