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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Egyptian Group Pledges Allegiance To ISIS; Obama to Meet With Chinese President; Stocks at Records; South Korean Ferry Captain Convicted; Michael Brown's Family in Switzerland

Aired November 11, 2014 - 05:30   ET

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

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, new U.S. troops arriving in Iraq to take part in the war against ISIS. What will these soldiers be doing as the Obama administration shifts strategy in fighting the terror group? We're live.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: In hours, President Obama meets one-on- one with China's leader trying to find common ground in a tense relationship. We are live with what the president is hoping to accomplish.

BERMAN: Breaking news overnight, a judge delivering punishment for the captain of the South Korean ferry that capsized killing more than 300 people, so many of them high school students. We are live in South Korea with the latest developments.

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

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's 31 minutes past the hour. New for you this morning, the first 50 American troops are on the ground in Iraq paving the way for a larger contingent to come in the war against ISIS.

Now the Pentagon says they are the first group to arrive since President Obama ordered 1,500 more troops to Iraq. A Pentagon spokeswoman says the troops are there to advice and train Iraqi forces. They are not in a combat role in Iraq.

We have new information on an airstrike that may have wounded the head of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Now U.S. officials say coalition and Iraqi forces did launch airstrikes in two different parts of Iraq targeting ISIS leaders.

There is still no confirmation though that al-Baghdadi was someone injured in either attacks. An Egyptian-Islamic militant group has now pledged obedience to ISIS. Up until now, that group had almost focused exclusively on attacks against the Egyptian.

A lot of developments to get to in the war against ISIS now. Senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon, is in Southern Turkey for us with more. Arwa, I guess, let's begin with those 50 U.S. troops on the ground. They are boots on the ground, but they will not be in a combat role, the U.S. says. ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are not going to be in a combat role, but at the end of the day, they are in a very dangerous war zone. So even though they may be advising and assisting the Iraqi security forces, that is not some sort of blanket of security over them that is going to prevent them from perhaps coming under direct attack themselves.

They are finding themselves in the midst of the active frontline. Now these 50 troops have arrived at the Al-Assad air base. This is Iraq's second largest air base in the heart of its Sunni territory Al-Anbar Province. Not too far from the city of Hit.

This is an area that has a very darkened, tortured history for the U.S. It is in Anbar province where we had the massive battle for Fallujah in 2004. Back then, it was against al Qaeda and Iraq.

It is from the ashes of al Qaeda that ISIS eventually merged and developed and evolved into an entity that today is arguably even more powerful than al Qaeda in and of itself ever was.

These initial 50 troops are part of the 1,500 meant to bolster America's efforts, but also are being deployed in some parts at the request of the Iraqi government and based on the assessment by the top U.S. military commanders on the ground.

Thus far, the America and coalition efforts have succeeded in stopping ISIS advance, yes, but they have not yet been able to allow the Iraqi forces themselves to regain key territory. Important in all of this is going to be the Iraqi government's capacity, the Shi'a-led Iraqi government's capacity to bring those Sunni tribes back on board.

Because the Sunni tribes are the ones that by and large are allowing for ISIS to operate from their territory. When it comes to the fate of al-Baghdadi at this stage is unclear. The Iraqi Ministry of Interior claiming he was wounded in an attack in Al-Kyme.

The Ministry of Defense is saying he was wounded in an attacked outside of Mosul. The U.S. did confirm that they struck a ten-vehicle ISIS convoy outside of Mosul, but they say they do not know who was in the vehicles. That strike was carried out because it was a target of opportunity.

No information just yet on what the fate of al-Baghdadi is. If he has been injured, this may be a victory, but is not going to deal a decisive blow to ISIS' capabilities -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Arwa Damon for us in Southern Turkey. Thank you, Arwa.

BERMAN: In less than an hour, President Obama has his first one-on- one meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, such a crucial meeting. The two presidents, they are set to enjoy a walk and private dinner and tea.

Now hanging over this meeting is an array of tensions between the two governments. Among them U.S. concern that pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong could end in violence and the word that emerged on Monday that the U.S. Postal Service suspects Chinese government hackers of breaking into the U.S. Postal Service and stealing data on more than 800,000 of its employees.

Nevertheless, such a crucial relationship, and a lot of expectations for the meeting. Let's turn now to CNN's David McKenzie live in Beijing this morning. Good morning, David.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Yes, the leaders of China and the U.S. get together, the whole world watches. Certainly, it will be very interesting to see if any tangible results come from the meeting of President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China.

They will be meeting today, tonight and tomorrow as well. It is all come after a meeting ever 21 leaders of the Asia-Pacific region here in China. As you say, cyber security will be the top of the agenda for the U.S. administration.

They say they will continue to push China on that subject though China might not listen. There are also issues of freedom rights and human rights and ultimately perhaps the most important for President Obama is domestic agenda and the economy.

Because the U.S. and Chinese presidents have said when the U.S. and China work together on trade, both countries benefit. They mentioned one bit of progress, John, a high tech trade agreement agreed on the specifics of that to allow high tech from the U.S. to be sold with lower tariffs in the coming months, most likely in China.

That could create jobs and a lot more trade between the two countries. Also, those sticky points will be discussing and whether China listens and if they can make progress is anyone's guess -- John.

BERMAN: Yes, during these meetings, there were a lot of world leaders on hand. We see the number of photographs over the last 24 hours of President Obama near Russian President Vladimir Putin, near each other. Did they get a chance to talk?

MCKENZIE: Well, it is sometimes hard to avoid those people you don't want to see when you are crowded in a room particularly when 21 world leaders are in these meetings. It seems according to a U.S. official that the U.S. president did several times meet with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia today, in China.

Those meetings were brief around 15 to 20 minutes. They say that issues they discussed were Iran, Syria and the Ukraine. Of course, the U.S. has been spearheading very tough sanctions against Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia.

I can't imagine those discussions were necessarily that friendly or if they covered any substantial ground. But certainly diplomats will feel it is progress when people talk.

BERMAN: Any chance for a discussion is a good opportunity. David McKenzie for us live in Beijing this morning. Thanks so much. ROMANS: All right, 38 minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money, Asian stocks are higher. Japan's benchmark index ending the day up 2 percent. The Bank of Japan stepping up stimulus there.

European stocks are higher. We are on record watch in the United States. U.S. stock futures are higher. It would be another record day on Wall Street if this holds. It's a record yesterday.

The Dow is up 40 points. The S&P ending the day with the 39th record high close this year. That is a record. The Nasdaq is the highest since 2000. Blue chip stocks have never been this high before.

All right, a lot of businesses are saying thank you to veterans today with a whole bunch of free stuff. You can get a free haircut and meal at Golden Corral or Hooters, coffee at Starbucks, pancakes at Ihop or Bob Evans. Plan your day accordingly.

BERMAN: Good for all those companies.

All right, breaking news this morning, the captain of the South Korea ferry, a ferry that capsized and killed so many people sentenced for his role in the deaths of those 300. We're live in South Korea ahead.

ROMANS: Plus a polar plunge for millions across the U.S. Schools closed. Flights canceled and this isn't even close to over. Break out your shovel, Indra Petersons, is tracking the falling temperatures next.

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BERMAN: Breaking overnight, the captain of the South Korean ferry that capsized in April was sentenced to 36 years in prison. More than 300 passengers died in that disaster, many of them high school students.

A South Korean court convicted the captain of negligence, but acquitted him of homicide. I want to turn now to CNN's Paula Hancocks live in Seoul this morning. Paula, the families of the victims here are not happy.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely not, John. They have described this verdict -- the verdict of 15 crew members in all as outrageous. As you say 36 years for the captain, he is approaching 70, so he knows he is not going to be released before he dies.

But the fact is the families wanted the death penalty. It's worth mentioning that (inaudible) mean death. It is effectively life imprisonment as no one has been executed since 1997.

But the families wanted the death penalty for the captain. They also wanted it for the 14 other crew members. They have said outside the courts that they were pushing for an appeal. Prosecutors say that they will appeal these verdicts, not so clear at this point whether it is the captain's verdict or all 15 of them. They say they want heavier punishments as they disagree with the verdicts themselves. Also, happening today, we understand now that the underwater search in the ferry for the nine people who have yet to be found has been canceled.

So the underwater search is over. It is seven months after that ferry sank and according to the families, they are still waiting for their loved ones. It was a very painful decision to make.

But it was simply too dangerous according to them and the government for divers to continue to go down there inside of the ferry, which is starting to crumble, and of course, the brutal winter is approaching -- John.

BERMAN: So many painful days for the families of those who suffered on that boat. Thanks so much, Paula.

ROMANS: All right, an arctic blast hitting millions of Americans this morning, heavy snow pounding parts of Wisconsin, Montana and Minnesota. Look at the mess in Central Minnesota, my, that is St. Cloud, Minnesota, right there, expected to get slammed up to 16 inches of snow. Police in the area responding to nearly 400 car accidents and 200 flights canceled at Minneapolis St. Paul Airport.

BERMAN: So the deep freeze is spreading across the country. Will it come your way? Indra Petersons has the answers.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You said it. Not me. There is snow out there. Keep in mind northern portions of Wisconsin as the low is exiting from the area. Showers in the Ohio Valley, but the big thing is where are you on the weather map? If you are here, everything is great. You are actually warming today

If you are on the back side of this, maybe not so much. Look at the temperature differences already, Billings, 9 degrees. Look at that spread from Miami to Billings. We are taking about a huge contrast across the country.

We dropped temperatures significantly. Oklahoma is from 80 yesterday down to 43. The cold air is not just hanging out in the Dakotas or Montana. It is spreading far down to the south.

An example of yesterday with Colorado at 62 degrees in the morning, now with the windchill, it feels like just 2 degrees. Denver not feeling so hot this morning, in fact, everyone should be getting in the action if you are in the eastern half of the country.

New York City is good for another day or so. By Thursday and Friday, the cold air spreads in. This is just round one, guys. You may want to look what is behind it. That is round two coming in right behind it.

BERMAN: This winter thing.

PETERSONS: That's what I said. You said it is cold the first time. ROMANS: All right, thanks, Indra. Let's look at what is coming up on NEW DAY. Alisyn Camerota joins us this morning. Happy Tuesday morning.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Happy Veterans Day, guys. Great to see you both. On this Veterans Day, 1,500 more troops back in Iraq. We will tell you what they are doing in the fight against ISIS. We will speak with Senator John McCain about their mission.

Also, Joan Rivers' death is now back in the spotlight because there is a new report to highlight major short comings by that clinic over her death. You will not believe the accusations in the report.

We will have an interesting analysis of the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Missouri that you have not seen before. We will do a demonstration of the shooting and struggle at the squad car that precipitated it. Tune in for that and much more when Chris, Michaela and I see you at the top of the hour on "NEW DAY." Back to you, guys.

BERMAN: Looking forward to that. All right, on the subject of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Michael Brown's parents taking their call for change to the United Nations. We are live in Geneva with what they are hoping to accomplish next.

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BERMAN: Gun sales are spiking in Ferguson, Missouri. Tension is mounting there in anticipation of the grand jury decision on whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson. Wilson of course shot and killed Michael Brown in August.

Some gun stores are reporting sales are up there up 40 percent to 50 percent. Michael Brown's family flew to Geneva in Switzerland on Monday. They are set to speak before the United Nation's Committee Against Torture later in the week.

International correspondent, Erin McLaughlin, live for us in Geneva. Good morning, Erin.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. The parents of Michael Brown are expected to testify behind closed doors to a U.N. committee here in Geneva in just a very short time. They will be giving a brief that will be drafted in part by a team of legal experts looking at the death of their son as well as the police response to the protests that followed.

The brief deals with allegations of racial profiling, police brutality, militarization of police, not just in Ferguson, but across the United States as well.

I spoke to one expert who helped draft the brief. He said the focus is to create systematic change in the United States and use the tragedy as a springboard for that change. They went to great efforts to be here today. Crowd funding the entire trip under the #fergusontogeneva -- John.

BERMAN: Interesting to see the story become an international story. Erin McLaughlin live for us in Geneva, thanks so much.

ROMANS: McDonald's recalling more than 2 million Happy Meal toys. Which ones? An early start on your money is next.

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ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money, this morning stocks are at records. Futures are pointing higher right now. Another record day if it holds. Yesterday, the Dow climbed 40 points. That was a record. Here's the count, guys, 23 record-high closes so far this year.

The S&P 500, the 500 big companies most likely in your 401(k), also a record high. It has been a great few weeks for stocks despite that scare at the beginning of October. Companies are reporting solid growth. The economy is steadily improving. All of this is meeting higher stock prices.

All right, McDonald's recalling a potentially dangerous Happy Meal toy. Hello Kitty, this toy was given out in the U.S. and Canada in last few weeks now. McDonald's has two reports of children coughing up pieces of the attached whistle.

It sounds dangerous. McDonald's has recovered more than the 2.5 million toys made. Customers could exchange the whistle for a new toy and a free side item.

Today is the biggest online shopping day of the year. You probably never heard of it, that's right, the biggest online shopping day of the year. It's singles day. A Chinese holiday that started as a way to celebrate being single.

BERMAN: I had never heard of this.

ROMANS: You know what? Millions have, Berman. It is turned into a frenzy of deal hunting. Retail giant, Alibaba, has racked up $7 billion in sales by about 5:00 p.m. Beijing time. That is more than a year earlier.

Last year on singles day, online sales were at $8 billion. We go crazy over Black Friday, Cyber Monday, it's this big driver of everything in this country. I mean, look at that, China in one day, Singles Day, can do way more than. Singles day, 11/11. It is a way to celebrate being single.

BERMAN: We don't celebrate singles day in my household.

ROMANS: It is called your 20s and most of your 30s.

BERMAN: All right, happening right now. New U.S. troops arriving in Iraq to join the war against ISIS, what will the role be? How much in harm's way will they be?

"NEW DAY" starts right now.