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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Obama: It's Possible There Was a Bomb On Board; Carson Defending His Past; Pentagon's Failed Syria Program. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired November 06, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:17] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: New information this morning on why investigators believe terrorists are behind a deadly Russian plane crash. President Obama on the record about ISIS possible involvement, as the first to the 224 crash victims laid to rest.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to see you this morning. I'm John Berman. Friday, November 6th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.

We do have new information this morning on just why U.S. officials came to believe that a bomb likely brought down a Russian jetliner over the Sinai Desert. A U.S. official tells CNN it was the specificity of the chatter they picked just after the crash, and just which individuals were talking about it.

But officials all the way up to the president now are cautioning that there is a lot of uncertainty about what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think there is a possibility that there was a bomb on board. And we're taking that seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Please do note, it is very unusual to hear a president speculate about the possibility of a bomb on a plane, probably won't say that at least he had real cause.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, he is going even further than the president. He said, quote, "It is more likely than not that a terrorist bomb that doomed the Russian airliner.

Joining us now live from London, CNN's Diana Magnay with the latest.

Good morning, Diana.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In David Cameron's words, "more likely than not" I think are the key words there. We don't know what the U.K. is basing its assessment of there was a possibility that this plane was brought down by a bomb. We don't know if it is the same kind of intelligence that the U.S. counterterrorism officials speaking of. Chatter from individuals known to be associated with ISIS's Sinai affiliate.

But what we know is that the U.K. and its delegation who are looking after security in Sharm el-Sheikh are looking very closely at the baggage handling procedures which is why the 20,000 tourists currently stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh will only be allowed to come back with hold luggage -- sorry, not luggage, with hand luggage.

You are hearing different claims from U.K., Egypt and Russia, and it is very clear why. David Cameron's priority is to get tourists back home. Russia's priority is not giving ISIS any credence to their claim they were the ones who brought down the plane as they continue airstrikes in Syria and, of course, Egypt is keen to keep the tourists coming -- John.

BERMAN: And, of course, Diana, we hope everyone is interested in finding out the truth in preventing something like this from happening again. Diana Magnay for us in London -- thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. Happening now, those tourists, thousands of tourists who were stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh are now on their way home, or trying at this hour. British officials had suspended all flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh after the Russian jet crash, worried about the security, or the possibility of a new terrorist attack. This morning, with security measures in place, tourists are allowed to fly one way home to the United Kingdom.

Egyptian officials are working with Britain on these new security measures, but rejecting the U.S. claims that the plane was likely brought down by terrorism.

I want to turn to CNN's Erin McLaughlin. She is there for us. She is in Sharm el-Sheikh. She's got the very latest -- Erin.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

Today, empty planes are flying in from the United Kingdom and landing here at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport picking up passengers and flying them home. The passengers are not allowed to take anything too big to board with them on the plane, their hand luggage only. Luggage that normally would be packed in is going to have to stay behind. Authorities say they will return that luggage to them at a later date.

And that's because British security officials say they are concerned about luggage in the cargo hold of the planes at this airport. Now, why they are concerned about that precisely is not entirely clear. If they are concerned about access to the plane prior to takeoff or if they're concerned with the luggage screening procedures at the airport itself.

Yesterday, Egyptian officials keen to show us that they have proper security in place here at the airport. They took us on a tour of security measures. We got to see that luggage screening process.

It begins with the bags going through x-ray machines. If officials see something that is suspicious, they send it to a separate machine capable of detecting different types of explosives. If that bag is still suspicious, they call in the passenger to open the bag.

[04:05:04] Egyptian officials say that they have yet to heighten security at this airport beyond the measures specified for the British and Dutch flights. The Dutch have also requested that passengers not be able to check in their bags -- Christine. >

ROMANS: All right. Erin, thank you for that this morning.

BERMAN: This morning, Russian officials are urging U.S. and Britain to wait for the results of the crash investigation before concluding it was terrorism. A Russian aviation official says the investigators are working to check the plane wreckage for any traces of explosives. This as two victims of the disaster were laid to rest in Russia.

International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson has the latest from St. Petersburg.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Christine, John, good morning.

We are outside a cemetery on the edges of St. Petersburg. There will be a funeral here in the next few hours. One of several funerals today across Russia as the dead from that flight begin to be buried.

What we are finding, families are asking a lot of questions. They got frustrations now, they tell us. They're not getting answers. One family told us yesterday that a group of families were told in a brutal, they felt, and hard way by the regional governor that they wouldn't be able to get bodies for burial. That the best that they could hope for was some kind of identification of body pieces. The families are finding the story brutal.

They are frustrated that they're not getting straight answers from the Russian government about why this crash took place. There's a concern it may be terrorism. There's a concern among families that the government just doesn't want to say what they call the hard truth about this.

Russia, in the meantime, says the investigation is going to take some time to complete, possibly months. They say they will not comment on the speculations and they are calling the speculation of a bomb was put aboard the flight. And perhaps, the best indication of the way that the Russian government feels about those reports so far is the fact that they haven't cancelled flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, flights from Russia are stilling going to Sharm el-Sheikh. So, at the moment, the Russian government is saying, wait for the investigation to be completed. And that could take sometime, meanwhile, for those families, the pain of burying their loved ones, and the pain of not knowing why, how if you like, precisely they died -- John, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

In the wake of that crash, U.S. officials may alter security measures. Some of those changes if they occur would likely happen at U.S. airports. But the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Mike McCaul, he says the TSA is also looking at enhancing screening at hot spot airports overseas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE MCCAUL (R-TX), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: It is hard to Secretary Johnson. He is looking at TSA procedures, particularly overseas. And I think it's important to tell the American people that any flight coming outside the United States, a direct flight into the U.S., would go through a more heightened screening procedures than what in Egypt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: McCaul notes beefing up security overseas requires the cooperation of the host country.

And I think a lot of people are wondering if they're going to see changes in their own airport experience. A lot of that beefing up security may have to happen behind the scenes, too, quite frankly. Who has access those planes?

BERMAN: But there could be changes. People are going to have to be patient. Before you complain about the TSA, just know they're out there trying to protect us.

Big changes coming to the Republican debate stage. Some candidates pushed off the big show, others not being allowed to participate at all. Big controversy this morning. We'll break it down, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:11:46] BERMAN: This morning, Ben Carson is criticizing a CNN investigation into his claims that he was violent as a child and as a young teenager. Carson calls the reporting a smear campaign and says he will not reveal the names of those involved. But he told FOX News he just spoke with someone as a child that he says he tried to stab.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It was a close relative in my family. I really don't want to get into the details of who that person was. Also, I want to point out how silly the CNN investigation is because when I would have flashes of temper, it would only be the people who were directly involved. It won't be something that everybody else would know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The deal is the key part of the narrative, is that as a kid, he says he was very violent. He tried to hit people, even tried stab one person. And then he found God and it's a sort of redemptive story right now. CNN went back to try to find the people that Carson says he was violent with, could not find any of those people.

Carson says he will let the people decide if he is, quote, "a pathological liar".

Let's get more now from CNN's Sunlen Serfaty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

Well, Dr. Ben Carson is on the defense, really pushing back against CNN's investigation, looking into his own claims of what he said about his own violent childhood, really trying to brush aside all those questions, casting them as almost comical in his words.

Now, here in Florida, he told reporters not to expect any of his childhood friends to corroborate his accounts. Here's what he told us when we caught with him leaving a book signing in Miami.

CARSON: I want everybody to know about private incidents like that. I was generally a nice person. It is I had a very bad temper. So, unless you were the victim of that temper, why would you know? Just because you happened to know me? That doesn't make any sense.

SERFATY: And Carson in the past has identified two of his victims as only Jerry and Bob, only revealing their first names. But for the first time, he is now saying those were actually fictitious names made up to protect them. He says it's not up to him to reveal their identity. And if they want to come forward and speak about these violent incidents, it's up to them.

But, of course, John and Christine, they have not come forward yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Thanks to Sunlen for that.

Donald Trump not missing a chance to get a dig at Ben Carson. He weighed in on this issue about Ben Carson's past on Twitter. Trump wrote, "The Carson story is either a total fabrication or if true, even worse, trying to hit his mother over the head with a hammer or stabbing a friend."

Again, those are two stories that Carson has told repeatedly over the years. I mean, we're talking about decades and decades. He wrote a book in 1990, "Gifted Hands", a very famous book, where he talks about both of these stories.

ROMANS: All right. Let's talk about the Democratic side. Hillary Clinton on a fundraising swing in California. She made an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." The Democratic frontrunner told him if she ran against her husband, the former president would be toast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he is good at it. I would be fascinated if he were eligible to run again. The Constitution says he's not. He would run again. Yes, I don't want you to tell anybody that. If he could, he would.

If I were going to run against him, would I win?

[04:15:01] Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Clinton is not sure exactly what Bill Clinton's title would be if she won -- first dude, first mate, first gentleman. Last week, he joked that she gets all the accolades for breaking the glass ceiling from the beginning of her career, but it is time for him to break the glass ceiling and be the one who's designing the Christmas tree in the White House.

BERMAN: That's right. The first male, first partner in the White House.

All right. New Bush family drama playing out in public after George H.W. Bush criticized his son's administration in a book. The elder Bush slammed both Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, two leading figures in his son's administration. He also disagreed with his son's use of hot rhetoric after September 11th.

Bush biographer Jon Meacham spoke to CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: We've never heard him criticized his son before as president. Why do you think he went public now?

JON MEACHAM, BUSH AUTOBIOGRAPHER: I think with the distance of history, he believes so strongly in the fact that force and diplomacy have to be complementary not competitive, that I think he wanted to put on the record that he doesn't think presidents accomplish very much by swaggering. They should be strong, but they don't need to be needlessly provocative.

GANGEL: Even his own son?

MEACHAM: Even his own son.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, responding to his father's remarks, George W. Bush said, "I'm proud to have served with Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld. I'm grateful to both men for their good advice, selfless service to our country, and friendship." ROMANS: All right. A Pentagon plan to train moderate Syrian rebels to fight ISIS appears to have been a costly failure. According to "USA Today", the Defense Department spent $384 million on the program or $2 million per trainee before officials pulled the plug last month. They planned to have 3,000 trained and equipped Syrian this year, and 5,000 each year after that.

BERMAN: And the White House is admitting a two-state Israeli Palestinian solution is not possible before President Obama leaves office. That confession came in a conference called to brief reporters on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington next week. This comes on the heels of Netanyahu's spending the appointment of a man to be his new spokesman, a man who once accused President Obama of being anti-Semitic.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start for your money. Asian shares are mostly higher this morning. For China stocks, 2.5 month closing high here. European shares are lower. U.S. stock futures, they are not moving because there is something big happening in four hours and 15 minutes. It's the October jobs report. Due at 8:30 Eastern.

The prediction from CNNMoney analysts, 181,000 jobs. That would be an improvement from September, John, and from August. The unemployment rate dipping to 5 percent is what our forecast is, down from 5.1 percent. This report is crucial to the fed's rate decision in December and a lot of folks this morning, the chatter is that if you get as expected 5 percent unemployment rate, 180,000-ish net new jobs, the Fed will be able to move by the end of the year.

All right. ExxonMobil under investigation by the attorney general for misleading the public and investors about the risks of climate change. It is a win for environmentalist who have long probed the link between big energy companies and public doubt about climate change. They point to statements and advertisements from Exxon, as well as suppressed research. Exxon rejects the accusations that it hid climate change information, but an investigation underway.

BERMAN: All right. We have some stunning new revelations about the officer investigators say staged his suicide to make it look like a murder. It could be a cover-up and embezzlement scheme. We have new information, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:22:20] BERMAN: New developments this morning in the story of the Fox Lake police officer Joseph Gliniewicz. Police now say that before he staged his own suicide to look like a murder, Gliniewicz was looking into hiring a motorcycle gang to kill the Fox Lake city administrator.

More on this developing story, CNN's Rosa Flores.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, CNN sources confirming that Lieutenant Gliniewicz widow and his son are being investigated for possible involvement in the embezzlement of thousands of dollars. Now, remember those deleted text messages that were released by authorities when they made the shocking announcement that Lieutenant Gliniewicz was not murdered, but that he committed suicide.

CNN sources confirming the individuals that Lieutenant Gliniewicz was exchanging the text messages with were his widow and his son. That individual number one was the widow and individual number two was his son. But perhaps the most shocking revelation is that authorities now believe that Lieutenant Gliniewicz was thinking, exploring the possibility of killing a village administrator. Again, all of this is still under investigation, but that village administrator addressed these allegations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very unsettling. Again, you know, my concern is my family. It's quite unbelievable and almost surreal, I would say.

FLORES: Oh, but there is more. CNN's sources confirming that authorities found cocaine inside Lieutenant Gliniewicz desk after his death. Now, the big question to administrators was, was that cocaine going to be used to plant on this village administrator as well? Because there are allegations about that also.

That village administrator also addressed that concern only by saying she did not know if that cocaine was going to be planted on her desk. Again, a lot of disturbing revelations -- John, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Yes, I'll say.

Rosa Flores, thanks for keeping us up to speed.

Twenty-four minutes past the hour.

Severe storms heading east. Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John and Christine.

That's right. The storm system responsible for severe weather on Thursday continues to advance eastward. You can actually see the development of the storm which began on Monday. And as it moved across the plain states, allowing for thunderstorms to develop from Texas into Oklahoma. In fact, there was confirmed report of a tornado, as well as several reports of hail and wind damage.

[04:25:00] Here comes the cold front. Severe weather threat today extends from northern Louisiana through Mississippi, as well as central Tennessee. Look out Nashville. The possibility of damaging winds and isolated tornadoes exists for your Friday afternoon.

On top of the severe weather threat, we have the potential for more flooding rains. In fact, with the passage of this cold front, we have additional 1 to 3 inches on top of what is already fallen across the region. So, look out places like San Antonio and into the greater Austin region. We have flood watches in effect.

Major cool down across the Great Lakes and New England coastline. Look at temperature swing for the Big Apple.

Back to you.

BERMAN: All right. Derek, thanks a lot.

New information on why investigators believe it was ISIS behind a deadly Russian plane crash. President Obama now speaks out with some surprising words on the record. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: New information this morning on why investigators believe terrorists are likely behind a deadly Russian plane crash. President Obama now on the record as the first of the crash victims laid to rest.

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

ROMANS: Nice to see you this Friday morning. I'm Christine Romans. It is 29 minutes past the hour.

Let's talk about this new information, new information this morning on why U.S. intelligence officials came to suspect a bomb brought down a Russian jetliner over the Sinai Desert. A U.S. official tells CNN it was the specificity of the chatter they picked up just after the crash and which individuals were talking about it.

But officials all the way up to the president, President Obama, are cautioning there is still some uncertainty about exactly what happened.