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EARLY START

Israelis Vote Today; Obama Slams Senators' Letter To Iran; Iran Sending Missiles To Iraq; Ferguson Shooting Suspect Claims Police Abuse; Conspiracy Theories Over Putin's Absence; Stocks Up For The Year. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 17, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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


JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight: a dramatic takedown onboard the United Airlines flight. A man becoming violent, races toward the cockpit. We'll have the latest details on this incident ahead.

<05:30:03> Happening now, Israelis head to the polls to choose a prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a very tough battle for re- election. Last-minute statements on the campaign trail causing major controversy. We are live as they are casting their votes.

Iran expressing new concern about the letter from 47 Republican senators over the groundbreaking nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran. President Obama is on the record with new outrage. We have team coverage breaking down the overnight developments ahead.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman. It's 30 minutes past the hour. Christine Romans on jury duty today. Breaking overnight, terrifying flight for passengers on the United Airlines jet, they were forced to subdue another passenger, who tried to rush the cockpit.

This is cell phone video of the suspect being restrained by an unidentified man. Flight 1074 from Washington, D.C. to Denver turned around with 33 passengers and six crew members on board. The plane landed back in Washington about an hour after takeoff.

The police took the man on the ground there into custody after the flight returned to Dulles International Airport. A spokesperson there said he was taken to a local hospital then for evaluation. The remaining passengers will be flown on to Denver this morning.

We are going to follow this and let you know if we heard any more details in the next few minutes.

Polls now open in Israel, voters lining up to elect a government this morning. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the final minutes of this campaign raised the stakes again.

Netanyahu vowed that there would not be a Palestinian State as long as he is the prime minister. That is a reversal in the stance in 2009 and it follows his controversial speech earlier this month before the U.S. Congress criticizing the White House nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Israeli-U.S. relation is just one of the issues at stake there. Again, the polls now open. CNN's Oren Liebermann is at a polling station in Jerusalem with latest. Good morning, Oren.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, John. Just a bit of a lull here at this polling station. At the moment, we are in the French Hill section of Jerusalem, but very much not a lull across Israel. We've spoken to authorities who say turnout so far already this morning is 2 percent higher than it was two years ago.

If that number holds, it would be roughly 70 percent voter turnout for Israel. A very large number which signifies exactly what this election means to the state of Israel.

Just yesterday, Benjamin Netanyahu in speaking to a local television station said under him, if he were the prime minister, there would be no Palestinian State. He insists if there is a Palestinian State right next to Israel that would be a base for attacking Israel.

Very much playing the right wing support, trying to get his right wing voters out there to vote for him in these critical last few days and especially these last few hours before the election.

He casted his ballot earlier today and said he would not stand for national unity government. A government that included his primary opponent and he urged his supporters to vote for the right.

Meanwhile, his primary opponent, Isaac Herzog of the Zionist Union Party voting about a half an hour after Benjamin Netanyahu, Isaac Herzog said, look, if you are happy with the way things are here, if you're happy with the cost of living and the way the economy is going then sure, vote for Benjamin Netanyahu.

But if you want change, if you want a different leader, and if you want something different from Prime Minister Netanyahu's leadership over the last six years, then vote Isaac Herzog.

Both parties and the entire public know what is at stake here, and everyone has seen the polls. They were close in the weeks leading up to the election. But now in this last week, Isaac Herzog is opening up a lead.

In the final polls released before the election, he had a four-seat lead over Benjamin Netanyahu, and perhaps that's why we have seen so much of Netanyahu over these last few days in the media, local TV stations, and local radio.

He is getting out there, urging right wing supporters. Isaac Herzog knows he has to hang on to that lead if he wants to be the next prime minister. John, of course, nothing is certain here. Everything will come down to the numbers.

First round of election polls after the ballot boxes close will be 10:00 tonight and then we'll start to piece together what the government will look like.

BERMAN: That is 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. We should start seeing those results so stay tuned here to CNN. This will be an exciting afternoon or night in Israel. Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem, thanks so much.

Developing this morning, President Obama says the U.S. cannot afford to have Senate Republicans trying to undermine his efforts to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran. That is how the president put it with the interview with "Vice" that was just released.

The president told "Vice" founder, Shane Smith that he is embarrassed for the 47 Republican senators who signed the letter. Let's get more from the White House, CNN's Jim Acosta, is there.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John, senior administration officials say Iranian negotiators did indeed raised Senator Tom Cotton's letter to the ayatollah in those sensitive nuclear talks that are currently underway in Switzerland.

But U.S. officials are confident the letter will only be what they are calling a distraction. Cotton is not backing down saying he has no regrets about the letter, which were signed by 46 of his GOP colleagues and complained about the nuclear negotiations to Iran's ruling clerics.

The flare up with Republicans was enough for the White House chief of staff to send his own letter to GOP Senator Bob Corker assuring him Congress will have a vote on the sanctions that will be loosened as part of the deal with Iran.

<05:35:10> But in a new excerpt from his interview taped last week with "Vice," the president said Cotton's letter was damaging to the nation. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: So this is a good example, I think, of where the state of our politics that leads Republicans to be more worried about a Tea Party primary than they are about what ordinary folks are thinking. It damages the country. It damages our standing. It is not productive. In this day and age where we have big issues, we cannot afford it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said congressional critics are missing a key point that there is no deal yet. Earnest said the White House would rather Congress hold off on any votes on Iran well beyond the end of March when a framework agreement must be reached and at least until June. That is the deadline for a final deal and Republicans and even some Democrats might just have a problem with that -- John.

BERMAN: Jim Acosta for us at the White House. American voters seem to be siding with the White House on that letter to Iran. A new CNN/ORC poll finds that more people thought the Senate Republicans went too far by a margin of 10 points. Only 39 percent said it was appropriate response. We will have more of these poll results coming up on "NEW DAY" in the 6:00 a.m. hour.

The president and the people responding to that poll are not alone in their concerns about the letter. U.S. and Iranian officials say the Iranian diplomats raised the letter as an issue at the nuclear talks in Switzerland, those talks on right now.

Let's get an update, CNN's Nic Robertson following developments for us. Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John. Secretary Kerry is sitting right now with the Iranian Foreign Minister Zaraf about two and a half hours into the meeting. That's about half as long as the meeting yesterday.

And absolutely, yes, the Iranian side did raise the issue of that letter. They not only raised it Monday with Secretary Kerry, they raised it Sunday at a lower level meeting as well. State Department is not saying precisely how they responded to it.

But for the State Department is making clear is that these talks at the moment, the deadline is the 31st of March, getting closer, they are working hard towards it. They want to cover a lot of ground this week.

They say they expect other European partners in the negotiations with Iran to come to Switzerland to get involved in the talks this week, but they are struggling. They say this is the time where key choices need to be made by Iran, tough necessary choices.

Political decisions, if you will, need to be made and they don't feel that that is happening. They feel this March 31st deadline may be slipping beyond reach at the moment. The Iranian side seems to be sort of portraying a slightly different message, if you will.

Zarif when he came out of the five-hour meeting yesterday said, finally, finally we get something and then he headed off to brief the French, British and German foreign ministers in Brussels.

But Reuters European source, political source spoke after that meeting and said yes, the meeting was a long one between the Iranians and the Europeans, but they didn't narrow the differences, but substantial gaps remain. That seems to be the tone of talks right now.

For example, yesterday, we were told that the Iranians had talked and brought up the issue of heavy water reactor plant capable of producing weapons grade plutonium, and enrichment facility for enriching uranium. Both changed under the terms of the potential agreement.

Those issues raised and put on the table like a Rubik's cube is how one State Department official put it trying to get all these moving pieces together in the right place at the right time, which is the 31st of March. Not clear whether that can be done yet -- John.

BERMAN: Not much time left. Nic Robertson for us, thanks so much. Meanwhile, Iran is sending advanced missiles and rockets into Iraq to help drive ISIS out of the city of Tikrit. U.S. intelligence agencies have been tracking these shipments for weeks. None of the weapons we are told have been used yet.

But the Pentagon is worried that they could cause civilian casualties if they are used. They are not precision weapons. Despite Iran's backing the Iraqi offensive to take back Tikrit has stalled, the terrorists inflicting heavy casualties on the Iraqi military and the Shiite militias who were really leading that effort right now.

The White House is said to be monitoring the developments closely with the help of David Petraeus. The retired general, former CIA director now consulting the Obama administration on the Iraq's strategy, that is even though Petraeus was convicted of leaking classified information to his mistress and biographer, and then lying about it to the FBI.

Let's bring Alison Kosik for an early look at your money. Good morning, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. Asian markets closing higher and European markets mixed. As far as U.S. stock futures go, they have turned a bit lower, but Monday's stocks jumped, rebounding from big losses last week.

The Dow gained 227 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both added 1 percent. So that puts the Dow and the S&P 500 back in positive territory for the year.

<05:40:08> Just a little perspective for you, if you are not keeping track, stocks are very close to highs. The Dow is about 2 percent away from its record. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 are not far behind that.

We are watching oil prices, oil continuing to fall plunging yesterday to its lowest level in six years. The price of crude is dropping to $42.85 a barrel that is the lowest since March of 2009. Experts think the price of oil could drop lower than $40 a barrel. I love it. Love the lower gas prices.

BERMAN: That's great for drivers, double dip in oil prices. I think a lot of these producers are very concerned right now.

KOSIK: Yes, it is scary for the industry. I mean, you see these jobs going away as well because you see exploration being pulled back as well, production being pulled back.

BERMAN: Alison, thanks so much. The man accused of shooting two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri appears in court. His lawyer now offers up an explanation for what happened. It's different from what we've heard. We will tell you about it after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: The attorney for Jeffery Williams, the shooting suspect charged with wounding two Missouri police officers claims his client was roughed up by police after his arrest this weekend in Ferguson. Police call the allegations completely false. Let's get more from CNN's Ana Cabrera.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, the attorney for 20-year-old Jeffrey Williams says his client was not part of any police ambush. He says he was not a protester. He says he is confident the police have the wrong guy.

<05:45:07> Yet investigators say they found a gun at Williams' home that matches the shell casings found at the shooting scene. They say in an audio and videotape interview, Williams admitted to firing the shots that hit two police officers outside the Ferguson Police Department late Wednesday night.

When I asked Williams attorney about that specifically, he says his client was questioned without counsel. He claims police roughed up Williams and says he may have been coerced into saying he was the gunman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said he was bruised by the police when he was taken into custody. He was in a lot of pain when he was being questioned.

CABRERA: Did they beat him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They used a lot of force on him. He said choked him by the neck. He has a lot of bruises across his back. He has a knot on the back of his head where he said somebody hit him with a pistol.

CABRERA: Did he admit to you that he fired shots?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, he does not. What I want to be clear about is any statements he made, I'm not confident those were voluntary statements.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: St. Louis County Police call the allegations of abuse completely false. They continue to urge the public to come forward with more information, video or photos that may aid in their investigation. In the meantime, Williams is still being held on a $300,000 cash only bond and he's facing about a half dozen charges including first degree assault and firing from a moving vehicle -- John.

BERMAN: Ana Cabrera, thanks so much.

Let's take a look at what is coming up on "NEW DAY." Michaela Pereira joins us now. Good morning, Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Good morning to you, John Berman. You will join us in a few minutes. We of course are following that breaking news overnight, a United Airlines flight was forced to turn back to Dulles Airport in Washington because of this, an unruly passenger. Apparently this guy tried to rush the cockpit. We will tell you more about these moments in the air at the top of the hour.

Also real estate heir, Robert Durst, he's now been charged with murder in the death of his friend back in 2000. Will that apparent confession that he made in the HBO documentary in the bathroom, will that be admissible in court?

We will go through the twists and turns. We will speak with a friend of Durst's wife, Kathy, who disappeared back in 1982. This case is fascinating. It's so intriguing --John.

FEYERICK: All right, I look forward to seeing that. Thanks so much, Michaela.

Russian President Vladimir Putin resurfacing after a mysterious 10-day absence. The latest from Moscow next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

05:51:20

BERMAN: Vladimir Putin, he is alive. There is a picture of him. He met yesterday with the leader of Kyrgyzstan. Putting to rest a whole bunch of conspiracy theories about where he had been for the last 10 plus days, and after sort of disappearing mysteriously, he got right back to work ordering a huge round of military exercises in the Arctic to have a lot of people wondering why and why now.

CNN's senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance in Moscow with more on these exercises and this sudden reemerges -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, John. He emerged after ten days absence from the public eye, unexplained absence which is incredible for the figure of Vladimir Putin leader, who is so often in the media on a daily basis.

It still hasn't been explained. Obviously he appeared and put to rest the rumors that he died that circulated on the internet. He could have been ill. That's also a possibility.

Another rumor was he gone to Switzerland to witness the birth of his alleged lovechild from his alleged girlfriend. That's not, of course, being confirmed by the kremlin either. They keep things very close to their chest.

But you know, he is out there and it showed once again if he disappears and not at the helm of Russia, the whole country sort of disintegrates into the kind of paranoia or in fear. So it's very instructive in that sense.

Again, he came out and he said there will be exercises. You mentioned this in the arctic military exercises. One of the biggest shows of force we have seen in years, 40,000 Russian troops and submarines and war ships and aircraft taking part. Russia demonstrating in the arctic region, it is dominant compared to the forces that NATO have in the region.

BERMAN: It's 40,000 troops, that's a very, very big military exercise. Matthew Chance in Moscow for us, thanks so much.

It's 54 minutes after the hour. Right now, Apple getting in on the TV business with a big change and big ploy coming up, you want to hear about this. We have an EARLY START on your money next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

05:56:41

KOSIK: Good morning. Let's get an EARLY START on your money. It looks like U.S. stocks could begin the day slightly lower. On Monday, stocks jumped. The Dow gained 227 points, and the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq both added 1 percent. The investors are laser-focused on the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, which kicks off today.

They are eyeing the hottest word on Wall Street right now, "patience." If the fed stays it's staying patience on hiking interest rates that could spark another rally. It if it makes no mention of the word, it could raise interest rates in June.

It's not getting any cheaper to rent. In the five years, rent have gone up 15 percent and they outpacing income in some of the country's cities, that's according to a report from the National Association of Realtors.

No surprise here, New York, topping the list as the city with the highest rent increase. Also on the list is where it is super expensive to rent, Seattle, Seattle, San Jose, California, and Denver.

Apple is getting into the cable TV business just in time for the fall season. The "Wall Street Journal" says Apple is in talks with broadcasters to offer a bundle of about 25 channels including big names like ABC and CBS and Fox. The bundle would cost $30 to $40 a month, a lot less than what the average household pays for a cable subscription.

Scare in the air. A passenger on board a United Airlines flight taking down a man running towards the cockpit, "NEW DAY" starts now.