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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Obama Lays Out New Plan to Hunt ISIS; Leaders in Iraq Welcome American Help; Concerns in Europe Over Western ISIS Recruits; Former FBI Director to Investigate NFL; New Video in Michael Brown Case; Verdict Being Read in Oscar Pistorius Murder Trial

Aired September 11, 2014 - 04:30   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama's new plan to hunt ISIS, taking out the terrorists in Iraq and now Syria. He's authorizing air strikes, training rebel soldiers, and sending more U.S. troops back to Iraq. But will it be enough to stop the well- funded terror organization? Live team coverage starts now.

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman. 30 minutes after the hour right now. Great to see you. A lot going on. President Obama set to roll out the first pieces of his strategy for taking on ISIS. He unveiled his approach in a nationally televised speech, calling it comprehensive and sustained.

Most notably, the president says he will expand air strikes against ISIS into Syria along with other steps to battle the terrorists. They have posted their brutal crimes on the web for the whole world to see. Among the first to get U.S. help, moderate Syrian rebels and Iraqi military.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In Syria, we have ramped up military assistance to the Syrian opposition. Tonight, I call on Congress again to give us additional authorities and resources to train and equip these fighters.

We will send an additional 475 service members to Iraq. As I've said before, these American forces will not have a combat mission. We will not get dragged another ground war in Iraq. But they are needed to support Kurdish forces with training, intelligence, and equipment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So, did the president win over his critics? Can these steps slow the growth of the surging Islamic State? Mark Preston is executive editor of CNN Politics. He joins us now from Washington with some of the early reaction from Capitol Hill. Good morning, Mark.

MARK PRESTON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, CNN POLITICS: Hey, good morning, Christine. Well, I've got to tell you, reaction immediately after the speech was

pretty much what we expected. You see Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill at the point where -- understanding that something needs to be done. The question is exactly what we saw President Obama lay out four bullet points last night. But very critically, what he did not say or what he did say is that they will not put ground troops into Iraq or to Syria, combat ground troops. They will put advisers on the ground to try to help the Syrian rebels as well as the Iraqi army.

Bottom line right now on Capitol Hill, the big question is will President Obama get the support of Congress when it comes to actually arming the Syrian rebels and providing further training. That is going to play out in the next few hours. Certainly the next few weeks, House Republicans meet behind closed doors to discuss that issue.

BERMAN: Mark, it's truly remarkable to see the president who ran in 2007 and 2008 in opposition to the war effort in Iraq, who has talked about restraint so much in foreign policy, to announce what could be an enduring, he said, effort, new military effort, in the Middle East. I think this must have been a very hard decision for him to reach.

PRESTON: No question. The reluctant war president, if you remember back to 2007, he ran on the idea that he would end the Iraq war, that he would get U.S. troops home, he would get troops out of Afghanistan. And now, in the final two years of presidency, it looks like, at this moment, this will be his biggest issue and might be his all consuming issue.

Big point for President Obama that he made last night, he says he's going to stick to it, is that it just won't be the United States going in and fighting ISIS; it will be a broader coalition. But make no bones about it, it will be led by the United States, certainly. But the question is how big will that coalition be, John.

ROMANS: That's right, and Secretary of State John Kerry is in the region right now trying to build the coalition, trying to talk to Gulf states and our friends and allies and even -- I know the administration has been not officially talking, but even people who are not our allies are also really against the spread of ISIS and see the regional damage it could do.

What are the risks here for the president in getting engaged here, Mark?

PRESTON: Well, certainly long term risks. And I think you both have said that. The bottom line is this is a fight that looks like it will extend beyond President Obama's presidency. So in many ways, when we have all of these candidates, certainly on the Republican side, a couple on the Democratic side, including the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whoever wins is going to have to pick up the fight. So whatever President Obama puts in motion right now will have to have the buy in from both parties, because this is no longer just a fight for one president, it's going to be the fight the next administration.

ROMANS: All right, Mark Preston. Thanks so much for that, Mark.

You heard the president talk about expanding U.S. military presence in Iraq. 475 more soldiers will be deployed in a week. This is a non combat role. That brings the total number of U.S. troops on the ground to about 1,700. The president insisting they are badly needed in a region under siege by ISIS extremists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: When we helped prevent the massacre of civilians trapped on a distant mountain, here is what one of them said. "We owe our American friends our lives. Our children will always remember that there was someone who felt our struggle and made a long journey to protect innocent people."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: I want to go to Erbil, Iraq, and bring in Anna Coren. When we're talking about these 1,700 extra U.S. troops, very important to note that these aren't combat troops, but they are Americans who are there. They presumably will be helping train and arm rebels and they will also be helping get the intelligence for those air strikes. Those air strikes, Anna, have been so critical to stalling ISIS here.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. That helped change the situation on the ground, at least stopped the advance of ISIS. Obviously, ISIS still controls one-third of Iraq but more than 150 U.S. air strikes have been conducted over the past five weeks and we know that it certainly is having an impact on ISIS and it's also hurting them.

Obviously, we're seeing that in Haditha dam, Mosul dam and very close to us her in Erbil. Christine, from the officials we have spoken to here in Erbil as well as Baghdad, they welcome President Obama's strategy and commitment, long term commitment, was how it was put to us, which is what they wanted to hear.

It's the Kurds, the Peshmerga, and the Iraqi forces that are taking the fight to ISIS. They are the boots on the ground. Not the Americans. Yes, there are these advisers coming to train and to assist, and that is critical, because that leadership role has been severely lacking here in Iraq. The Peshmerga and the Iraqis operating as two very separate militaries. There's no cohesiveness whatsoever. We did see at the Mosul dam 200 Iraqi commandos working with the Peshmerga. But what it needs to be, they need to be unified. They need to be coordinated. Obviously with then the help of those U.S. air strikes, which, as the president outlined during his speech, will be a systematic campaign, an expanded campaign, which is obviously welcome news to the people of Iraq, Christine.

ROMANS: Indeed. All right. Anna Coren in Erbil for us this morning, in Iraq, thank you.

BERMAN: ISIS expanded its territory and reach for so much of the summer with recruits joining from all corners of the globe. That includes the man believed to have killed at least one, if not two, American journalists. His voice, he is believed to be from Britain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: In a region known for bloodshed, these terrorists are unique in their brutality. They execute captured prisoners. They kill children. They enslave, rape, and force women in to marriage. They threatened the minority with genocide. And in acts of barbarism, they took the lives of two journalists. Jim Foley and Steven Sotloff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Great Britain, of course, already taken action to protect its homeland against the threat of people returning after having served for ISIS in the Middle East.

I want to go to London now where we find Arwa Damon. Arwa, what's the reaction been so far to President Obama's address.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, nothing official but we do know that Europe has been greatly concerned over the flow of western fighters into both the Syrian and the Iraqi battle fields. There are varying estimates but running into the thousands. Around 500 from the U.K. alone.

Now, we recently spoke to an ISIS defector who had had interactions with some of these western British fighters there who did flat out tell him, at least he says, that if they had the opportunity to go back home and carry out attacks, they would. The U.K. already earlier this month raising the threat level from substantial to severe.

And one of the reasons why this ISIS defector was saying perhaps the organization is choosing to use western British voices to front not only the horrific executions of those two American journalists, but also a number of its recruitment videos, is to encourage more and more westerners to try to join the battlefield, not necessarily just in Iraq and Syria. And I'll quote specifically what he is saying, "but also to send them a message that they can do anything they can in support of ISIS in their repetitive countries as well."

So this most certainly is not a battle that is going to be just be won in Iraq and in Syria, but it is also a battle that is going to have to somehow take place in altering the way that this radical ideology is able to take root in Europe and in other countries. Other nations too, like Libya, for example, that is a recruiting ground but also a very critical training ground when it comes to these extremists. We've seen weapons from Libya, fighters from Libya, an entire brigade in fact in the battlefield in Syria. Weapons also from Libya, allegedly, appearing in Iraq as well.

BERMAN: So this is not just an American battle at this point, and it will not be short. That much is clear. Arwa Damon, for us in London, thanks so much.

ROMANS: The president's speech on defeating terror came as the nation prepares for today's anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It has been 13 years since our nation's darkest day. A ceremony this morning at the World Trade Center begins with a moment of silence at 8:46. That's the minute the very first plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center. President Obama will mark 9/11 at a ceremony at the Pentagon. Another ceremony will take place in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where a fourth hijacked plane crashed after passengers revolted against the terrorists.

BERMAN: About 20 minutes to the hour right now. Well, former FBI director now investigating the Ray Rice case. Did the NFL lie about not seeing the brutal video of Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee? The NFL said they did not see the video until this week. Are they lying about it? This as the Ravens owner breaks his silence about why they waited months to cut Ray Rice. Coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: The NFL bringing in the former director of the FBI to investigate the league's response to the Ray Rice beating. Of course, he punched his wife on video now. We've seen that. That happened last February. Robert Mueller will now conduct an independent investigation into the NFL's attempt to secure evidence and how it handled the evidence it received.

This follows a very shocking Associated Press report saying a copy of the video showing Rice punching his then-fiancee was sent to the NFL in April. Now, the league maintains it never saw this video and that the AP cannot confirm anyone watched it, although a voicemail reportedly from someone in the league appears to confirm that it was in fact viewed.

Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti is speaking out for the first time since Rice was cut this week. He admits he made poor assumptions after the February incident came to light.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BISCIOTTI, BALTIMORE RAVENS OWNER: I was picturing her whaling on him, and him smacking her and maybe her head was this far from the wall and, with her inebriation, dropped. So why did I conclude all that? Because I wanted to. Because I loved him, because he had a stellar record, and the cops had already seen the video. So I assumed it wasn't a forceful blow that moved her head three feet into that wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The Ravens take the field tonight for the first time since the new video emerged.

ROMANS: The troubling thing about domestic violence is its assumptions, making assumptions about something. When you're an organization like that with all of the resources to conduct an investigation, making an assumption about why a woman was knocked cold by one of your star players.

BERMAN: You learn a lot about perspective there, to be sure.

ROMANS: I'll say.

All right, new witnesses, new video, and new protests emerging in the Michael Brown case. This cell phone video obtained by CNN shows two construction workers in the moments after Officer Darren Wilson shot the unarmed teen. Now, one contractor can be heard -- watch closely -- and seen gesturing how Brown had his hands up. Meanwhile, police arrested 35 protesters Wednesday after they threatened to shutdown Interstate 70 near Ferguson. Some say -- police say those demonstrators, some of them at least, threw bricks, rocks, and bottles at police officers. The protest was aimed at persuading Missouri's govrnor to appoint a special prosecutor in the Brown case.

BERMAN: Authorities now say the South Carolina man accused of killing his five children drove 700 miles with their decomposing bodies in the back of his SUV. Authorities say Timothy Jones Jr. killed the children soon after taking them last week and put the bodies in garbage bags and dumped them in a rural site in Alabama. Jones led sheriff's deputies to the bodies Tuesday. There was no word on a motive. And despite the graphic accusations, Jones' father says his son is not a monster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM JONES, GRANDFATHER: Anyone who knows Little Tim will agree that he is not the animal that he will be portrayed through the media.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Jones was arrested in Mississippi Saturday. He is being held there pending extradition back to South Carolina.

ROMANS 47 minutes past the hour. Time now for an EARLY START on Your Money. European stocks are mixed. RBS, the Royal Bank of Scotland, announced it will move its headquarters to England if Scotland votes yes on independence. That's a very big deal happening in --

BERMAN: This is a huge deal; it's fascinating.

ROMANS: It really is so interesting. Asian shares ended mixed as well. U.S. stock futures are lower right now after a really good day yesterday. The Dow up more than 50 points. Apple led a surge in tech stocks. Apple shares jumped more than 3 percent; they're back above $100 a share with a lot of excitement and some disappointment surrounding Apple's product launch day. The stock has been, frankly, I would say it's a roller coaster this week. Now it's back very close to its all time high.

The iPhone 6 expected to outsell previous models but it still remains to be seen if consumers will buy the Apple watch. Starts at $350. You getting one, Berman?

BERMAN: I haven't fully decided yet; mine's only a year old, so I've got to weigh if I'm going to.

ROMANS: No, the watch, the watch. Are you going to get the watch?

BERMAN: Never.

ROMANS: You're not going to get it.

BERMAN: Not ever.

ROMANS: I think it's a little redundant. Sorry, Apple. I think it's a little redundant. You've already got the phone. You even run with your phone, right?

BERMAN: I'm not sure. I mean, if the watch turns out to be a great thing and changes the world, I'll find out about it. I don't need to be one of the first to know.

ROMANS: I will be watching to see if Apple can revolutionize payments, the way we pay for things. That Apple Pay is coming --

BERMAN: It's because you're weird, that's what you'll be watching. Everyone else is watching the watches and phones, you're watching payments. Ooh, sexy, payments.

ROMANS: International financial system and disruption in credit card payments.

BERMAN: 40 minutes after the hour right now. In South Africa, the verdict being read at this moment in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial. A judge is revealing her decision. Does she believe the Olympic hero murdered his model girlfriend? We're live in South Africa next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Happening right now in South Africa. A dramatic moment here. The judge is reading her verdict in the Oscar Pistorius trial.

Now, in South African law, it is a long process. It could take much of the day. But, already, the judge giving hints which way she could be leaning, including who she thinks let out the piercing screams heard coming from the Pistorius house.

I want to get to Kelly Phelps, live in Pretoria. Kelly, the judge saying that she -- she believes technology over human memory sometimes, human memory in the middle of the night. She thinks those witnesses who thought they heard an argument and screams from Reeva Steenkamp were mistaken?

KELLY PHELPS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Absolutely. And it's important to point out that this is essentially a core part of the defense's head of argument document, their closing argument. So about as much as 100 of the 250 pages of their closing argument were painfully reconstructing this chronology from all the phone records and then comparing and contrasting the different witnesses' accounts against that objective chronology.

And essentially she is saying that the facts support the interpretation of it, that the objective evidence of the phone records shows that the witnesses, who were giving evidence in good faith -- they were not lying, they were not lacking in credibility -- were, however, unreliable. She says they were genuinely mistaken about who they heard screaming. And because it physically couldn't have been Reeva Steenkamp because of the mortality of her wounds, the only other person there was Oscar Pistorius so it had to have been him that those neighbors heard screaming out.

ROMANS: This could take a while. She is reading her verdict, but in reading her verdict, she went over the charges. Now she's going over the evidence, and the witnesses one by one with her thoughts.

PHELPS: Absolutely. She's going through essentially points of dispute that were pivotal in terms of how they were relied upon by either party. So we've seen her for example now look at the WhatsApp text messages. The state had put messages forward showing a fight, saying that they were in a bad relationship. The defense put loving messages forward. And she struck those out completely. She said they're completely unreliable. Either side's version is unreliable. Human relationships are volatile, changeable; there's nothing you can know from WhatsApp messages.

She then moved on to the gastric emptying, the pathologist's evidence about when he had last eaten, and has also found, again, that that evidence was unreliable. There's no strong inference that can be drawn from it.

And we've now moved to the most pivotal part arguably for the murder charge, in terms of her determination, which is regarding Pistorius' testimony himself. So she has just started now evaluating her take on what he himself said on the stand.

ROMANS: All right, Kelly Phelps, thanks for that. A dramatic day in the courtroom. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on Your Money this Thursday morning. European stocks mixed. An independence vote in Scotland causing a lot of uncertainty. And now RBS says it would move its headquarters from Scotland to England if Scotland votes yes. Asian stocks ending the day mixed. U.S. stock futures pointed lower right now after a pretty good day yesterday, the Dow up more than 50 points.

Brand new on CNN money this morning -- foreclosures up for the first time in four years. According to RealtyTrac, about 51,000 homes were scheduled for foreclosure action in August, 1 percent increase from a year earlier. It is the first increase since November of 2010. But not to worry. It is not the return of the mortgage meltdown. The increase most likely thanks to a build up of delayed foreclosures after states enacted new laws to protect homeowners, but watching that very closely for the health of the housing market.

BERMAN: I will not worry until you tell me to do so.

EARLY START continues right now.

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