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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

ISIS Fighters Repelled by Kurdish Fighers; White House to Hold Summit on Fighting Extremism; New Info on Denmark Shooter; The Prosecution Rests in American Sniper Trial; A Year of Searching for MH-370

Aired February 18, 2015 - 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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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight: ISIS pushed after a fierce assault on a major Iraqi city. Can Kurdish forces keep them from striking again?

New details this morning about the accused gunman in the Copenhagen terror attacks. What officials now say about his state of mind the night of the attacks, and were concerns he was being radicalized ignored?

And Vice President Joe Biden raising eyebrows for two gaffes in the same day from an awkward moment with the new defense secretary's wife to controversial comments about Somalis.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. John Berman has this Wednesday morning off. It's 30 minutes past the hour.

Let's begin with what was breaking overnight: ISIS fighters launching a major attack in Iraq near the Kurdish city of Erbil. Now, Kurdish officials say Peshmerga troops have succeed in pushing ISIS forces back far enough to let airstrikes begin.

I want to bring in CNN's Tim Lister joining us from Erbil for the very latest. Tim has been listening to all of the traffic between the two sides in this story, the radio traffic, and also watching as they've been allowed to have some space to have some airstrikes begin. Tell us what's happening now, Tim.

TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fighting for now, Christine, is over because it's daylight. ISIS doesn't like to fight in the daylight. It prefers the cover of night, in the fog and mist. So it's also very vulnerable to airstrikes in the daylight.

But this fighting went on for about five hours, a very substantial engagement. ISIS launched attacks from three particular points on very thinly dispersed Kurdish lines southwest of Erbil, some 25 to 30 miles from where I am right now. Now, they could have penetrated those lines, but I don't think they could have reached Erbil. It's a very large city; it's very well defended. However, what they want to do is try to distract Kurdish forces along a whole series of points on this long front line -- it's about 1,000 kilometers long. And that's all to distract attention, if they can, from Mosul, their crown jewel, their prize in Northern Iraq, which they very much want to protect and to keep. Christine.

ROMANS: Kurdish forces holding on, you say, holding on to their defensive positions. But this ISIS attack, tell us about how well coordinated it was and what kind of a fighting force the Peshmerga are up against.

LISTER: They're up against a very good fighting force, quite a disciplined fighting force. Despite all these months of airstrikes, ISIS retains command and control. It's capable of complex attacks on several different fronts at the same time.

We've listened in to their radio communications, and they're frequent and sometimes they're even encrypted, their radio communications. So it's very difficult for the Kurds to work out what they're going to do. But they're well armed. They have heavy weaponry. They've been using a lot of humvees, which they captured from the Iraqi army as huge suicide bombs -- there was one that we saw in one position -- 8 1/2 tons of TNT packed into this humvee that was driven at Kurdish positions, and thankfully disabled before it made it. But that's where the Kurds are suffering so many casualties. There's no doubt that ISIS is, in this area and in other parts of Iraq, still a resilient organization. It may be on the back foot in certain places, but it shows no signs of going away.

ROMANS: Tim, those humvees that were captured by ISIS they're using against the less well-equipped Kurds, those are humvees the U.S. supplied for the Iraqi army, aren't they?

LISTER: That's exactly right, and they've got quite a lot of them. And they've also captured quite a lot of other useful equipment from the Iraqi army. They have mortars, they have artillery, they have heavy machine guns. The Kurds, in many places we've been to over the last ten days or so, don't have any of that. They've just got automatic weapons, rifles, some sniper guns, the odd anti-tank missile but only rarely. So they're pretty much outgunned. And the generals here, down to the volunteers, have said we can do this for just so long, and then at this point we're going to run out of the sort of equipment we need to deter ISIS from getting through our lines.

ROMANS: All right, Tim Lister, that is a bitter, bitter, ugly little irony in the whole matter. Thank you so much for that, Tim Lister in Erbil.

This morning, the U.S. is working its way down a list of top ISIS operatives it wants to kill. CNN has learned there's a secret list of ISIS leaders in Syria and Iraq targeted for killing. And at the top of the list, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. And we now have a picture, another picture of him, of al Baghdadi, taken back in 2004 while he was still in American hands. CBS News obtained this I.D. photo from 2004, taken while al Baghdadi was being processed into the U.S. military prison at Camp Bucca in Iraq.

With terror attacks and the against ISIS topping the headlines, President Obama is set to address a White House summit on combating violent extremism later today. The White House now has carefully avoided labeling it a summit on Islamic extremism, and that is drawing criticism from some who say violence by Islamic radicals should be dealt with head on for exactly what it is.

Senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta has the latest.

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine, the White House opened up its countering violent extremism summit just as ISIS appears to be growing stronger, whether it's in Libya, where those Egypt Christians were beheaded, or in Denmark where a radical inspired by the group went on a violent rampage. But administration officials caution the summit is not about the military campaign to defeat ISIS. It's also about finding ways to address the root causes of violent extremism in communities and then sharing those ideas around the world.

Here's how the president put it in the Oval Office with his new Defense Secretary, Ash Carter.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everything from making sure that we are dismantling ISIL and not only stabilizing the situation in Iraq but addressing the foreign fighter issue and countering the narrative of violent extremism that has been turbocharged through the Internet.

ACOSTA: The Obama administration is hoping to combat that potent terrorist message from ISIS by beefing up its own social media presence. The State Department is adding staffers to a little-known agency called the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, which will be on Twitter and Facebook with its own propaganda aimed at young Muslims with the slogan "Think again, turn away."

But the Obama administration is finding its own message under fire. A GOP and even a few Democratic critics asked why the summit does not use the term Islamic extremism or terrorism.

And later on in the day, President Obama will be addressing this summit. It will be one of two speaking appearances for the president at this summit this week -- Christine.

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ROMANS: All right, Jim, thanks for that, at the White House.

Attorney General Eric Holder under fire this morning for saying the U.S. is not in a time of war. Critics now calling him out, asking about the war on ISIS. Listen to what Holder told reporters when talking about national security and freedom of the press.

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ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: In World War II, if a reporter had found out about the Manhattan Project, was that something that should have been disclosed? We're not in a time of war, I understand that, and I said as an extreme example.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Holder's spokesman later tweeted that the Attorney General does believe the U.S. is at war with ISIS.

New evidence this morning that the massacre at the French magazine "Charlie Hebdo" and the deadly attack on a French kosher supermarket, they were coordinated. The French newspaper "Le Monde" reporting that less than an hour before the "Charlie Hebdo" attack, one of the gunman, Cherif Kouachi, sent a text message to the man who later attacked the supermarket, Amedy Coulibaly. "Le Monde" also said the "Charlie Hebod" assault was nearly called off the day before. One of the gunmen was sick with the stomach flu.

We're learning more this morning about the accused gunman in the deadly terror attacks in Denmark -- his actions on the day of the shooting, his state of mind, and advanced warnings that he was at risk for radicalization.

Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson has been following the story for us in Copenhagen. And it seems, Nic, that this man went into prison a gangster, a gang member, and came out a jihadist.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he had a change of behavior in the jails and the jail prison service had alerted the Danish intelligence service that they'd seen that, that this man they believed was being perhaps radicalized.

The intelligence services here judged that he wasn't an imminent threat, but what we're learning now, within those two weeks of coming out of jail and then the attack, he must somehow have acquired at least three weapons. The police say that he had two pistols and a relatively expensive automatic weapon. And that he had -- in his planning and preparation, he had knowledge of the other doors into the cafe where this freedom of speech event was taking place and he tried to get inside through those other doors. If he had, the reality is the death toll could have been much, much higher.

And then, again, the preparation and the kind of planning that he put into effect to try to get close to the synagogue to attack the people there. The police say he dumped his very obvious and larger automatic weapon. He went there with just his two pistols, acted drunk as he walked up towards the guard and the two policemen there, firing shots, nine shots total, from both pistols before he fled that scene.

So the picture that's emerging is somebody radicalized in jail and apparently in a very short space of time, implying potentially accomplices here, gets expensive weaponry and chooses a very high- profile and significant target in a very, very short space of time. So very worrying for the police -- further accomplices, how did he achieve all of that, Christine?

ROMANS: All right, Nic Robertson for us in Denmark this morning. Thank you, Nic. Breaking this morning, a fragile cease-fire in Ukraine is collapsing,

as Ukrainian troops withdraw from the city of Debaltseve. The withdrawal comes one day after heavy fighting between government troops and pro-Russian separatists flared in this crucial rail hub. Again, there's a cease-fire. It is unclear right now whether this is a partial or complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from that city.

President Obama will comply with a federal judge's ruling temporarily blocking his executive orders on immigration. But he says the administration plans to appeal. It expects to prevail in the courts. The president's policies could spare as many as 5 million people now in the U.S. illegally from being deported. Many were hoping to start filing papers as early as today. They will not. They are in legal limbo still. The courtroom wrangling gives a coalition of 26 states opposed to the immigration action time to pursue a lawsuit aimed at putting a permanent stop to the president's plan.

The number of people signing up for Obamacare exceeding expectations. In its second year, 11.4 million people enrolled in the president's signature health care program ,beating the target set by the Department of Health and Human Services. Now, the White House did not disclose how many of the employees are renewing coverage from last year and how many are new to the insurance marketplaces.

Vice President Joe Biden, two gaffes in one day. First, this picture right here. You can see the vice president awkwardly placing his hands on the shoulders of Stephanie Carter. She is the new Defense Secretary's wife. He then whispers into her ear. I wonder what she was thinking. The second -- odd comments about Somalis. He said he had great relations with them because lots of them are cab drivers in his hometown. But some cab companies in Wilmington, Delaware, say there are not many Somali cab drivers there.

Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning. U.S. stock futures are higher. Could be another record day if that holds. Yesterday, the S&P 500 closed above 2,100 for the first time. Second record high in a row. Stocks boosted by progress in Greece's bailout discussions.

The White House trying to resolve a port dispute, a labor dispute, in the West Coast ports. The issue, a dispute between shipping companies and union dock workers. It's turning harbors into parking lots with goods like California oranges rotting in the sun. The Labor Secretary, Tom Perez, met with both sides yesterday. He said talks were productive. More meetings scheduled for today.

The prosecution rests its case in the American Sniper murder trial. Now, the accused killer's own words used against him in court. What does the defense need to do now?

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ROMANS: Welcome back. The prosecution rests in the so-called American Sniper trial in Texas. And attorneys for accused killer Eddie Ray Routh wasting no time in launching their insanity defense, calling the defendant's mother as their first witness. Before the state ended its case, they again tried to use Routh's own words against him.

CNN's Ed Lavandera following that trial for us.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, another dramatic day of testimony in the American sniper trial. The prosecution has rested, but before that, they played a video of Eddie Ray Routh inside of a police car. The video was captured just moments after Routh was taken into custody by police.

And in that video, you can hear Routh talking about how he feels paranoid and schizophrenic. That was one of the last pieces of evidence that the prosecution put on.

Now, it's the defense attorney's turn. And one of their first witnesses was Eddie Ray Routh's mother who talked about just days before the murders of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, her son had been admitted into the V.A. hospital for psychological issues and then released. And she talked about how she begged the V.A. hospital officials to keep her son inside the hospital because she was worried about his condition and what he might do.

She also talked about the different cocktail of psychological medications that Eddie Ray Routh had been on. At one point, nine different prescriptions.

So we will continue to hear more of the psychological testimony and all of the different people that treated Eddie Ray Routh in the months leading up to the murders of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield. Expect much more of that the rest of this week here in Stephenville, Texas -- Christine.

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ROMANS: All right, Ed Lavandera for us in Texas.

Let's take a look now what's coming up on "NEW DAY". Chris Cuomo joins us now. Good morning, Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Hey, how you doing, Christine? We're chasing down some reports this morning. One is about the new weaponry that supposedly the coalition is going to be offering to Syrian rebel fighters. They're high-tech equipment. I'm trying to find the right way to say it because we don't know exactly what they're giving them yet.

But here's the concern -- if they're giving them anything sophisticated, the question becomes can you trust the loyalty of these rebel troops? Because, remember, there's so much internecine strife, they mix and all the time, you don't know who to trust and what's going to happen a month from now. That's been the concern from the beginning. But now this new infusion of assets raises questions again.

Also, there's some really ugly rumors about what ISIS is doing now to make money that's coming out of the Iraqi government, involves organ harvesting. We're chasing that as well. There's a big article in "The Atlantic" that says the terror group's real goal is end of days. That that's what this is really about for them. It's not just about operating land. And what does that really mean? So we're going to unpack all of that stuff.

We're also going to take you through the American Sniper trial because the prosecution has now ended. I know you know that. I know you know that; you're watching this morning. And of course EARLY START's handling it very ably. We're going to assess how good a job that they did. What are the openings for defense, Christine? And now we'll try and figure that out.

Also, a 100 finalists have been chosen to make a one-way trip to Mars, 33 are from the United States including John Berman. True or false?

ROMANS: False.

CUOMO: Wrong.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: He is like an alien from another planet, I will admit. But no, he's not one of the finalists.

CUOMO: He's not a Martian.

ROMANS: No, no, he's not. But I'll tell you on that American Sniper trial, it is one of one of those big-news stories where mental illness is a subtext -- or right out there for everyone to talk about and discuss.

CUOMO: You and I talk about that a lot. We see it -- usually you're talking about my mental health, but, you know, we're talking about the issue as well. And in this one, here's the one trick on this one. PTS, very real, OK? You don't want to see it get ignored, as it often does. But it usually -- and you'll hear it from clinicians, we're going to have them on the show, and you'll hear more about this, Christine -- it doesn't make people violent. It often makes them withdrawn. So to kind of throw it in there like he has PTS, that's why he killed these people, that is being seen as being disparaging as well. So we have to be very careful. We want to care but care the right way.

ROMANS: Absolutely. All right, Chris, thanks. We'll be watching from 6:00 to 9:00 am Eastern. Thanks, Chris.

It has been nearly one year since Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappeared, almost a year now. We're going to go live to Perth for a look at what searchers are doing now.

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ROMANS: It has been nearly one year since Malaysian Airlines MH-370 disappeared, and recovery ships still scouring the southern Indian Ocean looking for the wreckage. The search vessels have been returning to Freemantle Port in Perth, Australia, for resupply.

And CNN's Anna Coren went out on one to get an inside look at the search. She joins us now from Perth. Good morning, Anna.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Christine. Hard to believe that it's almost a year since MH-370 disappeared, but there are four ships scouring the area in the southern Indian Ocean. It's about 1,000 nautical miles from where we are here in Perth.

Now, we have to remember, the initial search area was half the size of the United States. It is now being narrowed down to 60,000 square kilometers. That is still an enormous area and they are going over it with a fine-tooth comb, literally scouring every inch of the ocean floor.

Now, the challenges that they are facing out at sea, underwater, the topography is a logistical nightmare. There are underwater mountains, volcanoes and cliffs. And then on the surface, they're having to deal with the weather. They've already endured three cyclones as well as waves of up to 16 meters high. So it really is quite challenging. But Christine, the concern is that once they cover this priority area, which should be done by May, if nothing is found, the families are really terrified that this operation will then be wrapped up. Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Anna Coren, hard to believe it's been almost one year and still no trace.

54 minutes past the hour. An EARLY START on your money next.

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ROMANS: All right, time for an EARLY START on your money this morning. Good day for stocks so far. European stocks are higher. There's progress in Greek bailout discussions. U.S. stock futures barely moving right now. Stocks are at records, though, here. Yesterday, the S&P 500 closed above 2,100 for the first time, the second record in a row. The S&P 500 up 2 percent so far this year.

A lot to cover this morning. ISIS being pushed back after a major assault as the White House holds a summit on fighting terror. "NEW DAY" has that and more, starting right now.