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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

American Hostage Freed; ISIS Gains in Syria and Iraq; Michael Brown Funeral Today; Gaza Conflict Escalates

Aired August 25, 2014 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: An American held hostage by terrorists for nearly two years free this morning. Peter Theo Curtis' release negotiated with his captors. This as British investigators reveal they are close to identifying the jihadist who executed journalist James Foley. Plus, new advances ISIS militants are making this morning.

Live team coverage from London and Baghdad, ahead.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A day of peace for Ferguson. Michael Brown's parents calling for a day of silence at their son's funeral, more than two weeks after the unarmed teen was killed by police. We'll show you the mood in the streets overnight.

ROMANS: Picking up the pieces in California -- shaken by the strongest earthquake that area has seen in 25 years. We've got a damage report for you ahead.

BERMAN: Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. Great to see you this morning. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: Welcome back, John.

BERMAN: Thank you very much.

ROMANS: It is 30 minutes after the hour. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: An American journalist held for nearly two years by terrorists in Syria is on his way back to his family this morning. Peter Theo Curtis was freed on Sunday. Officials say the 45-year-old man was kidnapped back in October of 2012 by an al Qaeda linked group. Actually, he was turned over to this al Qaeda linked group known as al-Nusrah. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh following the developments live from London.

Good morning, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, interesting development in that we've heard now from the American cell mate of Peter Theo Curtis. Remember, they were held together in Aleppo, the northern town - a town in northern Syria, for nearly six months. In this statement Matt Schrier, who did manage to escape from that cell with Theo's help, but faced the agonizing moment where Matt had got out of the window, though, escaping through, but Theo got stuck in it. Matt had to choose to leave Theo behind and run.

Matt now has released a statement in which he says, "Theo and I were together for over six months, but we never shared an August day during that time. Now, thank God, we do. This day will go down as the happiest of my life." So clearly another American very relieved there. I know he was racked with guilt about having to leave Theo behind.

But also we're learning from a statement from Theo's family, Peter Theo Curtis I should say, that they thank the U.S. and Qatari government for negotiating this release. Say it was done purely on humanitarian grounds, didn't go into the technicalities or precisely what happened. Interesting to note, too, that he was handed over on the Israeli-Syria border in the Golan Heights area to U.N. peacekeepers. That is very far from where originally he was picked up in northern Syria and held in Aleppo. Very complicated journey, past regime held areas, though very disputed turf to finally arrive there. So many questions still to be answered, but above all another very relieved family to learn that Peter Theo Curtis is free after the horrifying news of last week's execution of James Foley.

John.

BERMAN: It must be such a relief for that family, Nick. And as you say, the family of Theo Curtis saying they were told that no ransom was paid, no money changed hands, but the Qataris that orchestrated this, is there any way of knowing for sure that there was no quid pro quo here?

WALSH: Well, the American government is very clear, it does not negotiate over hostage or pay. Whether the Qataris felt that they should or imparted something else in kind, nobody will ever really know. The Qataris do, it's sad to say, have a lot of influence over many of the Syrian rebel groups fighting there. Whether that includes Jabhat al-Nusrah, not entirely clear. So there will, of course, always be these questions. Will we finally get to the bottom of what happened? Probably not. Does that necessarily matter for the Curtis family now their son is free? Probably not. They're just glad, I think, that this nearly two-year old deal is over, John.

BERMAN: I think they're overjoyed. Thanks. Nick Paton Walsh for us in London, appreciate it.

ROMANS: All right, British intelligence apparently zeroing in on the identity of the terrorist who was seen beheading American journalist James Foley in that video released by ISIS. Britain's U.S. ambassador say as trail of accent clues could unmask this terrorist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER WESTMACOTT, BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: I see that the British media this morning are speculating that we are very close to identifying who this guy is. And you may see that my foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said yesterday we're putting out a great deal of resource into identifying this person. I think we're not far away from that. We're putting a lot into it. And it was very (INAUDIBLE) technologies, voice identification and so on which people can use to check who these people are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The family of James Foley released a letter from their son during his captivity. His parents say Foley dictated this letter to a fellow hostage. That fellow hostage memorized it and then relayed it to Foley's family after the other hostage was released. It says, in part, "the games and teaching each other have helped the time pass. They have been a huge help. We repeat stories and laugh to break the tension. I've had weak and strong days. We are so grateful when anyone is freed. But, of course, yearn for our own freedom. We try to encourage each other and share strength." On Sunday, hundreds gathered in Foley's hometown of Rochester, New Hampshire, for a mass, a mass of remembrance honoring him.

All right, meantime, ISIS is on the march in Iraq and Syria. It has now gained control of the key air base in Syria. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh live in Baghdad.

That is a strategic -- another strategic win for ISIS. Tell us about it.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, it really highlights what U.S. defense officials have been saying over the past week while U.S. air strikes that began here in Iraq on August 8th have really halted those advances that we saw ISIS make over the past few months when it seemed to be unstoppable in Iraq, gaining more and more ground. What these air strikes have done have slowed down that momentum here in Iraq, but in Syria, they have been making some major advances.

In northern Syria, in that province of Raqqa, the city of Raqqa that has become their de facto headquarters for that terrorist organization, really over - yet over the past week they have been battling regime forces for control of this last key air base in Raqqa province. And we are being told by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, that monitors the situation on the ground, that yesterday ISIS militants were able to take over that key base, making it the last base in the province to fall into the hands of ISIS, pushing back regime forces. And they took it over despite air strikes by the Syrian regime that we have seen taking place over the past week, really solidifying their presence in northern Syria and highlighting that the threat of ISIS goes beyond Iraq and air strikes here might stop their advances but does not weaken or defeat this organization.

ROMANS: All right, Jomana Karadsheh in Baghdad for us. Thank you.

BERMAN: Thirty-six minutes after the hour. In just a few hours, funeral services will be held for Michael Brown. Three White House officials will be in attendance there. It has been just over two weeks since the unarmed teenager was shot to death by Ferguson, Missouri, Police Officer Darren Wilson. Days of violent protest have now given way to calm in that city. At a rally on Sunday, Michael Brown's father called for a day of silence as he buries his son. Let's get more now from CNN's Vick Valencia in Ferguson.

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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Peace in Ferguson, at least for the moment, seems to have been restored. On Sunday, Michael Brown Sr., the father of that 18-year-old unarmed Michael Brown, who was shot and killed by Officer Wilson, made an emotional plea to the crowd in attendance for a day of silence, a day of respect and to restore peace on the streets of Ferguson.

Here at the scene where Michael Brown was shot and killed, you can see a memorial leading up to where his body laid for four hours before it was recovered by medical examiners. Just a couple of days ago, people began putting these roses down leading up to where he was shot and killed.

Here at the scene and in this neighborhood on Canfield (ph), a lot of people are still showing up to show their solidarity for Michael Brown. A lot of people from out of state. People have driven from all across the country, different cities, different states, to show their respect and make sure that this story is not lost. Largely, though, their eyes are focused on the funeral that will take place later today at 10:00 a.m. local time where it is expected more than 5,000 people will come out to show and pay their respects for Michael Brown.

Nick Valencia, CNN, Ferguson, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: And our thanks to Nick for that report from Ferguson.

Hillary Clinton has had nothing to say so far on the subject of the Michael Brown shooting. She was not offering anything on Sunday at a book signing in West Hampton, New York. Mrs. Clinton was asked by two reporters for her reaction to the protests in Missouri, but she seemed to ignore both questions and then she left the bookstore.

ROMANS: All right, with no video to tell the whole story, we may never know exactly what happened in the shooting of Michael Brown. The city of Ferguson says it will adopt dashboard and vest cameras for its police officers. One of the industry leaders in this technology is Taser International. The company makes stun guns and other nonlethal weapons, plus it makes these body cameras. I talked to the CEO, Rick Smith, asked him if Ferguson officials have reached out to his company.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SMITH, TASER CEO & CO-FOUNDER: No comment about specific discussions we're having with agencies. I can tell you, in general, we've seen about a ten-fold increase in the last week in interest in the camera devices.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: Cameras that fit right on the sunglasses or on the vest of a police officer. Shares of Taser climbed about 30 percent since the shooting in Ferguson. Obviously a lot of people think that that kind of technology is incredibly important now because if you just had a video recording of that, it would tell the story.

BERMAN: And I've spoken to police officer who say it is inevitable and would be welcome to have that technology almost everywhere. It would just do away with a lot of the controversy that seems to linger.

ROMANS: It has to be funded, though, that's the other thing.

BERMAN: It does have to be funded.

ROMANS: It has to be - it has to be funded.

All right, 39 minutes past the hour. Let's get a quick check of the markets.

European stocks mostly higher. Asian stocks ended the day mixed. U.S. stock futures pointing higher. Stocks sitting right near record highs.

BERMAN: A state of emergency in effect this morning in California's wine country where they are cleaning up after the magnitude 6.0 earthquake, the strongest there in 25 years. Napa Valley suffered the worst damage. Dozens of buildings in the city of Napa have been red tagged as uninhabitable. More than 170 people were injured, including a young child in critical condition. There is major damage to the region's famed wineries. State officials say people there are hurting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM, CALIFORNIA: There's a mythology about Napa that it's all fancy wineries. But underneath that, there are a lot of folks here, very low income that are going to need support.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like some of the mobile homes that we saw on fire? You were just there today.

NEWSOM: It was - I was just there. I spent the last two and a half hours at the mobile homes. And, you know, there's one thing about the fires and the horrific images of those fires, but there are dozens and dozens of those mobile homes that are on cinder blocks that are literally off those, quote/unquote foundations. And you've got seniors in there that don't have families that are coming to pick them up right now and help them, that can barely get off the couch on a good day and now have their entire - all their possessions strewn all over the place. So we need to be here for the long run.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE) there. The damage from the quake could top $1 billion.

ROMANS: All right, happening now, the war in Gaza escalating. Israel launching news strikes. Hamas refuses to back down. We are live with the very latest right after the break.

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ROMANS: Welcome back.

Frankly, there is no letup in the renewed fighting between Israel and Hamas. Israeli air strikes pounding Gaza City Sunday. At least 16 people killed in those strikes, including the man in charge of Hamas' finances. Hamas reportedly fired more than 100 rockets into Israel.

CNN's Karl Penhaul following developments live in Jerusalem.

And the conflict continues.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Christine. Over the last 24 hours, the Israeli military and Gaza militants have continued to trade fire. Certainly no sign yet as some military analysts had predicted of the militant factions running out of rockets. They have shown what would be called a fire discipline in that they've saved enough rockets to continue to fire over a number of days, and that is precisely what is happening.

Of course, civilians still getting caught up in this war, dying when they should not be in harm's way. Among the casualties on a Gaza side, a mother and her three children. But also, of course, that the Israeli military has been telling us they tried to target one of the financial chief of Hamas' operation. Not quite clear whether he was actually killed and certainly no word from Hamas about the effects of that attack.

On the Israeli side, well, one of the targets that Hamas was looking for was the Eraz (ph) border crossing, one of the main crossing between Israel and Gaza, and they pounded that with more than 23 mortars mid-afternoon yesterday. And that border crossing has now been closed until further notice according to the Israeli authorities. Now yesterday, Sunday, was due to be the start of the school year for more than half a million Palestinian kids in Gaza, but that -- those schools in Gaza are still being used as shelters for displaced people, so no -- no sign yet when the school year will start.

On the good news, there is buzz in the media that maybe a fresh cease- fire talks could get underway sometime soon in Egypt. No confirmation from the Israeli government. But on Islamic jihad TV in Gaza, they were quoting unnamed sources saying there could be an announcement sometimes this evening.

Christine.

ROMANS: Well, some -- 100 fresh rockets -- rocket attacks from Hamas militants. After all of these weeks now, some seven weeks of fighting, where are the rockets coming from? Because the Israelis have tried so hard to, you know, to deplete those resources and the rockets keep coming.

PENHAUL: Exactly. And that, really, in guerilla warfare terms at least, has been one of the success on Hamas' side that they've been able to sustain that rocket fire. Of course the Israeli military has been saying, has been accusing Hamas of positioning those rockets in urban areas. That is what we and other reporting teams have seen on the ground, of course. There is very little other place to put any military infrastructure in Gaza if it is not in the urban areas, particularly since during the Israeli ground operation ground troops pushed into the open areas just along the border. So it is an urban war that does tends to get very dirty in its nature. And, of course, rocket and other military installations are close to civilian points. But we've also seen on Hamas TV how they're burring some of these rocket installations. Some of them are automated. They simply pop up above the ground, fire and then go back under the ground. Certainly an improvement in their technology since the last war in 2012, Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Karl Penhaul for us this morning. Thanks, Karl.

BERMAN: Forty-seven minutes after the hour. The deadly Ebola epidemic keeps spreading across Africa. Officials in Congo say two people have been diagnosed with the deadly disease there. The health minister says a death occurred in an isolated area and the disease seemed to be different -- a different strain to the one in West Africa, Congo, central Africa.

Meanwhile, in Liberia, there are not enough aide workers to help with people who have come down with the disease. Officials say they are in desperate need to find health workers and experts in disease management. In Sierra Leone, the practice of hiding Ebola victims is now banned under the law. Anyone violating the measure could face up to two years in jail.

And a British health care worker who tested positive for Ebola in Sierra Leone was flown to London Sunday night. He caught the virus while caring for patients at a hospital where 15 nurses - 15 have already died. An estimated 2,600 people in West Africa have been infected with Ebola since March.

ROMANS: All right, we're following breaking news.

Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, says Moscow has told Ukraine it intends to send a second humanitarian convoy in rebel held eastern Ukraine in the coming days. Russia sent hundreds of trucks carrying aid to people into Luhansk (ph) without Red Cross monitors on Friday after accusing Kiev of intentionally delaying that mission. That could be seen potentially as a provocation but -- you know, in what has been a very difficult situation in eastern Ukraine.

BERMAN: Keeps pressing the issue.

ROMANS: All right, a bomb threat on Twitter forcing an American Airlines flight to land. What hackers were targeting on board that flight, next.

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BERMAN: A scare in the skies over Arizona. An American Airlines flight forced to land at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport just before noon on Sunday. The move came after authorities got word of a tweet claiming there were explosives on board. That came shortly after takeoff from Dallas. That tweet reportedly was sent out by hackers targeting Sony's online entertainment president who was on the flight. The plane was searched. And after several hours, the aircraft was cleared to continue on to San Diego.

ROMANS: Florida officials this morning searching for more bodies in the Atlantic. Four men were found dead Sunday off the coast of Hollywood, Florida. Coast Guard officials flying over the scene spotted seven bodies. Three couldn't be found when they arrived on the scene by boat. At this point it's not clear who the victims are or if they were traveling on a boat or a raft.

BERMAN: Los Angeles police arresting a person of interest in a string of fatal shootings. He was captured Sunday trying to leave the house where he had barricaded himself. The three random attacks began when a gunman opened fire on a family driving to church. One passenger was killed, the other four, wounded. Two other people were shot and killed less than an hour later. Witnesses reported seeing two men in an SUV at these shootings.

ROMANS: Another security breach at New York City's Brooklyn Bridge. Police arresting a thrill seeker after he took a stroll Sunday on the bridge's suspension beams. Twenty-four-year-old Yaroslav Kolchin was charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. He got past security, which had been on high alert, of course, since last month when trespassers replaced the flags that had been flying over the bridge.

All right, is Burger King ready to trade its American citizenship for lower taxes? Oh, yes, another story about inversion. An early start on your money, next.

BERMAN: Would it be Burger Loft (ph)?

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ROMANS: All right. It's Monday morning. Let's get an early start on your money today.

European stocks mostly higher. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi hinted at more stimulus measures. Asian stocks ended the day mixed. U.S. stock futures pointing higher right now, very close to record highs. The Dow just 136 points away from a record close. The S&P 500 only down slightly from its record that was reached on Thursday.

Nothing says America like fast food, right? But now Burger King might be giving up its citizenship. Burger King is in merger talks with Canadian chain Tim Horton's. The new company would be headquartered in Canada and that would allow Burger King to cut its tax bill through this controversial process called inversion. The corporate tax rates are lower in Canada than in the U.S. The combined company would be the world's third largest fast food chain. Both restaurants operating as separate brands. The president has said it is not patriotic. - the company - it's not patriotic for companies to move -- to merge with other companies that are overseas just so they can lower their tax bill. A lot of talk in Congress about how to stop it, but nothing - nothing so far.

BERMAN: Tim Horton's coffee, however, is patriotic. I think Canada has no right to it. We should bring it here to the United States because it's very good.

ROMANS: So you're not a very good American, ay?

BERMAN: No - ay. I like coffee and Tim Horton's coffee.

ROMANS: I know.

BERMAN: EARLY START continues right now.