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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Outrage Over Police Shooting; U.S. Airstrikes Pound ISIS Targets in Iraq; Fighting Stops in Gaza

Aired August 11, 2014 - 04:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: Chaos in Iraq. U.S. airstrikes helping take down terrorists there as that country's government seems to fall apart. The embattled prime minister desperately clinging to power. The U.S. picking sides in this tense political battle. We are live in Iraq for the latest.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Silence over Gaza. A new cease-fire between Hamas and Israel goes into effect just hours ago. Negotiations for a long-lasting peace happening right now in Egypt. But after several failed launches, does this temporary truce have staying power this time? Live team coverage from the ground in Gaza and peace talks in Cairo, ahead.

BERMAN: And then breaking news this morning, violence in the streets of a usually quiet Missouri town. Overnight, there was looting and there was vandalism. Our reporter heard gunfire from an angry crowd, furious over the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager. We have the dramatic new video ahead. Quite a busy night here.

ROMANS: I'll say.

BERMAN: Good morning. Nice to see you, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday, August 11th, 4:00 a.m. in the East.

We welcome all of our viewers in the U.S. and around the world this morning.

BERMAN: We're gong to begin here at home, with a peaceful candlelight vigil that turned into a violent confrontation with police in a St. Louis suburb. You can see people there gathered, hurling battles near police officers. They attacked police cars.

Now, the reason behind all of this? The shooting death of an 18-year- old boy, Michael Brown, at the hands of police on Saturday.

Now, there are differing accounts of what happened in that shooting. Witnesses say Brown was unarmed and did not instigate what happened. But police say there was a physical confrontation with an officer and a struggle over the officer's weapon. The police chief says that Brown was shot 35 feet away from the police car, but declined to give more details, saying he did not want to prejudice the case.

Brown's mother, the boy's mother, could not contain her anger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESLEY MCSPADDEN, VICTIM'S MOTHER: You took my son away from me. You know how hard it was for me to get him to stay in school and graduate? You know how many black men graduate? Not many. Because you bring them down to this type of level where they feel like they don't got nothing to live for anyway. They're going to try to take me out anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The lawyer who handled the Trayvon Martin case, who represented the Martin family, Benjamin Crump is now representing Michael Brown's family.

ROMANS: All right. U.S. airstrikes continue pounding ISIS targets in Iraq. And it looks like they're working. President Obama promising these attacks could go on for months. U.S. planes and drones taking out several militant targets near Irbil on Sunday. Kurdish forces now making significant gains recapturing two towns from Islamic extremists less than 30 miles.

Now, Iraq's government in shambled. The prime minister, Nouri al Maliki desperately trying to hold on to power. The U.S. breaking ties with him in support of Iraq's president, Fouad Massoum.

Anna Coren live from Irbil, Iraq, this morning.

A lot of moving parts here. U.S. airstrikes that appear to be working, but a government that's in shambled.

ANNA OCOREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. The prime minister, Nouri al Maliki, is digging in despite a real push for him to go.

As you say, he has said that the accused, the President Fouad Massoum, of breaching the constitution because he has backed him as prime minister. We are getting reports that as a result, tanks and special forces loyal to al Maliki have fortified the Green Zone surrounding those government buildings, perhaps a show of intimidation.

But Maliki, he took to television earlier today demanding to be the new prime minister of Iraq. That's a role he should take. But as we have heard from the Americans for weeks now, he is not leader that is inclusive and is unifying the country. You know, we heard from President Barack Obama over the weekend and he really did infer that al Maliki has to go. And from what we understand, American officials are working behind the scenes to oust the prime minister.

You know, with all the political turmoil under way here in Iraq, which, you know, I must say is complicated and convoluted, it produces a perfect breeding ground for ISIS. You know, this is what the Kurds will tell us here up in Irbil, that it was Maliki that has allowed the ISIS phenomenon to be, really. It's allowed it to become what it is. And they didn't, you know, describe ISIS as being an army, but rather

a state. That is what they are fighting, a state.

You mentioned the U.S. airstrikes, and we've seen more of them over the weekend. They are being effective. Because of the cover over the sky, because of taking out those ISIS militant targets, they have allowed the Kurdish forces, the Peshmerga to get in to those areas and retake two towns which within miles of us here in Irbil, as well as create an area at least around some parts of Mount Sinjar with that humanitarian crisis is understood is folding, to create a safe passage for some 20,000 Yazidis, that religious minority, to get off the mountain.

But we must stress that there are still tens of thousands of people trapped on top of this mountain. They have been there now for days without food, without water, excuse me, and without shelter. I must tell you, the heat here is excruciating. They've been dozens, hundreds of people perished in these conditions.

But, you know, hearing from the Pentagon, they are saying that to break the siege at mount Sinjar could take weeks. They need the ground forces to go in, those Kurdish forces to create a corridor, if you like, off that mountain. But they -- as the Kurds will tell us, they need those airstrikes to continue so that they have that support to back them up -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Anna Coren for us this morning in Irbil -- thanks, Anna.

BERMAN: From one hot spot to another to another now, there is a cease-fire, again, in Gaza. The Israelis and Palestinians agree to stop fighting for 72 hours with Israel just showing up in the last hour for peace talks in Egypt.

We want to get straight to the negotiations, this latest round.

Reza Sayah live in Cairo this morning.

And now, the Israelis are there again, Reza.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are reports they are here. We are working to confirm that, of course, John. But again, the Israelis and the Palestinians are trying to give this another shot and much of the world anxious to see if this time things are going to be different, because obviously, they didn't get anywhere last week when they tried it with the first cease-fire.

The Palestinian delegation is already here. They have been here for more than a week. They never left, even after the initial cease-fire fell apart.

We are working to confirm independently if the Israeli team is here. Last night, they said they will only come to Cairo once they believe the cease-fire is holding. It looks like that is the case.

All of this, of course, after another 72-hour cease-fire went into effect at 12:00 midnight local time last night. This is a cease-fire that, once again, was put forth by the Egyptians. The Palestinians agreed to it first, soon after the Israelis agreed to it as well. So, that's where things stand, once again.

Yet again, we look at the clock, these two sides have roughly two and a half days to make something happen. Obviously, these two sides don't trust one another. They often accuse one another of negotiating in bad faith.

Rarely, if ever, during these indirect negotiations have they ever made any concessions to one another, and they ever conceded that maybe they have made mistakes, John. And, obviously, that's not a good environment when talking conflict resolution. Again, we are watching close to see if this time is any different.

BERMAN: The last 72 hours of negotiations left everyone frustrated, at best, angry at worse. Hopefully, this time, it will be different.

Reza Sayah for us in Cairo this morning, on the scene -- appreciate it, Reza.

ROMANS: All right. Right up until the latest cease-fire went into effect, Hamas was launching rockets into Israel and Israelis were launching airstrikes into Gaza. Over 1,900 Palestinians already killed with more than 70 percent of those fatalities civilians. That's according to the U.N.

Our John Vause is in Gaza this morning.

John, is this cease-fire holding?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So far, so good. No Israeli airstrikes and no militant rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. So, that now means that there is yet again, another window of opportunity here, to try to repair some of the damage, try to get the electricity back on. It's only at 10 percent of what is actually required, trying to fix the water as well as all of the sanitation systems which have been damaged, try to distribute some humanitarian aide to about 400,000 plus people who have been displaced by more than a month of fighting.

They did try to bring in a convoy of trucks from Israel on Sunday. But the Israel defense forces said they actually had to close the main crossing from Israel into Gaza, it's known as Kerem Shalom, because they say it came under heavy rocket fire from Palestinian militants. Now, today, with the cease-fire in place, those trucks should start rolling.

But, Christine, this is just relief. It's all just short term. So, of course the hope here is that they come away from Cairo with some kind of lasting deal, which that means they can look at really the hard stuff, trying to rebuild Gaza, trying to work out what they will do with the thousands of people here who have been wounded, rehabilitation.

And also, there is a report from the U.N., Christine, that more than 300,000 children here have been traumatized by more than a month of fighting.

ROMANS: Is there hope, John, on the street that the cease-fire will be different from the failed ones in the past? I mean, you're talking about peace talks in Cairo, and talking about rebuilding and addressing, you know, the trauma to these children. I mean, we're just trying to keep, right? I mean, they're just trying to keep the rockets and the missiles from falling. It seems so far down the road.

VAUSE: It really does. I mean, there is hope that maybe this time it will work out.

People here are tired. They are tired, you know, they have endured a lot. There are more than 10,000 homes are damaged or destroyed. That's a low estimate.

Hundreds of thousands of people are living in shelters. They want this to come to an end.

They also want to see something for and we've been saying this over and over again, you talk about pressure on the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There's just as much pressure here, political pressure on Hamas to walk away from those negotiations, with something to show for the last month or so.

And, of course, you know, if both sides dig in and refuse to budge from their positions, then, clearly, the fear is that all of this will go to back to just how it was for the last couple of weeks with the missiles flying and the rockets flying from Gaza. But, right now, people obviously ho hoping that maybe they come up with some kind of a deal.

ROMANS: Ready for two steps forward, not two steps forward and three steps back. John Vause, thank you so much.

BERMAN: I want to move on now to the latest on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The World Health Organization meeting to determine whether experimental drugs should be used to try to halt the spread of the virus. If they do move forward with this idea, it could take months to manufacture enough to make any kind of impact at all.

In Guinea, they now close their borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone, in an attempt to stop infecting people from crossing into the country. The numbers, there's growing numbers right now are staggering. In Guinea alone, 367 people have died.

The death toll in four West African nations approaching 1,000, with over 1,700 confirmed or suspected cases.

ROMANS: All right. It looks like Hillary Clinton is determined to distance herself from President Obama. The former secretary of state calling the president's foreign policy a failure in an interview with "The Atlantic". Mrs. Clinton criticizing the president for not intervening in the early stages of the Syrian war. She says that failure led to the rise of al Qaeda-backed groups like ISIS, the militant organization that's now causing so much destruction in Syria and Iraq. BERMAN: It was really a part of the president's foreign policy,

specifically, Syria, which she called a failure. I think perhaps the most damning thing she said was when she said that "don't do stupid stuff", which has become the White House mantra, was not a guiding principle in foreign policy. So, this was the most distance we've seen yet between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

ROMANS: And if there is a candidate Clinton, she's going to want to make clear that she is not associated with some of the things that have not been working.

BERMAN: I think we can take out the "if" in that sentence, at some point very soon.

ROMANS: It's Monday morning. It's time for an EARLY START on your money this morning.

Asian stocks making comeback after a week of losses. Japan's main index ended up today almost 2.5 percent. That's a big move for a day. And European stocks higher right now. U.S. political risks that have been weighing on the markets, eased a bit over the weekend, that sending stocks higher. U.S. futures also pointing higher this morning.

It has been a bumpy ride recently. Stocks managed actually last week to post gains after a very good day on Friday.

It's a war of words. The battle between Amazon and Hachette book publishers is still raging. And now, they want you to join the fight and contact the offending CEO. At issue: Amazon argues it should pay less for e-books because they're cheaper to make. But Hachette says Amazon isn't properly valuing those books. Some of those books are listed as unavailable on Amazon sites.

Interesting, isn't it?

BERMAN: It is war of words, literally. That's like a quadruple entendre there.

ROMANS: You're right.

BERMAN: All right. Happening right now, an investigation launched after NASCAR champion Tony Stewart hits and kills another driver who was -- wow -- walking along the racetrack. What people are now saying about this deadly crash and the horrible video. It's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Welcome back. Seventeen minutes past the hour.

No charges have been filed, but police say they plan to question NASCAR star Tony Stewart again about the tragic accident during the spring car racing in Upstate New York this weekend. Authorities are examining video that shows Stewart striking Kevin Ward Jr., there he is, as he walked on the track, apparently to confront Stewart after their cars collided. The 20-year-old, Ward, later died. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF PHILIP POVERO, ONTARIO COUNTY, NEW YORK: This is, right now, being investigated as an on-track crash. I don't want to infer that there are criminal charges pending. I would only say that the investigation, when completed, we will sit down with the district attorney and review it. But I want to make it very clear, there are no criminal charges pending at this time. This is an ongoing investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Now, Stewart had planned to race in Sunday's NASCAR event, but then changed his mind. He released a statement saying, quote, "There aren't words to describe the sadness I feel about the accident. My thoughts and prayers are with Kevin's family, friends and everyone affected by this tragedy.

BERMAN: A stormy primary election in Hawaii. It could be days away before results are final in the Senate race between Senator Brian Schatz and challenger Colleen Hanabusa. Schatz leads with more than 1,700 votes. But tropical storm Iselle closed some polling station and forced thousands of Hawaiian to mail in their ballots.

The primary was eventful, already. It handed unprecedented defeat of incumbent governor of Hawaii. Neil Abercrombie lost challenger David Ige by 35 percent -- 35 percent margin.

ROMANS: Wow.

BERMAN: Abercrombie was in Congress for like 150 years before he was governor. This is the end of a long, long political career.

By the way, he knew Barack Obama's father.

ROMANS: Really?

BERMAN: Yes, knew Barack Obama's father in Hawaii in the early '60s.

ROMANS: I say Hawaiian politics, the internal politics are interesting.

BERMAN: Yes.

ROMANS: All right. Crews are still battling a dozen wildfires burning in Washington state. Officials say firefighters are beginning to gain control of about half of the fires. But weather may be working against them now. They've got hot, dry, windy conditions in the forecast. More than 100,000 homes and structures in central and eastern Washington are still said to be in danger.

BERMAN: Thousands still without electricity as Hawaii, we just told you about the storms there, as it recovers from tropical storm Iselle. The big island took the worst of the damage. Residents there have been told to expect extended power outages, no running water, tough situation. Rescuers in the island of Hawaii found the body of a woman thought to have died hiking Friday. A weekend Hurricane Julio has been downgraded to a category 1 hurricane. It is expected to bypass the islands.

ROMANS: All right. War on the streets of Ukraine. That country's military is stepping up attacks against pro-Russian rebels overnight. Explosions and gunfire throughout the city of Donetsk. We are live with the very latest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. A lot going on overnight. Now to the latest on the crisis in Ukraine. Gunfire and explosions rocking the city of Donetsk over the weekend. Ukrainians forces are trying to encircle pro-Russian rebels and take back control of that city. The heaviest fighting taking place now near the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

I want to bring in Will Ripley. He's monitoring the developments live from Kiev.

What can you tell us about this offensive in the east?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, a brand-new update just coming in now from the Ukrainian military who tell us that rebels fighters are fleeing their positions in and around Donetsk. We're trying to get that confirmed from the rebels' side. But they have had radio silence now for a period of several hours. So, unable to confirm from the rebel perspective how things are going.

But if you listen to what the Ukrainian military has to say, they have circled the city, that circle is getting smaller. They say they are tightening the news, trying to push the rebels out of one of their key strongholds, Donetsk, where they actually set up a headquarters in and have basically been their base of operations as this conflict has raged on in eastern Ukraine.

The humanitarian situation continues to get worse for many people. More than 200,000 in Luhansk have been without power, without water, without food and supplies. And they can't even use their mobile phones right now, and that's been going on for more than a week.

We know there's been heavy gunfire and shelling overnight. Some of that artillery actually hit and damage a prison. One inmate was killed. Several others injured and there was a large scale jailbreak. Many of these inmates were able to escape into the Donetsk area. Some of them, though, as of this morning, have voluntarily returned to the prison, which may indeed be safer than the streets of that city right now, Christine.

ROMANS: Oh, wow. All right. Will Ripley -- thanks for that, Will, this morning from Kiev.

BERMAN: Twenty-five minutes after the hour.

Happening right now, Iraq in shambles this morning. U.S. air strikes helping to take down terrorists there. But that country's government is falling apart. We are live with the very latest after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)