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Friend of San Bernardino Shooter Arrested; President Obama Visits National Counterterrorism Center; Republican Presidential Feuds Heat Up; Kerry to Chair U.N. Meeting on Syria; Theme Parks Deploy Metal Detectors. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired December 18, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:00:03] BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: The neighbor of the San Bernardino shooters arrested on terrorism charges. What investigators are now revealing.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump duking it out with Jeb Bush but cozying it up to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Dramatic new developments in the race for president.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.

SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez. It's Friday, December 18th, 5:00 a.m. in the East Coast.

And we have some major new developments this morning in the San Bernardino terrorism case. A friend and former neighbor of attacker Syed Rizwan Farook has been arrested and charged in connection with plotting to earlier attacks with Farook. Attacks that were never carried out.

The complaint against 24-year-old Enrique Marquez does not claim that he was directly involved in the mass shooting that left 14 people dead, but it does allege that he bought two AR-15 rifles used in that attack as well as explosive material used in a pipe bomb found at the scene.

CNN's Kyung Lah is in San Bernardino with the latest.

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Enrique Marquez faces three federal charges, the gun charges, visa and marriage fraud charges, as well as a very serious charge of material support to terrorism. According to a federal complaint, Marquez and Syed Rizwan Farook plotted as recently as four years ago to attack several -- a couple of different locations in Southern California. A cafeteria, at a community college in Riverside. They planned to drop pipe bombs on an Orange County freeway during the rush hour to maximize casualties.

The complaint also says that Marquez bought explosive powder that was then found in undetonated bombs left in the room that was the San Bernardino massacre.

Enrique Marquez did make an initial court appearance. He did not enter a plea. There is another court appearance next week -- Alison, Boris. KOSIK: OK, Kyung, thanks for that.

And the victims of the San Bernardino terror attack and their families will meet with President Obama tonight at a private event. The president's show of compassion also part of a weeklong push to spotlight the administration's efforts on national security and terror issues.

On Thursday, the president made a rare trip to the National Counterterrorism Center in suburban Virginia for a terror briefing.

Let's bring in senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta for the latest.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Alison and Boris, it was one more attempted show of strength from President Obama as he vowed to keep the nation safe from ISIS terrorists and their so-called lone wolf followers during the holidays.

[04:35:01] After a rare briefing at the National Counterterrorism Center, the president said there is no current, specific or credible threat to the U.S. homeland and with that intelligence in hand he urged Americans to remain calm.

Under discussion at the president's meeting, the growing high tech menace of terrorists concealing their intentions on social media and through encrypted messages on smartphones. Here's more of what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When terrorists pull off a despicable act like what happened in San Bernardino, it tears at our hearts, but it also stiffens our resolve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Later today, the president will pay a visit to the families of the victims of the terrorist attack in San Bernardino en route to his family vacation in Hawaii, an annual trip that has been interrupted by threats to the homeland before. And the president will have one more chance to defend U.S. efforts for defeating ISIS and protecting Americans at home at his annual end-of-the-year news conference here at the White House later today -- Alison and Boris.

SANCHEZ: All right, Jim. Thank you.

The feuds that we saw in the race for president at the Republican debate are intensifying. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz fighting yet another around in the immigration battle they launched on the debate stage. Meantime, Jeb Bush attacks Donald Trump as entertaining but not serious after a love fest breaks out between Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Joining us to break down the post-debate action, CNN Politics reporter Zachary Wolf. Zach, good morning to you. We want to get to this love fest between

Putin and Trump. Let's play some sound from Trump today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think in terms of leadership, he's getting an A and our president is not doing so well. They did not look good together.

I think that I would probably get along with him very well. And I don't think we'd be having the kind of problems that we're having right now.

I believe we will have a very good relationship with Russia. I believe that I will have a very good relationship with Putin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Jeb Bush on the other hand saying that he doesn't respect Vladimir Putin and he thinks Trump isn't serious for his support. Listen to what Jeb said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't respect Vladimir Putin. He is the leader of an important country, certainly not a regional power as Barack Obama called him. But to get praise from Vladimir Putin is not going to help Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Jeb going after Trump saying he's not serious, he's an entertainer saying that -- essentially calling him a celebrity. This reminds me of 2008. John McCain calling Barack Obama a celebrity. Obviously Obama had more political experience and it didn't work. He was elected. How effective do you think this celebrity branding of Trump might be for Jeb?

[05:05:03] ZACHARY WOLF, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: I mean, not very because Jeb Bush was the frontrunner not so very long ago, although it feels like a long time ago, back in the summer, and Donald Trump is the frontrunner. So, you know, casting him as a celebrity is not probably the most effective way to go after Trump because as Trump has shown the political rules do not apply to him. He is operating, you know, from his own playbook. And Republican voters are increasingly responding to it.

Now the idea of Trump cozying to Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, you played that sound, that's very different. I think that might be a little bit more interesting. I'm not sure how much Americans are going to like that. But you do see, you know, Putin and Trump both have this kind of macho personality, big into bravado. Both of them. So you can kind of understand where they would get along.

KOSIK: You know, Zach, you look at what Bush is doing these days. He is trying to sort of make headlines of his own now, trying to come off stronger, less low energy. I want to let you listen to an exchange between Bush and our own John Berman who hosted Anderson Cooper last night. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I don't think Hillary Clinton is going to be elected president of the United States. She is not trustworthy. And her proposals aren't much better.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You did not answer my question. Would he make a better president than Hillary Clinton?

BUSH: Now I've learned not to answer questions. That's one of the things that you do now in political discourse. You answer what you want to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Not answer questions? What? It's almost like we're in slow motion watching Bush goes through how to run for president 101. So it feels like, well, I'm going to talk out loud what my associates have told me not to do. They told me not to answer questions. And then why not even answer questions? You're running for president.

WOLF: Well, he said a lot by not answering the questions. The question was whether he thought Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump would make a better president. Republicans have been very vocal and criticizing Donald Trump for his policies, but they've all been saying at the same time that if he's the eventual nominee, that they will support him.

Bush is seriously distancing himself from that right now. So there's a lot underneath his claim that he won't answer questions. He is basically saying and see if this bears out that he might not support Trump or he is implying that. He might not support Trump if he's the nominee.

His spokesman yesterday said they had looked at the letter of this pledge to the RNC that candidates have signed to see if there is any wiggle room there. You know, assuming in the off chance or if Bush has the off chance he is the frontrunner and the chance that Trump wins.

SANCHEZ: That would be an interesting move by Jeb. We want to move on now to Rubio and Cruz. The two going after each other almost incessantly since the debate on Tuesday night. Here's a taste of what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's going to have a hard time because he's not told the truth about his position in the past on legalization. And even there at the debate, he said he didn't intend to legalize people in the future. Again I think it's very crafty language. SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tuesday for the first time

in five debates Senator Rubio publicly admitted not only did he support Obama and Schumer's amnesty but he still supports amnesty and citizenship today. He had avoided doing that in the first four debates. He explicitly admitted it in this last debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Now both of these candidates are gaining in the polls. Cruz especially surging in Iowa. How does Marco Rubio plan to counter that surge in Iowa?

WOLF: Well, you know, these are two of the most interesting Republicans out there. They occupy some of the same political space in that they are both Cuban-American, both very young, both very interesting and dynamic speakers. But on the other hand, Cruz has been much more to the right than Rubio, who at one point supported a pathway to citizenship. So Rubio has been very strong since the debate in sort of casting seeds of doubt, I guess you would say, for conservatives about Cruz.

And Cruz has had to fight back and really go after, you know, to pump up his conservative credentials and, you know, sort of prove to the base that he is who he says he is. So this will be something that plays out. These guys aren't the frontrunners right now but they're both comers in the party and in this race so keep an eye on it.

KOSIK: Let me ask you this, Zach. Do you think it's effective? Because you look at what Cruz and Rubio have talked in their careers about immigration. You've got Rubio sponsoring a bill to create that path for citizenship. You've got Cruz streamlining visa programs. So in this sort of age that we're in, being sort of on edge about letting in immigrants into this country, don't you think they should -- are they handling this right? Should they own up to what they voted on in the past and say, you know what, the climate has changed, we've changed our minds?

WOLF: Well, you know, Rubio sponsored that bill some years ago. He voted for it. He hasn't, you know, totally disavowed it. But he has distanced him from those previous policies.

[05:10:05] So he's changed in recent years -- you know, responding to how Republicans responded to that bill. And Cruz has -- you know, while he had been -- supported that visa program, he's tried to occupy that very right hand space he though what he called amnesty in Rubio's bill. So they intentionally kind of tried to keep their policies squishy, I think, or at least not exactly honed in recent years. I don't know necessarily that -- you know, the visas is exactly what I would focus on with Cruz. It's more his larger -- his larger rhetoric on the issue, which is anti-amnesty as he calls it.

SANCHEZ: We will likely see more of them bicker and banter at each other as the days continue.

Zachary Wolf helping us interpret both candidates' approaches, thank you. Leaders from the U.S., Russia, even Iran right now meeting to figure

out how to fight ISIS and stop the crisis in Syria. We are live.

Plus LeBron James going down and he is taking a fan sitting courtside with him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Welcome back. Secretary of State John Kerry set to chair a meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

[05:15:03] He's trying to broker a deal to end the civil war in Syria. Russia, Germany, Iran and other European and Middle East powers are all sitting at the table. The U.S. and Russia already agreeing to team up to pressure member nations to help cut off ISIS funding.

Let's go live now to Moscow and bring in Jill Dougherty of the International Center for Defense and Security.

Jill, good morning.

JILL DOUGHERTY, INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR DEFENSE AND SECURITY: Hey, Alison.

KOSIK: So we've seen the U.N. takes steps to cut off ISIS' funding. What about steps to take against Bashar al-Assad and getting him out of power?

DOUGHERTY: Well, that's one of the sticking points. I mean, some people look at it a little bit differently. That's kind of the -- I'd say the American decision. Western position has been get him out of power. But John Kerry just recently, the secretary of state said we're not talking about regime change.

So what are they talking about? Well, you know if you look at the Russian perspective, they say Assad should remain in power because if he goes the whole place could fall apart and fall into the hands of terrorists. So what they're trying to do is bring those two positions together. Perhaps Assad stays for some period in some capacity or another. But essentially what both sides, the United States and Russia, want to do is go to this political transition that they have been working on and others in the region have been working on.

So the meeting in New York today is to get together, endorse that plan that they've been working out and then get into some of the nitty- gritty details and try to reconcile that. Assad is one. The other one you'd have to say is who are the opposition fighters and political opposition who could sit down at the table and be part of this political transition. So you have to decide who are the terrorists, who are not terrorists, who are, you know, opposition and could be part of the process.

KOSIK: So many countries. So many varied interests. Jill Dougherty, thanks so much.

SANCHEZ: A Pennsylvania man arrested and charged with conspiring to provide material support to ISIS. Authorities say they found high capacity weapons magazines, ammo and survival gear when they searched the apartment of 19-year-old Jalil Aziz last month. Aziz allegedly used several Twitter accounts to reveal information about members of the U.S. military, calling for violence against them as well as American citizens. Authorities say he also helped people who were looking to travel overseas to fight ISIS.

KOSIK: Jitters over terrorism. Tightening security policies even at the happiest place on earth. To get into Disney World, you and the kids are now going to have to pass through metal detectors first. Disney deciding to beef up security at the entrance to the magic kingdom and three other Orlando theme parks.

Let's get more now from CNN's Alina Machado.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris and Alison, Disney isn't the only one doing this. We know Universal Studios and SeaWorld are also using metal detectors to screen people who visit their theme parks.

A spokesperson for Disney released a statement on the changes. It reads, "We continually review our comprehensive approach to security and are implementing additional security measures as appropriate."

Now Disney will be randomly selecting guests for a secondary screening using these new metal detectors. They've also added what they're calling, quote, "visible and non-visible" security measures at all of their parks. These measures include the use of specially trained dogs to patrol key areas.

Some of the other things you might notice if you head to a Disney park, they are discontinuing the sale of toy guns on Disney property and they're no longer allowing people to bring toy guns to the theme parks. And if you're 14 and older, you also won't be able to wear any costume at any of the parks.

The new toy gun policy, they say, is being done to make sure a toy gun doesn't cause a distraction or confusion for their cast members and security personnel in the parks. They know that very few people actually bring these items so the impact they expect will be minor. The cost in policy they say is to allow security to better screen people at the parks -- Alison and Boris.

KOSIK: And thanks for that, Alina.

Time for an EARLY START on your money. Stocks around the world are in the red this morning. So are U.S. stock futures. As the global selloff in commodities continues. Yesterday Wall Street enthusiasm over the Fed's interest rate decision, that vanished. And the Dow fell more than 250 points, that as we watched oil plunge below $35 a barrel.

A trifecta of lies, deceit, and greed. That's how federal law enforcement officials are describing the allegations against drug CEO Martin Shkreli. He was arrested yesterday. Shkreli is known for jacking up the price of a drug used to treat AIDS by 5,000 percent. And now he's been indicted on criminal charges that he bilked another company out of millions of dollars. Officials say he ran that company, Retrophin, like a Ponzi scheme. Using its assets to pay off old unrelated debt.

[05:20:06] Shkreli faces up to 20 years in jail if found guilty. He got out of jail yesterday on bond.

SANCHEZ: Yes. $5 million. He did an interview with a hip-hop blog recently where he was just saying very outlandish things. I can't imagine a lot of people feel badly for him out there.

KOSIK: On Twitter they certainly don't.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

So much for front row seats. The wife of PGA Tour star Jason Day removed on a stretcher after LeBron James crashed into her while chasing a loose ball. We have update on her condition and of course LeBron's reaction when Coy Wire joins us with this morning's "Bleacher Report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: OK. This is crazy. A courtside seat turned out to be a danger zone for the wife of pro golfer Jason Day?

SANCHEZ: Coy Wire has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report."

Coy, we've seen some close calls before. This one too close.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: That's right, Boris. Good morning to you and Alison. That date night trip to see LeBron James and the Cavs turned into a trip to the hospital for PGA champion Jason Day's wife last night. The couple was sitting courtside when King James came crashing into their seats chasing a loose ball. Now LeBron he's 6'8", 250 pounds. That's like a freight train coming down the tracks, guys.

Ellie Day was carried out of the arena on a backboard. She was taken to the hospital, actually back to the hospital as she gave birth to her second child this last month. Good news is she is expected to be OK. And after the game, LeBron tweeted his apologies and invited her to another game.

Who wins the battle between catsup and mustard?

[05:25:02] Buccaneers and Rams, that was the question as both teams sported their color rush uniforms Thursday night. Jameis Winston would throw for a career best but this one was all about the Rams. They never trailed on their way to a 31-23 win. Rams running back Todd Gurley passes the thousand-yard mark in the season. Now some say Rams owner Stan Kroenke could be moving the team to Los Angeles next season, possibly making this their last home game in St. Louis. Fans were chanting "Keep our Rams" during the game.

Now here's something we don't see often these days. Lakers star Kobe Bryant brought back the way-back machine. Soaring one-hand, it got the fans in the stands rocking again. Their game against the Rockies last night is Kobe's first dunk of the season. He's had three -- eight in the past three years. But it didn't help the outcome. Lakers lost by 30 points, 107-87.

Finally, your feel-good story today, guys. Sacramento Kings; big man DeMarcus Cousins brightened up the holidays for a family going through some tough times. He managed to sneak up behind them in their brand new car. The tears were flowing. Santa Claus is great, but so is Santa Cousins. Just a couple of days ago, he had a shopping spree for 100 underprivileged kids that cost him about $20,000.

So for every negative story we hear about a professional athlete, guys, remember there are dozens more that too often go unnoticed of kind and caring athletes like DeMarcus Cousins who aim to make the world a bit of a better place -- guys.

KOSIK: And that's important to highlight.

SANCHEZ: And it's great to see. Especially knowing DeMarcus Cousins often is so controversial. But obviously he has a big heart.

WIRE: There you go. Big man with a bigger heart.

KOSIK: All right. Thanks, Coy.

WIRE: All right.

KOSIK: An arrest made in the San Bernardino terror attacks. New information investigators are revealing about the massacre, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)