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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Ryan Sets Conditions for Taking Speakership; The Race for President: Biden Taking Veiled Shots at Clinton?; New Guidelines for Mammograms; Kerry to Meet Israeli and Palestinian Leaders. Aired 4:30- 5a ET

Aired October 21, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Paul Ryan sets new conditions Republicans need to meet if they want him to be the next speaker of the House.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Is he going to announce he is running today? Joe Biden, the clock is ticking. He is saying a lot of stuff about Hillary Clinton that's making people go, hmm, what is he up to?

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

[04:30:00] ROMANS: What is he up to? I'm Christine Romans. It is 29, almost 30 minutes after the hour.

Let's start with Paul Ryan. Breaking overnight, Representative Paul Ryan now says he is willing to serve as speaker of the House, but the conditions he is laying out only escalating the tensions on Capitol Hill. He's saying, look, if I'm going to do this, we're going to do this my way.

Ryan demanding support from all the unruly factions in the House Republican caucus, including far right lawmakers who effectively forced out the current speaker, John Boehner, and nixed his heir apparent, Kevin McCarthy. Ryan is setting a deadline Friday in just two days.

For the very latest, let's go to senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

Congressman Paul Ryan, the Republican from Wisconsin, who served as Mitt Romney's running mate in 2012, has now agreed to serve as the next House speaker, but only under the condition that fractured congressional Republicans come together and present a unified front.

Now, Ryan met last night with Republicans on Capitol Hill and issued what could be described as a political prenuptial agreement. He said it's time for House Republicans to be visionaries, not obstructionists.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: We need to move from an opposition party to being a proposition party. Because we think the nation is on the wrong path, we have a duty to show the right one. Our next speaker has to be a visionary one.

ZELENY: Now, Ryan agreed to be speaker, but only if they agree to a set of rules. Ryan has a bright future and did not want to accept this position, but he was under considerable pressure to do so.

Ryan said he wants to know by Friday if all 247 House Republicans will support him. Now, this could be a heavy lift. He wants support from all the divided Republican groups, ranging from the Tea Party supporters, to the moderates. He'll find out on Friday if he gets their backing or not.

If not, for House Republicans, it's back to square one to replace Speaker Boehner, who is essentially driven out by House conservatives late last month -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: This whole -- Jeff Zeleny, thanks for that. This whole race for speaker has been interesting. You know, it's been some of the upstart quadrants of Congress, of the House, who wanted more say, and in fact they might get less say if they get Paul Ryan.

BERMAN: I think there is huge irony here. This is an incredibly muscular move by Paul Ryan. I haven't seen anything like this.

And what they could end up with these people block candidate after candidate, is the exact opposite of what they were speaking. They may get the most powerful, domineering House speaker they have had yet. It's very, very interesting.

And Paul Ryan is only gain for him now, because if they don't do it his way, and say, sure, look, I told you so. I'll go be chairman of the House Ways and Means, which was a job I wanted to begin with.

ROMANS: Which is a powerful job in itself.

BERMAN: Fascinating.

All right. There's another huge political question. Will today finally at last be the day that Vice President Joe Biden announces if he is running for president?

The answer is -- who the heck knows? What we do know is that all of a sudden, he is offering frequent stark contrast between himself and Hillary Clinton.

He praised Clinton as secretary of state, sure, but noted that he was the one who was sent in to be the closer with foreign leaders. He claims he spends upwards of seven hours a day with President Obama and most notably the vice president is also repeatedly taking barely veiled shots at Clinton's debate answer when she counted Republicans among the enemies she is proud of making.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is possible, it is necessary to end this notion, to end this notion that the enemy is the other party. End this notion that it's naive to think we can speak well of the other party and cooperate. What is naive is to think it's remotely possible to govern this country unless we can. That is what is naive.

It's mostly important that everybody in this room understand the other team is not the enemy. If you treat it as the enemy, there is no way we can ever, ever, ever resolve the problems we have to and you end up with the dysfunction we are experiencing here in Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: We're seeing so much of Joe Biden trying to clarify and make it clear about what his role is in some of the these important events like how he is trying to portray himself as one of the president's most trusted counselors. Biden now seems to be dramatically altering his accounts of the advice he gave on the night Obama green-lit the raid where Osama bin Laden was killed.

Now, Biden says he was in favor of the attack on bin Laden's compound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: So as he walked out of the room and walked upstairs, I said -- I told him my opinion, I thought he should go and follow his own instincts. But it would have been a mistake, imagine if I had said in front of everyone, don't go or go, and his decision was a different decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:35:06] ROMANS: Now, listen to what Biden said back in 2012 about his advice that night to the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: We owe the man a direct answer. Mr. President, my suggestion is don't go. We have to do two more things to see if he's there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Hmm. He also did not include Hillary Clinton when listing officials who supported the raid -- a notable omission to say the least.

As for Hillary Clinton, her campaign has been celebrating the backing of officials all over the country, including a rise in Democratic star HUD Secretary Julian Castro. But there are reports that some of the officials she is listing, including mayors in Wilmington, Delaware, and San Antonio have not actually endorsed her. BERMAN: New volleys in the ongoing feud between Jeb Bush and Donald

Trump over the September 11th attacks and whether George W. Bush kept the country safe prior to those attacks as Trump has questioned.

Jeb Bush has a scathing op-ed in "The National Review". He writes, "Let's be clear, Donald Trump simply doesn't know what he is talking about, his bluster overcompensates for a shocking lack of knowledge on the complex security challenges that will confront the next president of the United States."

So, Donald Trump responded overnight to FOX News, perhaps, softening his tone a bit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I respect the fact that Jeb is defending his brother, I think that's good. I would do the same.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS: If Jeb wins the nomination, will you support him?

TRUMP: Absolutely, yes. I would absolutely support him. He's a good person. He's a good man. I would support him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The good person, good man, nice guy stuff that Trump said a lot a. Lot of people thinking the way he says it is in a demeaning way, sure, he's a nice guy, I like him. But then he'll go on and say he's low energy, not sharp enough.

Today, Donald Trump campaigning in Iowa. The Republicans have a debate next week in Colorado.

ROMANS: All right. Democrats on the House Benghazi Committee are considering resigning their post after Hillary Clinton testifies this week.

Congressman Adam Schiff of California says by staying on, he and other Democrats would only lend legitimacy to a committee that in his words, quote, "really has none".

Schiff and other Democrats say they plan to attend Thursday's questioning of the former secretary of state to ensure proceedings are fair.

BERMAN: Breaking news this morning, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Moscow overnight, meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Look at that. Russian state media reports the two talked about military action against what a Kremlin spokesperson calls terrorist extremist groups.

The U.S., of course, has expressed concern that Russia in Syria, what they're doing is they're going after Assad's enemies, not targeting ISIS as they claim. President Obama travels to West Virginia today, where he will address

a critical issue for that state and many states, substance abuse. Drug overdose deaths in West Virginia more than twice the national average. The president will announce federal, state and private sector commitments to ensure people struggling with addiction get the medical help they need. He says that's the goal instead of having these people end up in prison.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money this morning.

Not a great so far for stocks. Chinese stocks are lower, closed lower, down more than 3 percent, breaking a recent winning streak, European stocks, U.S. stock futures are down. The Dow now down 3.4 percent this year.

For investing icon Warren Buffet, it's been, it's been worse than that. Buffett, he's an icon, right? He likes blue chip companies that are relatively to understand. And that has been not so great strategy this year.

Take a look at his top investments, IBM disappointed Wall Street this week, shares down 12 percent this year. Coca-Cola stock flat this year compared to rivals Pepsi and Dr. Pepper Snapple, which had done better. And even worse, American Express is down 17 percent, that is Buffett's fifth largest holding. Number 7, Procter & Gamble down 18 percent. Finally, Wal-Mart, which is down more than 30 percent and is the worst stock in the Dow.

Warren's very tough year.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking news this morning: a New York police officer shot and killed while chasing a suspect. Very sad this morning in the New York City Police Department and that man's family.

ROMANS: Plus, stunning new guidelines for women on screening for breast cancer. The information you need, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:42:52] BERMAN: Breaking overnight, a veteran New York police officer is dead after he was shot in the head while chasing a suspect overnight. The officer identified as 33-year-old Randolph Holder was responding to reports of a man with a gun when he was shot. Police say the suspect was arrested several blocks away, he is in custody and hospitalized with injuries. Holder is the fourth NYPD officer killed in the line of duty the past year. You see pictures there.

ROMANS: All right. Breaking news out of Kentucky, where an officer has been shot during a standoff with a gunman. It's happening right now in the town of Prestonsburg. A local station identifying the officer as Adam Dixon, saying he was shot in the chest. He has now been taken to the hospital. We do not know his condition. Police say the man that shot Dixon has now barricaded himself inside a home.

This again is unfolding right now. We're following the latest developments. We're going to bring you more details as they come in.

BERMAN: Police chiefs and prosecutors from across the country are pushing for a reduction in the nation's prison population. A group of law enforcement leader that includes New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton will release a report that pushes for alternatives to arrest and end to mandatory prison sentences. They say too many people behind bars don't long there. Members of the group are scheduled to meet with President Obama on Thursday.

ROMANS: All right. Forty-four minutes past the hour.

Temperatures are rising across the East Coast. That cold snap breaking. Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys.

Look at the mild weather across the eastern side of the country. And this is the trend that's going to stick around for a couple of days. Big blue large and in charge over this region, we are watching scattered thunderstorms that will touch shortly across part of West Texas.

The temps again dominating the picture. The mid-70s coming back. Chicago, 76, St. Louis almost feels like a summer day, at 85 degrees. Northerly flow across portions of Boston, that will keep your temperatures in Boston only in the 50s.

But changes in the forecast, the cool air, it is slated to return and we think sometime between Thursday and Friday, when the transition happens, especially for New York, dropping off to around 60 on Friday, Washington also introducing some cloud, also the cooler temperatures come back Friday afternoon.

Down around Texas, we know the drought impacting at least 14 million people in this region, rainfall in the forecast, excellent news.

[04:45:01] Unfortunately it looks like too much rainfall. Anytime you get too much of a good thing, it quickly becomes a bad thing. Some indications of ten-plus inches could fall over the next five days over this region.

We'll leave you with this: New York, you have been on a roller coaster ride, down to 36 degrees. Look at the forecast for Wednesday afternoon, get up to 75 degrees. This time of year, this is the sort of trend you see, but hopefully you enjoy your day in the mid-70s, guys.

ROMANS: I will. Thank you for that.

The American Cancer Society offering up new guidelines for mammograms. It is now telling women to have mammograms later and less often. I want to break down these revise guidelines with CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. She is live for us from Tel Aviv this morning.

Elizabeth, a lot of women talking about this. Families talking about this.

What is the American Cancer Society advising women to do or in some cases not do now?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, exactly, exactly.

So, Christine, let's take a look at their specific recommendations. Up until yesterday, the American Cancer Society said start getting annual mammograms at age 40. Now they say start at age 45.

They say you can start at 40 if you want, but we recommend 45. And they say after 55, you don't need to have them every year, can you have them every other if you like.

And also, they made this change -- they used to recommend regular breast exams by your doctors, where a doctor feels for lumps and bumps. Now, they're saying, no one needs or no one of average risks needs these routine manual exams. The reason why is they say, look, we found that mammograms in your early 40s and that these doctors exams, they just don't find cancer early and save lives.

Now, Christine, I want to say that if a woman has a family history of certain cancers, if a woman carries the breast cancer gene, her screening regimen would be much different. She would be screening much earlier, much more often.

ROMANS: And that's very clear. These are guidelines, but for women with history of breast cancer, they need to talk to their doctor, because their screenings will be different.

Many of us know people whose breast cancer was found by a mammogram in their early forties, or by doctors' exams.

So, a lot of people are asking, how could less screening actually help women?

COHEN: Right. So, the American Cancer Society says, look, we took another look at all of these studies, we looked at some new studies, and what we found is that mammograms often have false positives. Mammograms save lives, but they also have false positives. So, we're telling women we think you might have cancer, giving them biopsies, likely giving them more radiation, only to tell a large number of women, you know what, you are just fine.

The other things that do, this is counterintuitive, and sort of tough to grasp, is they find tiny cancers that will never ends up bothering a woman. She can live with that little cancer until she is 100 and dies of something else. But mammograms catch those cancers, so mammograms catch little tiny slow growing cancers that you really don't want to find, because once you find them, the doctor is compelled to give you chemotherapy and possibly a mastectomy.

So, for those two reasons, they said, look, you don't want too many. You want just the right number. But really in the end, it's up to the woman and her doctor to decide what the right number is. I mean, these guidelines have gotten for lack of a better term smushier and smushier.

ROMANS: Right.

COHEN: You know, they're more and more, we're hearing them say. You and your doctor decide, this is -- this is what we're recommending.

ROMANS: We spent so many years trying to protect women from these terrible cancer and trying to get these breast cancer rates down, and now, there is sort of a popular discussion, have we been doing too much, have we gone too far? Do other experts agree with the American Cancer Society?

COHEN: You know, many experts don't. They think that maybe the cancer society is recommending starting too young or too old. But let's take a look at them. So, 45 is now the American Cancer Society's recommendation. The American College of Obstetricians and gynecologists recommend starting at 40 they are reviewing that recommendation now. The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force says, hey, we think you should start at 50.

Now, all of these groups have come under criticism for something in many ways is not tear fall. The studies for the most that they are looking at are studies of film mammography. They're not looking for the studies of digital mammography because it's so new. It hasn't been studied so much.

So, some of the experts I talked to said, look, we're not really so sure how effective today's mammograms are. We don't know what to tell women. Because it's different than what's been studied before.

ROMANS: That's a real interesting point. Elizabeth Cohen for us this morning, thank you so much for that, Elizabeth.

BERMAN: All right. About ten minutes until the hour right now. Can diplomacy help stop the violence in Israel? The United Nations and now Secretary of State John Kerry about to get involved. New attacks breakout overnight. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:53:29] BERMAN: Secretary of State John Kerry heads to Europe and the Middle East today. He plans to meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas to try to ease the tensions going on in that region. Israeli Defense Forces announce the high ranked leader Hassan Yousef, accusing him of actively instigating terrorism.

All this as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrives in Jerusalem, calling for an end to the violence. I want to go live to Jerusalem and bring in CNN's Phil Black.

There is a lot of talking to both sides here by the U.N. and, ultimately, the U.S. But, any sign, Phil, the two sides will talk to each other?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, that's -- and I don't think anybody is trying to be that ambitious, John, really. What they hope to do by intervening in this way the U.N. and the U.S. is to simply act as the go between that can hopefully persuade both sides to dial back their language to some extent their behavior, try and break the cycle of violence that has gripped this region for three weeks now.

That's how long we have been seeing these increased number of random attacks on the streets here in Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank, that disputed territory. That is for how long we have seen Palestinians with knives and cutting implements, attacking Israeli civilians, soldiers, police officers as well, a mounting death toll that has seen at least eight Israelis killed. More than we believe 45 Palestinians have been killed in the same period of time as well. This is from the start of the month.

[04:55:01] Just this morning, early, there was another incident. A Palestinian approaching an Israeli settlement on the West Bank was warned away. This person was apparently carrying a knife. Warning shots were fired, ignored. This person was shot in the shoulder. The person carrying the knife according to Palestinian officials was a 15- year-old girl.

So, that is the cycle. It has become the new normal. The concern is it could escalate further.

And that is why this diplomatic effort is under way to try and cool the mood here to break this cycle of violence, John.

BERMAN: All right, Phil. Phil Black for us in Jerusalem, thanks so much. Let's hope they make some progress there.

ROMANS: Indeed.

All right. Fifty-five minutes past the hour. You heard this before, millennials love Chipotle, but Wall Street isn't so sure why the burrito boom might be over.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. Welcome back. I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an early start of your money this morning.

U.S. stock futures barely moving. A lot happening on the street today. Earnings from Boeing, Coca-Cola, General Motors and others before the bell.

One stock falling this morning, Chipotle. The Burrito chain reported quarterly sales growth of 12 percent. It sounds good. Most companies will love those numbers. But a Chipotle's worst growth in two years. The chain just isn't growing at a rapid speed it once was.