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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Violent Protests in Missouri; Siege Ends on Iraq's Mt. Sinjar; Gaza Cease-Fire Extended

Aired August 14, 2014 - 05:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Thursday. It is August 14th, 5:00 a.m. in the east.

Let's begin with that breaking news out of Missouri, another night -- another night of violent protests stemming from the shooting of an unarmed teenager. CNN gets an exclusive eyewitness account of the events that led to the tragic death of Michael Brown.

Overnight, chaos on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri. Protests started during the day, stretching well into the night. Police using tear gas to break up the crowd. A television news crew had to flee from the mayhem. Other journalists were detained while filing reports from a fast food restaurant. They were later released.

President Obama has been briefed on the situation. And Missouri Governor Jay Nixon is heading to Ferguson today to try to help restore calm.

Meantime, new video has surfaced showing the scene after Brown was shot on Saturday. It shows officers keeping the teenagers family away from Michael Brown's body. The witness who took the video tells CNN the struggle began at the police car window.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIFFANY MITCHELL, WITNESSED SHOOTING: I don't know exactly what was going on, but I know it didn't look right for someone 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 tried to get out the way.

As I pull into the side, the kid, he finally gets away and 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. He turned around. He puts his hands up like this. The cop continued to fire until he just dropped to the ground and his face smacks the concrete.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: 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.

The start of school in Ferguson has been pushed back to Monday now and hopes the situation will stabilize. Of course, we'll keep monitoring everything and bring you any updates throughout the morning.

BERMAN: The ISIS stranglehold on Mount Sinjar appears to be over. A team of U.S. Special Operations Forces on the scene reporting thousands of trapped Yazidis have now escaped the ISIS fighters who did have them surrounded for days. Those U.S. airstrikes and Kurdish fighters successfully apparently beating back the extremists that allowed this opening.

There's still a humanitarian crisis unfolding in northern Iraq. And President Obama considering sending ground troops in to help, insisting it won't be combat they're engaging, but humanitarian efforts.

Meanwhile in Baghdad, embattled Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki still refusing to step down, but the rest of the country, well, it seems to be moving on without him.

Our Anna Coren live this morning in the city of Dohuk in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Good morning, Anna.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. We are at a refugee camp very close to the Syrian border. It's being set up in this dust ball on the plains. And as you can see, the tents behind me are being erected for the thousands of people here. Thousands have already arrived. They have been to hell and back, to put it bluntly.

I want to bring in UNHCR spokesperson Ed Colt, who joins me now.

Ed, this is being described as a humanitarian catastrophe. How would you put it in your words?

EDWARD COLT, UNHCR IRAQ SPOKESMAN: That's a good way to describe it. A colleague of mine who's had a lot more experience in humanitarian situations, have used that word to describe it. But I have to say, these adjectives fail us in a situation like this. We are not seeing it behind us now, but you've got 1.2 million people displaced since January 1st here, 600,000 just since June.

So, it's a massive humanitarian crisis and it's still developing. People are still on the move.

COREN: We saw that wave of humanity across the border from Syria, over that bridge. Many of those people have arrived with just the clothes on their back.

What are we doing to help them?

COLT: Well, I just came from there. And you can see in their faces the shock of what they have been through over the past nine, ten days. But what we are doing is making sure that when they get here, we are waiting for them. The broader U.N. is, UNICEF, World Food Program is serving 100,000 meals a day across the northern region of Kurdistan. We reached out to help more than 175,000 people ourselves with security as well as other issues and we are providing -- we provided I think more than 70,000 mattresses alone in the last couple of months.

So, it's a huge process. Thankfully, we are working closely with the Kurdistan regional government and I have to say a lot of local people. You'll see them everywhere, who are coming out and working together to make it as much of a success as possible.

COREN: But is it enough? There are so many people that I hear and thousands more to come.

COLT: I have to say, I'm not going to use the word "success" whatsoever. We are a long way away from that. I wish we could just open a box and a tented camp would appear for people, but that's not the way it works. Everything has to abide by international standards. It takes time. It takes probably three to four days for us to get something like this up and running.

But I think it is -- we are moving forward on it. That said, I agree. We are seeing people who are living in churches, mosques, schools, by the sides of roads in parks. That cannot stand. That has to change. We are working on that as quickly as humanly possible.

COREN: We appreciate the update. Thank you for your work.

So, as you can see, John and Christine, things are under way. It does take time. But certainly from the people I have spoken to here at this camp, currently living in makeshift shelter while they wait for the tents to be up and ready. They say they don't belong in Iraq anymore, that they're being persecuted for way too long. They are appealing to the international community to give them asylum.

BERMAN: Anna Coren for us covering the story -- showing us these important images of that camp, and shining a light on the life for these people right now who just want somewhere to go. Thanks, Anna.

ROMANS: In Gaza, violence flaring briefly once again. Israel launching a new round of airstrikes from terror sites after being targeted by rocket fire overnight.

The fighting erupting moments after negotiators in Cairo agreed to a five-day cease-fire extension. It now appears to be holding.

I want to bring in Martin Savidge, live from Gaza City this morning.

Good morning, Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

Yes, it got off to a shaky start, without a doubt, last night. In fact, two hours before the last cease-fire was set to fire, Israel reported one incoming rocket. They said they will let it slide. And then, right around midnight, when this next cease-fire was about to take place, even as all sides were agreeing to it, in fact, there was another barrage of rockets that came out of Gaza and toward Israel. Israel then said, we're not going to tolerate that and they launched their own strikes. They hit several rocket launching sites and also a terrorist base in northern Gaza.

But since that time, it has been relatively quiet with the one exception that there was some concern this morning of a report of a rocket or mortar landing on the Israeli side of the border. But IDF says it doesn't know anything about that.

So, it's holding. And that's, of course, a good thing. And this is going to be the longest cease-fire, presuming it does last for five days. It's going to allow more humanitarian aid. I can update you on that situation. Electricity now, 60 percent of what it was before the conflict began. And then, on top of that, 375,000 people have access to fresh water.

Water has been a serious concern here. But will it hold? Will it last? And can they resolve the long standing issues? Many people here are skeptical, but will take it as it is right now -- Christine.

ROMANS: Take it as it is right now.

OK. Martin Savidge -- thank you, Martin.

BERMAN: Now, Martin was saying, it's not clear who launched the rockets that triggered the latest round of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Hamas says they didn't do it. But that might be a sideshow to the more important game right now. The question this morning, is there a way to salvage the peace talks in Egypt to move them forward, to get an idea of a more lasting cease-fire back on track? They did launch a new five-day pause.

Our coverage on the crisis in Gaza continues right now with Reza Sayah live from these talks in Cairo. Good morning, Reza.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Say what you want about the Israelis and Palestinians, but they seem to have a knack of making these indirect negotiations very dramatic. This was an agreement that was literally announced in the 11th hour with minutes to go before the end of the previous 72-hour cease-fire, during which these two sides held indirect negotiations leading up to the midnight deadline. There was absolutely no indication that they were making progress. Of course, you have the rockets flying back and forth. And then, all of a sudden, Azzam Al-Ahmad, the head of the Palestinian delegation held a news conference in Cairo, announcing that the cease-fire had been extended for five days.

And in the first clear sign that perhaps these two sides had made some progress during these indirect negotiations, Azzam said that only some issues on their core demand, the lifting of the blockade, that the two sides had made some agreements. That suggests that Israel is, perhaps, considering easing the economic blockade, not lifting it, but easing it -- although we should point that the Israelis have not verified that that's the case. So, when the two sides come back here on Sunday, reportedly, they will

have roughly 24 hours to reach a comprehensive agreement. They haven't made anything happen, yet. They haven't succeeded in a comprehensive agreement, yet, but the talks still going on.

That means there's still hope for something to happen.

BERMAN: Reza, I know you are listening to every word they say so carefully. And even the smallest sign can be positive. So, let's hope they move the ball forward right now.

Reza Sayah for us in Cairo, thanks so much.

We're going to move on now to the latest on the Ebola outbreak of West Africa.

A vaccine developed by the Canadian government could begin human safety trials in a matter of weeks. That's according to "Reuters". This vaccine could protect medical workers in four African nations. That would be so crucial.

It could 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 positive for Ebola.

Encouraging news, though, about an American aid worker who was being 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 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: The deadly virus showing no signs of slowing, according to the CDC. There are close to 2,000 suspected and confirmed cases. More than 1,000 people have died.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an EARLY START on your Thursday morning, Friday eve, as we call it.

European shares are mostly lower. The German economy shrank in the second quarter. The French economy and the eurozone as a whole stalled. The engine of growth in Europe has stalled. You can blame the effects of Russian sanctions for some of that. And, by the way, the worst of the sanctions will bite later on. It's kind of a bad sign for European.

Asian shares ending the day mixed. U.S. futures pointing lower right now. Tensions in Iraq are escalating. Oil prices, though, remain below

$100 a barrel. The price of crude spiked to $107. Remember in June, when ISIS first begin taking over parts of Iraq, since then, oil prices have settled despite the U.S. bombing campaign coming to the world's seventh largest oil producer.

It's all about geography. Most of Iraq's oil comes from areas in the south, which are mostly unaffected by ISIS. And U.S. airstrikes are calming worries that ISIS will continue to spread.

The big news story about oil in Iraq right now, though, is that ISIS actually gaining financial prowess by selling Iraqi and Syrian oil on the black market. They're getting, estimates $1 million to $3 million a day on oil sales.

BERMAN: Financing the militancy right now.

ROMANS: Financing the militancy.

BERMAN: Twelve minutes after the hour.

So, did they or didn't they? No word from the White House this morning whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and current President Barack Obama hugged it out at an exclusive dinner party on Martha's Vineyard last night.

We do know the Clintons and Obama's sat together. We know the menu was surf and turf. What does that tell us?

The former secretary of state raised a lot of eyebrows last week, which she labeled part of the president's foreign policy a failure for not intervening in Syria sooner as she had recommended. The question, did they make nice last night? Well, the White House will only say a good time was had by all.

ROMANS: But, what was -- what was the surf?

BERMAN: Was it scallops or lobster?

ROMANS: I don't know.

BERMAN: I bet it was lobster or some kind of clam mollusk.

ROMANS: Well, you're from that area of the world.

BERMAN: I do think mollusks were involved.

ROMANS: Mollusks.

BERMAN: The East Coast under water this morning. Severe storms creating devastating historic floods. Here's the thing: it is not over, yet. Indra Petersons is tracking what you need to know for today, right after the break.

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

Less than an hour before his arrival though, North Korea fired three short range projectile missiles into the sea. Officials in Pyongyang angry about ongoing military drills between South Korea and the United States.

ROMANS: Extreme weather punishing the northeast. A look at the scene in Providence, Rhode Island. You got cars submerged, hundreds of people losing power. That's some of the worst flash flooding in Providence in years.

BERMAN: Record shattering rainfall causing chaos on Long Island. More than 13 inches fell in an hour. Dozens of rescues. A driver was killed when he lost control of his car on the expressway.

ROMANS: Roads and bridges washed away by record rains. Prince Georges County, Maryland hit especially hard there. They are not sure how long it will take to get the streets reopened.

BERMAN: Misery extending further to the north. Just look at the conditions in southern New Jersey. The region slammed by up to nine inches of rain. Strong winds trigger over 1,000 power outages.

ROMANS: You have crews, emergency crews really busy in Springfield, Massachusetts. Floodwaters leaving roadways impassable. Four cars trapped at the same time. The drivers all pulled to safety, thankfully by police.

BERMAN: The governor of Michigan declaring three Detroit area counties disaster areas. They have a tough week. Epic flooding causing extensive damage, several major highways still closed two days after the storm first hit.

ROMANS: So the threat, we hope, is over.

Let's get an early look at your forecast with meteorologist Indra Petersons.

Is it over?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Truly yes. It's starting to end, which is the good news. Think about how incredible this was. Detroit first had record-breaking rain, then D.C. and yesterday, it was even through Long Island.

I really want to talk about that number. When you talk about 13.5 inches out toward Long Island, I want to point out, this beat the 24- hour period of record rainfall for the entire state of New York, including how much they saw from Irene in a 24-hour period. That's an incredible amount of rain you saw.

Another way to look at it, if you add the months together, you're talking about the summer average that you should see, it should only be about 11.6 inches. So, it even beat in one day and really just several one hours amount of rain that you would see in the entire summer month.

Unbelievable, very incredible out there. What we are looking at today is just some remote areas in through Maine, are going to be looking for the leftover showers. Otherwise, the system is clearing out today.

Notice it in a different way. Look how dry it is, finally from the eastern half of the country. This is good news. We have a lot of rain there out there. Everyone needs time to be drying out. The other side, the hot humid weather is going away.

Notice the humidity value is dropping down behind the system, a little bit of that drier air has filled in. Only going to be watching by the time we get through about Saturday and through Sunday, we'll start to see some showers in Chicago and eventually making its way into the Northeast for the second half of your weekend. Nothing like we saw, which is good news.

We are drying out. A huge plus right now.

ROMANS: All right. We'll take it. Thanks, Indra.

BERMAN: Some big news from the Tiger Woods camp regarding next month's Ryder Cup matches. Will he play? Andy Scholes answers in the "Bleacher Report", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: An Arizona State effective lineman announced he is gay, making his the first current openly gay Division I football player.

ROMANS: Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Good morning, guys.

Edward Sarafin, he goes by Chip. He made the announcement to his teammates first, before telling the media, just like Michael Sam. But unlike Sam, Sarafin wanted to play his last season in college football with everyone knowing his sexual orientation.

He told "Compete" magazine about making the announcement, "It was really personal to me and it benefited my peace of mind greatly." Now, Michael Sam took to Twitter to show his support for Sarafin. He wrote, "Congratulation, Chip Sarafin, for having the courage to be yourself, wishing you and your team much success this season. #courage2014."

To baseball we go, the Royals are playing like it's the mid-80s all over again. Jason Vargas absolutely dominating the A's on the mound. He allowed only three hits in the game. The Royals get the win, 3-0. They currently lead the Tigers in their $160 million plus payroll. The Orioles, meanwhile, came back in dramatic fashion against the

Yankees last night. Adam Jones hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to give the O's the win. They now have a commanding 7 1/2 game lead in the A.L. East. At this point, the division is the Orioles to lose.

Trending on bleacherreport.com, Tiger Woods has withdrawn himself from consideration for this year's Ryder Cup team. On his Web site, Woods posted, "I have been told my doctors and trainer that my back muscles need to be rehabilitated and healed. They have advised me not to play or practice now."

Tiger added that he won't compete again until early December at the world challenge in Orlando. It's been a forgettable year for Tiger all the way around, guys.

But interesting, he will be appearing with Rory McIlroy on the Jimmy Fallon show on Monday. It's going to be cool to see both of those guys sitting next to each other and how they interact. They got the old greatest player in the world and the newest greatest player in the world.

ROMANS: Back muscles are fine for a TV show, but they're not fine for the Ryder Cup.

BERMAN: One guy who wins major tournaments these days, one guy --

SCHOLES: Who may never win again, right? We'll see.

BERMAN: Andy Scholes, from your lips. Thanks very much.

SCHOLES: All right.

BERMAN: Twenty-five minutes after the hour.

ROMANS: Breaking news this morning: chaos in the streets. Protesters furious after the police shoot an unarmed teenager. What led to the deadly gunfire? We have a witness -- a witness who explains exactly what she saw, right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)