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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Iraqis Regain Part Of Ramadi; Strategy Shift In Iraq?; ISIS On A Rampage In Syria; Memorial Day Travelers Increase; Deadly Flooding In Texas And Oklahoma; NSA Data Collection Program In Jeopardy. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired May 25, 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: Have Iraqis lost the will to fight against ISIS? A troubling new assessment from the White House as the terrorists unleash a new massacre. Live team coverage ahead.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans this Memorial Day for you. John Berman has the morning off. It's 31 minutes past the hour.
Up first, a frightening scene near the U.S. capitol, the bomb squad called in to detonate a pressure cooker found in a suspicious vehicle last night. Now it turns out it was not a bomb.
A Virginia man was arrested at the scene, though, for that driving that vehicle without a license. Pressure cookers have been used in several recent terror attacks including the Boston marathon bombings. The incident last night was taking place as thousands of people gathering for a Memorial Day concert.
Turning now to the Middle East where Iraqi forces are rallying back against ISIS in Ramadi. Taking back a town near Ramadi one week after it fell to the terrorists.
Iraqi troops showing signs of life after the U.S. defense secretary questions their will to fight. All of this as we get disturbing new reports of a blood bath in Syria at the hands of ISIS fighters.
Let's start with the situation unfolding right now in Ramadi. CNN senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon, live from Baghdad -- Arwa.
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. We are hearing from several security sources that this Iraqi force is positioning itself for, as we were told, zero hour.
Now there are a few thousands, perhaps 5,000 or 6,000 individuals that do make up this force positioned on the outskirts of Ramadi. The bulk of the frontline defensive force is made up of the Iraqi Security Forces, that is army and police plus those highly controversial and very effective Iranian-backed predominately Shi'a paramilitary fighters. We also are seeing them employing actively the use of the Sunni tribes. This is critical. It is the Sunnis at the end of the day that know the lay of the land. Sunni tribes are being used more as defensive positions in the rear of the counter offensive against ISIS in Ramadi because the Sunnis at this stage only light weapons.
That is why we have been hearing them calling on the Iraqi government to provide them with the weapons that they were initially promised. Many here are bristling at U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter's comments that the Iraqis don't have the will to fight.
They will say, especially those who are fighting on the frontlines, that they do have the will to fight that the mistakes lie within their own chain of command with logistical failures. They will say that some responsibility for that lies with the U.S. because they were the ones that were training the Iraqis for around a decade.
They were the ones declared the Iraqi Security Forces combat ready and capable of holding on to security gains in Iraq before U.S. troops withdrew. These comments at this stage also being met by the Iraqi prime minister with a certain level of dismay as he said in an interview with the BBC.
He said he believed that Carter must have somehow received the wrong information and that Ramadi would be back in the hands of the government shortly -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right, thanks so much for that, Arwa in Baghdad for us. With the ISIS making those stunning advance across the Middle East, the Pentagon is signaling it is open to a shift in strategy in Iraq.
As we were just reporting, the defense secretary, Ash Carter questioning Iraq's will to fight the terrorists in an exclusive interview with CNN. We get more on that from Athena Jones from the White House.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. Ever since the fall of Ramadi in Iraq and later Palmyra in Syria this past week, there's been a lot of discussion about whether the U.S. needs to change its strategy towards ISIS to ensure the defeat of the terror group.
Secretary Carter is saying that one of the big problems at least in Iraq is with the Iraqi forces themselves. Take a listen to what he had to say.
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ASH CARTER, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: What apparently happened was that the Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight. They were not outnumbered.
[05:35:04] In fact, they vastly outnumbered the opposing force and yet they failed to fight. They withdrew from the site. That says to me and I think to most of us, that we have an issue with the will of the Iraqis to fight ISIL and defend themselves. Now we can give them training. We can give them equipment. We obviously cannot give them the will to fight. If we give them training and we give them equipment, give them support, and give them some time, I hope they will develop the will to fight because only if they fight can ISIL remain defeated.
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JONES: So there you have Secretary Carter telling the Iraqi forces to step up. You have Republicans both on Capitol Hill and out on the campaign trail, who are calling for more U.S. ground troops in Iraq, 10,000 ground troops necessary to ensure the defeat of ISIS while ground troops are not on the table -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Athena Jones at the White House. Thanks, Athena.
Syrian war planes carrying out more than a dozen air strikes overnight against ISIS targets in the city of Palmyra, this after ISIS fighters went on a rampage slaughtering government soldiers and civilians in and around the ancient city.
At least 400 people, many of them women and children, are killed. According to Syrian state TV, the streets are littered with bodies and many of them beheaded.
I want to get the latest from CNN's Ian Lee. He is monitoring the situation from Cairo -- Ian.
IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. A reign of terror in Palmyra as ISIS forces take over and consolidate their control. As we have seen in other places where ISIS takes control, thousands of people flee ahead of them. Those are the lucky ones.
The ones left behind are unfortunately under their rule. ISIS forces going door-to-door looking for anyone who worked with the Syrian government or sympathetic and taking them out. We are hearing reports anywhere from 90 to well into the hundreds of people, who have been executed including children, 11, we are hearing so far.
Also reports that they have arrested or captured 600 people who they say worked and supported the Syrian government as we have seen in other instances in the past, those people who likely will be executed as well as ISIS expands their reign of terror.
ROMANS: All right, clearly the worst fears playing out there in that town. Thank you so much for that, Ian.
The nation pausing today to honor those who have fallen defending our country, President Obama marking this Memorial Day by laying a wreath at the Tombs Of The Unknown at the Arlington National Cemetery.
Other top defense officials will pay respects in one of the newer sections of the cemetery where many killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried.
If you took a road trip this weekend, you may have hit some traffic, 33 million Americans hit the roads between last Thursday and today, that's according to AAA. That's up 5 percent from last year.
The U.S. Travel Association says that translates into $12.3 billion in economic boosts, about $330 a person. About a quarter of people who hit the roads say the decision was influenced by cheap gas prices.
The national average this morning is $2.74. Gas prices are up about a quarter in the last month. Gas is a lot cheaper than it was this time last year.
Record rainfall brings deadly flooding in Texas and Oklahoma. Thousands of people evacuated from their homes and these storms are not over yet. Details ahead.
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ROMANS: Welcome back to EARLY START. A deadly weekend of flooding in Texas and Oklahoma, the severe weather leaving three people dead, several others are missing with hundreds forced to evacuate their homes. Emergency crews are still trying to get a handle on a scope of the devastation. CNN's Alina Machado has more.
ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, we've been some of the hardest hit areas in Texas, but nothing compares to what we are seeing here in Wimberley, Texas. We have seen houses knocked off their foundations or tipped over like this one here just by the sheer force of the rising flood waters.
We know there are hundreds of homes that have been damaged or destroyed in this area. The debris field here is quite extensive. You can see here and tell how high those flood waters got just by the debris that is stacked up right there against the tree. There's even a child's toy wrapped up in the debris.
I want to show you something else that we were told by the people who were here. This all happened very quickly. A lot of them did not have time to react. A lot of them had to ride out the flood waters in the homes as this was happening.
There is a truck that normally parks in front of where that jeep is turning. If you walk over here, look at it right over there, completely overturned, just resting, quite a ways away from where it normally is.
There is no doubt that the clean-up effort here is going to take a very long time and it's going to require the help of many, many people -- Christine.
ROMANS: Sure will. All right, Alina, thank you for that. So what happens next is the worst over in Texas and Oklahoma? Let's get to meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri for an early look at your weather.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Christine. As you see the video, the flooding is certainly devastating for a lot of people, but for the farmers across this region, at least, some good news. We know as of May 2014, the exceptional drought indicated in the dark red and browns here at its peak, really resembling what you would see in the state of California when it comes to the severity of the drought.
As of this week, that's literally all wiped away for a very extensive region including much of Oklahoma into Kansas as well. Good news in that sense that the rainfall is pushing back the drought situation.
The models bring back another round of rainfall to Dallas and north by this afternoon, areas around Austin and eastward to Houston as well, tremendous rainfall possible. Some models saying over the next couple of days, 4 to 6 inches from Shreveport to Louisiana.
Look at the river gauges, one gauge from a couple of feet to over 40 feet in some spots, at least nearing 40 feet in some spots.
[05:45:08] That is record territory for the region. The temperatures are uniform across the country into the 70s and 80s.
ROMANS: All right, Pedram Javaheri, thank you for that. Let's take a look at what is coming up on "NEW DAY." Michaela Pereira joins us now.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Are you all alone?
ROMANS: Berman is in D.C. today.
PEREIRA: All right, well, you know, we have a busy day ahead of us on this Memorial Day. We have the latest on the exclusive comments to CNN by Defense Secretary Ash Carter saying that the Iraqis showed no will to fight when ISIS took Ramadi. Those candid comments are raising eyebrows in Washington.
In Iraq, how big is the fallout? We are going to have several military guests join us here on set to talk about all of that.
Also some protests over the weekend after a Cleveland police officer acquitted in the shooting deaths of unarmed African-Americans. Did the judge make the right call? There is a whole lot of feelings and debate on that very issue. We will have the officer's lawyer on our show and we'll get his take, Christine, coming up.
ROMANS: OK, I can't wait for that. Thank you so much, Michaela. See you soon.
The primary presidential race has just begun. Rumors are already flying when it comes to Hillary Clinton's potential running mate. Possible clues coming from one high profile politician? That's next.
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ROMANS: One week and counting until the NSA's bulk data collection program expires.
[05:50:03] The White House already assessing what the agency would examine if the law lapses June 1st. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already said he will convene a session Sunday night, but it's unclear how legislation could be move forward after being defeated in the chamber for the weekend.
Another Republican presidential hopeful coming out in favor of ending the NSA program, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee suggests authorities have should get a warrant to listen in on phone calls. He argues the program hasn't even been effective.
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MIKE HUCKABEE, FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: The 225 different terrorists' plots over the past year since 9/11 and so far not one of them has been tied directly to the NSA collection of metadata. If this is so effective, how come it hasn't resulted in the foiled plots?
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ROMANS: The issue has divided the 2016 Republican field with several arguing for keeping the program or at least a modified version of it to fight terrorism.
The investigation into Hillary Clinton's e-mails getting dismissed as petty politics by a member of the president's cabinet. HUD Secretary Julian Castro is calling out the Republicans on CNN's Sunday for wasting American's time.
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JULIAN CASTRO, HUD SECRETARY: You have the e-mails is a witch hunt. Congressman Gowdy, who is leading this is very intentionally trying to manipulate this witch hunt to play politics. That's unfortunate. It is the reason Congress has a 19 percent approval rating.
I think that we need to focus on more substantive things as one who hasn't spent my lifetime in D.C., I know in America, they care about are you reducing veteran homelessness?
Are you providing the impetus for young people to be able to achieve their dreams? Are we making sure that America in the 21st century remains the undisputed land of opportunity, not whether somebody had e-mails or didn't have them.
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ROMANS: The first round of Clinton e-mails was released Friday. Thousands more on the way despite no clear timetable. Castro, by the way, a former San Antonio mayor, is widely rumored as a potential running mate for Hillary Clinton.
All right, there's still time to nab Memorial Day deals. I'll tell you what to avoid and what to buy next.
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ROMANS: Welcome back. I'm Christine Romans. Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning. The stock market is closed for the Memorial Day holiday. Here is a happy reminder. Stocks in record territory, the Dow is up 2.3 percent this year, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 are doing even better.
So what could trip up this bull market, well, an interest rate hike is coming. In a speech, Friday, the fed chief, Janet Yellen, says, we can expect a hike before the end of the year despite weak economic growth and some stagnant wages. That's sending European stock lower right now.
The 2016 presidential hopefuls are already promising us the world. But Steven Dubner, the author of "Freakonomics" says their incentives are all wrong.
He says right now politicians focus on raising money and getting elected instead of serious long-term problems and fixing those long term problems. So he says we should pay them more.
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STEPHEN DUBNER, AUTHOR, "WHEN TO ROB A BANK": I would give politicians stock options. If Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, could really raise U.S. test scores by 10 percentage points in ten years, we write a big fat check to Arne Duncan and the hundred people working with them because that's the way the world works, right?
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ROMANS: Dubner would also like to pay teachers more based on their performance.
All right, if you are thinking about buying a new car, today is maybe the day to get serious, folks. There are wide range of zero-percent financing deals out there and this weekend may be one of your last chances to take advantage of them.
Toyota Camry and Rav 4, Nissan Rogue and Chevy Volt and Ford Escape, there are also good deals, lease deals from Buick, Honda and Jeep and Volkswagen.
Some things not to buy, electronics and tools, retailers will have better deals closer to Father's Day. You have to wait for swim wear and video game deals at the end of the summer.
All right, this morning, a grim prognosis from the White House on the war against ISIS. Have Iraqis lost their will to fight? It's a comment and a CNN exclusive that is raising a lot of questions and concerns this morning. "NEW DAY" picks that story right now.
