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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Looking For Support; Remembering David Frost; Season-Ending Celebration
Aired September 02, 2013 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: Will the U.S. strike Syria? World leaders weighing in on the Syrian government's reported use of chemical weapons and whether anything should be done about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going to find Kyron if we're not searching.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A mother still holding out hope for her young son who disappeared more than three years ago.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of a sudden, all this stuff started coming down really quick and they're like whoa, whoa, whoa.
SAMBOLIN: Oh my goodness. Look at that. Flash flood rescue. A woman and her baby stranded when rains washed out the road. That's scary.
BERMAN: All right. Welcome back, everyone. This is EARLY START. I'm John Berman.
SAMBOLIN: And I'm Zoraida Sambolin. Nice to have you with us this morning. Happy Labor Day to you.
BERMAN: Big news story all around the world right now. The intense campaign to win over Congress now that President Obama has asked for legislative approval for a military strike on Syria. The administration briefed lawmakers on Capitol Hill Sunday, laying out the evidence that they say shows that the Assad regime used chemical weapons on its own people.
So, members of Congress are now saying they want to change the language of the president's resolution. They think the president is asking for too much authority. Secretary of state, John Kerry, took to the Sunday political talk shows, announcing that samples taken from Eastern Damascus showed signs that sarin gas might have been used. His specific words were signatures (ph) of that sarin gas.
Today, President Obama will meet with Senator John McCain who has been an outspoken advocate for the U.S. taking action in Syria but not necessarily what the president is proposing right now. And that, a day ahead of the first Senate hearing on whether to authorize this military strike. Among U.S. allies, the reaction of the president's decision had been mixed, so far. It's not clear if they might join in if Congress gives the OK to going after the Assad regime.
Atika Shubert is live in London this morning. And Atika, we're hearing reports that France, France now, plans to present evidence of this attack to its lawmakers today. What can you tell us about that?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, France has always been a strong ally of the U.S. It said it would support any military action. And like the United States, France's -- President Francois Hollande doesn't exactly need his parliament's approval to take military action, but there will be a debate in parliament on Wednesday.
And before that debate, we understand from Agence France-Presse, the news agency in France, that some lawmakers will be given classified evidence before the debate for them to evaluate. So, it does seem to be part of that push to convince, not just Congress, but really, the international public, lawmakers of the case for military action in Syria.
Now, across Europe, it's a much more mixed view. Of course, here in Britain, there was that vote denying any -- rejecting any military action by Britain, but there are now suggestions that there could even be a second vote here if new evidence comes to light. It could be brought up before parliament again.
BERMAN: And then, there's this news, Atika, of the Arab league making a statement in support of an international response, but not an explicit call for military action. How might that affect things?
SHUBERT: Yes. It was an interesting statement, because it didn't say, you know, take military action only if approved by the U.N. or the Security Council, and it asked for a strong response, but stopped short of fully supporting, for example, western military action. So, it does seem to be a good sign for the Obama administration.
Certainly, President Obama can say we have regional support particularly from Saudi Arabia, which has, of course, been one of the big supporter of the Syrian opposition. So, it does seem that this sort of support is coming in, but everybody seems to be holding back a little bit from supporting full military action at this point even though everyone seems to agree something -- there's some strong action needs to be taken.
BERMAN: So much movement on this story. So many different parts of the world. Important to stay on top of it. Atika Shubert in London for us this morning. Thanks so much.
SAMBOLIN: Thirty-four minutes past the hour. In Oregon, volunteers spent the weekend searching for a young boy who's been missing for years.
Kyron Horman disappeared in June of 2010 after his stepmother said that she dropped him off at school. It spurred a huge search effort at the time, but the seven-year-old was never found. More than 100,000 people including 10 dogs search teams scoured the Portland area Saturday and Sunday trying to find clues. And his mother says they did have some success. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DESIREE YOUNG, KYRON HORMAN'S MOTHER: This weekend's search did a great deal. I can't talk about a lot of the details because it is an ongoing criminal investigation and a lot of this information has to go to law enforcement. But, I can say that it was successful. We had a ton of resources out there and we clear a lot of land.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Well, no one has ever been charged in this case. Police say they're still hopeful that Kyron can be found and that he can be returned home.
BERMAN: A tragic story from New York City this morning. Simply awful where a one-year-old baby is dead after being shot. Police say it happened Sunday evening when the boy was being pushed in a stroller across the street in Brooklyn. Shots were fired. This boy was struck and killed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's devastating and it's terrible. Our young people have to understand, people in general, that guns kill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A family is distraught. The young mother and young father are hurting badly. They lost a one-year-old child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Really is -- it's not clear who was behind the shooting and whether the child was simply caught in cross fire or if somehow his parents were being specifically targeted.
SAMBOLIN: And also, in New York, a music festival has now been canceled after two people died. Organizers of the Electric Zoo Festival says the city recommended that they shut down the electronic dance music event in light of the deaths and illness of at least four other people. Officials believe the deaths were drug related, possibly a result of MDMA, which is the main ingredient in ecstasy.
BERMAN: All right. Thirty-six minutes after the hour.
In California this morning, crews are reporting some progress fighting that massive fire near Yosemite National Park. The dent (ph) smoke from the blaze is starting to ease. Containment is up to 45 percent. That's a lot more than it was last week. Still, this is the fourth largest fire in recorded history in that state having burned through more than 224,000 acres.
SAMBOLIN: Such a massive effort and so many people risking their lives there. So, this was a scene near Las Vegas as thunderstorms led to flash floods. You hear Berman in background saying wow. That is a big wow. Take a look at these pictures. Water carrying tree limbs, logs, rocks. It even carries some cars away, collapsing part of the road as well. One woman and her baby got stuck in the downpour when her SUV got pushed into a tree.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of a sudden, all this stuff started coming down really quick and they're like whoa, whoa, whoa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turned around and came down and saw that and stopped. It's amazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Police were able to get the mother and her baby out. And they are -- oh, look at that. They're doing great. That's wonderful news. It may be a few more days before residents fully get a handle on all of the damage there. Mother Nature is really fierce, isn't she?
BERMAN: And we have our own fierce. Indra Petersons is here to explain what is going on. The fire the flood. A lot of action here.
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I mean, yes. Unbelievable. I actually wanted to show you guys the radar from yesterday in that area. Notice it's just as one tiny little cell. It doesn't take much at all. The carpenter (ph) fire was recently in that region, so especially a burn (ph) area. One thunderstorm moves over the area. The land is so dry, and boom, we start seeing flash flooding.
And that is going to be the concern again today. In fact, we saw it all over the region throughout the weekend. All things atypical monsoonal moisture. A dome of high pressure there, you get all that moisture coming out of the gulf. It goes into the southwesterly states. And this is something you typically see this time of year.
Now the hint with good news with them is it could bring more moisture near Yosemite, but of course, with the threat of thunderstorms you have strong winds there as well. Either way, the flooding concerns will be high again today for just what we just saw. Again, small thunderstorms, a heavy amount of rain in a short amount of time, you have flash flooding.
I think we're going to be watching today is a cold front. This is where I don't make friends. We're talking about it pushing through all of the northeast, the mid-Atlantic, and even down through the southeast today. So, pretty much all of you that are up, you're going to be talking about rain and some of it pretty heavy, one to two inches the northeast. Some places up toward Maine, two to four inches of rain in the heavier thunderstorms.
BERMAN: Hope you had the barbecue yesterday.
PETERSONS: Really, really -- most people probably did, anyways, right?
SAMBOLIN: You think?
(LAUGHTER) BERMAN: All right. Thanks, Indra.
SAMBOLIN: Thank you.
BERMAN: Coming up, a tale of a tail.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: A dolphin and a human in a special connection that got them both in the same pool for a swim.
SAMBOLIN: You know this is going to be good.
BERMAN: It is a lovely, lovely story. Stay with us.
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SAMBOLIN: Welcome back to EARLY START. It is 42 minutes past the hour. Remembrances continue to flow in for legendary interviewer, David Frost. As Erin McLaughlin reports, Frost made a name for himself talking to the famous and the infamous and always finding out something that you have not heard before.
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DAVID FROST, LEGENDARY INTERVIEWER: One, you could get a million dollars and you could get it in cash. I know where it could be going.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sir David Frost was, perhaps, best known for his pointed interview style.
FROST: Two, your major guy to keep under control is hunt.
MCLAUGHLIN: And at no time was that more evident than his 1977 interview with former U.S. president, Richard Nixon.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me stop you right there. Right there.
MCLAUGHLIN: It was a historic battle of wits that lasted until Nixon was compelled to say what the American public yearned for most, an apology.
FROST: And I know how difficult it is for anyone and most of all you, but I think that people need to hear it and I think unless you say it, you are going to be haunted for the rest of your life.
MCLAUGHLIN: At the time, Frost was a legendary talk show host in Britain, known for holding the country's prime ministers to account. But until the Nixon interview, he was little known in the United States. Frost paid Nixon $600,000 for nearly 30 hours of access. Money he paid out of his own pocket.
FROST: If one had completely failed to get anything out of Nixon, any admissions out of Nixon, it would have been pretty disastrous. MCLAUGHLIN: Far from a disaster, the interview became the landmark achievement of his career, the stuff of movies. He was played by actor, Michael Sheen, in the 2008 academy award nominated drama, "Frost Nixon" which was based on a stage play by the same name. Frost interviewed seven American presidents and eight British prime ministers.
FROST: If you could choose one to lead the country you were living in, which one would you choose?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George H.W. Bush.
FROST: George Bush, Sr.?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Because -- and the reason is that I just found him somebody who is -- he was wise, he was cautious, he knew what he was determined to do.
MCLAUGHLIN: He would relish key moments, great lines from his subjects like one from South African archbishop, Desmond Tutu.
FROST: I said, now, I always think of you as an optimist. And he said, I'm not an optimist. I'm a prisoner of hope. Great phrase.
MCLAUGHLIN: Most recently, he had his own program on the international network, Al Jazeera English, but for years, he was the staple of BBC morning television. "Breakfast with Frost," which he would end with his signature sign off.
FROST: Do join us again the same time next week. Until then, top of the morning. Good morning.
MCLAUGHLIN: Sir David Frost was 74.
Erin McLaughlin, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: It is a great loss. Such a compelling character.
Forty-five minutes after the hour right now. We have a wonderful story to share with you right now about a boy and a dolphin with an awful lot in common. You may remember Winter. Winter is the dolphin with the prosthetic tail. She was the subject of the film "Dolphin Tale." Well, here in Kelso has a similar story.
The eight-year-old is also an amputee. He lost his legs and fingertips to meningitis when he was just a toddler, but his father built him flippers that let him swim, and he came all the way from England to Orlando to get a chance to get in the water with Winter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CIERAN KEELSON, SWAM WITH DOLPHIN: The feeling was just great to be swimming. It was just emotional to be swimming with a dolphin. I love dolphins, but the best thing I loved was Winter. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Unbelievable, isn't it?
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: -- brings him so much hope and courage and bravery. Kelso says he no longer wants to be a train conductor when he grows up. Instead, he wants to work at the aquarium and be with Winter.
SAMBOLIN: What a sweet story.
BERMAN: Really is awesome.
SAMBOLIN: You know, it's like happy tears, right? Happy tears.
Let's check in with Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan to see what's coming up on "NEW DAY." Good morning.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Good morning. Happy Labor Day. We're doing exactly what most people do on Labor Day, labor.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: Yes, we are.
BOLDUAN: Obviously, lot coming up with the show, guys.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Good to have a job. Feel good about that.
BOLDUAN: That's a good point.
CUOMO: Tough day to have a job for the president, though. President Obama is in full campaign mode, basically. He's trying to get support from Congress to strike Syria. It's turning out to be a tough sell. But why? We're going to go through all the options here. We have in- depth analysis from reporters from London to Washington.
Plus, we'll get insight from those involve in the upcoming vote, including Congressman Eliot Engel and Mike Pompeo as well as Buck McKeon. These guys, it's going to be their decision to men and women in Congress whether or not this goes forward. The president has to wait on their approval. We'll talk about whether we can do it without them. We'll give you the whole story.
BOLDUAN: Yes. Lots to talk about today on that. And also, it's one of the most iconic images from September 11th. You see it right there. You already know what we're talking about. The American flag raised by first responders on a pile of rubble. It was really a spontaneous moment. Where is that flag now?
Now, how could such an important piece of our American history have gone missing? We're going to talk with the director and beyond. A new CNN documentary that explores that mystery.
CUOMO: When they raised that flag, people who were down there at ground zero believe that that was the first day that there was real hope that things would get better. It was a huge moment. Really was. So, interesting follow up.
BOLDUAN: Quite a mystery surrounding it now.
BERMAN: It is a great documentary.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
BERMAN: It definitely is. All right. Kate, Chris, thanks, guys.
BOLDUAN: All right. See you.
SAMBOLIN: All right. And coming up, NASCAR drama caught on camera, but this time, it's what happened when the race was over that has the sports worlds talking.
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SAMBOLIN: Fifty-one minutes past the hour. The Georgia Bulldogs came up short in their showdown with Clemson, but the game was not all that was lost. Georgia's star wide receiver, Malcolm Mitchell, injured his knee and will actually miss the rest of the season. And you will not believe how he did it. Andy Scholes joins us now with more on this morning's "Bleacher Report." Good morning.
ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, good morning, Zoraida. Well, there's nothing quite like celebrating the first touchdown of the season, but you never expect something like this to happen. All right. Georgia got on the board in the first quarter with a 75-yard touchdown run by Todd Gurley. Now, the Bulldog star receiver, Malcolm Mitchell, runs after him to celebrate.
Check out. He's number 26. He went up, came down wrong on his knee. You can see him limping right there. It turns out he tore his ACL. He will now miss the rest of the season. Definitely a tough break for Georgia.
Well, on the line up section on BleacherReport.com, today, you can check out Heisman trophy winner, Johnny Manziel season debut. In less than a half (ph), Johnny Football threw three touchdowns on only six passes. He also got into it with a few of the owls. Here, you can see him pointing to the score board.
He got a 15-yard penalty for taunting on that one. He was benched for the rest of the game. Now, many are piling on Johnny Football for his antics. The reigning Super Bowl MVP, Joe Flacco, said he's quickly becoming my favorite player in the game.
Well, the beat between Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens came to ahead yesterday to squared off in the fourth round of the U.S. Open. The 20-year-old Stephens beat Serena at the Australian Open earlier this year. After that match, it even said Serena was very cold to her, even unfollowed her on Twitter. Stephens may be the future of the sport, but for now, Serena still reigns supreme. She cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 win. Serena moves on to the quarterfinals.
Well, drama, drama, drama this weekend at the NASCAR's truck series race. While racing for third, Max Papis and Mike Skeen run into each other. Once they get back on the track, they continue to trade barbs. They come to a stop, a member of the team goes after Papis. It doesn't stop there. Skeen's girlfriend runs Papis after he has an interview, and she slapped him.
SAMBOLIN: No way.
SCHOLES: And Zoraida, Papis said after the race, that was a pretty intense slap. He actually had a dislocated jaw.
SAMBOLIN: No way. Seriously? Are there any consequences to that? Is he pressing charges?
SCHOLES: Papis said he has filed a complaint. No word yet on if any punishment is going to come down. I guess, his girlfriend, maybe they'll ban her from the track.
SAMBOLIN: I don't understand that. That is insane.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: There's a lot of passion, a lot of passion in Nascar. Thank you, Andy. We'll be right back.
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SAMBOLIN: Well, that's it for EARLY START. Thanks for being with us today. It is time for "New Day." Take it away, Chris and Kate.
BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, Zoraida. We'll see you a little later this morning.
CUOMO: All right. If you check your clock, you'll see it's almost the top of the hour. That means here on "NEW DAY," even on Labor Day, it's time for your top news.
