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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Deadly Storms Ravage Texas & Oklahoma; The War on ISIS: Iraq's New Plan. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired May 26, 2015 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:14] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning: storms ravaging Texas and Oklahoma. At least six people killed, a dozen more missing this morning following record rainfall, unprecedented flooding and deadly tornadoes. The damage done and the storms still on the way.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning out of Iraq. Just moments ago, we learned that Iraq has launched a new operation to take back territory seized by ISIS. Will this work? We are live in Baghdad, ahead.
ROMANS: Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: And I'm John Berman. Great to see you. It is Tuesday, May 26, 4:00 a.m. in the East.
And we do begin this morning with breaking news from Texas and Oklahoma. Officials are warning that the storms that have killed six people could continue for weeks to come. In Hays County, one person is confirmed dead and 12 were missing. Officials say the missing likely including some children are from two families gathered at a vacation home for the long weekend. That home just washed away in a flash flood.
With the ground completely saturated, forecasters are warning there may be more flash flooding ahead. The Texas Governor Greg Abbott has added 24 counties to an emergency disaster declaration, bringing the total now to 37.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: And we urge all citizens to get out of harm's way. Don't risk your lives by trying to not evacuate the water that may be rising.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Across the region, hundreds of rescues and narrow escapes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my gosh! He needs to get out! Oh my God! Oh my God!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That terrifying situation in Kendall County, Texas. It had a happy ending, folks. Incredibly, officials say the 68-year-old driver was able to get out of SUV and make it to safety. Elsewhere, crews rescued people by land, by water. This is in Austin.
And from the air, this is in Caldwell County, where a National Guard Black Hawk helicopter pulled Danny Pullen from his truck, after his truck was swept away in the current. Throughout that ordeal, Pullen stayed on the phone with his panicked daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNAH PULLEN, DAUGHTER OF RESCUED MAN: I kept calling him over and over and I was like, are you OK? Are you OK? And he's like, I don't know if I'm going to make it. But he's like, I love you. I was like, hold on, please don't leave, please don't leave. I'm here for you. I'm here for you. He was like, I don't know what to tell you. I'm sorry.
DANNY PULLEN, RESCUED FROM FLOOD WATERS: It was about real quick three feet. It hit the side of my door enough to be more powerful than I'm going, five or ten miles an hour. It pushed me off the road so I could no longer go forward. I'm instantly go, I'm stuck here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Wow.
BERMAN: Rainfall totals topped 12 inches in some areas over the last five days, pushing lakes and rivers far past the flood stage.
On the Lake Texoma, that's on the Texas/Oklahoma state line, water run over the spillway for only the fourth time. This was built in 1957.
ROMANS: Flash floods wiping entire neighborhoods over the weekend. In Hays County alone, officials say as many as 400 homes washed away. Another 1,000 homes badly damaged and thousands of residents are now homeless. This Whole Food store will be out of commission for some time. No question about that. Farms and ranches across the region also facing disaster, crops ruined and livestock scattered now.
BERMAN: The Blanco River which runs through Hayes County swept fast its previous record flood stage of 33 feet, topping more than 40 feet late Saturday.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has the latest from Wimberley in Texas, right on the Blanco River.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, it's a staggering scene here in the central Texas town of Wimberley, Texas. All of this debris flooded and rushed out of the Blanco River as flood waters rise dramatically, quickly. Many people telling us that they only had a matter of minutes to escape from their homes. But it was described as a wall of water rushing downstream here in the Blanco River.
This, a refrigerator from the home upstairs. But it was really a lot of these trees, it's kind of hard to really describe just how -- give you the sense of how large these trees were that were swept away, washed out several bridges along the way. But there is a great deal of concern, John and Christine, about more rainfall in the coming days, and what that will mean for the flooding situation. The Blanco River crested more than 40 feet over its usual here in central Texas. So, a dramatic scene, intense, where these flood waters rising very quickly.
[04:05:00] And because of that, because of there's so much saturation and because of a lot of the tributaries and creeks are already very filled, the concern is it will not take much more rain to create more flash flooding situations. And that is what the concern is.
The warnings going out to people, urging them to react quickly if the flood waters and the rain waters move back in to pay close attention to those situations, because it takes only a matter of minutes for these flood waters to get out of control -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Our thanks to Ed Lavandera in Wimberley in Texas.
The violent storms also hit Oklahoma, where rising floodwaters forced score of rescues. Firefighters evacuated dozens of people in Twin Lakes as the raging Cimarron River ate away at the foundations of their homes. Look at that.
Near Broken Bow, Oklahoma, crews raised against that swollen river, trying to rescue 13 stranded in a cabin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TROOPER JOE JEFFERSON, OKLAHOMA HIGHWAY PATROL: They are panicked or anything like that. We've been in phone contact with them at all times. So, they are fine. There's nothing hazardous as far as their safety just yet. It's just -- time is of the essence with the water rising.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: A confirmed EF-1 tornado hit southwest Houston on Sunday with winds up to 100 miles an hour. That twister tore the roof off several buildings. City officials say the health department will help dozens of displaced residents moved to new homes.
ROMANS: The severe weather stranded fans inside Houston's Toyota Center after the Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors of the game four of the Western Conference Finals. But not many were complaining about the warning to stay put after Rockets center Dwight Howard took to the court to greet fans.
BERMAN: They also won, the Rockets, which made the big difference. The only game they won so far. ROMANS: People had to be patient, no question.
BERMAN: Indeed.
ROMANS: There's no relief in sight for storm weary residents of the south.
Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is tracking the forecast for us.
It is just remarkable, Pedram.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, remarkable is the best way to put it guys. The only thing I would say that is similar to what we are seeing here is a tropical storm making landfall. Slow moving tropical storm. In fact, the National Weather Service in Houston taking it so seriously. They've issued a flash flood emergency for Houston, for Ft. Bend and also around Harris County as well.
They're saying this is continuous event, dangerous situation. But the verbiage is ominous because they're saying do not really attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or you're under an evacuation order because of the life threatening nature of this event here, with the tremendous rainfall in place. Some thunderstorms, we called training. Storms fuel off each other. So, we're getting these to roll right through Houston, work their way across I-20 and I-55 as well to the east.
New Orleans getting in some of the action as well, line of active weather coming in. This is a tornado watch that's in effect for 1.8 million people until 5:00 a.m. local time for New Orleans as some of these storms have exhibited rotation. We had 19 reports of tornadoes over this region, of course, on Monday. So, this active pattern is still going to continue over this region.
Flash flood watches and warnings, as you would expect, that's still in place. Now they are on the eastern edge of Texas and Louisiana and much of Arkansas in line with some of the heaviest weather in the next couple of days. Notice rainfall totals just over the past 12 hours, these are all the numbers that you would see over several months. These are all out of areas around Houston, for several months it would take to get this much rainfall. They are getting it in a couple of hours.
In fact, the river gauge, guys, this is around 10 feet at one in the morning on Tuesday. Look at it sky rocket to 36 feet high. That's where it currently sits. It's forecast to crest at 40 feet high. That's why we think just a couple of inches of rainfall which we have in the forecast are going to be problematic over this region by this afternoon.
ROMANS: So, let me ask you about Houston, Pedram. I mean, because you got people trying to go to work, you know, in Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States. I mean, what are -- what are officials telling people?
JAVAHERI: Yes. You know, this expires in the next hour. Water levels will gradually become less and less as we go into the morning hours. But, of course, they're saying, right now, stay indoors as officials figure out the situation around town because there's a whole lot of water around town. The rivers, 150 around Texas, guys, are at or above flood stage. It's incredible to think about how expansive this is.
ROMANS: A hundred fifty rivers. All right. Pedram Javaheri, thank you for that, Pedram.
BERMAN: All right. We have breaking news this morning out of Iraq. The government there has announced an operation to retake Anbar province from ISIS. Now, they no doubt will meet stiff resistance. ISIS has been sending in reinforcement to tighten its grip on that city Ramadi which it captured now about one week ago.
We want to get the latest from CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh, reporting live from Baghdad.
And, Nick, you know, this is the Iraqi government with its forces and the militias that --
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, interesting news now. Long awaited counter attack from the Iraqi security forces, but also those Shia armed groups, the Hashd al-Shabi, who have met so much of the tip of the spear of the fighting here against ISIS --
BERMAN: All right. We are having a hard time establishing communication with Nick Paton Walsh who was in Baghdad.
The important thing there as Nick was saying is the Iraqi government trying to make the case it is on the offensive in Anbar province after losing the city of Ramadi more than one week ago to ISIS.
[04:10:05] We do not yet know if this is truly a substantial operation or more of a propaganda operation by the Iraqi government. We will discover that in the coming hours. We'll check back in with Nick as soon as we can.
ROMANS: After the American defense secretary said they lost the will to fight when Ramadi fell.
This new operation launching as officials in U.S. and Iraq are sniping as each other over who's to blame for the fall of Ramadi to ISIS. Vice President Biden used Memorial Day to recognize the sacrifice that Iraqi soldiers in Ramadi and elsewhere, that's a sharp break from what Defense Secretary Ash Carter told CNN about Iraqis lacking the will to fight.
There's also new discord among Iraqi officials as the deputy prime minister criticized its own forces from retreating from Ramadi just hours after the prime minister defended his troops.
CNN's Michelle Kosinski sorts this out from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John and Christine.
Right. Pretty surprising to hear those words that now just keep reverberating, from the Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to CNN, very bluntly describing what he termed the Iraqi forces lack of the will to fight. They let the city of Ramadi fall to ISIS.
Now, what we are hearing from the administration is some clarification of those comments or you might call it damage control, saying that he was only referring very specifically to the situation in Ramadi, and that over the last 18 months, Iraqi forces have held that city in the face of fierce fighting, terrible casualties, low pay, poor leadership. Not being able to see their families and wave after wave of the gigantic ISIS truck bombs that just further destroyed morale.
We also saw first thing Monday morning a phone call from the vice president to the Iraqi prime minister who had expressed some surprise himself over the defense secretary's comments. The vice president told him that the U.S. recognizes the enormous sacrifice and bravery of Iraqi forces, welcoming the decision to call in additional troops and try to take back Ramadi, and the U.S. pledging its continued support and expedite more training and equipment to try to counter those ISIS truck bombs -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Michelle Kosinski from the White House -- thank you, Michelle.
Time for an early start on your money this morning. Asian stocks are much higher right now. The European shares are lower, growing worries about a Greek default. Yes, Greece back in the headlines. U.S. stocks futures looking a bit sluggish after the long holiday weekend.
Huge merger news to tell you about this morning. Charter Communications will announce a $55 billion deal to buy Time Warner cable and smaller Bright House Networks this morning.
Charter is the third biggest cable provider in the country. Time Warner Cable is the second. Together, that company would have 18.8 million broadband and Internet describers, 17 million TV subscribers. Those numbers will be a big advantage when negotiating with channel owners and competing with Netflix. The merger still has to pass government regulators. That stopped Comcast's plan to buy Time Warner Cable earlier this year.
BERMAN: Yes, sorry, Comcast. Didn't work for you. We're going somewhere else.
Happening right now, the FBI investigating a series of threats targeting passenger planes this weekend. We'll tell you the new information we are learning this morning. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK0 [04:16:23] ROMANS: At least 10 phone threats against airline flights had law enforcement scrambling on Memorial Day. Authorities forced to search planes in Newark, Buffalo, Atlanta and New York. NORAD even had to scramble to F-15 fighter jets over the Atlantic to escort an Air France flight into JFK.
Listen to New York's Port Authority police questioning the French crew during the flight.
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PORT AUTHORITY POLICE: Do you have anyone ill or sick on the aircraft?
AIR FRANCE PILOT: No, no. Nobody sick.
PORT AUTHORITY POLICE: And you haven't had anybody ill or sick during the flight, correct?
AIR FRANCE PILOT: Correct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just when we landed and they stopped us. This is when we knew that something is wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: That Air France flight was evacuated and searched. Police found nothing suspicious or hazardous. The FBI investigating this spate of calls apparently, or threats on flights.
BERMAN: There's a spike in murders and gun violence in Baltimore over the weekend. Police say at least 28 people were shot. Seven of them died. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake calls the upsurge of violence disheartening. The city's murder rate is up 47 percent this year. This is the first time in 15 years that Baltimore has had more than 33 homicides in a single month.
ROMANS: The city of Cleveland has reportedly reached a settlement with the Justice Department over what federal authorities said was a pattern of civil rights violations and excessive force by police. Details of the agreement on reforming the Cleveland police department could be announced today. It comes just days after a white police officer was cleared of manslaughter charges in the fatal shooting of two unarmed black suspects.
BERMAN: Authorities in Nevada now investigating allegations of foul play in connection with the death of blues B.B. King. His body has been taken from a mortuary to be examined by the coroner in Clark County, Nevada. Officials confirmed the family has made these allegations. The coroner says they will conduct a thorough investigation. It's expected to take six-to-eight weeks. King died earlier this month while under home hospice care in Las Vegas. He's 89 years old.
ROMANS: The coroner saying that the early examination not corresponding to any kind of foul play. But again, it's going to take six to eight weeks for all the toxicology and all that to come back.
All right. Fun on the beach quickly turned to terror when a water spout came ashore in Ft. Lauderdale Monday, lifting an inflatable bounce house with three kids inside.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, bounce house!
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ROMANS: Now, the kids were ejected before the bounce house flew above those palm trees and across four lanes of traffic, landing in a parking lot nearby.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Airborne and kids dropping out of the bounce house. So, it was really, really a terrible situation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was shocked. She was screaming. Her mouth was bloody. My other cousin was bloody, he was just laying there. He was shaking and they couldn't talk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Officials say two of the children suffered fractures. The National Weather Service confirms it was a tornado that tore across that beach.
BERMAN: Wow.
All right. I have pictures to show you right now of a tanker fire that you can see in the busy ramp on I-75 in Detroit shutdown until Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have go. It's on fire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These people. Oh, my God! Look at this! Detroit is on fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The ramp is on fire.
The tanker driver said the back wheels locked up Sunday morning, causing his petroleum truck to overturn. The heat from the fire was so intense that a 300-foot section of concrete now needs to be replaced.
[04:20:02] The truck was hauling 9,000 gallons of fuel. The driver was not hurt. Police in Michigan are now investigating. ROMANS: A food truck operator whose pressure cooker triggered a bomb scare near the U.S. Capitol this weekend is apologizing. Police found it in an unattended vehicle just before the National Memorial Day concert. They blew it up. The owner of the vehicle, Israel Shimeles, was arrested and charged with operating the vehicle after his license had been revoked. He says he is sorry for the incident and for delaying crowds trying to get to the concert.
BERMAN: A "Washington Post" reporter accused of espionage is now on trial in Iran. We are live with the very latest, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: The trial began for a "Washington Post" reporter in prison in Iran on espionage charges. Jason Rezaian has been held for 10 months. The Iranian judge presiding over that case has closed the trial to the public. Even his wife and the mother of the defendant barred from the courtroom.
CNN's Becky Anderson is monitoring the developments for us live from Abu Dhabi.
And this is something that "The Washington Post", you know, reporters' rights group very concerned about the closed trial.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The first session this morning now is over. Let's remind ourselves about this case. He was arrested along with his wife Yegy, and two of their friends, Christine, last July. The others were released on bail after a couple of months.
[04:25:01] But Jason remained in custody, at point even held in solitary confinement in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison.
Now, at first, it was unclear what Jason and the others have done wrong, and there was speculation that he could have been arrested over some of his writings, or even his appearance on CNN's "ANTHONY BOURDAIN: PARTS UNKNOWN" from Tehran filmed only six weeks before Jason's detention.
But by April of this year, it was clear the charges were far more serious than initially thought. The Iranian security establishment and judiciary says that he was illegally gathering classified information about Iran and passing this on to Washington. There is no real evidence presented to back up those claims as far as we know, and there's been no fair judicial process so far.
What we do know, though, is that the judge assigned to this case, Abolghassem Salavati, is known to be close to the intelligence operators, who's been accused of bringing down the harsh sentences in the past. And perhaps this is the crux of the matter. It's in many ways a political trial. Jason a pawn in a wider power struggle that seems to be going on inside Tehran, with the government of President Rouhani, pitted against hard line elements who wish to embarrass him as he tries to strike this nuclear deal with the West by the end of next month. They know having an Iranian-American reporter going to trial in Tehran
is not good for the optics. And perhaps, that is why they decide to trigger this trial now. So, I guess the bottom line here is the fate of Jason and this trial, therefore less about what happens in this closed court and more about the give and take in the corridors of power, I'm afraid, in Tehran.
Back to you.
ROMANS: All right. Becky, thank you for illuminating that. Again, he's only going to have a translator, apparently, and court appointed attorney. He's given no warning when he was going to appear in word. You know, "The Washington Post" is furious about this. Very -- it's just --
BERMAN: It's outrageous.
All right. Breaking news this morning, deadly storms barreling through central United States. At least six people killed and a dozen more missing. There are more storms on the way. We'll have the story, next.
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