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EARLY START
Obama in China for Asia-Pacific Trade Talks; Families Relieved and Grateful; Top U.S. Spy's Mysterious Journey; Kerry in Oman For Iran Nuke Talks; Deep Freeze Coming; Iraq: ISIS Leader Injured in Airstrike
Aired November 10, 2014 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama on a crucial trip through Asia this morning. Spoke just moments ago, tackling tough foreign policy issues, laying out an ambitious agenda. We will break it all down for you live coming up.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: New details now emerging on how the Obama administration helps free two detained in North Korea. We are live with the new information about this mission the president shared just minutes ago.
BERMAN: New airstrikes on ISIS, possibly injuring one of its leaders. This as President Obama shifts the U.S. strategy to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria. We are live on what we are learning this morning. Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. Good to see you. I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is 30 minutes past the hour this Monday morning. Happening right now, the president just finished speaking in China to a meeting of Asia Pacific leaders laying out an agenda for trade talks.
Now he touched on sensitive topics for China, the host country, including internet censorship, pollution and civil rights only touching on those briefly.
The president faces a full plate of foreign policy challenges during a week-long swing to the region. The issues include shoring up America's key trade relationship with China just as that country strengthened its ties to Russia.
CNN international correspondent, David McKenzie, is live for us now in Beijing. David, over the past year, a year and a half or so, there has been rocky moments in the U.S./Chinese relationship. This is the president trying to show that these two countries are stronger together than apart.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, that is right. I think that is what the Obama administration is trying to do in this trip to China. Try to show that the two world's biggest economies can benefit from each other.
In the last few months, a lot of issues that have touched a nerve both here in China and of course, in the U.S., issues like cyber security, the trade secrets and intellectual property rights and freedoms that many are not enjoyed of course in China.
All of those were issues that President Obama touched on in a speech to world leaders and also to the business community. Effectively, the main message he was trying to get across is that China and the U.S. are stronger together when they work on economic issues. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We welcome the rise of a prosperous, peaceful and stable China. In fact, over recent decades, the United States has worked to help integrate China into the global economy.
Not only because it's in China's best interest, but because it's in America's best interest and the world's best interest, if China and the United States can work together, the world benefits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: They have come up with some progress on one issue. It is a significant one. They are now saying that there will be a ten-year validity of visas for business and tourist travelers between the U.S. and China and back.
That certainly will please the business community, but they will be very tricky issues on trade, human rights and others that President Obama will try to drive home in his meetings with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping -- Christine and John.
ROMANS: All right, David McKenzie, thank you so much for that.
BERMAN: This morning, two men held captive by North Korea finally waking up in their home countries. This after the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un ordered their release, Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller.
They were set free following a secret mission to Pyongyang by the United States intelligence chief. Bae's family spoke out about his readjustment to life back home in Seattle. Ana Cabrera has more.
ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, what a weekend for the families of Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller, who have been reunited after months even years apart. Both men arriving late Saturday night embraced by their loved ones as they stepped off the plane at McCord Field in Tacoma, Washington.
Of course, Kenneth Bae has been held captive for over two years. For Matthew Todd Miller, it has been about seven months. Still a lot of mystery surrounding the details of why they were released now, but both families relieved and expressing a lot of gratitude to have those boys back.
We talked to Kenneth Bae' sister a little bit about what those first 24 hours back on American soil have been like and listen to what she shared.
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TERRI CHUNG, KENNETH BAE'S SISTER: We had a just late eating pizza. You know, he is a story teller to begin with. I mean, that's what he does. He holds court. He regales people with funny stories. That's who he is as a person to begin with. You can tell he was so hungry for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Terri Chung also said she is seeing the old glimpses of the old Kenneth, her old brother that she remembers, but it hasn't fully emerged just yet. She said realistically it's going to be some time for him to readjusted and get reacquainted with life back in the U.S.
I also want to mention we reached out to the family of Matthew Todd Miller, who is choosing not to speak right now to the media. They are asking for their privacy at this time as their family reunites -- John and Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Ana Cabrera, thank you for that. Now the release of Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller creates more mystery really. Among the questions being raised, why the president would send the director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, essentially their top spy instead of a senior diplomat or a cabinet officer as North Korea had requested.
There are other questions about timing and motive. Why release the men now? What did North Korea hope to achieve? CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us live from Seoul, South Korea.
Good morning, Paula. There are so many questions about this, James Clapper, securing their release, why now?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the question that everyone is still asking. Obviously it is a good PR exercise for Pyongyang. This is a decision that could only have been made from the top by Kim Jong-Un, the leader himself.
So of course, this kind of humanitarian gesture according to Pyongyang would make him look good around the world. We understand from the U.S. there was no quid pro quo for releasing these two men.
We also heard just very recently from the U.S. president, Barack Obama, in Beijing describing exactly what has happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We had an indication that there was a possibility of a release of these two hostages and we pursued it. It did not touch on some of the broader issues that have been the source of primary concern when it comes to North Korea. It's in particular its development of nuclear tests.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HANCOCKS: Now Obama did say that this was a small gesture. He did welcome the gesture, but he said that there is still a broader fundamental conflict between Washington and Pyongyang as you heard there, the fact that Pyongyang is refusing to denuclearize.
Now we did hear from Pyongyang itself over the weekend, they had a statement where they said that Obama had actually apologized. Given an earnest apology for what has happened, Washington has not commented directly on this.
But of course, that is interesting for Kim Jong-Un himself. It is propaganda gold for his own people to be able to say that the most powerful man in the world apologized to him.
It makes him look more legitimate on the international stage. But of course, the question is, why now. No one knows the exact reason for it. Pyongyang has not specified why they did this -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Paula Hancocks, thanks for that, Paula.
BERMAN: This morning, U.S. nuclear talks with Iran hang in the balance. They are taking place in the nation of Oman, where Secretary of State John Kerry met deep into the night with the Iranian foreign minister and the European Union's foreign policy chief.
Negotiations are continuing this morning. The two sides are facing a November 24th deadline to cut a deal. After that, an interim agreement that keeps the Iranians from building or working on nuclear weapons expires. That could be extended past that November 24th date though.
New this morning, the White House is promising a more satisfying experience for Americans looking to sign up for Obamacare. Open enrollment on the healthcare.gov web site begins Saturday, but consumers can start window shopping now to check out their options.
This is something they could not do when Obamacare was rolled out last year. About 7.3 million people have insurance through federal and state exchanges.
ROMANS: All right, time for an EARLY START in your money this morning, global markets higher, agent shares surging after regulators set a date for a trading link between Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.
In the U.S., stocks just eked out gains Friday on the solid jobs report. It was enough for both the Dow and the S&P 500 to hit record highs. Right now, futures are higher suggesting building on those record gains.
Now despite being a thrifty post-recession, millennials have stopped saving. A new survey that was done by Analytics found that adults under the age of 35 have a savings rate of negative 2 percent. That means they are burning through savings or going into debt.
BERMAN: It is not good. You don't want to have a negative savings rate.
ROMANS: It's bad. Every other age group has a positive savings rate. Analysts say millennials savings have vanished because of the jobs market and large high student loan debt. After the recession, millennials were very, very thrifty. Now it looks they have student loan bills that are coming due.
BERMAN: All right, 38 minutes after the hour. An Arctic chill on the way, temperatures across the country is set to drop up to 40 degrees. Indra Petersons is tracking all that coming up.
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BERMAN: President Obama says blame him for the Democrats midterm election miseries. The president says that he and his White House team failed to sell the benefits of his policies to the American people. He calls it a failure of politics telling CBS News that has to change in his final two years in office.
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OBAMA: Another saying of Harry Truman's was the buck stops with me. The buck stops right here at my desk and so whenever as the head of the party it doesn't do well, I have to take responsibility for it.
The message that I took from this election and we have seen a number of elections, successive elections, is people want to see this city work and they feel as if it's not working.
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BERMAN: The president also suggests that there could be some changes coming to the White House staff.
ROMANS: Today marks the end of the 21-day Ebola monitoring period for Nurse Kaci Hickox. She publicly fought, of course, state-ordered quarantines in New Jersey and Maine, after returning from treating Ebola patients in West Africa.
Now she tested negative for the disease and showed no symptoms. Hickox says she and her boyfriend are planning to move from Fort Kent to Southern Maine exactly where they are headed, it's not known.
BERMAN: FEMA is asking at least a dozen residents of assisted living facility who were displaced by Hurricane Sandy to repay thousands of dollars in federal disaster aid. The residents spent four months in emergency shelters after their building was flooded.
Now FEMA has declared an ineligible for aid checks that it received two years ago because the money was supposed to be spent on temporary housing, which never happened because residents were moved from one state shelter to another.
ROMANS: So that's a case of getting the check to pay for housing, but the state was already paying for housing. So FEMA says they owe the money back. All right, a major crackdown on feeding the homeless has residents in a Florida community very upset. Police in Fort Lauderdale arrested three more people for attempting to feed the homeless in a public place.
This comes after a 90-year-old man was arrested on the beach last week for feeding homeless people. The city's new ordinance bans public food sharing.
Fort Lauderdale's mayor backs the ordinance and says more arrests will be made if people continue to break the law by offering sandwiches to homeless folks.
BERMAN: All right, it is about to get very, very cold where you are. Indra Petersons has an early look at our forecast. Good morning.
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is a matter of what is your favorite color. Mine is blue. Not necessarily in this scenario. Take a look at all this cold air that is expected to dive in, very easy to see our workweek.
First going down to the Midwest and south and then eventually spreading into the east. I think by now you know this. Everyone has been talking about it. So where are we today?
We are talking about heavy amounts of snow really in places like Montana and Dakotas. Let me slide the map to the east. Take a look at the twin cities. Talking about over a foot of snow possible today, winds gusting 25 to 35 miles per hour.
It does not feel good out there today, but today is really the big day for snow. We will watch this low as we go in towards tomorrow slide out towards the upper Great Lakes.
But behind it, we still have that cold front, right, so that is when all that cold dry air does start to filter in. Let's take you day by day because a lot of you are saying it is not bad. You are not there yet.
Look at the eastern portions of the country. You're talking about 60s. Of course, that isn't bad, it's behind the cold front, but the temperatures are dropping. Places like the Dakotas is seeing 50- degree temperature drop. That's in about 48 hours.
Look at places like Chicago going down to the 40s. By the way, D.C. still climbing going up near 70 degrees, it feels great out there. Then comes the cold air not until about Thursday, though, does it affect the northeast.
I gave you the four-day panel. You have that drop. Keep in mind, the morning lows will be 20s and 30s out there. It's not that bad and it's even colder in the morning, right?
ROMANS: Indra, thank you.
Let's take a look at what is coming up on "NEW DAY." Chris Cuomo joins us. It is Monday, Chris. Happy Monday.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Good morning. Happy Monday to both of you. Well, there's no question about what the big story is today, right? We have Americans back home from North Korea. Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller released by the secretive country. We have the inside story of how this happened.
The big questions, what did they want when they got home? Let's remember, this is about these men and their families. Not the politics of it, but we will also analyze what it took to bring them home, the timing may be very important and now what Pyongyang wants in return.
We are going take you through all of that and we have an interview with the third American who is being ahead, Mr. Fowler. He is going to be joining us and talk about what the adjustments like and what it will be like for these men now going forward.
Remember him? Remember this big meeting? Did he think this was ever going to happen? How are his kids with him being home now? All the questions that you have in your mind.
Also, we are following the story of the plane crash down in the Bahamas, the beloved pastor and his whole family now gone. John and Christine, what happened with this plane crash? Who exactly was lost and what it means to their community. We will take you through that as well.
BERMAN: All right, Chris, thanks so much.
ROMANS: Happening now, an ISIS leader, was he injured in a new airstrike on the terrorists? We're live with that story and the developments there next.
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BERMAN: New this morning, an Iraqi government official says the head of the ISIS was injured in airstrikes over the weekend. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry says that Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was wounded in an air attack on a convoy.
Reports conflict over the exact location of the attack and who launched it whether it was Iraq or the United States. Pentagon officials say they have no information backing up the claim that Baghdadi was injured.
While this is going on, President Obama says his decision to send 1,500 more troops Iraq signals a new phase in the war against ISIS. Our senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon, is standing by in Southern Turkey with the latest. Good morning, Arwa.
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Neither the Iraqi Ministry of Defense or the Prime Minister's Office are in fact confirming that al-Baghdadi was targeted or injured in any of the airstrikes that took place over the weekend. What we do know from the U.S. that there was a coalition airstrike outside of Mosul targeting an ISIS convoy, but who was actually in the convoy at this stage is unclear.
The U.S. as you mentioned not tracking that al-Baghdadi was injured. Now when it comes to those additional 1,500 troops, this is going to just about double the U.S. presence in Iraq.
The next phase of the efforts to try to regain control of key territory from ISIS is going to focus more on training and assisting the Iraqi Security Forces. So far, the coalition airstrikes and efforts to boost up Iraqi forces have resulted in at the very least stopping the ISIS advance.
But have not allowed for key territory to be won back. Vital in all of this however is the Shi'a-led Iraqi government ability to reach out to those Sunni tribes, especially those that are in Anbar Province and other Sunni areas where ISIS currently has control.
These tribes have proven vital in the past when it came to the U.S. effort to turn the tide against al Qaeda. They are most certainly going to be very necessary if Iraq and the U.S. and the coalition are going to actually be able to eradicate ISIS once and for all.
Because as we know, only too well, this is an organization that is not going to be defeated by military means alone -- John.
BERMAN: Very busy winter ahead. Arwa Damon, thanks so much.
ROMANS: All right, recreational marijuana may now be legal in four states, but guess what? You could still get fired even if you are smoking pot on your own time and you come to work sober. We will get you an early start on your money next.
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ROMANS: All right. It's Monday. Let's get an early start on your money today. Global markets higher led by jump in Asia. U.S. stock futures are also higher. They are building on Friday's record gains, record highs after that solid jobs report. That's the stock market's third straight week of gains.
All right, there is lack of diversity in Silicon Valley. Here is the survey of 20 tech companies that found just four corporate board members are minorities. That is out of a total of 189 board members.
Eleven companies have no minority members of the board at all including Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo! and Google. Now women don't fare much better. There are only 36 total. The new data comes from the Reverend Jesse Jackson and his Rainbow Push Coalition. That group has been raising awareness of this divide in Silicon Valley.
Two more states and Washington, D.C. voted to legalize marijuana last week, but just because your state is OK with smoking pot doesn't mean your employer is. Only two states have laws to protect workers from being fired for using medical marijuana. And no state laws protect recreational users. Marijuana is still illegal on the federal level. I can tell you that Human Resources Departments and corporate law advisers have been working with companies trying to figure out how you can keep pot smokers off your payroll.
BERMAN: All right, 58 minutes past the hour now. New details now emerging on how the Obama administration helped free those two Americans detained in North Korea. The details and also the timing are fascinating.
"NEW DAY" has all that starting right now.
