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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

U.S. Hits ISIS with Airstrikes Near Baghdad; Who Will Do What in the Fight against ISIS

Aired September 16, 2014 - 05:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A new phase in the battle against ISIS on offense. U.S. airstrikes targeting terrorists near Baghdad for the first time. We are live with the latest this morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Ebola epidemic. President Obama's new expanded effort to stop the deadly virus from spreading. That effort includes thousands of U.S. troops, hundreds of millions of dollars. All the details ahead.

BERMAN: Domestic violence in the NFL that leads new push to address the problem as new reports of abuse allegations surfaced this morning. We'll break it all down.

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

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Thirty-one past the hour. Let's get you right started with the big story this morning.

The U.S. putting its air power on offense against ISIS this morning, launching airstrikes close to Baghdad for the first time in the fight against the militant group. Now previous airstrikes had hit terrorists in the northern part of the country. You're looking at airstrikes in Irbil right there. U.S. Central Command says -- calls this the first strike in an expanded effort to help Iraqi forces go on the offensive.

Our CNN correspondent Jomana Karadsheh joins us live from Baghdad this morning with latest on these airstrikes. The first in this expanded effort. We have seen these airstrikes before, but the images this morning you can see the U.S. taking a big role here.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Christine, what we understand from U.S. officials is this airstrike took place about 22 miles southwest of Baghdad. This was not the start of any major offensive here or imminent threat or advance towards the Iraqi capital, but it was Iraqi Security Forces in that area coming under attack from ISIS and that is where the U.S. military strike came in. Targeting an ISIS location that was the source of the threat to the Iraqi Security Forces.

Now we're waiting to hear from the Ministry of Defense here for more information about what was going on when the U.S. airstrikes took place. But one senior official here telling us that this was in the vicinity of the town of Yusufiyah. Now, Yusufiyah, if you'll recall, in the days of the U.S. military presence here, the height of the insurgency here, it -- it was one of the three towns that made up of what was known as the triangle of death.

This is on the southern Baghdad belt. This is an area that has been of concern. We have seen continuing fighting there between Iraqi security forces and these ISIS militants going on for a couple of months now. And in recent weeks, some intensification of attacks against Iraqi Security Forces there.

So definitely this airstrike not only a geographical expansion, a broadening of the area of operations for the U.S. air campaign, but also a real expansion of the mission here as we heard President Obama say last week that this -- there is going to be more airstrikes expanding the mission not only to protect the U.S. facilities, U.S. personnel here or humanitarian intervention, but we are going to see more U.S. airstrikes to allow Iraqi Security Forces to go on the offensive.

This is something he -- something that the Iraqi Security Forces have been lacking in their battle against ISIS -- Christine.

ROMANS: Thanks for that, Jomana.

BERMAN: One big question still up in the air this morning as the coalition against ISIS comes together is which nations are committing to what exactly.

On Monday, France joined Britain flying aerial reconnaissance in support of the U.S. air campaign. It should be known that Britain has not committed to any combat role or role in air strikes yet. Two countries, Iran and Syria, were not even invited to Monday's international conference about the fight against ISIS.

CNN's Michelle Kosinski has more now from the White House.

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MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John and Christine.

The White House keeps talking about how this fight, this war now against ISIS, will be all about building an international coalition. But will that look like exactly, what country will do what militarily? For now, the administration is holding its cards close. Even though there has still been some mixed messaging out there on who's made an offer, whom will the U.S. work with and whom will it not.

For now the White House isn't answering any questions on specifics, even what other countries are willing to conduct air strikes. They say there is still coordination that needs to be done to even decide what will be needed from whom and when.

Secretary of State Kerry, though, traveling through the region and Europe, has acknowledged that there are real offers out there. Some are from Arab countries. And he says some of those offers include not only air strikes, but troops on the ground. Other countries, for example, Iraq, have said that France is willing to conduct air strikes.

The White House has only made clear whom it will not work with at this point. It says Syria and Iran. However, we know that there have been back channel discussions with Iran on this subject. And Tehran just said that it rejects an offer to work with the U.S. on this. So if there hasn't been coordination, where did that supposed offer come from?

And just this month, Iraq's president told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that Iranian militias worked with the U.S. inside Iraq to help end the siege on an ethnic minority in a particular city there. The White House isn't commenting further.

Something else that we know is that the U.S. will fight something of a battle at least against ISIS within the United States. The attorney general just announced this new initiative to try to target radicalism and extremist recruitment inside American communities -- John and Christine.

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BERMAN: Our thanks to Michelle Kosinski.

The latest word on ISIS hostage Alan Henning not encouraging. Officials said on Monday that intelligence from the United Kingdom said they do not know where the British aid worker is being held. Obviously that would make any kind of rescue operation nearly impossible.

ROMANS: Administration officials heading up to Capitol Hill today. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey will be grilled by the Senate Armed Services Committee on U.S. policies toward Iraq and Syria and the threat posed by the terror group. The administration is seeking authority to train and arm moderate Syrian rebels.

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MARIE HARF, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: We heard members of Congress talk quite a bit about how important they think this effort is and they should put their vote where their words are, and hopefully, we can get it done. Holding this off until after the midterm elections I think would set this effort back even further.

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ROMANS: Meanwhile, the Justice Department launching a program to fight ISIS at home. Under the plan, social and mental health workers as well as religious leaders and local police will be enlisted to combat extremist group recruitments.

BERMAN: Opposition starting to mount in the United States against the President Obama's plan. Some activists warned against the same kind of rush to war that led to the earlier American involvement in Iraq. A petition on the Web site Moveon.org calling for the administration to, quote, "hit the pause button," and put more effort into non military actions to block the expansion of ISIS. So far just over 4,000 people have signed that petition.

Today, President Obama will announce a new expanded effort to contain the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The plan includes the deployment of up to 3,000 U.S. military personnel in the addition of 1700 beds for treating patients in Liberia alone. The U.S. military will be taking a command-and-control role for the international response to the crisis. On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council holds an emergency meeting to discuss how to get a better global response to the outbreak.

Right now on the ground in West Africa, international relief groups say their workers are exhausted and at a breaking point. More than 240 medical staffers have been sickened by Ebola with half of them dying. The virus has killed more than 2400 people already.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an EARLY START on you money this morning.

European stocks lower right now. Asian shares ended the day lower. U.S. stock futures lower. Yesterday the Dow and the S&P barely budged. The Nasdaq lost 1 percent.

You had Facebook falling 4 percent. Twitter lost 5 percent. LinkedIn and Yelp both fell more than 6 percent. Tesla shares plunged 9 percent after an analyst wrote that stock, quote, "was a bit ahead of itself," which is exactly what the Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, said. Other than those comments, unclear why investors fled tech so much yesterday.

But it could be that Alibaba stealing attention from the rest of the sector. The stock is expected to start trading on Friday. The company just increased its target IPO price range to $66 -- to $68 a share because of high demand. It's on track to be the largest IPO in history.

All right. California on fire this morning. Thousands of acres torched. Hundreds of homes destroyed. Indra Petersons is tracking the extreme heat and the winds that are fanning these flames. She's got that next.

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BERMAN: Eleven major wildfires burning this morning in California. The King Fire two hours east of Sacramento has doubled in size to nearly 9,000 acres. It's only 5 percent contained right now. More than 160 homeowners forced to evacuate on very short notice.

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STACEY MORE, EVACUATED SUNDAY: When it came to getting 15 minutes of we need to get out, we took all the stuff. Got our dogs and ourselves and we went.

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ROMANS: Mexico's Baja California Peninsula battered by Hurricane Odile. Look at these pictures. Entire neighborhoods now disaster zones. The category 3 storm wiping out hundreds of homes and businesses, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power.

You've got more than 30,000 tourists forced to stay overnight. They're in temporary shelters. Los Cabos International Airport remains closed. You're not coming in, you're not going out. That was a big storm.

BERMAN: A big storm. Let's get a look at what's going on right now.

Indra Petersons with the forecast.

Good morning, Indra.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. Yes. Odile still out there even this morning. Of course it has weakened now to a tropical storm. But kook where the path takes us. It is making its way into the desert southwest. This is huge because if you recall about a week ago, all the flooding concerns that were out towards Arizona look at all of the moisture now funneling into that region.

Flood advisories and watches are up because the concern is we're going to be talking about heavy showers over the next several days enhanced from that tropical moisture and any place that saw that heavy rain really can't take anymore this soon. So that's something we're going to be monitoring.

Here on the East Coast today, notice the line of storms is making its way through. So some scattered showers are making their way right in towards the northeast. Still notice some cool air behind it as well. Also to the southeast, you're going to see some spotty showers there from another kind of stationary front keeping in place. By the end of the week, only reinforcing that cool air. So if you've been enjoying fall, enjoy it even longer. Because it's going to be staying here with that cool air still holding on.

In fact, you can look at these temperatures, 60s and 70s as your highs. So let me take you out to the West Coast. What a difference. You're talking about temperatures anywhere into the upper 80s. But keep in mind, this is kind of toward the coast. You get in the valleys in Southern California, you're talking about highs of 90s, even 100 degrees. You add in some of that tropical moisture. That humidity there, you're talking about it, feeling anywhere from 105 to 110 degrees.

ROMANS: Wow.

PETERSONS: So excessive heat warnings are in place there today.

ROMANS: All right, good advice. Thank you, Indra.

Let's get a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY." Chris Cuomo joins us now. Hi, Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY: Hey, how you doing, guys?

We're trying to get more information on about exactly which troops we're talking about. But we do know that breaking overnight, the first U.S. air strikes happened against ISIS right outside of Baghdad. It's the closest these strikes have been to Iraq's capital since the campaign against the terror again.

Now that cuts two ways. One, look at that. That's an impressive picture. It seems that the bombings are effective, but how did ISIS get so close to Baghdad and what does that mean? We'll take you through that in terms of how this shows that the president's plan is working or not.

There's also a report as -- out as I was telling you that in Afghanistan some troops have been killed in a bombing attack. We know they're NATO troops. We don't know if they're American, we're looking into that. Hopefully we'll get the information for you during the show.

We'll also going to talk about the NFL this morning. Minnesota Viking Adrian Peterson has been reinstated. Expected back on the field amid child abuse charges, which you know about. There's also a new report which you may not know about, which is that he abused another one of his kids who lives with some other woman. And it happened about a year ago. And that raises the obvious question. Should he be cleared to play?

Also today, NFL bad news Ray Rice expected to appeal his indefinite suspension by the NFL. Some people think that's controversial. But remember, the NFL rule is six games. Why is he suspended indefinitely if the rule is six games? So the developments there to talk to you about.

We're also going to continue this culture conversation about whether or not, John and Christine, are we putting too much pressure on the NFL? Now I know it seems like they haven't handled situations well. But where are they handled well? Cops didn't make a case against Ray Rice. The law will probably give probation to Adrian Peterson for what he's indicted for right now.

So who exactly is supposed to be doing the right thing when it comes to these cultural issues? Are we really just pointing the finger at the NFL and maybe it needs to be pointed back at everybody else?

ROMANS: Look, if your sponsor like Radisson, you look at that, the Vikings' GM standing up there talking about this case, the word Radisson is everywhere. I mean, if you've got -- you're going to have sponsors who are going to say, look, you know, we don't want our names and brands associated with this kind of behavior, this kind of controversy.

CUOMO: They'll be back.

ROMANS: They'll be back. But I think --

CUOMO: The numbers are up. So they'll be back.

ROMANS: They're sending a good message, I think, that -- you know, I'm glad we're talking about it. But I think we -- we're not done talking about it. For sure.

All right. Thanks, Chris. Nice to see you.

He mentioned those problems with the NFL. Of course, this morning, they're taking new steps to battle domestic violence. We're breaking it all down for you next.

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ROMANS: There are new allegations this morning against Minnesota Vikings star, Adrian Peterson, who was just indicted for child abuse. CNN affiliate KHOU reporting Peterson was involved in a second alleged incident of abuse involving another son who lives out of state with his mother. CNN has not been able to independently confirm that report. But through his attorney, Peterson vehemently denies it. No charges were ever filed in that case.

In Peterson's first public comment since the indictment posted on his Twitter feed, he says he is not a child abuser, but he is sorry about the hurt he brought his son.

Meantime, the Vikings have reinstated Peterson and he'll be active for the Vikings game Sunday. The team's general manager addressing the issue Monday.

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RICK SPIELMAN, MINNESOTA VIKINGS GM: This is a difficult path to navigate regarding the judgment of how a parent disciplines his child. Based on the extensive information that we have right now and what we know about Adrian not only as a person, but what he's also done for this community, we believe he deserves to play while the legal process plays out.

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ROMANS: Now it appears the allegations against Peterson are hitting the Vikings in the pocketbook. You saw on that banner behind him it didn't say the word Vikings, it said the word Radisson. The Radisson Hotel chain has suspended at least for now its sponsorship of the team. Radisson has a long history of supporting child protection issues and causes and these two things do not -- they're not compatible.

BERMAN: All right. More non-football news about football. Between now and 11:59 tonight, former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice is expected to appeal his indefinite suspension from the NFL. The players association standing behind Rice on this, plans to make a case for letting him return ultimately to the playing field.

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ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST, OUTFRONT: Should Ray Rice be allowed to play again?

ERIC WINSTON, NFLPA: I think so. I think that we are all entitled to a second chance. Obviously, he made a horrific mistake. And he's going to pay for it. He's already been disciplined once, actually been disciplined multiple times by the commissioner.

BURNETT: So Roger Goodell, should he keep his job?

WINSTON: Obviously there's an issue with player conduct, like you've been referring to and maybe it's time to take that out of the commissioner's hands and put into a neutral arbitration process where there can be a fair process for everybody involved.

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BERMAN: He's got issues with Goodell way beyond the abuse allegations.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is appointing four women to help the league develop new policies and resources for domestic and sexual assaults.

ROMANS: All right. Amazon bringing back a '90s favorite. An EARLY START on your money, next.

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ROMANS: Time for an EARLY START on your money.

A rough day for stocks so far. European stocks moving lower, U.S. stock futures are down right now. Yesterday the Nasdaq fell 1 percent, dragged down by some tech stocks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, all down significantly, and Tesla shares down 9 percent after an analyst said the stock was, quote, "ahead of itself."

But one tech company making its market debut later this week. This is getting a whole bunch of attention from investors. Alibaba, it's a Chinese Internet company, just raised its IPO price because of what it says is high demand.

A lot of attention to this story, too. Marriott, the hotel chain, says you should tip your housekeeper. Marriott International is placing envelopes in more than 160,000 rooms in the U.S. encouraging guests tip their room attendants. The hotel chain says these workers often get overlooked by tips because guests don't see them. The campaign, though, is causing some outrage with many people saying it's Marriott's responsibility to pay its workers a living wage so tips aren't necessary.

Remember Surge soda? It's back. Coca-Cola unveiling the citrus soda in 1996. It was supposed to compete with Mountain Dew. It was taken off the shelves in just five years, about 2001. Now Coke is selling a limited supply on Amazon. They're going to test reaction to it. And mostly, look, this is because of vocal fans. There's this "Like the Surge movement" on Facebook. The group has more than 130,000 likes. Even raised $4,000 to buy this billboard near Coke's Atlanta headquarters. It says, "Dear Coke, we couldn't buy Surge, so we bought this billboard instead."

BERMAN: You know what worries is I actually don't remember Surge. I don't remember a lot of the '90s, to be honest right now. And this is of concern to me. I'm like, what else did I miss?

ROMANS: At least 130,000 people remember the '90s and specifically remembers Surge because they have liked it. So we'll see.

BERMAN: I remember Mellow Yellow from the '80s? Anyone else? Anyone else?

ROMANS: Mellow Yellow?

BERMAN: All right. Thanks for watching, "NEW DAY" starts right now.