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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Obama Authorizes Recon Flights over Syria; ISIS Threat in Iraq; All Calm in Ferguson; Emmy Night in America; New Cease-fire in the Works?

Aired August 26, 2014 - 05:30   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: The hunt for ISIS. The U.S. sending new surveillance into Syria. The terror organization making big gains in the war-torn country. Is it time to attack where the Islamic militants are strongest? This, as ISIS makes new grounds in Iraq and pushes the country further toward civil war.

Live team coverage this morning from London and Baghdad ahead.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news overnight, a new audio recording that may have captured the moments Michael Brown was killed by a police officer. So, why is this evidence surfacing now? Hear it for yourself. This, as the community there pays its final respects.

ROMANS: TV's best facing off for the primetime Emmy Awards. The surprises, the snubs and the biggest win of the night. We are breaking down all the big moments from last night, incase you missed it.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: Great to see you this morning. I'm John Berman. Twenty-nine minutes past the hour right now and this morning, a new front in the battle against ISIS militants. President Obama signing off on surveillance flights over Syria, talking about drones and spy planes, perhaps laying the ground work for launching airstrikes on ISIS targets inside Syria soon.

This comes as Islamic militants seized a key air base inside that country. And the Syrian government is signaling its willingness to accept support from the United States and others to fight ISIS.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh following the latest developments.

And Nick, these over flights, these spy flights really a sign of what may be to come.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly. Many believe that if you're going to tackle ISIS in Iraq it's kind of pointless unless you also tackle them in their main stronghold in northern Syria.

That's Syrian government plead, though, coming with so many caveats to make cooperation between Washington and Damascus pretty much impossible. Certainly the Obama administration does not want to be seen as the air force so to speak of a regime that it's accused of the use of chemical weapons and killing tens of thousands of civilians in a brutal civil war frankly which many say is the root cause of the radicalism and the support basis that ISIS have found in some parts of northern Syria.

But those decision to launch surveillance flights over northern Syria against ISIS, very complicated. You know, it's a mess there. Very little human intelligence on the ground. Very little human intelligence on the ground, very few spies, so to speak. So the intelligence they create it's going to take a while to get it to the point where they're happy launching airstrikes than they've seen in Pakistan in the past.

You make mistakes and you kill civilians, not connected to the militants, you create more enemies, too, and make it easier for the militants to find a safe haven there -- John.

BERMAN: Nick, so much going on in that region over the last week or so. We are talking about the death, the assassination of journalist James Foley. Are investigators any closer to finding out the identity of the man, the jihadist, who killed him?

WALSH: There's so much speculation. They're close, they're not close. Extraordinarily hard really to keep tabs of where the hunt is. But we've been speaking to forensic analysts to look at that execution video gruesome as it was, and they point out some key things. The man who seems to carry out the execution, he's of a different physical build than the man giving the speech.

The man giving the speech has a different kind of knife in his hand than the knife laid on the floor next to the body of the deceased and the man giving the speech appears to holster his pistol so his right hand could use it but the executioner seems to be left-handed.

A lot to suggest that maybe we're not looking at the same masked individual throughout that video and that perhaps the man with the British accent who's being hunted down may not actually be the one who committed the execution. So an extraordinarily complex task ahead for investigators -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Nick Paton Walsh for us in London. Thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right, now to Iraq a car bomb in Baghdad during the morning rush hour killed 10 people and injured dozens of others. No claim of responsibility so far. It follows a series of weekend bombings that killed at least 20 in Kirkuk.

The fight against ISIS continuing in Iraq. The U.N. accuses ISIS of crimes against humanity including the massacre of hundreds of Shia prisoners in Mosul.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh live in Baghdad where sectarian violence, Jomana, is on the rise. What's the latest? JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, as you

mentioned that car bombing this morning, a bloody start for the day here in Baghdad with 10 people killed, 34 wounded in that Shiite neighborhood.

This comes a day after several bombings in Shiite areas here in Baghdad and also two car bombs detonating in the Shia city of Karbala. That's a holy city in the south of the country. And yesterday, one of those attacks in Baghdad, in eastern Baghdad with a suicide bomber on foot who struck a Shia mosque during noon prayers, killing a number of people.

A few hours later, we heard from ISIS. A statement came out claiming responsibility for that bombing, saying it was revenge, in retaliation for that brutal attack that we saw on Friday. You may recall, it was in northeastern Baghdad that gunmen stormed a Sunni mosque there, opened fire, killed at least 70 worshippers in that mosque.

Sunni politicians have blamed it on Shia militiamen. And after that attacks, there have been fears. Sectarian violence has been rising in this country. Sectarian tensions have been pretty much at an all-time high, that I have seen here in Iraq. So there has been fear that these attacks could trigger that cycle of vicious sectarian violence that could unleash and ignite once more that all-out sectarian war that we saw claimed tens of thousands of lives in 2006 and 2007.

ISIS has really been exploiting the sectarian divisions in this country that Sunnis have been feeling marginalized for the past few years. It has really played on that. It has allowed it to gain territory and solidify its presence in Sunni areas. That is why government formation that is taking place right now in Baghdad with two weeks to go for that constitutional deadline to end will be key in trying to weaken and defeat ISIS ultimately in this country, if the prime minister designate is able to bring on board Sunni Arabs into the political process and make them feel included.

ROMANS: Jomana Karadsheh for us this morning in Baghdad. Thanks, Jomana.

BERMAN: Thirty-five minutes after the hour right now. The Veterans Administration says no patients at its Phoenix hospital died because of long waits for medical care. This is interesting. The internal investigation by the V.A. looked into the deaths of 40 veterans and found no link between the deaths and the scheduling backlogs. V.A. employees allegedly doctored records to hide these delays.

You know, CNN first reported the problems in medical care at the V.A. some months ago. Outrage over the delays led to the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.

ROMANS: Thirty-five minutes past the hour. Time for an EARLY START on your money. There's no stopping the stock market rally. The S&P 500 topped 2,000, 2,000 for the first time yesterday. Now it didn't finish above 2,000 but it was the 29th record high close this year.

Some quite a run for investors even with some bumps in the past few months, the S&P 500 is up 8 percent this year. And since the March 2009 low -- John, look at that. It's up 200 percent. If you put a grand back in there, remember the dark days of March 2009, it'd be worth three grand right now.

BERMAN: Another missed opportunity.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: I know. I don't recommend timing the market but this is just a way to show you what incredible run it's been.

Right now U.S. stock futures barely moving. European stocks are mixed this morning. Asian stocks ended the day lower. It feels -- I mean, the technical term, I think, markets are still mellow today.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: That's the technical term?

ROMANS: It's still mellow.

BERMAN: Mellow. Years in business school.

ROMANS: I'm going to say they are mellow.

BERMAN: Thirty-six minutes after the hour.

Breaking overnight. New audio allegedly of the moment that Michael Brown was shot has emerged. It was apparently recorded inadvertently as you will hear, during a video chat.

Listen very carefully to this audio and then we're going to hear from the attorney of the Ferguson resident who captured what sounds like shots. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are pretty.

(GUNFIRE)

You are so fine. Just going over some of your videos.

(GUNFIRE)

How could I forget.

LOPA BLUMENTHAL, ATTORNEY: He was in his apartment, he was talking to a friend on a video chat. He heard loud noises and, at the moment, at the time, he didn't even realize the import of what he was hearing until afterwards and it just happened to have captured 12 seconds of what transpired outside of his building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I was just trying to count. I counted at least 10 or 11 shots there.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: The FBI is now investigating, has already interviewed her client. This came on the same day that thousands packed the funeral home for a home going, final farewell for Michael Brown, the unarmed teenager who's fatally shot by police in Ferguson just over two weeks ago.

It was an emotional service that included calls for peace and justice.

CNN's Nick Valencia on the streets of Ferguson right now where things are quiet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has been another day of peace and quiet here on the streets of Ferguson in the overnight hours. We really saw a dwindling of the police force as well as those demonstrators that were showing their solidarity for Mike Brown.

It seems as though people on the streets of Ferguson have really heeded the message of their elders, as well as the message of Mike Brown, Sr., who on Sunday at a peace fest urged and encouraged people in Ferguson to keep the peace, to be respectful on the day that his son was laid to rest.

Here in Ferguson, in the early morning hours, that's exactly what we see. This is the lot, the approved assembly area for Ferguson demonstrators, and if you look around here, it's largely empty. There is a small contingent of folks still here who spent the night here overnight. About a dozen people who tell me that they will continue their demonstrations, even when the cameras leave.

There also still is a large contingent of support for Officer Darren Wilson, just not here in Ferguson. More so in St. Louis, about 30 minutes away from here. We know that his supporters have raised more than $400,000 for his defense. That money also going towards his livelihood.

Darren Wilson supporters say that he has been given an unfair chance in the media, mischaracterized. And they fear he will, one, never be able to be a police officer and, two, never be able to live in St. Louis again.

Here behind me, it's been very clear to me and told to me directly that this group is for Mike Brown. And while it may be peaceful right now in these hours, they say that the demonstrations will continue again today, even if the cameras aren't here to catch it. They want this story out there. They want the focus to be on Mike Brown, as well as the youth here who they say suffer at the hands of the police.

In Ferguson, Missouri, Nick Valencia, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to Nick for that report.

All right, coming up for us next, the best of TV and the Internet battling it out at the primetime Emmy Awards. Who won big? Who was shut out?

We're making EARLY START history this morning. Brian Stelter with us, EARLY START debut breaking down all the big moments after the break.

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BERMAN: All right. A little bit of deja vu at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards.

ROMANS: The "Breaking Bad" and "Modern Family" were once again golden so what were the best moments, the big snubs?

CNN senior media correspondent, host of "RELIABLE SOURCES" Brian Stelter joining us bright and early to break it down.

So you were up all night actually watching it.

(LAUGHTER)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: I was. I couldn't resist. And it was a lot like watching last year's Emmys.

ROMANS: I know.

STELTER: You know, "Breaking Bad" won for Best Drama, "Modern Family" for best comedy. Even "The Colbert Report" for Best Variety Show and the "Amazing Race" for Best Reality Show. It lost once in the last decade but it's been winning for years and years and years. So it felt a little bit like, you know, welcome back to last year's Emmys.

ROMANS: The (INAUDIBLE).

STELTER: Yes.

BERMAN: And no one cares about this more than you do, Brian Stelter, literally walking the halls here at CNN yesterday talking about how excited he was for the Emmys.

STELTER: I was. I was.

BERMAN: You told me this could be the year that Netflix would break through but not.

STELTER: And I'm surprised that they were shut out. They were nominated for "House of Cards, "Orange is the New Black," "Arrested Development," and a lot of people, me included, thought "Orange is the New Black" would win for Best Comedy. After all "Modern Family" has now won five years in a row. Only "Frazier" has ever won five years in a row like this before.

ROMANS: Whoa. STELTER: I thought "Orange is the New Black" was going to come

through. But they ended up winning one award earlier in the month. None yesterday. In fact the only time Netflix really came up was a commercial that Netflix bought during the network telecast which I thought was sort of interesting.

BERMAN: That is very interesting.

STELTER: Getting themselves in there a little bit.

ROMANS: What was your favorite moment?

STELTER: Well, I thought Julianna Margulies' speech was wonderful. This was a big win for broadcast over cable. There's always talk about how cable is dominant at the Emmys even though it's a broadcast networks that broadcast these things. And it really doesn't matter to viewers. Viewers don't care what channel a show is on, they just want good TV.

But the networks care a lot. There's tension that happens every year. So to have Julianna Margulies win for "The Good Wife" even though the show itself was snubbed, and then to have her come on stage and take a little shot at cable -- she made a comment about how her writers really come through, doing 22 episodes a year even though most cable shows are 10 or 13 episodes a year.

I thought that was a cool interesting moment. And also about Stephen Colbert blowing a kiss to his wife a kiss and his wife blowing it back was a sweet moment as we get introduced to the real Colbert, not the guy.

ROMANS: Right.

STELTER: That we see on Comedy Central.

BERMAN: And there was a lot of late-night drama, too. It was hosted by Seth Myers, and you know, there were a lot --

STELTER: We saw Fallon, we saw Kimmel, we saw Leno, we saw basically all of them except for Letterman.

BERMAN: Very interesting to see.

All right. Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

STELTER: Thank you.

BERMAN: For waking up. Brian also brought us coffee this morning. And for your EARLY START debut --

STELTER: I really think you should have a different correspondent bringing you guys coffee every morning.

BERMAN: We're leaving you with -- an EARLY START mug. You get the commemorative EARLY START thank you mug.

STELTER: I'll wash it out just to be safe.

BERMAN: Just take it with you. Thanks, Brian. Great to have you with us.

ROMANS: Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY." Alisyn Camerota joins us now.

Hi, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY: Hey, guys. You guys are having fun for this early in the morning.

ROMANS: For a Tuesday. Yes.

CAMEROTA: I'll take a dose of that. All right. So meanwhile, I'll tell you what's coming up. We're covering, of course, the latest in the fight against ISIS and the steps the United States may have to take to combat that group.

President Obama has OK'd reconnaissance flights over Syria to collect information on the extremist group's strongholds. So does this mean airstrikes in Syria will follow? And how involved will the U.S. have to get in Syria's civil war to stop these terrorists?

Plus, CNN has exclusive new audio that may have captured the Michael Brown shooting on tape. CNN has not verified the audio. But what can we learn from the sounds of those reported gunshots about what might have happened? We will play those for you.

All this a day after Brown's emotional powerful funeral. We'll talk to a family member who spoke at the service. All that is coming up in about 13 minutes.

I'll see you guys then.

BERMAN: Looking forward to seeing it of course.

That new audio, really, really interesting. Everyone should take a very close listen to it.

ROMANS: Yes.

All right. New hope for peace this morning in war-torn Gaza. Could Israel and Hamas be ready to return to a cease-fire? We are live with the very latest on that right after the break.

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ROMANS: Israeli airstrikes keep coming in Gaza. The latest, nearly leveling one of Gaza's tallest residential buildings injuring 20 people. Israel claims the building was a Hamas commander center. Meantime, attempts to revive Mideast peace talks may be gaining some traction. Israel's prime minister said to be considering a month long cease-fire with Hamas.

CNN's Ben Wedeman live in Jerusalem for us. And the rockets and the airstrikes continue on both sides. Is there

any chance here of a cease-fire?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In Gaza we saw two Israeli airstrikes on two, by Gaza standards, high rises. One, a 14-story building, another somewhat smaller. But basically what we saw at the beginning of this war was the Israelis was taking -- shooting rockets or missiles into individual offices or homes. Now they are taking them completely down. This is really the Israeli version of shock and awe.

One of those buildings known as the Italian Complex was hit at about midnight after getting so-called knock on the roof at 11:00 p.m. There, the entire building came down. This is a building that, according to the Israeli army, had a Hamas command and control system in it. However, residents telling us that there were also many shops and offices there.

Also overnight an Israeli home in Ashkelon was hit, severely damaging it. In that case, 18 people were injured. So really, the back and forth continues on the diplomatic front. There are signs there may be some progress. Apparently, an official from Hamas has suggested that a current Egyptian proposal for an indefinite cease-fire followed by an easing of these Israeli blockade on Gaza is acceptable.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that he's considering a month-long cease-fire. Keeping in mind, of course, that next week Israeli schools are supposed to go back into session. The feeling is that today, day 50, this war has gone on long enough -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Day 50. Ben Wedeman in Jerusalem. Thank you so much, Ben.

Fifty-three minutes past the hour. Is Burger King getting an assist from Warren Buffett in a tax conversion deal to give up U.S. citizenship? An EARLY START on your money, next.

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ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning.

There's no stopping the stock market rally. The S&P 500 topped 2,000 for the first time yesterday. Now it didn't finish the day above 2,000 but it managed the 29th record high close this year. Right now U.S. stock futures mellow this morning, barely moving. European stocks are mixed.

Warren Buffett investing in Burger King's plan to give up its U.S. citizenship. Burger King is in talks to merge with Canadian chain Tim Hortons to lower its tax bill. It's a controversial strategy called inversion. The "Wall Street Journal" is reporting Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway will provide about 25 percent of the deal's financing.

That would put Buffett in the middle of a heated debate about U.S. corporate taxes. Lawmakers in the White House have called inversions unpatriotic. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Certainly isn't fair to the millions of middle class families in this country that don't have that option.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The White House and others encouraging Congress to close that loophole.

Brand new study out this morning. Generation X is causing gridlock in the housing market. Almost half of Gen X homeowners are under water. That means they can't sell their homes for what they owe on their mortgages, preventing millions -- preventing millennials, rather, from purchasing those homes. That also means baby boomers can't sell their larger homes to Gen X'ers.

The good news, the overall percentage of homeowners under way fell to 17 percent last quarter compared with 24 percent a year ago. An improving trend, no doubt. But millennials right in the middle of this gridlock in the housing market.

All right, 58 minutes past the hour. "NEW DAY" starts right now.