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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Iranian-American Executive Reportedly Arrested In Tehran; Plane Catches Fire on the Runway, Passengers Injured; Debate Shakes Up Race for President; China Ends One-Child Rule. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired October 30, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:30:16] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight: An American businessman arrested in Tehran, increasing tensions as U.S. officials meet with Iran over the war on ISIS. We are live.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: And more than a dozen passengers injured when their plane catches fire on the runway. New information this morning.

ROMANS: A shakeup in the race for president. Candidates playing defense after the heated debate. Who is up? Who's down? Who's trying to move on this morning from that debate?

KOSIK: All good questions.

ROMANS: Right. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

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

And breaking overnight: an Iranian-American businessman reportedly arrested in Tehran. He's been identified as Siamak Namazi. Namazi is the head of strategic planning for Crescent Petroleum. He was visiting family in Tehran two weeks ago when he was arrested by Iranian security forces.

The announcement of Namazi's arrest complicating the Syrian peace talks getting underway at Austria, where the Iranians have been invited to the table for the very first time.

Let's go live to Vienna and bring in CNN international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen.

You know, so many questions with this. What's the justification for arresting him and do you think it has anything to do with the fact that talks are just getting under way?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it has something to do with the Iran nuclear deal. It certainly does. It might also have something to do with these talks getting under way here.

It really isn't clear, Alison, it is certainly something that Secretary of State Kerry says he raised last night in his talks with Javad Zarif. They met one on one on Thursday. And later, the State Department said they talked about several issues with the nuclear agreement with Iran, but also about Americans detained by Iranian authorities.

And, of course, Mr. Namazi is the fourth American who remains in Iranian detention. One of them, of course, also is Jason Rezaian, "The Washington Post" reporter who's been in detention for more than 450 days now. And there are many, if you look inside, the Iran experts or other people, they believe this could be a standoff with the moderates in Iran around the President Hassan Rouhani and the hard liners in Iran around the supreme leader and many people around the hard liner security apparatus who don't like the nuclear deal to begin with, and who warned about what they believe is too much American influence in Iran.

Of course, we know that Mr. Namazi was someone pushing for closer economic relations, for Americans to invest in Iran at the time that he was taken into custody. And the big question really is, is how much influence does the Iranian government actually have when it comes to getting Mr. Namazi released? And then, of course, generally, how much influence do they actually have here at these talks as well? To what respect do they actually speak for the hard liners in Iran and lead the Iranian security forces who are very, very active in Syria?

But it is already a big step forward many say that the Iranians are here at the table and all parties are coming together to try to solve the Syria crisis.

The big issue here on the table today, Alison, is going to be the future of Bashar al Assad. There is America and allies who say that Assad needs to go and then there's the Russians and the Iranians on the other side who believes there needs to be political transition in Syria. But they believe that Assad could be part of it.

No one believes there will be a solution to the problem here in Vienna today, but certainly the fact they are meeting and if this meeting doesn't completely collapse and fall apart, many will see it as a success -- Alison.

KOSIK: But you look at this arrest of this Iranian-American and you think about the complicated negotiations process going on about Bashar al Assad. How much is this lessened in the hands of those sitting at the negotiating table?

PLEITGEN: Well, I think it does significantly extend. It raises questions as to whether or not the people for the Iranian said are negotiating here in Vienna here today, to what extent they can actually influence things on the ground, because we know that if you look at the battlefields in Syria, that the influence that the Iran has here, the forces that Iran have on the ground, they come from the elite Revolutionary Guard.

The Revolutionary Guard does not answer to the Iranian government. It answers to Iran's supreme leader. And Iran's supreme leader has been very critical of the United States, a lot of anti- American rhetoric coming from his camp right after the nuclear agreement. There have been posters that have been set up in Tehran saying no negotiations with the U.S. about anything except the nuclear deal. We want to warn about American cultural influence on Iran. It is something we need to prevent and be vigilant. Those are the kinds of things that you hear.

And then, of course, you have these arrests. So far, there really isn't much that President Rouhani and the foreign minister have been able to do about it.

[04:35:01] So, the big question is, how much influence do they have on the Iran military strategy in Syria, but it is, of course, still very important to speak to them because Iran is still one of the major backers of President Assad, of course, along with the Russians. And if there is any sort of solution, that's also something that Secretary Kerry said. The Iranians are going to have to be part of it, Alison.

KOSIK: Very complicated process. Frederik Pleitgen, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. Breaking news: a six-day manhunt for a Kentucky fugitive is over this morning. Sixty-two-year-old Floyd Ray Cook, a convicted robber and rapist, wanted for shooting a police officer in Tennessee, he was killed in a shootout with officers this morning in Brooksville, Kentucky.

Police closed in on Cook after he stopped at a home and asked a couple for a ride. They recognized him, refused his request and called police. About 50 officers with police dogs and surveillance planes tracked him into a wooded area where he was fatally wounded him.

KOSIK: Federal investigators heading to Ft. Lauderdale this morning. They're trying to determine exactly what cause a Dynamic Airways passenger jet bound for Venezuela to erupt in flames. Fifteen people were injured, one seriously. The Boeing 767 was taxiing for takeoff yesterday afternoon when a pilot in a plane behind that jetliner noticed something was terribly wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Dynamic, out of the left engine, looks like it's leaking a lot of -- I don't know if it's fuel. Yes, it's fluid leaking out of the left engine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Engine's on fire! Engine's on fire!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Just amazing.

Over 100 passengers and crew members forced to evacuate on emergency slides when smoke began filling the cabin.

We get more now from CNN's Alina Machado.

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ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alison and Christine, hours after the plane caught on fire here at the Ft. Lauderdale International Airport, it was still sitting in the same spot where everything unfolded behind me. Now, the 101 people on that Boeing 767 lived through terrifying moments. The plane was supposed to do to Caracas, Venezuela, at 12:30 Thursday afternoon. Fifteen people were taken to the hospital.

Here's what doctored who treated the injured had to say.

IAN RUSIPOFF, EMERGENCY DOCTOR: Most of them are muscular, skeletal, ankles, knees, elbows.

Now, we're starting to see some chest pains and anxiety issues related to the actual accident itself. The injuries seem to be minor. Most of our patients are walking wounded.

ANDRES GALLEGOS, PASSENGER ON AIRPLANE: Stewardess calmly, very calmly opened -- started the procedure, opening the door. The plane was still moving when this was going on. He calmly, as soon as the plane stopped, he opened the door, let the chute out. The chute opened to the side of the plane. I was the second passenger leaving the aircraft. Went down the chute and turned around and saw the rest of the people.

MACHADO: The cause of the fires is still unknown. But we know that there was a report that fuel was leaking from the plane moments before the flames started.

The NTSB will be looking into what went wrong with this plane -- Alison and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Alina, thank you for that.

Breaking news: the U.S. Senate passing a two-year budget bill. They convened at midnight with a first order of business breaking a filibuster led by Senator Rand Paul. The measure raises the debt limit and increases defense spending ensuring there will be not government default. The bill goes to President Obama next. He is expected to sign it.

KOSIK: All right. With debate number three on the books, the race for the Republican nomination is entering a new and unpredictable phase. It is no longer about stopping Donald Trump with Ben Carson catching and surpassing him in the latest national polls.

And with his performance Wednesday night, in the debate Wednesday night, Marco Rubio may be emerging as a frontrunner among the mainstream candidates.

As for Jeb Bush, he's in trouble. His performance Wednesday night uneven at best. The Florida, he is trying to reassure his donors that his campaign is not in a free-fall.

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REPORTER: You told donors today that you will get better at this. What will you do to get better at this?

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, we've got eight more debates. I will have to do what candidates do, which is rudely interrupt, not answer the questions that are asked. And hopefully the debate moderator will ask more substantive questions. It's going fine.

REPORTER: Are you having fun?

BUSH: Oh, yes, you saw it. Having lots of fun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: And Marco Rubio, who was criticized by Bush, for missing Senate votes, he hits the campaign trail in Iowa later today. But he stayed in Washington long enough to vote this morning on the budget deal, forcing him to miss a scheduled lunch appearance in Council Bluff.

ROMANS: Can I tell you that there is so much talk now among Republican teams about how they can try to change the formats of future debates. They want to make sure that there's equal time in some cases. And the Jeb Bush camp had the least amount of time. Equal time, more substantive questions, as you heard Jeb Bush say, and try to make it more of a conversation to the American people.

[04:40:04] And with the other candidates on the stage as well. I think you're going to see a different kind of debates, because of the pressure from --

KOSIK: And it's going to be up to the moderators, though, to keep control of the candidates.

ROMANS: Absolutely, absolutely.

KOSIK: The rules can only go so far, but if things go haywire --

ROMANS: That's right. So, I think it's going to continue to be interesting, and I think those debates are still going to be incredibly relevant.

OK. Let's talk about Ben Carson and Donald Trump. You know, they have been lighting up CNBC and its debate format itself. Trump at a campaign stop in Reno, Nevada, Thursday. Listen to what he said about the moderators.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Maybe every moderator should show that they vote Republican, because why should we have -- why should we have these people that hate everything we stand for. And there -- I mean, I won't mention his name. But the questions were so nasty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Ben Carson also chiming in. His campaign seizing the opportunity to score some political points.

Let's get more on that from CNN's Sunlen Serfaty.

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SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alison and Christine.

Well, Ben Carson is really trying to capitalize on this moment, so much unhappiness of the format of the CNBC debate, trying to show leadership at the same time.

Here is how he blasted the debate format in Colorado.

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Debates are supposed to be established to help the people get to know the candidates and get to know what's behind them and what they're thinking process is and philosophy is. And what's has turned into is a gotcha. That's silly. That's not really helpful for anybody.

SERFATY: And Carson added that he is reaching out to all the other candidates and their campaigns, trying to really organize them to all push for to make changes to the next and upcoming debate. But he would not answer whether he would boycott that debate if those changes aren't made -- Alison and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: All right. Sunlen, thanks for that.

As for the Democrats, Bernie Sanders could be hitting a critical stretch in the coming months, as he tries to topple the party's frontrunner Hillary Clinton. His campaign has been more aggressive in criticizing Clinton, more aggressive than that first debate. Sanders met Thursday with Vice President Joe Biden. He begins a two-day swing across New Hampshire today.

Hillary Clinton meantime is working her southern strategy, speaking at an African-American for Hillary rally in Atlanta today, and later at the NAACP Freedom Forum Event in Charleston, South Carolina.

ROMANS: All right. Friday edition, time for an early start on your money. Asian stocks ended the day mostly lower. European stocks and U.S. stock futures look higher. A slight pull back yesterday of U.S. stocks.

And GoPro had a terrible day. Shares fell 15 percent. Its worst day ever. This time last year, stocks were soaring, sales were exploding. Harsh reality for GoPro, that market might not be very big. Sales are tumbling and GoPro warned they will actually contract during the holiday season. That chart looks a little like maybe some video footage from a GoPro camera.

Record levels of cash plucking to the U.S. Foreign direct investment hit $200 billion in the first half of the year, $200 billion in the first half. Investors optimistic about the U.S. economy as the global economy looks weaker. But it's also because a lot of foreign entities are buying U.S. companies to bring them overseas and escape high corporate taxes here.

KOSIK: You can run, but you can't hide from taxes.

ROMANS: Right.

KOSIK: Dramatic video taking you inside the Waco biker massacre. That's next.

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[04:47:14] ROMANS: All right. Welcome back.

Incredible, sometimes graphic video of the May's chaotic shootout between those rival biker gangs in Waco, Texas. This is surveillance video of the Twin Peaks restaurant. It's patio and parking lot turning into a bloody warzone between the Cossacks and the Bandidos.

Now, who fired first is not clear. The rival gangs point the finger at each other. Here is how the president of the Cossacks chapter in Waco described the scene.

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JOHN WILSON, COSSACKS BIKER: It was pretty horrific. There were guys getting hit and falling and I realized that I needed to get away from where I was. I looked at the guy to my left, a good friend of mine, and I told him, we have to get off the sidewalk or we're going to die here, you know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Nine bikers did die, 177 were arrested. All of them charged with organized criminal activity.

KOSIK: Pennsylvania state police using shotguns to deflate a wayward Army blimp. The blimp broke loose from a Maryland Army base and floated over Pennsylvania for hours on Wednesday, taking out electrical lines and leaving 30,000 people without power. Now, it's still not clear how the blimp broke free. When all the damage is totaled up, it is expected, get this, to top $2 million.

ROMANS: It's just crazy. A surveillance blimp, you know, parked in Maryland floating hundreds of miles.

KOSIK: It was amazing to follow this blimp for so long.

ROMANS: I know. It's crazy.

All right. Forty-eight minutes past the hour.

China ending its decades old one-child policy. Why now? You might be surprised. We're live.

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[04:52:29] KOSIK: The Chinese government ending its one-child per family policy. Couples will now be allowed to have two children. The one-child policy was implemented in 1979 to slow a population explosion. It prevented an estimated 400 million births. But with 30 percent of China's population over 50, it looks like something had to give.

Let's go live to Beijing and bring in CNN's Steven Jiang.

So, I'm thinking this has probably less to do with human rights as far as the Chinese government is concerned, and more to do with the Chinese trying to stimulate its economy.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN PRODUCER: Alison, you are absolutely right.

You know, over the years, we have heard so many horror stories related to the brutal enforcement of that one-child policy, especially in the countryside, forced abortions and forced sterilization. All of the stories we heard from activists who have for years fought to end this policy.

Now, the end has come, but not for the reasons they like to see. As you mentioned, the government is facing a double whammy of a shrinking workforce and aging population at the time when the economy is slowing down. So, you have factories unable to hire workers and hospitals and social services are being overwhelmed. So, a lot of officials are worried about this country getting owed before getting reach. That's why they're doing it now.

They set in clear terms in a document they are launching the nationwide policy of one couple, two children to address the issue of the aging population and to promote what they call a more balanced population growth -- Alison.

KOSIK: But how likely is it that citizens will want to have a second child? There it is a mindset now they are used to having one. So, do you think that will factor into maybe this population not exploding as much as the Chinese government is hoping?

JIANG: That's a very good question. If the goal of the government is to change the demographic shift, it's unlikely it's going to happen anytime soon.

Now, remember, the party has been tweaking and relaxing this policy over recent years. Two years ago, they started testing the water by allowing some couples, those with at least one spouse being the only one to have a second child. Very few took up the offer because the cost of raising children here is very, very high.

I talked to the people after the latest announcement. They said the same thing. They have done the math.

[04:55:00] They simply cannot afford going through another pregnancy and raising another child. That's just way beyond their means.

So, even now, they are allowed to have a second child. It's probably unlikely they are going to do it anytime soon, especially for many middle class urban residents which this policy is targeting -- Alison.

KOSIK: All right. CNN's Seven Jiang live from Beijing, thanks for that.

ROMANS: All right. Halloween is tomorrow. Next month we have another holiday.

KOSIK: What are you going to be?

ROMANS: Where am I going to be? I'm going to be a party pooper. Little hat on, and a pooper scooper --

KOSIK: I want to get a picture of that.

ROMANS: All right. But there's another holiday. Pumpkin pie, turkey and gravy and power shopping.

Find out which retailer will be opened during Thanksgiving dinner. That's right. During dinner this year, next.

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ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an early start on your money this morning. Macy's will kickoff Black Friday at dinner time on Thursday. That's right. Stores will open at 6:00 p.m. again this Thanksgiving.

They've done this three years in a row. Macy's opening on the actual holiday. A trend is growing. It's a trend to open on, some people call Brown Thursday now.

You know, some workers get upset because they say, you know, they feel like they are pressured to work instead of being with their families.

REI made an unprecedented move to keep its doors closed, even on Black Friday.