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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

New York Inmate Manhunt; President Obama Says No Complete ISIS Strategy; Iraq Took Only Half of Baiji; Terrorists at the Terminal? Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired June 09, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:09] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, new information in the nationwide manhunt for two escaped murderers. Officials are grilling a prison employee who knows both escapees. Did she help that pair make a daring getaway?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Still no strategy. A blunt assessment from President Obama in the fight to defeat ISIS. Where does the Pentagon go from here? Why would the president admit for a second time? There is no firm strategy in place.

BERMAN: And developing overnight, protest after a Texas police officer caught an camera. Many call it excessive force. Now word comes that this officer has been sued for excessive force before. The very latest from Texas straight ahead.

Good morning, everyone. Nice to see you today. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's Tuesday, June 9th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East.

And developing this morning the manhunt intensifies for two convicted killers escaped from a maximum security prison in upstate New York. Officers setting up roadblocks, they're using blood hounds, they are searching door-to-door in the area around Clinton Correctional facility.

The dragnet also widening now. This is an international manhunt now stretching from Canada, just 20 miles from the prison, to Mexico where one of the inmates was once incarcerated. Authorities are also zeroing in on how, how Richard Matt and David Sweat managed to escape and who may have helped them.

The latest now from CNN's Jason Carroll.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, investigators still following up on now hundreds of leads that have come in to them. One in particular in terms of the investigation has to do with a woman who works here at the prison. She knew both Richard Matt and David Sweat. Knew them well. Worked with them tailoring clothes at the prison.

Unclear at this point what if any involvement she may have had with their escape and what an escape it was just to recount how it all happened. Both of them were in side-by-side cells. They somehow got a hold of power tools, were able to cut through a steel wall, maneuvered down a catwalk behind that wall, crawl through underground pipes, just about 24 inches wide. Finally emerging on the other side. Outside of a manhole located just about a block or so from the prison.

I spoke to a man who used to work at the prison. He used to be a guard here at the prison. Worked here for 40 years. He says everything he knows about this prison leads him to believe that these men had at least, at the very least, inside help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK RUGAR, RETIRED PRISON GUARD: Got have a lot of help there somewheres.

CARROLL: Is it your thinking they may have had help from the inside or the outside or maybe a combination of both?

RUGAR: Probably a combination of both. I mean, you don't cut through a steel wall without somebody hearing it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Despite these inmates' violent past, both of them were housed in the so-called honor block of the prison. This is the place in the prison where inmates are put who have exhibited good behavior. And so as a result, they had access to other resources, added resource, such as washers and dryers, more outdoor time, access to phones and televisions. Things of that nature.

In terms of the investigation, where we stand now in this massive manhunt, still some more than 300 members of law enforcement on the ground. But at this point, they could be anywhere. Christine. John.

BERMAN: Thanks to Jason Carroll for that. You can see those checkpoints. They will be set up for some time, I imagine, in that area.

This morning, the president is back in Washington facing new criticism for saying that the United States does not yet have a complete strategy for training Iraqi forces to fight ISIS. President Obama's political foes are calling it an admission that his ISIS policy is failing. But administration officials quickly made clear that the Pentagon is working on a strategy with three basic options for the president's review.

Expanding the number of conventional U.S. troops on the ground, training Iraqis, increasing the number of Green Berets in 12 , advise and assist teams now on the ground, and expanding the flow of weapons to Iraqi forces.

CNN's Michelle Kosinski has more now from the White House.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John and Christine. Yes, it is surprising to hear the president say these words. I mean, in any context regards ISIS that we don't yet have a complete strategy. You know critics are jumping all over this. They've been sending out e-mails reminding people of something the president said almost a year ago that we don't yet have a strategy.

Well, back then, remember, he was only referring to what was going on at the time in Syria. And again, now, I mean, when you look at the totality of what he said during this press conference, he clearly wasn't referring to an overall strategy against ISIS, but how best to accelerate the plan to train and equipped Iraqi forces.

And he said, you know, it's not just an American question as he waits to get a more complete plan from the Pentagon, which we know could include sending more American trainers there, but it's also something that the Iraqis need to live up to. I mean, he mentioned in some areas there are -- there's a capacity to train more, but there just aren't enough recruits.

[04:05:12] And that the Iraqi government also has to prove that it's going to continue to be inclusive because the lack of that has deterred more people from joining up there.

Also President Obama expressed confidence that some recent ISIS gains we've seen like this takeover of the city of Ramadi are just temporary and that ultimately ISIS will be defeated.

If you look at some recent polls of Americans, though, I mean, just last week about 2/3 said they feel the strategy against ISIS is not going well -- John and Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Thank you, Michelle, for that.

Now there have been a series of new developments in that battle against ISIS. U.S. intelligence officials now believe the wives of ISIS leaders may play a bigger role in ISIS operations and communications than previously thought. Officials tell CNN that last month's Delta Force raid that killed an ISIS leader netted significant intelligence, including information from the captured wife of the ISIS leader. One of them Abu Sayyaf.

BERMAN: CNN has also learned that the U.S. has had intelligence on possible locations for the head of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but an official says the information came too late, was too vague or just could not be verified, and the U.S. was not able to launch raids or airstrikes targeting the ISIS leader.

Back in Washington, Senators Tim Kaine and Jeff Flake have introduced an authorization for the use of military force against ISIS. They've been talking about this for a long time. Mentioned this in the last session also. They hope it will gain bipartisan support. They should not hold their breaths.

And in London, the prime minister there has decided to add 125 new troops to Britain's effort to train Iraqi Security Forces, bringing the total for the United Kingdom to about 300.

ROMANS: U.S. officials are casting doubt this morning on Iraqi claims their forces have liberate the strategic oil town of Baiji. Officials with access to the latest intelligence said that about half of the city remains in the hands of ISIS.

For the latest, I want to bring in CNN's Jomana Karadsheh.

Good morning, Jomana. And you know the Iraqi authorities really would like to have some good news to report about blunting the advance of ISIS but every time we hear about an advance, we also know that -- you know, they're hard fought in some cases, you have some stragglers from ISIS who are still holding on.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Christine. And it wouldn't be the first time that we've heard from Iraqi officials a declaration of the liberation of Baiji in this case. We have heard this in the past. After this weekend when we heard from the Iraqi military official saying that they had taken over and regained control of the entire city of Baiji.

Now we're getting that contradictory information coming from the U.S., from U.S. intelligence saying that half the city, as you mentioned, remains under the control of ISIS. Not the kind of picture that Iraqi officials were drawing saying that only pockets of resistance remained in that city.

Now if we look at the most important major area of concern in Baiji, that would be the oil refinery. That is that strategic and key facility that ISIS controls the majority of as we have seen in recent weeks. And over the past year since Baiji fell to ISIS, that refinery, that area has changed hands several times. But we're hearing from the U.S. intelligence officials -- a U.S. official who is aware and has access to this latest intelligence information, he says that there has been a bit of progress around the oil refinery.

What he says is that Iraqi forces have managed to punch through the outer areas of the refinery trying to establish more of a foot hold of the little that they have control of over in that refinery. So the battle for Baiji, Christine, seems to be far from over.

ROMANS: OK. Jomana Karadsheh, thank you so much for that, Jomana.

BERMAN: A stunning admission this morning from former Bush Defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, in an interview with the "Times of London." One of the strongest defenders of the Iraq war, Secretary Rumsfeld now says that George W. Bush was wrong to think that American style democracy could be installed after toppling Saddam Hussein.

He says, quote, "The idea that we could fashion democracy in Iraq seemed unrealistic to me. I was concerned about it when I first heard those words. I'm not one who thinks that our particular template of democracy is appropriate for other countries at every moment in their histories."

ROMANS: All right. To Texas now where in the wake of that pool party chaos a Dallas suburb is divided. Protesters are accusing Corporal Eric Casebolt of McKinney Police of racial misconduct for yanking a girl to the ground and pulling his gun out on two boys. They say he should be fired. But some people who live near the pool said police were there to keep order and the situation is being blown out of proportion.

[04:10:02] The police union concedes officers shouldn't have used profanity but maintains the officers' actions were not racially motivated. Casebolt has been put on leave, was sued for excessive force and racial animus in 2008. But a judge dismissed the case a year later.

BERMAN: So new this morning, community leaders in Cleveland will reportedly bypass prosecutors and go directly to a judge to seek charges in the police shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. They say they plan to file their request today in the municipal court. The investigation into the Tamir Rice shooting was handed over to the county prosecutor last week but local leaders say they are skeptical pointing to other police-involved shootings where officers were cleared.

ROMANS: All right. Concerns about the MERS virus deepening in South Korea. The death toll now climbing to seven. The number of quarantined approaching 2900. The Education Ministry says more than 2200 schools are now closed because of this outbreak. The Hong Kong Security Bureau is advising citizens to avoid nonessential travel to South Korea over what it calls a significant threat from the MERS virus.

BERMAN: The Syrian Electronic Army is claiming responsibility for a hack that forced a temporary shutdown of the U.S. Army recruiting web site. Military officials say appropriate preventative measures were taken and there was no breach of Army data. The Syrian group which supports President Bashar al-Assad there left its calling card. One of the messages read, "Your commanders admit they are training the people they have sent you to die fighting."

ROMANS: All right. Eleven minutes past the hour. Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning. Stocks mostly lower around the world. Asian and European stocks down. U.S. stock futures are barely budging. Stocks yesterday down for the third session in a row in the U.S. The Dow fell about 83 points.

That means it erased, John, all the gains for the year.

BERMAN: What?

ROMANS: Apple getting into the music streaming game. The new Apple Music can create playlists and suggests songs based on your habits. It also has a new section with the latest popular songs. Apple Music is integrated with Siri so users can switch tracks with a voice command. It will available starting June 30th for $99 a month with the first three months free.

Apple basically revolutionized music back in 1993 when it opened the iTunes store. But with more people switching streaming, Apple is entering a crowded space to compete with Spotify, Pandora, Title, a lot of other ones.

BERMAN: Just can't keep with it up. I can't. I can't. We pulled out our CDs the other day. Like hundreds of CDs. I'm just going to start listening to them again.

ROMANS: I know. I have CDs, but I don't have a CD player anymore. So I have the boxes of CDs but no -- nothing to play them on.

BERMAN: Paper weights.

Severe storms brewing in the northeast. Let's bring in meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for an early look at the weather -- Pedram.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, John and Christine. Yes, the severe storms across the northeast here, and we're going to watch this because scattered in nature right now, by the afternoon hours we'll get a few of these but I think will put down at least some large hails, certainly damaging wind gusts possible. And that's really the biggest threat.

Notice some of the active lightning strikes this morning around Tupelo, working your way towards Birmingham just north of Atlanta on into southern Tennessee. A few isolated thunderstorms. That's where the storms will be scattered again. Severe storms around the northeast on into portions of the northern tier of the country around the Great Lakes. But not much in the way of tornadic storms. We had about 200 reports of storms on Monday alone. Almost every single one of them was because of wind or hail. Zero in the way of any tornadoes reported.

So that's kind of a similar trend we expect to follow today with the active weather in the northeast. And also the northern tier. But here we go as far as large hail and damaging winds. Again, can't rule out a tornado. But the big story I think will be the big heat in the forecast around Philly. Shooting up to the mid-90s by the latter portion of the week while Boston gets up to 84. And New York City, about a 90-degree day come Thursday afternoon.

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

More than 70 airline employees, this is actually so shocking and at the same time after the news we've been saying about TSA, not shocking. Links to terrorism. Links to terrorism with access to the terminals. How did the TSA allow them to work at airports in the U.S.? A preview of today's hearing on Capitol Hill next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:17:02] ROMANS: How are 73 people with links to terrorism -- 73 people with links to terrorism -- able to land jobs with the TSA? That will be the big question this morning for the Homeland Security Department's inspector general.

John Roth is set to testify before a Senate committee to explain how these workers made it through the tracks. These are workers with links to terrorism who were given access to planes, to tarmacs, to luggage across the country. Inside access to the most secure and important parts of the air traffic system.

CNN correspondent Rene Marsh is in Washington with the latest. RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT:

Christine, John, the TSA is under the microscope again. The agency in charge of vetting airport employees green lighted at least 73 people who had links to terrorism. That's according to a Department of Homeland Security inspector general report. Now the employees worked for major airlines, airport vendors and other employers. They had access to commercial planes, the tarmac and luggage.

The misstep happened because TSA does not have complete access to every agency's terror watch list. TSA must request specific information from these databases. And if it doesn't request enough information, individuals with terror links could slip through.

Other problems the inspector general found, TSA was less effective in making sure airport workers have not committed crimes that would disqualify them from gaining that secure access at airports and thousands of records used to vet these employees were incomplete or inaccurate.

Now TSA says it is fixing all of these issues. Despite these weaknesses, the report says TSA's vetting process is generally effective in detecting links to terrorism. John, Christine.

ROMANS: It is infuriating that my sippy cup can cause so many problems at an airport, but somebody would ties to terrorism could be changing the tire on my plane. That is crazy.

BERMAN: A bit of a problem, I would say.

ROMANS: Crazy.

BERMAN: Interesting hearing coming today.

All right. Oscar Pistorius appears headed for freedom this summer. That does not sit well with the family of the girlfriend that he killed. Reaction from Reeva Steenkamp's family next.

[04:19:25]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: New this morning, the family of Reeva Steenkamp is expressing outrage over word that Oscar Pistorius will be released on parole as soon as August after serving his 10 months of a five-year prison sentence for culpable homicide. The South African Olympic runner was found guilty last year of fatally shooting his girlfriend on Valentine's Day in 2013. Pistorius claimed he mistook Steenkamp for a home intruder.

Her parents released a statement saying, quote, "We do not seek to avenge her death and we do not want Mr. Pistorius to suffer. That will not bring her back to us. However a person found guilty of a crime must be held accountable for their actions. Incarceration of 10 months for taking a life is simply not enough.

South African prosecutors are appealing the Pistorius conviction arguing he should have been found guilty of murder.

All right. To sports news now. Advantage Tampa Bay.

ROMANS: No. No.

BERMAN: Sorry, Romans family.

ROMANS: I miss -- I missed it. No.

BERMAN: The Lightning beat the Blackhawks from Chicago, 3-1. They're now up 2-1 in the Stanley Cup finals. They scored the game-winning goal with about three minutes left in the third period which gives Tampa Bay home ice advantage. They won it back in the series. Game four is Wednesday night at the United Center in Chicago.

ROMANS: My 9-year-old is going to be distraught over this. Distraught.

All right. Music streaming not the only big news from Apple Monday. CEO Tim Cook announcing the company will pay the ransom playfully demanded by members of the Cleveland Indians' bullpen. The pictures scribbled a ransom note demanding a slew of Apple products including iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches in exchange for the ball hit by team mate Brandon Moss for his 100th career homerun. On Monday, Tim Cook proudly displayed the homerun ball telling the world his company is picking up the tab and presumably returning the ball to Moss.

BERMAN: That was very cool. Very, very cool.

All right. Big news this morning. There is a new "CNN QUIZ SHOW" champion. And you will never guess who.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We think it's F. Lee Bailey.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: That is correct.

BERMAN: Yes.

COOPER: How much did you wager? 371 points. That brings you up to 1181. You guys win the game. Congratulations. Nicely done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:25:07] ROMANS: Nicely done.

BERMAN: Yes. We won. Don Lemon. Don Lemon was my teammate there. And it was actually -- it was just a ton of fun. The '70s themed questions were amazing.

ROMANS: What was the question that the answer was F. Lee Bailey?

BERMAN: Who defended Patty Hearst?

ROMANS: Really? BERMAN: And I'll tell you a secret here. I didn't know the answer.

And Don, he couldn't come up with the name. He's like, I know who it is. It's the old guy from O.J. Simpson's defense team. And I'm like, F. Lee Bailey? He's like, that's it. So we guessed it, it was teamwork. And yes, we --

ROMANS: So together, the two of you have one good brain.

BERMAN: That's exactly right. That's exactly right.

ROMANS: All right. Three days and counting. And two violent criminals still on the run after escaping from a maximum security prison in New York. Where are police looking and who do they think could have aided the escape.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. Now police in New York searching for convicts -- two convicts. Searching for answers. This manhunt is now stretching into three countries. Three days after their escape. Did a prison employee help the murderers get away?

BERMAN: No complete strategy. President Obama indicates there are holes in the plan to fight ISIS. So what's taking so long and what will turn it around?

ROMANS: Protest in Texas after a police officer caught on camera appearing to use excessive force. Now the officers' union speaking out. As it emerges that officer has faced similar accusations before.

[04:30:02] Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. Nice to see you all this morning.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. About 30 minutes past the hour.

Happening now the manhunt intensifies for two ruthless killers who escaped from a maximum security prison in upstate New York.