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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Deadly Storms Ravage Texas & Oklahoma; The War on ISIS: Iraq's New Plan; Houston Rockets Rebound. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired May 26, 2015 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:08] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: People don't like the movies, they're not going to buy the tickets.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
BERMAN: All right. EARLY START continues right now.
(MUSIC)
Breaking news this morning: Houston under water, storms pounding Texas and also Oklahoma. At least six people now killed in the storms and dozens more missing, following record rainfall and unprecedented flooding and tornadoes. We'll tell you the damage that has been done and storms still on the way.
ROMANS: And breaking news this morning out of Iraq. Iraqis launching a new operation to take back territory seized by ISIS. But will it work? We are live in Baghdad, ahead.
BERMAN: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. Nice to see you. It's Tuesday, May 26th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.
Let's begin this morning with this breaking news in Texas and Oklahoma. Officials are warning that storms killed at least six people will likely continue for weeks to come. In Hays County, Texas, one person is confirmed dead, 12 are missing. Officials say the missing likely including some children, two families gathered in a river side vacation home for the long weekend. A home that was washed away right off the foundation by a flash flood.
The ground is saturated. Forecasters are warning there may be more flash flooding ahead. The Texas Governor Greg Abbott has added 24 more counties to an emergency disaster declaration, bringing the total now to 37.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: And we urge all citizens to get out of harm's way. Don't risk your lives by trying to not evacuate the water that may be rising. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Across the region, there have been hundreds of rescues and also some narrow escapes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my gosh! Stop, stop, stop. He needs to get out! Oh my God! Oh my God!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: In Kendall County, after some harrowing moments, officials say that the 68-year-old driver here was able to get out of his SUV. Stunning, and make it to safety.
Elsewhere, crews rescued people by land, by water. This picture from Austin, Texas, and also from the air, in Caldwell County, a National Guard Black Hawk helicopter pulled Danny Pullen from his truck after the truck was swept away in the current. Throughout the ordeal, Pullen stayed on the phone with his panicked daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNAH PULLEN, DAUGHTER OF RESCUED MAN: I kept calling him over and over and I was like, are you OK? Are you OK? And he's like, I don't know if I'm going to make it. But he's like, I love you. I was like, hold on, please don't leave, please don't leave. I'm here for you. I'm here for you. He was like, I don't know what to tell you. I'm sorry.
DANNY PULLEN, RESCUED FROM FLOOD WATERS: It was about real quick three feet. It hit the side of my door enough to be more powerful than I'm going, five or ten miles an hour. It pushed me off the road so I could no longer go forward. I'm instantly go, OK, I'm stuck here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Rainfall totals topping 12 inches in the last five days pushing rivers and lakes past flood stage. At Lake Texoma, at Texas/Oklahoma state line, water ran over the spillway there for only the fourth time since it was built back in 1957.
BERMAN: Flash foods wiped out entire neighborhoods over the weekend. In Hays County alone, officials say as many as 400 homes just washed away. Another 1,000 were badly damaged with 1,000 left homeless.
Pictures show you of a Whole Foods store. Somewhere in there was a Whole Foods store. It's going to be some time before that reopens. Farms and ranches across the region also now face disaster with crops and livestock scattered.
ROMANS: The Blanco River which normally sort of sleepily runs through Hays County swept past the previous flood, topping more than 40 feet late Saturday, 27 feet above the flood line. In fact, it went like 33 feet in just an hour or two. CNN's Ed Lavandera has more from Wimberley, Texas, on the Blanco River.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, it's a staggering scene here in the central Texas town of Wimberley, Texas. All of this debris flooded and rushed out of the Blanco River as flood waters rise dramatically, quickly. Many people telling us that they only had a matter of minutes to escape from their homes. But it was described as a wall of water rushing downstream here in the Blanco River.
This, a refrigerator from the home upstairs. But it was really a lot of these trees, it's kind of hard to really describe just how -- give you the sense of how large these trees were that were swept away, washed out several bridges along the way.
But there is a great deal of concern, John and Christine, about more rainfall in the coming days, and what that will mean for the flooding situation.
[05:05:01] The Blanco River crested more than 40 feet over its usual here in central Texas. So, a dramatic scene, intense, where these flood waters rising very quickly.
And because of that, because of there's so much saturation and because of a lot of the tributaries and creeks are already very filled, the concern is it will not take much more rain to create more flash flooding situations. And that is what the concern is.
The warnings going out to people, urging them to react quickly if the flood waters and the rain waters move back in to pay close attention to those situations, because it takes only a matter of minutes for these flood waters to get out of control -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: And out of control they certainly were. Now, the violent storms also hit Oklahoma, where rising flood waters forced scores of rescues. Firefighters evacuated dozens of people in Twin Lakes as the raging Cimarron River ate away at the foundations of their homes. Near Broken Bow, Oklahoma, crews raced against the swelling river trying to rescue 13 people stranded in a cabin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TROOPER JOE JEFFERSON, OKLAHOMA HIGHWAY PATROL: They are panicked or anything like that. We've been in phone contact with them at all times. So, they are fine. There's nothing hazardous as far as their safety just yet. It's just -- time is of the essence with the water rising.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So much work going on down there right now. Officials say a tornado ripped through the tiny town of Blue in southern Oklahoma on Monday afternoon. That storm killed one woman and destroyed several trailer homes.
ROMANS: A confirmed EF-1 tornado hit southwest Houston on Sunday. Winds there up to 100 miles an hour. The twister tore the roofs off several apartment buildings. City officials say that the health department will help the dozens of displaced residents move to new homes.
BERMAN: We've been talking about the effect of these storms in Texas and Oklahoma. Right now, the epicenter of concern seems to be in Houston. Serious rain, serious flooding overnight.
Let's get the latest on the situation there, Pedram Javaheri tracking it for us.
Hey, Pedram.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys. Good morning.
You know, the flash flood emergency in effect across Houston for at least another 15 or so minutes, and major concern. You look at these rainfall totals in and around Houston over the past 12 hours. And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA has the incredible product that shows the rarity of getting this much rainfall in a 12-hour time period. And they put it somewhere between a 1 and 50 and 1 and a 75-year event to get this much rainfall since people went to bed last night across parts of Houston.
That's why we're getting the flash flooding that is taking place in some perspective. Live perspective coming out of Houston to share with you as far as what is going on. We know, of course, water all across the road. The officials urging anyone that doesn't have to get out to stay inside their properties if they can just because of the amount of water on the ground. We know half of all flooding fatalities occur when people are inside their vehicles.
And you think about floods, of course, besides heat, flooding is the number two killer in the United States. So, all of this taking place right now across portions in Houston with the tremendous rainfall, farther to the east, line of active weather in New Orleans until 5:00 a.m. local time there.
We do have a tornado watch in effect because of the storms that have spawned tornadoes back to the west, 19 of them. But notice the active weather. Still, storms thunderstorms, still some wet weather around Houston. Yes, the coverage has dwindled a little, but we are getting thunderstorms that are going right over the city center and causing flooding to continue over this region.
So, the broad perspective shows you the area of storms and severe weather threat still in the picture for this afternoon and the flooding, of course, now kind of centered over Houston and Beaumont. This is a flash flood warning, meaning the flooding is eminent or occurring. That is happening in Houston. The models paint the picture for you, the next couple of days, two to four inches possible in Houston, four to six inches in southern Louisiana. And eventually pushes into Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. So, this is a long duration event. It looks like next week, we'll
have above average wet weather again over this area of Texas to continue, guys.
BERMAN: Yes, the National Weather Service said they had a maximum rainfall. They set a record for rainfall at Houston International airport right there, more than four inches also. Houston is having a record rainfall there.
ROMANS: We can now look --
JAVAHERI: They have seen hurricanes and tropical storms there as well.
ROMANS: Oh, yes.
JAVAHERI: So, it kind of tells you how serious this is.
ROMANS: We see the live picture of the flooded streets in Houston. You know, there is the flash flood warning in effect for next 15 minutes.
But you got to wonder, Pedram, if businesses and officials and emergency management folks are going to tell people to stay home because of those streets are clogged.
JAVAHERI: Yes, absolutely. If streets are clogged, we know 150 rivers in and around Texas and parts of Houston as well, already max capacity. So, with these storms, they're still raining in parts of Houston. Additional rainfall will come around with the afternoon heating in the region. So, you think about it, again, flooding is a dangerous situation. So, this is still ongoing across Houston.
ROMANS: And dangerous, my heart breaks for those families in central Texas who were simply washed away while they were on holiday and still looking for people. Don't think it's going to be a good outcome there.
BERMAN: Fourth largest city in America waking up to floods, too.
[05:10:00] All right. Pedram, thanks so much.
ROMANS: Thanks, Pedram.
All right. Other breaking news from Iraq: the government announced an operation to retake western Anbar province from ISIS. Now, they are likely to meet stiff resistance. ISIS has been sending in reinforcements to tighten its grip on its newly captured prize.
I want to get the latest from CNN's senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh reporting live for us this morning from Baghdad.
What do we know about this potential offensive, Nick?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At this stage, we are dealing with announcements, but very wide ranging and full of hyperbole from both the Shia armed groups who do much of the heavy fighting against ISIS, Christine, in the past months, known as the Hashd al-Shabi, and also from the Iraqi prime minister and Iraqi state TV, too. Now, they say pretty much the same thing. That a wide ranging operation is underway has been announced, to liberate the Anbar province.
Of course, that is where Ramadi is the capital which is seized a week ago. Now, they are saying the fighting will begin to the north of Anbar to try to sever a supply route up north to a oil refinery town known as Baiji.
Now, that they say was vital for ISIS in supplying itself in areas in which it is fighting. That is the first focus. After which, we are seeing on Iraqi state TV, al-Iraqiya, the Prime Minister Haider al- Abadi being quoted as saying that they are expecting imminently the liberation of Anbar.
This is rhetoric at this stage. It means the counter attack could be on the way. This is clearly a response to Ashton Carter saying the Iraqis quote lack the will to fight. It's perhaps also echoing what's the head of Iran's powerful Republican guard, Qassam Suleimani, said in state media yesterday that actually was the Americans who lacked the will to fight Ramadi because here we see Iranian-backed Shia militia groups doing a lot of the fighting and also potentially what many of those ISIS fighters inside Ramadi have long awaited too.
The counter attack, about over a week's prepare for it, quite how successful and fast it will, we simply don't know. We know that in about a semi-circle to the south, going in from west to east of Ramadi, there are a lot of Iraqi security forces and the Shia potentially ready to join the fight. Complex task ahead, though -- Christine.
ROMANS: Complex indeed. All right. Thanks so much for that, Nick Paton Walsh for us this morning in Baghdad.
BERMAN: You hear Nick talking about the back and forth over who is to blame for the fall of Ramadi. Well, Vice President Biden used Memorial Day to recognize the sacrifice of Iraqi soldiers in Ramadi and elsewhere -- a sharp break from what the Defense Secretary Ash Carter told CNN about the Iraqis lacking the will but now apparently also some discord within the Iraqi ranks as well. The deputy prime minister who's a frequent critic by the way of his government, criticized his own military for retreating from Ramadi, just hours after the Prime Minister of Iraq defended the troops.
CNN's Michelle Kosinski sorts this all out from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John and Christine.
Right. Pretty surprising to hear those words that now just keep reverberating, from the Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to CNN, very bluntly describing what he termed the Iraqi forces lack of the will to fight. They let the city of Ramadi fall to ISIS.
Now, what we are hearing from the administration is some clarification of those comments or you might call it damage control, saying that he was only referring very specifically to the situation in Ramadi, and that over the last 18 months, Iraqi forces have held that city in the face of fierce fighting, terrible casualties, low pay, poor leadership. Not being able to see their families and wave after wave of the gigantic ISIS truck bombs that just further destroyed morale.
We also saw first thing Monday morning a phone call from the vice president to the Iraqi prime minister who had expressed some surprise himself over the defense secretary's comments. The vice president told him that the U.S. recognizes the enormous sacrifice and bravery of Iraqi forces, welcoming the decision to call in additional troops and try to take back Ramadi, and the U.S. pledging its continued support and expedite more training and equipment to try to counter those ISIS truck bombs -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Michelle Kosinski at the White House, thank you for that, Michelle.
Time now for an early start on your money. Asian stocks much higher, but European shares lower. Growing worries about a Greek default. U.S. stock futures looking a bit sluggish after the long holiday weekend.
But there's huge merger news to tell you about this morning. Charter Communications will announce a $55 billion deal to buy Time Warner Cable and smaller Bright House Networks this morning. Charter is the third biggest cable provider in the country. Time Warner Cable is number two.
Together, the company will have 18.8 million broadband Internet subscribers, and 17 million TV subscribers.
[05:15:00] That means one in six households is affected by this deal. Those numbers will be a big advantage when negotiating with channel owners. The merger still has to pass government regulators. That's something that stopped Comcast plan to buy Time Warner Cable earlier this year.
BERMAN: Those Comcast folks must be looking at this going like yelling. It was almost ours.
ROMANS: Almost there.
Fifteen minutes past the hour.
Happening now, the FBI this morning investigating a series of threats targeting passenger planes this weekend. What we are learning this morning, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: All right. New questions this morning about ten phone threats against airlines flights that had law enforcement officials scrambling on Memorial Day weekend. Authorities forced to search planes in Newark, Buffalo, Atlanta, and New York. Air Force scrambled two F-15 fighter jets to escort an Air France flight to JFK.
Listen to New York's Port Authority police questioning the French crew during the flight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PORT AUTHORITY POLICE: Do you have anyone ill or sick on the aircraft?
AIR FRANCE PILOT: No, no. Nobody sick.
PORT AUTHORITY POLICE: And you haven't had anybody ill or sick during the flight, correct?
AIR FRANCE PILOT: Correct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just when we landed and they stopped us. This is when we knew that something is wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The Air France flight evacuated and searched. Police found nothing suspicious or hazardous. The FBI is now investigating.
ROMANS: A spike in murders and gun violence in Baltimore over the weekend. Police say at least 28 people were shot. Seven of them died. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake calls the upsurge of violence disheartening. The city's murder rate is up 47 percent this year. It is the first time in 15 years that Baltimore has had more than 33 homicides in a single month.
BERMAN: The city of Cleveland has reportedly reached a settlement with the Justice Department over what federal authorities said was a pattern of civil rights violations and excessive force by police. Details of the agreement on reforming the Cleveland police department could be announced as soon as today.
[05:20:00] It comes just days after a white police officer was cleared of manslaughter charges in the fatal shooting of two unarmed black suspects.
ROMANS: All right. Fun on the beach quickly turned to terror when a water spout came ashore in Ft. Lauderdale Monday, lifting an inflatable bounce house with three kids inside.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, bounce house! Look at the kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: The kids were ejected before the bounce house flew above the
palm trees and across four lanes of traffic landing in a parking lot nearby.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Airborne and kids dropping out of the bounce house. So, it was really, really a terrible situation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was shocked. She was screaming. Her mouth was bloody. My other cousin was bloody, he was just laying there. He was shaking and they couldn't talk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Officials say two of the children suffered minor fractures. The National Weather Service confirms it was a tornado that tore across the beach.
BERMAN: All right. The Houston Rockets prevented elimination against the Golden State Warriors in the West Finals. But they may have faced an even more difficult challenge trying to get home after the game.
Rockets fan Andy Scholes with the details on the bleacher report, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: The Houston Rockets, they managed to keep on playing in these playoffs. They fended off elimination against the Warriors, but the weather kept fans stranded in the arena.
ROMANS: Andy Scholes has more in this morning's bleacher report.
Hey, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Good morning, guys.
You know, I'm from Houston -- when it floods there, it's bad.
[05:25:00] And earlier this morning, I talked to one of my friends who is in Houston. He said this is the worst flood he has ever seen.
Now, this was the scene at the Toyota Center just a few hours ago. Fans are still stuck there because the streets around the arena are under water and all over the city. Officials told fans minutes before the game ended stay in your seats after the final buzzer because of a massive storm cell that was coming through at the time.
Now, Dwight Howard could not get home after the game. He came out to the floor to hang out with the fans.
As for the actual game, this was a must-win for the Rockets. They were down 3-0 in the series. Scary in the second quarter, Steph Curry goes tumbling over Trevor Ariza, lands on his head. He would leave the game, but after going through concussion tests, he returns in the third quarter.
Things getting chippy in the second half. Howard and Andrew Bogut get into it. Howard swings at Bogut. He gets called for a flagrant foul, lucky he wasn't ejected. The rockets hope he doesn't get suspended.
Now, after air balling his firs shot, Curry heats up with the three, puts the warriors within six. James Harden with a career high 45 points. The Rockets live another day with the 128-115 win.
Ray McDonald is in trouble again. The defensive lineman was arrested Monday in California on suspicion of domestic violence and child endangerment. This is the third legal issue for McDonald in less than a year. His second arrest for domestic violence. Chicago Bears had signed him this off season, but quickly released him after learning of his arrest.
Guys, Kyle Long, he tweeted after the releasing of McDonald, good riddance.
BERMAN: Hey, Andy, just double checking, your latest information from Houston is that there are people still inside the Toyota Center waiting for those floods to die down?
SCHOLES: As of 20 minutes ago, 200 people in the seats at Toyota Center waiting to leave to get home.
ROMANS: Wow.
BERMAN: Wow!
ROMANS: Fourth biggest city in America. Clearly a lot of people are not going to work today.
BERMAN: It was a long, long night.
All right. Andy Scholes, thank you so much.
The breaking news this morning. You just heard Andy Scholes say 200 people have been stuck in the Toyota Center all night. More than six people have been killed in these storms, and dozens still missing. We'll have the very latest coming up.
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