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Criminal Past of Abduction Suspect Revealed; October Jobs Report Released; Obama and Congressional Leaders Meet; Family Fears for Detained Journalist

Aired November 7, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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


ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police say DNA tests led them to name Barnes as their suspect. Barnes has a lengthy and violent rap sheet, officials say, including dozens of charges from armed robbery to aggravated assault and false imprisonment. Barnes' former father-in-law says his daughter married but quickly divorced the suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I knew he was going to get in trouble. I knew he was going to get in trouble again. I just knew it. That's the kind of person is he.

FIELD: A friend of Barnes describes an entirely different person.

RONALD DAVIS, FRIEND OF SUSPECT DELVIN BARNES: He's always looking to help somebody, always looking to bend over backwards. He'll give the shirt off his back if he could.

FIELD: Carlesha Freeland-Gaither is now back in Philadelphia, her family at her side. Officers who worked for days to find her, relieved she's finally home.

DETECTIVE JAMES SLOAN, PHILADELPHIA POLICE: It felt extremely personal. After seeing the video, it struck a chord with just about everybody who saw it. And we just made it a mission that we were going to find her and we were going to find her OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: Officers in Pennsylvania worked with officers in Virginia to finally track Barnes down. They actually used a GPS device that had been installed on his car by the dealership to find him and close in on him. But police are also saying that a lot of this case, and the success in this case, had to do with help from the public, including one witness who actually saw Carlesha being stuffed into that car on Sunday night and police are saying over and over again that this man really did the thing that everyone needs to do, he picked up the phone, he called 911, he waited for police to come, and that's why they were able to get that surveillance video so quickly, Alisyn, and that was really the key to getting the ball rolling on finding this young woman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: That is great when the public gets involved like that. Alexandra Field, thanks so much for the update.

Let's go over to Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we do have breaking news. The October jobs numbers are in. Expectations were high.

Christine Romans, did we meet it?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: 214,000 jobs added, Chris. You can hit that bar there and we'll show you what the forecast was, 233,000. So a little bit light on what they were expecting.

CUOMO: So we're at 214,000.

ROMANS: 214,000 is where we came in.

CUOMO: I can't even write it. We don't like the number.

ROMANS: Hold on, 214,000. There you go.

CUOMO: 214,000.

ROMANS: Health care was the biggest add there. So a lot of health care jobs. Came in a little bit light on this number. I think the market might be really interested, though, in the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate actually dropping a little bit. We told you before -- you can hit that right there, Chris -- we told you before that 5.9 percent was last month, and that was the projected. And 5.8 percent is the number, 5.8 percent. And that's the lowest in more than six years. So that's another good sign here.

When I look at how the jobs have been added, it's been pretty significant and pretty steady. This is the unemployment rate dropping, dropping, dropping, now 5.8 percent. I've seen -

CUOMO: But the quality of jobs?

ROMANS: The quality of jobs is broadening out and getting a little bit better, but wages are not increasing as much as inflation, for example. And wages are not increasing as much as people would like. So even in the exit polls, right, for the midterms, we saw that people said they don't feel like the economy is doing so great.

CUOMO: It's because they're not making more money.

ROMANS: They're not making more money, but jobs are coming back. I mean I would call this another sturdy jobs report.

CUOMO: That's why we've got to keep looking at that unemployment number.

ROMANS: That's right.

CUOMO: The quality of the jobs.

ROMANS: That's right.

CUOMO: Who they're affecting.

ROMANS: That's right.

CUOMO: All right, and sometimes the numbers aren't enough, but it's good to have them.

ROMANS: Yes.

CUOMO: And good to have you, Christine Romans, thank you very much.

ROMANS: Thanks.

CUOMO: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, thanks, guys.

It's time now for today's "Human Factor." A young woman is defying autism. Julia Adams wants to make sure people know her for her art, not her illness. Here's CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's times like this when 19-year-old Julia Adams finds purpose. Before becoming an artist, Adams, who was diagnosed with autism when she was two years old, wondered how she fit in.

JULIA ADAMS, ILLUSTRATOR: I saw people, they think that I am different.

GUPTA: That changed last year when Adams met with Sam Goldstein. He's a neuropsychologist. He had an idea for a book and he needed an illustrator.

ADAMS: He said, will you draw for me, for my illustration book? And I said, oh, yes, I can.

GUPTA: Adams went to work, pouring emotion into her art, her own feelings of alienation, of feeling misunderstood, were put into the images of Billy. He's an autistic boy who loves rocks.

ADAMS: He likes to play with rocks as I like to draw.

GUPTA: Adams' cousin Devin (ph) always felt he needed to be better understood, so his class read Julia's book.

ADAMS: What we liked about the story most is that we learned it is OK to be different. It just touched my heart. I almost cried. I just felt like I was -- brought hope to them and it made me feel happy inside.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: It made a lot of kids feel happy inside. What a beautiful demonstration of trying to help people understand, especially kids. Thanks to Sanjay for that.

All right, so, speaking of understanding, down in Washington, D.C., we're going to need some because today is the day of the big power lunch with the president. He's bringing in the congressional leaders to talk about the future. We're going to ask the former White House press secretary about what we can expect. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: President Obama says he's ready to reach across the aisle. He's hosting a bipartisan meeting with 16 top congressional leaders today. But the rhetoric coming from both sides still sounds like a standoff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Congress will pass some bills I cannot sign. I'm pretty sure I'll take some actions that some in Congress will not like.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), OHIO: I believe that if the president continues to act on his own, he is going to poison the well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right, so what exactly is the president willing to give to get something accomplished with Republicans? Let's ask someone who knows. It's Jay Carney. He is CNN's senior political commentator and former White House press secretary.

Good morning, Jay.

JAY CARNEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning to you both.

CAMEROTA: OK, so it seems like today is an opportunity for a fresh start in Washington, D.C. Do you think the president will change his approach somehow to Republicans?

CARNEY: You know, I do. I think that what we saw in the aftermath of the elections is both sides sort of reassuring their bases that they weren't going to sell out entirely in the name of compromise. I think while there is risk associated with it, that the president needed to make it clear that he had been patient for a long time and that there were millions of people he can help by taking executive action on immigration and that he's still going to do that.

I think that John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, the Republican leaders, needed to assure their conservative allies that, you know, the holy grail of repealing Obamacare was still something they wanted to pursue. I don't think, in either case, the leaders believe that the environment hasn't changed and that they can just keep pursuing only what they want to pursue. I think when they sit down at lunch, they're going to kind of set aside their disagreements and begin to focus on the things that they can act on. And we can talk about trade deals that are much more possible now, corporate tax reform is possible now. There are areas where they can make some compromises and then create some positive momentum.

CUOMO: Right, but you have the perception is reality issue, right, and the point is, the Democrats lost. The Republicans are feeling good because they won, so they're not looking to take a step back. They feel emboldened. So isn't it incumbent on the party, through the president, to take that first step that should have been conciliatory instead of inflammatory?

CARNEY: Well, I guess, Chris, I would say the, you know, the way these things work, the president won pretty overwhelmingly two years ago and picked up seats and, you know, the Republicans, I guess, would have been incumbent upon them to do that. I think the reason why we may see something different is that the president has just two years left to solidify his legacy and the Republicans desperately want to win the White House in two years, and the ones who were wise about the national electorate understand that if they don't demonstrate an ability to govern and they don't make inroads with demographic groups that have been moving away from them, Latinos, unmarried women, younger voters, they're going to lose again in 2016.

So I think that there are reasons for both sides now to compromise that may not have existed before. I'm not trying to be Pollyannaish. I'm not trying to say that everything's going to be roses. Far from it. I think the president will veto bills. I think he'll veto an attempt to repeal the individual mandate. And I think that the Republicans will howl when he issues an executive order on immigration reform. But if the Republicans take that action by the president and then sort of try to shut down the government or shut down funding over it, they're going to kill themselves with Latinos and I don't think they'll want to do that.

CAMEROTA: So, Jay it's interesting to look at immigration reform as an example of how this new day might move forward. So do you think that Congress will be able to -- will vote before the end of the year on some sort of comprehensive immigration reform bill, which is sitting idly, as you know, will they vote on it or do you think the president will actually have to go it alone?

CARNEY: I hesitate to predict quick action by Congress ever, so I don't think we'll see a comprehensive bill move through the House as it has through the Senate before the end of the year in the lame duck session. I think Republican leaders would be, I think, criticized heavily by new members coming in who won't have had a chance to vote on that and seeing that shoved through in their absence.

CUOMO: Why does it have to be comprehensive, though? I mean I -- you know you have the bill. You know Boehner won't allow the vote on it. You know that's not going to change. So why not just see it for what it is and say, let's try and take a piece of immigration? That had been talked about. And now we're right back to absolutes again. Why not just go for a part of that immigration thing?

CARNEY: Well, it's - I - there -- I think that can be under discussion. The problem, as you know, Chris, really well, is that if you take apart the comprehensive bill, you begin to lose the coalition. Law enforcement supports it for one reason. Immigration activist communities support it for another reason. High tech businesses support it for their reasons. And if you - if you piece out, for example, you know, the visas for, you know, people getting degrees, highly educated folks from abroad so they can stay here and work in Silicon Valley, you're not going to do yourselves any favors with the Latino community and those concerned about the millions living in the shadows in this country.

Similarly, if you just do border security, you're not going to help yourselves with business communities and with Latinos. So I see the appeal of trying to pick it apart. I'm just not sure you can build a coalition to get it done.

CAMEROTA: Jay Carney, I think you've laid out for us how complicated it's going to be.

CARNEY: IT's going to be hard, as always.

CAMEROTA: It is. It's going to be hard and it sounds good that they're all talking about cooperation. But, of course, it's going to be a challenge. So we'll see what happens starting at lunch today. Jay Carney, great to see you.

CARNEY: Thanks.

CUOMO: You've got to remember also, they're hired, these guys, to compromise. Nobody thinks that your party's going to get everything they want. They're there -- this is their job.

CAMEROTA: Is it, or is it representing their constituents? Their constituents want them to bring their own concerns to Washington.

CUOMO: It is true, but the point is bring them there and then make something happen, because otherwise it would be unreasonable to expect anything to happen. And it always have -- they found a way to do it before. There's something new here. There's something new in this division that they have to find a way to heal. We just have to hope they figure it out sooner rather than later.

All right, we're going to take a little break. When we come back, there's been a journalist held captive in Iran since July. Did you know that? His family is very worried about his health. They're working every day to get him home. Has there been any progress? We are on it. We have his brother joining us, next. Please, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN HOST: A desperate plea for freedom from the family of Jason Rezaian, he's the "Washington Post" reporter who's been detained in Iran without trial for over 100 days now. Rezaian has been in solitary confinement since July 22nd when Iranian authorities removed him and his wife Yegi (ph) from their home in Tehran. She was freed last month, Jason though remains in custody.

Now officials there in Iran allege that Jason was involved in activities quote/unquote, "beyond journalism" but other than that they're offering no further details. Jason's family has been working for his release. Now there are indications that his health is deteriorating.

His brother Ali joins me here in studio. First of all, how are you doing? And how's the family doing? How's your mom doing? How's his wife doing?

ALI REZAIAN, BROTHER OF JASON REZAIAN: You know, his wife (inaudible) was released about a month ago and she's I think getting better, with the family in Tehran and she's worried for Jason's safety. My mom is in Istanbul. She's doing well. She has a really good support group there. We talk all the time and she's got just a wonderful group of people around the world that are helping us out.

PEREIRA: How about you?

REZAIAN: You know, it keeps me busy working on this, trying to help Jason in any way I can. I met some amazing people and we're just working really hard in a lot of different ways.

PEREIRA: And what -- give me an idea of that because I think we all imagine if this was us, what would we do? Where do we reach out? Are you getting support from U.S. officials? Are you getting support from his employer?

REZAIAN: Sure. Yes. You know, the "Washington Post" has been fantastic (ph). They've supported us all the way along as well as the state department. We've been in contact with them. And they tell us what they can do and what they can't because some of the conversations that are going on there's more communication with the Iranians than in the past so that's helpful but I think the main thing is that Jason had a wonderful network of people in the journalist community, is wonderful, they've reached out to try and support us.

PEREIRA: Which we really loved to hear, that makes a big difference we know. Talk to me about his health because there are reports that there's been some struggles and that you're concerned about it. What's leading you to be concerned?

REZAIAN: Well, we've got some information that's come out that in the past month his health has been deteriorating. He had always had high blood pressure and he was having some issues with his eyes. I'm glad to hear the other day he did get to see a doctor for the first time since he was taken. But he's having problems with his back as well as kind of emotional issues because he's been locked up for so long.

PEREIRA: It's got to wear on you.

REZAIAN: I can only imagine. No one should have to know that.

PEREIRA: No. No one should.

REZAIAN: No one really should have to do that but, you know, he's a strong guy, but you know, what I really want, what everybody wants is for him to come out and to be the guy that he was before, not to have permanent damage. And that's our concern right now.

PEREIRA: Yes. That is obviously a concern. Part of our family got to know part of your family. Anthony Bourdain got to know your brother during a taping of his show and he shared this little bit insight about your brother. I want you to listen.

REZAIAN: Ok.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST: Confused, horrified, of course, worried. You know, I just met and talked at length with a guy who was so positive about Iran, so positive about the possibilities for a better future. In no way critical, a voice of reason and understanding, and a kind and caring person, proud of his Iranian roots, and proud of his adopted city, and here to tell us about it, so it came as a really terrible surprise, particularly as our experience shooting in Iran had been a shockingly positive one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Jason Rezaian is not just a headline. We want to put a human face on this. This is your brother. He was a proud Iranian- American. He was proud of his heritage. Tell me more about your brother.

REZAIAN: Jason is the kind of guy to connect with people. Wherever you went he would meet people, have friends that lasted a lifetime all over the world. Whenever we'd go anywhere people would ask what do you do? He tells them I live in Tehran, people ask why, what's going on. I wouldn't go there. Sometimes people are saying he'd always be there saying, you should come on over, it's really great. You don't know what the culture is like, the people, the food, everything, people are warm and welcoming which I think is what Tony saw on TV.

PEREIRA: You don't believe for a second -- and I have to go -- you don't believe for a second what the Iranians are alleging that he was doing things beyond the scope of journalism?

REZAIAN: No, no, no. Nothing like that. He always was meticulous about following the rules over there.

PEREIRA: Jason, our best thoughts to you and our prayers that your brother gets home safe and sound and very soon. Give our best to his wife and to your mother and keep us updated -- ok.

REZAIAN: Thanks so much Michaela.

PEREIRA: Ok, Ali. Thank you so much.

Up next, man's best friend helping soldiers on the front lines, wait until you see what happens when they're reunited when they get home. You're going to meet one of the Top Ten CNN Heroes of 2014 when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: I used to belt this out in the bedroom. Now it's a perfect song for this situation, we're back to our heroes. You know that each week we spotlight one of the top ten CNN heroes of 2014, as you, remember it's all about you, you get to vote for the one who inspires you the most at CNNheroes.com.

So here's this week's honoree. They bring comfort to soldiers with a little help from man's best friend. Reuniting soldiers from around the world with the animals they adopted while serving. It happens more than you think. Meet Pen Farthing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEN FARTHING, FINALIST, CNN HEREOS: UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On every single street corner in Kabul you'll find stray dogs. Looking after a dog or cat does relieve stress in your daily lives and so it holds true for U.S. soldiers as well.

When I was serving in Afghanistan I actually thought it was quite unique looking after this dog but I was wrong. To date now, the organization has actually rescued over 650 dogs or cats, all serving soldiers from around the world.

We help the stray animals out in the streets there was a big problem with rabies. We're not just helping the animal, we were also helping the Afghan people. When we get a call from the soldier we have to get the dog from wherever the soldier is in Afghanistan to our shelter in Kabul. We'll neuter or spay the dog and we vaccinate against a variety of diseases. And then the animal starts his journey from Kabul to the soldier's home country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I pulled Cadence out of the crate I was just so excited. I was even more excited that she remembered me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't believe that they're here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's a huge part of the transition being easier for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My connection with Afghanistan stays alive because of that, so for me every time I look at him, makes me smile.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: A lot of smiles there.

CUOMO: Right.

CAMEROTA: We need the tissues again.

CUOMO: I know. You know, Indra and I were at the "Stand Up for Heroes" the other night that Bob Woodruff from ABC does. And even though it's her husband who's very involved with this, he's a veteran himself. You're going to hear this word transition more and more. Our fighting men and women, they come back here and it's harder than anyone expects. Not enough is done.

So I know it's just a dog for somebody, it isn't for them. And it's not about forsaking them either to people on the ground. This is something that's done in addition, it's a really important mission that can mean so much.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I would suggest that it's not just a dog. If you see this firsthand the difference it makes with these guys -- I've seen it first hand numerous times. It's literally unbelievable -- transforms them overnight.

CAMEROTA: So nice that they're doing that.

All right. So just one week left to help your hero become CNN's hero of the year, go to CNNheroes.com to vote once a day, every day you can vote for the hero who inspires you the most. All ten nominees will be honored at "CNN HEROES: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE" hosted by our own Anderson Cooper, Sunday December 7th.

PEREIRA: That's a great night.

CUOMO: All right. A lot of developing stories going on right now so let's get you fresh to the newsroom with Poppy Harlow in for Carol Costello. Hey Poppin -- have a good weekend, Pop.