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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Will Biden Run?; U.S. Troops Hacked by ISIS; Cars Buried in California Mudslide. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired October 16, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:02] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Will Biden run? Explosive new information on how soon the vice president could become a presidential candidate and how his family feels about it.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. troops hacked by is. Their personal information now in the hands of terrorists. How this could happen and a new arrest in the case.

ROMANS: And breaking overnight. California drivers stranded in streets of mud as dangerous flash floods pour in. Unbelievable.

Welcome back to EARLY START this Friday morning. I'm Christine Romans.

KOSIK: And I'm Alison Kosik. It's 30 minutes past the hour.

This morning, we may be days just away from learning whether Joe Biden will run for president. A senior Democratic official tells CNN that the word from Biden's circle is he will likely decide by Sunday.

Now, one top Democrat who's spoken to Biden this week says, quote, "his family is totally on board with the run and that he wants to do this." But in the wake of the CNN debate and solid performances from Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, many are asking whether there is still room for him in the race.

The vice president himself not giving anything up on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Have you made your decision yet?

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I can't hear you.

REPORTER: Have you made your decision yet? Is there still an opening for you in the race, sir?

BIDEN: I'm here to greet President Park. We'll talk to you all about that later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: That's funny, I can't hear you.

To gauge whether there is an opening, sources tell CNN that Biden has been personally been making calls to Democratic strategists in early primary states, asking pointed questions about how, but not whether to launch a 2016 bid. A senior Democratic official says those close to Biden are still giving no indication what his decision is going to be. But the official says there is growing impatience among some party leaders over the drawn out uncertainty.

ROMANS: Hillary Clinton campaigning in two New Hampshire cities today. She was in Texas Thursday courting Hispanic vote, a big rally in San Antonio. Clinton spoke about immigration. She pledged to fight for Latinos.

And she picked up the endorsement of Julian Castro, a former mayor of San Antonio. He's now the secretary of Housing and Urban Development. She returned the favor, revealing in an Q&A Castro is as many expected on her short list for running mate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIAN CASTRO, HUD SECRETARY: We are calling the 38 electoral votes of the state of Texas for the Democratic nominee and next president of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think really highly of him. I am thrilled to have his endorsement today. Both he and his brother, the congressman, are just among the best young leaders in America, regardless of category or the fact that they come from San Antonio.

So, I am going to really look hard at him for anything because that's how good he is. And he deserves the accolades he's receiving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: New campaign fundraising totals are out this morning. And they show Bernie Sanders is gaining ground on Hillary Clinton. The new figures from Federal Election Commission show Clinton raised $28.8 million in the third quarter of the year, Sanders was closed on her heels at $26.2 million. Worth noting here, Sanders has far more individual donors than Clinton. About 650,000 people have given to Sanders so far versus 400,000 for Secretary Clinton.

ROMANS: The FEC numbers also show both top Democrats outpacing all the Republicans in the money race. The top fund-raiser for the third quarter on the GOP side, Ben Carson, just under $21 million. In second but well behind Carson, Jeb Bush, followed by Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina. Bush's campaign haul while not the biggest was still enough to calm jitters among his supporters.

CNN's Sara Murray has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and Alison.

Well, Jeb Bush may have calmed some of the nerves of his donors yesterday. The campaign put out (AUDIO GAP) information. And it was better I think than people expected. He raised about $13.4 million. That definitely puts Bush in the top tier of fund raising. He is still trailing Ben Carson who raised $20 million and Ted Cruz is nipping right at his heels, but it does put him right near the top of the pack.

Now, we also got fundraising number yesterday for Donald Trump. You remember he is mostly self financing his campaign. His staffers say he spent $2 million on the effort so far. And even though he does not go around soliciting donations, he still raised nearly $3.9 million.

Trump managing to make some other waves yesterday, threatening to pull out of the CNBC debate, the upcoming GOP debate, if CNBC doesn't need a list of his demands.

Those include agreeing to limit the debate to two hours and allowing candidates opening and closing statements.

[04:35:03] Now, we have seen Trump say things like this about debates in the past. But this time, he is not alone. Ben Carson is also threatening to pull out of the debate if CNBC isn't willing to tweak the rules. So, that something we'll be keeping an eye on in the coming days.

Back to you, Christine and Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: Thanks very much for that, Sara.

Hacker based in Malaysia arrested and charged with stealing the personal information of U.S. service members and giving it to U.S. Ardit Ferizi, a citizen of Kosovo, is being detained by the Malaysian government on a provisional U.S. arrest warrant. He allegedly stole the personal data of more than 1,000 U.S. service members and federal employees.

Let's get more on this from CNN's Matt Rivers. He is tracking the latest developments live from Hong Kong.

You know, this is pretty disturbing here. How much of a safety question is this for the people whose information is now possibly in the hands of ISIS.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alison, a big enough question. The FBI is well aware of this and commenting on it in pretty strong terms. The suspect in this case, a 20-year-old, as you mentioned, a native of Kosovo. We are told he is one of the leaders of the hacking group called the Kosovo Hackers Security. He was living in Malaysia when authorities say he was able to access the personal information of over 1,000 members of the U.S. military and federal employees by hacking into the computer system of a company based in the U.S.

It was then over the course of a two-month span from June to August of 2015, that he alleged to pass along that information to a relatively high profile member of ISIS. Now, Ferizi is awaiting extradition to the U.S. at the moment. He was arrested in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on September 15th.

Now, as for the member of ISIS, officials say that member is Junaid Hussain. Now, Hussain, according to the Pentagon, was killed by a U.S. airstrike in August. That said, before he was killed, he was able to post the information of over 1,300 U.S. military members and federal employees online in what he termed a hit list.

Now, whether that posting is related to the criminal complaint against Ardit Ferizi, U.S. officials have not yet confirmed that. However, the timing certainly seem to line up.

KOSIK: Do you know if there have been steps to help with the safety of the U.S. service members and federal employees whose names are on this list?

RIVERS: We do know that those members, the people who are suspected to be on the list were notified after the list was released. We also know that the FBI certainly monitoring the situation very, very closely and they say that ISIS will continue to engage in certain kinds of cyber attacks to this nature.

What they have said so far is that the technical capability of ISIS to launch much bigger, much broader cyber attacks against infrastructure, for example, isn't quite there yet in terms of the existing cyber attackers they have within their ranks. They are worried, though, about ISIS partnering with other cyber experts to launch certain attacks. Something the FBI is very concerned about.

KOSIK: All right. Matt Rivers, I know you'll stay on this. Thanks so much -- reporting live from Hong Kong.

ROMANS: All right. Huma Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Clinton, set to be interviewed behind closed doors today by the House Benghazi Committee. The appearance comes six days before her boss testifies publicly. Abedin is the only Clinton aide known to have an email account on the former secretary of state's personal network. She's expected to face a grilling about Clinton's handling of the 2012 attack and her use of a private server while heading up the state department.

KOSIK: The nation's budget deficit falling to its lowest level since President Obama took office. It now stands at $439 billion, a $34 billion decline from last year. According to the Treasury Department, that represents the fastest sustained deficit reduction since just after World War II. The Office of Management and Budget credits an increase in tax receipts, thanks to a recovering economy.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money this morning. Asian stocks are higher. U.S. futures are not moving.

A great day on Wall Street. Yesterday, the Dow climbed 217 points, NASDAQ and S&P also having a nice day.

You k now, mixed earnings in Goldman Sachs and Citigroup driving the market higher yesterday. Here is what we know: first time jobless claims fell to a pre-recession low, signaling the job picture is getting better. Inflation fell 0.2 percent last month. That low inflation number makes an interest hike this year by the Federal Reserve less likely. It's also why nearly 65 million Americans will not get a raise in their Social Security checks this year.

Why? The amount of money the Social Security pays out is adjusted to take into account inflation. Cost of living increases. This is the only third time in 40 years there will be no cost of living adjustment higher for Social Security check, people who get checks.

[04:40:00] Mortgage rates at historic lows, folks, as the Feds waits to raise those weeks, by the way. The 30-year fixed rate below 4 percent for 12 weeks now, 3.82 percent is the 30-year fixed.

KOSIK: Get out there and refinance. Still got time.

ROMANS: Refi, refi, refi.

KOSIK: Breaking overnight.

ROMANS: Breaking overnight.

KOSIK: We can sing it together. Go ahead, Christine.

ROMANS: California mudslides burying cars, stranding drivers, Texas wildfires burning down homes. All the details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Storms in southern California triggering flash flooding and mudslides. These pictures from the air, they are incredible. They're showing cars and trucks stranded in mud on the stretch of Interstate 5, one of California's main freeways. Sudden and severe thunderstorms sending wonder and mud. Look at that flowing from the mountains in canyons and across roadways all over Los Angeles County. Remarkably, no reports of injuries.

KOSIK: Meantime, in Texas, the trouble is fire. A major wildfire burning in drought-ridden central Texas, and there's no relief in sight. It has already burned six square miles, wiped out dozens of homes and now threatened hundreds of others. The fire is about 25 percent contained. Texas governor has ordered up additional resources to fight it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: They have been stepping up, working around the clock to try to contain this fire. They have been dealing with challenges and shifting winds that have caused it to go in different directions. And they have a singular goal, and that is to try to eliminate this fire as quickly as possible to reduce the extent of damages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:45:11] KOSIK: Exactly what caused that fire is still not known.

ROMANS: The rain that fell in California is heading east. But will it make it to Texas?

Let's turn to meteorologist Karen Maginnis.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: One event that was isolated because of terrain and drought conditions there and burn areas. That's why we saw that severe mudslide along that congested portion of Interstate 5. Well, most of the state of California is in severe to exceptional drought.

And look at eastern Texas. We are also seeing extreme drought there as well. So, the big fire about 4,000 plus acres. No relief in sight.

In southern California, still keeping that cut off area of low pressure in the weather picture, but most of that moisture will head right along the California/Nevada border. And for Austin and the Bastrop area, that is why you are looking at cloud cover.

Temperatures are going to be a little bit cooler. So, those battling that blaze there, it looks like no relief, except the temperatures are going to be about 10 degrees cooler. Scattered showers, much cooler temperatures into the northeast and New England, diving all the way to the south. Interior northeast could see a dusting of snow by the weekend.

Back to you, guys.

ROMANS: A dusting of snow.

All right. Karen Maginnis, thank you for that.

Forty-six minutes past the hour. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert plans to plead guilt guilty to charges of lying to federal investigators. His attorneys say Hastert will enter the plea at the end of the month. Sources with knowledge of the investigation tell CNN Hastert paid hush money to a former student he allegedly abused when he was a high school wrestling coach in Illinois.

KOSIK: Former NBA and reality TV star Lamar Odom remaining unresponsive in a Las Angeles hospital three days after he was found unconscious at a Nevada brothel. Workers there say he'd been using cocaine and taken sexual enhancement supplements. Odom has been surrounded by family, including the Kardashians, in the hospital as he fights for life.

We get more from CNN's Paul Vercammen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Alison, the Odom- Kardashian family circling the wagons, not wanting very much information to come out of the hospital. Khloe Kardashian going so far as to say that she did not want Dennis Hof, the owner of the brothel, to speak anymore about Odom's visit there.

Hof didn't listen. He told HLN's Nancy Grace that Odom spent $75,000 at the brothel.

DENNIS HOF: He spent $75,000, and that was his number. What he wanted is two girls 24 hours a day to take care of any of his needs from food, anything in the bedroom. I'll be here a minimum of four days, maximum of five days. I'll give you $75,000. The girls agreed to it. He put it on a credit card.

VERCAMMEN: Florence Odom, Odom's grandmother, said he is a beautiful person and anybody who would meet him would say the same thing. She also said that show and spotlight might have gotten to him.

At last word, Lamar Odom still on a ventilator and still not speaking at this hospital.

Back to you now, Christine and Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: You just feel for his family, for his kids, you know? Just a terrible struggle for him.

All right. Forty-eight minutes past the hour.

Breaking news this morning: a West Bank holy site set on fire as Israel tries to stop a new wave of lone wolf terror attacks. We're live with new security being put in place, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:52:18] KOSIK: Breaking news from Israel and the West Bank. Palestinian rioters set fire to the compound housing Joseph's Tomb in the city of Nablus. The blaze reportedly caused major danger to one section of the site. In East Jerusalem, Israeli security forces and border police set up checkpoints and sealing off Palestinian neighborhoods after weeks of random bloody attacks against civilians. Prime Minister Netanyahu implementing some of the tightest security measures his country has seen in years.

Let's go live to Jerusalem and bring in CNN's Oren Liebermann.

You know, the blatant desecration of this place of worship by Palestinian rioters is heartbreaking for so many.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It very much is. Israeli settlers in the West Bank are calling on the Israeli military to put soldiers in there.

Let's go back to what happened. This is overnight. The IDF says Palestinian rioters torched a holy site, the site of Joseph's Tomb. Now, that is in what's called Area A in the West Bank, which is in full Palestinian governance.

It was Palestinian security forces who moved in, dispersed the rioters and put out the blaze. But you saw the picture there, you see the damage that caused to this holy site. And that's part of what's behind the reasoning for all these security measures.

Take a look at this checkpoint here behind me. This is one of three that I see from where I'm standing here with a number of other border police and security forces within the area. This is where people trying to enter after they show ID.

There are also a number of roadblocks set up here, not only around us here. In fact, there's one just over here. Maybe you can see it is blocked off by the circle, just in front of another security checkpoint. But that's the heightened security here and the tension as Israel has imposed very heavy movement restrictions in and around the old city and around east Jerusalem, bringing in 2,000 extra border police to monitor, to check and really increase the security after the wave of attacks.

Palestinians say this is an attempt to deescalate by using more force which will only escalate the situation and add to more tension, perhaps even more attacks. As we have seen the number of victims climbing on both sides. So, there are restrictions coming up for Friday prayers. Israel says men 40 and older are allowed into the Al Aqsa compound, one of the holy sites for Jews and Muslims to pray.

And all women are allowed in. The question, how will it play out? Friday prayers often led to a number of clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters. We'll see how that plays out coming up in the next couple hours -- Alison.

KOSIK: All right. Everybody on edge as this continues to escalate. Oren Liebermann, thanks for that.

ROMANS: All right. A tech business criticized for sexism now pays women more than it pays men. We'll tell you which when you get an early start on your money, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:58:55] ROMANS: Welcome back. Let's get an early start on your money this Friday morning. I'm Christine Romans.

Asian stocks closed higher. European stocks following their lead. But stock futures are here barely moving after a Dow rally yesterday, up 217 points. Investors bet on another delay in the Fed raising rates. Mixed earnings from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. New economic data all in the mix.

Women earn 78 cents to a man's dollar, but at GoDaddy, women actually make more than their male counterparts. Not much, but they do make more. Female employees there paid about one cent more for every dollar a male employee makes. GoDaddy, of course, has faced criticism for showing scantily clad women in its advertisement. It since ended that practice. The gap still remains at management where female execs earn 96 cents to a man's dollar.

Sheryl Sandberg wants to bring back the word feminist and get rid of the word "bossy". She had a rare public appearance, a rare public appearance for her since her husband died six months ago. The Facebook executive said men who lead are liked because they follow stereotypes, but women are expected to be likeable. And when they lead, they are seen as bossy.

She also said, you know, she gets up in the morning, a friend told her to get up in the morning and write down three things she did well every day. And she said --

KOSIK: You don't go to sleep with that stress.