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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Militants Attack Pakistan University; Sarah Palin Endorses Cruz's Rival; New Video of Americans Freed By Iran; Michigan Governor on Water Crisis: I Will Fix It. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired January 20, 2016 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning, a deadly terror attack at a university in Pakistan. At least 21 students killed. And just in, a claim of responsibility. We are live.

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It's 30 minutes past the hour.

Breaking news this morning, militants launching a deadly attack on a university in the city of Charsadda, in northwest Pakistan. There were explosions, gunfire on the campus of Bacha Khan University. But officials say that at least 21 people are dead, and that four attackers have been killed.

In just the last half hour, there has now been a claim of responsibility from the Pakistani Taliban.

For the latest on this still developing situation, I want to bring in CNN's Alexandra Field. She is live for us in New Delhi.

Alexandra, what can you tell us?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Pakistani Taliban is taking responsible, saying this is in retaliation for a recent government operation. But a lot of people will remember, of course, the group, another vicious attack on another school that happened back in 2014. More than 140 people killed that time, many of them, small school children.

The same group now saying they are the ones who stormed a nearby university this morning. It started with the sound of an explosion at the main gate of the university. After that, a torrent of gunfire.

We are hearing from students who were inside the school at the time that one of them actually saw a professor struck by a bullet as they went for cover. Pakistani forces moved in. They were only able to fight this attack really by getting on top of it.

There was heavy fog. Visibility was tough. But we know they were up on the rooftop of the building to try and battle these attackers. They killed four attackers in total, according to government officials. Two of the attackers taken out by sniper fire.

At this point while they are confirming four attackers have been killed, they have not determined whether or not that is the total number of attackers who set foot on that campus this morning. So, what they are doing is sweeping this campus. Going corner by corner, block by block -- the kind of operation that you often see in these cases where you just don't know how many people you could be fighting.

Right now, the school is confirming that at least 21 people have been killed. But there are reports from the ground this number could certainly go up. It is simply too soon to tell how many people have been injured in the hail of gunfire there this morning, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Alexandra Field for us this morning, thank you for that.

BERMAN: All right. What a 24-hour period in the race for Republican president, perhaps one that Ted Cruz would like to forget. First off, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad essentially told voters, go for anyone but Ted Cruz. And then an Alaskan-size endorsement -- Sarah Palin, the former Republican nominee for vice president, the former governor of Alaska, Tea Party favorite, she threw her support to Donald Trump.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty with the latest from Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

Well, Sarah Palin's endorsement of Donald Trump could go a long way in firing up the conservative base of the Republican Party. And it comes just at the time that Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are essentially deadlocked in Iowa. So, this endorsement now has a big potential to suck a lot of the oxygen out of the room for Ted Cruz in Iowa, where he has slowly been billing momentum.

Now, Sarah Palin endorsed Ted Cruz for his 2012 campaign, and she briefly alluded to that fact. Here's more of what she said while endorsing Donald Trump.

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Only one candidate's record of success proves he is the master of the art of the deal.

He is beholden to now one but we the people. How refreshing. He is perfectly positioned to let you make America great again.

Are you ready for that, Iowa?

(CHEERS)

No more pussyfooting around. Our troops deserve the best. You deserve the best. He is from the private sector, not a politician. Can I get a

hallelujah?

AUDIENCE: Hallelujah!

SERFATY: And Ted Cruz really trying to downplay the significance of this endorsement. But to note, it's not the only blow he is now dealing with. Iowa's long-term and well-respected governor, his coming out and essentially telling Iowa caucus-goers to not support Cruz.

GOV. TERRY BRANSTAD (R), IOWA: He hasn't supported renewable fuels and I believe that would be a big mistake for Iowa to support him.

SERFATY: And Ted Cruz, again, trying really hard to dismiss this, saying that this is another sign the Republican establishment is now in panic mode. But all of this together, certainly, threatens to take a lot of the wind out of the sails for Ted Cruz, especially in Iowa -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, thank you for that stunning new poll numbers on the Democratic side.

In New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders now has a 27-point lead over Hillary Clinton. That according to a brand-new CNN/WMUR poll, 60 to 33.

[04:35:05] That is up 17 point from last month.

The dramatic numbers from New Hampshire are already beginning to influence the race in Iowa. That's where CNN's Jeff Zeleny picks up the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Bernie sander's bombshell poll findings in New Hampshire showing him up 27 points. He's having a ricocheting effect here in Iowa as well. It is raising the stakes for Hillary Clinton to perform well in this critical caucus state.

Bernie Sanders is campaigning all across Iowa. He's making one pitch to voters more than anything else. He is trying to tell him that he, in fact, can win. He is reading his poll numbers, sort of in a Donald Trump-like fashion.

We caught up with him in Carroll, Iowa, and asked him why it's so important, but he gives this message.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of the major obstacles that we face is people say, well, Bernie, I like your ideas, I like you personally. But, you know, you can't win. You can't win the general election.

So what we have to explain is that poll after poll has me further ahead of Donald Trump and other Republicans and Secretary Clinton that, in fact, for us to win and retain the White House and regain the Senate, we need a large voter turnout. And to get a large voter turnout, there has to be excitement and enthusiasm at the grassroots level. I think that is our campaign.

We can bring out a large voter turnout. When we do that, it's fought on not only winning the White House. It's winning governor's races, Senate races and House races as well.

ZELENY: The Clinton campaign realizes how important these Iowa caucuses are now, even more so because they are so far behind in New Hampshire. It explains why both candidates will be blanketing the states in the coming days, and over the weekend, often in the same time in the same town as they fight in the final days of this Iowa caucus campaign -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Jeff, thanks.

New video this morning of two of the Americans freed in Tehran in last weekend's prisoner swap. "Washington Post" posted this lighthearted video of its Tehran bureau chief, Jason Rezaian, and his wife.

And overnight, former Marine Amir Hekmati spoke to reporters at the medical center where he's receiving medical treatment or a remarkable, a remarkable precedent there to be quite honest.

Joining us with more, CNN's Phil Black, outside Ramstein Airbase.

Phil, really, interesting to hear how forceful and strong he sounded. I know they're all going through the integration process. He sounded like someone who wants to come home.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He really did, didn't he? He looked and sounded well, he said, that's how he was feeling having experienced this sudden and unexpected release, to suddenly find himself free in this way.

He was asked how bad the experience was and he said, "Well, it wasn't good." We're pretty sure that was a stoic understatement. He didn't want to go into the details of how challenging the whole experience was. But at one point, he did talk about the pressure he was placed under and described as inhumane and unjust.

Really, the overwhelming theme of his words here last night was gratitude. He said he felt blessed. Let's take a listen to him now in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMIR HEKMATI, PRISONER FREED BY IRAN: I feel extremely lucky, alive for the first time in a long time and very humble at everybody's support from the president, to Congress to my fellow marines, and especially my family, who have really gone through so much throughout this time. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: Amir Hekmati also spoke about the surprise that this has all happened so quickly. He said up until very recently, he thought he would be spending ten years in prison. When they first came to him the other day and told him to get his things together, he said he didn't believe them him it wasn't until the aircraft was out of Iranian airspace that he started to relax. Now, that he's here in Germany, he says he feels reborn -- Christine.

ROMANS: Reborn. We wish him the best of luck as he goes back to his family in Michigan.

Thanks for that, Phil.

BERMAN: All right. This morning, confirmation from ISIS that the man known as Jihadi John is dead. They say he was killed in a coalition airstrike last year in northern Syria. The masked militant with an English accent had appeared in several ISIS beheading videos. Military officials identified him as Mohamed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti born British citizen.

The United States back in November said it was reasonably certain that Emwazi had been killed in an attack near Raqqa.

ROMANS: A new U.N. report has startling numbers on the civilian death toll in Iraq. It says nearly 19,000 civilians were killed in Iraq between January, 2014 and October 2015. Much of the suffering attributed to ISIS, which has declared an Islamic caliphate across stretches of Iraq and neighboring Syria. The report also estimates ISIS holds about 3,500 slaves, many of them women and children used as sex slaves.

BERMAN: The U.S. people court will settle the dispute between States and the Obama administration over the president's use of executive power to shield some 5 million immigrants from deportation or his efforts to do so.

[04:40:05] Opponents claim President Obama overstepped his authority. The high court decision sets the stage where it could be a landmark ruling. The case will be argued in April. A ruling expected as soon as June.

ROMANS: Forty minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money.

Stock futures pointing to a scary open. The Dow tanking 376 points in the free market, guys. Big losses in Europe and Asia as well.

The problem here is crude. Crude oil prices sinking again now to below $28 a barrel overnight, now down some 70 percent since the highs of above 100 bucks less than two years ago. A new report says the world is drowning in oil and prices will keep dropping.

The International Energy Agency estimates that supply will significantly outpace demand in 2016, thanks to a bunch of factors. Iran's new oil exports, increased production by non-OPEC nations like the U.S. Warmer climate and economic head winds in China, Brazil, Russia.

But all of that is putting money into your wallet. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline, look at this, now at $1.87. AAA says that's the lowest since February of 2009.

401k, not so great. Weekly monthly budget for gas, great.

All right. We are following breaking news out of Pakistan this morning. Deadly terror attack at a university. At least 21 students killed. New details coming in by the minute.

BERMAN: Plus, Michigan's governor promises to fix the water crisis in Flint. Hear what he had to say overnight. Is that enough to satisfy his constituents? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:15] BERMAN: The breaking news this morning, the Pakistani Taliban claiming responsibility for a terror attack on a university in northwest Pakistan. Officials say at least 21 people are dead in the assault on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda. Four of the attackers were also reported killed, although officials say the military operation is still ongoing.

ROMANS: All right. Overnight, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder apologized to the people of Flint in his State of the State address. Snyder promised to do everything in his power to solve the crisis involving the city's contaminated water supply.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK SNYDER (R), MICHIGAN: The government failed you. Federal, state and local leaders by breaking the trust you placed in us. I'm sorry, most of all, that I let you down.

You deserve better. You deserve accountability. You deserve to know that the buck stops here with me. Most of all, you deserve to know the truth. I have a responsibility to tell the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The governor has become a lightening rod for criticism over his handling of that water crisis. In his speech, Snyder urged state lawmakers to step up as well.

We get more from CNN's Sara Ganim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Governor Rick Snyder announcing last night that he's asking the Michigan state lawmakers to set aside $28 million to help the people of Flint and get through their water crisis. Almost immediately, critics said, that was not nearly enough. It does not meet the estimates that it will take to fix the pipes that are leaching lead into the water. It's just another criticism of Rick Snyder for not doing enough during his crisis.

And as he was speaking, hundreds of protesters outside the capital building here holding another day of angry protests, calling for his resignation. Snyder insisting he will not resign but will, quote, "fix this".

At some point, residents were actually inside for that speech, but missing was Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, who instead met on Tuesday with President Obama in Washington. The president announcing that a team from the Department of Health and Human Services will be arriving in Flint today to help coordinate the federal response. The EPA also defending its response to the situation on Tuesday, finger-pointing, instead, at the state and local officials.

In the meantime, two new class action lawsuits filed by residents in Flint alleging they were let down by every single branch of government -- John, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Thanks, Sara.

The Michigan governor also address the ongoing crisis involving public schools in Detroit. Teachers plan another mass sickout today to protest what they say are deplorable working conditions, over overcrowding, lack of building maintenance. At least five schools will be closed.

Governor Snyder in his State of the State said Detroit's schools are in need of transformational change and the time to act now.

ROMANS: A Baltimore judge today will consider a motion by prosecutors seeking to force police Officer William Porter to testify against other officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray. They claimed Porter is a material witness for the state. Porter's first trial ended in December with a hung jury. His retrial is scheduled for June. Six Baltimore officers are being tried separately in connection with Gray's death.

BERMAN: The Coast Guard suspended its search for 12 Marines missing since two helicopters crashed off the coast of Hawaii last week. Officials called off the rest of the operation after five days of round the clock searching for survivors. All four life rafts that were on board the choppers were found. A widespread debris field was also spotted on the ocean floor. But no bodies have been recovered. The cause of that crash is still undetermined.

ROMANS: All right. A major snowstorm headed straight for the East Coast. Let's bring in meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, good morning.

Yes, winter storm warnings are already in place. This is ahead of one storm system that's coming in right now. It could bring in some light to moderate snow showers across parts of the Ohio and also the Tennessee River Valley. And generally speaking, going to be on the light side, two to four inches, the best we could do is going to be short lived beyond that.

The big story, the tension turns off towards the Eastern Seaboard where a storm system is slated to park offshore here Friday night in Saturday. A couple outcomes, it really could play a significant number on the amount of snowfall we get from say, Saturday, Friday night into Saturday morning.

Right now, the European model, historically very accurate, really puts the bulk of the heavy snow showers from areas around Washington, to Richmond, Roanoke with the potential of one and a half, maybe two feet of snowfall. In North Philly, you could get upwards of 10 to 15 inches, New York maybe six to 10 inches. Boston, even lesser amount down to around five inches. That being the European model.

Look what happens to the American model as far as the location of this. It brings the bulls eye over two feet, right over Washington, with limited amounts, as you work farther to the north.

[04:50:05] But take a look at this, if this verifies, based on the American or the European models, these amounts of snow totals would put you in the top three record for heaviest snow maker in Washington, D.C. history, guys.

ROMANS: Wow. All right.

BERMAN: Interesting the Europeans might know more about American weather than Americans. I'm not sure how that works. Hope to Pedram about that.

ROMANS: All right. Another forecast for you. It's looking like an ugly day for markets around the globe, really ugly. There is one stock set to jump today. You might already own it. We'll get an early start on your money, next.

BERMAN: Why don't I own it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. In just a short time, Secretary of State John Kerry with a crucial meeting. He sits down with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Switzerland to discuss ways to end the bloodshed in Syria, also discussing eastern Ukraine.

CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joins us live with more.

Good morning, Nic.

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

The Russians are saying that this will include discussions about Syria, about Ukraine, about Iran, about North Korea. All important topic, but I think Syria is likely to dominate. Why? Because there is a looming deadline to get the next phase of the Syria talks up and running.

That is Monday next week, five days from now in Geneva. This is when, according to the U.N., that all the parties should be sitting down to begin to talk about a peace deal with Syria. Sergey Lavrov, Secretary of State John Kerry were key in getting that U.N. resolution, diplomatic resolution before Christmas to get that resolution established. The principle being that the opposition in Syria would sit down with the government that they would get into talks, that there would be a cease-fire.

That there would be a new constitution in six months, that there would be elections, free and fair to an international standard elections in 18 months, a peace road map to Syria.

[04:55:04] That potentially at the moment is falling apart because it's not clear who those opposition groups are that will represent the opposition. This is something Sergey Lavrov and Secretary of State John Kerry can weigh in on. Of course, the Saudis played a significant role in that recently. They brought together a lot of rebel groups to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia just before Christmas. It got them all to agree that they were the representatives of the rebel groups.

However, the -- one of the senior commanders backed by the Saudis was killed, very likely, at a Russian airstrike not long before Christmas. So, the tensions exist right now. Russia's idea of how the peace can be achieved and who they think the correct rebel opposition groups are and who the other states are. At the moment, that's in dispute.

Secretary Kerry and Lavrov may be able narrow the gap there. If not, these talks the U.N. says should happen, must happen in January. Then those talks would begin to unravel and so unravel the peace process as it laid out right now for Syria, John.

BERMAN: A flurry of diplomacy for John Kerry, coming fresh off the prisoner swap with Iran and the implication of the nuclear deal has worked by no means over.

Nic Robertson for us, thanks so much.

ROMANS: The head of U.S. missile defense says North Korea's latest nuclear test did not add to its technical capability. But "Reuters" reports that Vice Admiral James Syring told the conference, even so, everything North Korea is doing, quote, "continues to be alarming and provoking and we continue to watch it closely."

Experts have rejected North Korea's claim the January 6th test was a hydrogen bomb. They say it was more likely an enhanced form of a conventional atomic bomb.

BERMAN: Actress Kate del Castillo is under investigation this morning for allegedly drug money from El Chapo. Del Castillo helped Sean Penn tracked down El Chapo for his recent interview. Now, Mexican authorities want to know if cash from the drug lord was used to finance her U.S. tequila business.

Suspicions were raised in communications where both parties make reference to being in business together. She has been ordered to meet with investigators and has not been charged with a crime.

ROMANS: All right. Time for your money news. Wall Street bracing for a deep drop this morning. Dow futures plunging more than 300 points ahead of the opening. They open at 9:30 Eastern Time here. Europe is lower. Asia, a big sell-off in Asia.

Oil prices are to blame. Crude is below $28 a barrel right now.

Shares of Netflix are set to pop this morning. The company now has 75 million subscribers worldwide, 75 million. Netflix says 4 million people joined internationally during the fourth quarter of last year. It recently announced plans to expand into 130 new markets. Just about the only place can you not find Netflix is China.

Netflix stock was the best performer in the S&P 500 last year. Look at that, up 139 percent, but it's now down some 20 percent from its high last year.

All right. Microsoft is bringing "Minecraft' into the classroom. The software giant is launching a new version of this super popular game this summer. Part of a deal to acquire an existing teaching platform. Microsoft bought "Minecraft" developer Mojang in 2014.

Instructors can use the new program to teach things like coding, math, geography, civil engineering. It will let students work on assignments inside and outside of the classroom.

I tell you, there are two schools of thought. A lot of kids learn "Minecraft". You learn all these amazing things. There are other people who don't let their kids play it because they think it's a videogame, right?

The international success of "Minecraft" has been really unbelievable.

BERMAN: I think you got to get somewhere in between. You can't let it play forever and ever and ever feels like --

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: But it's different. The thing about "Minecraft". I'm a huge fan. I heard some eng fearing folks saying it's like not letting your kid play sports until they're 15. Then it's too late, right? You let them start early.

BERMAN: If you let them play -- if you play "Minecraft", they will not play sports until they're 15. That's the problem.

ROMANS: It's a brain sports. It's a brain sports.

BERMAN: EARLY START continues right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news. BERMAN: The breaking news this morning: a deadly terror attack in Pakistan, gunmen stormed a university. At least 21 students are killed. There is a new claim of responsibility. We have live new information.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Wednesday, January 20th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

Breaking news, armed militants launching a deadly attack on a university in the city of Charsadda in northwest Pakistan. There were explosions and gunfire on the campus of Bacha Khan University. But officials say at least 21 people are dead and four attackers have been killed.

In just the last half hour, there has been a claim of responsibility now from the Pakistani Taliban.

For the very latest on this developing situation, we want to bring in CNN's Alexandra Field live in New Delhi.

Alexandra, is the situation under control or is there -- is there still activity there?

FIELD: We're told that the gunfire has subsided, that there had been no additional reports of explosions.