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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Peaceful Protests in Ferguson; Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Maliki Steps Down; Cease-Fire Holding in Gaza; Armored Russian Carriers Entering Ukraine

Aired August 15, 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: For our viewers around the world, "CNN NEWSROOM" is next.

For those of you here in the U.S., EARLY START continues right now.

Breaking news overnight: Violent marches replaced by peaceful protests as crowds turn anger into advocacy. The deadly police shooting of an unarmed black teenager energized the communities around the world. And this morning, we are hours away from knowing new details about the officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, including his name.

ROMANS: Crisis in Iraq. A new warning about the Islamic militants terrorizing the country, as a power struggle of who should lead Iraq into the future ends.

We are live in Iraq with the very latest.

BERMAN: Silence over Gaza for now. Israel and Hamas working on a longer lasting peace plan in Cairo. This, though, as Hamas calls for a day of rage.

We are live in Gaza with the latest.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is Friday, August 15th, 5:00 a.m. in the East.

An order restored in Ferguson. Passionate protest running into the night in this embattled Missouri town. The streets demilitarized.

Later today, Ferguson police plan to release the name of the officer who shot and killed Michael Brown. An unarmed teen, who witnesses say, had his hands in the air when the fatal shots were fired. After four nights of violence turned this city into a battle zone, the governor of Missouri finally stepped in, ordering state police to take over jurisdiction from the local police, the Ferguson police force.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JAY NIXON (D), MISSOURI: These are, you know, deep and existing problems, not only in Missouri, but in America. And this has clearly touched a nerve. And that nerve is not nearly from this horrific incident that happened a few days ago or any of the interim things. It touches a deeper nerve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: There is a lot of pain in Ferguson right now.

Our Don Lemon got a firsthand -- a firsthand look during last night's demonstrations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Don Lemon in Ferguson, Missouri, where there have been night after night after night of violent protests -- finally, a calmer, peaceful night in this community. And that is due to the new man in charge, the head of the Missouri highway patrol, Ron Johnson, is now in charge here.

People here say they don't feel like they live in a militarized zone anymore. They don't feel intimidated by police. They started showing up earlier in the day by the hundreds, really by the thousands for impromptu protests, for the most part. But also, some of them saying they were getting messages from their churches and from community leaders on their cell phones, text messages.

At one point during the day, protesters showed up on the very street where Michael Brown lost his life to chant, "No justice, no peace". They were holding their hands up in the air, in the way they said Michael Brown did before he died.

But on this night, finally, a peaceful protest in Missouri that we have witnessed.

I'm Don Lemon, reporting from Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to Don for that.

The parents of Michael Brown have been assured by Eric Holder, that the circumstances surrounding their son's death will be fully investigated. Family members say that and the removal of supervision of law enforcement by the Ferguson Police Department is bringing them much needed solace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC DVIS, MICHAEL BROWN'S COUSIN: At the present time, we have no trust in the Ferguson police department because there was no transparency. They have not reached out to us. Actually, today was the first time they reached out to us. But we did not feel like we needed to sit down with someone when they took five days before they could come out and reach out to the family to say, "We express our sympathies". And we still did not want to talk with them at this time because of the delay.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: Michael Brown's shooting, it is stirring passions across the country. More than 1,000 demonstrators tied up traffic lights last night in New York's Times Square. Police did make several arrests.

More than 100 communities across the country held vigils remembering the fallen teen.

ROMANS: Now to the crisis unfolding in Iraq. The country's embattled prime minister, Nouri al Maliki, finally agreeing to step down, clearing the way for his successor, Haider al-Abadi, to form a new government, and drawing praise from the Obama administration.

Secretary of State John Kerry urging Iraqis to unite under al-Abadi against the threat from ISIS, the growing threat from ISIS. That threat is becoming formidable. A U.S. official telling CNN ISIS is now a credible alternative to al Qaeda, with fighters from around the world, traveling to join -- to join -- to join this movement.

This as Yazidi leaders dispute U.S.'s claims that the ISIS siege at Mt. Sinjar is over. Now, they claim tens of thousands of people are stranded there on that mountain, and they face very dire situations.

I want to bring in Ivan Watson. He is live from Iraq for us this morning.

And the thing about ISIS that I've been reporting, Ivan, is that you have a group that is learning how to self-finance, how to not rely on fund-raisers and money coming in from the rest of the world, but to use oil, and to use robbery, and beheadings and protection money to create its own business model, so dangerous. It's so interesting to see how, I guess, how singular its focus is, even as the government there has had a hard time trying to get it back together.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And yes and I think one other element that's disturbing that I'm hearing from Kurdish officials, for example, is that ISIS also seems to have gotten the support in its offensive as land grab over the last couple weeks from at least some of the Sunni tribes of central and northern Iraq.

What that has done has broken the social fabric of communities here where you have the ethnic and religious minorities who are not Arab or perhaps not Sunni Muslims who now feel no trust whatsoever for their Sunni Arab Muslim neighbors who live next to them. So, everybody I have talked to, Yazidi or Christian, people who fled their homes by the hundreds of thousands never want to live next to these people again.

So, that's a major problem. Even if you can defeat ISIS, how do you rebuild the trust between these communities that lived side by side just a couple of few weeks ago? That's a problem. Kurdish officials saying that they may have a difficult time working together in partnership with Sunni Muslims and any government in the future in Baghdad. It's a big problem even as Kurdish officials have expressed relief saying good riddance at the departure of Nouri al Maliki and perhaps the creation of a future new government in Baghdad that would hopefully work together with the Kurds, against this ISIS militant threat -- Christine.

ROMANS: Ivan, where are the people behind you, where are they going to go after this? I mean, you are talking the U.S. saying there's not a crisis at the level they thought on Mount Sinjar. You have the people there saying, no, there is a crisis at Mount Sinjar. These people don't want to live where they used to.

What's going to happen? There's such a humanitarian need right now. And we are really in the early innings.

WATSON: Right. You ask where they are going to go? This is it. This family hasn't moved into the at the present time city that's really, I'm impressed, propped up in a matter of 48 hours. It sprawls across this sun-baked plain. This, it's camps like this that hundreds of thousands of people are eventually coming to. It is encouraging to see that emergency kind of delivery of camps that are professionally built of food and medical assistance as well.

But, I have to tell you, you know, it's just noon here local time, the temperature soaring to the mid-90s. And I guarantee you, it will probably break 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the hours to come.

A camp is not a life, you know, it's a band aid. It's a safe place, but what does that family do six months down the road, a year down the road? These people need jobs, they need schools. And it's an immense pressure on the local communities here on the local administrators as well.

You know, how do you maintain populations of hundreds of thousands of people instantly made homeless and jobless?

ROMANS: And they don't want to go home. Where is home? That's the real question.

Ivan Watson, thanks so much for that.

BERMAN: A camp is not life.

Nine minutes after the hour. Signs of progress in Gaza. The peace talks right now being waged in Cairo. A five-day cease-fire brokered in Cairo appears to be holding between Israel and Hamas. Palestinian negotiators expressing cautious optimism that a deal can get done.

This, as the State Department confirms it placed greater scrutiny on U.S. arms shipments to Israel during the fighting in Gaza.

Israelis now are gearing up for a legal battle against international allegations that they committed war crimes against the Palestinians. The U.N. Human Rights Cancel investigating those charges right now.

Frederik Pleitgen tracking the latest developments live from Gaza this morning.

Good morning, Frederik.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. You are absolutely right. There is some cautious optimism. It seems as though the two sides are fairly far apart and there are a lot of touchy issues.

At the same time, you still have Israeli troops that are massed in the border with Gaza. You still obviously have Hamas which says that it's ready to strike and go back on a war footing at anytime.

But you're right, Hamas officials have come out and they have said they don't want another armed confrontation. Israeli officials also say they would like some sort of long term agreement.

In the end, what it comes down to at this point in time in these economic issues that the people in Gaza want solved. The blockade, of course, is their major issue. They say they want lifted completely. And on the other hand, there are security issues that Israel says must be resolved.

Now, the fundamental position of the Gazans is they want the blockade lifted completely. The Israelis say that's not possible if Hamas still has its arms. They say Hamas has to disarm completely. Hamas says that's not going to happen.

So, what the negotiators there in Cairo are trying to achieve is they're going to get some sort of an agreement in place where there's a partial lifting of the blockade, that certain items are allowed into the Gaza Strip that would not be allowed in the Gaza Strip otherwise. It's unclear whether they are going to want to do that.

There's other issues that might get pushed down the road, like for instance, the folks here in Gaza want to build a seaport. The Israelis say that's a huge security concern because weapons could be brought in through that. Also, other dual use goods could be brought in through that as well.

So those issues might get negotiated further down the line. There might be a long term cease-fire that's put in place, but issues that will remain unresolved. We'll wait and see in the next coming days.

Right now, what's going on is the delegations left Cairo. The Israelis are in Israel talking to politicians there. There was a cabinet meeting there yesterday in Jerusalem.

Whereas, the Hamas and the Palestinian delegations are in there respective areas, in Ramallah. Some of them traveled to Lebanon as well to talk to their leadership. They are going to converge again, we believe, tomorrow, on Saturday, to try and start hammering out some sort of deal.

This cease-fire, of course, as you said, is in place for five days, both sides working very hard to reach an agreement. But as I've said, there are very, very divisive issues that could derail these talks at anytime -- John.

BERMAN: Frederik Pleitgen in Gaza with Friday prayers going on behind you as well. Nice to see you, Fred. Thanks so much.

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

European stocks up, stalled economic growth throughout Europe, fueling hopes that the European Central Bank will stimulate the economy. Asian shares also ending higher. U.S. stocks up slightly, after gains yesterday. And you know what? Stocks are at the highest for the month.

Brand-new on CNN Money this morning, more teens are getting hired. The unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds was 13.6 percent in July, the lowest it's been since -- in a July since 2008. And that is a big improvement from more than 15 percent last year. It is still, you know, more than I guess double the unemployment rate for all Americans. But you are starting to see the crisis of teen unemployment release its grip a bit.

BERMAN: The shape of the chart is one we have seen across the board --

ROMANS: They say in economics and in markets, the trend is your friend. Every month, there's one little thing happens. It could be noisy. But when you look at a chart like that, that's what you want to see. You want to see consistent improvement.

BERMAN: And we all need friends.

ROMANS: Yes, we do.

Happening now: Russian trucks supposedly filled with humanitarian aid, they are now being examined by Ukraine, as we now learn armored Russian trucks are moving into the country. We are live with the very latest.

BERMAN: Plus, stunning information revealed about Robin Williams, the secret burning he was carrying. We'll tell you about it right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: So, in just a matter of hours before we learn what is really inside those trucks, this mysterious Russian convoy. Russia insisting that they contain humanitarian aid for the people of Eastern Ukraine.

Right now, Ukrainian authorities are being allowed to inspect those vehicles. But, while that's happening, we are also finding out this morning that armored Russian personnel carriers are entering Ukraine. This is happening as we speak.

Let's go right to Will Ripley live in Kiev this morning.

Will explain this to us.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what is now being observed by journalists on the ground is something the Ukrainian government has been saying for months. And now, we are confirming with government official that a convoy of Russian -- a military convoy of armored personnel carriers, the kind of tanks on wheels that are used to transport troops into the battlefield, those have crossed the border from Russia into Ukraine.

And our government sources are telling us that the people inside those carriers were wearing what is described as military uniforms. We don't know where they come from or who they are. We can only report what is being seen on the ground.

And we need to point out that this does not indicate there may be an invasion underway. But, in fact, this corroborates the claims of the Ukrainian government, including the mayor of the Luhansk region, that spoke to CNN just yesterday, saying that tanks and shelling systems are being smuggled across the border in the overnight hours, which gives us more insight, John, into why the Ukrainian government has been so skeptical of this Russian convoy of 262 trucks, that a team now of border officers are inspecting at this very moment.

The Ukrainian government has agreed to accept any humanitarian aid that is on these trucks, after a full inspection and as long as that aid is transferred into the custody and full authority of the Red Cross. The Red Cross would then be responsible for driving that humanitarian aid in the form of food, medicine, medical supplies, sleeping bags, tents, that sort of thing. The Red Cross would transports those items into the battle zone.

But you can see the dichotomy here where you have over night armored personnel carriers from Russia crossing into the area, and then by day, this convoy offering to provide assistance to the hundreds of thousands of civilians who are caught in the cross fire, 11 innocent people dying overnight and three children among 15 who were killed at a bus stop just yesterday, John.

BERMAN: Every reason to be skeptical. Will Ripley, live for us some Kiev this morning -- thanks so much, Will.

ROMANS: All right. New revelations this morning about Robin Williams struggles in his final days. A statement released Thursday by the late actor's wife, Susan, reveals that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. She says the illness was in its early stages.

Parkinson's is known to cause depression. It may have exacerbated Williams' condition. His wife says he wasn't ready to share that diagnosis publicly.

BERMAN: All right. So, we made it to Friday, which in theory means that the weekend is almost here.

ROMANS: Why in theory?

BERMAN: In theory, the weekend is almost here.

ROMANS: In reality, the weekend is almost here if you can get through the next eight hours.

BERMAN: Indra Petersons here with the forecast.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's what I was going to go with, I'm like in theory, not really if I'm still at work right now. So, I'm in the middle with both of you, guys.

But either way, at least in the Northeast, it is going to be nice for the first half of the weekend. Very easy to say, take a look at the satellite, very dry for the eastern half of the country, finally seeing more of that calmer pattern. It's not going to last throughout the entire weekend.

Let's start with what's actually nice right. Look at the temperatures, we're talking about this climbing and warming in the Northeast over the next several days, pretty much near average temperatures. If you are in the Southeast this weekend, or heading to the southeast, you're going to see temperatures just barely above normal.

But overall, very comfortable for this time of year, where we are going to be watching a couple of systems kind of make in their way through. One of them affecting the Northeast, the other affecting the Midwest as we go through Saturday and Sunday. You want to take a look at it day by day. You notice Saturday, you are going to see heavy rain, especially we're talking about kind of between Omaha and kind of around St. Louis, two to four inches of rain, kind of a concentrated area, even a threat of some severe weather in that region.

But notice by Sunday, more widespread rain will be out there with another system kind of spreading from the Midwest into the Northeast. This guy is bringing light, scattered showers. So, it's not going to be a bigger system out there. But either way, a little bit of rain overall, it's nice, guys, it's Friday, and almost there. Almost there.

ROMANS: In theory, John Berman is going to have a weekend.

BERMAN: In theory. Thank you.

All right. Indra, appreciate it.

PETERSONS: Sure.

BERMAN: Coming up, my predecessor as the commissioner of the Major League Baseball just named. Brian Mcfayden has the details in the "Bleacher Report", next.

ROMANS: Looking for your desk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Major League Baseball announced its new commissioner. Rob Manfred is going to take over for Bud Selig in charge of the league.

ROMANS: All right. Brian Mcfayden has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report". Hey there.

BRIAN MCFAYDEN, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, guys. Good morning.

Rob Manfred will take the reins when Bud Selig officially steps down in January. Manfred has been baseball chief operating officer for the last year and spent the last decade in the league's front office. During yesterday's presser, Manfred was humble at the opportunity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROB MANFRED, NEW MLB COMMISSIONER: I have to say, I'm tremendously honored by the confidence that the owners showed in me today, electing me to be the tenth commissioner of baseball. I agree with Bill, I have very big shoes to fill in following Commissioner Selig.

BUD SELIG, RETIRING MLB COMMISSIONER: There's no doubt in my mind he had the training, the temperament, the experience to be a very, very successful commissioner. And I have justifiably very high expectations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCFAYDEN: Rob Manfred's election makes him the tenth commissioner in baseball history, Major League Baseball history.

Bears and Jags kicked off this week's preseason last night. There's quarterback Jay Cutler. And his favorite target, Brandon Marshall, hooked up for a touchdown in the second quarter. It's pretty sweet.

Jags' rookie quarterback Blake Bortles looked really good. The third overall pick in this year's draft is expected to sit behind Chad Henne his year. But Bortles has been sharp in his first two games. He may just pass Henne who hasn't been bad in the preseason, either.

Bears did get the win, 20-19.

Speaking of quarterbacks controversies, there is one hotter right now than Johnny Manziel and Brian Hoyer in Cleveland. The Browns announced yesterday that Hoyer will get the start nod Monday night against the Redskins. ESPN reported Manziel was a few minutes late to a recent practice along with some other rookies. But they say that had no bearing on the Browns' decision to not start Manziel. And Manziel's first game broke preseason TV ratings, and all signs point for that record-breaking night against RG3 and the Redskins.

BERMAN: He's got to be careful. I mean, he's got to be careful. Everyone is watching him so closely to see if he flakes off, at all. So, showing late at practice doesn't sound like a big deal. But I think for Johnny Manziel, I guess that he got to be careful.

All right. Brian, great to have you this morning. Appreciate it.

MCFAYDEN: Hey, thanks so much, guys.

BERMAN: After nights filled with teargas and gunfire, protests finally turning peaceful at a Missouri town, that town at the center of a controversial police shooting of an unarmed black teenager. This morning, we have dramatic new details set to be revealed in the case. The name of the officer involved.

We'll break it all down for you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)