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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Robin Williams Suicide; Al-Maliki Losing Grip on Power; U.S. Sends 130 Advisors to Iraq; Hopes for Peace in Gaza; Remembering Lauren Bacall

Aired August 13, 2014 - 05:30   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: More from our Ted Rowlands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

The folks here in the San Francisco bay area are still mourning the loss of Robin Williams. Last night there was a tribute to Williams at the San Francisco Giants game. He was a longtime Giant fan and a member of this community. People really did have a special attachment with Robin Williams and he had a special attachment with this area of the country.

Meanwhile we did get the news yesterday on the specifics around his death. He did die of asphyxiation, that's the preliminary autopsy report. And he did die at his own hands, hanging using a belt in a closet.

His wife was with him the night before his death. She went to bed around 10:30. And then the next morning left thinking that her husband was just asleep. A personal assistant found Robin Williams just before noon. And he was in that state. He also had cut his wrist with a knife, superficial cuts. They say it didn't contribute to his death.

But also just a difficult detail to hear for people that were just so in love with Robin Williams and his work. And the idea that this man who gave us so much joy was in so much pain really has been tough on not only the people here but people around the world -- John, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS CNN ANCHOR: Ted Rowlands -- thanks for that, Ted.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You know, a lot of details. Some people say frankly too many details right now in that, but, you know, they're going through that process right now, finding out what they can.

Thirty-one minutes after the hour. This morning, the nation is remembering another screen legend, Lauren Bacall, famous for that sultry voice and the look. Literally, the look, in quotation marks. Bacall was a model before becoming an overnight star in her film debut in 1944 "The Have and Have Not," alongside Humphrey Bogart who would become the love of her life. They were married a year after this film was made. They made a lot more films together.

Lauren Bacall died at her home in New York City. She was 89.

We're going to take a complete look back at her storied life and legendary career in about 20 minutes.

ROMANS: And really, you know, Bogie and Bacall was known as the big love affair of the 20th century, but she was left a widow by him when she was just 32 years old. She had a whole very long life after the Bogey and Bacall.

BERMAN: They were married. She was 20, he was 45.

ROMANS: Wow. That's May-December, all right.

All right. Now to the chaos in war-ravaged Iraq. The country's longtime prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, barely holding on to power and growing increasingly more isolated now that Iran and his most loyal militia have each turned their backs on him in favor of prime minister designate Haider al-Abadi.

Now the U.S. sees al-Abadi as the only hope for the formation of a new Iraqi government. This as ISIS forces change their tactics in the face of this U.S. airstrikes, choosing now to blend in with the population, making it more difficult to target them. And frankly putting civilians at greater risk.

The U.S. sending an additional 130 advisers to northern Iraq with the plan to evacuate thousands of refugees now under siege by ISIS militants.

Nick Paton Walsh monitoring new development for us. He is on the phone for us from Baghdad.

Start for me with the political developments here. How isolated is Nouri al-Maliki?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Well, we are just seeing him make an appearance on Iraqi state television. Just beginning speaking now. Starting in fact by paying condolences to fallen members of the Iraqi military and the fight with ISIS. Maybe watching the speech, though, for a sign that he accepts what everybody seems to be telling him in Baghdad. Iran, even Saudi Arabia are rallying on the same page as Tehran. His former Shia (INAUDIBLE), Shia political leaders have really even (INAUDIBLE) history now, have to accept that.

There are limited options it seems for him at the moment. The military have not been overtly on his side. And he in fact was earlier (INAUDIBLE) television and said he warned the military and police to not intervene in politics despite how he early (INAUDIBLE) he might use force to stay in power.

But finding reconciliation, though, from prime minister designate Haider al-Abadi, you know, his Facebook page last night said he was willing to ensure Mr. Maliki had a central place in Iraqi leadership and called him a hero in the fight against terrorism here. So a clear effort by the potential new government to ensure Mr. Maliki does not feel threatened if he chooses to back down, but at this stage, and as we hear the speech unfold, no clear signs that is the case.

We'll bring the news to you if we hear that is the issue. And of course, I should also point out that as I have been speaking to in the last hour or so, we've seen again yet another thick black plume of smoke out from the horizon in Baghdad near the area of (INAUDIBLE), also hit by a car bomb yesterday. We don't know what this -- made this plume black smoke is from but it did look (INAUDIBLE).

ROMANS: Yes. Underscores just how dangerous the situation is very near to Baghdad. Thanks so much, Nick Paton Walsh.

BERMAN: Thirty-four minutes after the hour right now. The cease-fire in Gaza, it ends in less than 12 hours. This morning, officials in Egypt are calling on Israel and Hamas to extend this truce to keep the negotiations going.

Our Reza Sayah is tracking these talks live from Cairo this morning.

And Reza, there's sort of the shape of at least a temporary proposal on the table, it seems.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. But the bar is so low that that's what they're pushing for, only for these two sides to continue talking to extend the cease-fire, not to return to fighting. We spoke to a senior government official about a couple of hours ago, and he verified that that's what the Egyptians are doing. Of course, the Egyptians acting as mediators, pushing both sides to extend the cease-fire. Past midnight local time tonight.

Unless something changes, we're headed down a troubling direction, which is very similar to last week. Remember, similar efforts were under way last week. They wanted to extend the cease-fire. They couldn't Friday. Everything fell apart, and the two sides started fighting again. When you talk to the Israelis they seem to suggest that there's been no progress. The Palestinians, they're remaining quiet.

The Egyptians, they're remaining positive. One Egyptian official telling us earlier today that they're still working away at this. But it's too quick to judge, too quick to reach a conclusion. But when you look at the clock, it's starting to wind down. The deadline midnight tonight. That means these two sides have less than 12 hours to work something out.

We should point out that in about 30 minutes, the U.N. special envoy to the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, scheduled to meet in Gaza City with the deputy Palestinian prime minister. They're supposed to release some kind of statement. It's not clear if it's going to have to do with the humanitarian efforts there or the current negotiations in Cairo. But we'll be watching that news conference. And if it's anything important, we'll pass it along right away -- John.

BERMAN: That's great, Reza. Let us know what you hear when you hear it.

Reza Sayah for us in Cairo this morning. Thanks so much.

A glimmer of hope to tell you about in the battle against the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. An experimental vaccine to fight the virus now being offered by Canada. One thousand doses will be donated to the World Health Organization for distribution. The WHO also pushing for faster production of ZMAPP. This is the experimental drug already being used on two American Ebola victims. They are hoping to have it available by November because this deadly virus is showing no signs right now of slowing down.

Well over 1800 confirmed or suspected cases if four West African nations now with more than 1,000 deaths. As for the stricken American missionary Nancy Writebol, she's recovering in an Atlanta hospital. And her son says she still feels called to finish her work in Liberia. She may go back when she gets better.

ROMANS: All right. Texas Governor Rick Perry will meet today with members of the National Guard, the Texas National Guard. They're training for deployment to secure the U.S./Mexico border.

Now this program comes at the cost of about $18 million a month. At that rate, the money would dry up by October. But a Texas National Guard official says other states have offered to help share the costs.

BERMAN: A big meeting tonight on Martha's Vineyard. Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, and President Obama, the current president, getting together at the home of a mutual friend. Now Mrs. Clinton called the president on Tuesday. Why? To assure him that nothing she has said in recent days was meant as an attack.

Interesting, though, she felt the need to call.

The former secretary of state opened a lot of eyes in an interview with the "Atlantic" when she called parts of the president's foreign policy a failure, specifically not intervening in Syria when she recommended it. An aide to Mrs. Clinton said when they get together at this shindig in Martha's Vineyard, they plan to hug it out.

ROMANS: Over lobster rolls.

BERMAN: Over lobster rolls. They're hugging it out over lobster rolls, indeed.

ROMANS: All right, 38 minutes pas the hour. Time for an EARLY START on your money. European stocks higher right now. Asian stocks also managed to end the day higher. You know, Japan's economy frankly collapsed in the second quarter, worst since the tsunami, the worst contraction since 2011. But results weren't quite as bad as predicted. So they managed to shrug that off.

U.S. stock futures pointing higher. Stock ended the day lower yesterday despite some positive news for job seekers. And here's that positive news. Job openings are at the highest level since February 2001. That means the number of unemployed people for every job opening, that ratio is about two. Two job seekers for every job opening. That's the lowest since the beginning of 2008. A huge improvement from 2009 when there were almost seven people looking for a job, for every open position.

BERMAN: How much do you like that chart?

ROMANS: I love that chart. And I want to see it keep coming down, down, down. You know, but that chart, I get yelled at by people who are long-term unemployed when they see that chart because they say that's not me. The long-term unemployed are not feeling any improvement. The recently unemployed are the people who are really benefitting from a chart like that.

BERMAN: Don't yell at Christine Romans.

ROMANS: Two speeds of the economic recovery. You know, there are some people who feel like they've been left out and that is -- but that's true.

BERMAN: It's one of the real problems.

ROMANS: It's true.

All right. Severe storms slamming the northeast. Floods turning deadly as the rain keeps on falling. And guess what? There is more rain on the way today. A real soaker. Indra Petersons is tracking all this for you next.

BERMAN: A soaker.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. Epic record-breaking flooding turning deadly in Detroit. More than half a foot of rain shutting down five, five major freeways. And two deaths blamed on these floodwaters. A 100-year-old woman whose body was found in the basement of her flooded suburban Detroit home among them.

BERMAN: More record-shattering rainfall in Maryland. A staggering 6.3 inches falling in Baltimore. This shatters the mark that hit since 1955. It was still coming down overnight. Heavy flooding shut down highways left dozens of drivers stranded. Some in serious danger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was very scary sitting there in the car watching the water gets higher and higher, and the grass disappearing and the water coming. And I was thinking about getting out and sitting on top of the car. And I'm so glad they came. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The rain is not over yet. Indra Petersons has a look at your wet soaked forecast.

Hi there. INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. It's terrifying

when you think about rain coming down that fast. 6.3 inches, yes, that was a record but a lot of it came down in just a few hours. Another way to put this in perspective, that was a daily record. But notice what they see typically to the entire month of August, only about 3.3 inches. And they pretty much doubled that in just a few hours.

Also seeing some records around North Carolina, even Jersey, seeing about three inches in short periods of time there. Let's take a look at what we're looking at right now because we currently do have flashflood warnings right out towards Long Island because we're seeing rainfall rates there about two to three inches per hour. Some of these isolated areas seeing about four inches per hour. That's the heavy rainfall rates we're talking about.

All of this now making its way in through Connecticut and eventually making its way even in through Boston and the rest of New England as we go throughout the rest of the day today. So with that very easy to see now, looking out towards Connecticut and also Long Island, seeing those flash flood warnings currently out there. Of course seeing that flooding concern really imminent throughout the day.

All thanks to this low pulling all this moisture off the Atlantic. That's the reason we're getting so much moisture there. Slow-moving system brings heavy amount of rainfall in a short period of time with all that instability out there. Just keep in mind we do have a system out there today, clearing out by tomorrow. Will look a lot better. Except another system will be out there. This guy just bringing some lighter scattered showers.

So generally speaking, once we get through today, a much better picture. But definitely very imminent. To talk about commute time right now in though Connecticut and Boston the concern is only coming their way.

BERMAN: Stay home.

PETERSONS: Not a bad day to stay home.

BERMAN: Not a bad day. All right. Thanks so much.

ROMANS: Thanks, Indra.

BERMAN: Coming up for us, it truly is the end of an era. Legendary actress Lauren Bacall passed away at the age of 89. We're going to take a look back at the leading lady's film of golden age. It is extraordinary, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Forty-nine minutes past the hour this morning, we're remembering another screen legend. Lauren Bacall. The actress died Tuesday at her home in New York City. She was 89 years old.

One of Hollywood's all-time leading ladies, Bacall was known for her husky voice, her sultry beauty. She became a star practically overnight in the 1940s with her very first screen role.

CNN's Nischelle Turner has more on the life of Lauren Bacall.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAUREN BACALL, ACTRESS: You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With those words in the film, "To Have and To Have Not," audience imagination soared and a screen icon was born. The confident smoldering expression, the downturned face, and upturned eyes, earned Lauren Bacall the nickname "The Look." Ironically, the 19-year-old struck the pose because she felt insecure.

BACALL: I mean, that's what started the look, was nerves, just trying to keep my head steady.

TURNER: Bacall was more than a movie legend. She was from Hollywood's golden era and the wife of actor Humphrey Bogart.

"The Big Sleep" was among a handful of films they made together but their love affair was one of Tinseltown's greatest romances.

Bogart died of cancer in 1957, leaving Bacall a widow at 32, with two small children. For a time, she was engaged to family friend and singer Frank Sinatra. When the romance fizzled, Sinatra headed to Las Vegas. Soon Bacall fell in love again and married actor Jason Robards with whom she had a son. She blamed his drinking for their divorce.

BACALL: I don't even know if he enjoyed it, but he was hooked on it. And he was really almost destroyed, though fortunately did not.

TURNER: Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske on September 16th, 1924. Her parents were Jewish immigrants who divorced when she was just 6. As a lanky teen, she modeled to earn extra money, taking her mother's maiden name Bacal, adding a second "L" to make it easier to pronounce.

Film director Howard Hawks saw her photograph on a magazine cover. A screen test later and Hawks changed her name.

BACALL: He felt that Lauren Bacall was better sounding than Betty Bacall. He had a vision of his own. He was a Svengali, he wanted to mold me. He wanted to control me.

TURNER: Big screen or small, even her fellow actors viewed her as a legend.

ADAM ARKIN, ACTOR: John Houston, Charlie Chapin, and she just knows or has been around everyone that has formed what we know of this business.

TURNER: Bacall's film co-stars read like the who's who of Hollywood, but it was on Broadway where she achieved her most critical acclaim. BACALL: I loved it. That was my original dream anyway, to be on

stage.

TURNER: She spent nearly 20 years on the stage, starring in "Cactus Flower," "Applause," and "Woman of the Year," earning two Tony Awards. In her later years, her film career saw a renaissance. She starred opposite Barbra Streisand in "The Mirror Has Two Faces," earning her only Oscar nomination. And she was still acting in her 80s in such films as "Dogville" and "Birth" with Nicole Kidman.

A diva, a film star, a Broadway jewel, and the classic legend of an era gone by.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Sometimes words like legend and icon and star are overused these days. She earned every one of those. Really a true 20th century icon.

All right. A new report on the 10 best paying jobs right now. Do you need to make more money? What are these jobs and how can you get them?

An EARLY START on your money is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. 5:57 a.m. in the East. Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning.

European shares are higher right. U.S. stock futures are pointing higher as well a day after the Dow turned lower for the year. Yesterday, the Dow trending a little bit lower but the Nasdaq and the S&P still up about 5 percent for the year despite recent swings.

All right. Candy crushed. King Digital Entertainment generated less revenue. Signed up fewer new players than investors had hoped for. Gamers are souring on Candy Crush. The big question is, will King find another hit. The company relies heavily on the addictive game Candy Crush. Not a very sustainable business model as gamers move on to the next best thing. And the stock at least reflecting that concern. The stock down 20 percent in premarket trading. This is an IPO a lot of you were pretty excited about. But that come (INAUDIBLE) to prove.

All right. Brand new this morning. If you're looking to earn six figures, think health care and a lot of school. According to careercast, the best paying career this year, surgeon. Surgeons make an average of $233,000 a year. That's followed by general practice physicians, psychiatrists, seven of the top 10 jobs they say are in health care. That could mean more than a decade of school from undergrads through medical school and residency so that six-figure salary could come with a six-figure student loan debt prepare accordingly.

5:58 a.m. in the East. "NEW DAY" starts right now. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": Oh, captain, my captain, you will be missed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: New details in the sudden death of Robin Williams. Even anger at police for releasing so much detail of his suicide. As his kids speak out, an emotional tribute. And late-night comedians paid their respects. We have the very latest.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Going in. More U.S. troops heading to Iraq in an advisory role. Possibly to help evacuate the thousands stranded on a mountaintop. But could this put U.S. troops in direct conflict with ISIS? We're live on the ground in Iraq.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Loss of a legend. Another Hollywood death, Lauren Bacall, star of film's golden age, wife to Bogart, famous for that sultry voice and teaching us all how to whistle. We look back at her tremendous life and legacy.

BOLDUAN: Your NEW DAY starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and Michaela Pereira.

BOLDUAN: Good morning and welcome to NEW DAY, everybody. It's Wednesday, August 13th. 6:00 in the East. John Berman is here, in for Chris. Chris is off today.

Up first this morning details emerging in the suicide of Robin Williams. Officials confirming what many had feared, quite honestly, the legendary comic hanged himself in his California home.

Now some controversy over the disclosure of how Williams died. Did they offer too much graphic detail to the millions watching on live television, especially after his family's request for privacy?

Dan Simon is back with us live in California this morning with much more.