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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Winter Storm Batters Nation; "Affluenza" Teen Detained in Mexico; No Charges in Tamir Rice Shooting; Trump on the Attack; Iraqi Forces Liberate Ramadi. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 29, 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: The Northeast now in the path of the deadly winter storm that devastated the South and Midwest.

[04:30:03] Millions bracing this morning for snow and ice. We are tracking the storm.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning: busted. After weeks on the run, the affluenza teen detained in Mexico with his mother.

ROMANS: Breaking overnight. Protests erupt after police cleared in the deadly shooting of a 12-year-old Cleveland boy.

Welcome back to EARLY START this morning. I'm Christine Romans.

KOSIK: Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik. Thanks for joining us this 30 minutes past the hour.

We begin with a massive storm - winter storm battering the nation with everything in its arsenal. Tornadoes, ice storms, flash flooding, claiming dozens of lives. And there is more pain ahead. A freakishly mild December coming to an end today, with a major snowstorm in the northeast, up to a foot of snow in the forecast for parts of New England.

In Texas, they're beginning to pick up the pieces. Nearly a dozen tornadoes touching down in the Dallas area, leaving homes flattened and lives shattered with 11 people killed. And Mother Nature adding insult to injury, dumping ice and snow on parts of North Texas. It's been a deadly destructive week in the Lone Star State.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Alison, weather conditions in some of the hardest hit areas here in Texas are expected to improve, offering residents a chance to clean up the mess that this tornado left behind.

This twister killed eight people here in Dallas County. The youngest victim was just a year old. Yesterday, many survivors had a chance to return to their homes for the first time and the reality of what happened really settled in.

Listen to this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You see it happen on TV and you try to understand how do those people feel? Those and everything. But now, it happens to you and you have to borrow stuff to stay warm and because you have no shoes on your feet because I left the house with no shoes on my feet.

MACHADO: The focus now turns to Missouri and Illinois, where they could see significant flooding -- Alison and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

Flood warnings in effect right now across the state of Missouri. A deadly winter storm finally clearing out overnight. But not before killing at least ten people. The Mississippi River now seven feet above flood stage. It is expected to rise another five before cresting on Thursday. Some communities under water since Saturday night.

KOSIK: In southern Illinois, more rain and --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were rescued by a boat with the fire department. But we were rescued at 9:00 this morning and stood in that water for about three hours waiting for them to get here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: In southern Illinois, more rain and flooding overnight forcing hundreds of families to evacuate their homes. With the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers already above flood stage, it could be a while before they return.

And a close call for the girls basketball team at Mt. Vernon High School in Mascoutah, Illinois. Their bus swept right off Highway 161 into a retention pond. Everyone was rescued. Thankfully, no injuries reported.

ROMANS: Take a look at this ice storm crippling parts of Central Oklahoma. It's half an inch thick. Throw in 40-mile-an-hour winds, you got the perfect recipe for downed power lines and tree limbs. They are breaking out snow blowers in Omaha, close a half of snow falling on parts of Nebraska Monday.

KOSIK: The severe weather forcing airlines to cancel more than 2,800 flights with 4,800 more delayed. Nearly 2/3 of all cancellations are coming at Chicago's two main airports and Dallas Ft. Worth.

ROMANS: You've been warned, everyone. Call ahead.

KOSIK: Fair warning. ROMANS: Check your text messages.

KOSIK: Let's get more on the severe weather threat out there. We go live to the CNN weather center in Atlanta and bring in meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

This extreme weather is somewhat expected. It is winter. The flooding is eye-popping.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, for a lot of people, it is. And, you know, of course, El Nino having a lot to do with this and we'll break that down, too, momentarily.

But the area that you talked about when it comes to cancellations, just checking in the last few hours, already seeing 500 flights canceled this morning from places out of Chicago O'Hare down towards Dallas, Texas, making up for half of the cancellations.

But look to the Northeast. This is another area with a lot of delays and cancellations should be expected. Some morning wintry mix just north of New York City, northern New Jersey certainly getting on it as well, and Boston with a wintry mix this morning. The morning commute is going to be hazardous as they come. We know a lot of people potentially taking Monday off work. Now Tuesday is getting back into work. The morning commute is rough until 9:00 where finally some of the rain showers begin to replace the wintry mix that's been in place across that region.

But for some of the areas, we're talking about the first snow of the season. You compare to what has fallen down in 2015 in Buffalo, Boston and Cleveland, compare to what was already in place for 2014, versus what is average in the blue there 33 inches is average in Buffalo, only 0.1 inches of snow has come down.

And again, when you talk about the climatology norm of this, I want to break down the perspective on this, because we know El Nino again, the warmer sea surface temperatures near the equatorial Pacific.

[04:35:00] They displace the steering current in the atmosphere, or the jet stream. So, that typically in an El Nino season, you'll have warm conditions across the Northeast that will cause snow delayed in the Southeast. The wet weather continues. We know severe weather is a lot to do with what's happened in El Nino, as well.

And I'll break down here as well, because take a look at the perspective with what transpired in the past week across the eastern U.S. and southern U.S., over 60 tornadoes. You take a look at the number of tornadoes and number of consecutive days of tornadoes, we went on six consecutive days with tornadoes from 23rd of December until the 28th of December.

The last time that happened was in 1982, an El Nino year. That also happened one other time with six straight days of December tornadoes, 1953, also an El Nino year. So, 2015 certainly falls in line with that. We had a tornado with a 145-mile track on the ground as the longest December track, two EF-4 tornadoes. Less than 1 percent of all tornadoes are falling into that category of EF-4, EF-5. We had two of them in the past week, and, of course, making this the deadliest month of 2015.

So, this again goes in line with what you expect in an El Nino season. Look at the temperature trend. In New York, it is still over 10 to 12 degrees above what is normal. When it cools off, it still stays 4 to 5 degrees above normal into early next week. So, again, this warmer pattern, even though it is cold, considering what you've been experiencing in recent days is still going to be well above average, guys.

ROMANS: Yes, I don't think there has been a hard freeze at least around here yet. All of the trees and flowers are very confused here. We'll watch this ice today.

Thank you so much for that, Pedram Javaheri.

Thirty-six minutes past the hour.

Breaking overnight: authorities in Mexico detaining the so-called affluenza teen. Ethan Couch, along with his mother, they were found near the popular resort town of Puerto Vallarta. The 18-year-old Couch disappeared earlier this month after two years after being sentenced to probation for a drunk driving crash that killed four people and terribly, terribly injured several others. Mexico is expected to turn Couch over to the U.S. Marshals. He's wanted in Texas for violating his provision.

KOSIK: The Cleveland police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice will not face charges. Prosecutors in the case insisting the officer who fired the fatal shot had no way of knowing Rice was holding a pellet gun and not a real weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMOTHY J. MCGINTY, CUYAHOGA COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Given the perfect storm of human error, mistakes and miscommunications by all involved that day, the evidence did not indicate criminal conduct by police.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: The grand jury decision not to file charge triggering peaceful protests overnight in Cleveland and New York. We get more now from CNN's Martin Savidge in Cleveland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. Good morning, Alison.

So far, reaction publicly to the announcement that there would be no indictment of these two officers has been subdued. There had been protests, but not in great numbers. I guess we really get a better read on that today as the word of this decision spreads not just here in Cleveland but, of course, across the country. The family of Tamir Rice said that they were deeply disappointed. But

beyond that, Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice, said that this has only added to her grief and that she believes that her son was murdered. And that essentially, that these officers are getting away with a crime and she also says that this was mishandled. Not just mishandled, she used the words sabotaged by the county prosecutor. In other words, that he didn't want these officers indicted and presented the case in a very slanted way.

Of course, the prosecutor would disagree with that. And independently, the grand jury said there should be no indictment of these officers.

But also the prosecutor did say there was significant errors, but not so much with the police, but police radio dispatch. In other words, the information from the caller said this might be a juvenile and the gun may not be real. Apparently, that was never transmitted to the responding officers, that the prosecuted said was a tragic and serious error -- Christine and Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Martin Savidge. Thank you for that, Martin.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel cut short his family vacation to Cuba. He is heading back to Chicago just in time for the arraignment of the Officer Jason Van Dyke. He is facing six counts for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, and he's expected to plead not guilty later this morning.

This as the city faces another wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of teenager Quintonio LeGrier. LeGrier was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer over the weekend.

More now from CNN's Rosa Flores.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alison, Christine, sometimes it's about optics. People were wondering where is Mayor Rahm Emanuel? Well, hear this -- he cut his Cuba vacation short, returning to Chicago today.

His office sending CNN a statement saying, in part, quote, "He is cutting his family trip short so that he can continue the ongoing work of restoring accountability and trust in the Chicago police department."

Now, all this after two people were shot and killed by police over the weekend.

[04:40:06] First of all, 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier and 55-year-old Bettie Jones. Again, they were both shot and killed by police.

When it comes to the teenager, police say that he was coming at police with a bat after a domestic disturbance. About Mrs. Jones, police saying in a statement that it was a tragic accident that she killed tragically by police. Now, the mayor also returning to Chicago on the day that Jason Van Dyke is arraigned.

Now, here's a Chicago police officer who shot and killed Laquan McDonald. He's another black teenager. You probably remember the shooting video. He's the teenager that was holding a knife and Jason Van Dyke started shooting his weapon only seconds after arriving on that scene.

Now, we should also add that his attorney, Jason Van Dyke's attorney has said that his client acted in self defense -- Alison and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: OK, Rosa, thanks for that.

And breaking overnight: a close encounter with a drone for President Obama. The president vacationing in Hawaii when a drone flying adjacent to his motorcade. Secret Service agents quickly confronting the man who was operating it, and he was apparently unaware the president was in the area and cooperated with request to land it. No charges were filed.

ROMANS: All right. Forty-one minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money, Tuesday edition.

Good morning so far for stocks. European and Asian markets are higher. U.S. stock futures are leading higher too.

Yesterday, though, stocks fell a bit. Oil prices fell again. That was a driver and it was enough to put the S&P 500 down for the year.

But it's not all bad news for your portfolio this year. Let's just take a look, shall we? If you are in Netflix, you probably are happy. That stock soared 140 percent this year. That makes it the best performer in the S&P.

Number two is also a household name. Look at Amazon. Shares are up 118 percent this year. Starbucks and Google are also near the top, both with gains of almost 50 percent.

This is why, frankly, the NASDAQ is still higher for the year, because some of those names are in the NASDAQ. At the bottom of the list though, energy companies no surprise there. Chesapeake, the worst performer, down 79 percent. Oil prices have crashed dragging all of those down.

Other big losers are in retail, Macy's, Michael Kors, Gap, all pulling more than 40 percent. And a lot of you want to check your Apple shares, the widely held stock, Apple not a good year. Apple shares are down 2 percent this year.

Remember they soared 40 percent last year.

KOSIK: Oh, yes. ROMANS: Apple shares are down 2 percent this year. A lot of folks wondering if Apple lost its mojo. Will it give back next year?

KOSIK: You know, a lot of investors, though, you look at the market overall, they're concerned that we're not going to see the Santa Claus rally.

ROMANS: Well, we've got to see more today.

KOSIK: Wishful thing.

ROMANS: Something the Fed (INAUDIBLE) Claus rally away.

KOSIK: I think so.

Oh, Donald Trump on the attack in a late night rally. Who the Republican frontrunner was targeting this time, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:46:12] ROMANS: Presidential politics now. Donald Trump on attack in New Hampshire, taking aim once again at both Hillary and Bill Clinton. Trump tweeting overnight, "Remember that Bill Clinton was brought in to help Hillary against Obama in 2008. He was terrible, failed badly and was called a racist."

Trump saving some of his sharpest language for Republican rival Chris Christie and the New Hampshire newspaper that gave Christie its key endorsement.

Let's get more this morning from CNN's Sara Murray.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and Alison.

Donald Trump is escalating his attacks against Hillary Clinton. Accusing her of playing the woman card and even taking aim at her husband, former President Bill Clinton's past infidelities. But here in Nashua, New Hampshire, last night, we got a tamer Donald Trump on the campaign trail. Instead, he only alluded to the notion that his comments were damaging to the Clinton camp.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We haven't started on her yet. You know, she says, "Oh, we'd love to run against Trump." It's her worst nightmare. But then tonight, somebody reported that they are absolutely going crazy and they are devastated over what Trump is saying.

MURRAY: Now, for their part, the Clinton camp put out a statement saying Hillary Clinton will not be bullied or distracted by Donald Trump's attacks. If Trump went easy on the Clintons, he went hard on Chris Christie, saying there is no way the New Jersey governor was unaware of the Bridgegate scandal. TRUMP: Now, just put yourself in a commonsense mode. You are with

your cabinet. You are with them all the time. They are closing the biggest bridge in the United States.

You are not telling the governor. And you are with him all the time. You are not saying, Governor, by the way, sir, we are closing the George Washington Bridge tonight.

No, no. You are having lunch and you don't bring it up.

Does anybody believe that? Honestly. Is there 1 percent -- no.

TRUMP: Now, this gives you a sense of how these rivalries are escalating as we get closer to these first nominating contests. And Trump is preparing for the next phase of this battle, telling crowds here in New Hampshire that he is preparing to spend a lot of money beginning in January.

As for today, he is back on the campaign trail in Iowa.

Back to you, Christine and Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: All right. Sara Murray, thanks for that.

And Jeb Bush will be back campaigning in New Hampshire today. The former Florida governor stumping on his home turf Monday. He seemed energized to the candidate. Bush taking questions at one event and issuing a challenge to the Republican frontrunner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald, I'll take you on one- on-one in a debate. Anytime. Any place. You name it and I'll do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Mother Nature getting the best of the Marco Rubio campaign. The start of Rubio's swing through Iowa was snowed out on Monday. Rubio is going to try again today, though, appearing alongside South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy. He's thrown his support behind Rubio who says it's a key endorsement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Trey Gowdy has been one of the few people in Washington that has held people accountable for wrongdoing and has held people accountable for not doing a good job. We are proud that he is helping us in this campaign. I think he is a phenomenal public servant, and as I said, we are very grateful for having the support of someone of his caliber and quality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Another Republican candidate Chris Christie forced to scrap the schedule in Iowa because of the weather.

That's the trouble with campaigning in Iowa in December. He will be back at it today holding several events.

KOSIK: The Hawkeye State popular with the Democrats as well. Bernie Sanders returns there today for the start of three-day campaign swing through Iowa. Sanders was up late Monday night, holding a rally at a high school in Las Vegas. Hillary Clinton will be in New Hampshire today for her final campaign appearance of the year, holding a town hall this afternoon in Portsmouth, and weather permitting, a second one tonight in northern New Hampshire.

ROMANS: Big cities from coast to coast gearing up for New Year's Eve celebrations. They are ramping up security. The NYPD is expected to discuss security plans for Times Square, at a briefing today.

[04:50:02] New York City officials reportedly warned Boston police about a possible terror threat targeting first night activities. The threat was determined to not be credible for Boston.

KOSIK: The TSA is moving closer to implementing a ten-year-old law that would require more than a driver's license for passengers in some states to get through airport security. The real ID law sets federal standards for identification which include verifying legal residency. Homeland security enforcement of the long-delayed measure could be imminent. Privacy groups oppose the law, largely because of information sharing provisions they claim make it equivalent to a national ID cards. Minnesota, New Mexico, and Washington are among the states where travelers could be required to use passports to travel.

Something to remember. You don't want to leave home without it.

ROMANS: Illinois, too. People with Illinois driver's licenses are wondering. They had deals with DHS to try to delay the implementation of this. But the bottom line, homeland security concerns, there are people with driver's license in some states and they are not sure those are those people, and that is a problem when you're getting on an airplane.

Fifty-one minutes after the hour.

In Texas, gun owners soon will be able to openly carry their weapons. Why there is a backlash from businesses, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: New this morning, two people arrested in Belgium. Police suspect they were planning terrorist attacks in Brussels during the holidays this week targeting tourist areas. Authorities are not releasing details about the suspects, not releasing their nationalities. One of them is charged with acting as a leader and the recruiter for a terrorist group, the other is charged with participating in terror activities. Police recovering military style uniforms and ISIS propaganda materials from those suspects. Now that Ramadi is back under tenuous Iraqi control, an Iraqi military official says it will take two to three weeks to cleanse the city of remaining pockets of ISIS fighters.

[04:55:01] CNN's senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir live from Baghdad for us, tracking the latest on the retaking of Ramadi.

You know, Nima, you know, with this first major victory, Iraq's prime minister is vowing to defeat ISIS in 2016. Lots of confidence here.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, extraordinarily optimistic, especially given the more cautious optimism from U.S. officials who are not quite ready to call it fully liberated. They keep congratulating the Iraqis only on the continued successes in Ramadi.

But there is absolutely no debate as you rightly said about the strategic importance of this city. And we are already seeing it pay dividends. The latest we have in from that operation out there from the Iraqi ministry of defense is that they are currently in pursuit of ISIS's minister of finance. They believe he is on the run there, based on eyewitness reports and testimony from the local population.

So, they feel that gives you not only a sense of how strategic ISIS is to the Iraqis, but also how strategic it was to ISIS, to have such a high-ranking official. Also, it gives a broader, paints a broader picture of the growing sense of fear beginning to evaporate there among the civilian population who feel comfortable enough to come forward with these kind of eyewitness reports.

Unimaginable only a week ago they would speak openly to authorities about anything to do with ISIS. Now, we're hearing families from other parts of Anbar province are moving towards that centrally held district inside Ramadi. They are taking shelter there from other ISIS held territories.

But, of course, this campaign, the securing aspect is far from over. And officials tell us it's going to take at least another two to three weeks to purge, as they are calling it, the remaining pockets of fighters. But many in the Iraqi government are already looking ahead to an isolation of Fallujah and then onwards to Mosul.

We're going to see how this plays out, Alison. But, for now, I have to tell you here in Baghdad, we are hearing a really renewed sense of confidence amidst the Iraqis -- Alison.

KOSIK: All right. Nima Elbagir, live from Baghdad, thanks for that.

ROMANS: The State Department taking credit for bringing peace to Syria in 2015, even though the country is still embroiled in a bloody civil war. Spokesperson John Kirby writing a recap of the State Department wins for the year, Syria among them. He also claims the U.S. is winning against the fight against ISIS among the other State Department wins listed by Kirby, reestablishing ties with Cuba, and clinching the Iran nuclear deal. KOSIK: A key provision of the Iran deal has been fulfilled by the Iranians. They shipped thousands of pounds of enriched uranium to Russia on Monday, a key commitment before international sanctions can be lifted. Secretary of State Kerry calling the development a significant milestone toward full implementation of the deal.

ROMANS: Almost 58 minutes past the hour. Let's get an early start on your money this morning. Good morning for stocks around the world. European and Asian stocks are higher. U.S. futures are ticking up here.

You know, yesterday, it was incredibly light trading today. It's a holiday week. The Dow down a bit. That was enough to put the S&P 500 lower for the year.

You know, the problem is tumbling oil prices in recent weeks. Dragging down the energy sector and causing concerns of the health of the global economy.

Texas has a new open carry gun law on its books. That takes effect New Year's Day. This gun law permits those with concealed handgun carry licenses to carry their holster weapons in plain view.

Here's the problem from some businesses. They won't allow it. Whole Foods does not welcome firearms in its stores, and will have updated signs addressing the law. Popular grocery chain HEB will not allow visible carry, neither will Texas-based fast food chain Whataburger. The company CEO explains many customers say visible firearms make them uncomfortable.

Despite the infamous hack earlier this year, citing site for cheaters Ashley Madison is growing. The site says it has added 4 million members since the breach. Cheaters are using the site more than ever. Hackers revealed the identities, of course, of 32 million members in the site. The list showed more than 95 percent of the site's members were men.

Even with growing numbers, it is not clear if Ashley Madison can survive much longer. The company faces about a dozen class action lawsuits from customers who say it failed to protect their identities. They also dispute the 95 percent of men. They say that's how --

KOSIK: Those numbers coming from Ashley Madison itself.

ROMANS: Yes.

KOSIK: Something to think about.

EARLY START continues right now.

(MUSIC)

ROMANS: The deadly monster storm that wreaked havoc across the country slamming Northeast. Right now, millions bracing for their first snowfall of the year. Hundreds of flights delayed and canceled. We're tracking the storm. KOSIK: Breaking news this morning. The manhunt is over for the so- called affluenza teen. Now detained in Mexico with his mother.

ROMANS: Protests overnight after police are cleared of shooting and killing a 12-year-old boy while he was playing in a park.