Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

U.S. to Review Syria-ISIS Strategy; Obama: Myanmar Backsliding on Reforms; Window Washers Rescued; Comet Probe's First Images

Aired November 13, 2014 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A possible new strategy in the fight against ISIS. President Obama set to take more serious measures to battle the terrorists. We'll explain ahead.

Happening right now: President Obama meeting with world leaders in Asia. The big challenges he is facing this morning. We are live at the meetings.

And a daring, breathtaking rescue caught on camera. Window washers dangling so high in the air. Oh, this picture is so hard to look at. We'll tell you how they're doing this morning, ahead.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman. Thirty-two minutes past the hour. Christine Romans is on assignment.

There are new developments this morning in the battle against ISIS. Senior administration officials tell CNN that President Obama has ordered a review of the 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 will hear testimony on U.S. ISIS strategy. Senior -- global affairs correspondent Elise Labott has the story from Washington -- Elise.

(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.

So, 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: All right. Our thanks to Elise Labott.

This is no doubt weighing on the president's mind as he travels through Asia. He is in Myanmar this morning where he has just accused the government on back sliding on some of the reforms that have begun with such high hopes in 2010. That's when the government there ended 50 years of military rule.

With the president in Myanmar, senior international correspondent Ivan Watson.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. That's right.

This was viewed the opening of ties between the U.S. and Myanmar, a country that had for so long a pariah state, that had been subjected to American sanctions. That was viewed as a foreign policy success for the Obama administration a couple of years ago.

Well, now, President Obama has come back after the first historic visit to this country. And the White House has expressed concerned about what they say is a stalling of some of the democratic reforms here and backsliding in some areas as well, in particular when it comes to the treatment of a one ethnic and religious minority in this country.

The Obama administration says it wants to reignite that democratic reform process, try to encourage both the government here as well as opposition leaders and civil society to move forward on issues like constitutional reform, to ensure elections that are scheduled to take place next year are, in fact, free and fair.

For example, the top opposition leader in this country is barred, according to the Constitution from being able to run for president because her deceased husband was a foreign citizen. So, issues like that certainly going to be on the table, as well, again, as the treatment of the minority referred to as the Rohingyas. But the Myanmar government refuses to even recognize that name, to give you a sense of how dire the situation is for that community.

About a million people who are effectively stateless and that human rights group say are being slowly ethnically cleansed from the country. That's one of the things that the White House is going to want to discuss with the top leaders here in Myanmar during this visit -- John.

BERMAN: This is a country where the United States has slowly increased its involvement over the last few years.

Ivan Watson for us in Myanmar, great to have you with us this morning, Ivan.

Secretary of State John Kerry is in the Middle East this morning, set to hold talks with Palestinians and Israelis that had been bubbling in Jerusalem. The secretary's job perhaps made tougher by the Israeli government's decision to give preliminary approval of the Jewish neighborhood in Arab East Jerusalem.

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

Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us now from Jerusalem.

Good morning, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

I mean, what John Kerry is expected to do is to meet with the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. And his aim would be to try to diffuse some of the tension. We heard speeches by the Palestinian authority president and also by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that have been very strong. The rhetoric has been strong and barbed and aimed at each other over access to religious sites and rising of tensions about access to those religious sites in Jerusalem.

And Secretary Kerry will want to try to find a way to bring the rhetoric down in the hope that that is going to ease some of the tensions on the ground here. Those tensions are fueled by the fact that the Israeli prime minister has said in the past to the United States and everyone else, that Israel should have the right to build where it wants in Jerusalem. So that, again, will be something that will undoubtedly come up in discussions.

As for those U.N. commission that was planning and hoping to come to Israel to investigate the over 2,000 deaths that happened in the Gaza conflict over the 50 days in the summer, the Israeli position on that is, the foreign ministry here tells us that they believe that this commission is biased and unprofessional. They believe it is unprofessional because they say that the commissioner who's been appointed by the U.N. has a track record, a historical track record over many years of making what they say are outrageous statements about the state of Israel.

They say it is biased as well because of the terms of reference refer an investigation, the commission to investigate in the occupied territories, meaning Gaza. They say that means therefore that they wouldn't look, for example, Hamas missiles that were fired from Gaza into Israel, injuring Israeli citizens, children among them. So, they think that the terms of reference are biased to that.

Of course, there have been reports by Human Rights Watch, by Amnesty International, which say there were war crimes committed by both Israelis and by Hamas. And the Israeli position also there is that they continue to have commissions of investigation, this important subject for them. All of this, tensions at the moment, as Secretary Kerry will hope to diffuse.

No indication at the moment that he will meet despite his many and frequent phone calls that he will actually have plans at this time to meet with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- John.

ROMANS: Eye on that as the morning progresses.

Nic Robertson live for us in Jerusalem, thanks so much, Nic.

Thirty-nine minutes after the hour. Let's get an EARLY START on your money. Cristina Alesci here with that.

Good morning.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

It looks like a good day for stocks as around the world.

First off, European stocks are right now, and Asia shares ended the day mostly higher as well. U.S. futures are following that lead. And it could be another record day if that holds because stocks only pulled back slightly yesterday. The S&P 500 closed lower for the first time in six trading days.

Now, this is a fun story. Breaking overnight, toymaker Hasbro is reportedly in talks to buy DreamWorks Animation. Yes, the same DreamWorks behind "Trek" and "Kung Fu Panda." "The New York Times" says Hasbro wants a new outlet for its brands like "Transformers" and "My Little Pony." DreamWorks Animation is having a tough year. Stock has fallen 37 percent this year, thanks to a few movie flops and weak DVD sales.

John, you don't like a brony to me.

BERMAN: I was just going to say I feel like -- first of all, I think that's the first time that word has been said on EARLY START. So, thank you for that.

No, I think "My Little Pony" can turn everything around at Hasbro. I think it's a very valuable property.

ALESCI: Well, let's see if they can make it successful with guys. They have a growth market there maybe.

BERMAN: Indeed. It's an untapped, "My Little Pony."

Thanks, Cristina. Great to have you this morning.

A terrifying scene. Two window washers trapped dangling in the air 70 stories up. How this daring rescue came to pass. We'll tell you ahead.

(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 of the unarmed black teenager.

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 from officials in their response to Michael brown's parents. They testified to the committee on Wednesday about what they see as the violation of their son's rights.

For more, let go to CNN's Erin McLaughlin live in Geneva.

Good morning, Erin.

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

That's right. The U.S. delegates are expected to answer tough questions today. And some of those he questions are Ferguson specific.

Yesterday, a panel of eight independent experts asked the following, they asked about the 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 the equipment in reference to the police response to the protect that followed Michael Brown's death.

They also asked about what kind of independent oversight is in place to prevent excessive force by police.

Now, the U.S. delegates will have an opportunity to respond to those questions later today. Worth noting that the topic of excessive force by law enforcement in the United States came up all the way back in 2006 during the last review of U.S. compliance with the U.N. Conventions Against Torture.

Michael Brown's parents expected to be there for the proceedings. They gave a press conference yesterday. Take a listen to what their lawyer 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 that they want accountability and justice for the death of their son. That's why they're here -- John.

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE) right now.

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

High drama at the World Trade Center site in New York City. A scaffolding malfunction left two window washers were left dangling 68 stories up for more than an hour. Look at that picture. Firefighters raced to 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. I still can't get over this picture. The two men did have mild hypothermia, but amazingly they're otherwise OK.

Forty-eight minutes after the hour. New pictures this morning of the historic space mission -- a spacecraft landing on top of a comet. We're live with the latest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right. New this morning: scientists with the European Space Agency hope to know about what happened to the Philae probe when it reached the surface of the comet 67P on Wednesday. They do know that the harpoons that were supposed to fire, attaching the probe to the surface, did not fire. So, whatever happened, scientists hooped and cheered when the probe tweeted, "touchdown, I have new address, 67P", and it started sending back, it's in the process of sending back some pretty stunning post cards.

Again, there is new information this morning about how that probe is doing.

And CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is live for us at mission control in Germany.

Good morning, Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John, the message that we're getting this morning is that probe is indeed doing very well.

What I have again this morning is our little model of the comet they landed on, 67p. And they landed right here on the top of the comet.

Now, they say from the signals that the Philae lander is sending back to earth, that they believe it is exactly where they wanted to put it, which is really, really remarkable considering the harpoon system that you were just talking about didn't work. Let's go to our bigger model where what they say essentially happened was that the lander went down very, very slowly because it barely weighs anything in space. The comet barely has any gravitational field.

It landed. The harpoon system failed to deploy and so, it wasn't attached to the comet. It bounced, once the first bounced landed, lasted for two hours, John, and they're not sure how high that bounced was and which direction that bounce went, but they know it went for about two hours, little less than two hours. It then hit the surface and bounced again for about six minutes, and then came to a standstill on the surface of the comet.

It is not attached to the comet surface at this point, but they say it's standing secure. It's is sending back data to the earth and it's certainly tells me that it's standing on solid ground, which is a good thing, because one of the fears that they had is that the surface might be very, very thick dust and that it might sink in to a point where it couldn't send back signals. But they say working perfectly fine this morning, John.

BERMAN: All right. Frederik Pleitgen, we'll get an update and hopefully get some pictures back from the surface of that comet soon. Thanks, Fred.

All right. Coming up for us: Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift and Taylor Swift. Everything you wanted to know about her fight with Spotify. You can get an early start in your money, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: It is time for an EARLY START on your money. Cristina Alesci is back again.

ALESCI: Yes, indeed. Stocks are still in record territory. At least futures are indicating the market will open higher and it could be another record day because stocks only pulled back slightly yesterday. The S&P 500 closed lower for the first time in six trading days.

One stock I'm watching this morning, Apple, the stock closed at the highest price ever yesterday. It is up more than 40 percent this year. Everybody wants an iPhone.

And here's the big music story. Taylor Swift and Spotify may never ever get back together again.

BERMAN: So, it will be like John Mayer?

ALESCI: No, not at all. Yesterday, the CEO of Swift's record label said the artist has been paid less than $500,000 from Spotify in the past year for streams in the U.S. But Spotify says the company paid Swift's label that much in a single month before she pulled her music from the service and said that she was on track to make $6 million this year.

So, what doesn't add up here? Well, Swift's label has outsourced to a bigger label, Universal. So, the $5.5 million gap to be accounted for the cut taken by Universal and the amount paid for in streams in other countries.

This just highlights how complex the payments for music really are these days and it's not so cut and try. After all, this is a negotiation. She wants to get paid more and Spotify isn't giving her what she wants.

BERMAN: She doesn't need the money. I mean, that's one thing -- no, but she is doing this to stand up for other artists who perhaps do and the rights of the people who do create content like this.

ALESCI: That's what she says. But at the end of the day --

BERMAN: It's about money?

ALESCI: -- it's never enough.

BERMAN: Just ruined the image of Taylor Swift.

All right, Cristina, great to have you with us this morning.

EARLY START continues right now.

(MUSIC)