Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Police Ready For Texas Gang War; Retaking Ramadi From ISIS; Demilitarizing Law Enforcement; Baltimore Surge In Homicides; Stocks AT Records. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 19, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: -- what have caused that deadly Amtrak derailment and the war on ISIS now focused on a key Iraqi city. How the terrorists took over Ramadi and how the U.S. and Iran are planning to help try to take it back.

Welcome to EARLY START, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow. It is 5:30 a.m. here on the east coast. This morning, police in Waco, Texas are bracing for the possibility that motorcycle gangs will go to war in the wake of the shootout at a Twin Peaks Restaurant that left nine people dead and 18 hospitalized and 170 under arrest.

A new law enforcement bulletin says that leaders of the Bandidos and Cross X biker gangs have reportedly told members to arm themselves and to head to the Waco area. The bulletin warns that the police presence will not stop gangs from attacking one another.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. W. PATRICK SWANTON, WACO POLICE DEPARTMENT: The threat was put out toward law enforcement officers caused us to really step up our game. Obviously, it is something we are concerned about. We would encourage biker groups to stand down. There has been enough bloodshed and death here. We don't need additional death in the Waco area.

JIMMY GRAVES, BANDIDOS MOTORCYCLE CLUB MEMBER: We are not a gang. We do not do gang things. They have been reading too many comic books and watching TV, watching too many "b" rated biker movies. We have been stereotyped. They are not thugs. Mainly when we find a thug in our bunch, we get rid of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Late on Monday, a Waco judge set bail for many of the jailed suspects at $1 million each. Sources tell CNN the brawl was over territory. That the Bandidos don't allow other motorcycle clubs to wear the Texas insignia. The clash reportedly came as no surprise to police.

A law enforcement bulletin obtained by WFAA TV warns of escalating violence between these two groups. In turn Waco Police say they wanted the Twin Peaks Restaurant of danger, but the restaurant ignored advice to try to keep those biker gangs away. CNN's Kyung Lah has the latest from Waco. KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. Law enforcement says the scene is so large that there is so much evidence that the processing of it, the collection of it is going to spill over into a second day. So this morning, a continuation of what we've been seeing.

Police primarily focusing on what they can collect like the motorcycles. They are pushing motorcycle after motorcycle onto flatbed trucks hauling away dozens of them.

They are also going through all the individual cars and trying to decide if they are going to release them to the owners or move that into evidence.

More than 100 guns have been collected by police in addition to other weapons like knives and batons and chains with padlocks on them. A 170 people in all have been arrested. The sheriff telling us that there are so many people they had to put the suspects on city buses and bring them to the convention center for processing.

As far as the restaurant, police say they are now getting cooperation from the owners. The law enforcement here was saying that all of this harness could have been avoided had the restaurant cooperated with police in the first place -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Kyung Lah, thank you very much.

Also new this morning, Shi'ite militia fighters are preparing to retake the capital of Iraq's Anbar Province from ISIS. Iraqi security sources tell CNN that nearly 3,000 fighters from the Iranian- backed militia are gathering at an air base east of Ramadi.

This is just days after ISIS blasted its way into the Ramadi stronghold with armored bulldozers and a series of car bombs. The White House on Monday conceding the loss of Ramadi is indeed a setback and promising to help the Iraqi government to try to retake it.

Let's bring in CNN's Ivan Watson. He is following the story for us. Ivan, you have a unique perspective because you've been there. You've spent so much time on the ground. You have driven the road, the 60 miles from Ramadi to Baghdad. What's your assessment of how tough it's going to be for the Iraqi Security Forces to get it back?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Once you lose a city, to get it back, it means tough gritty urban combat house to house and all of this is panning out so close to Baghdad. It is really striking.

There are some parts of this that feel like a repeat of past history, Poppy. Let's look at the map and see how close Ramadi is down the highway from the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

Yes, I drove this more than ten years ago in a slightly more peaceful times. It takes under an hour to make that journey. Iraqi Security Forces pushed out of Ramadi on Sunday after waves of suicide car and truck bombs pushed them back, and on the way out, pushed them back to this town called Hagbaniya.

Now why is Ramadi important? It's the capital of Anbar Province. It was where the headquarters of the Iraqi military's operations were for all of Anbar Province.

So now you have ISIS showing propaganda images of the weapons and military vehicles that it has captured at Iraqi military bases that were abandoned in Ramadi.

The Iraqi Security Forces have pulled back to that town that I've mentioned on map of Hagbaniya.

[05:35:03] They are being reinforced by thousands of Shi'ite militia fighters. They are described as popular mobilization units with very close ties to Iran and in some cases trained by Iran directly, which creates some challenges both for the Iraqi government and for the U.S. to use its air power potentially in support of these Iranian-backed militias.

The flight from Ramadi has driven tens of thousands of Iraqi civilian terrified out of that city. They are part of a wave of more than 200,000 Iraqi civilians that the United Nations says have fled Ramadi over the past month.

The Iraqi government officials in Ramadi, Poppy, as recently as last month this time, they were warning that the city was about to fall if they did not get reinforcements or assistance. These people who may have had ties to Sunni militia fighters or Iraqi government officials, they are leaving because they are afraid of reprisals or beheadings or afraid of mass executions on the way out.

Now take a look at this map. This city, Fallujah, is on the way back to Baghdad. For months, it has been in ISIS hands. It is in ISIS hands now. Some of our viewers may remember Fallujah, Ramadi. They were key cities that the U.S. fought hard to defend and recapture from al Qaeda-linked militants more than a decade ago.

In 2005 and 2006, with all of the might of the U.S. Marines and Army and air power as well, it cost scores of American lives to recapture those cities. That is the grim fight ahead for the Iraqi security forces if they want to recapture those cities -- Poppy.

HARLOW: In a very different fight now considering they are not and technically any U.S. boots on the ground, just those advisers. Look, if -- with this capture of Ramadi that ISIS has been able to pulled off, you have the highway from their heartland in Syria and Ramadi and Fallujah, what is the likelihood that they are going to try to overtake Baghdad or is that a completely different scenario in ISIS mind?

WATSON: It's a completely different scenario. Baghdad is 8 million, 9 million inhabitants. It has huge Shi'ite populations unlike Ramadi and Fallujah, and would presumably be a much harder fight. It would not take just waves of suicide car bombings to take it out.

We saw a different scenario at the June of 2014 when this key city, Mosul, which is a very heavily Sunni populated city when that fell almost without a fight and that is how ISIS kind of burst on the international stage in Iraq.

It hasn't been entirely bad news for the Iraqi government. In March and April, they recaptured this city, Tikrit, but they relied heaving on those majority of the Shi'ite/Muslim militias with close ties to Iraq to do it.

They are having to do that again in Anbar Province, in Ramadi now. That is seen by some analysts as a setback for the Iraqi prime minister, who was brought in to power with the support of the U.S.

That he is now having to turn back to these Iranian proxies to try to win back Sunni populated parts of Iraq. The sectarian divisions in this country are huge.

They are issues that the U.S. wrestled with a decade ago and there are still issues that are being wrestled with today. Whether or not the Iraqi government can get the Sunnis and Shi'ites to work together, that will be a key part on whether or not they can eventually push ISIS back.

HARLOW: Can it be an inclusive government? Can this government be an inclusive government? Ivan Watson, thanks very much. I appreciate it.

President Obama is ordering the federal government to stop distributing military equipment to local police departments. The president says armored vehicles and weapons make local police look like an occupying force rather than public servants.

CNN's senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, says this new ban takes effect immediately.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, nine months after riots turned the streets of Ferguson, Missouri into what looked like a combat zone, the White House is outlining reforms aimed to demilitarizing law enforcement.

Under the new policy, federal agencies would be barred from providing police agencies with tank-like vehicles, weaponized aircraft, high-caliber weapons, grenade launchers and camouflage uniforms.

The administration would control, but still allow the acquisition of the kind of armored vehicles that were roaming Ferguson if police departments could show officers are being trained properly.

Also permitted under certain conditions are manned aircraft drones, guns and explosives and riot gear. After meeting with police officials in Camden, New Jersey yesterday, the president said too many police agencies look like an occupying force. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Can alienate and intimidate local residents and send the wrong message. So we are going to prohibit some equipment made for the battlefield that is not appropriate for local police departments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:40:08] ACOSTA: The National Sheriff's Association worries the White House will overreach and leave officers and deputies outgunned. The White House says it is dealing with restrictions on that list banned military equipment takes effect right away. The new training requirements for police departments seeking military hardware kick in later this year -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Jim Acosta, thank you. Let's get an EARLY START on your money. CNN Money correspondent, Alison Kosik, is here. Good morning.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. A little rally goes a long way especially when you're talking about records for stocks. Yesterday, the Dow climbed 26 points. It wasn't a huge day, but just enough to top its March 2nd closing high. The S&P 500 also hitting a record close, it's third in a row.

It looks like another record for today. U.S. stock futures are up right now. A lot on Wall Street's plate including earnings from Walmart, the nation's biggest private employer.

Guess what, soon, you'll be able to pick the music playing in your Starbucks through Spotify. This is part of a partnership between the coffee chain and the music streaming service.

So customers will be able to listen and influence and add to their local Starbucks play list. They can keep on listening after they leave the store through app. Spotify customers will also be able to earn reward points. They can redeem at Starbucks.

This is one of those I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine. Starbucks gets more customers, more loyalty, improved experience, and you see Spotify improving their membership numbers as well.

HARLOW: Let's hope you like the music.

KOSIK: You can always leave.

HARLOW: You can always leave. Thanks, Alison. I appreciate it.

Investigators are slowly honing in on what could have caused last week's deadly Amtrak derailment as injured passengers join together in court. We'll explain next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: The FBI ruling out a gunshot as a contributing cause of the deadly Amtrak derailment after examining that grape fruit size damage on the train's windshield. The NTSB says it is possible that some other object may have struck the windshield. Meantime, an attorney for four people in this crash, who were

injured announce what he calls a mass action lawsuit against Amtrak focusing on the train's speed and lack of speed control technology on that part of the track.

Law enforcement meanwhile is keeping its focus on the man who is at the controls of Amtrak 188. We get more now from CNN's Rene Marsh.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, we have been speaking with government sources here in Philadelphia and they all indicate that there is a sharp focus on the engineer and his experience as well as his handling of the train. We do know that this engineer had been on the route according to the NTSB for several weeks. That's not a long time.

We should point out although investigators say they are focusing on the engineer's handling of the train, that doesn't necessarily indicate anything criminal. In fact, we know the Philadelphia police as well as the district attorney's office here are in a holding pattern.

They want to wait and get definitive answers from the NTSB investigation before they move forward with their investigation. We know the NTSB completed the analysis of the train's recorders. That is a fact.

So far, they have not found any sign of mechanical failure, but a source with NTSB is stressing that it is too early to rule anything in or out. They say they will not determine the cause of the derailment until the investigation concludes. Poppy, they say that could take 12 months. Back to you.

HARLOW: Rene Marsh, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Let's take a look at what is coming up next on "NEW DAY." Michaela Pereira joins us now.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Poppy Harlow. I'm a big fan of yours.

HARLOW: You, too.

PEREIRA: Good morning to you. Look, NEW DAY is taking a look at the deadly shootout in Waco, Texas between biker gangs, why authorities are now fearing there could be more bloodshed on the way. We will speak with a man who infiltrated a biker gang for the ATF.

We also have an expert who has spent time with one of the gangs connected to the shooting. Take a look at what is behind that violence and what can possibly be done to stop it.

Also, Alisyn Camerota had a chance to sit down with Republican presidential hopeful, Senator Rand Paul. What he has to say about whether or not the Iraq war was a mistake. Plus why he says he will do whatever it takes to stop the Patriot Act. In fact, they even bring up the topic of his curly hair. Could

it be a political problem? I take great umbrage to that being of the curly variety myself.

HARLOW: I wish -- I'm hoping this election no one talks about what anyone is wearing -- men or women.

PEREIRA: -- or their suits. Poppy, we'll see you at the top of the hour.

HARLOW: I look forward to it, a troubling trend in Baltimore since the death of Freddie Gray. What police are revealing next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:52:14]

HARLOW: As Baltimore recovers from the protests and riots that followed the death of Freddie Gray in police custody, new statistics reveal an alarming increase in shootings and murders in the city. From mid-April to May, 31 people were killed, 39 wounded by gun fire and on two occasions, 10 people were shot in a single day in Baltimore. Police say there have been 91 homicides this year so far, 21 more than the same time last year.

Breaking overnight, the State Department proposing a January 2016 deadline to complete its review and release of thousands of pages of e-mails that Hillary Clinton exchanged on a private server where she was secretary of state. Clinton turned over the electronic communications back in December and the agency is now responding to a freedom of information suit seeking all of the former secretary's e- mails.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie still has not said definitely whether or not he will run for president in 2016, but he sure sounded like a candidate on Monday laying out his foreign policy vision in a speech in New Hampshire blasting the current nuclear negotiations with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: The framework we have here is flimsy. I have grave concerns over how we make the Iranians live up to their end of the bargain and how to ensure proper compliance. The deal is structured will lead to a nuclear Iran and a nuclear Middle East. That not only threatens Israel, but the United States and it turns 70 years of nuclear deterrence policy on its head.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, the Iraq war has become a political football that prominent Republicans like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio have bobbled. Now Rick Perry is weighing in. The former Texas governor and current White House hopeful says knowing what the world knows now, he would not have invaded Iraq as President Bush did.

Are you looking for a job where you live? It could be holding you back, the top cities for jobs next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:57:35]

HARLOW: All right, time now for an EARLY START on your money. Alison Kosik is here with how the markets are looking. It's look like a great day for Wall Street.

KOSIK: And new records to talk about. Yesterday, the Dow climbed 26 points to top its previous closing high of March. The S&P 500 also hit a record for the third day in a row and it looks like that momentum could continue today. Right now, we are seeing stock futures pointing higher.

There is a lot for investors to digest this morning. Walmart, TJ Max, and Home Depot report earnings before the bell and we'll also get a look at new home construction figures as well.

All right, drum roll please. The best city in the country for jobs is Raleigh, North Carolina. That's according to Glass Door. Raleigh has almost 25,000 job openings for 1.2 million people. The median salary is about $50,000. Employees report high job satisfaction.

Also in the top five, Kansas City, Missouri, Oklahoma City, Austin and Seattle. Poppy, Minneapolis got number 16. Miami, my hometown, did not make the list.

HARLOW: Mine beat yours. Alison, good to have you on this morning. Thank you so much. Police warning the biker gang violence in Texas may not be over. A lot more on that story on "NEW DAY" which begins right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were prepared and able to handle any threat that comes towards us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Officials warning law enforcement that members of two biker gangs have been, quote, "instructed to arm themselves with weapons and travel to North Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The bombs are each of the people being arrested, $1 million each

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A mass action lawsuit against Amtrak.

MARSH: A sharp focus on the engineer and his experience.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His conduct right now is inexplicable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm still in shock. I can't believe.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "THE LEAD": Four people killed in a Washington, D.C. mansion. JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: The fire has turned into a case of suspected arson and a murder mystery.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": If you were president and saw ISIS encroaching on Baghdad, what would the U.S. role be?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Tuesday, May 19th, 6:00 in the east. There's a major biker war playing out in Texas. Police fear it's only the beginning and they report hundreds of bikers are there.

More are on the way. They're armed to the teeth and all this after that deadly shootout in Waco. We have what this war is about. And it ain't about parking spots as first reported.

CAMEROTA: That's for sure. Sunday's gun battle at a Waco restaurant left nine bikers dead and it appears that four may have been taken out by police. We begin our coverage this morning with CNN's Nick Valencia in Waco, Texas. Tell us what we are --