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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 Violent Past; Pentagon's Failed Syria Program; Bengals Beat Down Browns, Stay Undefeated. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired November 06, 2015 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New information this morning on why investigators believe terrorists are likely behind the deadly Russian plane crash. President Obama with surprising words now on possible ISIS involvement as the first of the 224 crash victims is laid to rest.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Friday, November 6th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.
There is 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 the crash.
But officials, all the way up to the president, President Obama, are cautioning there is 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)
ROMANS: British Prime Minister David Cameron went further saying it is more likely than not a terrorist bomb that doomed the Russian airliner.
Joining us now live from London, our Diana Magnay. She's got the very latest.
Hi, Diana.
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine.
Well, Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, probably went further than the U.S. did, Britain has so many tourists stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh, about 20,000 they are trying to get back. That is why David Cameron did what he did and said what he said. The intelligence they have been looking at makes it a reasonable conclusion or more likely than not the plane was brought down by a bomb.
They have been very tight-lipped about exactly what that intelligence is. They haven't shared it with Egyptian or Russian authorities, much to their chagrin. We don't know if it is the same intelligence as we're hearing the U.S. is hearing.
We do have more detail on what that is, as you said, the chatter after the accident among individuals supposedly linked with ISIS affiliate in Sinai led U.S. officials to suspect this might have been a bomb. But they do stress that this evidence is circumstantial at best. And, of course, everybody saying we must not prejudge the investigation.
But the reason why yesterday, David Cameron and Egyptian president stood together at a meeting here in the 10 Downing Street and David Cameron said it was more likely than not that the plane was brought down by a bomb, is that he was defending his decision to suspend flights to Sharm el-Sheikh and to up the security there to get British tourists back home safely, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Diana Magnay, thank you for that, Diana.
BERMAN: All right. Happening now: thousands of British tourists stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh, they're now trying to get home, really trying. British officials had suspended all flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh after the Russian jet crash. They are worried about the security or possibility of a new terrorist attack. But this morning with extraordinary security measures in place, airlines are being allowed to fly tourists one way home to the United Kingdom.
Egyptian officials are working with Britain on the new security, but they reject the claims the plane was likely brought down by terrorists.
Let's get to CNN's Erin McLaughlin live in Sharm el-Sheikh for the very latest.
Erin, as thousands of people are trying to get home. How is it going this morning?
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John.
Well, we're just getting new information from the airline EasyJet. They were supposed to have been flying empty passenger planes here to Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport picking up British tourists and taking them home. But we're hearing, they put out a statement in London saying that those flights, empty flights to Sharm el-Sheikh international airport have been canceled.
It's not clear why they have chosen to do that. We know that at least two flights that were already here at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport have left full of British tourists for the United Kingdom. That according to airline officials at the airport.
Now, the passengers that do manage to make it home today will only be able to take their hand luggage. They're going to have to leave any bags that they want to check-in behind. That is because British security officials say they are concerned about the cargo hold luggage in the cargo hold of the planes at this airport. It is unclear what part on the security procedures they are most concerned about, if they are concerned about access to the plane, or if they're concerned about the baggage screening process.
But again, as I said, EasyJet taking the decision not to flight planes into Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport this morning. We are working on more information to find out why -- John.
BERMAN: Very interesting development with so much focus, so much concern, but obviously heightened sensitivity in that region.
Erin McLaughlin, live for us in Sharm el-Sheikh.
ROMANS: So, this morning, Russian officials are urging the U.S. and Britain to wait for the result of the crash investigation before concluding it was terrorism.
[05:05:04] A Russian aviation official says investigators working in Egypt will check plane wreckage for traces of explosives. This as two victims of the disaster were the first 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)
BERMAN: Thanks to Nic Robertson for that.
In the wake of the crash, U.S. officials may alter airport 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 says the TSA is looking at enhancing screening at hot spot airports overseas.
BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE MCCAUL (R-TX), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I talked 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 heighten screening procedure than what's at -- in Egypt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The chairman notes that beefing up security overseas requires the cooperation of the host country, then it gets complicated.
ROMANS: I'll say.
All right. Big changes coming to the Republican presidential debate stage. Big changes. Some candidates pushed off the main stage. Others not allowed to participate at all.
We are breaking it down, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:11:01] BERMAN: All right. This morning, Ben Carson is defending stories he has told about his past. Carson in his 1990 autobiography wrote that he was violent as a teenager. He once tried to stab someone. That was all before he found God.
His redemption story has been very, very powerful and earned him a lot of support over the years. CNN though went back and tried to meet, tried to find some of the people talked about in Carson's biography. Some of the people he may have been violent with or towards. CNN talked to a lot of people who knew him and they say they found Ben Carson to be a quiet, studious child. Not violent.
Now, Carson who never has revealed who he tried stab is still not willing to identify who that person is.
(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: Carson says he will let the American people decide if he is 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. Our thanks to Sunlen for that.
So, Donald Trump bounced on the issues surrounding his closest Republican rival. He wrote on Twitter about this narrative on Ben Carson's childhood. He writes, "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."
ROMANS: All right. Joining us to discuss all of this and the big news this morning in politics, managing editor at CNN Politics, Steven Sloan.
So nice to see you this morning.
I want to start with the debate new. This is a real shuffling of the deck, if you will. And tough news for Lindsey Graham and tough news for George Pataki. They will not participate at all. Trump and Carson right in the middle.
What do you make of the GOP --
BERMAN: And Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee kicked off the main stage.
ROMANS: That's right. What do you make of the lineup?
STEVEN SLOAN, MANAGING EDITOR AT CNN POLITICS: Well, I think that the fact that Chris Christie won't be on the main stage, that's one of the big headlines out of this. What a fall for Chris Christie. Just a few years ago, in 2012, people were begging him to run for president. He is struggling this cycle. He can't play on the big stage in primetime. This raises questions about how he's going to be able to go forward.
BERMAN: Of course, he will be on the debate stage. Lindsey Graham and George Pataki will not.
Remind our viewers how this was decided. Why this candidates -- like Graham was out there campaigning every day why he's not being allowed to debate.
SLOAN: Well, you know, they've been looking at polling.
[05:15:00] We are kind of in the part of the process now where these debates are really vetting the candidates, both Senator Graham and Governor Pataki have really struggled to break through in this campaign, they're generating a lot of headlines, but they really struggle to gain in the polls. This debate lineup reflecting that.
ROMANS: Let's talk a little bit about Jeb Bush here, because he's someone who has said he needs a reboot in his debate skills. There is a lot riding on this for him. He's got to show he is presidential, but also in charge.
SLOAN: Right. This is a crucial debate performance for Jeb Bush. He had a rather difficult performance at the last debate to say the least. So, there is a lot riding on him to show he can communicate.
You know, he's been on the campaign trail. He's on the bus tour over the past few days, being a bit more personal, showing a more personal side of himself. But the debate stage is where it has been difficult for him this cycle, and he's got to show that he can really step it up and perform there because as you have seen, this is where crucial campaign moments have happened so far this cycle.
ROMANS: You know, Hillary Clinton was on Jimmy Kimmel. They had an interesting conversation about Jeb Bush. Let's listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY KIMMEL, COMEDIAN: Do you feel at all sorry for Jeb Bush?
(LAUGHTER)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, he is a very accomplished man. He is making his case. You know, running for president is really hard.
KIMMEL: When he comes out with a slogan like "Jeb can fix it", do you guys like back at the office die laughing? I mean, is this like --
(LAUGHTER)
Is that amusing to you?
CLINTON: You know, look --
(LAUGHTER)
He's obviously trying to continue to relate to the Republican electorate. So --
KIMMEL: He sounds like he is running a handyman business. He should be on the side of a van.
CLINTON: Well, you know, if I were to advise him, I would say, you know, there's a lot you can do about trying to fix things. And maybe they should put a number on the side of the bus for people to call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: It sounds like she wants to run against Jeb Bush.
BERMAN: I actually think she was extraordinarily sensitive. That Hillary Clinton sounded like someone who's been through a tough campaign. Hasn't had it go well, namely, eight years ago and sort of has some empathy for what Jeb Bush is going through.
SLOAN: Well, there is no one, Democrat or Republican, in this field heading into 2016 who really understand what is Jeb Bush is going through maybe more than Hillary Clinton. They are both titans of politics, the biggest names in politics and they have really faced headwinds from outsiders going into the season.
Of course, Hillary Clinton had a big outsider in 2008. She's obviously struggled at points with Bernie Sanders. They are very different places. She is dominating the Democratic side, while Jeb Bush is struggling on the Republican side. But I think she has empathy for him.
BERMAN: Last question back to the Ben Carson issue right now, this issue of, you know, it's ironic in the way that he's being asked to prove he was as violent and awful as a kid as he said he was.
Do you think this hurts him at all with his supporters who really liked him for an awfully long time?
SLOAN: Well, I think that's something we will look at in the next few days. This is certainly undercuts the big narrative he put out there. I think Carson has tapped into the evangelical base. And I'm not entirely sure they are worried about whether he punched someone or tried to knife someone as a teenager. But it undercuts that larger narrative that he's really put out there over decades.
BERMAN: Steven Sloan, thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate it.
SLOAN: Good to be here.
ROMANS: All right. That's politics. Let's look at your money this morning, this Friday morning. Asian shares mostly higher, 2.5 month high for China stocks. They're close now. European shares are moving lower in the first couple hours of trading there.
On Wall Street, the big story happens at 8:30 Eastern. The October jobs report. CNNMoney predicts 181,000 jobs added. That's up from September 142, and the unemployment rate likely 5 percent. That is what the prediction is here from the folks that we ask.
The report crucial to Fed's decision, of course, to raise interest rates in December. If that happens, a lot of people are saying it will be this report that will help make that decision.
ExxonMobil under investigation by the New York attorney general for misleading the public and misleading investors about the risk of climate change. This is a win for environmentalists. They have long probed the link between big energy companies and public doubt about climate change. They point to statements and advertisements from Exxon. They point to suppressed research. Exxon rejects the accusations it hid climate change information. The New York attorney general probing that at this hour.
BERMAN: All right. Johnny Football, he met the Bengals one-on- one. It was more 11 on 11, or 53 on 53. It was a battle of Ohio. Did not go well for Johnny Football.
Coy Wire has details in this morning's bleacher report, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:23:35] BERMAN: The Cincinnati Bengals now 8-0 to start the NFL season. That's pretty good. Johnny Manziel and the Cleveland Browns, not so much.
ROMANS: Coy Wire, he's always good. He has more of this morning's bleacher report. Hey, Coy.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Good morning, Christine and John.
Yes, the Bengals are off to the best start in team history. The Browns only two wins so far this season. They're hoping tht John Manziel's second start of the year would give team a spark. Early in the game, Manziel is so so, like a seamstress.
Second quarter, Manziel scrambles right, he hits Duke Johnson for the only touchdown of the game. Not sure about this Peter Pan celebration. You have to tell me about how you feel.
Johnny completed 45 percent of his passes. He was sacked three times in the game.
Now, for the Bengals, you can't spell dandy without Andy. Dalton looked awesome. He had to hook up with Tyler Eifert for three touchdowns for the game. You have Eifert on your fantasy team, you're going to like your chances this week. Bengals win, 31-10.
Now, prosecutors in Buffalo, New York, said yesterday they will not file rape charges against Blackhawk start Patrick Kane. Kane was accused of sexual assault by a 21-year-old woman in August. After a three month investigation, Erie County district attorney cited a lack of credible evidence and the accuser no longer wanted to cooperate in the investigation. Kane in a statement yesterday continues to profess his innocence saying he has done nothing wrong and he's glad the matter is now closed.
[05:25:00] We now have surveillance video of Serena Williams thwarting that man's attempt to stealing her phone at a restaurant in San Fran. He uses his jacket as cover and try to slides out. But you can see Serena, she runs out of the restaurant, down the sidewalk to confront the crook.
Now, she posted a great play-by-play on her Facebook page on Wednesday. If you want to go, check it out. It's good stuff.
Now, Minnesota Twins legend Torii Hunter had his press conference yesterday. His heartfelt message to his wife was beautiful with a surprise ending. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TORII HUNTER, PLAYED 17 YEARS IN MLB: My wife, thank you. Thank you for being there for my kids and raising my kids. The way I provided was -- caused me to go out and travel and be away from family. And now, I'm coming home to you, you know, and maybe we can go to that beach we wanted to and lay out nude.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Now, they do call Minnesota the Land of A Thousand Lakes. I don't know if any of those beaches are nude. I know it's very cold this time of year.
BERMAN: Yes, that's too cold for that.
WIRE: That's right.
Torii Hunter still has goals in retirement. So, that's good to see, John and Christine.
BERMAN: He still has goals in retirement. There's hope for all of us, I guess. Sort of.
Thanks, Coy.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: -- get another.
BERMAN: Exactly. Yes, you better go back to work.
ROMANS: Welcome home, honey. Now go get a job.
BERMAN: All right. Thanks so much for that, Coy.
New information this morning on why investigators believe ISIS was behind a deadly Russian plane crash. President Obama now on the record on what he thinks. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: New information this morning and why investigators believe terrorists are likely behind a deadly Russian plane crash.
