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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Violence in the Streets; U.S. Airstrikes Pound ISIS Targets in Iraq; Cease-Fire in Gaza; Ebola Crisis Widens; Hillary: Obama Foreign Policy A "Failure"

Aired August 11, 2014 - 04:30   ET

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

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Crisis in Iraq. This morning, the U.S. removing staff from its embassies in towns threatened by terrorists. American led airstrikes helping in the fight against Islamic militants. But now, the country is facing problems, its government is on the brink of collapse. We're live with the very latest in Iraq this morning.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A new temporary truce in Gaza. Israel and Hamas agreeing to another cease-fire. Negotiations restarting, looking for a more permanent peace there. But after several failed attempts, is there any hope that this time, things will work? We'll have live team coverage, ahead.

ROMANS: Breaking news this morning: violence in the streets of a quiet Missouri town. Violence, looting and gunfire, and Angry crowds protesting the police shooting of an unarmed teenager. New video, overnight, next.

Welcome to EARLY START. A lot going on this morning. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Great to see you this morning. Thirty minutes past the hour.

We do want to welcome all of our viewers here in the United States and around the world.

All right. A peaceful candle light vigil turns to violence in the St. Louis suburb. People hurling bottles at officers, attacking police cars. Hundreds of protesters showing anger over the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown at the hands of police Saturday.

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

Brown's mother could not contain her anger.

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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)

ROMANS: The lawyer who handled the Trayvon Martin case, Benjamin Crump, he is now representing that family.

BERMAN: Other huge news this morning. U.S. airstrikes -- they may be leveling the battlefield in Iraq. President Obama promising the attacks could go on for months. U.S. planes and drones taking out several ISIS targets near Irbil on Sunday. The Kurdish forces there, the Peshmerga, making significant gains, recapturing two towns from Islamic extremists less than 30 miles. However, Iraq's government down in Baghdad is reeling.

Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki clinging to power. The U.S. has pretty broken ties with him completely, in support of Iraq's president, the Kurdish Fouad Massoum.

Anna Coren is live from Irbil this morning, and whatever gains they are making on the battlefield or at least however stabilizing it might be, what's happening politically right now in Baghdad is a mess.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is a mess. I think that's probably the best word for it, John. Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, despite this push and call for him to step down is digging in. He took to state media this morning and delivered a fiery speech, stating his intentions to have a third term as prime minister.

But, he has really lost support from many within his own block from Shiite-dominated parties, but also from the Americans. We've been hearing this now for weeks. Certainly, they haven't necessarily come out and said it, but, it has been inferred that Nouri al Maliki has to go. He is not considered to be an inclusive prime minister, someone who will unify the country.

You know, the Kurds here up in Irbil would go as far as to say he and his policies are the reason for the ISIS phenomena. That it has been allowed to create this breeding ground, this fertile ground for ISIS to move into those Sunni-dominated towns and take over, just walk in and take over, which is why we have seen such a rapid advance. Nouri al Maliki's policies have alienated and ostracized the minority Sunni population. And, obviously, ISIS is these Sunni militants, and they are really doing everything to exploit the situation and capitalize on it, if you like.

So, there is absolute turmoil in Baghdad as we speak. It doesn't look like it's going to be resolved anytime soon, as you mentioned, John. You know, Maliki said the President Massoum has breached the constitution. So, it really just leaves the political situation here internally in an absolute mess.

On the battlefield, it is a different situation. Certainly, the U.S. airstrikes helped the Kurdish forces on the ground make real inroads. They have obviously retaken two towns within 20 miles of us here in Irbil, which ISIS militants claimed several days ago. So, that has really boosted morale and confidence here on the ground. But I should also stress, that there was one town that was taken yesterday, and that is considered a strategic win for ISIS because this, of course, is a link between the Kurds and Baghdad.

As for the humanitarian crisis we have been following very closely for the last couple of days, some good news -- 20,000 of the Yazidis, the religious minority, have managed to get off Mount Sinjar, where they fled last week, with that ISIS rapid advance coming to their town of Sinjar, where they knew they were going to face slaughter if they stayed. They managed to get down because of the U.S. airstrikes, because of the Peshmerga have got in and created a safe passage of one side of the mountain.

But there are still tens of thousands of people still trapped. They're being without food, without water, without shelter in this excruciating heat now for days. Yes, there have been those humanitarian aid drops delivering food, delivering water, but it's not necessarily getting to everyone. This is a very large mountain.

So, what we are hearing from U.S. sources is that it could take weeks for them to create a corridor with the Kurdish forces to get the rest of those refugees off the mountain -- John.

BERMAN: Humanitarian crisis as the military and political crisis swirls all around them.

Our Anna Coren in Irbil this morning -- thanks so much, Anna.

ROMANS: All right. In Gaza, it is quiet, again. The Israelis and Palestinians agreeing to another 72-hour cease-fire. The Israeli delegation showing up for another round of peace talks in Egypt, showing up just moments ago.

I want to get the latest on those negotiations. Reza Sayah is live from Cairo.

There's an issue of these fragile 72-hour cease-fires and then there's the bigger issue of rebuilding and trying to move forward here with a long lasting peace. It's a tough order.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine. Another big issue is the history of this conflict. If you look at the history of this conflict, it shows that these two sizes, the Israelis and Palestinians have repeatedly failed to do what they are about to try to do, again. And that's to resolve this ongoing conflict.

Even so, they are going to give it another shot. The Palestinian delegation is already here in Cairo. They have been here for a week. They never left after the cease-fires last week fell apart. There are some members of the Israeli media reporting that the Israeli delegation arrived here in Cairo. We are working to independently confirm that. Of course, last night, the Israeli's said they will only show up today if, indeed, the cease-fire holds and it looks like that's the case.

The cease-fire was put forth by the Egyptian government last night. It went into effect around 12:00 midnight. There was a lot of back and forth between the Palestinians and Israelis. Initially, the Palestinians accepted the terms of the cease-fire and then the Israeli's followed.

But here is the glaring problem, even though the two sides are here, indirectly negotiating, again, the major obstacles remain, that's the core demands of both sides.

Hamas saying we have lost too much not to get concessions. We want the blockades open. We want the free flow of traffic between our borders, between Israel and Egypt. We want an airport, we want a seaport.

Of course, Israel says none of that is going to happen until Hamas has disarmed and Gaza is demilitarized, Christine. And that's where the impasse is.

ROMANS: Right.

SAYAH: Much of the world anxious to see if they succeed in resolving this.

ROMANS: All right. Reza Sayah for us this morning, live in Cairo -- thanks, Reza.

BERMAN: Up until the very final moments of the cease-fire took hold, Hamas was launching rockets into Israel and the Israeli's were launching airstrikes in Gaza in retaliation. Over 1,900 Palestinians at this point have been killed. The United Nations estimates 70 percent of the fatalities were civilians.

Our John Vause is in Gaza this morning. John, a new 72-hour pause in the fighting. What do things look like right now?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, John, this could be mid-morning Monday, pretty much anywhere in the world. Traffic is back out on the roads, there are traffic jams here and people are trying to go about their lives as normal.

But, of course, nothing is normal here in Gaza. This territory has taken a pounding for a month. Entire neighborhoods in Gaza City have been leveled. Entire towns out there in the Gaza Strip have also been hit hard.

You mentioned the death toll. There's also the wounded, about 10,000 of them. And hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.

So, the next three days, the next 72 hours, that means there will be a chance to head out and repair the damage to get the electricity back on. It's at 10 percent capacity right now. They will try to get humanitarian supplies across the border.

They tried to do it yesterday. With the fighting ongoing, the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces, say they had to close the main cargo from Israel, what's known as Kerem Shalom, because of continual rocket fire coming from Palestinian militants. They say it was too dangerous for the trucks to go on there.

So, now, they are hoping the humanitarian aid will go through and get distributed. But this is all just short term stuff, John. There's so much devastation here that, you know, they are now looking, hopefully, there will be a deal done in Cairo and they can start thinking about rebuilding.

BERMAN: So far, there's been nothing but frustration, sometimes bordering on anger in Cairo. So, obviously a lot of hopes on what happens there.

John Vause in Gaza this morning -- thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. Speaking of frustration, the World Health Organization may go to desperate measures to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. They are meeting to determine whether experimental drug should be used to try to halt the spread of this virus. If they do move forward with the idea, it could take months to manufacture enough of these drugs to make an impact.

In Guinea, they have now closed the borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone, it's an attempt to stop people from crossing into the country. And the numbers, John, are staggering. In Guinea, alone, 367 people are dead. The total death toll in four West African nations now approaching 1,000 with over -- more than 1,700 confirmed or suspected cases.

BERMAN: Some pretty stinging criticism for President Obama from Hillary Clinton. The former secretary of state labeling a part of the president's policy a failure. In an interview with "The Atlantic", Mrs. Clinton criticized the president for not intervening in the early stages of the Syrian civil war.

Now, she's laid this out before, including in her book. But she really expanded on it in this interview. She says the failure led to the rise of al Qaeda-backed groups like ISIS. The militant organizing is causing so many problems in Syria and Iraq right now.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an EARLY START in your money this Monday morning. Stocks around the world higher. Asian shares ending the day with very big gains. European stocks higher as well. Geopolitical risks have been weighing on the markets, easing a bit at least over the weekend, that's sending stocks higher.

U.S. futures pointing higher. I have to say, it's been a really bumpy ride recently. Many thought it was the start of a true correction. What is that? Textbook correction is a 10 percent drop from the bull market high. We haven't had a big correction, a real correction since 2011.

But stocks remained resilient, even with these growing risks around the world. I'm gong to tell you, the Dow is only off 3.4 percent from the all-time high. The S&P is down 2.8 percent from the record highs.

So, these calls -- some would like to see a correction, they want a restart, you know? Refresh it with a correction, get new buyers and prolong the bull market. But you just have not seen the true correction, yet.

BERMAN: So, you want to tell people to quit complaining? To stop your whining? All right. Very good, Christine Romans, ladies and gentlemen.

Forty-two minutes after the hour.

The White House brushing off critics who say the president should not be taking a vacation right now with so many problems around the world. The president is on a two-week break with his family in Martha's Vineyard. You can see him playing golf right there when you got there.

Administration officials insist the president is keeping a very close eye on hot spots in the Middle East and Ukraine. He's actually going to leave to go back to Washington the middle of his vacation for two working days amidst this.

ROMANS: You covered a lot of presidents in your ripe old age.

BERMAN: Yes.

ROMANS: So, I mean, don't we complain about this with every president?

BERMAN: Since I covered Warren Harding, we have been talking about this.

ROMANS: Warren had some other things that were --

BERMAN: Almost every one who worked in politics before, in government say, everyone needs a break. Everyone needs a vacation. When the president goes away, you know, certainly the entire apparatus of the government is right there. He can handle anything he needs or wants to.

But there is how it looks right now.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: Right.

Forty-three minutes after the hour. Tragedy on the racetrack. Police investigating this morning after a NASCAR champion runs over and kills another driver. What investigators are now saying about Tony Stewart? That's next.

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BERMAN: Police in Upstate New York investigating the tragic accident involving NASCAR star Tony Stewart at a sprint cup rate there. Authorities examining video that show Stewart's car striking the driver, Kevin Ward Jr. as he walked on the track. Apparently, he seemed to confront Stewart after their cars collided. The 20-year-old Ward was killed.

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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.

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

ROMANS: Investigators still trying to determine what caused a rollercoaster to suddenly stop Sunday, trapping 24 people near the top for almost five hours. It happened on the Jokers Jinx ride at Six Flags in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

BERMAN: Oh, wow.

ROMANS: Yes. Luckily, the riders were trapped in an upright position.

BERMAN: Yes, I'll say.

ROMANS: Seventeen adults and seven children were rescued with no reports of injuries. Although, you know, there are some reports people were dehydrated and it's hot up there -- hot up there for five hours. Stuck without moving.

BERMAN: Wow.

ROMANS: Wow.

BERMAN: Yikes.

Forty-eight minutes after the hour. War on the streets of Ukraine. That country's military launching new attacks against the pro-Russian rebels as Russian troops build at the border. We are live with the latest on the ground in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: A bloody struggle under way this morning for control of the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk. Gunfire, explosions rocking the region over the weekend. The Ukrainian government forces trying to encircle pro-Russian rebels and take back control of that city. But the rebels there are warning if they storm Donetsk, there will be a large number of casualties. There's an issue of what Russian troops are doing on the other side of the border.

I want to bring in Will Ripley, monitoring the developments live from Kiev this morning.

What's the latest, Will?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, it's pretty significant that we've now had radio silence from the pro-Russian rebels for many hours. So, we're not getting updates from inside Donetsk. But the Ukrainian military tells us that they have the city surrounded. That circle is getting smaller, they are tightening the news. And they're just moving in toward the city, haven't entered the city just yet, as far as we know. But the situation getting more tense and more dangerous by the hour. A near constant barrage of explosions and gunfire reported inside that city overnight. We know that there were more casualties, more people killed and injured. Some 1,400 have died since all this began in mid-April.

And now, what the Ukrainian military is trying to do essentially is to cut off the pro-Russian headquarters in Donetsk. This is where they set up their base of operation. So, if the Ukrainian military can take back that city, it's going to be a major blow to these rebels who have been fighting fiercely for months.

Meanwhile, in the shadow of this, you have thousands of Russian troops, some of them stationed just 20 kilometers from Luhansk, where some of the most intense fighting is taking place. And Russia has made it clear that they want to go in to help the people in Luhansk, who have been essentially cut off from the outside world for more than a week now.

These are families, including families with the elderly. There are children who haven't had electricity, who haven't had running water, haven't even had communications. Their cell phones haven't been working, all of this going on for more than a week right now.

But there are stern warnings coming in from the United States, from the U.K. and others, telling Russia not to cross their military over into Ukrainian soil. Crimea is obviously fresh on the minds of many here in Kiev. Nonetheless, they are working to try to find some sort of a solution to get much needed help to those families who desperately need it in eastern Ukraine -- John.

BERMAN: Will Ripley, watching the situation for us from Kiev -- thanks so much, Will.

ROMANS: All right. A warning this morning about a new, cool-looking Facebook app. Thousands of users infected trying to download it. What to watch out for when we get an EARLY START on your money, next. BERMAN: I don't want an infection.

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ROMANS: It's just about the top of the hour. Let's get an EARLY START on your money.

Stocks higher around the world, Asian shares ending the day with big gains, and European stocks are climbing, as geopolitical risks that have been weighing on markets eased a bit. U.S. futures, U.S. stock futures pointing higher right now.

It's been a bumpy few weeks for stocks. And many of you have been saying this recent swings are the start of a correction. Well, that's a 10 percent pullback from recent highs, and stocks have been resilient and not too far off records. Look at this -- the Dow is off just 3.4 percent from its all-time high. The S&P 500 down 2.8 percent from its record close.

All right. Want to change the color of your Facebook profile? Don't do it. The oldest Facebook scam there is, making a comeback. The color changer app claims it can change the color of your layout. But once downloaded, hackers can gain access to your account. According to Chinese researcher, China Mobile, more than 10,000 have been affected.

BERMAN: Can you talk about the fact your CNN Money logo has a funk rip there, base rip. How do I get a funk base rip to go with me in my --

ROMANS: Money is funky.

BERMAN: We're going to talk about that and so much more in the next hour. EARLY START continues right now.

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