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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Violent Protests in Missouri; Iraqi Moving on Without al- Maliki; Gaza Cease-fire Breached; Russian Aid Convoy Halted

Aired August 14, 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, emergency in Iraq. The United Nations declaring a humanitarian crisis as terrorists take over towns. But this morning some good news. U.S. airstrikes helping thousands of stranded Iraqis escape the militants. A rescue mission now unlikely.

We'll have the very latest ahead.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Chaos in Gaza. New cease-fire between Hamas and Israel announced after a brief round of attack. Right now silence has again filled the air. But for how long? And is there really any hope for lasting peace?

Live team coverage ahead.

BERMAN: Breaking news overnight. A long, long night in Ferguson, Missouri. Tear gas, Molotov cocktails, gunfire, filling the streets, protesters furious over the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

This morning, dramatic video of the chaos as a woman who says she saw police shoot and kill Michael Brown, she shares her story.

ROMANS: All right.

BERMAN: Good morning. Like I said, a long night in Missouri.

Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's Thursday, August 14th at 4:00 a.m., 4:01 to be exact in the East. We welcome all of our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world.

BERMAN: We are going to begin with the breaking news out of Missouri. Another night of violent protest stemming from the shooting of an unarmed teenager as CNN gets an exclusive eyewitness account of the events that led to the death of Michael Brown.

Overnight, again, chaos on the streets of that town of Ferguson. Protests that started during the day stretched well into the night. Police used tear gas to break up the crowd. Even a television news crew had to flee from this mayhem. Other journalists also arrested and handled quite roughly, according to their reports, while they were trying to file from a fast food restaurant. They were later released. President Obama has been briefed, again, on the situation. In

Missouri, Governor Jay Nixon heading to Ferguson today to try to help restore calm.

Meanwhile, new video has surfaced showing the scene after Brown was shot on Saturday. It shows officers keeping the teenager's family away from the body. The witness who took the video tell CNN she -- excuse me. She saw a struggle at the police car window.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIFFANY MITCHELL, WITNESSED SHOOTING: I didn't know exactly what was going on but I know it did look right for somebody to be wrestling with the police through the police window. But I didn't get the video because a shot was fired through the window so I try to get out of the way. As I pull into the side the kid, he finally gets away. He starts running.

As he runs, the police get out of his vehicle and he follows behind him shooting and the kid body jerked as if he was hit from behind, and he turned around and he puts his hands up like this, and the cop continued to fire until he just dropped down to the ground, and his face just smacks the concrete.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Eighteen years old. Police still have not released the name of the officer who shot Brown saying they are concerned for his safety following a series of death threats.

School in Ferguson has been pushed back to Monday, put off several days in hopes the situation will stabilize there.

We will keep monitoring the situation because like I said it's been a long night. We'll bring you updates throughout the morning.

ROMANS: All right. The siege on Iraq's Mount Sinjar is over. A team of U.S. Special Ops Forces on the scene reporting thousands of trapped Yazidis have now escaped the ISIS fighters who had surrounded them for days.

U.S. airstrikes, the Kurdish fighters successfully beating back those well-funded extremists. But there's still a humanitarian crisis unfolding in northern Iraq and President Obama is considering sending ground troops and insisting they won't be combat troops.

Meanwhile, Iraq's embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki still refusing to step down but the rest of his country seems to be moving on without him this morning.

Nick Paton Walsh on the phone live from Baghdad this morning.

Bring us up to speed, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): This morning Baghdad still awaiting those words from Nouri al-Maliki. This fiscal crisis so much more important than the fate of just one man. Al-Maliki has had a divisive sectarian stranglehold, many say, on Iraqi politics the past few years. And in fact driving, many say, this country towards the situation where Sunnis were so disenfranchised across Iraq they even allow ISIS militants to find the foothold in the country's north.

People are still waiting for him to accept what everyone seems to be saying as the writing on the wall. Iran, Saudi Arabia, strange, on the same page, both with the United States all saying that Haider al- Abadi, the prime minister -- nominated by the prime minister and effectively the new prime minister.

We heard from Nouri al-Maliki yesterday saying he wanted to let the courts decide if that change in power was in fact constitutional. But that the broad feeling now that effectively him holed up in the Green Zone now with a number of loyal military simply are waiting perhaps. And I think this strategy that makes him feel he can leave power confidently. Complex base here in Baghdad. That quiet (INAUDIBLE) punctuated by car bombs, two yesterday, two the day before that.

Sadly a regular occurrence in this city that's really spilling on the street. So few shops open so few people around an area that should be congested and crowded. And of course that tragedy in the north still playing out. U.S. Special Forces, they believe there aren't that many Yazidis left to rescue on the mountain. But still that doesn't alleviate the tragedy before most who've been displaced so far and thousands awaiting some kind of new life potentially if they can find shelter in Kurdistan and of course those still facing life under ISIS who are still advancing across Iraq (INAUDIBLE) north.

ROMANS: All right. Terrifying for those people on that -- on that mountain top.

Nick Paton Walsh -- thank you so much, Nick.

BERMAN: Six minutes after the hour. Violence flaring briefly once again in Gaza. Israel launching a new round of airstrikes on what they're calling terrorist sites after being targeted overnight by rocket fire.

This fighting erupting just moments after negotiators in Cairo agree to a five-day cease-fire extension. We should say that cease-fire extension does now appear to be holding.

Let's bring in Martin Savidge live from Gaza City this morning.

Martin, so after that brief flurry, some calm?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A little bit. Morning, John. Morning, Christine.

Yes, I would say, you know, this is cease-fire number 11. Each one seems to have its own personality and this one definitely has a very nervous feel. It got off to a very shaky start. And in fact, there were reports just a short while ago that there was another rocket or mortar round that landed on the Israeli side of the border. The IDF says it doesn't know anything about that. But it just goes to

show you that people's nerves really are on edge. And as you point out last night, two hours before the 72-hour cease-fire was to expire, there were reports of rockets coming from Gaza. Israel says there was one. And then both sides agreed to this extension by five days. And then what happened was a flurry of rockets again around midnight that went into Israel.

Israel say, well, look, it couldn't tolerate that so it launched the counter strikes. Those are the ones you report that hit northern Gaza last night. And since then, it's been relatively quiet. Some of the many people who have been sheltering in the U.N. schools and other buildings have decided that they can venture out and try to go home. So that's a positive sign. And business and life is returning to the streets.

And speaking of that, we should show you something because it is a way that demonstrate that it's not all war and doom and gloom. A wedding, yesterday, took place at a U.N. shelter. It was, of course, a time of celebration even though it's also a time of concern. You have the bride and groom. You have the typical kind of ways that families get together to celebrate, the music, the dancing, just a chance to sort of divert your attention away from what has been so much sadness here in Gaza -- John.

BERMAN: This new cease-fire, this 11th cease-fire as you so aptly point out, Martin, this one, though, five days. This is a more extended version to give those teams in Cairo the chance to try to forge a more lasting peace.

SAVIDGE: It is. But, I got to say, you know, they've got a real big job ahead of them. And they admitted as much last night. The Palestinians said that there was progress and that the atmosphere was positive. But there's still a big divide. And the really biggest divide seems to be over two issues. Number one, Israel of course wants Hamas to demilitarize. And that's something Hamas has shown a hesitancy or even a resistance they want to do.

And then Hamas wants Israel to lift the economic blockade. Five days is not enough time to tackle those massive issues. So the question really is here. Is this just, you know, buying time or is it, perhaps, a way that they can settle things down, get people into the negotiating frame of mind?

Five days is going to be happy at least from the humanitarian point of view. They've been able to get more of the power turned on, more water restored. The biggest problem now from people's point of view if that's the way to put it is housing. They have 11,000 homes destroyed and only 2,000 apartments to put them in. So you can see there's a huge discrepancy and it takes a long time to build homes.

BERMAN: I imagine every minute and piece, though. Welcome for many civilians in Gaza where you are right now.

Martin Savidge, from Gaza City. Thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it. Let's move now to the latest on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. A

vaccine developed by the Canadian government could begin human safety trials in a matter of weeks. That's according to Reuters. The vaccine could protect medical workers in four African nations. So important. But it might come too late for a second top doctor in Sierra Leone. Health officials say the 56-year-old physician died after treating a patient who later tested positive for Ebola.

Some encouraging news, on the other hand, about an American aid worker who's been treated for Ebola in an Atlanta hospital. Nancy Writebol's husband says she seems to be improving.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID WRITEBOL, NANCY WRITEBOL'S HUSBAND: Each time I talk to her, I get a sense her voice is clearer and brighter. So I'm imagining that she's getting stronger. And she tells me that she is feeling better and getting stronger. Still very weak and still not necessarily -- it's moving in the right direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That's good to hear. Not so good to hear, the deadly virus showing no signs of slowing down. According to the CDC there are close to 2,000 suspected and confirmed cases and more than 1,000 people have died.

ROMANS: All right. Let's get a check of -- an EARLY START on your money this morning.

European shares mostly lower right now. The German economy just got these statistics. The German economy shrank in the second quarter. More than expected. The French economy did not grow at all. You can blame the effects of Russian sanctions for some of that. At least the nervousness about those sanctions.

Eurozone growth comes out in about 50 minutes so watch this space. Asian shares ended the day mixed. U.S. futures pointing lower.

Tensions in Iraq are escalating, but oil prices remain below $100 a barrel. We've been really watching oil prices here. The price of crude oil spiked in June when ISIS first began taking over parts of Iraq but has now settled before $100 a barrel. Despite the U.S. bombing campaign, going on the world's seventh largest oil producer.

The reason? It's all about geography. Most of Iraq's oil comes from areas in the south which are mostly unaffected so far by ISIS. And U.S. airstrikes are calming worries that ISIS will continue to spread. But a really interesting part of this story is it's actually illicit oil sales that are helping fund ISIS. And that is such an interesting and frightening part of the story.

BERMAN: Yes. They know what they're doing. They're making millions and millions on oil.

ROMANS: A day. BERMAN: And Syrian oil, which people would normally think about.

ROMANS: Right.

BERMAN: Eleven minutes after the hour.

All right. The question this morning, so did they or didn't they? No word from the White House this morning whether Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama hugged it out Sunday morning.

ROMANS: Come on, you said hugged it out more in the last two days than we have it in a lifetime.

BERMAN: At least on TV.

It was at an exclusive dinner party on Martha's Vineyard. Vernon Jordan was throwing it. We do know that the Clintons and the Obamas sat together. We are told it was a surf and turf menu.

The former secretary of state raised a lot of eyebrows last week when she labeled part of the president's foreign policy a failure for not intervening in Syria sooner, as she recommended.

All right. The question now is, did they make nice at the party last night? The White House will only say a good time was had by all.

ROMANS: What do you think the spinmeisters all think or the spin masters all think about all of our drama about this having --

BERMAN: Paul Begala yesterday brought a paper bag for me, told me I was hyperventilating over the whole thing. But I think, with all respect to Paul, I'm right, he's wrong. I think this is a thing. It's a political thing. This isn't the biggest fight ever but it does lay down the lines showing you how difficult it will be for Hillary Clinton when she runs for president. How far she can stray. And the answer is not far.

ROMANS: All right. I'll take it from you and your paper bag.

BERMAN: Yes, Paul elected president. What does he know? What have I done?

ROMANS: Hyperventilated many times. What do you know?

BERMAN: Yes, exactly.

ROMANS: All right. Happening now, hundreds of Russian trucks, those trucks, loaded with humanitarian aid, they have been stopped. Is Russia offering a helping hand or is this a Trojan horse? We are live in Ukraine.

BERMAN: Plus new information about Robin William's finances released as his grieving daughter says she has become the victim of online bullying. The story, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROMANS: Pope Francis making the first papal visit to South Korea in 25 years. He's looking to fuel the resurgence of Catholic growth in Asia. He was met by a 21-gun salute. He's holding talks today with South Korea's president.

Less than an hour before the Pope's arrival, North Korea fired three short range projectiles into the sea. Officials in Pyongyang angry about ongoing military drills between the South and the U.S.

BERMAN: Welcome, Pope Francis.

A Russian aid convoy heading to Ukraine has come to a grinding halt. Hundreds of trucks that Moscow claimed were carrying humanitarian aid for the people of eastern Ukraine apparently stopping before ever reaching the border. The Ukrainian government had already banned this convoy. They say they suspect it was all a ruse to incite a pro- Russian rebellion.

It has been a bloody two weeks in that region, the death toll doubling since late July to more than 2,000 now.

Will Ripley tracking the latest developments live from Kiev.

This convoy, Will, what happens now?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know -- we just got some new information, John, about the convoy. It was camped out over at a Russian military base close to the border with Ukraine after essentially bypassing a checkpoint where the Ukrainian government said they would either have to unload the trucks and reload them on to different trucks to allow the aid to get in or they would turn the convoy away.

So the convoy turned away on its own, went to this military base and now we now know it is driving south along the border with Ukraine. But the big question right now, where is it headed? There are a number of different places where this convoy could cross into eastern Ukraine. But we don't know the destination.

The Russians aren't saying anything about it. They are not even getting a list of the content that are in those trucks which is why, John, there's so much suspicion here in Kiev right now about the true intentions of this supposed humanitarian convoy.

BERMAN: Where is the Red Cross in this? Where are the international organization that no doubt want to provide aid to people who may or may not need it in eastern Ukraine? Can they get involved to help smooth this over?

RIPLEY: Well, you know, they have been asking the Russians for more clarity. The Russians initially has said when they -- when they dispatched this convoy that they had a deal with the Red Cross but the Red Cross said that was news to them. Still the Red Cross doesn't have information about the cargo on these trucks. There's been no deal reached about how to get aid to these people in Luhansk. John, more than 200,000 people have been cut off from the outside

world for 12 days now. They are running out of food, they have no power, no running water. Their medical supplies are almost gone. They need this help. But the question right now, how is it going get in there. We still don't know the answer.

BERMAN: Pretty amazing pictures of that convoy, Will. This goes to show how even aid can be provocative.

Will Ripley for us in Kiev, thank you so much.

ROMANS: If it is aid in the trucks.

All right. Lawyers for Boston marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev reportedly trying to get his November trial date pushed back. Tsarnaev will be in court today for the latest hearing in his terrorism case. His federal trial currently scheduled to start November 3rd. The defense has already requested a venue change to Washington, D.C. The defense says it's just impossible to seat an impartial jury in Boston.

BERMAN: A funeral for sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr. will be held in upstate New York today. Ward was killed when a car driven by Tony Stewart struck him during a dirt track race over the weekend.

In an interview with the Syracuse newspaper, Ward's father called on Stewart to explain how he could not see Ward on the track and avoid hitting him.

The Ontario County sheriff says the investigation will go on for another two weeks. But so far, there is no evidence of criminal behavior by Tony Stewart.

ROMANS: Robin Williams' publicist shooting down rumors the actor had financial trouble at the time of his suicide. Williams told "Parade" magazine last year he was returning to TV and selling his 640-acre estate in northern California because, quote, "there are bills to pay."

Meantime, the late actor's 25-year-old daughter, Zelda, has shut down her social media accounts after receiving insensitive images and comments about her father.

You know, he joked about everything. You know, he joked about everything. He (INAUDIBLE) very well. He's joked about his divorces, he's joked about I have bills to pay. You know, making too much out of that, I think.

BERMAN: Right. No. I think joking about having bills to pay for years.

ROMANS: Right.

BERMAN: Years and years and years.

ROMANS: Because it really relates to his audience. And, you know, I mean, making too much out of that as a factor for his suicide I think it's kind of unfair this late stage.

All right. The East Coast underwater this morning. Severe storms creating devastating floods. And it's not over yet. Dramatic new video right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Record shattering rainfall. Look at this. Chaos on Long Island. More than 13 inches of rain. Can you imagine a foot of rain in just 24 hours? Dozens of rescues, hundreds of vehicles swamped. One driver killed when he lost control of his car on the Long Island Expressway.

BERMAN: In the Washington, D.C. suburbs, roads and crossing bridges washed away by record rain.

ROMANS: Wow.

BERMAN: Look at that. Prince Georges County, Maryland, hit especially hard. Officials there still not sure how long it will take to get all these streets reopened. And it is not over yet.

We want to get an early look at your forecast with meteorologist Karen Maginnis.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Christine and John, still a stubborn area of low pressure just taking its time, moving away. But even going into Thursday and then for Friday, we'll expect that rainfall to still accumulate across northern New England. You heard about those staggering rainfall totals like at (INAUDIBLE) in excess of a foot of rainfall. That is an all-time record for that area.

Well, that area of low pressure hangs around there. What about the temperatures? Well, because of the cloud cover, those temperatures are going to be a little bit more reasonable. We'll expect upper 70s. New York City and into Boston. Across the southeast, we've got mid and upper 80s and for Miami, about 93 degrees. Salt Lake City, we'll see about 87.

So what happens on Friday?

Well, if you're traveling to the northeast, for the most part, we start to see that high pressure ridge move in. But still, for New England, area of low pressure, southern Canada trying to pull away. But there's just not going to be enough in the atmosphere to make it move so much.

And a few more scattered storms start to interrupt the weather picture across northern tier states and monsoonal moisture into the desert southwest. How about Friday's high temperature? Chicago, 80 degrees. Pretty nice there. Denver, 88. New York City, you'll expect a somewhat better day and the high temperature there around 78 -- John, Christine.

BERMAN: You know, they're playing football. There's pre-season football right now, which means it's basically almost fall, which you're starting to see in some of these temperatures.

ROMANS: It's almost fall.

BERMAN: It's almost fall.

ROMANS: I have three weeks until the kids go back to school.

In the Midwest, everyone is going back to school. Here we have three more weeks before they go back to school. But it's not fall for me, yet.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking news this morning. Chaos in the streets. American streets. Protesters furious after police shoot and kill an unarmed black teenager.

But what led up to that deadly shooting? One witness explains what she saw, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)