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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Obama Terror Speech Avoids Islamic Label; Report: ISIS Burns 40 to Death; Arctic Air Affecting Large Swath of U.S.; Deadly Superbug at UCLA Hospital; "American Sniper" Murder Trial
Aired February 19, 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: President Obama defends the fight of ISIS saying the U.S. is not at war with Islam, but his critics are asking how can he fight extremism if he refuses to link it to Muslim radicals?
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Bone-chilling temperatures stretching across the United States, and arctic blast slamming millions of Americans with temperatures dropping way below average. We're going to tell you what this all means for you.
ROMANS: Deadly exposure. Hundreds of people may have been exposed to a deadly and drug resistant superbug while being treated at a hospital. Where it's happening and what's being done about this?
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Great to see you. About 30 minutes past the hour right now.
This morning, the president striving for balance in the battle against violent extremism and respect for mainstream Muslims around the world. Speaking at a three-day summit at the White House on countering what he calls violent extremis, and that term to him is very president. The president carefully avoided the label "Islamic extremism". This is a controversial choice.
Critics say that Islamist militancy should be dealt with head on in name directly, but the president says he does not want to give religious legitimacy to groups such as ISIS and al Qaeda.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They are not religious leaders. They're terrorists and we are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam.
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BERMAN: Our senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, is following this story and has the latest for us -- Jim. JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, President Obama defended his decision to stay away from terms like Islamic extremism and Islamic terrorism because he said, he doesn't want to give groups like ISIS and al Qaeda any Muslim street cred by somehow referring to the groups as religious figures.
The president pointed out that Muslims are the victims of ISIS much more often than people from other religious groups and he also noted the young Muslim-Americans recently killed in a high profile murder case in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The president then said that people of the Islamic faith that we offer our love and we offer our support, but his biggest applause line at this Countering Violent Extremism Summit came when he rejected critics who say he has taken too soft an approach in describing groups like ISIS. Here's what he had to say.
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OBAMA: We all know there is no one profile of a violent extremist or terrorist. So there is no way to predict who will become radicalized. Around the world and here in the United States, inexcusable acts of violence have been committed by people of different faiths against people of different faiths, which is, of course, betrayal of all of our faiths.
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ACOSTA: But the president was also trying to strike a balance saying that Muslim leaders in the U.S. need to do more to push back on this notion that there is a clash of civilizations going on. White House officials know that this new stance from the president is controversial.
Press Secretary Josh Earnest conceded they are taking flack on this language that they are using, but that they welcome it. The president will give one more speech on this subject later today when he address hundreds of foreign officials from around the world at the State Department on the global challenged posed by violent extremism -- John and Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Jim Acosta at the White House. Thanks, Jim. While the president works to rally support for the war against extremist terror, ISIS ratchets its brutality to new levels.
An Iraqi official telling CNN that ISIS has killed at least 40 police officers and tribesmen, most of them burned to death. CNN cannot independently confirm that information, but the Pentagon is analyzing the report and is reviewing the imagery.
Now the question is where and how will ISIS strike next? Let's bring in CNN's Ian Lee live from Cairo with the very latest. Good morning, Ian.
IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. ISIS is probing over 600 long of frontline with the Kurdish Peshmerga around the city of Mosul looking for weaknesses. Now the Kurds are stretched thin along parts of this line. ISIS is really trying to take the pressure off the city of Mosul, the key city in Iraq.
Now the Peshmerga have been holding that line defensively for some time, but they have had some major clashes and one recently just the other night was the largest clash we have seen in quite some time where ISIS fighters attacked for hours going after.
It was such close quarter fighting that air strikes were not able to be used for fear of killing the Kurds as well, but after a while they were able to use them.
But this is just the ISIS' strategy of trying to get the pressure off of Mosul. We heard from the Iraqi ambassador recently as well that Iraq, the government in Baghdad, is going to be planning some sort of offensive against the city sometime this year. Right now, the Kurds are holding off until the offensive begins.
ROMANS: All right, Ian Lee, thank you so much for that.
BERMAN: This morning, an aid worker killed while in the hands of ISIS militants is being remembered in her hometown of Prescott, Arizona. Kayla Mueller's brother, Eric, told the crowd at her memorial service that she will live on the acts of kindness she performed while working with Syrian refugees.
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ERIC MUELLER, KAYLA MUELLER'S BROTHER: Only now will you be able to see how much you really did for the world by looking down on it from above. I love you. You can rest in peace knowing that you changed this world.
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BERMAN: ISIS says that Mueller died in a Jordanian airstrike. The Pentagon rejects that claim saying they don't know how she died and whatever the cause, ISIS ultimately is responsible for capturing her and holding her hostage for years.
ROMANS: All right, a huge swath of the United States dealing with bone-chilling temperatures through tomorrow. The arctic air effecting 25 states, even Florida, some states could shatter the record lows.
Check this out. It is so cold even Niagara Falls is partially frozen. Temperatures in that area hit 13 degrees below zero. It is so cold schools from Chicago to Kentucky are closing as a precaution.
Will the dangerous record-breaking windchills continue? I know who knows the answer. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has an early look at your weather.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, what a historic spell of weather ahead of us over the next couple of days. More than 130 million people are under windchill advisories and warnings at least over the next 24 or so hours. The expansion goes from Minneapolis all the way down toward areas of central and southern Florida. Windchills down on south beach in the 30s the next couple of days. Hard freeze warnings and also watches across the citrus growing region. It's worth noting for you across Central Florida.
Look at the perspective, high pressure in place and generally clear skies. Temperatures this morning going to drop down to about minus 12 in Minneapolis, 14 in Atlanta, and again down into the 40s across Tampa. We are talking about 25 to 30 degrees below average.
Minneapolis, high today is 7, 30 is the norm, Chicago, 1 that's among the coldest high temperatures this late into the season since the 1960s for Chicago. Some of the coldest weather since the Clinton administration, down around the nation's capital, New York City in the 20s when you should have double that temperature at 42 degrees. This pattern looks to be a long lived one over the next few days -- guys.
BERMAN: Ugly. All right, Pedram, thanks for that. Appreciate it.
New this morning, the president of Ukraine is calling for United Nations peacekeeping force to try to enforce the latest ceasefire agreement between the government of Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels.
That truce which was signed last week seems to have been shattered in the face of the fierce battle with the crucial rail hub with Debaltseve. Now President Petro Poroshenko is seeking help from the United Nations and the European Union.
For the latest, let's turn to CNN's Erin McLaughlin in Moscow with the latest. Good morning, Erin.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, John. That is right. More disagreement between Moscow and Kiev, Russia this morning rejecting calls from the Ukrainian president for the deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping mission to Eastern Ukraine.
Russian officials saying it would hinder the current agreements already in place. As for those agreements, western officials as well as Ukrainian officials accusing Russia of violating the agreement. Now yesterday, we saw the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops in Debaltseve.
Russian officials were saying the Debaltseve was never subject to the ceasefire in the first place because the separatists had the city surrounded prior to the agreement being made. They are also accusing western officials of trying to use the Debaltseve situation as a pre- text for further sanctions.
But you know, the fact of the matter is, today, the separatists are in complete control of that city and hope really being that now the fighting will finally stop. That ceasefire will finally take hold -- John.
BERMAN: Thanks, Erin Mclaughlin in Moscow. ROMANS: Officials at UCLA Medical Center scrambling to contain a drug resistant and possibly deadly superbug. At least two patients have reportedly died and seven more have been infected after exposure to the bacteria. UCLA is notifying 100 other patients who may have been exposed.
It is believed the infection was transmitted during complex endoscopic procedures. Officials say doctors followed recommended decontamination procedures.
BERMAN: All right, overnight, actress, Allison Williams was defending her father. NBC News Anchor Brian Williams, who has been suspended. Allison was appearing in New York with NBC late night comedian, Seth Myers. Her father's suspension after being caught exaggerating his experiences when covering the Iraq war has been quote, "tough," but she said I know you can trust him.
Brian Williams cannot speak about this. He has been barred from speaking to the media by NBC while he serves out his six-month suspension. That is important to note here. As all of this information comes out, Williams cannot respond.
ROMANS: She is a woman who loves her father. That is all you will hear from the Williams family for a while getting that out ahead of the public appearance.
All right, let's get an EARLY START on your money. Europeans markets making up for early losses. Greece is officially asking E.U. creditors for a six-month extension on the bailout program. U.S. stock futures you can see barely moving.
Yesterday, the U.S. stock market pulled back from record highs after the Federal Reserve raised questions about the economy and insisted it's in no hurry to raise interest rates.
The biggest drag on stocks, Exxon Mobile of the stock fell 2.2 percent after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sold its shares. Oil prices are still falling, down more than 4 percent today. That is more bad news for the troubled energy sector as companies slashed jobs and cut investments so big moves in crude oil.
BERMAN: It's about 20 minutes until the hour right now. The defense lays out its case in the "American Sniper" murder trial. What the accused killer's family revealed about him when it took the stand.
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ROMANS: Now to the trial of Eddie Ray Routh, the man accused of killing "American Sniper" Chris Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield. Routh's legal team trying to build its insanity defense expected to call to the stand mental health VA doctors who treated him before the murders.
On Wednesday, some of the people closest to Routh testified about his erratic behavior. Ed lavender is following every development in the case for us. ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and John, the "American Sniper" trial is now focused on the testimony of those closest to Eddie Ray Routh including his sister and girlfriend. If you remember, it was Eddie Ray Routh's sister was the one that first called 911 and alerted authorities that her brother was the one who had killed two men at a countryside gun range.
She talked about how when Eddie Ray Routh showed up at her house, she was someone that she did not recognize as being her brother. At one point, she told him, I love you, but I hate your demons.
We also heard from Eddie Ray Routh's ex-girlfriend, a woman by the name of Jennifer Weid, who says ironically enough that the night before the murders, Eddie Ray Routh dropped to his knees and asked her to marry him. She describes a darker scene where she asked if he was seeing and hearing things.
Eddie Ray Routh told her yes. She says that in the weeks leading up to her, his temper was very short and his behavior was erratic. At one point, he held her and her roommate at knifepoint in her apartment so this all kind of tapping into what defense attorneys are trying to get the jury to see.
That Eddie Ray Routh was extremely troubled. However, prosecutors have focused extensively on his drug use including the smoking marijuana and drinking whiskey the morning of the murders -- Christine and John.
ROMANS: All right, Ed Lavandera, thank you.
BERMAN: Look at what is coming up on "NEW DAY." Chris Cuomo joins us now. Good morning, sir.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": John Berman, Christine Romans, competent and fetching couple. Thank you very much. We have new developments in the war against, fill in the blank, why do we say that, well, ISIS making a push for fresh territory in Iraq and Syria, and now Libya. We'll take you there and give you the latest.
Ukraine, the ceasefire is not what it was supposed to be. So now what? We will take you to the situation as well. I say fill in the blank because we have a problem with definitions right now in the war against ISIS. Sometimes the media gets caught up in the "and then" aspect of coverage.
The summit at the White House gives us that chance. The president gave an important speech we will take apart. He was very nuanced about what to call the enemy. Is nuance helping here or abroad? That is why you have the disaffected mass to be radicalized. What is going on with our allies? We will put a couple of them to the test.
The foreign minister of Bahrain, they are fundamental with the region and the problem. We have Iraq's ambassador to the U.S. We will ask him. He says he thinks ISIS will be defeated within a year, really?
What is going on within that society between Sunni and Shi'a and creating poverty and oppression? So we're going to take you through all that. We will take you through the "American sniper" trial. The defense is making the full part, the full kind of throated defense is right now with the key witnesses and we will take you through that as well -- John, Christine.
ROMANS: You know, on the extremism, there is no easy formula for what causes someone to be inspired by ISIS. You look at Denmark, for example, a huge social safety net, the happiest country on earth. You look at other places and it is disenfranchised. Those kids are engineers with a lot of money and oil wealth. No single formula. That is what they are discussing at the White House. Thanks, Chris.
BERMAN: All right, an important discussion.
ROMANS: The Department of Justice close to taking action against the Ferguson Police Department. Will the Justice Department sue? Details ahead.
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ROMANS: The Justice Department appears ready to act against the police department in Ferguson, Missouri. Officials telling CNN they may sue for a pattern of racial discrimination. Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to announce the results of the Justice Department investigation into the Michael Brown shooting and police tactics in the coming weeks. Officials say if the Ferguson Police Department does not agree to review and revise the tactics, the government would sue to force changes.
He's been acting head of the Secret Service, now the White House says Joseph Clancy is getting the job permanently. He is a 27-year veteran of the Secret Service. He took over in October when the former director he resigned among the embarrassing security lapses. This goes against the recommendation of the security panel, who said the president should look outside the agency.
Still no word on what caused a huge explosion and fire at an Exxon Mobile oil refinery near Los Angeles on Wednesday. Four workers were injured. The blast shook homes for miles around. People convinced it was an earthquake. The explosion took place in a newly installed processing facility.
Rapper Vanilla Ice is in hot water this morning. He has been released from custody after he was arrested and charged with burglary and grand theft in Florida. Police say the robbery occurred sometime between December and February in a home going through foreclosure. The rapper is renovating a home next door to the property where the items were stolen. Vanilla Ice, real name, Robert Van Winkle says it is all a misunderstanding.
A slowdown at west coast ports is having a big effect on the economy. We will assess the damage next.
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ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on your money. European stocks making up for early losses. Greece has officially asked the E.U. creditors to extend bailout for six months.
U.S. stock futures barely budging. Yesterday, the stocks pulled back after the Federal Reserve asked questions and is in no hurry to raise rates. A lot more today including Wal-Mart earnings before the opening bell.
A labor dispute is turning west coast harbors in the parking lots and it is still going on, those delays at major ports damaging to the economy. According to Deutsch Bank, the port slowdown slashed a full percentage point off growth.
It could get worse if a strike hits. GDP could take a bigger hit this quarter. Deutsch Bank says the White House sent Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and Commerce Secretary Penny Frisker to California to work out a deal.
Reddit is donating 10 percent of its revenue, its ad revenue to charity. The online community is often controversial. It has a history of letting its users do and say whatever they want. Now the users get to vote on the charities get the cash. The site will donate $830,000 to ten organizations. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Doctors Without Borders are leading the vote right now.
Plenty of news to talk about this morning including President Obama addressing the fight against ISIS saying the U.S. is not at war with Islam. Careful about the verbiage that is coming out of the White House on this war, "NEW DAY" has that and more starting right now.
