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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; Was Colorado Killer James Holmes Insane? Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired May 29, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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


[05:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: EARLY START continues right now.

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BERMAN: Happening now: a new strategy to fight ISIS after a series of defeats. The U.S. is shifting its game 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 now accused of paying to hide misconduct. New details in the strange case against Dennis Hastert.

New severe storms pounding Texas as rescuers sift through the rubble to find flood victims.

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

Happening now, the Obama administration says it is fine tuning the strategy in Iraq. Pentagon officials are looking for a way to bring Sunni tribes into the fight against the Islamic State militants. One possibility under consideration, the U.S. could begin arming Sunni fighters directly. That would replace or supplement the current system where all weapons go through the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad. This as Iraqi forensic teams begin trying to identify nearly 500 bodies exhumed from the presidential complex in Tikrit. Officials believe the bodies belong to Iraqi military cadets whom ISIS claims 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 car bomb blasts at two luxury hotels popular with Iraqi officials, VIPs and foreigners.

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

Good morning, Arwa. What's the latest from there?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Well, we just sent a team out to both of those locations that were targeted overnight. Extensive damage done to the front of the Babylon Hotel. Security on the ground there not allowing media close by. Same situation at the other location, the Sheraton Hotel, though it has changed its name.

This is just a very clear message to so many of the residents of the capital, that even though ISIS may not have taken over this particular city, violence still does exist on a fairly regular basis. Also, a message that the targets that the two strikes were hotels that are very frequently stayed in by foreigners and by VIPs, throwing into the question once again the capability of Iraqi security forces to keep these kinds of installations safe. And when it comes to the U.S. arming the Sunni tribes potentially without going through Baghdad, that could cause some tensions.

But at the end of the day, these tribes do need weapons. They have been asking for them for over a year. The government has promised to arm the Sunnis, but has yet to make good on that.

Bearing in mind, though, that the U.S. has gone through this with the Sunni tribes before back in the days when it was fighting al Qaeda, the ISIS predecessor. And the Sunni tribes turned on al Qaeda, allied themselves with the U.S. and they were fighting side by side in some instances.

But until that promise, that idea becomes a reality, it is going to be very difficult to convince the Sunnis and Shia-led government have their best interests at heart and are taking that into consideration.

The longer this draws on, the more alienated and disenchanted the Sunnis grow and more difficult it is to bring them into the fold, John.

BERMAN: Not much of a connection at this point between those sort of disputing factions.

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. Hastert, once one of the most powerful men in the United States. The indictment alleges he 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 as far back perhaps to his days as a high school wrestling coach.

There was no answer Thursday when CNN knocked on the Hastert home in Illinois.

Former colleagues are now reacting to the 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.

[05:05:02] So, I think there's going to be a lot more story to be told here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Following this indictment, the 73-year-old Hastert resigned his job as a lobbyist.

This morning, less than three days remain until the intelligence program shut down, unless the lawmakers find a compromise on legislation to reauthorize them. The White House says there is no plan B if the legal authority expires and the NSA is forced to shutdown its phone data collection and other programs.

That puts pressure on congressional leaders who are scrambling for resolution 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 at the White House, a lot of rhetoric on both sides of the debate.

The death toll is rising on the monster storms in flooding in Texas and Oklahoma. As of this morning, at least 23 people have been killed by tornadoes and flooding, 17 in Texas, another six in Oklahoma. This morning, crews are scouring the wreckage of homes and cars in Hays County. Also in Houston, Harris County and elsewhere, searching for at least nine people still known to be missing.

With rain pouring down this morning and more in today's forecast, 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: This weather pattern hitting Oklahoma hard. Look at the town of Lawton. More than 4 inches of rain fell there very, very quickly. You see the water reaching up to the tops of car tires there.

More severe weather in the forecast all the way through the weekend.

Meteorologist Derek Van Dam with the latest from the weather center.

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: Derek Van Dam for us, thanks so much.

Time now for an early start on money.

Stock futures are down. Markets in Asia and Europe are mixed.

Wall Street is awaiting a second reading on U.S. economic growth for the first quarter of the year.

[05:10:02] That number is expected to be negative. Meaning the economy shrank at the start of the year. The rebound anticipated in second quarter.

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 and Chrysler have all turned in new list to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. The number of recall vehicles still expected to be around 34 million. But with automakers identifying which cars need to be fixed, dealerships can now start replacing the faulty parts. The process is going to take a long, long time, years to complete.

There is controversy surrounding a new contest to draw pictures of the Prophet Mohammed or are organizers trying to instigate violence? What they are now telling participants to bring to the rally. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Police in phoenix are bracing for potential violence stemming from an anti-Islam rally today outside of a mosque to feature the contest to draw pictures of the Prophet Mohammed. Organizers are telling people to bring their guns. A similar event earlier this month in Texas ended 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.

[05:15:05] As far as this one goes, they say 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 Islamaphobia 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: Sara Sidner for us in Phoenix.

Former New York Governor George Pataki has joined the crowded field vying for the 2016 Republican presidential field. The governor announced his White House bid here in Exeter, New Hampshire. He also posted a video that highlighted his leadership as New York governor following September 11th. He declared himself a champion of small government, saying that Washington has grown too big, too powerful, too expensive and too intrusive.

Jeb Bush is running for president, though, for fundraising purposes, he hasn't legally speaking announced. The former Florida governor was stumping in Michigan on Thursday, talking education, security and taking shots at the presumptive Democratic -- the actual Democratic front runner, Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: I know for a fact that the next president, if we want to restore America's greatness and security, I know for a fact it cannot be Hillary Clinton. It cannot be Hillary Clinton.

Here's the deal -- she's been running shotgun for four years. She will try to do the Heisman on the president's policies. I can already see it. She'll say (ph), well, I wasn't there when all this happened.

It started in the first term when we pulled back and disengaged in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Shotgun is a passing offense that the Heisman usually goes to a running back, although sometimes a quarter back as well.

Seventeen minutes after the hour.

The Hillary Clinton campaign has announced it will bring out the big guns on June 13th. That is when Bill, the former president, and Chelsea, her current daughter, will make their first appearance at the campaign trail. Clinton aides say they expect to release details on this rally next week.

For the second straight year, the Scripps National Spelling Bee has co-champions, 13-year-old Vanya Shivashankar spelled the word scherenschnitte, meaning, the art of cutting paper in decorative designs. That's a word we should all know how to spell. Her co- champ, 14-year-old Gokul Venkatachalam had nunatak. That is a word that we all know, meaning a hill or mountain surrounded completely by a glacier. Gokul finished third last year. Vanya is the first sibling of a past champion to win. Her sister won in 2009.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [05:2249] BERMAN: Jurors in the murder trial of the Aurora movie theater shooter James Holmes saw him on video describing his thoughts and feelings as the debate rages if he was insane at the time of the rampages, not the debate, it's actually the crux of that trial. The psychiatrist who interviewed him testified that Holmes was sane and he knew what he was doing and he knew the consequences for it.

Ana Cabrera has the latest -- Ana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now, we are getting to the crux of the trial. Was James Holmes insane when he opened fire inside a crowded movie theater on July 20th of 2012? The judge in this case ordered two mental evaluations of Holmes before the trial to help answer that question.

Now, the second evaluation just happened last year, performed by a Dr. William Reid at the Colorado Mental Health Institute. And he told jurors that he concluded Holmes was sane at the time of the shooting. He spent a total of nine sessions with Holmes, 22 hours. It was all videotaped. The prosecution just started to show some of that video to the jurors.

In it, we hear Dr. Reid asked Holmes about his childhood, about his upbringing, about his relationship with his parents and how he was a student. We haven't yet heard any questioning about the shooting itself.

But I want to play you a clip where you hear Dr. Reid ask Holmes about his time in jail and about a visit by his parents, listen.

DR. WILLIAM REID: Emotional for them?

JAMES HOLMES: Yes.

REID: How did they show the emotion, do you remember? Sometimes moms break down a bit.

HOLMES: My lawyer said she broke down when she was leaving. She held up pretty well.

REID: How about you? Did you get a tear in your eye?

HOLMES: Nope.

REID: Did you ever get tears in your eye?

HOLMES: Yes, sometimes.

REID: What brings tears to your eyes sometimes?

HOLMES: Just regrets.

REID: Regrets. Can you tell me a little more?

HOLMES: Usually it is before I go to sleep.

REID: Regrets about?

HOLMES: About the shooting.

CABRERA: That video was from July 30th, 2014.

[05:25:02] So, more than two years after the shooting. Also important to note that Dr. Reid told jurors Holmes was on medications at the time of their interview, that he was on anti-depressants, as well as anti-psychotic medication. We do expect to hear more of Holmes' mental evaluation when court resumes later this morning -- John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Ana Cabrera for us -- thanks so much.

The United States 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.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: The United States, is it shifting its strategy in the fight against ISIS? The new fine tuned plan as Iraqis try to take back territory seized by the terrorists. We're live in Baghdad, ahead.

Once the most powerful man in the United States. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert indicted, accused of lying to the FBI about hush money withdrawals. The strange details ahead.

New storms targeting Texas. The state devastated by historic flooding and the rain is not over yet.

[05:30:07] Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman. Christine Romans is off today. About 30 minutes past the hour.

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 possibility under consideration, the United States could begin arming Sunni fighters directly. That would replace or supplement the current system where all weapons go through the Shiite dominated government in Baghdad. This news coming as Iraqi forensic team begin trying to identify nearly 500 bodies exhumed.