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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

The War on ISIS: New Strategy?; Ex-House Speaker Indicted; Texas Faces New Flood Threat. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired May 29, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:17] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: a new strategy to fight ISIS. After a series of defeats, the U.S. shifting the plan on how to take down the terrorists. We'll take you live to Baghdad.

The former speaker of the House indicted -- once one of the most powerful men in the country accused of paying to hide past misconduct. New details in the strange case against Dennis Hastert.

Plus, new severe storms pounding Texas as rescuers sift through the rubble to find flood victims.

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman. Christine Romans is off today. It is Friday, May 29th, 4:00 a.m. in the East.

And happening now, the Obama administration says it is fine tuning its ISIS strategy in Iraq. Pentagon officials are looking for a way to bring Sunni tribes into the fight against Islamic State militants. One possibly under consideration, the U.S. could begin arming Sunni fighters directly. That would replace or supplement the current system where all going through the Shiite dominated government in Baghdad.

This as Iraqi forensic teams begin trying to identify nearly 500 bodies exhume from a presidential complex in Tikrit. Officials believe the bodies belong to Iraqi military which ISIS claim it killed last June in a massacre at a nearby military base.

Overnight in Baghdad, at least nine people were killed, 14 injured in twin bomb blast at two popular hotels where Iraqi officials stay, VIPs, also foreigners.

Standing by in Baghdad for us, senior international correspondent Arwa Damon.

Arwa, the idea of arming the Sunnis directly is not without some controversy.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not. And that's because of the ongoing sectarian issues here, the fact that it was the Iraqi government that promised that they would be the ones that would arm the Sunnis. They have yet to do that. And then, of course, you have the various different dynamics of the battle field where you're going to end up with even more unconventional forces that are armed supposedly all fighting alongside each other in the battle against ISIS. But at the end of the day, this is Iraq and many things not necessarily go to plan.

Now, the Sunnis have been asking for weapons for well over a year now, wanting to take on the battle against ISIS themselves. That is the majority of the Sunni tribes.

Bearing in mind, too, that these are Sunni fighters that the U.S. allied with in the past. They were the ones that turned against al Qaeda back in the day and created what was then known as the Awakening Council and fought alongside U.S. forces.

But at the same time, there are people who feel America betrayed them. It betrayed them when it withdrew and left them at the mercy of this predominantly Shia government. Back then, it was the government of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki.

And they also feel as if the U.S. and this current government betrayed them by not providing them with the support when they wanted it a year ago and by not providing them with sufficient air support to prevent ISIS from taking over huge parts of Anbar province. So, we reached a stage where the Sunnis will take weapons from anyone who will give it to them.

The problem is also, if, at this stage, the U.S. does not fulfill our promise, it's going to further anger the Sunni population and further alienate them. And the concerns right now as we are talking about this massive offensive that's happening in Anbar and Ramadi is about those civilians that are trapped inside the city.

We were at a refugee camp and many of the individuals whom we met have relatives in Ramadi, and they say that they are trapped in the areas that ISIS took over a year ago. They are unable to flee. And when they try to reach their relatives, they keep telling them they keep trying to leave these neighborhoods, but ISIS stops them at gunpoint and takes the young men, forces the young men to pledge allegiance to ISIS.

So, in all of this, you have the growing plight of a civilian population that many of their relatives whom we met claims ISIS is using as human shields, John.

BERMAN: With so many internal visions in Iraq, not many places for some of these Sunni refugees to go.

Arwa Damon for us in Baghdad, thank you so much.

New questions this morning about why a federal grand jury in Chicago has indicted former House Speaker Dennis Hastert on charges of financial misconduct and lying to the FBI. This indictment alleges that Hastert restructured bank withdrawals to avoid IRS reporting requirements. It says he paid $3.5 million in hush money to someone in order to keep secret unspecified misconduct dating back as far perhaps as his days as a high school wrestling coach.

[04:05:01] There's no response Thursday when CNN knocked on the door of the Hastert home in Illinois. Former colleagues are now reacting to this indictment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ROGERS (R), FORMER HOUSE INTELLIGENCE CHARIMAN: I'm just shocked and disheartened that Dennis Hastert found himself in a position where he felt he had to do something this drastic. Obviously, clearly, he must have known that it was illegal to do it in the way they structured it because that's the way they structured it. So, on a personal level, shocked, dismayed, my heart goes out to his family. I hope they get it worked out.

From the FBI agent perspective --

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And you used to be an FBI agent --

ROGERS: Lots of questions. I did use to be an FBI agent, lots of questions. Was he extorted likely the way they written the indictment where it says individual A means that individual A is likely to have cooperated with the FBI at some point in this investigation. So, I think there's gong to be a lot more story to be told here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: A lot more story to be told here.

Hastert, by the way, one of the most liked and low key speakers in the last several generations. The 73-year-old resigned his position as a lobbyist yesterday. That's a job he held since leaving Congress back in 2007.

This morning, less than three days remain before major U.S. intelligence programs shutdown unless lawmakers find a compromise to reauthorize them. The White House says there is no plan B if legal authority expires and the NSA is forced to shut down its bulk phone data collection and other programs. This does put pressure on congressional leaders who are scrambling for a solution before Sunday night's deadline.

CNN's Michelle Kosinski has the latest from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House is continuing this push to try to get the Senate to act before deadline to keep these parts of the Patriot Act up and running, saying that failing to do so is like playing national security Russian roulette, unnecessary risk, and saying that the FBI's work is going to be severely impacted.

Here is the press secretary.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What our national security professionals have told us is that these are programs that provided valuable information in the past. These are critical tools that are used to keep the American people safe. They use these tools to collect information that has not been otherwise available to them, that was then used to prevent individuals from carrying out acts of violence, to round up people who wished harm on the United States.

KOSINSKI: Well, that's what they have been saying. But the thing is U.S. officials can't point to a single case where these programs saved the day and thwarted terror.

And when you look at the programs besides the bulk phone data collection that are going to expire, things like collecting bank, business and hotel records on individuals. It is used about 200 times a year. Officials say, well, there are other ways to get that info, but those ways are limited and less secret.

Also, roving wiretaps on people who keep switching cell phones, well, it turns out that that's only use less than 100 times a year, but officials do say that the Patriot Act is the only way to do that, to effectively and quickly track those people, especially when you consider potential ISIS types.

And then lastly, wiretaps on lone wolves -- people who aren't connected to any known terror group. We just found out that has never been used before and it only applies to people outside the U.S., not American lone wolves.

So, this big question is our national security really going to be at risk? It depends on whom you ask. The White House's take is, why allow any risk, especially when those privacy concerns can be addressed with the bipartisan bill that the House already passed and the White House wants the Senate to do the same.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Michelle Kosinski for us.

The death toll is rising from the monstrous storms and flooding in Texas and Oklahoma. As of this morning, at least 23 people have been killed by tornadoes and flooding, 17 in Texas and another six in Oklahoma. This morning, crews are scouring the wreckage of homes and cars in Hays County, Houston and elsewhere. Searching for nine people still known to be missing. With rain pouring down this morning and more in the forecast today, officials say the danger has not passed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Is the worst over?

NIM KIDD, TEXAS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CHIEF: I don't think so. I would like to say that it is, but I'm not sure the worst is over because of the way that the weather is running and we are so saturated in almost all parts of Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Eight of those still missing in Texas are from three families whose vacation cabin was swept away on the Blanco River. The body of one woman in that cabin, Michelle Charba, was identified on Wednesday.

CNN's Jennifer Gray is in Wimberley with the latest on the hunt for the rest of Charba's family and friends.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Families in Wimberley are waking up on their sixth day waiting for answers. Eight people still missing that were swept away by the Blanco River. Over the weekend, three people have been identified. One person is pending identification.

Of course, Michelle Charba was found. She is the latest to be identified.

[04:10:01] Unfortunately, the rest of her family, her husband, her son, as well as her parents, are still missing.

We have been hearing so much about Jonathan McComb. He actually was OK. He is in the hospital recovering. He does have serious injuries, but he is expected to make a full recovery. Unfortunately, the rest of his family, his wife and two kids, are still missing as well.

It has been a gut-wrenching couple of days for the people here in Wimberley as crews continue the clean up along the banks. We are anticipating more rain possible today, as well as through the weekend. But search crews are out and they say they're not going to give up until they find the rest of the missing eight people. They say they're going to search by foot, by boat and by air and they are not going to stop.

In fact, there are 40 to 50 crews out there at least with nine canine units. They are searching debris piles along the banks of the Blanco River, hoping for any sign of those missing eight people as their families wait to hear answers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Jennifer Gray along the Blanco River for us.

The weather pattern is hitting the town very hard. This is the town of Lawton, where more than four inches of rain fell in some places, fell fast too. The weather service says water reached the top of car tires. You can see it. They don't need to tell us. The water reaching the top of car tires in the storm.

There is more severe weather in the forecast all the way through the weekend. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has the latest from the CNN weather center -- Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We have received so much rain across the plains, that it's even visible from space. Take a look at this image taken on May 14th from one of NASA's satellites. This is the Arkansas River. It flows towards the Mississippi River.

Notice how it's flooded its banks, all the smaller little streams leading towards the Arkansas River, continue to expand past capacity. And as this water continues to flow downstream towards the Mississippi, there's still is the potential of flooding going forward. In fact, we have 157 locations along various rivers and streams still reporting flood stage conditions.

We have flood watches and flood warnings ongoing from Oklahoma, all the way to eastern portions of Texas with more rain in store, although there is some improvement in store for early parts of next week. Still, showers and thunderstorms forecast into the weekend. That includes Saturday and Sunday. Oklahoma City to Austin and even the possibility of severe weather through the northern Great Lakes.

Back to you.

BERMAN: All right. Derek Van Dam for us -- thanks so much.

Time now for an early start on your money.

Stock futures are down but markets in Asia and Europe are mixed. Wall Street is waiting a second reading on U.S. economic growth during the first quarter. Now, that number is expected to turn negative, meaning the economy actually shrank at the start of the year.

Automakers are now adding millions of cars to their recall list following the expansion of Takata's airbag recall last week. Mitsubishi, Ford, BMW, Fiat, Chrysler have all turned in new list to the national highway transportation safety administration. The number of recalled vehicles is still estimated to be around 34 million. With automakers identifying which cars need to be fixed, dealerships can now replacing the faulty part. That will take a long time here. We are talking years to complete.

All right. There is controversy surrounding a new contest in the United States to draw the Prophet Mohammed. Are organizers of this event trying to instigate violence? What they are telling participants to bring to this event. That is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:16:34] BERMAN: Police in Phoenix, Arizona, are bracing for potential violence stemming from an anti-Islam rally today outside of a mosque that will feature a Mohammed cartoon drawing contest. Organizers are telling people to bring their guns. Similar event earlier this month in Texas indeed with two ISIS sympathizers shot dead after they opened fire with assault rifles.

CNN's Sara Sidner has more from Phoenix.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are calling it the freedom of speech rally round two, because this is the second time that they held a rally like this. But before the rally outside the Islamic Center here in Phoenix, they are planning on doing what is a Prophet Mohammed cartoon drawing contest similar to the one we saw just three weeks ago in Garland, Texas.

Now, you remember what happened there, and they say this is in response to what happened in Garland, Texas, when two men from here in Phoenix who did attend one of these mosques here went and tried to gun police down. They ended up dying themselves at the hands of an officer who stopped them from being able to get into that rally. Police believing they were trying to get into that Mohammed drawing contest there in garland.

As far as this one, it will be peaceful. They are holding it here to send a message. But they also put something on their Facebook that they haven't had in the past. I want to read that. Quote, "People are also encouraged to come to the rally to utilize their Second Amendment rights at this event, just in case the First Amendment comes much anticipated attack." The Second Amendment obviously being the right to bear arms. And the First, freedom of speech.

So, there is concern from those who go to this mosque. They are holding it on Friday when they are having evening prayers. The rally will be outside of the mosque itself. People are concerned. And some folks just simply aren't going to show up.

We also were able to interview someone who spoke on behalf of the community here about the concerns that those who come to this mosque and frequent this mosque have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Recently, the mosques here in Phoenix actually received threatening letters, very specific threats saying that we are going to massacre your congregation. This is all happened within the last week. This adds to the intersection of Islamophobia and gun culture. So, when we see these two things intersecting with one another, then obviously it becomes more of a concern and now, people are saying, well, you know, maybe we shouldn't go over there. We are advising people actually from our organization, you know, it's better to stay clear from the event and don't engage with these people.

SIDNER: The folks at the Council on American Islamic Relations told us that there had already been a threat this week, a recent threat to the imam and also to the congregation. So, there is quite a bit of concern for those who come to this mosque and frequent the mosque, especially on Friday on the day of prayer.

We can tell you, there will be security. We know from the Phoenix police themselves that they have surveyed the area and that they will be here during the rally.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Sara Sidner, thank you so much.

So, what do you do if your organization is accused of widespread corruption, $150 million worth of bribes and unseemly activities? Why? You run for re-election. That man, perhaps about to be reelected as the leader of the world's most prominent soccer organization. We are live as the drama unfolds, next.

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[04:23:22] BERMAN: Pretty shocking. FIFA is forging ahead with the presidential election in Zurich despite a widening corruption scandal.

Sepp Blatter, the embattled head of soccer's world governing body, he is expected to easily win a fifth term as president, amazing. And he is speaking out for the first time, vowing to protect FIFA's reputation while distancing himself from the scandal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEPP BLATTER, FIFA PRESIDENT: I know many people hold me ultimately responsible for the actions and reputation of the global football community. We, or I, cannot monitor everyone all of the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: How about monitoring someone some of the time?

Let's go to Zurich and bring in sports correspondent Alex Thomas.

He is likely to cruise to a fifth term today, correct?

ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: John, a potentially historic day for the world's most popular sport. Even a watershed moment in the way the Salt Lake City scandal for the Olympic movement or the Lance Armstrong doping confession for cycling.

Yet, despite this week's lurid and controversial headlines that made news across the globe for FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, it's business as usual. Hence, why President Sepp Blatter in charge since 1998, has opened the Congress in the gray building behind me and given his opening remarks.

He says he wants to continue his reform process and he's still the overwhelming favorite to beat his only challenger in the election, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan.

[04:25:05] Two hundred and nine votes were up for grabs. And, John, you know, even a small European nation like Honduras, with a population of just 80,000, gets the same number of votes one, as does the United States with a population of 310 million.

Now, for those outside scratching their head saying why is Blatter still popular? Well, one African delegate told me why. It's because he makes even the tiniest country feel special as football powerhouses like Germany and Brazil.

So, it's up for the world soccer leaders to decide the future of the organization, but it sounds like they're going to stick with more of the same -- John.

BERMAN: No, I was reading and officials in England said if he gets re-election, they will consider boycotting future World Cups, although I doubt that would actually happen. But pretty extraordinary. All right. Thanks so much.

New information this morning about the espionage trial of Jason Rezaian in Iran. An online job application submitted to the White House by Rezaian in 2008 has been introduced as evidence in Tehran's revolutionary court, that is according to the executive editor of "The Washington Post." Rezaian was a freelance when he applied for the position. He was rejected by email. He's been in prison in Iran for ten months charged with spying and disseminating anti-government propaganda.

New surveillance images appear to show China positioning weapons on one of the artificial islands they are developing in the South China Sea. U.S. officials say the photos show two motorized artillery units capable of firing on neighboring islands. The White House insists those islands are in international waters. China claims it has territorial rights to the region.

New spectacular footage of a volcano erupting without warning on a tiny, lightly populated southern Japanese island. About 140 people were forced to evacuate when Mt. Shindake exploded overnight and columns of thick black smoke into the sky. Japan's meteorological agency has raised the alert level to five, the highest number on its scale. No injuries or damage being reported at this hour, although several people are unaccounted for.

The U.S. fine tuning its strategy to fight ISIS as the Iraqi military tries to take back territory seized by the terrorists. We are live in Baghdad, next.

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