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Chicago's Top Cop Fired; U.S. Sending More Special Ops Forces to Iraq; Trump Rallies Supporters in New Hampshire. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 02, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:12] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Chicago's top cop fired as a federal investigation is launched into the police killing of a black teenager. Was there a cover-up?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. increasing its role in the fight against ISIS in Iraq, as the terrorists make new gains in Libya.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

KOSIK: And I'm Alison Kosik. It's half past the hour.

The search is on this morning for a new head of the Chicago Police Department, after Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired police superintendent Gary McCarthy. That dismissal comes amid angry protests over a police officer's shooting of a black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.

After McCarthy's resignation, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan called into an investigation into the police department. Madigan's request to the Justice Department says, "The shocking death of Laquan McDonald is the latest tragedy in our city that highlights serious questions about the use of unlawful and excessive force by Chicago police officers and the lack of accountability of such abuse.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has more from Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Alison, activists here in the city of Chicago say that the firing of the city's top cop is just the beginning of the changes they want to see -- a great deal of scrutiny swirling around Garry McCarthy, as well as Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and just why it took so long for Officer Jason Van Dyke to be charged with murder in the shooting of the teenager Laquan McDonald.

The actions of both men under a great deal of scrutiny. Rahm Emanuel says that there has been too much focus on the superintendent of the police department here in Chicago. And because of that, it was time to make a change in the top position there. But many of those activists say Rahm Emanuel bears a great deal of responsibility as well with the way that Laquan McDonald case has been handled. The news of McCarthy's firing came rather suddenly. In fact,

Superintendent McCarthy was on a radio station here in Chicago on Tuesday morning saying that he still believed that he had the backing of Rahm Emanuel. And then a few hours later, that announcement was made.

Rahm Emanuel insists that he is ultimately responsible for the way all of this is handles and he calls for a task force to look at the way these complaints are handled. But that is a task force that has a deadline of March of next year to come back with a final report -- Christine and Alison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Ed Lavandera, thank you for that. New plans this morning to send additional U.S. commandos to Iraq in the fight against ISIS. Defense Secretary Ash Carter revealing in congressional testimony the Pentagon is organizing what it's calling a special targeting force. Carter telling lawmakers the plan, quote, "puts everyone on notice. You don't know at night who's going to be coming into the window."

The latest now from Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Alison, in the face of weathering criticism, the administration making a renewed effort to show progress against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announcing a new effort for U.S. Special Operations forces to be based in Iraq and do raids and missions in Iraq, and even to go into Syria, very dangerous business. They want to build on the intelligence capability already there, have these troops go rescue hostages, gather intelligence, attack ISIS leadership -- all of that.

Now, it's going to be a relatively small number of special operations force, but they will be backed up in a significant manner. They will have their own helicopters, their own rescue forces, if they run into trouble. So, at the end of the day, that could put another 200 troops into the arena, even as an additional 50 special operations forces are scheduled to arrive in northern Syria.

It is a brush-up in the U.S. effort. But officials are telling us, it could still be weeks before troops arrive, a lot of work to be done about what units will go and exactly how they will operate -- Alison, Christine.

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KOSIK: OK, Barbara, thanks for that.

And there is concern this morning about a new United Nations report warning that ISIS has succeeded in building a substantial presence in Libya. The U.N. report says ISIS has as many as 3,000 fighters in the northern African, describing it as the most promising addition to the terror group's so-called caliphate outside Syria and Iraq. The report likely to increase worries about ISIS' ability to export terror from its base of operations in the coastal city of Sirte, just a few hundred miles from the southern most island of Europe.

For the latest on this, let's bring in CNN's Ian Lee.

Ian, you know, it's not something that's happened overnight, this foothold that ISIS has now in Libya.

[04:35:02] Why now this report?

IAN LEE, CNN REPORTER: Alison, they have been able to exploit the ongoing civil war in Libya between two warring factions. You have Islamist governments in the western part of Libya that it ranges from moderates to extremists. And in the eastern, you have the internationally recognized governments.

And in between that, they have been able to exploit, carving out their territory in the central part of Libya along the coastline. We are hearing the ISIS leader Abu Bark Baghdadi has been in more control of this ISIS affiliate than any other ones that are out there. And it has become a beacon for fighters, not only in Libya, but also in other parts of Africa, they say there is roughly 3,000 fighters, Abu Bakr Baghdadi, sending a 100 to give them the technical support they need.

But they do face some limitations as well. They do not have the oil revenue, even though Libya is oil rich. They do not have that revenue like they do in Syria and Iraq. They are sandwich between those two warring and conflicting factions.

That has proved difficult as well as there is no sectarian issues they can exploit like ISIS has been able to exploit in Syria and Iraq. It is very concerning for the neighboring countries as well. Tunisia, Egypt, both experiencing attacks from ISIS, from Libya, also, Greece is less than 200 miles from the Libyan coastline. This makes European officials very worried about the ISIS expansion in Libya -- Alison.

KOSIK: And, certainly, the power struggle that's happening in Libya, the divided factions in Libya. That is certainly making it easier for ISIS to gain control.

LEE: That's right they are very well-organized. They have the technical expertise. They have been able to push out different factions, different rebel groups from other areas. One area in particular, though, that they've had some drawbacks is near the town of Durham. That's where al Qaeda affiliate has been able to dominate, push is out, but as ISIS grows bolder, as they get more recruits, obviously, they are in greater contact with ISIS in Iraq and Syria, getting help from there as well. They are looking to expand their territory to push towards the borders with Tunisia, as well as Egypt.

KOSIK: In some sort of a stiff competition between al Qaeda and ISIS. You see that happening there.

All right. CNN's Ian Lee, thanks so much. ROMANS: Another alarming report -- a new report in the rise of ISIS,

according to a study, support for the terror group has reached unprecedented levels in America, with several thousand ISIS sympathizers based here. The report goes on to say, there were more terrorism-related arrests in 2015 than any year since 9/11. Researchers identifying at least 300 Americans who actively support ISIS on social media.

KOSIK: A Pentagon plan to close Guantanamo Bay and replace it with a prison here in the U.S. rejected by the White House. According to "The Wall Street Journal," the administration considers the $600 million price tag too expensive. The measure called for $350 million just to construct a new facility in America with almost $300 million more in annual Pentagon operating costs. The Defense Department must now come up with a more affordable option.

Congress moving quickly to undercut the president's call for a global climate agreement. The House passing two measures approved by the Senate that would scuttle EPA restrictions on carbon emissions from coal fired power plants. Lawmakers taking action just hours after the president addressed world reader in Paris. President Obama has promised to veto the measure.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money.

European stocks pulling back a bit from earlier gains, so are U.S. futures this morning. It was a strong start to the month, though, yesterday. The Dow climbed 168 points on strong auto sales and Cyber Monday retail results. December has historically been a pretty good month to investors.

A big E. coli recall expanding to more states and stores. Contaminated celery in California was discovered as the source of Costco's chicken salad recall that was week. That affected 19 people in seven states. Now it spans more than a dozen states, including 155,000 items like salad kits and vegetable trays. It affects huge retailers like Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Albertson's, 7-Eleven, Target, Safeway and Starbucks.

KOSIK: That is a big with un.

ROMANS: Sure is.

KOSIK: All right. Donald Trump gets personal with voters in New Hampshire. What he had to say to supporters, next.

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ROMANS: With each passing day, it looks more and more like the path to the presidential Republican nomination will go through Donald Trump. The GOP frontrunner is stepping up his campaigning and standing by his apparently unfounded claim that thousands -- thousands of Muslims in New Jersey cheered the 9/11 attack. Trump, though, struck a different tone Tuesday as he rallied supporters in New Hampshire.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Alison, a much more subdued Donald Trump on Tuesday night in New Hampshire, as he took questions, a rarity for him in this town hall- like setting. For two months out, the first of the 2016 campaign, a very long campaign that is quickly moving into the next phase.

But Donald Trump had a more serious tone, several voters told me, and a much more subdued tone as he talked to this crowd.

One thing I was struck by, he says his voters are the most loyal regardless of what he says. Let's take a listen.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, one of the things that comes out in the poll, that I have the most loyal people, that people say he can do anything. He can do anything.

So, I don't know if that's right, but they say I have the most loyal people.

[04:45:03] You know, others, if you sneeze, they drop you. Me, I can sneeze, I can say things that I think are right.

Like you notice what's happening in New Jersey? They're now finding a lot of people saying, yes, that did take place in New Jersey, right? I wasn't going to apologize. I wasn't going to apologize.

A lot of things happened today where they were dancing and they were happy. There were a lot of happy people over in New Jersey, and I saw it and a lot of people saw it, and I'm getting hundreds of phone calls and a lot of other people are, too. And things are all of a sudden materializing.

ZELENY: Now, of course, Donald Trump is still doubling down on that comment from 9/11. He said thousands of people were seen cheering on the New Jersey side of the river as the towers fell. No video evidence of that has ever come forward. Donald Trump brought it up again at his rally on Tuesday night. So, that clearly is going to be an issue.

But I can tell you, the voters I talked to said that they are not interested in that. They are much more interested in his economic proposals, his terrorism proposals, his position of strength. The point here is, as he goes forward in this next two months of this campaign, will any other Republican rivals be able to stop him, will they be able to slow him?

At this point, it is Trump largely versus the rest of the Republican field.

And he is stepping up his campaigning. He has been in Georgia, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina and Iowa by weekend. He is stepping up his campaign. He clearly thinks he could actually win this Republican-nominating contest -- Christine and Alison. (END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: OK, Jeff, thanks for that. Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton hopes to hold a fundraiser for her mom's campaign later this month. The family celebration will take place in New York on September 17th -- the first Clinton campaign event with Chelsea as a headliner. She's had a limited role so far in her mom's campaign on the same day, Hillary Clinton is going to be hosting a fundraiser for the DNC featuring her husband.

ROMANS: All right. The first Freddie Gray trial speeding along. The judge expect the jury to be seated this morning and opening statements to begin in the afternoon. Officer William Porter is the first of six Baltimore officers to be tried in connection with the death of Freddie Gray. The 25-year-old Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury while he was in police custody. Roughly 125 potential jurors have been questioned in the last two days.

KOSIK: We are hearing for the first time from the Cleveland police officer charged in the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. In a statement to investigators, Officer Timothy Loehmann says he thought the threat was "real and active" when he shot the boy outside a recreation center last fall. He says he had a gun and appeared to be over 18-years-old.

In fact, Rice had a pellet gun. Loehmann says he believes the pellet gun was real and the person waving it was an adult. A grand jury is investigating.

ROMANS: Robert Dear's ex-wife says the alleged Planned Parenthood shooter targeted the organization before. She tells NBC News that Dear put glue in the locks of another clinic 20 years ago. Her divorce filing described him as violent and isolated. Dear is charged with killing three people, wounding nine others in an hours-long siege of Colorado Springs last week.

KOSIK: The FBI says Black Friday the same day as the Planned Parenthood attack was the biggest day ever for firearms backgrounds checks. The agency processed about 185,000 checks, 5 percent more than the same day last year. A background check does not necessarily mean a gun was purchased, but it is used by the gun industry as a rough measure of overall sales.

That's interesting.

ROMANS: Yes, it really is.

A soaking day set for the East Coast. Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Christine and Alison.

Yes, soggy set up here for the Eastern third of the country as you work towards this corner of the country. Frontal boundary in place across the northern tier of New England, a wintry mix. And we are getting some residual snow showers, across the Western side of the Great Lakes, nothing really significant for the snow.

But look at the course of moisture stretching out back towards the Pacific, 5,000 mile area, where we are drawing moisture from. Of course, plenty of it across this region, but generally speaking, it will be the lighter variety with some pockets around the Florida panhandle.

Northern Georgia, Western North Carolina, around Asheville getting in heavy rainfall over the next 24 to 48 hours. But I want to show you what's happening across parts of California. We known an El Nino season, we know the dismal season we had in recent years.

November 2014, snow packed from a satellite perspective, voila, looks like November 2015, significant accumulations, of course, this past November. Some areas, when you look across, mammoth lake, Tahoe City. Some areas up to 2 feet across this region.

That is fantastic news. About 40 percent comes from the Sierra snow melts. We'll leave you with this -- the temperatures today, how about the upper 60s around Raleigh Houston makes it up to about 66 degrees, guys.

ROMANS: All right. Pedram, thanks for that.

How do you define healthy?

KOSIK: Kale.

ROMANS: Why one food company says the FDA doesn't understand the word.

[04:50:00] That's next.

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KOSIK: President Obama back in Washington this morning after laying out his vision for global climate change to world leaders in Paris. The president expressing confidence it will be reached at the global warming summit. But he is setting a high bar, insisting any deal contain a legally binding mechanism to make sure every country complies.

Let's go live to Paris and bring in CNN's Phil Black for the very latest. So, we've got the big name world leaders gone, the opening statement finished. And now, everybody gets down to the real work, right?

[04:55:00] PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Alison. So, those leaders, they're mostly gone. They left behind their ministers and negotiators who have to spend the next 10 days really crunching through the detail of a very complex climate change agreement.

The goal is to come up with a single document, a consensus that is agreed to by almost 200 countries. One that brings together, ties together all the individual pledges and promises that have been made individually, voluntarily by the various countries. Now, we know if you take all of those promises together, it's still not going to reach the goal of this process, which was to keep temperature increases to within 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century.

But the hope is over time these promises can be built upon, improved, made more ambitious and then ultimately the goal can be reached. Now, this is the part President Obama wants to be legally binding, not the targets themselves. Countries wouldn't be punished for not reaching their goals. But he wants to make sure that, say, every five years, everyone comes together, reviews their targets, openly, honestly assesses how they're going and where possible builds upon them. That's the idea.

Other countries, Europe and others, had wanted a much bigger treaty, totally enforceable international climate change treaty, but that was never likely. America was not likely to sign on to that because President Obama would need to get that through a hostile Congress, Alison.

KOSIK: You mentioned that hostile Congress, isn't the United States is already at a false start. You look at the same day that the president gave his speech, the House passing a pair of resolutions, making it nearly impossible for the Environmental Protection Agency to implement rules to curb emissions.

BLACK: Yes. So, it's one of these challenges, again, for President Obama. It is likely what he will move such a climate change through executive order as would otherwise be required. Okay, there will be tension. President Obama was already also asked questions about how could he guarantee America will live up to this when he may -- well, he's not going to be around much longer. And his successor very well could possibly be a Republican who doesn't believe in climate change or the need to fight it in a way that he does.

Well, he said that he can simply do the best he can under the circumstances, but the strong belief, he says, that his successor would be a Democratic candidate.

KOSIK: All right. Phil Black, reporting live from Paris, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. Let's get an early start on your money this morning.

Two days in, so far so good for December for stocks. U.S. stock futures are up this morning. The Dow climbed 168 points to kick off an historically strong month for investors even after a weak manufacturing report. You had some other signs of strengths in the economy.

Yahoo shares are soaring, up to 8 percent before the bill, because of reports of board will need to discuss selling its core business, its valuable stake in Alibaba or both.

Volkswagen sales plunged 25 percent in the U.S. last month. Buyers stayed away following that huge emissions cheating scandal involving most of its diesel cars. The sales slump affected models across the board, except for Audi, the VW luxury brand, this as U.S. car sales are in high gear. I mean, these numbers are unbelievable. The industry is on track for record sales the year driven by low gas prices, pent-up demand for new cars and an improving jobs market.

Now, how do you define healthy? Granola bar maker Kind says the FDA doesn't know. Kind has filed a petition asking the FDA to redefine healthy to meet current nutrition guidelines.

Earlier this year, Kind was forced to stop using the word "healthy" on its labels, because healthy products must have fewer than 3 grams of total fat, and 1 of saturated fat. Many Kind bars have much more than that. But the company says that's not a bad thing. But the company says that's not a bad thing. The nuts in its bars are a part of a nutritious diet. Several experts agree and have signed that petition.

KOSIK: All right. EARLY START continues right now.

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KOSIK: Was there a cover-up in the police shooting of a Chicago teenager? A new investigation launched into the police department as one of the top cops is fired.

ROMANS: The U.S. expanding its role in Iraq. New ground troops heading in. The terrorists make alarming new gains in Libya.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

KOSIK: And I'm Alison Kosik. It's Wednesday, December 2nd, it's 5:00 a.m. in the East.

And the search is on this morning for a new head of the Chicago Police Department after Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

That dismissal comes amid angry protests over a police officer's shooting of a black teenager, Laquan McDonald, 16 times. After McCarthy's resignation, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan called for a federal civil rights investigation into the Chicago police department.

Madigan's request to the Justice Department says, "The shocking death of Laquan McDonald is the latest tragedy in our city that highlights serious questions about the use of unlawful and excessive force by Chicago police officers and the lack of accountability for such abuse."