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EARLY START

Jordan Willing to Swap Prisoners; Airlines Hit by Spike in Online Bomb Threats; More Snow for New England; Hezbollah Missile Kills 2 Israeli Soldiers; Boko Haram Trains Children to Kill; Stocks Down Around the World

Aired January 29, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Deadline fast-approaching to save the lives of two hostages held by ISIS, threatened to be killed in just hours if a convicted terrorist isn't released. This morning, negotiations are underway, but will government officials give in to the terrorists demands? Live team coverage breaking down what happened overnight begins right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. I'm 28 -- 29 minutes past the hour.

BERMAN: Happening right now, the clock is ticking down for two hostages held by ISIS. Terrorists are threatening to kill captured Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and Jordanian fighter pilot Muath al- Kasasbeh if the government of Jordan refuses to release a convicted female terrorist. A message purportedly from ISIS sets a new deadline now for a deal. There are just hours left.

CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of the audio recording. But officials are taking very seriously. This morning, Jordan's government is willing to make a prisoner swap. There could be hope for the hostages then being held by ISIS.

I want to bring in CNN's Will Ripley live in Tokyo.

Will, there's a Japanese envoy in Jordan. What's going on?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, very little public comment from the government here in Tokyo or on the ground in Jordan today, other than to say that this is obviously a severe ongoing volatile situation with discussions that continue at this hour. The Japanese government listening to the latest ISIS propaganda video, if indeed the voice on the new message is Kenji Goto, it let's them know that Goto as of the time of the recording, was still alive and still being used by is to convey their propaganda messages.

And this new message sets the stage for perhaps a very dramatic showdown whereas the hours tick now, five hours and counting until sunset, on the Turkish border, basically Kenji Goto relaying the message if the Jordanian government doesn't have Sajida al Rishawi, their prisoner whom they held for the better for a decade at the border by sunset, ready for an exchange, a prisoner exchange with the Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, they say in the new message that Muath al-Kasasbeh, the Jordanian pilot, will be executed.

Now, they have -- they changed their deadline as we have seen repeatedly over several days. So, ISIS certainly, if we can learn anything, they are unpredictable and in this case, they have not adhered to the deadline, their execution deadlines, because at least as of what ISIS would like us to believe, these two hostages are still alive. But keep in mind -- as far as we know from the Jordanian side, there has been no proof of life for this captured pilot, which is a key condition to any sort of exchange.

And again, from the Jordanian perspective, they need to get their citizen home. They need to get their fighter pilot home. And ISIS, even in this message, is not offering that. So, this is a very grave situation. Because if Jordan does not bow to the demands of ISIS, does not hand over al-Rishawi, what does that mean for this pilot and what does it mean for the Japanese hostage Kenji Goto?

The coming hours here as we continue to say could be very critical and it could go either way right now -- John.

BERMAN: Yes, Will Ripley, key points. Shifting deadlines and lack of proof adds to the anxiety as there is some hope now for these hostages.

Will Ripley in Tokyo for us, thanks so much.

ROMANS: In Jordan, officials say they are willing to release convicted female terrorist Sajida al-Rishawi, but only in exchange for pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh's freedom. They say they've asked ISIS for proof of life, evidence that this pilot is safe. So far, ISIS has not provided any, and Jordan's foreign minister tells CNN that Japanese journalist Kenji Goto would be -- would be part of the prisoner exchange if that happens. The pilot is their priority.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is following the story for us in Amman.

Jomana, does Jordan's focus on their pilot means he might be the only one who gets released?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, also, in the last few hours, we are hearing from the Jordanian government reaction to that new recording possibly from ISIS. They are saying they are working to verify the authenticity of that recording, but also really here reiterating what you mentioned, that their priority in this case is Muath al-Kasasbeh, their pilot.

Now, there are a number of issues here. The release of the Jordanian pilot has not been on the table. It's not something that we know ISIS has offered to do, at least publicly.

We know that the Jordanians have been engaged in negotiations with ISIS over the last few weeks since his capture to try to get him released. But at no point has ISIS made any of these demands public. What we have is the Jordanian government offering something that ISIS is not asking. They are offering to release Sajida al-Rishawi, but only in exchange for their pilot.

And as you mentioned, the Jordanian foreign minister saying that Kenji Goto is part of the negotiations. But again, their priority is their pilot. The Jordanian government under a lot of pressure here domestically to try to secure the release of this young pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh. But they say their main issue right now is they have not received a proof of life, something they say they have been asking for, for weeks now.

Very, very tense hours ahead for Jordan after the last week of tensions, with everyone waiting to see how this uncertain situation is going to end -- Christine.

ROMANS: An uncertain situation. As we know, ISIS has been very unpredictable and brutal in the past. And so, that is why everyone is terrified in trying to resolve this as best as they can.

Jomana Karadsheh, thank you for that.

New concerns this morning about a surge of bomb threats against U.S. airlines. Dozens of flights affecting thousands of passengers. U.S. officials say the spike in threats on social media started a couple of weeks ago. They believe most of the 50 or so threats that followed are copycats. In the end, none of the threats proved credible.

CNN's Rene Marsh is at New York's LaGuardia Airport. She's got the latest on the story for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine and John, it used to be that bomb threats were called in, but now, they're being delivered by social media. It also used to be a situation that happened only once in a while. But a U.S. official is telling CNN it's becoming an every day occurrence. You're seeing the uptick specifically this month after a bomb scare on a flight from Atlanta to Raleigh on January 17th.

Following that incident, we are told that there were more than 50 similar incidents. Now, the FBI is investigating all of these social media threats. They are tracing computer IP addresses to track down these culprits. We should note this is a federal crime. The punishment could meantime behind pars or even a hefty fine.

At this point, the question is, well, what's causing the uptick? You talk to law enforcement officials. They are blaming the publicity surrounding these incidents -- Christine, John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Our thanks to Rene Marsh for that.

The secretary of homeland security says there are no specific threats against Sunday's Super Bowl. He is confident the game will be safe and secure and successful. Jeh Johnson says adjustments to security had been made this year, with the emergence of ISIS on the international scene. Everyone entering the University of Phoenix Stadium on Sunday will be scanned and patted down.

ROMANS: New England is getting a bit of a breather from all of the snow, but guess what? More is on the way.

Jennifer Gray has the latest from Boston.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, here are in Boston, things are getting back to normal. Slowly, but surely, though, most of the interstates have been cleared. Most of the main roads have been cleared as well. However, a lot of those second streets not completely clear. They called off school another day today.

One of the other things is the snow piles around the city, some of them as tall as I am. They can't even see the kids waiting on the bus stop. And so, they had to cancel school for another day.

In fact, temperatures are going to continue to be very, very cold here. In fact, today is going to be one of the warmer days that we've had in a five-day span with temperatures getting to the mid-30s. But we are going to see temperatures bottom out again in the teens by the time we get to Saturday.

Yes, another storm system rolling through once again on Friday into Saturday. That's going to bring another round of snow. Models still not coming together. Some models say we could get an inch or two of snow. Other models say we could get four to five inches.

So, this could possibly be another plowable event for Boston. Of course, look at all the snow behind me. We've had more than 24 inches of snow. It almost made the top five snowstorms all time for Boston. It did make the number one January snowiest storm.

It has been a mess across the city. Of course, they were prepared. And so, things weren't as bad as they could have been.

With school canceled again, that city is trying to get back up and running, of course, and then more snow on the way. Definitely not what people want to hear -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Jennifer Gray, in Boston for us, thank you for that.

A Cuban President Raul Castro announcing a list of demands he says must be met by the United States before these two countries can normalize ties. Castro says the U.S. has to return the base at Guantanamo Bay, lift a 50-year trade embargo and pay hundreds of millions of dollars of damages to Cuba. He claims further attempts at diplomacy would not make sense if those issues are not resolved first. The State Department has not commented on the remarks.

BERMAN: That's a steep list of demands right there.

ROMANS: It is, and I think you would hear a lot of Cuban-Americans who would say, wait a second, what about our property that was seized? What about the fact that so many of these families and revolution has lost everything and had to start over.

BERMAN: You do wonder if he had listed those demands before they made this deal to swap prisoners.

ROMANS: Right, if there would be a deal.

BERMAN: Interesting.

All right. The controversial Keystone pipeline is expected to pass in the Senate today. The move will end close to four weeks of debate on the legislation. If the measure does pass, it will be squared with a version that cleared the House earlier this month. President Obama has consistently threatened to veto the bill in its current forms.

BERMAN: President Obama, Vice President Biden and the new Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, they will be the featured speakers when House Democrats hunker down for a big strategy session in Philadelphia today. The policy retreat is designed to develop a new party message for the 2016 election. One Democrat calls it the huddle before the big game. Rebuilding the middle class, not surprise on that, is expected to be the dominant theme. That's what the tone has been from the party for sometime now.

Time for an early start on your money this morning. European and Asian shares lower. Stock futures are barely budging. But yesterday, the Dow dropped almost 200 points. The problem here, the selloff escalated when the Federal Reserve said it is upbeat about the economy. That was read as meaning a rate hike -- an interest rate could happen relatively soon.

Watching Facebook shares this morning, its profits soared. The company grew advertising revenue by more than 50 percent last quarter. And guess what? Most of that revenue came from mobile ads. A big win for Facebook as users switched from desktops to phones.

Facebook now has 1.4 billion monthly active users. That is up 13 percent from a year ago. One thing worrying investors, Facebook costs are exploding as the company makes more investments.

BERMAN: Interesting to see.

ROMANS: I know.

BERMAN: All right. Tensions rising in the Middle East this morning. Israel fires back after a deadly attack on a couple of its vehicles. Is a new war with Hezbollah imminent? We are live with the latest this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: Happening this morning, Israeli leaders are meeting to decide whether to escalate their response to a Hezbollah missile attack that killed two Israeli soldiers. Seven Israeli soldiers were wounded in the anti-tank missile attack on Wednesday in a disputed area on the border between Lebanon and Israel. The Israel Defense Force fired back, shelling targets in Southern Lebanon.

CNN's Atika Shubert is on the border right now for us live with the latest.

Good morning, Atika.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

In fact, you can see Lebanon over there. That is how close we are to the border. But so far, it has been 24 hours since the incident and it has been quiet. And that's a good thing. There does not seem to have been any escalation.

In fact, Israel's Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon told army radio in morning, they received a message from the U.N. peacekeeping unit in Lebanon that Hezbollah does not want to escalate this further. So, that seems to be good news. That this may not -- may not raise the temperature anymore. But it really is still a wait and see mode. The military is on high alert in the area.

We've seen a number of APCs on the roads here and heard a drone in the sky monitoring the situation here. But it seems that the initial flare up yesterday was really the worst we have seen in many years since 2006. Since conflict broke out.

But for now, it seems that temperatures are cooling. We'll have to wait and see once we hear from Hezbollah. We are expecting Hezbollah's leader to make a statement whether today or tomorrow. We're not sure. But once we get a sense of Hezbollah's take on it, then we'll know better whether or not this will any escalate further.

BERMAN: Interesting to see what each side does over the next several hours.

Atika Shubert right on the border there between Lebanon and Israel -- thanks so much.

ROMANS: As his former NFL team prepares to play in the Super Bowl, Aaron Hernandez is going on trial for murder. Opening statements are scheduled today. Hernandez is accused of killing semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd. The 12-person jury and six alternates consists of 13 women and 5 men on the jury. Patriots owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick were both on the state list of potential witnesses.

BERMAN: A temporary reprieve for three death row inmates in Oklahoma. The Supreme Court ordering the state to postpone lethal injection executions using a controversial sedative until the court rules on a challenge involving this drug. That sedative has been cited in problematic executions in three states, including Oklahoma. It is not clear if the high court's order allows Oklahoma to carry out executions without using that drug.

ROMANS: Breaking overnight, a near brawl at St. Louis City Hall meeting to discuss the creation of a civilian oversight board and monitor police. It started out peacefully enough last night until police union official Jeff Roorda got into a heated exchange with a local alderman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pardon me. Pardon me. Pardon me. Please have a seat and do -- first of all, excuse me. First of all, you do not tell me my function.

(CROSSTALK)

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: One woman claims the mayhem erupted when Mr. Roorda shoved her. The police union official denies pushing her. And we want you to see the wrist band that Roorda was wearing. It reads, "I am Darren Wilson", it's a show of support for the former police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson. A local clergy member says Roorda flaunted that wrist band at the meeting, igniting tensions that led to the near brawl. But clearly, very, very frayed nerves at that meeting.

BERMAN: The number of measles cases linked to an outbreak at Disneyland theme parks in California keeps growing. Health officials report at least 68 confirmed cases now in California and five other states. A high school in Riverside County, California, has banned 66 students who haven't had measles vaccinations from classes for the next two weeks. They will have to be medically cleared or have proof of immunization to return.

ROMANS: I'll tell you, that's the number one story on mommy blogs this week. It's about measles, immunizations, you know, people who refused to immunize, they don't want to immunize, for whatever reason, and how it is creating a lot of concern among parents and teachers in schools.

All right, 4:48 in the East.

Boko Haram showing off a new generation of fighters. Disturbing developments live after the break.

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BERMAN: Some stunning images putting the brutality of Boko Haram on full display. The terror group has posted photos on Twitter apparently showing a military training camp for children. Look at this -- kids are seen holding and aiming AK-47s. The pictures have the State Department ramping up efforts to curb the recruitment and indoctrination of children by terror groups.

CNN's Diana Magnay covering this for us.

Good morning, Diana.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. Well, these pictures appeared on a Twitter handle belonging to a group which calls itself the official mouthpiece of Boko Haram. It only set up this Twitter account last week. (INAUDIBLE) it calls himself, which roughly translate as the most trustworthy grip (ph), they release these photographs, as you say, of extremely young children holding AK-47s.

Now, we know that Boko Haram has in the last few years kidnapped hundreds of children, boys and girls, whose fate is unknown. And, of course, the Chibouk girls are the one we remember from the campaign around the world to rescue them. But there have been so many more.

We do not know whether these children in these photographs are the abducted children, forcibly recruited and forced to train. They could be the children of Boko Haram militants. You will remember earlier this month, there was suicide bomb attack in Maiduguri where a girl who thought to be only as young as 10 years old, was strapped with explosives and detonated remotely by Boko Haram. And so, this seems in keeping with the way that they have used young children in the past.

It also coincides, this Twitter account, with a ramping up, really, of their media strategy and a sort of increase in production values they put into it. They released on Thursday, an interview with the spokesman, the alleged spokesman of Boko Haram, where he talks about why the group attacking Baga, and how that town was now part of what he says was the Islamic State in Africa.

I think we should be aware that these new videos, the production that has gone into them, very much emulates what ISIS is doing in Iraq and Syria. You just have to hope that at the moment, this is simply a matter of modeling each other's mode of operations rather than something more concrete -- John.

BERMAN: Diana Magnay, troubling images and a troubling storyline to be sure in Nigeria, thanks so much.

MAGNAY: All right. Fifty-four minutes past the hour. I have some good news for your 401(k). I really do. I promise.

BERMAN: Oh, good. I'll come back for that.

ROMANS: An early start on your money is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. Fifty-eight minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on the money this morning.

European and Asian shares -- they are lower. U.S. stock futures barely moving here so far. Yesterday, the move, though, was pretty distinct. The Dow fell almost 200 points, fell almost 300 points on Tuesday. That's, you know, 500 points in a couple of days. That's nothing to sneeze at.

The Federal Reserve voiced confidence in the U.S. economy. So, why would stocks hate that? Well, it could mean an interest rate hike is coming very soon.

Also, we had oil prices rattling the markets. U.S. crude oil is around $44 a barrel this morning. That's a 6-year low. That's thanks to a supply glut. That's really disrupting a lot of different businesses.

The McDonald's CEO is out. Don Thompson retiring after months of lousy sales. Just last week, McDonald's reported a 21 percent dropped in earnings, declines in restaurant traffic. McDonald's struggling to offer something millennials want. I'm telling you, the millennials, they're going to change, gosh, the way we do business.

BERMAN: You kids are changing everything.

ROMANS: They like fast casual chains like Chipotle and Panera.

The company's chief brand officer Steve Easterbrook will take over in March at McDonald's. That stock is up 3 percent right now. Doesn't it make you feel bad that somebody leaves and the stock goes up.

This is the good news for your 401(k) I was teasing about -- a retirement savings hitting record. According to Fidelity, the average 401(k) balance climbed to 91 grand last year. That's the slight bump from a year earlier. It's up 30 percent from 2011. Thing about it, the stock market has tripled since the low in 2009. And so, should your balances.

Last year, the S&P 500 had a third year of double digit gains. Huge for your 401(k). Fidelity says the gains are also thanks to higher worker contributions.

BERMAN: Does that mean I should retire now and pocket the savings?

ROMANS: No, it means you have to keep working until you die basically. You have children to send to college. You have a lot more work to do.

BERMAN: EARLY START continues right now.