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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

American Fighting with ISIS Killed in Syria; Obama Weights Options Against ISIS; Freed American Hostage Back in the U.S.; Ebola Has Upper Hand; Silence Over Gaza

Aired August 27, 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: An American jihadist killed fighting in Syria. The U.S. intelligence confirms the American man died fight for ISIS. This morning, what we are learning about Douglas McCain. This as President Obama faces increasing pressure to go after the Islamic terror group. We're live with the very latest.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, an American journalist held hostage by terrorists for nearly two years back at home. What he's now saying this morning ahead.

BERMAN: And then silence in Gaza. Israel and Hamas agreeing for a cease-fire for now at least. What is inside this deal? What did each side give up? We are live in Jerusalem with the very latest.

Good morning, everyone. Great to see you today. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's Wednesday, August 27th, it's 5:00 a.m. in the East.

Up first, the death of an American jihadist who is fighting alongside ISIS extremist in Syria. Thirty-three-year-old Douglas McArthur McCain was killed during a battle between rival groups near the city of Aleppo. McCain converted to Islam 10 years ago. Over the course of that time, officials say became radicalized. He's now the first American to join militants in Syria.

U.S. officials now estimate there are dozens, perhaps as many as 100 Americans who have tried to join various militant groups there.

We get more this morning from CNN's Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, the American Douglas McArthur McCain killed in Syria, said to be fighting alongside ISIS. His family notified by the U.S. government, telling our Jim Sciutto they had not known that he was in Syria fighting as part of the war going on there.

U.S. counterterrorism officials say he was one of the Americans that they were keeping an eye on, that they were investigating for possibly joining militant groups. And if he had attempted to travel at any point and perhaps come back to the United States, he would have been subject to additional scrutiny.

So, what about U.S. airstrikes in Syria? What about the next step there? Well, by all accounts, U.S. reconnaissance flights are flying along the border, staying for now on this side of the Iraqi side of the border, but having to look into Syria, trying to determine any location of potential ISIS targets that they can.

The real question, of course, is whether President Obama will take the next step and order airstrikes in Syria. But there is some concern at the Pentagon about the law of unintended consequences. U.S. airstrikes in Syria could actually benefit Syrian President Bashar al Assad whose forces are also battling ISIS -- John, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to Barbara for that report.

Douglas McCain grew up in Minnesota. His family says they did not know he was in Syria fighting for ISIS until the State Department told them that he was dead. McCain's cousin said she can't believe that he is gone, or what is now being said about him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENYATA MCCAIN, DOUGLAS MCCAIN'S COUSIN: This has been my whole attitude, like he's not dead. My second thinking was, you know, why was he in Syria? I feel like maybe it was people he was hanging out with, because that's not who he is.

He's not ISIS. He's not a terrorist. He's a happy person. He's close with family. You know, very close to his mom and to his child, like, I don't believe it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Despite the evidence, McCain's cousin said the idea that he was a jihadist, she thinks, quote, "is ludicrous".

President Obama has essentially put ISIS on notice now. He is weighing possible options for military action in Syria after authorizing surveillance flights to gather intelligence on target, possible targets, inside Syria. U.S. officials admit it will take more, though, than just airstrikes to defeat ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIE HARF, DEPUTY STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: There's not a military solution entirely to the ISIS problem. Obviously, we have to take the fight to them. We're doing that in Iraq. But we need to cut off their funding. We need to cut off the flow of foreign fighters.

We need an inclusive government in Iraq to come together and really push them out of Iraq. All of these pieces need to be a part of the strategy in the long term.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: The discussion right now is expanding the fight in Syria. But the U.S. is already hitting is in Iraq, as you just heard there, slowing advance in the northern part of Iraq.

CNN's Anna Coren is there in Irbil.

And, Anna, they're discussing possibly expanding that fight in Iraq as well. You've seen what it looks like on the ground.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we certainly have. Those U.S. airstrikes placing enormous pressure on ISIS. We've seen the results around Irbil, but also around Mosul dam where those Humvees, those vehicles, those convoys are just being blown to bit.

It has changed the way that ISIS has been operating here in Iraq. Remember, they were allowed to make a lightning advance across so much territory. But those airstrikes, taking out those key positions, which means they're changing their tactics on the ground. They're no longer traveling in hoard, of vehicles. They're now being restricted often to civilian vehicles and only a few at a time. So, certainly changing the way that they travel.

We're also understand, John, that it's affecting morale on the ground speaking to Kurdish officials. They've captured a number who have been interrogated. They say that it's certainly affecting morale within the ranks of ISIS fighters.

But, you know, ISIS cannot be underestimated, not for one minute. They are adaptable and they will change to whatever the situation is. We understand from officials in Kirkuk, which is about 100 kilometers from where we are here that there are sleeper cells there. This is a very diverse community which allows ISIS militants to blend in.

So, they're not necessarily standing out saying hey we're in town. They are there, working behind the scenes, trying to recruit the disaffected Sunni soothes who have a tendency to be radicalized. There have already been dozens of arrests in the past several months, and certainly intelligence keeping an eye on militants moving in. Looking at Kirkuk as being fertile ground, but changing tactics in Kirkuk as well. We saw those horrific car bombings over the weekend, and we have some footage to show our viewers of what those injuries like. It killed 20 people, injuring more than 100.

And we went into the hospital wards yesterday, John, and we met some of the victims, young victims, a 10-year-old who had severe burns to her face. Her entire family was seriously wounded. They were in a car just inches from one of those bombs went off. But as you can see pictures of her face, just being horrifically burned. No one wants to tell her that her brother is dead.

You know, this is the human face of war. This is what these people are having to live with. And you know, they may not be taking over Kirkuk, they are certainly instilling fear and panic in these community, John.

BERMAN: You know, having been in Iraq, Anna, you hear about the car bombings going on really for decades. You almost get numb to the reports, but it's so important to see those pictures from the hospitals to realize these are people just trying to lead their lives in the violence and the sectarian strikes make it nearly impossible.

Anna Coren, thanks so much for this report.

ROMANS: All right. Seven minutes past the hour.

Breaking overnight: freed American journalist Peter Theo Curtis back on U.S. soil. This is a picture of him being reunited with his mother in Boston. He was released this past Sunday after being held for nearly two years in Syria.

Curtis released a statement saying, quote, "I've been so touched and moved beyond all words by the people who have come up to me today -- strangers on the airplane, flight attendants and most of all my family to say welcome home. I'm also deeply indebted to the U.S. officials who have worked on my case. I especially want to thank the government of Qatar for intervening on my behalf."

Curtis' mother said she's tempered by the fact that so many others are still captive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY CURTIS, MOTHER OF PETER THEO CURTIS: I don't think anybody is in the mood for celebration. You know, we're relieved. But after the events of the past week and knowing that those other children of my friends are in danger -- you know, I do have very conflicting emotions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Nancy Curtis appealed to the media to give the family privacy.

BERMAN: She's a remarkable woman, listening to her the last few days.

All right. Listen to this, a new dire warning from the Centers for Disease Control concerning Ebola. While visiting Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, three West African countries hit, the head of the CDC said Ebola now -- Ebola now has the upper hand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, CDC DIRECTOR (via telephone): This is an absolute emergency. We have never seen anything on this scale with Ebola before. And, unfortunately, it's going to get worse before it gets better. We've not yet turned the tide. The outbreak is ahead of our response. And the critical block now is getting treatment centers up around the country as rapidly as possible but ensuring safety at all steps.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The numbers really are terrifying -- the tone of his voice terrifying, the words terrifying. According to the World Health Organization, more than 1,400 people have died from Ebola, 2,600 have been infected just since March. The WHO has removed its Ebola response team from the region of Sierra Leone after a medical worker contracted Ebola. And a British nurse exposed to the virus while working with patients in West Africa, she is now being treated with the experimental drug ZMapp.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning. Stock market keeps climbing, futures pointing slightly higher mean another record day for stocks, third in a row if it holds.

S&P 500 above 2,000 for the first time ever yesterday, closing above the 30th high close this year. It has been the best August for stocks since the year 2000.

And Snapchat could now be worth $10 billion. Snapchat is the disappearing chat app popular with teens, because for some reason they would like their messages to disappear. "The Wall Street Journal" reporting that the venture capital firm is about to invest in the app. Evaluation close to $10 billion. That would make it one of the world's most valuable tech startups, even though it makes no money.

It's not about making the money, right? It's about all the potential users to sell to.

BERMAN: Data.

ROMANS: Yes. The company was valued at $2 billion just a year ago. It turned down a $3 billion buyout offer, remember, from Facebook.

BERMAN: Well, that's why they turned it down.

ROMANS: Some people on Wall Street never even heard of this before.

BERMAN: How can you turn down $3 billion? Because somebody may think we're worth $10 billion.

ROMANS: Exactly. So, anyway, happening now this morning: a new truce in Gaza. Israel and Hamas agreeing to an indefinite cease-fire. Is there any real hope that this one will last? We are live in Jerusalem with the latest on that this morning.

BERMAN: Plus, and FBI analyzing a new audio recording, claiming to capture the moments police shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown. But how will they determine if this is real or a hoax? Well, we have an explanation from an expert right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Word of Israel and Hamas agreeing to an expanded cease-fire setting off celebratory gunfire in Gaza, which has been battered by seven weeks now of war. Unlike the others announced from recent weeks, this cease-fire, it has no expiration date. Both sides have agreed to further peace talks in Cairo.

CNN's Ben Wedeman live in Jerusalem. No expiration date, that certainly is progress. But we've got to see this hold. It needs to be hold.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so far, Christine, it does seem to be holding. We are we're more than 17 hours into the cease-fire and there are no reported incidents on either side.

Now, when the cease-fire went into in effect at 10:00 p.m. local time in Gaza, we saw in Gaza some fairly wild celebrations, lots of celebratory gunfire.

On the Israeli side, a much more muted reaction. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu significantly did not put this cease-fire to a cabinet vote, and immediately there were recriminations among Israeli political leaders. The tourism minister, Uzi Landau, saying that this appeared to show that the Israeli leadership wanted peace at any price.

There's been criticism also among the Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip. Two Israelis were killed, just as that cease-fire was about to go in effect by mortar fire from Gaza. Many of the people from those communities have fled to safer ground. And they say they're going to stay away until they are sure that the cease-fire is going to take effect.

Now, the next step, of course, is for an Israeli delegation to go to Cairo where through Egyptian intermediaries, they will discuss further measures to prevent an outbreak of fighting. Now, we know already that the borders between Gaza and Egypt and Israel will be open somewhat to allow for the entry of humanitarian goods, construction materials.

But beyond that, it's not clear whether either side is going to see their demands met. Hamas wanted to see a complete lifting of blockade on Gaza, a reopening of the Gaza seaport and the Gaza airport which has been basically in ruins for years. The Israelis want to see a complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip. However, analysts don't expect either of those sides to see their demands met. At best, they say, there will be simply quiet -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Quiet after seven weeks is something. Ben Wedeman, thank you.

BERMAN: Seventeen minutes after the hour. The protest over the shooting of Michael Brown resumed Tuesday. More than 100 demonstrators marched to the federal courthouse in St. Louis. A small group of protesters marched in Ferguson. Organizers say the march was to promote healing for the community, very peaceful.

The latest protests come as the FBI is evaluating a possible audio recording of the shooting. Now, CNN cannot independently confirm if the shots heard on the cell -- on this recording were from the confrontation between Brown and Officer Darren Wilson.

Forensic audio expert Paul Ginsberg explained to CNN how they can determine if the recording is genuine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER GINSBERG, AUDIO EXPERT: I would like to do an acoustic test that is, go to the person's residence where this was recorded. Ask him whether the window was open or shut, in which direction he was facing, how did he have the iPad or the iPhone situated? And then at the shooting location have people test fire, in the same direction with the same type of weapon so as to see what we hear, and at what level. That would give us an idea of whether it's authentic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Prosecutors say it may take October to present the evidence in this case to the grand jury.

ROMANS: Forecasters tracking dueling hurricanes on both U.S. coasts that are kicking up some really wicked waves. Look at this out West. Hurricane Marie, not expected to be a threat to land. But the surf is definitely up.

BERMAN: Where's the beach?

ROMANS: Yes, I know. Look at that, that's in Malibu. Out in the Atlantic, hurricane Cristobal, the third of the season creating some dangerous rip currents there.

Let's get to Indra now for a check on the weather. She knows about dangerous rip current and hurricanes.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You're talking about both coasts right now right before the Labor Day weekend, so many people are out at the beaches. Right now, we can actually see Marie still bringing 10 to 15-feet waves out in the water in southern California, already reported death of a surfer with those strong rip currents out there.

One of the misconceptions is even though the system is making its way out to sea that you don't feel the effects on land. But take a look at this. There's Marie, look at all of those moisture that's fueling now into through New Mexico. So, a huge flooding concern, with the additional from moisture that's going to be adding to get monsoonal moisture that's already there today. WE are going to be monitoring that closely.

Then, we switch to the other coastline where we have Hurricane Cristobal still out on the waters. Right now, it has strengthened, about 80-mile-per-hour steady winds today, except to go just in between the cape and also out towards Bermuda -- so Cape Hatteras that is. We're going to be watching that as it continues to bring really strong rip currents and also very high surf, six to eight feet along the coastline, something everyone's going to monitor as they go to the beaches over the next several days.

Otherwise, you're going to see scattered showers making its way into the Northeast today, from the system making its way through. General easy cliff notes pattern, cooling off in the northeast, continuing to warm in the southeast. Love that, right? There you go, so you can actually see the 70s dropping down in Boston by the time we start our holiday weekend.

ROMANS: Cliff notes weather.

BERMAN: Thank you. So, I can understand it, too.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: Thanks, Indra.

PETERSONS: Sure.

BERMAN: All right. Coming up, new questions about the heroism or alleged heroism of a USC football player.

ROMANS: Oh, no.

BERMAN: This is amazing. Andy Scholes has the details in the "Bleacher Report".

ROMANS: Look at this face! Look at his face!

BERMAN: Exactly. That says it all. It's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. So, remember that heroic story of USC team captain Josh Shaw yesterday?

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: Well, it took a bizarre turn. And now there are questions about whether or not that story is true.

ROMANS: All right. Andy Scholes joins us now in this morning's "Bleacher Report" -- Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes, good morning, guys.

Yesterday, we told you how Josh Shaw jumped from a second floor balcony severely spraining both of he's ankles in order to save his 7- year-old nephew who is struggling in the pool. Well, after the story gained a lot of steam, USC received several calls questioning its authenticity.

Now, USC did not make Shaw available to the media, but head coach Steve Sarkisian did speak about the situation, saying he has no reason not to believe Josh, but he added the school is going to investigate the situation to find out what really happened. Stay tuned.

All right. Michael Sam has taken another step toward being the first openly gay player to make an NFL roster. Sam survived an NFL first round of cuts as the Rams trimmed their roster to 75 players yesterday.

The next hurdle for Sam will come on Saturday when teams have to get their rosters down to 53. All right. When I was 15 years old, I was worried about finishing my

geometry homework on time. Competing at the highest level of tennis wasn't really on my radar. Well, that's what makes me difference from CiCi Bellis. Yesterday, the 15-year-old shocked the world beating domestic minute Dominika Cibulkova, making her the youngest player to win a match at the U.S. Open in 18 years.

This match wasn't supposed to be on TV, but ESPN rushed a camera over there to the court after Bellis won the first set. After the match, Bellis said she went in looking for a great experience, never thought she would come out on top.

All right. The highlight on the men's side came from Roger Federer. Watch here as Fed pulls off the sweet between the legs return. Look, his opponent thought he won the point, didn't even see the ball that hit him in the back. Michael Jordan was in Fed's box watching the match. Easy to say, he was impressed by that shot.

Guys, if you didn't know, Federer is actually wearing Michael Jordan tennis shoes. He and Jordan came together and put together a retro Michael Jordan tennis shoe.

But what a shot!

ROMANS: Sounds like an MJ move, wasn't it?

BERMAN: It was very good.

SCHOLES: Greatest watching the greatest.

BERMAN: The opponent actually shouted out during the match, I want to be like Mike. He saw Jordan in the stand, he goes, I want to be like Mike.

But Jordan was there rooting for his business partner Roger Federer.

ROMANS: But sadly, Federer was more like Mike and won.

BERMAN: Exactly.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks so much. Thanks, Andy.

BERMAN: Breaking overnight, new information on the American jihadist killed while fight for ISIS in Syria. What Douglas McCain's family is saying this morning? That's right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)