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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Scotland Rejects Independence; Two More U.S. Airstrikes against ISIS; ISIS Releases New Propaganda Video

Aired September 19, 2014 - 04:30   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning. The United Kingdom not breaking up. Rejecting independence. Keeping the United Kingdom united, but this does not mean that big changes are not coming. We are live with the latest and what comes next.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Congress officially signing on to the war on ISIS. The Senate voting to arm Syrian rebels. Not everyone is happy with President Obama's plan. This as new air strikes target the terrorist in Iraq and a new ISIS video is released featuring a British journalist held hostage.

Live team coverage ahead.

BERMAN: American tourists stranded, trapped in hurricane-ravaged Cabo San Lucas. The U.S. military airlifting victims out now as another storm approaches.

ROMANS: Yes, another big storm approaching, Polo.

BERMAN: Serious situation.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's 30 minutes past the hour on this Friday morning.

Breaking news out of Britain this morning. Voters in Scotland have rejected a hotly contested vote for independence. The margin 55 percent to 45 percent.

CNN's Becky Anderson live in London.

Becky, how is the word from the north being received in England?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think here at 10 Downing Street where the prime minister lives, it was received with a lot of relief. We saw a fairly exhausted prime minister out here behind me making a speech to the nation about a couple of hours ago.

The Scots have spoken, he said. And the results is clear as the sun rose over the United Kingdom today. It rose over a country of four nations still, rather than three. And this is what David Cameron had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Scotland voted for a stronger Scottish parliament backed by the strength and security of the United Kingdom. And I want to congratulate the no campaign for that, for showing people that our nations really are better together.

I also want to pay tribute to yes Scotland for a well fought campaign. And to say to all those who did vote for independence, we hear you. We now have a chance, a great opportunity to change the way the British people are governed and change it for the better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: What's really interesting here, because the way the UK is governed going forward will change, guys. David Cameron, the prime minister, said he is a passionate supporter of the United Kingdom but he is also a democrat. And that is, he says, why this vote, this referendum was so important. Scottish public had demanded and it was important that he gave them what they wanted.

There was a gap as wide as 22 points in the polls about two weeks ago. That gap narrowing so tightly. That just before the voting opened on Thursday, nobody could have said exactly which way this was going to swing. And do remember, 1.6 million Scots voted to break away. They just didn't wake up the majority overnight.

So going forward, David Cameron has promised as was vowed by the British government to devolve more powers to Scotland in the weeks and months ahead and the facility to do more funding themselves. So things will change in Scotland, but he says those will be mirrored by more devolved powers. He hopes for England, Wales and Northern Ireland going forward as well.

The north of England, for example, squeezed between what is now a resurgent Scotland to the north and Westminster where everything happens to the south. So do expect to see a lot of change here in the UK going forward. But so far as the United Kingdom is concerned, it can still boast four nations this morning.

ROMANS: Four nations, indeed, Becky Anderson, and you can see the pound is rallying today and British stocks -- stocks in London are up, too, so clearly markets are relieved that it was now a no vote.

Becky Anderson, thank you.

BERMAN: A crucial development for the president's battle plans against ISIS. The Senate on Thursday passed a measure to fund arms and training for so-called moderate Syrian rebels by a vote of 78-22. Now this was one day after the House approved the funding. The White House had been lobbying hard for that. The president thanked Congress for backing his plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm pleased that Congress, a majority of Democrats and a majority of Republicans in both the House and the Senate, have now voted to support a key element of our strategy. Our plan to train and equip the opposition in Syria so they can help push back these terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now a wide margin in the Senate did disguise some unhappiness about the way the funding was inserted into must-pass spending legislation. No one wants the government shutdown which occasionally they do. And also there was some unhappiness about the president's overall strategy against ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: And when they say we have a 10 percent approval rate, Republican or Democrat, it's because of this hypocrisy. Because we don't obey the law. Because we don't engage in important debates. And because we stuff war and shuffle war into a spending bill.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Why does the president insist on continuing to tell the enemy what he won't do. Why is it that the president of the United States keeps telling the people that are slaughtering thousands don't worry, we won't commit ground troops?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: After the funding vote, Congress adjourned pushing off debate on further military action or anything else until after the November elections.

ROMANS: President Obama thanked Congress for approving his funding request. He expressed confidence the plan will work saying the threat posed by ISIS, quote, "doesn't frighten us."

In France, President Francois Hollande officially committed French jets to airstrikes against ISIS targets starting soon. That's in addition to the reconnaissance flight they are already running. And in Iraq the U.S. military launched two more air attacks on Thursday. One near Mosul, the other southeast of Baghdad.

CNN correspondent Anna Coren live with us this morning in northern Iraq.

And Anna, they're sort of spreading out these airstrikes. They are trying to cut off the lines of supply from Syria to the ISIS militants.

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, definitely. That is the aim, Christine. The airstrikes at the moment focused on supporting the troops on the ground to continue the advances that they are making in these towns and villages that have been occupied by ISIS since June.

But obviously the ultimate aim is to do just that. Cut off that supply route from Syria, which is of course the safe haven, the sanctuary for these ISIS fighters who so, you know, easily drive across the border from Syria into Iraq, supplying fighters and weapons and ammunition.

The equipment that they have been using to take so much of the Iraqi territory in the past few months. Those airstrikes are just critical to what is happening here. Certainly in northern Iraq. Not just providing the cover for the ground forces, but as you say, taking out those enemy targets. The artillery, the armored vehicles, the convoys. It really is denting the momentum of ISIS and containing them in these areas.

And you know, as we've been talking to you over the past few days, we've been up with the Peshmerga and we've seen them in action. You know, they're not going and taking huge parts of the country back, but it is a piecemeal approach in villages.

And I just got off the phone from a senior Kurdish official, Christine, who tell us that it's a mop-up operation afterwards that is now very time consuming. The reason being is because of the landmines, the IEDs, the explosives that ISIS is laying all along the road, in the buildings, in houses. It really is slowing down the Peshmerga advance.

So obviously they are also waiting for more of these global coalitions to come to the fight. You mentioned that France is committing fighter jets to cover the skies of northern Iraq. We know Australia is also committed to those airstrikes as well. So momentum is definitely building as more and more countries, Christine, get involved.

ROMANS: All right. Anna Coren for us in northern Iraq. Thank you, Anna.

BERMAN: A new chilling media message from ISIS. The slickly produces video features a British photojournalist. Now because he is delivering ISIS propaganda under duress, we are not playing the video on our air.

CNN's Karl Penhaul standing by live in London with more on this video.

Good morning, Karl.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Well, John Cantlie, and a very experienced British photojournalist, and he was kidnapped in November 2012. He was traveling with then kidnapped at the same time as James Foley, the U.S. journalist that we know back in August now was executed by ISIS. But this video that we're seeing now is very different in nature to the way that ISIS has shown its previous hostages.

In this video, the British jihadi known as Jihadi John does not appear alongside this hostage with a knife. There's no sign of him, in fact. And instead, John Cantlie appears at a desk, almost in a broadcast news style. And that is central to his message because what he is saying is that over the coming days, over the coming weeks, he's going to deliver a series of programs or reports telling us the truth about is. Now he says, of course, that you may think I'm doing this because I'm

a prisoner and he says, well, of course, I am. But he also goes on to say that he feels that he's been abandoned by the British government. He also says that while other European countries have negotiated their hostages out of captivity, Britain and the U.S. have failed to do so. And so that is why he is in this mess now.

That's very difficult to tell exactly why ISIS has changed tack on this. Is it an attempt to gain our attention in different fashion or is this perhaps a scheme that John Cantlie himself has put together and persuaded his captors of? A kind of a gamble to prolong his life. Of course if that is the case, there is no guarantee he will succeed because Cantlie himself in the video says, you know, I'm doing this and I will do this for the next short while, but no telling whether that will keep me from death. So still very much under threat of death -- John.

BERMAN: And John McCain, who was prisoner of war for years in North Vietnam, said that no video message, no written message written by a prisoner can be taken at face value. You always have to assume it's being done under great, great duress.

Karl Penhaul, live for us in London. Thanks so much, Karl.

ROMANS: With all the attention focused on ISIS, it's easy to forget the militant group is not the only threat America faces in Syria. There's word U.S. counterterrorism agencies are now tracking multiple terror plots traced to al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate. Current and former intelligence officials telling the "Wall Street Journal" that the Nusra Front, the al-Nusra Front, and a group known as Khorasan are intent on attacking Western targets like airliners.

But the U.S. won't turning to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, of course, for help in dealing with those threats. Secretary of State John Kerry declaring the U.S. believes Assad broke international law by using chemical weapons on his own people in April during the civil war there.

BERMAN: The death toll exploding in West Africa from Ebola. More than 2600 people have been killed by Ebola. The United Nations has declared the outbreak a threat to international peace and security. Officials there are moving quickly to set up a mission to coordinate the relief effort.

In Sierra Leone, a three-day lockdown has been ordered for six million people. Everyone confined to their homes while house-to-house searches are conducted to find Ebola victims who are hiding.

In southeastern Guinea, there was a deadly mob attack on a team of Ebola educators who were only trying to teach locals how to avoid getting infected. Eight people, including three journalists, were killed there. The situation is becoming so dire there's now a black market in West Africa for the blood of Ebola survivors. It's really bad for anybody. To fight the virus. Health officials are very, very concerned about black market blood because it could spread HIV. ROMANS: What a disaster. And, you know, people there, when they're

told that they have to stay in, when they're told that they have to be in quarantine, some of them aren't going to be able to eat unless they can do to their job, right? So they are breaking out, they're hiding, they're trying to get away so they can feed their families. It's near-term death or long -- you know, it's just all bad choices for some of these people.

Forty-two minutes past the hour. Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning.

European stocks sharply higher on news of course that Scotland will stay in the U.K. The pound is up against the dollar and the euro. Asian shares are up as well. U.S. stock futures pointing much higher Friday. Look at that. Dow futures have 73 points. If this holds, it would be a record day on Wall Street.

The Dow and the S&P 500 hit records yesterday. News out of the U.K. driving the rise to a lot of excitement also around Alibaba's market debut this morning. It's an IPO, the biggest, I mean, you've ever seen. Alibaba secured its place as the largest U.S. unlisted IPO of all time last night. The stock price at $68. The top of it is expected price range and it's ranged $21.8 billion. Now large investors have been able to buy-in so far. This morning shares will start trading under the ticker symbol, BABA.

And here's where I inject my advice about IPOs all the time. And it's the riskiest investment, an individual investor can ever make on IPO. This company now you're going to start to be able to look under the hood of it and see how it makes its money, what the risks are, but it is the riskiest thing that you can do.

BERMAN: And who gets the inside track on these IPOs?

ROMANS: The big money. The big money. The investment bankers, the hedge funds, the people, the friends and family access to all of the -- you know, the big time investors on Wall Street.

BERMAN: Yes. Not the rest of us.

ROMANS: I mean, you know, what could happen, too, is that it could pop. It could pop. But you get it at the starting price here and all the people who bought it at the IPO price get rich and you just -- you know, you can make a buck or two. It doesn't cover your -- doesn't even cover your brokerage fees.

Anyway, enough about that. Be careful.

BERMAN: Take care.

All right. 43 minutes after the hour. Passengers injured in a dramatic emergency landing. A JetBlue flight forced to land. Smoke filling the cabin so thick that passengers cannot see the person sitting right next to them.

ROMANS: It's terrifying. BERMAN: The dramatic video right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: A real scare for passengers on a JetBlue flight forced to make emergency landing just minutes after it took off from the airport in Long Beach, California. Cell phone video captures the chaos in mid-air. Passengers say they heard a loud boom. Suddenly as you can see there was smoke everywhere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN HUBBARD, PASSENGER: The engine blew out. We're out over the ocean.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Wait, wait. What do you mean the engine blew out?

HUBBARD: Our right engine blew out.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You actually heard it?

HUBBARD: Yes, a pop blew out. Smoke engulfed the cabin where you couldn't see the person next to you.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: That bad?

HUBBARD: It was that bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Four people suffered injuries. JetBlue will only say the plane had an issue with one of its engines. It is still not known exactly what happened to that engine.

ROMANS: Terrifying.

New details this morning about the abuse allegations against Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer. Police now revealing he allegedly broke his wife's nose when he head butted her in the face after she bit his lip to stop unwanted sexual advances. That's what police say. This all happened during a July domestic dispute. Dwyer was arrested Wednesday, but is now out on bond.

The Cardinals have now placed him on the reserve non-football injury list. In effect this ends his season, right? Cardinals coach Bruce Arians says he was simply stunned by the allegation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUCE ARIANS, CARDINALS COACH: It was like the worst nightmare a coach can have right now. For me, personally, I was totally shocked because I've known John a long time. And it was totally out of character from what I've known. And so I was extremely shocked by the incident and -- but we have to move forward. You never forget the victims. The victims come first. But yes, you

build relationships. And me as a coach, I've always taken the approach that these are my children. And I treat them as my children. And this is very hard. If this was my son, I would have a very hard time dealing with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The national women's advocacy group Ultraviolet flew a "Goodell Must Go" banner over the Georgia Dome Thursday before the Bucks-Falcons game. That banner also flew over several NFL venues last week.

All right. Daring rescues. Americans airlifted out of hurricane- ravaged Cabo. The U.S. military involved now as a new storm approaches. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: The King Fire east of Sacramento burning out of control this morning and moving north toward Tahoe National Forest. More than 4,000 firefighters have dumped an unprecedented half a million gallons of fire retardant on that blaze. It has already consumed 73,000 acres, still threatening 12,000 homes.

Now the man suspected of starting the King Fire has a court appearance this afternoon. 37-year-old Wayne Allen Huntsman has an extensive criminal history that includes a conviction for assault with a deadly weapon. Police say he willfully started the fire, but they're not saying why.

ROMANS: Four days after Hurricane Odile hit, thousands of stranded American tourists are still trying to evacuate Cabo San Lucas. There are reports of extensive damage, reports of looting in this resort city, thousands of people are homeless. In northern California a couple is still missing and forecasters are keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Polo, picking up steaming off of Mexico's southern coast.

There is probably nothing I would like less than to be stuck in Cabo after -- between two hurricanes.

BERMAN: Waiting to be evacuated by airlift.

ROMANS: Right.

BERMAN: There's another one on the way?

ROMANS: Yes. 54 minutes past the hour. The iPhone 6 goes on sale today. But don't expect it to just waltz in, pick one up.

BERMAN: Unless your version of a wall involves standing in line for nearly half hour.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: We're going to get an early start on your money next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

European stocks sharply higher on news Scotland will stay in the United King. The pound also gaining against the dollar and the euro. The U.S. stock futures pointing higher this Friday morning with news out of the UK and Alibaba's stock market debut this morning.

It could be another record day for Wall Street. If you're keeping score, folks, stocks have had a great year so far. The Dow is up more than 4 percent, the S&P 500 up almost 9 percent. And look at the Nasdaq up a stunning 10 percent since January.

All right. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus go on sale today. People around the world camping outside Apple stores to buy these phones. Apple said there will be a limited supply for customers today and that supply will go fast. Here in the U.S., stores open at 8:00 a.m. The new phones broke pre-order sales records last week with more than four million orders placed in the first 24 hours.

All right. The world's highest paid CEO is giving up his job. Larry Ellison announced he will step aside as Oracle's CEO. He has held that job since he started the technology firm back in 1977. It's made him one of the richest men in the world. How rich? Last year, he made $78.4 million in company stock options. Now two of oracles top executives will replace Ellison as co-CEO. Ellison will take over as executive chairman of the company board and he will be the chief technology officer.

BERMAN: Bet he's got a good 401(k). He may not need it.

ROMANS: He's so rich.

BERMAN: Hey, can I give people one bit of unsolicited advice?

ROMANS: What is it?

BERMAN: If you have an iPhone, download the new software before rushing out to buy the new one. You may be satisfied. You may get your little tech --

ROMANS: Are you satisfied with your new --

BERMAN: I might have my tech craving satisfied by just downloading the new software. Think about it, folks. I may have just saved you lots of money.

ROMANS: John Berman, political commentator, anchor and tech genius.

BERMAN: Exactly.

EARLY START continues right now.