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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Michael Brown Shooting Protest; Airstrikes Help Recapture Mosul Dam; Gaza Cease-Fire Extended; New Clippers Owner Goes Wild at Fan Festival

Aired August 19, 2014 - 05:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ROMANS: Breaking news this morning: the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, looking like a war zone. Dozens arrested. People shot. Two people shot. The National Guard trying to contain the chaos last night.

Demonstrators furious over the deadly shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.

Attorney General Eric Holder heading to Missouri tomorrow, promising transparency in this case. We are live in Ferguson with the dramatic scenes overnight and what comes next.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. John Berman has the day off today.

It is Tuesday. August 19th, 5:00 a.m., exactly in the East.

Up first, a tense night in Ferguson, Missouri. Police in riot gear firing stun grenades and tear gas in a chaotic scene. Police report rocks, bottles, and Molotov cocktails thrown at them.

Thirty-one arrests made, some people from as far away as California and New York. Two people reported shot, not by police, but shot in the crowd. Four officers injured last night.

This was the first time the curfew was lifted and National Guard troops were patrolling the streets.

Earlier Monday, President Obama called for calm in Ferguson. Attorney General Eric Holder will arrive there tomorrow to get an update on the federal investigation.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is live in Ferguson, Missouri. He's there along with our producer, Steve Kastenbaum.

They have been there all night watching what started -- Ed, as a peaceful protest about Michael Brown and police tactics, a peaceful protest that turned very, very menacing after dark.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and once again, it's almost a repeat of the previous night where we saw things turn dramatically for the worse relatively quickly. So, you know, that's the disheartening thing for many of the demonstrators and the protesters who came out in the hundreds to participate in the civil disobedience.

Once again, we saw what authorities here and what many people in the street are telling us is just a small number of people that are simply too volatile in creating this tension, trying to spark some sort of confrontation with the authorities. They are trying to keep the peace here and once again, 31 arrests, two people wounded with gunfire, another very dangerous night.

Captain Ron Johnson, who is the man who has been in charge of security here for the state police since last Thursday spoke with us just a little while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. RON JOHNSON, MISSOURI HIGHWAY PATROL: I sit there and listen over to radio and heard the screams with those officers who are under gunfire. I went back to our squad vehicle and saw the gentleman laying in the back who had been shot. I saw a car pull up and drop a gentleman off who had been shot in the hand, who was dazed walking down the street.

We can't have this. We do not want any citizen hurt. We don't want any officer hurt. When you are shooting into apartment complexes and children are laying in bed in apartment complexes, and bullets are flying through the air, the old saying on the streets as they say, a bullet has no name. We do not want to lose another life in this community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Christine, there you see Captain Ron Johnson making that plea before the cameras.

But he was making that plea, Steve, on the streets. But again, it seems to be falling on deaf ears.

STEVE KASTENBAUM, CNN PRODUCER: Yes. And, again, he pointed out that it's not everybody in the crowd. In fact, the overwhelming majority of people who were out today were protesting peacefully, and he made that point. That it's a small number of individuals within the crowd that are taking advantage of the situation because it's their intent to confront police and to cause harm.

That's what he said. They are coming here. He showed the weapons that they confiscated from (INAUDIBLE) in the car.

LAVANDERA: Let's talk about something different this time. You were telling me, at one point, you made a long hike up the road. Well up into, you know, probably almost a mile. And you were talking to people up along the road.

What sense do people who are trying to come out here and do things it right way, how are they -- how worried are they that what is being seen here, eventually, ultimately, at the end of these demonstrations is hurting their cause?

KASTENBAUM: We heard that sentiment a lot. In fact, the people that we were following in the march up this main drag through Ferguson were saying before this all took a turn for the worse, they were saying this is the way it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be orderly, organized, peaceful as we protest against what we see as a grave injustice.

They were happy with the way this started out tonight, because there wasn't chaos. It was orderly and subdued demonstration. They are very angry. They're the ones were spoke to, with the people coming into their community from the outside.

We heard this word a couple of times from the people who live on the side streets, along the main drag, they felt their neighborhood, their community was being disrespected by the folks who are coming in here and wreaking havoc and not here for what they see as the main point about this, the shooting of Michael Brown and why was this young man shot and killed by police.

ROMANS: Steve, if I could jump in.

(CROSSTALK)

LAVANDERA: Sure.

ROMANS: I want to jump in and just ask Steve -- you made a point of how you saw people with t-shirts who were sort of, you know, promoting revolution or anarchy. For some people, gatherings like this, just like gatherings, for example, for G-20 meetings, or for World Bank meetings, you start to attract people who want to cause trouble for authority.

How much of this is moved away from Michael Brown, do you think, Steve, and on to just kind of an anarchist party?

KASTENBAUM: That's a really good question, because tonight was the first night I saw a number, a handful of those individuals in the crowd. And, Ed, you were there as well.

LAVANDERA: Yes.

KASTENBAUM: When they completely ignored the local community leaders and the church leaders who were very effectively controlling the crowd and asking them to please step back to deescalate. There were three or four men in these shirts and some of them had a Web site's name on it that was promoting revolution, who just wouldn't hear it from the peacemakers. And they were just advancing, holding signs up and getting in the face of the riot police. And I had not seen those particular individuals on previous nights.

LAVANDERA: Yes, Christine, I would say that those type of people, you know, we are trying to survey people quickly, as we can here.

ROMANS: Right. LAVANDERA: But to me, from what I've seen, it seems to a very minimal part of when things are going smoothly. Very minimal part of what we see.

ROMANS: Certainly interesting to see those leaders. In the video, you can see these community leaders trying to talk to police, trying to talk to the crowds, trying to manage the situation. It became unmanageable last night.

Gentlemen, thank you. We'll check in with you again very soon.

A lot of angles to dive into on this story. The private autopsy commissioned by the parents of Michael Brown revealed he was shot six times, including twice in the head, a forensic expert telling CNN those wounds could be the most telling, as the investigation proceeds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR CYRIL WECHT, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: The two wounds to the head are very significant. Michael Brown was 6'3". The shots were not fired from a sniper's lair high in a tree or from an adjacent building on the third floor.

So, this boy, this young man, was bent over, he was stooped. Either he was charging, like Officer Wilson says, we were told through his surrogate, some woman friend, like a bull, charging at an officer with a loaded gun, shooting at him, just rushing right on, head down or he was already toppling over, having been wounded and he was falling to the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Of course, we are following the developments from Ferguson all morning long, and all these angles of this story.

I want to turn to Iraq, and a major step forward for Kurdish and Iraqi forces, fighting ISIS for control of the critically important Mosul dam. They were able to gain control of the dam with the help of U.S. airstrikes. But the battle is not over yet.

CNN's Anna Coren live on the phone from Mosul where she's moving toward and trying to get access to that dam now that it is out of ISIS control -- Anna.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Christine, we are currently standing on the wall of Mosul dam. We have arrived here in our convoy. And the Peshmerga special forces, they have full control of this dam. The ISIS militants pushed back. (INAUDIBLE)

This is the scene of intense fighting for the days. But as you say, thanks to those U.S. airstrikes, they bombarded those enemy lines and were able to allow the Kurdish forces, the Peshmerga, as well as Iraqi commandos to make those (INAUDIBLE) to recapture this dam.

We know it is a critical piece. (INAUDIBLE) this hydro electric dam in the country, providing power to Mosul, Baghdad, much of the country. Obviously, we heard from President Obama saying that this was a major, major victory. But as we know, battling from one. Where I'm standing is Mosul city, which is under full control of the ISIS militants.

An official here, Christine, believed that the militants have retreated to there where they will regroup, they will rearm, they will consolidate, could very launch a counteroffensive.

ROMANS: All right. Anna Coren for us, standing at the Mosul Dam -- thank you so much, Anna.

Pope Francis is weighing in on the fight against ISIS and Iraq, endorsing the use of force to stop Islamic extremists from attacking religious minorities. But he says the international community, not just one country must decide how to intervene. The pontiff says he's considering a trip to northern Iraq in support of Christians who are being persecuted by ISIS.

The World Health Organization is urging countries affected by Ebola to screen international travelers. WHO says any person showing signs of the virus should not be allowed to travel internationally. The recommendation comes after a Nigerian woman who died after flying to Abu Dhabi showed signs of infection. Her husband and five medics are in isolation while she's tested for the virus.

The U.S. ambassador told Nigeria's health minister the U.S. will not be able to provide the experimental Ebola drug, ZMapp, in Nigeria. There's simply not enough to go around to the countries requesting it.

In Liberia, authorities are trying to track down 17 patients who are missing after looters raided an Ebola quarantine center.

And in Atlanta, American missioner Nancy Writebol got a visit from her husband for the first time since she was diagnosed with Ebola. David Writebol says his wife is still in isolation and slowly gaining strength.

All right. Time for an EARLY START on your money. It looks like the bulls still has room to run. The Dow jumped 175 points yesterday. This was one of its largest single day move this year.

The NASDAQ up 1 percent. A 14-year high for the NASDAQ. The S&P 500 up nearly 1 percent. Will the rally continue today? At the moment, futures are higher. Wall Street driving optimism around the globe. Asian and European markets also higher.

All right. Kids are cute, but, boy, they are expensive. New figures from the government show it could cost a middle income family nearly a quarter of million dollars to raise a child to age 18. That figure from USDA includes the cost of things like housing, food and child care. But no big ticket items like college.

The estimate also varies depending on where you live. The most expensive in urban Northeast to raise a kid, but less so in rural areas. We are following breaking news out of Ferguson, Missouri. The streets

looking like a warzone. A deadly police shooting creating violence between protesters and law enforcement.

Attorney General Eric Holder arriving in the area tomorrow. We've got dramatic new video to show you from overnight.

Plus, a temporary truce about to end in Gaza. Can Israel and Gaza reach a longer lasting deal to stop the violence? We are live after the break.

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ROMANS: We are following breaking news: the streets of Ferguson, Missouri resembling a war zone overnight. The latest clash between police and protesters.

Police in tactical gear firing stun grenades and tear gas in response to a small group of protesters throwing rocks, bottles and Molotov cocktails at them.

Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson says at least two people were shot overnight in the crowd, shot by people in the crowd with guns, 31 arrests were made, some people from as far away as New York and California. Captain Johnson says despite coming under heavy attack and gunfire, police didn't fire a single shot. Four officers were injured. We are going to follow all the developments from Ferguson throughout the morning.

Now to Israel and Hamas agreeing to extend their cease-fire another 24 hours. It gives them more time for negotiators in Cairo to hammer out a long-time peace plan. After more than a week of calm, neither side seems to be interested in resuming fighting.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen live for us this morning in Gaza.

And the calm, the peace holds for now, Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the time certainly is ticking. And the interesting thing, the one that Hamas member of that Palestinian delegation said, he said, we have to use every single minute that is available to us, because he also said that in the previous negotiations, which of course have now been ongoing for about eight days, that -- they haven't come close to striking some sort of deal. He said that absolutely no progress was being made.

It sort of flies in the face of what the negotiations seem to be providing yesterday, right before a cease-fire was set to expire. We were hearing that possibly some sort of agreement had to be signed.

And the big question, Christine, of what comes out of it is, is this going to fall apart. Is there going to be a longer term agreement or are they going to keep kicking the can down the line and extending the cease-fire by three days here, 24 hours there?

Certainly, I can tell you, a lot of people here in Gaza are very nervous about these negotiations. They are afraid they could fall apart altogether. They're afraid that the bombings could resume, that rocket fire could resume, that they will be paying the price for it. Of course, a lot of homes have been destroyed here. A lot of people have been killed here.

So, certainly, what people want is a long term agreement. They want to get the blockade here of Gaza lifted. But at this point and time, they don't appear to be very hopeful that things are moving along in the right direction. Certainly, we're going to have to wait and see whether or not the two sides are going to be able to come to some sort of agreement. It's going to be an anxious day in Gaza yet again, Christine.

ROMANS: I'll say, another anxious day in Gaza.

Fred Pleitgen -- thank you, Fred, for that.

All right. Turning back to this country, California fire crews battling several wildfires including one near Yosemite National Park that forced 1,500 people to evacuate. Homes and hotels near the community of Oakhurst. Some 500 acres have been scorched. Homes are also being evacuated in Kern County, because a separate fire is surging there, growing to 800 acres.

Let's get a look at your forecast. Our Indra Petersons is here for us, has all that for us.

Good morning.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning.

Yes, we're talking about a lot of scattered showers. One way to look at this, as we take a look at the satellite pictures, you can see how much activity is out there. But, again, all minute scattered showers for the most part today.

We're really going to be watching a couple areas. One of the places is around the upper Great Lakes and the Midwest today. And, then, of course, the frontal boundary kind of making its way out of the southeast and pushing off the Atlantic coastline there.

Seeing all of this moisture, this is the big story, all this moisture coming out of the gulf, the jet stream is pretty high. So, that's really allowing all this humid air that really kind of hang in for the summertime. You can already see that line of storms making its way through Milwaukee, looking for that threat, even to Chicago. So, keep that in mind. If you have travel plans, especially flying through that region.

Otherwise, the severe weather threat is actually a little bit further east of the region. So, places like Toledo, Indianapolis and even Louisville will have that threat. Not looking for tornadoes, but still, those strong thunderstorms, of course, some hail and some of those stronger winds will be out there.

The bigger story again will be the heat. We have talked about how humid it is, right? All that moisture coming here?

Now, we're adding the temperatures as well. So, the temperatures are climbing as we go toward the end of the week. One way to look at it, that is, of course, you're in the South -- look at the numbers kind of starting to climb.

Meanwhile, in the Northeast, you're going to see those temperatures kind of coming on down, jumping into Friday, very easy to see that pattern. The temperatures going down in the Northeast. That also means rain heading to the Northeast by the end of the week.

ROMANS: Rain heading to the Northeast, OK. Thanks, Indra Petersons.

PETERSONS: Sure.

ROMANS: All right. Nineteen minutes past the hour.

We are following breaking news in Ferguson, Missouri, a night of violence in the streets, between protesters and law enforcement. The controversy of the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, that controversy is still boiling. The latest, ahead.

Plus, Steve Ballmer is all fired up. The L.A. Clippers new owner introduces himself to fans in a big way. Andy Scholes has the details from the "Bleacher Report", next.

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ROMANS: Twenty-three minutes past the hour.

Johnny Manziel showed the Washington Redskins that he is number one last night, but it was not with his play on the field.

Andy Scholes has more in the morning's "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, good morning, Christine.

Johnny Football may not have a very good performance in his first nationally televised game. And at one point, he let his emotions get the better of him as he flipped the bird at the Redskins bench. It happened in the third quarter the Redskins defense forced Manziel into an incomplete pass. As he ran back on the field and gave the Washington the old one-finger salute.

Manziel did throw his first touchdown later in the game. But, all everyone wanted to talk about afterwards was his not very nice gesture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNNY MANZIEL, CLEVELAND QUARTERBACK: You know, I get words exchanged with me throughout the entirety of the game, every game, week after week. And I should have been smarter. It was a Monday night football game and the cameras were probably solidly on me. My name has grown bigger and people had known who I am. It just

continues to go as the games go on. I thought I did a good job of holding my composure throughout the night, and you have a lapse of judgment and slipped up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Trending on bleacherreport.com this morning, Steve Ballmer is really pumped up to finally be the official owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. He had a good old time and welcoming party yesterday at the Staples Center.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BALLMER, CLIPPERS OWNER: Do we have any clipper fans here? I can't hear you.

We are going to get better every day. We are going to be tenacious something knocks us down. We're going to keep coming and coming and coming and coming and coming.

Did you watch these guys? That was hard core. Hard core, baby!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Wow! Steve Ballmer looks like he's going to be a good owner for the Los Angeles Clippers.

ROMANS: Vintage Ballmer, he's not trying to stir up the shareholder. Now, he's got a whole team, fans to get excited behind, so interesting.

All right. Thanks so much. Talk to you soon, Andy.

We are following breaking news out of Ferguson, Missouri, this morning. Twenty-five minutes past the hour. Violence in the streets overnight between protesters and law enforcement. Thirty-one arrests, two people shot in the crowd, four police officers hurt.

What's next in this case? What's next for residents of this Missouri who are town caught in the middle of all of it? That's after the break.

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