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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Siege Ends on Iraq's Mount Sinjar; Israel Resumes Gaza Airstrikes; Gaza Peace Talks in Jeopardy; Russian Aid Convoy Halted

Aired August 14, 2014 - 05:30   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: rescue mission in Iraq not needed. U.S. airstrikes managing to free thousands of Iraqis trapped by terrorists. This morning, that good news could be clouded by the bigger picture. The United Nations declaring a humanitarian crisis. We are live on the ground with the latest.

CHRISTINEROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Chaos in Gaza. Cease-fire extended as Hamas and Israel briefly exchanged fire. This morning, negotiators working toward a longer lasting peace. But is there hope the violence will stop? Live team coverage ahead.

BERMAN: Breaking news this morning: tear gas and gunfire filling the streets of a Missouri town. Demonstrators upset about the shooting of a teen. Also, what witnesses are saying about the night that Michael Brown was killed. You should listen to this very carefully.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. Good to see you. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Twenty-nine -- almost 30 minutes exactly, past the hour.

BERMAN: Going to begin with breaking news out of Missouri. It was another violent night of protests stemming from the shooting of an unarmed teenager as CNN gets an exclusive eyewitness account to the events that led to the death of Michael Brown.

Overnight, chaos in the streets of Ferguson. Protests that started during the day stretching well into the night. Police used tear gas to break up the crowd. Even a television news crew had to flee from the mayhem. Other journalists arrested for filing reports from a fast food restaurant. They were later released.

President Obama has been briefed again on the situation. And Missouri governor, Jay Nixon, is heading to Ferguson today to try and help restore calm. In the meantime, 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 tells CNN the struggle she saw -- about the struggle she saw 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 didn't look right for anyone 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: According to the witness, shot with his hands in the air. Very far away from the car. 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 beginning of school in Ferguson has now been pushed back to Monday in hopes that the situation will stabilize.

A lot going on, as we said, a very busy night. We're going to monitor the situation for you and bring you updates throughout the morning.

ROMANS: All right. Now to Iraq where there is some good news from Iraq's Mount Sinjar. A team of U.S. Special Ops Forces on the scene reporting thousands of trapped Yazidis have escaped the ISIS fighters who had surrounded them for days.

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

Meanwhile in Baghdad, embattled prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, still refusing to step down. But the rest of that country seems to be -- well, it seems to be moving on without al-Maliki.

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

Bring us up to speed.

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, we are at the Bajet Kandela Refugee Camp not far from the Syrian border where we saw that wave of refugees cross into Kurdistan. Many of them have come here. And they are waiting to move into the tents being set up behind me. In the meantime, they have erected makeshift shelter made from plastic blankets, cardboard, whatever they can possibly get.

UNHCR that is in charge of this camp is calling it a humanitarian catastrophe. No one was prepared for the number of refugees to arrive here. And they have been without food, water and shelter for days. They are exhausted. They are traumatized. Many of them have witnessed atrocities. These ISIS militants coming to Sinjar, killing their loved ones, then fleeing into the mountains where they were trapped for days until the Peshmerga, the Kurdish forces, managed to create that safe passage and get them off the mountain.

The focus now is looking after these people, providing them with the facilities that they so desperately require other than the basic necessities. Many of these people, you know, need medical help. There are not enough tents for them at this stage. UNHCR says that it's desperately working to get these refugee camps up and running.

Already, there are eight spread across Kurdistan but obviously there is more and more of those refugees crossing the border into Kurdistan that need help.

But, Christine, speaking to these people, they say they don't want to stay here. They don't belong in Iraq anymore. The Yazidis have been persecuted, the religious and ethnic minority, for too many years. They say, if they stay here, they are not safe. They are appealing to international community for asylum -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Anna Coren for us this morning in Iraq. Thank you.

With those ISIS fighters waging war in Iraq, the group now using the currency of the Middle East, oil, to fund its reign of terror. It's already the richest terrorist organization in the world. It kidnaps, smuggles, extorts, it steals oil from seized territories, sells it on the black market. It asks for protection money from oil fields and oil companies and workers. All told an estimated $3 million a day in oil sales goes right into the pockets of ISIS.

There's also funding that comes from wealthy donors, private donors in countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Now the United States Treasury has really focused on that as part of a story. Freezing assets, recently, of some Kuwaiti supporters in recent weeks. The fundraisers for ISIS. So the story of ISIS and its growth is so much a story of the Middle East and oil and oil wealth that has really become the currency for its unfortunate success.

Now I want to get a quick check of the world markets right now. European shares mostly lower right now. Of course that growth simply stalled in Europe. U.S. stock futures pointing lower right now as well. And that stall in European growth is something that's getting a lot of attention this morning.

BERMAN: Thirty-five minutes after the hour. Fighting in Gaza erupting once again, Israel launching a new round of airstrikes on what they're calling terror sites. This after being targeted by rocket fire.

This violence flaring just moments after negotiators in Cairo agreed to a new five-day cease-fire extension.

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

Martin, give me a sense of the situation where you are right now.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it got off to a rocky start, without a doubt, John, last night when this extended cease-fire went into effect. There was a flurry of rocket fire that came out of Gaza toward Israel. Israel was willing to accept one rocket but that just drew the line for them and so they responded with retaliatory strikes, as you mentioned. Hitting what they described as rocket launch sites and also a terror base in the northern part of Gaza.

But since that time, it's been pretty much quiet. You can tell probably by the traffic outside that it's a little after noon here and life is moving on. All of those people who have been sheltering in U.N. buildings, at least many of them have started venturing back into the neighborhoods they felt were too unsafe to go into before. So that's also a good sign. But nerves are still stretched. There was a report of a mortar or maybe a rocket that landed on the Israeli side of the border this morning. That set off alarm bells but it was then said by the IDF, no, didn't really happen or they didn't know about it so right now so far, so good.

On another note, though, to show you that cease-fires can still be deadly, there was an Italian Associated Press journalist who was killed yesterday and today, his body was returned to his family in east Jerusalem. The Pope on a flight to South Korea asked for a moment of silence just to commemorate the death of that journalist. So it shows you -- and there were six people that were killed, actually, four members of a bomb disposal unit. It can still be deadly in Gaza even during a cease-fire -- John.

BERMAN: People there just want more days strung together in peace and quiet so they can move on with their lives.

Martin Savidge in Gaza, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. Hamas insists it is not responsible for the rocket fire that triggered the latest round of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Whoever did it, the question this morning, can the peace talks in Egypt be salvaged and can they get the two sides get that cease- fire back on track?

Our coverage of the crisis in Gaza continues with Reza Sayah live from Cairo.

And Reza, sometimes in these negotiations, these very tedious negotiations, sometimes it's almost not what people say, but the feeling or the mood that can really tell you about the progress that's happening. Are you feeling that?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and I think this time it feels a little different. This time, you get the sense that there's a glimmer of hope that maybe these two sides can make something happen with this renewed cease-fire.

Well, there was some anxious moments last night for a few hours. Nobody knew if this was going to happen. There was a lot of concern that the fighting would start back up again. But then literally, in the 11th hour, the Israelis and the Palestinians announced to extend the cease-fire, to renew the cease-fire. The announcement coming minutes before the deadline of the previous 72-hour cease-fire during which these two sides indirectly negotiated here in Cairo. Late last night, the head of the Palestinian delegation here, Azzam

Al-Ahmed, announced the extension of the cease-fire. And in the first sign that perhaps these two sides are getting somewhere, are making progress, Ahmed said on some issues related to the Palestinians core demand, which is the lifting of the blockade, he said there's some agreement suggesting the Israelis would consider easing the economic blockade. Not lifting it, but easing it.

However, the Israeli spokesperson Mark Regev talking to CNN didn't mention anything about any agreements but he did say if the Palestinians stop hostile fire into Israeli territory that the Israelis would discuss this. The Palestinians go home, they return Saturday. The Israelis reportedly come back Sunday then they'll have roughly 24 hours to reach a comprehensive agreement. But the headline this morning, the talks still alive.

ROMANS: The talks still alive.

From Cairo, Reza Saya, thank you.

Here, historic flooding pummeling the East Coast. Dramatic video, plus what you need to know for today right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Extreme weather just punishing the northeast. Look at this scene from Providence, Rhode Island. The cars there, they're underwater. Hundreds losing power in that city. It's seen some of its worst flash flooding in years.

ROMANS: Record-shattering rainfall causing chaos on Long Island. More than 13 inches of rain falling in just 24 hours. Dozens of rescues, hundreds of vehicles under water. One driver killed when he lost control of his car on the Long Island Expressway.

And Indra has played it up. That's like the same kind of a soaker as Hurricane Irene, if you think about it.

BERMAN: In the Washington, D.C. suburbs, roads and bridges washed away by the record rains. Prince Georges County in Maryland hit especially hard. Officials there still not sure how long it will take to get all the streets reopened. All the trees just everywhere.

ROMANS: For the north more misery. Southern New Jersey socked by up to nine inches of rain. Strong winds triggering more than a thousand power outages.

BERMAN: Emergency crews working overtime in Springfield, Massachusetts. Floodwaters leaving the major roadways there just impassable for cars were trapped at the same time beneath a flooded railroad trestle. Those drivers, they were all pulled to safety by police.

ROMANS: The governor of Michigan declaring three Detroit area counties disaster areas. Epic flooding there. Extensive damage. Several major highways still closed. They're still closed, John, two days after the storm hit.

BERMAN: A tough week there. So is it over yet?

Let's get an EARLY START of your forecast now with meteorologist Indra Petersons.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROMANS: All right. Thank you so much for that, Indra.

BERMAN: Want to take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY." Kate Bolduan joins us now.

Good morning, Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY: Hey, guys. We're going to be taking a closer look at the latest night of violent protests in that Missouri town over the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager by a police officer. Tear gas was fired at the crowd. Protesters, they are demanding justice. They are calling for the release of the name of the officer involved.

We're going to talk with some of the people who witnessed the chaos over night, really the most violent night we've seen yet.

We're also going to be following the very latest in Iraq. A U.S. rescue mission to evacuate people trapped on that mountain top there is now unlikely to happen, we're hearing, because there are fewer refugees stuck there now than was first thought. The U.S. is crediting airstrikes for helping people escape ISIS militants. But is a dent really being made in the extremist group?

There's a lot to discuss because it was quite a turn of events yesterday when you think of the dire situation that our correspondents have seen on that mountain top and then hearing that a rescue mission is probably not needed is a really interesting turn.

BERMAN: Lucky turn of events. All right, Kate, see you up in a little bit.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: All right, guys.

ROMANS: New information this morning about Robin Williams' finances released as his grieving daughter says she's become the victim of online bullying. The story behind this one, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: They have already requested a change of venue. Now lawyers of Boston marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev reportedly trying to get the start of his trial postponed. Tsarnaev's scheduled trial on terrorism charges is currently scheduled to begin November 3rd. The defense claimed the accused bomber, marathon bomber, cannot get a fair trial in Boston.

She's already been convicted of first-degree murder now Jodi Arias is seeking a delay in the start of the penalty phase of her trial. Arias who's representing herself says she's been unable to interview expert witnesses from behind bars. She told the judge she would relinquish her defense if one of her legal advisers is allowed to quit. Arias was convicted of murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, but a jury is deadlocked at her punishment. The penalty phase retrial set to begin September 8th.

A funeral for spring 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 that 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 Stewart.

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, she has shut down her social media accounts after receiving insensitive images and quite frankly insensitive comments about her father.

Another victory for supporters of same-sex marriage in Virginia. The Federal Appeals Court that struck down the state's ban on gay marriage last month refusing to delay its decision. Unless the Supreme Court intercedes, Virginia counties could begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples as soon as next week.

All right. SeaWorld struggling. Its stock this morning plunging. Attendance fallen. What is going on here? An EARLY START on your money, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: All right. Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning.

European shares mostly lower. The German economy shrank in the second quarter. The French economy and the eurozone stalled. Simply stalled. You can blame the effects of Russian sanctions for some of that. European businesses hesitating to make investments with so much uncertainty but the worst of the Russian sanctions will bite later on.

Asian markets mixed. U.S. stock futures pointing lower.

One big mover today, SeaWorld stock, those shares are down an astonishing 33 percent right now in pre-market trading. A third of the value of the shares wiped out in pre-market trading. SeaWorld, the amusement park reporting weak earnings and lower attendance for the year especially at its flagship parks in San Diego and Orlando.

Now the company blame Harry Potter. That attraction at its rival Universal Studios luring some visitors away, but also bad publicity played a role with CNN's documentary "BLACKFISH" exposing dangers of keeping orcas at theme parks. You had animal rights protests and animal rights gains on trying to keep down attendance.

So SeaWorld shares, a big mover here this morning.

Happy employees can lead to happy investors. New research finds companies ranked as one of the 100 best companies to work for are also the best companies to invest in. Those companies typically beat their peers in the stock market by 2 percent to 3 percent a year. That's right.

Bosses, if you keep your employees happy, you're going to keep your shareholders happy. Some companies even do better. Look at Google. This is Fortune's top company to work for. Stock is up more than 30 percent in the past. The S&P 500 over the past 52 weeks, up just 15 percent.

Some food for thought, bosses, as you get ready for work.

"NEW DAY" starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are firing on to the crowd.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight. Ferguson, Missouri, erupts. The most violent night, yet. Protesters clashing with law enforcement. Police using tear gas, rubber bullets, even journalists arrested. We're live on the ground.

BERMAN: Plus breaking new details on the shooting that started it all. An exclusive interview with a brand new witness. What she says happened that left Mike Brown dead. And new video just after the shooting as desperate family members try to reach him.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: On the ground, U.S. military advisers have made it off Mount Sinjar. They say many of the thousands trapped there have been saved. The U.S. now backing off the military operation to save the rest. What happens next?

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". It's Thursday, August 14th. 6:00 in the East. John Berman is here with us. Chris is off today.

We're going to start this morning with the chaos on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri.