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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Staring Down ISIS; New Threats To Malls; Big Night for "Birdman"
Aired February 23, 2015 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The battle against ISIS. Is there now a new force ready to take on the terror group?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A video threat to shopping malls from another terror group al Shabaab. Top officials are warning shoppers to be cautious, but say there's no sign of a plot. We'll tell you what that means for the next shopping trip.
BERMAN: And the envelope please. The Academy Awards, they're over in Los Angeles. You're probably still partying. The winner? "Birdman." We will tell you what else won and who left empty handed.
Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Thirty-one minutes past the hour.
New this morning, the president of Egypt is calling for a unified Arab force to fight ISIS. It is the latest sign that Middle Eastern countries are heeding President Obama's call for them to step up to fight terror. Already, Jordan and UAE have offered to send military assistance to help Egypt battle ISIS in neighboring Libya.
So, how could a unified Arab force come together if one does? And what does it mean for the American-led coalition fighting ISIS? I want to bring in CNN's Ian Lee in Cairo with the very latest.
Good morning, Ian.
IAN LEE, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Christine.
This call came during a speech last night by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. It was like a State of the Union Address of sorts. He talked about ISIS, the threat of ISIS right off the top. Egypt faces the threat on two fronts, in the East, in the Sinai and Libya. There were 13 airstrikes there against ISIS targets. That was after the brutal beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians.
He did get to this Pan-Arab Army, calling for a unified Arab force to go after ISIS targets. Now, he didn't give my details about what that would look like, what that would mean. And he did reiterate multiple times during his speech that the Egyptian military's role is to protect the country's borders. But if the need arises, they could be used in the region, but only with the cooperation of quote, "their Arab brothers" -- Christine.
ROMANS: How is that call, President Sisi's call for a show of force to resonate? How is it resonating in neighboring Arab countries?
LEE: Well, this Pan-Arab army, Pan-Arab idea has been around for quite some times, in the turbulent '50s and '60s and '70s. The late Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser championed this notion of a Pan- Arab army, ultimately failed. There was a lot of mistrust back then between the Arab countries. Now, though, there is a bit more trust between them. We know ISIS is a real threat to many countries in the region, all over the region. A lot of them are already battling ISIS in that U.S.-led coalition. Though, we will be watching to see if they actually heed the words of President Sisi.
All right. Ian Lee for us this morning in Cairo. Thank you for that, Ian.
BERMAN: This morning, the new Defense Secretary Ash Carter is in Kuwait where he is consulting with top military, State Department and intelligence officials on the fight against ISIS. This on the heels of a newly released ISIS propaganda video that appears to show Kurdish Peshmerga forces captured by ISIS. CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the video. But in it, the prisoners who seemed to be under duress called on to fellow Peshmerga forces to give up the fight against ISIS.
We want to bring in our correspondent Ben Wedeman following the story for us from Irbil in northern Iraq.
Good morning, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.
Well, this video came out yesterday. It shows 21 men in orange jump suits. Their hands chained led to cages in which they were interviewed, and which, one of the prisoners clearly under duress. He's calling upon Kurdish fighters to stop the fighting ISIS if they want to avoid a similar faith.
Now, we don't actually know what their ultimate fate is. During this nine-minute video, you do see still photographs flashed on the screen of some of the beheadings of those 21 Egyptian Christians who were killed in Libya last week. But it ends without any clear execution of these Kurdish fighters.
Now, meanwhile, actually on the frontlines, a different picture. ISIS has tried three times with three major assaults to try to break through the Kurdish lines. But it's unsuccessfully. Over the weekend, there was an attack to the south of here in a place called Mahmour (ph), in which 50 ISIS fighters were killed by the Kurds. There were also coalition aircraft involved in that action.
And to the west of here, a similar attempt to break through the lines also failed with more than 30 ISIS fighters dead -- John.
BERMAN: Ben Wedeman for us in northern Iraq, thank so much, Ben.
ROMANS: A chilling threat from the terror group al Shabaab has shopping malls across the country stepping up security. The al Shabaab video calls for attacks on malls in Canada, Britain and the United States. It specifically names the Mall of America in Minnesota. Officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson walking a fine line here. They're urging heightened vigilance at the same time they're to downplay the threat level.
Washington correspondent Erin McPike has the latest.
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ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Secretary Johnson is stressing that anyone heading to the mall of America should be careful was a striking comment Sunday morning. Government officials started walking back comments and continued to throughout day. So, I asked him later if he wanted to revise what he said.
Do you regret the comments you made this morning?
JEH JOHNSON, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: No, no.
MCPIKE: I also asked him to explain how Americans can be more careful when they go out to big public places. And his bottom line was to stay vigilant and embrace this motto, that if you see something, say something.
But pay close attention to the developing story here. A spokesperson for DHS said the agency is, quote, "not aware of any specific credible plot against the Mall of America or any other domestic commercial shopping center.
JOHNSON: That is becoming a less and less relevant statement because you and I won't necessarily know about when the next bad actor is going to strike and try to murder several cops on the beat, in Brooklyn or some other place.
MCPIKE: And yet the Mall of America beefed of security and the spokesman for Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton said he was in close contact with the state's public safety commissioner throughout the day Sunday, trying to keep tabs on what they can prevent -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Thanks so much Erin McPike.
Relatives of three British teenage girls believed to be headed to Syria believed to join is. The family members are begging them to come home. The trio was spotted by airport surveillance cameras before flying form England to Turkey last week. It is believed they are trying to cross into Syria from turkey. The sister of one of the girls, Shamima Begum, made a tearful plea. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAMIMA BEGUM: She is an "A" student. She's -- to convince young girls of that age that are so vulnerable and so -- it's just wrong. It's evil. It's a really evil thing to do. You are breaking up entire families. We want her to come home. If you are watching this, baby, please come home. Mom needs you more than anything in the world. You're our baby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Friends and family say there was no reason to believe the girls would do something radical.
ROMANS: Nearly 70 people are reported dead after a ferry in Bangladesh capsized. Authorities say a cargo vessel hit the ferry and that many passengers on the lower deck could not get out. It is unclear how many were on board. The ferry operators don't keep records. A ferry accident on the same river last year left 45 people dead.
BERMAN: Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, is trying to clarify his message after an uproar last week when he said President Obama does not love America. Mayor Giuliani writes in "The Wall Street Journal", he said, "Obviously, I cannot read President Obama's mind or heart to the extend my words suggest otherwise, it was not my intention. I can only be disheartened as I did last August that our response to 9/11 betrayed the ideals of this country. When he interjected that we tortured folks, he undermined those who managed to successfully to protect us from further attack."
Other former mayor statements create fallout in his old party, leading a number of prominent Republicans to try to put a little distance between themselves and the former mayor, although other Republicans did not.
ROMANS: Bill O'Reilly claims that recent allegations he embellished stories are an attempt to smear him and smear FOX News. O'Reilly is defending himself against the "Mother Jones" article over the coverage of the Falklands Islands war. Meantime, several of O'Reilly's former CBS coworkers, they dispute his account of what really happened.
Forty minutes after the hour. Let's get an early start on your money this morning.
Stocks are up around the world. U.S. stock futures are down a bit. After hitting all-time highs last week, on Friday, the Dow climbed 155 points to a record. The S&P 500 also closed at a high. Markets like the four-month bailout extension with Greece and its E.U. lenders, rather. That deal is conditional and Greece must outline budget cuts by today, keeping the Greece drama at the top of the money news.
Also on that list oil -- the largest oil refinery strike in 35 years. Big strike, folks, it is getting bigger. Negotiations between the United Steelworkers Union and oil companies fell apart on Friday. Workers of the nation's largest refinery joined the strike. That now means 6,500 workers at 15 refineries and production facilities.
BERMAN: So, yesterday was awfully nice, right?
ROMANS: It was nice.
BERMAN: It was like amazing, incredibly balmy conditions here in the Northeast. Are they going to last? No. No, they are over completely. It is freezing again. There's an even an awful wintry mix out in Texas. More than 1,200 flights canceled all across the country. The majority in Dallas.
I want to get straight now to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for an early look at the weather.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIS: John and Christine, good morning. Good Monday morning to you.
Look at the perspective across the country. Just about every location across the country below average. Some areas in northern and central Texas, 30 to 40 degrees below average. Go to South Florida, you'll be OK. Western United States, you will be OK. It will be above average.
But what I can tell you: countdown is on for the official start of spring, the 20th of March, do the math, that's 25 days left. We are getting there. Slowly, but certainly get there in the next few weeks.
Take a look at this -- current temperatures this morning, goose egg out of Chicago, 34 and 39 around D.C. and also New York City. The cold air will eventually move in towards the Northeast as we head in on Tuesday.
But the wind-chill already pretty brutal: 22 below in Minneapolis, 17 below in Chicago, sitting in the teens and 20s in the capital. A clipper system comes through here, but generally speaking, light snow showers. The major metro cities do not look like they're going to get in on this, at least. Nothing in the way of major accumulations. Cold air will remain in place for the next couple of days, guys.
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Pedram, for that.
A damaging blow for the search for calm in Ukraine. A deadly attack on a peaceful protest. Can a cease-fire ever be really established here?
We are live in Kiev after this.
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BERMAN: Two people are dead this morning, 15 wounded following an explosion at a pro-government protest in Eastern Ukraine. The officials are calling the remote-controlled bomb a terrorist act.
I want to turn now to our senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen live in Kiev.
Fred, you have some new information, we understand, about the state of this ceasefire.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, the cease-fire is in a difficult state, John. One of the things the Ukrainians have told us is that they do have a plan to pull heavy weapons back from the frontline area. However, they're not going to set that plan in motion and put plan in place until there is quiet on all parts of the frontline between themselves and the pro- Russian separatists.
The separatists for their part have come out with a statement saying that they have signed an order to pull heavy weapons away from the frontline. But it's unclear whether or not any of that has happened.
Now, the big problem with all of that, John, is the organization that's supposed to monitor all this, OSCE says quite frankly it can't do that, because on the one hand, they say, they don't have an inventory as to what heavy weapons are on the frontline. And second of all, the pro-Russian separatists are not letting them get to the areas on the frontline. There are infringements of the cease-fire.
The Ukrainians are telling us there were two incidents of troops shelled overnight. Also, there was some fighting over the weekend in the town of Mariupol in the southeast, which is a very strategically important town and they fear the pro-Russian separatists might be pulling forces together down there -- John.
BERMAN: Fred Pleitgen for us in Kiev. That cease-fire anything but solid right now. Thanks, Fred.
ROMANS: All right. The 2015 Oscars are one for the books. The winners, the losers, the hills are alive with the sound of music. The fashion statement, the nearly naked host. The nearly naked hosted, the six-pack on that guy, unbelievable.
No offense, John Berman. I'm not justifying anyone.
BERMAN: I have a one pack.
ROMANS: When we come back.
BERMAN: It's more like a tall boy.
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IDINA MENZEL, ACTRESS: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, my very dear friend. Glong Gazingo!
(APPLAUSE)
JOHN TRAVOLTA, ACTOR: The nominees for best original song are --
MENZEL: You want me to do it?
(LAUGHTER) (END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: There's John Travolta and Idina Menzel, making up for last year when Travolta mangled her name completely. That was I would think that was incredibly kind-hearted by Ms. Menzel.
ROMANS: It was kindhearted. Now, I made a cheat chit for you for all the things you need to know around the Oscar. So, Neil Patrick Harris wore underwear and black socks. Lady Gaga the sound of music. Well, there's Neil Patrick Harris.
Can we listen to her for a second? I mean, she sounded great. Listen to her doing "The Sound of Music."
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BERMAN: She really can sing.
ROMANS: She really can sing.
Also, you had "The Grand Budapest Hotel" with a lot of awarding for cinematography and the makeup and all that. J.Lo and Meryl Streep giving like a big thumbs up for Patricia Arquette who was talking about pay equality for men and women when she gave her acceptance speech.
And something I found really, really interesting. Graham Moore, he won for the best screenplay for "Imitation Game". He stood up there and said when he was 16 years old, he tried to kill himself. He felt different. He felt like weird. He felt like he didn't belong. And he said, I want all of you who feel that we -- listen. Can we hear it?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAHAM MOORE: I would like for this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she's weird or she different or she doesn't fit in. Yes, you do. I promise you do. Stay weird. Stay different.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Stay weird. Stay different.
BERMAN: What a great message.
ROMANS: That gives me goose bumps.
BERMAN: The winners, quickly, if you were sleeping like me, "Birdman" for best picture, also won for best director. Best actor was Eddie Redmayne for "Theory of Everything". Best actress, Julianne Moore for "Still Alice." Supporting actor J.K. Simmons, who's been in like everything for the last 30 years.
ROMANS: Also one of the best acceptance speeches ever. He said, go home and thank your parents. If your parents are still alive, you're likely to have parents who are live, go home and thank them. They made you who you are and I love that.
BERMAN: I love him, too. Patricia Arquette won for best supporting actress.
ROMANS: Right, there you go. You didn't have to watch. Now you know everything you need to know to talk about what they're talking about.
BERMAN: We are lucky to have you, Christine.
ROMANS: Fifty-four minutes past the hour.
BERMAN: Remember when gas prices could not stop falling? That trend in a dramatic reverse. How high could they rise? How fast? Christine Romans with the answers, next.
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ROMANS: Let's get an early start on your money this Monday morning.
Stocks around the world, like a four-month agreement with Greece and its E.U. creditors. Here in the U.S., stocks moving a bit lower, but that's really barely moving. A record end to the week last week, Friday, the Dow climbed 155 points, closed at the first record of the year. The S&P 500 at all-time high.
John Berman, look at the chart. I love this chart. The S&P is up 212 percent. Let me say that again, 212 percent since the market bottom, March 9th, 2009. That's almost exactly six years ago. What an old and fabulous bull this has been.
West coast ports are back to life. We can report. The port workers union reached a tentative five-year agreement with their employers over the weekend. Operations finally in full swing. It could take months to clear the backlog from the slowdown. This labor dispute was devastating for some businesses.
I mean, think about the American farmers and poultry exporters and pork exporters, the apple manufactures, apple growers, orange growers. They were not able to ship out that stuff. Some of that stuff rotted right there on the docks.
Gas prices are climbing 28 days in a row. The national average for a gallon of regular is $2.30. That's a 5 cents the past week.
BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE) last year.
ROMANS: Yes, 27 cents it's up in the last month. But, you're right. When you look at last year, drivers are still saving hundreds of dollars compared to where we were above $3 a gallon. Gas prices, John, I can say are expected to keep going up into the spring. This spring season will not be that great. It is still much better than last year.
BERMAN: EARLY START continues right now.
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