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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Israeli President Prepares to Address Congress; ISIS Releases 19 Christian Hostages; GOP Vows Immigration Fight

Aired March 02, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: tensions strained between the White House and Israel. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waking up in Washington one day before he speaks to Congress about the dangers of the nuclear deal with Iran. A high risk political move, but will it pay off?

We have team coverage breaking down this big story ahead.

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday, March 2nd, it is 4:00 a.m. in the East. Good morning, everyone.

Developing this morning, tension with the Obama administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaching a peak, as the Israeli leader arrives in Washington, preparing to speak later this morning to the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC. Tomorrow, Netanyahu is set to address Congress. Both speeches are expected to be highly critical of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over Iran's nuclear program. Netanyahu has said he believes that nuclear program which Iran says is peaceful poses a threat to Israel's very existence.

For the latest, let's bring in CNN White House correspondent Erin McPike.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak in just a few hours, but this rift has been growing throughout the weekend. We have heard congressional Democrats speak out on this, including California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein who was on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" on Sunday morning, calling Netanyahu arrogant. And she added this:

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: No, he doesn't speak for me on this. He doesn't at all speak for me on --

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Does that bother you when he says he speaks for all of you?

FEINSTEIN: Yes, I think the Jewish community is like any other community. There are different points of view. So, I think that arrogance does not befit Israel.

MCPIKE: We did learn on Sunday afternoon that the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power will focus her speech at AIPAC on the relationship between the U.S. and Israel. However, she is speaking just after Netanyahu does so it could be a little bit awkward. However, the United States has tried to keep an open dialogue with Israel around this trip. And to that end, Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone on Sunday with Netanyahu about the negotiations over Iran between the U.S. and Iran.

So, we should be getting more details in the coming days -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to Erin McPike.

The Obama administration argues is it trying to ease the friction with Israel. But it also criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday for accepting House Speaker John Boehner's invitation to speak to Congress without first informing the White House. The speaker if defending that invitation, while blasting the administration for letting its relationship with Israel deteriorate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: Has the White House damaged the relationship?

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Well, the animosity between the White House and the prime minister is no secret here in this town.

INTERVIEWER: They made it worse.

BOEHNER: They certainly made it worse over the last five or six weeks. The threat coming from Iran and the Iranians having a nuclear weapon is a threat to the region, is a threat to the United States and is a threat to the rest of the world.

This is a serious issue and we're not going to resolve the issue by sticking our heads in the sand. The prime minister can talk about this threat, I believe, better than anyone. And the United States Congress must to hear from him and so the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Congress is not the only audience for the prime minister's speech. In some ways, it's not the most important audience. That would be the people of Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces an election in just two weeks. A lot of people think this is pure electioneering that's happening right now.

Standing by live in Jerusalem for us, CNN's Oren Liebermann.

Good morning, Oren.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN REPORTER: Good morning.

And the timing of the speech certainly, it doesn't seem to be a coincidence. It will be 11:00 in the morning Eastern Time, which is 6:00 p.m. here, and certainly playing to both crowds here in America and, of course, voters in Israel.

Voters here, the public politicians, pretty evenly split on this speech. There are those on the right which would be Netanyahu's Likud Party, the Jewish home party, and some of the other party's on that end of the political spectrum, who support Netanyahu's decision to speak to Congress, seeing it as a valuable opportunity, perhaps even a critical opportunity to warn America and Europe about the threat of a nuclear Iran to the security of Israel. And then there are those on the left who see this as purely a political move with two weeks to go until the elections.

We have learned more on the content on the speech. We know it will focus on Iran, but our CNN traveling with Netanyahu to Washington learned more. They learned that Netanyahu at least believes that he knows more about these negotiations than the Congress and he intends to tell Congress what he knows with two goals in mind.

The first of those goals is to make Congress put pressure on the White House to question the administration, and to put pressure on the deal and make sure that deal at least keeps Israeli's security in mind. And the second of those goals is to hopefully push back the March 24th deadline, which is three weeks from date of the speech and just one week after Israeli elections -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Oren Liebermann for us in Jerusalem, where again, the people there who might be watching this speech from the prime minister much more closely that even here -- thanks, Oren.

Happening today, happening this morning in fact, Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with Iranian counterparts in Switzerland. This is the eighth round of negotiations this year on the Iran nuclear program. Again, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to Congress about the program, Secretary of State John Kerry will be negotiating to figure out a way with Iran to stem it. That, of course, is the real back drop of this entire trip by the Israeli prime minister.

ROMANS: All right. Five minutes past the hour.

ISIS has released 19 Christian hostages, all but one of them kidnapped last week in northeast Syria. That's according to a London- based human rights group. The Syrian hostages released on the others of the self-proclaimed ISIS court.

For the latest, let's bring in senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman live for us from Irbil, Iraq.

Ben, what do we know about why the ISIS court let these hostages go?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Actually, there's -- it's not altogether clear why they were released. But we understand that there have been intense contacts between Kurdish and the Syrian tribal leaders in northeastern Syria and ISIS to win their release. Now, the rest of them, which are approximately 200 people, who were taken hostage early last week, their fate is still unknown. And we understand it will be decided by one of the Sharia courts.

And, of course, in the past, those courts have not exactly been a pinnacle of mercy, so to speak. But this is a good start. But at this point, we really don't know what they will decide regarding the remaining hostages. In the past, we know that many people, Yazidis, Christian and others have ended up being sold as slaves to ISIS fighters -- Christine.

ROMANS: Ben, how does the kidnapping fit in the strategy of ISIS here? Is it to promote terror? Is it to punish groups whose maybe the men have been fighting ISIS? Why this kidnapping rampage?

WEDEMAN: Certainly, what we know is that the Syrian Christians in northeastern Syria, who have really been on the sidelines of the war in Syria for years, saw ISIS coming. They know ISIS reputation. The men took up arms.

And this is partly why so many were kidnapped because many of the men had gone to the front and these villages were relatively lightly defended. But definitely, it has a lot to do with the fact these people are fighting back. That they have taken up arms and clearly this is not a conflict where you can -- there is a middle ground that can be reached. It's essentially fight or die -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Ben Wedeman for us in Irbil -- thank you, Ben.

We are learning new information about the British voice of ISIS nicknamed by his captives Jihadi John. We are live in London with details about that person in about ten minutes.

BERMAN: Round two of the political fight to fund Homeland Security. Money for the agency runs out in five days. That's after last week's stopgap fix.

Republicans, a lot of people are blaming Republicans for the stalemate. They still trying to keep the department funded -- the funding tied to reversing the president's immigration reforms. The Senate has already approved a full year of DHS funding with no strings attached.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money.

The stock futures are up, pointing to a good start for the first trading day in March. February, folks, if you didn't notice, it was fantastic for stocks. The best month for the S&P 500 since October, 2011, up 5.6 percent. NASDAQ up 7 percent last month, very close to 5,000 for the first time since that dot-com bubble in 2000.

But get ready for March madness. March has a reputation for big swings in stocks. NASDAQ reached its high in March 2000, and its bottom in March 2009. Some things Wall Street will be looking for this month, more -- strong job growth and stability in Europe and any clues about interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

But if you didn't notice, it was a very good month for your 401(k) last month and this morning, futures pointing higher.

BERMAN : All right. We are keeping you responsible for March.

Tens of thousands in Russia protesting against the Kremlin, taking to the streets following the murder of one of Putin's strongest critics shutdown in cold blood within sight of the Kremlin. We are live in Moscow with the very latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Thousands of Russians, tens of thousands of Russians, gathered in Moscow to mourn the death of former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov. He was a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin who was gunned, who was assassinated Friday near the Kremlin walls, within sight of the Kremlin. Sunday's rally was hurriedly organized as a tribute to Nemtsov.

I want to bring in senior international correspondent Matthew Chance live from Moscow.

Of course, there was supposed to be a protest led by Nemtsov this Sunday. But once he was killed, he was no longer able to be there.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that rally was on the outskirts of Moscow. It was against the war in Ukraine and against the economic indication in the country.

But once Boris Nemtsov was assassinated right here on this bridge a short distance from the Kremlin -- that's Red Square behind me there and Saint Basil's Cathedral. Those plans were abandoned and a mourning march was held here right through the official center of the Russian capital. Tens of thousands of people turning out to pay their respects to lay the mountain of flowers that now have been placed as a tribute to Boris Nemtsov on the exactly spot where he was killed.

The crowds have essentially disbursed now. Now, it's Monday here in Russia local time. But people are still streaming through trickling past to lay more bouquets and to pay respects to this opposition figure who in life was on the fringe of Russian politics, but in death, has really sparked a lot of concern and a lot of political debate in the country about the direction in which Russia is traveling, John.

BERMAN: Matthew, with his death, is there any sense that this will be a moment for the protests to galvanize? I mean, the approval rating of Vladimir Putin has almost never been higher. It's at 85 percent and climbing.

CHANCE: Yes, 86 percent was the figure I read a few days ago before the killing of Boris Nemtsov. And so, I mean, this is the really big question, I think, that we don't have the answer to, but facing Russia right now. Will this be a turning point in the politics of Russia? Will this killing be a moment at which we look back and we say, look, this is the point in which Russians sort of considered all of the things that Boris Nemtsov talked about in life, the corruption in Russia, the brutality of Russia?

I mean, all will it send a message to silence the opposition? After all, I mean, what this says, really, if you are opposed to the Kremlin, if you're opposed to what Vladimir Putin says, this is what could happen to you. That's a very potent message. And that may serve to actually further silence the opposition in Russia as well. We don't know which way it's going to go.

BERMAN: Matthew Chance for us in Moscow, again, where that tribute sits right now for Boris Nemtsov, the leader gunned down and assassinated on Friday. Thanks, Matthew.

ROMANS: Closing arguments set to begin this morning in the trial of Abid Naseer, the Pakistani born man accused of taking part in the al Qaeda bombing plots in New York, Denmark and England. His trial in federal court in New York featuring riveting testimony from five members of the British Secret Service who tracked Naseer in 2009. Those agents wearing disguises in court. They were cross-examined by Naseer. He is representing himself. The jury expected to get the case this week.

BERMAN: The Justice Department is about to release a blistering report on the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department. According to officials who have been briefed, the report will accuse Ferguson police of making discriminatory traffic stops involving African- Americans, building years of animosity leading up to the shooting death of Michael Brown. Fines from those traffic stops have been critical, said this report, of balancing the city's budget.

Ferguson officials will likely have to negotiate a settlement with the Justice Department or will face a lawsuit.

ROMANS: The city of Cleveland says the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in a police shooting there was directly caused by the boy's own actions. The city is responding to a lawsuit filed by the family. Rice was fatally shot holding a toy gun which officers mistook for a fire arm. Video shows the shooting occurred just seconds after police confronted the 12-year-old.

BERMAN: There is dramatic new video this morning of a fatal police shooting in Los Angeles. It shows officers involved an altercation with a man reportedly homeless suspected of a robbery outside a shelter in downtown L.A. It is unclear what precipitated this altercation.

The police say they tried to tase the man, but he kept fighting them after the suspects they say reached for as officer's gun and police fired at him. Authorities say the incident is under investigation. They plan to review video from various sources as part of the investigation.

ROMANS: All right. Testimony resumes in just a few hours in the murder trial of former NFL star Aaron Hernandez. The sister of Odin Lloyd could take the witness stand today. Hernandez charged with fatally shooting Lloyd back in 2013. Now, when court resumes, the jury will first hear more from the Sprint employee who testified about text messages and phone calls between Hernandez a co-defendant.

BERMAN: A Texas nurse who caught Ebola from a patient she cared for last fall is planning to sue the hospital and its parent company. Twenty-six-year-old Nina Pham claims they were negligent and did not have the proper protective gear for those who treated the Ebola patient. The patient, you'll remember him, his name was Mr. Duncan, he died after becoming the first person in the U.S. diagnosed with Ebola. Texas health says its confident a constructive dialogue will resolve that.

A big winter storm hitting the Midwest and Northeast this morning, with another storm waiting in the wings.

Pedram Javaheri has been tracking it for us -- Pedram.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, good Monday morning to you.

Here we go again. Absolutely, it's going to be the case again. And, of course, a February to remember. New York City, your average temperature for the month of February was 24 degrees. That is the coldest in eight decades.

And places like Buffalo had their coldest month on record as well, even in Toronto, did not reach the freezing mark at all for the month of February. That was the first time since 1978 that's occurred. But here we go, a little warming trend. Washington, 41, New York, we make it up to 37, that is a warming trend. That is the case and will remain in the same range over the next couple of days. Atlanta to Charleston, anywhere from 60 to around 70 degrees.

But w do have some wet weather moving in. That will be the theme over the next couple of days over this region, some strong thunderstorms to tell you about in and around New Orleans this morning, reduced visibility, work your way off the Northeast. Boston, some snow showers, less than 5 inches over the past 24 hours. Boston, less than five inches away from the all-time snowiest winter on record. Models suggest we will get there over the next seven days.

And here comes the next storm system that gets to you sometimes Tuesday afternoon. We get some snow showers across the Great Lakes, the Ohio Valley gets an awesome wintry mix. And by Tuesday, some snow showers across the Northeast as well. It generally looks like north of New York City, Boston starts to get a couple inches of snow -- guys.

ROMANS: All right. Pedram, thank you for that.

All right. Cold, a loner, new information this morning about ISIS' executioner. What we are learning about this man that captives nicknamed Jihadi John, live right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: New details this morning about the ISIS fighter known as Jihadi John. A terrorist defector who met Mohammed Emwazi two years ago in Syria tells BBC he was a cold loner who wanted to appear in terrorist videos, even described him as odd and strange.

Let's get more from CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson in London.

Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Christine. I mean, what's also sort of odd and strange here, you have on the one hand characterizations like this from the sort of ISIS defector, if you will, and on the other hand, we hear other narratives from the cage group. They say he was a nice guy.

One newspaper here has tracked down his former employer. A computer company in Kuwait. That company says that Emwazi was their best employee, the perfect salesman, that he was a nice guy. You know, you have the two very contradictory images.

Another journalist here said that a couple of years before he left for Syria, Emwazi contacted him by e-mail, saying he was a dead man walking, that he was under pressure from the British intelligence services.

This organization CAGE, activist organization CAGE, has released a series of e-mails exchanged between them and Emwazi, they say, where the narrative has expanded. That Emwazi feels he was put under pressure by British intelligence services, that they tried to recruit him. People here familiar with the way counterterrorism officials work in this country say, if that was happening, there was a reason for it. That either he was a terrorist himself or he was very close to somebody that MI5, the British intelligence agency, would like to know more about and they were trying to turn Emwazi into an informer.

And what we have learned about him is that he was with a group of young men in west London where he lived with connections to al Shabaab, the forerunner of al Qaeda in Somalia. That they were raising funds to send support for their fight, that he had tried to get there himself, but was associated with some of the group of men who tried to bomb the London bus network in July of 2005, that he had associations there.

He was associated with another person who was fighting with al Shabaab in Somalia who went on to be killed in a U.S. drone strike in January of 2012. So, this is a complex picture drawn up. But the ISIS defector, if you will, has perhaps the most recent insight and chilling insight, given that this was just a year or so before Jihadi John as he was known to all of us for so long begun these brutal beheadings -- Christine.

ROMANS: Nic, did this defector say that Jihadi John was particularly religious?

ROBERTSON: That is something that we've heard from his community in the west of London, that he had in recent years, he began to wear more Islamic clothing. He was known for a while for wearing sort of quite trendy clothing. But in the years or so before he left to go to Syria, he began wearing more traditional clothing, going to the mosque more often. So, this is a image that does emerge of somebody who becomes more religious in the more recent years, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Nic, thanks so much for that.

BERMAN: Happening now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington. He will speak tomorrow about the dangers of the nuclear deal with Iran. That move has created a lot of controversy. We'll break it down, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)