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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Source: Biden To Decide Within Three Days; Clinton Courts Latino Vote In Texas; Trump, Carson Threaten To Boycott Next Debate; Hacker Arrested In Malaysia; U.S. Stock Futures Flat; Texas Wildfire Raging; Palestinians Stopped And Searched In East Jerusalem. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired October 16, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:02] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A senior Democratic official tells CNN the word from Biden's inner circle is that he will likely decide by Sunday.

One top Democrat who has spoken to Biden this week says, quote, "His family is totally on board with the run and that, quote, "He wants to do this."

But in the wake of the CNN Democratic debate and solid performances from Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, many are asking this morning whether there is still room for Biden in the race. The vice president is not giving up anything on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you made your decision yet?

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

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

BIDEN: I'm here to brief the president. I'll talk to you about it later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Loose and cagey Joe Biden there, to gauge whether is an opening, sources tell CNN that Biden has personally been making calls to strategists in early primary states. He is asking questions about how not whether to launch a 2016 bid.

A senior Democratic official says those close to Biden are still giving no indication what his decision. The officials say there are growing impatience among some party leaders over the drawn out uncertainty.

Hillary Clinton campaigning in two New Hampshire cities today, she was in Texas Thursday courting the Hispanic vote at a big rally in San Antonio. Clinton spoke about immigration and pledged to fight for Latinos. And she picked up endorsement of Julian Castro, former mayor of San Antonio and now the secretary of Housing and Urban Development. She returned the favor revealing in a Q&A that Castro is on her short list for running mate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIAN CASTRO, SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT: We are calling the 38 electoral votes for the state of Texas for the Democratic nominee and the 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 the best young leaders in America. Regardless of category or the fact they come from San Antonio. I am going to really look hard at him for anything because that's how good he is. He deserves the accolades he's receiving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: New campaign fundraising totals are out this morning. They show Bernie Sanders gaining ground on Hillary Clinton, the money game. The new figures from the Federal Election Commission show Clinton raised $28.8 million in the third quarter of the year.

Sanders close on her heels at $26.2 million. Worth noting Sanders has far more individual donors about Clinton, 650,000 people have given to Sanders versus about 400,000 for Secretary Clinton.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: The FEC numbers show also both top Democrats out pacing all the Republicans in the money race. Top fundraiser for the third quarter on the GOP side was Ben Carson at just under $21 million.

In second place, but behind Carson, Jeb Bush followed by Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina. Bush's campaign haul was still enough to calm jitters among supporters. CNN's Sara Murray has more from Washington.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and Alison. Jeb Bush may have calmed some of the nerves of his donors yesterday. The campaign put out its third quarter fundraising information and it was better than a lot of people expected.

He raised about $13.4 million. That definitely puts Bush in the top tier of fundraising. He is 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. We also got fundraising numbers yesterday for Donald Trump. You remember he is mostly self-financing his campaign. His staffers say he spent about $2 million that 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 threatening to pull out of the CNBC debate, the upcoming GOP debate, if CNBC doesn't meet a list of his demands.

Those include agreeing to limit the debate to two hours and allowing candidates opening and closing statements. We have seen Trump say anything about debates in the past.

But this time he is not alone. Ben Carson is threatening to pull out of the debate if CNBC is not willing to tweak the rules. So that's something we'll be keeping an eye on in the coming days. Back to you, Christine and Alison.

ROMANS: Thanks, Sara.

A hacker based in Malaysia arrested and charged with stealing personal information of U.S. military members and then giving it to ISIS. Ardit Fareze (ph), 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.

[05:35:05] CNN's Matt Rivers tracking the latest developments live from Hong Kong. Stealing that personal information and delivering it to ISIS. Where is this man now?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this man is currently in Malaysia awaiting extradition to the United States. He is relatively young. He is 20 years old and as a mentioned a native of Kosovo. Authorities say he was also one of the leaders of a hackers group called the Kosovo Hackers Security.

As you mentioned in Malaysia, he was able to hack into the computer system of a U.S. company and steal the personal information of over 1,000 U.S. military members as well as federal employees.

He then took that information and gave it to a relatively high profile member of ISIS over the course of a two-month stretch in the summer of 2015. This young man was arrested on September 15th in Kuala Lumpur.

Now as for that ISIS member, his name is Junaid Hussain. He was killed according to the Pentagon in a U.S. air strike in Syria back in August, but before his death, he did post what he termed a hit list online.

That would be the personal information of over 1,300 U.S. military members and federal employees. Now whether that posting from Hussain is the posting that is referenced in the criminal complaint that was released by the FBI in connection to this case, officials have not confirmed that yet, but the timing certainly matches up.

ROMANS: It's certainly a troubling story. Keep us posted, Matt Rivers in Hong Kong.

KOSIK: Huma Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Clinton, set to be interviewed behind closed doors by the Benghazi Committee. Abedin is the only Clinton aide to have known to have an e-mail account on the personal network of the secretary of state. She is 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.

ROMANS: The White House scaling back its Obamacare forecast. Officials now expect 10 million Americans to be purchasing insurance through the Affordable Care Act in 2016. The Congressional Budget Office had predicted that number being more like 20 million. The White House rejecting critics claims the number of Americans signing up has plateaued.

KOSIK: The nation's budget deficit falling to its lowest level since President Obama took office. It now stands at $439 billion, a $44 billion decline from last year. According to the Treasury Department, that is the fastest sustained deficit reduction since World War II. The Office of Management and Budget claims increase of tax receipts thanks to a recovering economy.

ROMANS: Let's talk about economy in your money this morning. Asian stocks are higher, closed higher. European stocks following their lead. U.S. stock futures barely moving. It's a great day for Wall Street. The Dow climbed 217 points. Nasdaq and S&P 500 also well over 1 percent.

OK, so what drove that rally? We had mixed earnings reports from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. We have new economic data. First time jobless claims fell to a pre-session low signaling the employment picture is improving.

Inflation fell 0.2 percent last month. That low inflation number makes an interest rate hike this year by the Federal Reserve less likely. The fed's waiting game is why mortgage rates remain at historic lows.

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage below 4 percent for 12 weeks now and low inflation is why nearly 65 million Americans won't get a raise in their Social Security check this year.

The amount of money Social Security pays out is adjusted each year to take into account the inflation rate. This is the third time it happened in 40 years. People who rely on Social Security will not get a pay raise in their checks next year.

KOSIK: You know what? This is one example of why inflation could actually be a good thing. You want to see inflation in wages. You want to see inflation of housing prices.

ROMANS: It's the flip side of low gas prices. Low gas prices, great for everybody, but it means in this case, Social Security recipients will not see a pay bump next year.

KOSIK: All right, breaking overnight, California mudslides burying cars and Texas wildfires burn down homes. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:42:41]

KOSIK: Storms in Southern California triggering flash flooding and mudslides. The pictures showing cars and trucks stranded in mud on a stretch of Interstate 5. That's one of California's main freeways. Sudden severe thunderstorms sent water and mud flowing down mountains into canyons and across roadways in Los Angeles County. Remarkably there are no reports of injuries.

In Texas, the trouble is fire. A major wildfire burning in drought ridden Central Texas and there is no relief in sight. It is already burned six square miles and wiped out dozens of homes and threatens hundreds of others. The fire is about 25 percent contained. The Texas governor ordered additional resources to fight it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Exactly what caused the fire is still not known.

The rain that fell in California is heading east. Will it hit Texas where it needs that water? Let's turn to meteorologist, Karen Maginnis.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: One event that was so isolated because of terrain and because we have seen drought conditions there and burn areas. That's why we saw the severe mudslide along the congested portion of I-5.

Most of the state of California is in severe to exceptional drought. Look at Eastern Texas, we are also seeing extreme drought there as well. The big fire about 4,000 plus acres, no relief in sight.

In Southern California, still keeping that cutoff area of low pressure in the weather picture, but most of that moisture will head right along the California/Nevada border. For Austin and the Bastrop area, you are looking at cloud cover.

Temperatures will be cooler. Those battling the blaze there, it looks like no relief, except the temperatures are 10 degrees cooler, scattered showers, much cooler temperatures into the northeast and New England and diving to the south.

[05:45:04] Interior northeast could see a dusting of snow by the weekend. Back to you guys.

[05:45:10] KOSIK: OK, Karen, thanks for that. Former NBA and reality TV star, Lamar Odom, remains unresponsive in a Las Vegas hospital after found unconscious at a Southern Nevada brothel. Workers there say he had been using cocaine and taking sexual enhancement supplements.

Odom has been surrounded by family including the Kardashians in the hospital as he fights for his life. We get more now from CNN's Paul Vercammen.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Alison, the Odom and Kardashian family not wanting very much information to come out of the hospital. Khloe Kardashian did not want, Dennis Hof, the owner of the brothel, to speak any more about the Odom visit there. Dennis Hof did not listen. He told Nancy Grace that Odom spent $75,000 at the brothel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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 that show, the spotlight, might have gotten to him. At last word, Lamar Odom still on a ventilator and not speaking at the hospital. Back to you, Christine and Alison.

KOSIK: OK, Paul, thanks for that. 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 are live with new security being put in place. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:50:35]

KOSIK: Breaking news from Israel and the west bank where it's been a very tense morning. Palestinian rioters set fire to the compound housing Joseph's Tomb. Palestinian forces which control the holy site put out the fire. The blaze caused major damage to one section of the site. There were no injuries.

In East Jerusalem, Israeli security forces and border police set up check points and sealing off Palestinian neighborhoods after bloody attacks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implementing some of the tightest security measures his country has seen in years.

Let's bring in CNN's Oren Liebermann. You know, you look at this blaze. It's a blatant desecration of a place of worship. It's heartbreaking for so many to see right at the hands of Palestinian rioters.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We got word that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered an investigation to find out who these rioters were so it's both sides here condemning this attack. The IDF says overnight Palestinian rioters torched the holy site, the site of Joseph's Tomb. It is Nablus. That is part of the sensitivity. Israeli settlers in the west bank have called on Israel to put soldiers in there to protect it.

But it was the Palestinian security, who moved in, dispersed the rioters and put out the fire. Now the question of will they find who started this? Behind me is a group of 200 of probably 200 to 300 Muslim worshippers outside the old city of Jerusalem for Friday prayers.

That is because Israel has put in tight very security measures here in and around the old city. Men over the age of 40 are allowed to pray at the compound and all women. That is what you see here, these younger men praying outside.

You see that security here. Israeli border police checking IDs, stopping cars and it's not here, there are a number of checkpoints within just a couple of minutes and all around East Jerusalem making it very difficult for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in those neighborhoods to move around.

Israel says these measures are necessary for security reasons after the wave of attacks. Palestinians say it is Israel trying to deescalate by using more force, which could lead to more escalation. Question now is what happens today?

This is obviously a very important day and tense day. It is Friday prayers, those prayers going on right here behind me. In recent weeks, prayers led to clashes with the protesters and Israeli security. The question is what happens today -- Alison.

KOSIK: And we will check back on that throughout the day here on CNN. Oren Liebermann, thanks for that.

A tech business criticized for sexism now pays women more than men. We are going to tell you which and get an EARLY START on your money next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:57:19]

ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on your money. I'm Alison Kosik. Asian stocks closed higher. European stocks following the lead. Stocks in the U.S., they are barely moving. That is after the Dow rally yesterday where the Dow closed up 217 points. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 also closed higher.

What fueled rally? Investors bet on another delay on the fed raising rates this year and also mixed earnings reports from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup as well.

Women earn about 78 cents to a man's dollar. At Go Daddy, women make more than their male counterparts. Female employees are paid one cent more than the male counterparts. Go Daddy has ended the scantily clad advertisements.

Will Joe Biden run for president? "NEW DAY" starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you made your decision yet?

ROMANS: We may be days away from learning whether Joe Biden will join the race for president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a length? Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you made your decision yet?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's almost like the Clinton campaign doesn't mind talking about Benghazi anymore.

CLINTON: I love being Hillary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Money was never an issue for Jeb Bush.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I don't win, I consider it to be a massive failure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Refusing to give me your ID in a traffic stop is a misdemeanor -- get out of the car. Get out of the car. Son, get your hands behind your back. You're under arrest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday, October 16th, 6:00 in the east. Brooke Baldwin is by my side. Mich and Alisyn are out today and they are missing big news because there is a message from Vice President Joe Biden.

A letter has gone out telling supporters to get ready to give their all. CNN has learned the Biden family is totally on board with the presidential run. All indications are that an announcement is eminent.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: All right, here is what we are learning. Details about what Biden' campaign message would be if he were to run. What impact will the Biden bid have on the Democratic ticket and the money race which the candidates have.

We have the story covered only the way CNN can. Let's start with our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, who is live in London this morning. Jeff, what do you know? Good morning.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brooke and Chris. Vice President Joe Biden has been calling top Democratic strategists in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Caroline, those important early voting states asking them if they would be on board if he decides to run.