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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

The War on ISIS: Obama's New Strategy; President Obama Facing Challenges in Asia; Window Washers Rescued; Comet Probe's First Images

Aired November 13, 2014 - 04:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A possible new strategy in the war against ISIS. Why President Obama may be focused on taking down Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

Happening right now: President Obama tackling tough topics with world leaders in Asia from trade to human rights. We are live with what the president needs to accomplish this morning.

And, a daring rescue caught on camera. Window washers dangling oh, so high in the air. What they had to say when it was over.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman. It is Thursday, November 13th, 4:00 a.m. in the East. Christine Romans has abandoned me today.

New developments this morning in the battle against ISIS. Senior administration officials tell CNN that President Obama has ordered a review of U.S. policy toward Syria. They say the president has realized that it may not be possible to defeat ISIS with Syrian President Bashar al Assad still in power. Later this morning, a House panel hears testimony on the U.S. ISIS strategy.

CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott has this story from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, you know that many of the president's top national security advisors, including Secretary of State John Kerry, have been calling for a more robust strategy toward Syria.

Now, the president and his advisors coming to the realization that you are not going to defeat ISIS without a plan to get rid of President Assad in Syria who the U.S. and many allies see as the reason ISIS was able to gain strength. It seems the initial strategy to confront ISIS in Iraq first, then take on Syria needs some reexamination, because the administration had hope this would give U.S. time to vet, arm and train the Syrian rebel forces who would then go after ISIS and eventually Assad's regime.

But, officials now realized they do not have that kind of time. The opposition is battling two fronts, the regime and ISIS. And this could be obliterated by the time the U.S. pivots from Iraq to Syria.

Just the past week, the national security team has met four times to discuss how the strategy in Syria fits into the overall strategy in ISIS, one of those meetings chaired by President Obama. There's talk about expanding and accelerating the train and equip program. But they are also talking about a political transition.

When Secretary Kerry and General John Allen, the coalition envoy, meet with allies, they hear there is not a coherent strategy towards Syria, and the only way to defeat ISIS is if there's a more coherent plan for Syria's future -- John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: No doubt, this is on the president's mind as he travels through Asia. This morning, he is in Myanmar where he just accused the government of backsliding on some of the reforms that began with such high hopes in 2010. That is when the government ended 50 years of military rule.

The president as we say is in Myanmar, also known as Burma for the East Asia summit.

With them there is our senior international correspondent Ivan Watson.

Good morning, Ivan.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

That's right. Two years ago, almost exactly, President Obama was the first American president to visit this country. At that time, there was an awful lot of hope, the military junta that have ruled this country had stepped down to allow civil rule and pave the way for elections. Now, two years later, that honeymoon is over. The White House is saying that the reform process here has stalled. And in some areas, it has been backsliding.

And they have specifically noted the treatment of the Rohingya ethnic and religious minority in this country, about a million people who are effectively stateless. They don't have the rights of regular citizens, even though some of them have lived here for generations.

We've visited some of these communities. They are confined to what I can only describe as rural ghettos. They are not allowed to travel freely within the region that they live in. They are denied medical care, access to education, and employment as well. Human rights groups are calling this basically slow ethnic cleansing of this community.

That is one of the issues that President Obama is going to be raising in his meetings with the president of this country, but also the Nobel Peace Prize-winning top opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released as part of the much vaunted reform process from house arrest a couple of years ago -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Ivan Watson for us in Myanmar, we'll check back in with you in a little bit. Thanks, Ivan.

Shocking new revelations this morning about how three Denver area teenage girls were recruited to join ISIS fighters in Syria. Law enforcement officials tell CNN that hardened jihadists and Westerners who have already joined ISIS had direct contact with the girls through the Internet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RITA KATZ, SITE INTELLIGENCE GROUP: The girls were in communication with ISIS Sisters Online, women that are dedicated to recruit women.

DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: These were role models to them and people they can be in contact with. Then social media, which is both more immediate and allows to you immerse yourself in an extremist environment being used as a recruiting platform.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The girls were stopped in Germany before they can make it to Syria. FBI officials say they are homing in now on specific online recruiters thought to be in Turkey, Syria and Iraq.

Kurdish leaders in Iraq are now asking the U.S. to help arm them against ISIS. The group reached out to the Pentagon, asking for equipment, including mine resistant armored vehicles and bomb diffusing robots. The Kurds say they do not have enough weapons to take down the heavily-armed terrorist group. The Obama administration has, so far, rejected appeal over worries that the U.S. would be defying the Iraqi government.

Secretary of State John Kerry is in the Middle East this morning, set to hold talks aimed at trying to ease some of tensions between Palestinians and Israelis that have flared over the last few days all over Jerusalem. The secretary's job is being made tougher by the fact that Israeli government decided to give preliminary approval to the expansion of the Jewish neighborhood in traditionally Arab East Jerusalem.

On top of all that, Israel announced on Wednesday that it will not cooperate with the United Nations probe into the summer's conflict in Gaza. That leaves U.N. investigators in Jordan without any entry visas.

Our senior international Nic Robertson is joining us live this morning.

Nic, we've been watching these tensions every morning. What's the status this morning?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems to be a quiet night compared to recent nights. Secretary Kerry in Jordan will be meeting with the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Of course, his rhetoric and that also what we've heard from the prime minister here, Benjamin Netanyahu, talking really at cross purposes with each other about the rise in tensions over access to religious sites here in Jerusalem.

Secretary Kerry will be looking at trying to bring down the temperature of the political rhetoric and, of course, hope that will ease the tensions here which are on a knife edge, if you will. As far as the U.N. commission that is in Jordan right now that hopes to come and look at the conflict that occurred in Gaza over the summer.

The foreign ministry here in Israel believes that the U.N. commission is bias and unprofessional. The reason that they say that is unprofessional, the commissioner heading it they say has a record of what they described being years of outrageousness over many, many years, outrageous statements about Israel.

They say they believe that the commission would be bias because -- in its terms of reference, it only looks, they say, at occupied territories, meaning Gaza, rather than taking into consideration rockets from Hamas that could potentially or may have killed young children in Israel. So, they believe the terms of reference of bias at a time when they said there were commissions, even some prosecutions under way for what happened in Gaza.

So, this is all coming at a time of very heightened tensions here. There is no indication as far as we know at this time Secretary Kerry meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu undoubtedly, that would be an important issue for him if we could.

But in the context of the housing, we know that the prime minister has said that there should be the right to build houses, build all over Jerusalem. That's his position, and that really helps to explain why the announcement yesterday, 200 more houses, that phase of development moving forward, John.

BERMAN: The White House has said that is unhelpful in the past. So, tensions in the Middle East, also tensions with the international community.

Nic Robertson, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.

New this morning, the fighting in Eastern Ukraine heats up. NATO says that Russian convoys of troops and tanks were moving into the region. Even more alarming, they say, they have observed Russian war planes capable of carrying nuclear weapons deployed to Crimea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. PHILIP BREEDLOVE, SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER, NATO: We see forces capable of being nuclear that are being moved to Crimea. Whether they are or not, we do not know, but they do have the kind of equipment there that could support that mission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Russia's foreign ministry denies the claims calling them unfounded.

The big cyber attack originating from China forced the National Weather Service to shutdown critical data system. Officials say that hackers breached the U.S. weather network for several days in September and October, forcing cyber security teams to seal off data vital to disaster planning aviation and shipping among other crucial uses. Officials say the agency did not notify the public when it learned of this attack.

I want to get an early start on our money right now.

Cristina Alesci here with the EARLY START debut.

Good morning. Great to see you.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

Stocks are still higher. They're in record territory at least futures are indicating the market will open higher. This means it could be another record day if that holds because stocks only pull back slightly yesterday. The S&P closed lower for the first time in six trading days.

Bank stocks were hit particularly hard. They fell after regulators announced a $4.3 billion settlement for currency manipulation.

And bad news for SeaWorld. Attendance keeps falling. Visitors were down 5 percent from a year ago and admission prices fell by just as much. That's forcing the company to cut costs. SeaWorld is blaming negative media attention like CNN documentary "Blackfish" that raised questions over how the animals are treated.

BERMAN: Interesting. That documentary is still out there and people can watch.

ALESCI: Yes, they are facing some tough times ahead of them.

BERMAN: We do want to give you an EARLY START commemorative mug for your first appearance on EARLY START.

ALESCI: Oh, wow. I feel like you are being really cheap with me on this actually. Where's the ceramic?

BERMAN: Welcome to EARLY START. It's great to see you this morning.

ALESCI: Thanks.

BERMAN: New testimony this morning before the grand jury determining whether the police officer who killed unarmed Michael Brown should be indicted. We'll tell you who is taking the stand as Michael Brown's parents make their call for change at the United Nations. We are live with what's happening this morning.

Plus, a dangerous rescue. Two window washers dangling in the air 70 stories there. The moments and how they are doing this morning, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: Happening later today, a pathologist hired by Michael Brown's family will testify before the grand jury that is deciding whether to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. Former New York City medical examiner Michael Baden conducted his own autopsy on Brown after a local examiner performed one.

In Geneva this morning, a U.N. human rights panel is expected to hear American officials response to Michael Brown's parents. They testified to the committee on Wednesday about what they see as a violation of their son's rights.

Erin McLaughlin live in Geneva for us this morning.

Good morning, Erin.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Well, U.S. delegates today are expected to answer some tough questions. Part of a review, a look at the United States compliance with the U.N. Convention Against Torture.

And, yesterday, a panel of eight independent experts posed some Ferguson-specific questions. Let me go through the questions.

They asked about steps taken by federal and state governments to review police practices following recent events in Ferguson. They also asked about steps taken to review the distribution of military equipment to local forces and police practices regarding the use of that equipment -- perhaps in reference to the protest that followed Michael Brown's death. And then, they also asked about what kind of independent oversight in place to prevent excessive force by police.

Now, the U.S. delegation is going to have a chance to respond to those questions later today. Worth noting that the topic of excessive force actually came up in during the 2006 review. During that review, the committee expressed concerned about reports of excessive force by law enforcement, as well as police brutality. They expressed concern of allegations of ill-treatment of vulnerable groups, especially minorities.

Now, Michael Brown's parents are expected to be there for today's proceedings. Yesterday, they gave a press conference. Take a list to what their family attorney had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARYL PARKS, ATTORNEY: Probably the most powerful thing that the United Nations offers is perception. It's the same thing we use against other countries as a country when we look at other countries when they have atrocities that exist in their country where people that are killed and lose their lives and the government doesn't respond, any aspect to the government.

Being in the U.N. is quite appropriate. And I think I'll take one of the comments from Michael Sr. yesterday. It's a simple message, that all life matters and black life matters, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: Michael Brown's parents told me they want accountability and they want justice. That's why they're here -- John.

BERMAN: This story playing out in Geneva and back in Missouri where the pathologist who performed the autopsy in Michael Brown will testify before the grand jury today.

Erin McLaughlin, live for us in Geneva, thanks so much.

High drama at the World Trade Center site in New York City. A scaffolding left two window washers dangling 68 stories up in the air. They're up there for more than an hour. Firefighters raced to the rescue, frantically cutting through thick glass from inside the building to reach them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

DAN NIGRO, FDNY COMMISSIONER: There are three layers of glass. Two inner layers were cut first with diamond saws. When they were finished with that, they cut the outer layer of glass.

GERARD MCENEANEY, NYC WINDOW WASHERS UNION: They were shaken, obviously. I mean, it's a harrowing experience. Anyone would be frightened. But they were good. They weren't injured that I saw. And I asked them both, you know, you guys OK? How are you doing? They said, no, we're fine. A little shaky.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

BERMAN: A little shaky. That's understandable. Look at that picture. The two men had mild hypothermia. Amazingly, they are otherwise OK.

For the first time, we are hearing the 911 calls from the scene of deadly scene of Marysville Pilchuck High School north of Seattle. One of them from heroic teacher Megan Silberberger. She told the dispatcher that she tried to keep the teen shooter from killing himself.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MEGAN SILBERBERGER, TEACHER: I do not see the gun. I'm looking at him. I need help. I need help now.

He's right here. He is wearing all black. I'm sitting at him right now, sitting next to him. I need staff now right here. Black pants, black shoes -- black pants, black shoes, black jacket.

He is a high school student, I do not know how old he is. I tried to stop him before he shot himself.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BERMAN: Wow, how tragic.

Four teens were gunned down and later died from injuries. The fifth student who was seriously hurt was released from the hospital last week.

Same-sex marriages can now proceed in Kansas after a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices deny a request to continue a stay on issuing licenses for same-sex couples. This comes after a federal judge It is the 33rd straight plus the District of Columbia now to allow gay marriage.

House Republicans are expected to vote on the Keystone pipeline project, even though they've already approved it. The pipeline is a central issue in the Louisiana Senate race which would come down to a runoff between incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican representative Bill Cassidy. House leaders are trying to boost Cassidy who as I just said is currently in the House. Senate Democrats in the meantime planned to hold their own vote on the pipeline next week. They want to give Landrieu a chance to make a splash.

All right. A big breakthrough for space exploration. A spacecraft successfully lands on a comet in hopes to unlock the mysteries of Earth. We have new information about how this spacecraft is doing this morning. Fred Pleitgen standing by at mission control, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: News from 300 million miles away. Scientists with the European Space Agency hope to know more today about what happened to the Philae probe when it reached the surface of comet 67P on Wednesday. They do know that harpoons that were supposed to fire, the probe you are looking at right now, those harpoons did not fire.

So, whatever did actually happen, scientists whooped and cheered when the probe tweeted, "Touchdown, I have a new address, 67P." The probe started sending back some stunning postcards.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is live for us at the European Space Agency mission control in Germany.

So, Frederik, what's the latest? How's the probe doing? I heard that it's standing one the surface of this comet?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, John. I've been gathering information here at the European Space Agency early this morning. I can tell you last night, the move went from elated to a little bit subdued. And this morning, it is elated again.

Now, what I can tell you is that 1:00 local time, or 1:00 a.m. Eastern Time, I should say today, they made contact with the Philea lander again.

Now, they seem to know exactly what happened to it and I have my model here of the comet surface and my little model of the lander as well. They say what happened is yesterday, it touched down very slowly. As you said, the harpoon system that is supposed to attach did not deploy.

It did bounce off the comet and this bounce, because there is almost no gravity here, John, took about two hours. It was in the air off the comet surface. They are not sure how far it bounced or where it might have gone.

They believe it is close to the original landing site that they want to reach. So, it bounced and landed for two hours and bounced again and landed for six minutes and then landed, and is now standing on the comet surface.

I just spoke to the Rosetta mission manager, who is, of course, one of the people in charge of all this. And he says at this point in time, they have contact with the Philae lander. It is sending back data to the Earth. They also said they received an image, or several images here at mission control. They're processing those right now, and hope to give us those within the next couple of hours.

And they say at this point in, it seems to be standing on solid ground, on the comet. So, at this time, the mood is very good here at the European Space Agency -- John.

BERMAN: Standing on the comet, Fred. The question is, will it stay on the comet? With, you know, nearly no gravity there. Are they concerned it may spin or fall or go somewhere else?

PLEITGEN: Sure. I asked them about that. They said it seems to be fairly stable. However, they also say that they are some somewhat limited in the amount of instruments that they can use because it's simply not anchored to the comet.

But they believe at this point in time, they're safe. It's also endured the entire night on the comet. And the comet, of course, is rotating itself as well. They believe at this point, they are doing well.

They are getting signals all the time from the lander that it has contact to the ground. It is probably not very stable contact, but they say at this point, it doesn't seem to be moving. The battery on this thing works for about two days. So, at that point, they hope to complete most of the stuff that they wanted to complete. But getting this far, they're very, very happy at this point, John.

BERMAN: Right. And we cannot wait to see the images processed right now.

Frederik Pleitgen for us in mission control of European Space Agency, thanks so much.

Twenty-seven minutes after the hour.

A possible new strategy in the fight against ISIS. What President Obama now thinks must be accomplished to defeat the terrorists. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)