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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Tensions Rising Between Russia & Turkey; New Protests in Chicago; Autopsy Reveals Frank Gifford Had CTE. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired November 26, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Tensions rising between Russia and Turkey. New fallout after Turkey shoots down the Russian jet.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And breaking overnight. New confrontations between protesters and police in Chicago. Demonstrators angry over the shooting of a black teenager.

Good morning and welcome to "EARLY START." I'm Boris Sanchez.

KOSIK: And I'm Alison Kosik. It's Thursday, November 26th. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East.

Tensions rising this morning after the Russian warplane that it claims flew over its territory. A defiant Russia responding with heavy bombardment against Turkish-backed rebels. Syrian opposition activists describing it as retaliatory bombing in the same area where Russia's heavy bomber went down on Tuesday.

Now, Russia's foreign minister is suggesting the downing was no accident, saying it was a planned provocation. Turkey making no policy for it, backing up its claim the Russian pilots were repeatedly warned with this audio recordings. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TURKISH AIR FORCE: This is Turkish air force speaking on guard. You are approaching Turkish airspace. Change your heading south immediately. Change your heading south.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Russia is strongly denying that claim, putting forward the rescued pilot.

[05:00:01] He told reporters, quote, "There were no warnings, not via the radio, not visually."

For the latest, let's bring in CNN's Ian Lee. He's live in Istanbul.

So, Ian, you've got Russia promising not to go to war with Turkey over this downed fighter jet, but at the same time, you've got Russia going after an area in Syria where there are these Turkey- backed rebels. So, what is Russia's end game in this?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it really seems like, Alison, that Russia is going to punish Turkey on their interests inside Syria.

Now, this area in Syria has ethnic Turkmen. Erdogan, the president of Turkey, has described them as their kin, and that it has been a since an area, a very sensitive area for the Turks. Russia said that they were bombing an ISIS target there. Erdogan said that that claim was very disingenuous.

So, you do have this very tense situation. In the meantime, you also have Russia sending this very advanced surface-to-air missiles with the range of 250 miles. Mind you, Latakia air base where Russia is based, and the incident that took place with the downing of this plane is only 50 miles. They are also sending fighter jets with their bombers to ensure their security.

So, a very, very tense situation along that border still remaining -- Alison.

KOSIK: Ian, in addition to a military response by Russia, Russia is also sending a non-military response. I'm talking about an economic response, strengthening controls on goods from Turkey. Is this really a good idea here? This is just going to escalate it one more notch, isn't it?

LEE: That's right. These are punitive measures by Russia against Turkey. You know, you have to look at it. Russia is their second largest trade partner. Turkey gets 60 percent of their natural gas from Russia. And so, any of these little measures really puts the squeeze on Turkey.

And I was on the street yesterday talking to people. They said this is what worries them most, especially with it being winter. They don't want to see their gas reduced or cut off. Russia is also advising their people not to come to Turkey as tourists and Russia sending a couple million tourists to Turkey every year. This is hitting Turkey in the pocketbook as well.

KOSIK: Russia playing a dangerous game here.

CNN's Ian Lee live from Istanbul -- thanks very much.

SANCHEZ: The angry words between Russia and Turkey come as Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Francois Hollande prepared to meet later this morning. Hollande will try to persuade Putin to go all-in on an international coalition against ISIS and back away from support for Bashar al Assad's regime. But the downing of the Russian jet drastically complicates that effort.

Meantime, French lawmakers voted 325-0 to continue airstrikes against ISIS in Syria.

CNN's Max Foster is in Paris. Let's turn to him now for the latest.

Max, we know Francois Hollande is going to try to persuade Putin to back down on his support of Bashar al Assad. But is that really realistic? Are they really hoping that he's going to back away despite all the vocal support he's had for Assad?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not today, no. That's going to be a really tough challenge because President Putin is, you know, sticks by his friend, and he sticks by President Assad. So, away from the political future of Syria which is not resolved today or anytime soon in terms of the way the global super power see his future.

President Hollande is going to go in there and try to find some way of getting the Russian and U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in Syria coordinated. It's a very, very tough challenge, because earlier in the week, President Obama told President Hollande that he's not going to work with Russia as long as Russia is attacking non-ISIS targets in Syria.

But that's where President Hollande is going to try to focus the efforts today. Speak to President Putin and if there is any way to work it so you are just striking ISIS targets, in which case, we can get all of the coalitions working together. It's a tough call. And actually, Boris, French officials here are playing down any sort of expectation of big progress today. And as you say, it's been complicated by that shooting down of the Russia plane over Turkey in Syria.

SANCHEZ: Max, it has been almost two weeks since the attacks in Paris. There are still two suspects on the run Abdeslam and Mohamed Abrini. Anything new on the search for them?

FOSTER: There really isn't. We don't know where these two men on the run are. The longer it is, the longer more -- the more countries getting involved. Frightening to think they are still out there.

They must be hidden by someone. That's where they're focusing. But meanwhile, the French investigators are going into the deep background of all of these individuals.

They discovered that this later driver involved, driving around the attackers in the Paris attacks, they actually went to Syria in 2014.

[05:05:08] They don't know how he got back. They are trying to track that.

It does show that six of the Paris attackers or those involved in the Paris attacks went to Syria and got some sort of training. Just shows what they are dealing with here. They want to get to the bottom of it, because then they can try to avert future attacks by getting the right intel.

SANCHEZ: Max, the potential for a much wider network of ISIS in Europe certainly a concern -- thank you.

KOSIK: With the terror threat keeping much of the world on edge, President Obama is trying to reassure travelers that the U.S. government is in his words taking every possible step to keep the country safe ahead of the busy holiday weekend.

Senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns has the latest from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Alison and Boris, acknowledging that following the terrorist Paris attacks, the president and the United States gathering together a meeting of the national security advisors, the FBI director, the Attorney general and the secretary of homeland security in a hastily arranged meeting with reporters to talk about security.

The president trying to reassure the public, that in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday, there is no specific and credible threat to the United States. Listen.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So the bottom line is this: I want the American people to know entering the holidays that the combined resources of our military, our intelligence and our homeland security agencies are on the case. They are vigilant, relentless and effective. In the event of specific credible threat, the public will be informed. We do think it's useful for people as they're going about their business to be vigilant. If you see something suspicious, say something.

JOHNS: This is the kind of message the White House has been pushing very hard recently and while there is no evidence of a credible threat against the United States homeland, there have been several other terrorist attacks recently besides Paris. Including Beirut, Egypt and even more recently, Tunisia, which shows terrorists across the globe have been very, very busy lately -- Alison and Boris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: The federal government warning state officials nationwide, they cannot block the resettlements of Syrian refugees. The federal office of refugee settlement sending a letter to all state resettlement agencies, ordering them not to deny benefits and services to refugees based on their religion or country of origin. The letter warns states that do not comply could be subject to enforcement action. Officials in Texas standing their ground, saying they do not plan in a resettlement of Syrian refugees.

Now to a sobering admission from America's top commander in Afghanistan. General John Campbell confirming a U.S. airstrike in a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz last month was, quote, "avoidable".

Campbell says the attack that killed 30 people, most of them patients was a tragic mistake caused by avoidable human error. Several service members had been suspended following an internal military investigation.

KOSIK: Time for an early start on your money. European markets are higher this morning as many investors are expecting the European central bank to roll out more stimulus measures soon. As for U.S. markets, yes, they're close today for trading, it's Thanksgiving.

Look at stocks yesterday though. They ended little change. It was a quiet session. But take stock of the year, the S&P 500 is in positive territory for the year, now up almost one and a half percent.

Some good news for the economy. New numbers show consumers spent only a little bit in October, but we could see some growth in the final months of the year. So, all this could mean the Fed may feel comfortable raising interest rates when they meet next month.

Now, all bets are on, that they'll go ahead and do that. But we shall see.

SANCHEZ: Something to watch for.

KOSIK: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Alison.

Breaking overnight, new protests in the police killing of Chicago teenager. The president now weighing in on the released video, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:13:08] SANCHEZ: Racial tensions remain high in Chicago, with the second night of protests over the police shooting of a black teenager. President Obama now weighing, saying in a Facebook post that he's deeply disturbed by the graphic video showing 17-year-old Laquan McDonald being gunned down a Chicago police officer.

Black community leaders are angry. The video of the 2014 shooting wasn't released earlier. McDonald was shot 16 times by Officer Jason Van Dyke who is now charged with first-degree murder.

Lawyers for the officer and the victim's family are disputing the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ROBBINS, ATTORNEY FOR LAQUAN MCDONALD'S FAMILY: The video clearly shows Laquan walking away and he was not threatening anybody. He certainly didn't lunge at the police officer. This was originally presented as an act of self defense. But the officer had to shot him to save his own life, and that was a lie.

DAN HERBERT, OFFICER VAN DYKE'S ATTORNEY: The reason my client Jason fired his weapon that evening back in October of 2014 is that he truly was in fear for his life as well as the lives of his fellow police officers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We'll get more now from CNN's Rosa Flores who was out with protesters during some very tense moments on the streets of Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alison and Boris, we spent hours following protesters here in Chicago. You can see that right now, they are walking through the loop in downtown Chicago. Now, there's about 100 to 200 protesters here. And they say that they are not only protesting for Laquan McDonald and justice for him, but also for other cases here in Chicago and around the country.

Now, if you take a look, there's a spread of people of all ages. They come together to protest to make sure that their voice is heard. One of the things that they're hoping to do is to have an economic impact, that the protest has an economic impact. That's why they have been going through the streets of Chicago.

[05:15:02] Now, they plan to continue protesting and Alison and Boris, we will, of course, covering that and bring you the very latest -- Boris and Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Black Lives Matter protests extending into New York City also overnight with police making several arrests. You heard Rosa mention the economic impact. The protesters reportedly shutdown a Macy's department store here in New York. This comes just hours before the big Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York.

KOSIK: Donald Trump under fire this morning for mocking a "New York Times" reporter with a physical disability. It happened at a rally this week, with Trump going after reporter Serge Kovaleski who suffers from a condition limiting the mobility of his arms. Trump blasted Kovaleski for hedging on a 2001 article he wrote that according to Trump, backs up his claim that U.S. Muslims celebrated after the 9/11 attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Written by a nice reporter. Now you have to see this guy. I don't know what I said. I don't remember. He's going, I don't remember. Maybe that's what I said.

This is 14 years ago. They didn't do a retraction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Kovaleski worked for "The Washington Post" at a time. "The New York Times" for its part responding in a statement saying, we find it outrageous that Trump would ridicule the appearance of one of our reporters.

And the Donald getting in the last word with this tweet, "The failing New York Times should be focused on good reporting and the paper's financial survival and not with constant hits on Donald Trump."

SANCHEZ: Donald Trump always trying to get the last word.

KOSIK: That's a tough one to watch.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

An arctic plunge, ice storms, flooding, all in the forecast for the holiday weekend. Let's get to meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

Good morning, Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Happy Thanksgiving, Alison and Boris, and to you at home watching as well.

Take a look at this. We have quite a temperature contrast across the central interior. Blue to the north indicating the cold arctic plunge in temperatures. And our warm, moist air over the eastern half of the U.S. indicated with the shading of yellow and orange. This sets us up for a quite a storm. I'll explain in a second.

Look at our temperature difference between Denver and Oklahoma City, over 40 degrees. We currently have ice storm warnings for the Texas and Oklahoma panhandle. Winter storm warnings across Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and portions of Colorado. And that shading of green for eastern Oklahoma, portions of Arkansas and Missouri and eastern Texas, that is a flood watch from Thursday into Saturday.

Here is how much ice we are expecting. Anywhere between a half an inch to upwards of an inch of ice possible from Amarillo. Be careful traveling on Interstate 40. Here's the evolution of our storm system, look out for the heavy rainfall ahead of our cold front.

Back to you.

KOSIK: All right. Thanks, Derek.

Looks like the weather here is going to hold up nice for the Thanksgiving Day parade.

If you are one of the 3 million people expected to attend the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade this morning, count on a massive show of force from by the NYPD. Sharp shooters will be positioned on rooftops with mobile cameras and police helicopters hovering overhead. Especially trained police dogs, they'll also be deployed to sniff traces of explosives and some officers will be equipped with radiation detectors to seek out dirty bombs. And 200 members of the department's new anti-terror critical response command, they're also going to be on the streets.

SANCHEZ: Taking every measure to keep people safe. They've been out there for hours when we got in this morning.

KOSIK: Yes, they are gearing up.

SANCHEZ: Right.

The concussion issue again at front and center for the NFL, including a failure of the league's new guideline for player safety. Coy Wire has this morning's bleacher report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:05] KOSIK: The family of NFL legend Frank Gifford announced that he suffered from the degenerative brain disease CTE.

SANCHEZ: And Coy Wire has more on this morning's bleacher report.

Coy, this is not the only concussion story the NFL is facing this morning.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: You're right Boris. Good morning to you and Alison as well.

Frank Gifford, he was an MVP player during his playing days. He then became one of the first sports stars that successfully transitioned into broadcasting. In August, he passed of natural causes at the age of 84. But his family has suspensions he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

So, they had his brain studied. Pathologists diagnosed his condition as that of CTE. And in a statement, the Gifford family said, they publicized the finding so that Gifford, quote, "might be an inspiration for others suffering with this disease. And that the situation might contribute positively to the ongoing conversation that needs to be had regarding the connection between CTE and football."

So, this was yet another high profile death linked to CTE. It comes just days after the ST. Louis Rams quarterback Case Keenum had his head smashed to the turf, and struggled just to stand to his feet, but the team's trainers and staff did not remove him from the game, not even for one play.

So, after all the league has done to protect players from situations like this, the question was why? How could this happen?

Well, the NFL conducted a review of the situation and admitted that the Rams got it wrong. And the new concussion protocols failed. Well, because of that, the NFL said it is now considering discipline for future protocol failures.

So, today, the games will go on. It is Thanksgiving Day and that means traditional NFL games. The first game at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, the Detroit Lions taking on the Philadelphia Eagles, in the game that marks the lions 76th Thanksgiving Day game.

After that, the undefeated Carolina Panthers facing the Dallas Cowboys and their former teammate, the controversial Greg Hardy. Then, in the primetime, 8:30 game, Chicago bears go on the road to face the Green Bay Packers, and the legendary Brett Favre will return to Lambeau Field to have his number retired.

[05:25:07] It's game day and football fans are pumped and so are the players, including those undefeated Panthers.

We found this on bleacher report and wanted to share this with you to help bring some feel-good to you on Thanksgiving Day. The Panthers new video, sort of. Their rendition of Adele's hit song "Hello."

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

WIRE: You can check more out on Jonathan Stewart's Instagram and also bleacher report, of course. I want to say happy Thanksgiving to Alison and Boris.

Boris, please save some turkey and stuffing for Alison today, will you? You promise?

SANCHEZ: I'll try, I'll try.

Watching that video makes me high, Coy, honestly. It makes me want to tackle people. Doesn't Adele want -- make you kind of aggressive, right?

WIRE: Absolutely. Makes the hair stand up on my head.

KOSIK: Soon that song will stop playing on a loop on the radio. I think maybe in about a year.

WIRE: That's right. Happy Thanksgiving, guys.

KOSIK: Happy Thanksgiving.

SANCHEZ: Same to you.

KOSIK: Tensions rising between Russia and Turkey over a downed Russian jet. How this is complicating the war against ISIS. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)