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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

New Russian Strikes in Syria; ISIS Gaining in Afghanistan; Biden Decision Imminent? Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired October 07, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State John Kerry now apparently entertaining the notion of a no-fly zone in civilians caught in a civil war.

[04:30:07] 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.

Joining us now with the latest from Moscow, CNN's Matthew Chance.

And, Matthew, the Russians not letting up one bit on their air assault and perhaps more in Syria.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, John, it seems like they're actually intensifying their air campaign against various targets inside Syria. They say they're focusing on Islamic State. But clearly on the ground, the reports are very different. It seems to be rebel groups opposed to Bashar al- Assad's, Russia's long time ally. Some of those groups supported by the West, supported by the United States.

The main attacks at the moment appears to be taking place in the west of the country. They're coordinated in nature, along with the Syrian army and other elements as well, including Hezbollah fighters and elements of the Iranian armed forces as well.

So, this kind of grand coalition to which the Russians are playing, if you will, the air force in this situation. So, that is the situation on the ground. They're hitting these rebel groups hard with in a hope I suppose of not just bolstering the regime of Bashar al-Assad, but also regaining some of the territory for the Syrian president has lost over recent years.

BERMAN: Meanwhile, Matthew, the Russians are indicating they're opened to the idea of some kind of coordinated air operation with the United States in Syria?

CHANCE: Yes. I mean, this is an initiative that the Pentagon has been proposing, that the Russians sit down with them and coordinate closely air attacks against ISIS positions. The United States, of course, heads a coalition of about 60 countries, which have been for about 18 months now have been dropping bombs on ISIS in a sort of coordinated way. The Russians have come in to that mix, started picking their own

targets. It raises the possibility of confrontation, unwanted confrontation through the Russians and the U.S. military and other NATO members and coalition members as well. They want to coordinate. The first time today that the Russians are saying, look, we can accept this proposal. We've got to work out some technical details first, though, but then we are ready to go.

BERMAN: Possible diplomatic break this morning. Matthew Chance in Moscow, thanks so much.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Escalation in another conflict with high stakes, a top commander says the U.S. plans to draw down troop levels there that may have to be changed. General John Campbell telling the Senate Armed Services Committee ISIS and al Qaeda are getting stronger in Afghanistan. Campbell did not say what troop levels he is proposing. He added a nuance that altered his explanation for an airstrike at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz that killed 22 people, after earlier saying it came if response to a request by Afghan forces.

Campbell said it was, quote, "a U.S. made decision made within the U.S. chain of command."

CNN's Nic Robertson is live for us now in Kabul with the very latest.

Interesting, this change of tone, this change of explanation for how this airstrike happened in the first place.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he described it as a mistake rather than the day before he described what happened at the hospital is an accident. It originally said that it was U.S. forces calling it an airstrike because U.S. forces were directly targeted by the Taliban, now saying and he did say this the day before as well, it was Afghan forces who requested the help.

But I think what he was trying to do here was to clear up any sort of impression that the United States would try to sort of push the blame on the Afghan forces, what he was saying very clearly here, they asked us for help. The Taliban were firing at them, but we're responsible. It was us who called in the fire power. We are responsible for that.

We just heard in the last few minutes from Doctors Without Borders, they say what they want here is not a criminal investigation. They say all they want to understand about the hospital and they say this is very important across all of Afghanistan is what are the rules of engagement? Have they changed?

They say the hospital they abide by the rules of engagement laid down by the U.S. military, the Afghan military, even by the Taliban. So, they're doing what everyone tells them to do. Their location was known. They say, let's put all the facts on the table of what happened here.

And then they say, us, Doctors Without Borders, can decide, OK, these are the facts. Now, obviously, as Doctors Without Borders we need to change. Somebody has changed on somebody else's side here, an understanding of how hospitals fundamental can work.

They say at the moment without that, they want these facts put on the table by an independent international investigation so that everyone can examine it.

[04:35:03] That's why they say they are pushing, calling it a war crime not from a criminal point of view, very simply, so they can understand how it's safe for their people to operate in the future -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Nic Robertson for us this morning in Kabul -- thanks, Nic.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, a decision for Joe Biden could be imminent. Will he run for president? You know, it might be a valid question, is he running already?

A source close to the vice president tells CNN's Gloria Borger that there will be a family conversation at the Biden home this weekend to discuss the possible candidacy. The source says this conversation, this one could be conclusive.

While that's going on, Hillary Clinton is on a campaign swing through Iowa this morning. She's taking on Republican criticism of her record. She is doing it with a humorous touch there. She's trying to be humorous.

She told a crowd she sent all the Republican candidates a copy of her book "Hard Choices" to enlighten them about her time I think as secretary of state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And then I thought, you know, maybe they just don't know so I have now sent each of them a copy of my book "Hard Choices" about what we did during those four years. So, you know, there are so many of them, they could have a book club. 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Bernie Sanders, he is in Washington today. I don't think he got a copy of the book. He is set to speak at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute presidential candidate forum.

ROMANS: Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is also in Iowa this morning. He is set to speak about his newly released tax policy.

You know, Jeb Bush is campaigning in Iowa. He is now taking thinly veiled shots at his former political protege Senator Marco Rubio for spending days away from Washington on the campaign trail. Rubio missed another key vote on Tuesday, this one on a defense policy bill. He is on a campaign swing through New Hampshire.

For more on that, let's bring in chief political correspondent Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, when I interviewed Jeb Bush last week in New Hampshire, he started to hit his former protege Marco Rubio, that his campaign sees more and more as a threat. Now, Bush has a regular attack line for missing votes in the Senate. He uses it in town halls from New Hampshire to this one last night in Iowa.

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.

BASH: Bush doesn't mention Rubio by name when he says things like members of Congress who are absent should get their pay, but it's clear who he is talking about. Rubio, he has missed more votes than any other senator running for president this year, including a procedural vote yesterday on a pretty important defense.

But he's hardly alone, Ted Cruz has missed almost as many as Rubio. It really is an age old challenge for any senator running for president. It was for John Kerry, for John McCain, an even Barack Obama. How do you go out on the campaign trail and stay in Washington and do your day job at the same time?

For example in a two-month period in the fall of 2007, Barack Obama, a freshman senator then, missed 80 percent of the Senate votes.

So, Rubio says he tries to not miss high profile votes, but, you know, he's also not running for re-election in the Senate. And Rubio sources I talk to say presidential primary voters just don't care that much about whether he shows up for work in Washington -- John, and, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Our thanks to Dana Bash for that. It will be interesting to see if Jeb Bush keeps up that line of attack. Overnight, Democrats launch an effort to abolish, to get rid of the House Benghazi Committee, arguing that that committee is a partisan political tool aimed at hurting Hillary Clinton.

The amendment to kill the investigation failed along party lines and 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.

ROMANS: In South Carolina, the rain has finally stopped after two weeks. But many rivers and streams are still rising from the record volume of water that has submerged hundreds of roads and bridges. Eleven dams now have failed. The death toll also rising, 17 people have lost their lives in South and North Carolina. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley warning residents about the 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 worse, for more than 400,000 people, water is entering Kabul, donations have been pouring in.

The coast guard is engaged in an active search meantime for survivors from that cargo ship El Faro that sank in the Atlantic where Hurricane Joaquin buried down.

[04:40:03] More debris has been located as we learn a power failure may have left the ship helpless against the powerful storm. The NTSB is investigating how the ship sank. Officials say the vessel was equipped with a voyage date recorder. It's like a like a flight recorder. It has a pinger with a battery life of some 30 days.

BERMAN: Six thousand federal inmates will be released prison in an effort to fight prison overcrowding and provide relief to inmates given hard 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: Let's talk about money. Time for an early start on your money. Good morning for stocks, European and Asian stocks are higher after oil prices rose overnight. U.S. futures are up too.

Yesterday, the S&P 500 snapped a five-day winning streak. Investors looking more cautious. That resent turmoil in stocks is over.

A mega-beer merger getting new life this morning. Anheuser-Busch InBev made a third offer today to buy its rival SAB Miller. SAB Miller has already rejected two early bids. This time, the deal worth $104 billion. You can find that clang in your couch, right?

BERMAN: Yes.

ROMANS: Come up with $104 billion.

If it goes through, it would be the biggest merger in beer history, Bud Miller who would own half of the world's top 40 beers.

BERMAN: That's crazy.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: The situation between Israelis and Palestinians nearing a tipping point. New clashes on the street as concerns continue to mount. We are live in Jerusalem, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:13] ROMANS: Breaking news this morning, violence in the old city part of Jerusalem. Police say a woman stabbed a 35-year-old Jewish man. They say the man was lightly wound and managed to shoot his attacker. This as tensions remain high in the holy city of the West Bank, although the first time in more than a week, the Al Aqsa mosque compound has reopened for Muslim worshipers of all ages.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin live in Jerusalem. She's been following this buildup this tension, this spiraling of unrest in the Middle East -- Erin.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Christine, we are carrying on another stabbing inside the old city of Jerusalem. According to Israeli police, a 35-year-old Israeli man was stabbed in the back by a Palestinian woman.

Police say the man was armed. He opened fire on the woman. She's in the hospital currently in serious condition.

Tensions surrounding the nearby holy site known to Jews as a Temple Mount, known to Muslim as the Noble Sanctuary, have been high. There have been restrictions in place on the site barring Muslim men under the age of 50 from praying there. Restrictions that were lifted around 2:00 p.m. yesterday as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas publicly announced he wanted the situation to deescalate.

But clashes persisted yesterday in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, as well as for the first Jaffa, which is near Tel Aviv. People taking to the streets to throw stones and rocks at Israeli forces. The question really being, are people listening to him?

And we understand there are media reports overnight of Palestinian and Israeli security officials meeting. We are working to get more information on that -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Erin, excellent reporting. Thank you for that from Jerusalem for us this morning. Thanks, Erin.

BERMAN: A reporter in Alabama attacked by a city official. Why did he do it and what consequences could he now face? This bizarre moment caught on camera, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:50:53] BERMAN: For a second straight day, a midair scare for airline passengers. United Airlines flight 1614 en route from Houston to San Francisco made an emergency landing in Albuquerque after the co-pilot passed out during the flight. 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 flying from Phoenix to Boston. That plane was diverted to Syracuse, very sad.

ROMANS: Yes, very said. Our thoughts go out to them.

A city official in Dothan, Alabama, facing assault charges after striking a local television reporter. The incident was captured on video. It 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 his face, Newsome then strikes the reporter on his cheek, drawing blood, Newsome was arrested. He could face up to a year in jail.

BERMAN: 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, a huge number of parents, 94 percent, said they didn't realize the amount of fighting that occurs on social media.

ROMANS: 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, playing at each other's site. 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.

BERMAN: While you were sleeping, the New York Yankees were, too. The Houston Astros, they will go to the American League Divisional Series. They shut out the New York Yankees 3-zip. At the Yankee's home field, Yankee stadium. It was a wild card game.

Their ace Dallas Keuchel, pitched six scoreless innings. He was awesome. The Yankees ace Tanaka not as awesome, gave up two dingers, which is more than the Astros needed to defeat the Yankee offense. (INAUDIBLE) had one home run, Carlos Gomez had the other.

Game one of the Astros, Kansas City Royals series is Thursday in Kansas City.

ROMANS: And your Red Sox?

BERMAN: Sitting at home comfortably, which the Yankee looked like they were doing last night as well.

ROMANS: All right. How does a 60 weeks pay leave sound --

BERMAN: Starting right now.

ROMANS: Not just for a new baby, but for any sort of family emergency, like a Red Sox loss.

I'll explain the proposal in Washington, D.C., next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:57:40] ROMANS: All right. Welcome back. I'm Christine Romans.

Let's get an early start on your money this morning. A good morning for stocks, folks. European and Asian shares are higher after oil prices rose overnight. U.S. stock futures looking higher this morning. One stock not following that positive trend.

Yum Brands, it's the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut is plunging before the open. The company said it's likely not to meet its earnings goals for the year. Part because the scandals over the quality of its food sold in China.

Washington, D.C. could soon have the most generous paid leave policy in the country. The D.C. city council is considering a proposal that would give up to 16 weeks of paid time for employees with new children, significant family problems or medical issues. Who could be covered? Anyone who lives or works in D.C. will get the first $1,000 of their weekly salary, plus half their weekly wages above that amount, but no more than $3,000.

Businesses, of course, have come out against the bill. The U.S., by the way, the only developed country that doesn't mandate any kind of paid leave.

It can soon be easier to sue your credit card companies. Many credit card companies, banks, cell phone service providers, even student loan issuers with make them sign an arbitration clause you sign these clauses, they require users to settle any legal dispute out of court and you waive your right to file a class action lawsuit.

Now, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing a rule to ban companies from getting a free pass to avoid court.

BERMAN: Hmm, interesting.

ROMANS: Something else businesses hate, by the way.

BERMAN: All right. EARLY START continues right now.

(MUSIC)

ROMANS: Happening now, concern mounting about Russia's actions in Syria. Troops on the ground, planes in the air, and the U.S. not the only country issuing dire warnings. Word just coming of new strikes overnight. We are live in Moscow with the latest.

BERMAN: ISIS influence, growing if Afghanistan. This is according to a top U.S. commander who says the situation on the ground could mean changes in U.S. troop levels. Could troops now be staying much longer than previously thought?

ROMANS: The questions surrounding Joe Biden could be answered within days of a Biden family meeting? The vice president could finally decide whether to enter the 2016 race. We have new developments.

Good morning, and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: Nice to see you today. I'm John Berman. It is Wednesday, October 7th, 5:00 a.m. in the East.

Breaking overnight, Russia has launched new airstrikes in Syria.