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EARLY START

Chaos in Yemen; Time Running Out for ISIS Hostages; Boehner Bypasses Obama, Invites Netanyahu; Michael Brown Shooting: No Charges for Officer Wilson; More Questions Arise from Deflate-Gate

Aired January 22, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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


JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Crisis in Yemen that could derail the American war on terror. The country a crucial ally to the United States, teetering on the brink of collapse. Al Qaeda there hoping to boost its power. We are live with the latest this morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Happening, world leaders gather to figure out how to fight ISIS. This as time runs out for two hostages held by those terrorists. Live team coverage ahead.

BERMAN: No charges expected for the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown. A federal investigation not finding enough evidence against Officer Darren Wilson. What we're learning this morning about this new report, that's ahead.

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

ROMANS: Nice to see you. I'm Christine Romans. It is Thursday, January 22nd. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

We begin this morning with a crisis -- a crisis in Yemen that could give al Qaeda a new foothold, could give al Qaeda new power.

There is now a tentative deal between the U.S. backed government and rebels who have been attacking the president's palace for days. But it's not clear whether this truce will last any longer than the last one.

Yemen is now a hotbed of terrorism. Al Qaeda's affiliate claims to have planned and funded some of the Paris terror attacks. A leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula releasing a new video calling for jihadists to launch lone wolf attacks at home and in Europe and in the United States. And ISIS is now known to be active and recruiting in Yemen.

The Obama administration sees Yemen as crucial to the war on terror, but this morning, that partnership is anything but stable.

I want to bring in senior international correspondent Nic Robertson with the latest on the turmoil.

Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

Regional experts believe that Yemen is tipping towards being a failed state. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Qaeda in Yemen is the organization that has perhaps al Qaeda's best bomb maker, most sophisticated bomb maker, the man who developed and designed and made the underpants bomb. That was an attempt to bring down a plane in Detroit several years ago. They made the printer bombs which were shipped to the United States, fortunately intercepted.

So, when this organization and its leader who is not only the leader of al Qaeda in Yemen, but the number two in al Qaeda, globally, makes a threat like this, it is a real threat and should be taken very seriously.

The turmoil in Yemen right now plays into al Qaeda's hands. The Houthis who have taken control in the capital forced, it seems, a new deal with the president giving them more power will likely enflame the passions of the Sunni tribesmen. This is key recruiting ground for al Qaeda.

And if we look back three years ago, when the president back then in Yemen was almost killed in the bombing, in the mosque inside the presidential palace, al Qaeda at that time managed to take control of three states inside Yemen. More instability now could give them an even greater foothold and give them the space to grow and operate as we have seen ISIS and other al Qaeda type groups in Iraq and Syria and other places.

So, what is happening in Yemen right now, this instability in the capital, this lack of clarity of where the country is going, the increased instability could seriously play into al Qaeda's hands and therefore, give them the potential for more likelihood of strikes in the West. Not an idle threat being made, Christine.

ROMANS: Not an idle threat. Nic Robertson with that troubling development in Yemen -- thank you.

BERMAN: All right. Happening right now, the battle against ISIS at the top of the agenda this morning at a big meeting in London. That is where Secretary of State John Kerry meets with 20 member nations in the coalition to defeat the Islamic terror group. Discussions focused on the military campaign, the financing and foreign fighters coming to Iraq and Syria who have been trying to get into that battle.

CNN's Atika Shubert joins us with the latest. Good morning, Atika.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

That meeting is happening just a short distance from us at Lancaster house. It is could hosted by secretary of state John Kerry and Philip Hammond. It is the core members of the coalition against ISIS some 20 countries represented. What they will be doing is taking stock of the situation not only the threat of course in Syria and Iraq, but whether or not this is expanding, of course, into other countries.

Primary on the minds of France, for example, will be those Paris attacks. What are the connections with ISIS and other militant groups in Syria and Iraq area? How can those connections be disrupted? These are the things they are talking about.

And one of the main points will be financing. Not only how much finances goes into it, but how to disrupt ISIS financing. Remember, they are a rich organization in the sense they have been able to sell oil revenues and amount of money they have made on kidnappings. And so, one key of aspects will be how to disrupt them not only militarily, but financially as well.

BERMAN: You mentioned the kidnappings and ransom, Atika. And right now, we know that ISIS is holding two Japanese hostages. They say they will execute these men by tomorrow if Japan doesn't pay $200 million. What's the latest on this situation?

SHUBERT: Yes, it's an extraordinary amount of money, $200 million. The reason ISIS says is that is how much Japan has contributed to the coalition. It seems to be over their heads that that money is not going towards the military effort, but towards humanitarian aid to help those displaced.

Now, Japan says it will do everything it can to get its citizens back. It has not said it will pay any sort of money to get citizens back, but clearly time is running out.

BERMAN: All right. Atika Shubert for us in London -- a dire situation for those two Japanese men today -- thanks, Atika.

ROMANS: All right. A grand jury has indicted an Ohio man who allegedly plotted to bomb the U.S. Capitol. Twenty-year-old Christopher Lee Cornell faces two counts of attempted murder of government employees. Each count carries a possible 20-year sentence. He's also facing firearm charges.

Now, Cornell was arrested outside a suburban Cincinnati gun shop last week after purchasing two M-15 assault weapons and 600 rounds of ammunition.

BERMAN: A controversy this morning over a diplomatic end run.

So, without consulting the White House, House Speaker John Boehner invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress next month and make the case for new sanctions against Iran and theoretically against the discussions on nuclear weapons that the United States is currently having with Iran. The Obama administration is concerned that the Netanyahu speech could jeopardize the negotiations about Tehran's' nuclear program. The White House also making clear that it is unusual for the foreign leader to come speak in the United States without telling the United States he is doing so.

I want to bring in our global affairs correspondent Elise Labott who joins us now live from Jerusalem.

What a bad blood to go around here, Elise.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: A lot of bad blood, and it's interesting of how you see it from where you sit.

In the United States, the White House saying, look, Congress broke protocol by not telling the White House they are inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Clearly, the prime minister did not tell the administration that he accepted the invitation.

Here in Israel, all the papers are talking about how the prime minister, they think, angled himself for an invitation for Congress. Prime Minister Netanyahu is facing election in just over a month and these opposition parties think this kind of gives him a leg up, showing how he is the arbiter of the United States relationship with Israel. You know that is not the relationship between the White House and Prime Minister Netanyahu not very good. President Obama and him with a lot of tension.

But he has a lot of friends in Congress, and they share the same attitude on Iran. And so, I think they have common cause, but basically parties here in Israel are saying crying foul and putting up petition saying he shouldn't go.

BERMAN: It would be interesting to see the tone of his speech to the U.S. Congress. How critical, directly critical he is of the Obama administration because that would just I think increase the tensions between the White House and the prime minister's office.

Elise Labott in Jerusalem, thanks so much.

ROMANS: Historic high level talks on normalizing relations between the United States and Cuba being held in Havana. The initial discussions will focus on trade and travel and reopening embassies in both capitals. The talks come just weeks after President Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro formally ended six decades of official estrangement between the two countries.

BERMAN: An abrupt about-face by House Republicans. They have dropped plans to debate a bill that would ban virtually all abortions after 20 weeks. Objections from some women on the Hill, also some moderates, left the leaders short of the votes they needed to pass this measure. The vote had been scheduled to coincide with the gathering of anti- abortion activists marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe versus Wade decision.

ROMANS: Eight minutes past the hour.

President Obama issuing an executive order to better coordinate federal programs in the Arctic Ocean. The president says this is a necessary response to decades of climate change that had transformed the Arctic, its features and its accessibility. One Alaska senator says the order does not do enough and focusing too much on climate change and too little on development and build up of critical infrastructure.

BERMAN: Actually, some votes in the Senate on issue of climate change. Senate voting 98-1 to say that climate change is real and not a hoax. However, they had other votes of whether humans contribute to climate change, and they did not vote yes on those amendments. Senate passing amendments saying climate change is real, but not willing to say humans are a cause.

The president is still on the road, selling his middle class economic program and other ideas that he laid out in the State of the Union. The president will speak today at the University of Kansas, and after that, he turns to Washington where he is expecting some hard-hitting interviews by several YouTube stars.

ROMANS: Isn't that telling? Still 21st century, right? YouTube stars interviewing the president.

Time for an early start on your money this morning. Asian shares ending the day higher. European shares looking cautious. There is an important decision from the European Central Bank. That comes later this morning.

Why is it so important? Well, it is expected the bank is going to announce its own big stimulus -- a bond buying program worth 50 billion euros a month. It's about $58 billion. It's a means to try to stop the deflation and prop up the European economy and anticipation of this program, the stimulus has been boosting stocks for weeks.

U.S. stock futures are pointing higher this morning. Yesterday, the stocks climbed for a third day in a row. That is the longest winning streak so far this year. We will see if it can continue today.

BERMAN: It's so interesting. Europe is doing the exact opposite thing the United States is doing.

ROMANS: The divergence is so interesting.

BERMAN: The exact opposite situation. It should make Americans feel good.

ROMANS: The U.S. is the strongest economy really in the world, the best story in the world right now. And you've got Europe really worried about deflation. You've got China that is slowing. The U.S. is the bright spot right now.

All right. Ten minutes past the hour.

The Justice Department is set to clear Officer Darren Wilson in the deadly shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. Why officials will not be issuing charges, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: The Ferguson police officer who shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown will not face criminal charges. The FBI has concluded -- has completed its investigation of Darren Wilson and the case now in the hands of federal prosecutors. And sources telling CNN the Justice Department has determined there is not enough evidence to file any charges against the former officer. A formal announcement is expected before Attorney General Eric Holder leaves office this spring. BERMAN: New video this morning of a deadly police shooting a New

Jersey street. The chilling encounter captured on the dash cam video of Bridgeton, New Jersey. Officers pulling over a blue Jaguar for running a stop sign late last month when suddenly the man inside the car defies the police order, he emerges from the car -- all hell breaks loose.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER: Show me your hands! Show me your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) hands. Show me your hands. Don't you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) move! Don't you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) move!

Get him out of the car, Rog. We've got a gun in his glove compartment. I'm going to shot you. You are going to be (EXPLETIVE DELETED) dead! I'm telling you. You reach for something, you going to be (EXPLETIVE DELETED) dead! I'm telling you. I'm telling you. Keep your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) right there.

Jerome, you reach for something, you're going to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) dead. He's reaching, he's reaching. Show me your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) hands!

No, you're not! No, you're not! No, you're not! Don't you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) move!

(GUNSHOTS)

OFFICER: Don't you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) move!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Thirty-six-year-old Jermaine Reid was killed by officers. The use of deadly force is now being investigated by county prosecutors. Now, we are told police did recover from the car and Reid did have a deadly criminal record, spending 13 years in prison for shooting at three New Jersey state troopers when he was a teenager.

ROMANS: City council members in Newtown, Connecticut, voting to tear down the home where Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza lived. The yellow colonial sits on a grassy two-acre hill.

Lanza shot and killed his mother inside that home before heading to nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School where he killed 20 children and six educators before taking his own life. There is no timetable for demolition. A council member says it will be rescheduled as soon as practical.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, fire crews battle a massive fire that tore through a New Jersey apartment complex. It would be seen from miles around. Hundreds of people have been displaced from The Avalon at Edgewater Complex right at the Hudson River. So far, there are no reports of any injuries. That would be miraculous. Look at that.

Officials say everyone in the four-story building appears to have made it out safely, no word at this point what caused the fire.

ROMANS: New information about the fatal metro incident in Washington, D.C. Remember this? Members of the National Transportation Safety Board met Thursday, calling what happened earlier this month on the yellow line completely unacceptable. One member said the train's air intake system was not turned off, meaning it drew smoke into those cars. One passenger died, scores of others were sickened by that smoke. Some survivors said it was 40 minutes before they heard from anyone to get out of the train.

BERMAN: New details emerging in the shooting at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. The surgeon who was shot had treated the mother of the gunman. Stephen Pasceri shot Dr. Michael Davidson in a foyer before turning the gun on himself. Pasceri's sister says the man blamed Davidson of their mother's death in November.

ROMANS: Jay Leno coming to the defense of women who have accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault. The former "Tonight Show" host says he doesn't understand why it's so hard to believe dozens of accusers. He says, quote, "You go to Saudi Arabia and you need two women to testify against a man. Here, you need 25."

We're also hearing from Malcolm-Jamal Warner who played Cosby's son on his NBC sitcom. He tells "Billboard" magazine it is difficult to see Cosby faced allegations of sexual assault. He calls him an important mentor and friend.

Seventeen minutes past the hour.

Winter storm set to dump a half a foot of snow across the Southern Rockies and Southern plains. Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam for an early look at your weather.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Waking up to a winter wonderland across New Mexico and Texas today. Here's the reason why. Very active radar at the moment from Dallas to Albuquerque. Be careful traveling east or westbound along Interstate 40. We are expecting 3 to 6 inches of snow.

Temperatures today, 46 for the nation's capital, 39 for the Big Apple. The Windy City tops 36 with sunshine overhead. Look at the storm system developing across the Gulf of Mexico. This is going to produce roughly between three and five inches locally from Texas through the Carolinas.

But as we look towards Friday night and into Saturday, we have the potential for the big snowstorm. That would be a nor'easter for New York City and Washington, the exact path of the storm still uncertain with some computer models indicating anywhere between two and four inches of snow for the big cities and as little as a light dusting.

Either way you look at it, Christine and John, we're going to monitor this storm very closely here at CNN weather center.

Back to you.

BERMAN: All right. Thanks so much.

So, big day for New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick. He faces reporters just a few hours from now. What will the questions be about deflate-gate? Will he answer them?

Andy Scholes with the "Bleacher Report", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. New information in the swirl of controversy surrounding deflate-gate. Some members of the Indianapolis Colts had concerns that the Patriots even were deflating footballs before the game started.

ROMANS: "The Daily News" called the "deflatriots".

Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, good morning, guys.

Yes, we pointed that to D'Qwell Jackson interception in the second quarter is the moment the Colts discover the Patriots were using under-inflated footballs. But they may have already been suspicious before the game got started. According to ESPN, the Colts hard concerns after the regular season game in November. In that game, they picked off Tom Brady twice and they felt the balls just didn't feel right.

Jay Glazer from FOX Sports, he's also reporting that the Ravens told the Colts that the Patriots were doctoring footballs and the NFL planned to check the balls at halftime even before the second quarter interception. Just more troubling reports if you are a patriots fan, like you Berman. Regardless, New England is going to be playing in the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks.

CNN's Rachel Nichols caught up with Pete Carroll to get his thoughts on deflate-gate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS: You are one of the 32 stewards of the game. How important is it that these coaches protect the integrity of the game?

PETE CARROLL, SEAHAWKS HEAD COACH: I think it is absolutely important. We have seen the power of the league and how every turn of issues that have come up and one right after another. People have looked to the league for leadership. You can see us working to figure that out. You can see the league and league office working to figure out what is right, and stand for what is right. When we make mistake, we admit to them and we fix the situation. We send the message that is the right way to do things. And so, we'll see what happens with this.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SCHOLES: Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman never held back from speaking his mind when talking to reporters. He, of course, weighed in on deflate-gate and commented on his relationship with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD SHERMAN, SEAHAWKS CORNERBACK: It is not going to have any effect on the game, you know? It's not going to -- nobody is going to get suspended. Nothing is going to happen. You know, they're going to play this game. Whatever they did, the risk reward was greater.

Some people get a skewed view of Tom Brady, that he's just a clean- cut, does everything right and never says a bad word to anyone. And we know him to be otherwise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: The Sherman-Brady beef goes back to the 2012 game where the Seahawks beat the Patriots. There was a little trash talk between Brady and Sherman. Sherman went up to Brady after the game and said, you mad, bro?

So, there's going to be interesting dynamic here in Super Bowl.

And, guys, coach Bill Belichick speaking later this morning, 9:30 Eastern. Of course, John, we know Belichick never says anything to the media anyway that really wouldn't him to expand on deflate-gate at this point.

BERMAN: Speaking is a relative term when talking about Bill Belichick at a news conference.

Look, I actually love the Brady-Sherman back and forth. You have two of the smartest guys jawing at each other. There's nothing wrong with that. That's wonderful. It's only that were the biggest issue surrounding this Super Bowl.

SCHOLES: Sherman has a bunch of new trash talk to break out for the Super Bowl now.

ROMANS: Berman, how is your relationship with Tom Brady at this point?

BERMAN: My relationship with Tom Brady is slightly more trouble today than it was yesterday. Look, you know, I wrote an op-ed that made a point of saying cheating is bad. I do believe. Some Patriots fans -- my brethren are not happy with me. Oh, well.

SCHOLES: Thanks for that, Andy Scholes.

BERMAN: All right. Twenty-five minutes after the hour.

Crisis in Yemen. This crisis could derail the U.S. war on terror. We have new developments right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)