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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Protests Erupt in Berkeley; American Hostage Killed; CIA Report Danger; "Hagupit" Weakens As It Batters Philippines

Aired December 08, 2014 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight: Violence in Berkeley as protesters angry over the Eric Garner decision faceoff with police. Explosives reportedly thrown at officers. Demonstrators shutting down a freeway. Details ahead.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: An attempt to rescue an American hostage goes horribly wrong when he is killed by his captors. Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. are defending the decision right to try to save Luke Somers as we learn more about the failed mission.

ROMANS: New fears of violence ahead of the explosive CIA report detailing torture used by the agency after 9/11. Now, U.S. embassies and American workers abroad are being warned about possible retaliation.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. Nice to see you this morning.

BERMAN: It is 4:30 a.m. I'm John Berman. Welcome back to the show.

ROMANS: All right. Breaking overnight, another night of violence and looting during protests in Berkeley, California. The San Francisco Bay Area city is one of few places where violence broken out during these protests against the police killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown.

Demonstrators last night shutting down a major state highway, some hurling rocks and bottles at police, and trying to set a patrol car on fire. Elsewhere in the city, police say looting and vandalism have broken out. They say a protester was hit in head with a hammer as he tried to stop a looter from smashing a RadioShack. The victim was taken to the hospital with injuries that did not appear life threatening.

I want to bring in Jennifer Coats this morning, the public information officer with the Berkeley Police Department. She's joining us right.

Jennifer, can you tell me what's happening now? These protests are still ongoing.

JENNIFER COATS, BERKELEY POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Good morning. Thanks for having me. The protests still are ongoing. We have officers currently in the

area of the North Oakland and South Berkeley border right now. We are trying to make arrests on several individuals. We have a crowd of approximately 200 that are still marching and causing damage in protesting in the area.

ROMANS: So, Jennifer, it's the crowd of protesters, a crowd of about 200 that are marching and then they are causing damage at the same time? Tell me exactly what's happening, what they're doing.

COATS: What we've seen so far that is occurring is they've been using objects to break out windows to businesses. We have had reports of looting, we've seen. We've had numerous buildings, businesses on Shattuck and Telegraph that have been damaged or looted. Businesses such as Sprint, AT&T. We had several banks affected as well, and also a RadioShack that was actually hit twice tonight, and that was one of the businesses where the protester was injured when he was trying to protect the business.

ROMANS: So, when do the tenors shift from I guess peaceful protesting about the circumstances that led to the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner into something else?

COATS: Tonight, it seems the focus was pretty much that there was a sense there was going to be violence at some point during the evening. The protest did initially start off peacefully initially and was for, you know, well over an hour, they marched through the city and came to the police department where they -- you know, it maintained peaceful intent. They marched into Oakland and I think at that point it started to turn where they marched into Oakland and actually got on the freeway there.

ROMANS: And they were able to shutdown traffic, right?

COATS: They were able to shutdown the freeway for a while. The California Highway Patrol and Oakland Police Department handled that portion of the demonstrations.

ROMANS: What about arrests? You have been trying to make arrests on protesters who have been actually looting in the group of 200. Can you give us any kind of arrest numbers?

COATS: I don't have specific numbers at this point. We are in the process of making some arrests. We have made several arrests earlier in the night as well. So, hopefully, we'll have a more stronger number for you later on.

ROMANS: You know, Jennifer, from the perspective of law enforcement, tell me a little bit about the thinking of how you respond to something like this? Because these are protests, you know, not against a G-20 meeting, not against the arrival of -- you know, a political figure that people don't like. Not -- it's actually against law enforcement. It's about the relationship with law enforcement and community that has sparked protests.

As law enforcement, how do you have to address so that you're not reinforcing any of these negative images, at the same time, trying to preserve the peace at the same time?

COATS: Well, that is a challenge for law enforcement. I think in this case, you know, Berkeley, with our officers being very well- trained in, you know, tactics used in these situations, we just evaluate each situation as they occur and which situations that are happening.

Berkeley is the birth place of the free speech movement. We are proud of that history and we do try to facilitate every peaceful demonstration that occurs to everybody can express themselves freely. But we also have to consider the safety of the community as well as the protesters and officers. So, we just have to evaluate each situation and try to handle it as best we can, in the most professional manner that we can.

ROMANS: Yes, when free speech becomes using a skateboard to smashing a window, it becomes a real issue.

Thank you so much, Jennifer Coats. Nice to see you.

You know, it's interesting, John, when you look at these videos. I think this is -- much of this is coming from KGO. We have some of our footage, too. No one has got a mask on their face even. Some looters are just -- you know, protesters who have turned violent. It's right there in full view of the camera.

BERMAN: You can bet law enforcement will go over these cameras right now to try to identify the people behind that smashing in the windows and I imagine they'd be legal action taken.

The president's decision to attempt to rescue the hostage being held by al Qaeda in Yemen is drawing support, the mission is, from both sides of the aisle this morning. Even though American journalist Luke Somers and a South African teacher died in the raid, Republicans, as well as Democrats, are backing the president and backing the U.S. policy not to negotiate with terrorists.

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REP. MIKE ROGERS (R-MI), HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: If we are going to be extorted into paying ransom to al Qaeda so that they can rape women and imprison women and blow up buildings and kill civilians, men, women and children, that's a pretty bad plan to start with. And so, I agreed with the president's decision.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: You just end up funding other hostage taking and cycle just perpetuates itself. So, I think our decision is the right one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: We are getting more details now on the raid, also more details of what went wrong.

Joining us with the latest, CNN's Nima Elbagir.

Good morning.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Well, U.S. officials are saying that the reason the raid failed is because they lost the element of surprise. Not only was this the second is tempted rescue attempt, but the location of the compound where the hostages were being held necessitate that Ospreys fly in the Navy SEAL contingent. And then it seemed like it was some distance from the location they landed to the compound, about 100 meters away, they were spotted and exchange of fire began. It was then that U.S. officials say one of the group holding the hostages ran back in and shot the two men -- John.

BERMAN: So, Nima, the South African prisoner was due to be released today or the day after the raid. And the U.S. is saying they had no knowledge of that.

How is that family? How is the family of Luke Somers now reacting after this raid went so horribly wrong?

ELBAGIR: Well, Luke Somers' family before the second failed rescue attempt had already come out almost angrily, saying that they were given absolutely no notification that this was going to happen, that they were in no way consulted. And that was one of the things that was heart breaking for them.

I mean, to really compound that for the South African family, Yolande, the wife of Pierre Korkie, she was released -- she was taken by the same hostage-takers, by AQAP back in May of last year. And she was -- they successfully negotiated for her release. So, she had every reason to believe that her husband would be coming home. And in fact, on Sunday, the day after -- two days after the failed rescue attempt, she was expecting to hear some good news.

Listening to both sides of the U.S. government, they're saying that they believe that this was absolutely necessary. It's more difficult when it's not a U.S. citizen.

BERMAN: Uh-hmm. Nima, very sad. Nima Elbagir for us in London, thanks so much.

ROMANS: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says he does not expect Afghanistan security forces to buckle the way Iraq's has. Hagel spent the weekend in Afghanistan, his fourth and final trip there as defense secretary. Hagel says the difference between Afghanistan and Iraq is that Afghanistan's government wants U.S. troops there to assist, advise and train.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK HAGEL, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: They have welcomed us. They want us to continue to help them support them. That's a big difference between Afghanistan today and where we were in Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: CNN's Jim Sciutto spoke exclusively with Secretary Hagel in Afghanistan. He's going to bring you that story live in a couple hours to "NEW DAY."

BERMAN: Six Guantanamo Bay prisoners are free this morning, or they have been transferred to Uruguay. It is the largest single group of inmates to depart the war-time prison in Cuba since 2009, and the first to be resettled in South America. The move has been expected since the deal was finalized last spring. President Obama, of course, is about to close the prison.

ROMANS: There are concerns this morning over the release of a top secret CIA torture report. The potentially explosive report details what the CIA did following the 9/11 terror attacks. And now, there are fears that the release of the report could lead to violence against Americans around the world.

Former President George W. Bush is already challenging the conclusions of that report. Bush told CNN, quote, "Whatever the report says is way off base."

Thirty-nine minutes past the hour. Let's get an early start on your money this morning. How did it become Monday again? How did that happen?

Good start for the week for Asian shares. Chinese trade data show exports and imports decreasing. That's fueling hopes of more government stimulus. European shares not following that lead. Neither is U.S. stock futures look like it is pulling back of records at the opening.

But remember, stocks had never been this high. Both the Dow and S&P 500 closed at record highs on Friday. It was the seventh straight week of gains for stocks. The S&P 500 is now up 12.3 percent for the year.

It looks like a strong end to a great year. Job growth gaining momentum. Low gas prices giving consumers real money in their pockets. Right now, the magic formula for consumers is looking pretty good.

BERMAN: It could be a good few months here.

All right. Twenty minutes until the hour.

Is Israel launching new air strikes in Syria? We will look at new reports claiming the Israeli military has bombed an area near Damascus and why they maybe doing so. A live report coming up next.

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BERMAN: All right. The Israeli government keeping quiet this morning on whether it was behind two air strikes in Syria yesterday. The Syrian military and state-run news agency and a London-based opposition group all say that the planes dropping bombs were Israeli planes. CNN's Ben Wedeman is live in Jerusalem with the latest.

Ben, what do we know?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We understand, John, according to the Syrian media, as well as these opposition groups that these two air strikes took place just around sunset yesterday, one hitting the Damascus international airport, according to an opposition group. The target there was a warehouse. The other strike was on a town or near a town called Dimas (ph) on the highway between Damascus and the Lebanese border.

Now, according to the Syrian media, there were no casualties, but just material damage from these strikes. They didn't specify what may have been the target. Now, of course, Israel denies or rather is declining comment on these attacks. There have been a series of air strikes on Syria allegedly or believed to be from Israel beginning in January of 2013.

And we did hear the Israeli security minister saying that Israel has a firm policy to prevent the transfer of sophisticated weapons into the hands of terrorist organizations. Now, the speculation here is that the target was some sort of sophisticated weapon system, perhaps surface-to-air missiles that were being transferred from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Of course, Hezbollah is a very close ally of the Syrian regime. It has played a key role in fighting the insurgents, the uprising in Syria against the Assad regime. But until now, of course, the Israelis are essentially saying nothing that would indicate they had a hand in these airstrikes -- John.

BERMAN: Such a complicated mix of competing interests.

Our Ben Wedeman in Jerusalem this morning -- thanks so much, Ben.

ROMANS: All right. Forty-five minutes past the hour.

Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for an early look at your weather.

Good morning. We've got some rain coming this week, don't we?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, some rain.

And I'm really impressed, Christine, with getting my name, the multisyllabic name right, the first and second time.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: I promise, next hour, I will mess it up.

BERMAN: He doesn't even know you and he says you cannot handle a lot of syllables.

JAVAHERI: I'm pretty impressed.

But we will talk about, yes, the cold temperatures set up across the Northeast. Pretty impressive wind chills at this hour, right across portions of the Northeast. New York, it feels like 16 degrees at this hour. Boston down into the single digits. Winds are typically five to 15 miles per hour. The temperatures is cold enough to make it feel that cold. That's as far as the single digits for wind chills.

But winter storm watch for 2 million people across interior New England. This is ahead of the next storm system. It should be interesting one come Tuesday morning across this region. We have the cold air coming in from the north. Storm system kind of barreling the Eastern Seaboard. It's a classic set up here for a nor'easter to develop. And fortunately, the temperatures are just way too warm over the Eastern Seaboard here for the immediate close line that will be impacted by snow.

So, one to three inches of rainfall. Could you imagine if the temperatures were below freezing? That would be significant accumulation in snow. While you get that across western New York and white mountains of Vermont into New Hampshire, four to six inches of accumulation possible.

Your temperature trend, a warming one, New York goes up to the mid- 40s. Cools back down to below average by week's end. But a couple of inches of rain in the forecast. And Boston also in a kind of a roller coaster ride in the temperature department. But again, rain, not snow for the Northeast, guys.

ROMANS: Mud. The three letter forecast, M-U-D. Mud for the Northeast.

Thank you so much. Nice to see you. See in next hour.

JAVAHERI: You bet.

BERMAN: All right. A tropical storm is slamming the Philippines this morning. Schools and government offices are now closed as the capital city prepares for what could be major, major flooding. We'll have a live report, next.

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ROMANS: The typhoon that slammed into the Philippines over the weekend is getting weaker. But there are fears it could do more damage as it gets close to Manila. Now, the tropical storm has dumped torrential rains and brought heavy winds to the islands. The Red Cross says at least 21 people have died so far. About 1,000 homes have been destroyed.

I want to go to CNN's Saima Mohsin in the Philippines for the latest. She has endured this storm all weekend.

What can you tell us now? This weakens but it still has the potential to do an awful lot of damage.

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it does. Good morning, Christine. Yes, that's because even though we had high winds, the storm itself has been moving relatively slowly. That means it's staying in the area for longer and it's bringing with it a lot of rain. I mean, we've endured two nights of howling winds, incredible rain, that came from all directions. You simply didn't know which direction it would come from next. And we had that for two consecutive nights and three days. It's only finally cleared up and I have been able to take my jacket off now.

So, today, we've had assessment teams going out in the city of Legazpi and this province, the Albay province.

So, first, it came and thankfully Tacloban, where Typhoon Haiyan had destroyed so many homes last year and killed 6,300 people. That was the biggest fear we had this time around with the biggest typhoon to hit the entire world this year, with typhoon Hagupit.

And so, thankfully, the eye of the storm passed through, but brought with it a lot of rain and that brings concerns of flooding and landslides and potentially lahar, which are landslides on a volcano not too far away from here -- Christine.

ROMANS: Unbelievable. Saima Mohsin, thanks for bringing us that story. I know it has not been a comfortable couple days and there's more hard work to be done. Thank you, Saima.

BERMAN: North Korea says it is not behind the hack attack on Sony. They are not behind it, but they say they've liked it. The country's state-run media calls the massive cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, quote, "a righteous deed." The attack crippled that company's computer systems. There has been no evidence linking Pyongyang to the hacking attack. The government was suspected by many, though, because of Sony's film "The Interview", which is a comedy starting Seth Rogan and James Franco that centers on some kind of a plot to assassinate Kim Jong-un.

ROMANS: Actress Danielle Watts who appeared on a film "Django Unchained", she will be arraigned in court in Southern California this morning, along with her boyfriend. They are each charged with a misdemeanor count of lewd conduct. Now, Watts claims she was a victim of racial profiling because she is black and her boyfriend is white. Police say witnesses reported the couple having sex in a car with the door open.

BERMAN: Gas is under $2 a gallon. It is spreading now with that price to more parts of the country. We'll let you know when it might come to your neighborhood when we get an early start on your money, next.

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ROMANS: All right. It's Monday morning. Let's get an early start on your money this week.

Good start for the week for Asian shares. Chinese trade data showing imports and exports decreasing. That's fueling hopes for more government stimulus there.

The European shares, they're a little bit lower here. U.S. stock futures are lower, too. Stocks had to pull back from highs at the open. The Dow and the S&P 500 with record closes on Friday.

Oil prices sliding this morning, down to about $65 a barrel. Look at the chart. Right now, prices -- look at this -- they have been lower since OPEC decided not to cut prices. Analysts are slashing forecast for oil prices next year. I have seen oil price forecast down to 40 bucks even.

As oil prices fall, so do gas prices. Nationwide, gas costs an average $2.66 a gallon right now. That's the lowest in four years. It's down about a dollar from the summer peak.

Almost every state has prices below $3 a gallon, every state. And a few places in Oklahoma and Texas, selling below $2 a gallon. Not everyone is going to see gas under $2, but prices are expected to fall another -- get this -- 15 to 20 cents.

BERMAN: That's amazing.

ROMANS: Shoppers are getting their shopping done early this year. That's according to America's research group. Almost half of shoppers have majority done and fewer shopped this past weekend than in previous years.

BERMAN: How can you be done already?

ROMANS: I'm not done. That's because Black Friday drained consumers of their spending money. Also, about 20 percent of parents said they are so worried about paying --

BERMAN: How can it only be 20 percent? I doubt all of these statistics.

ROMANS: They are trimming their holiday spending to save up. That's up from just 5 percent of parents last year. I think for a long time, person have been concerned about the bigger financial picture, but they just go out there and charge, charge, charge. That's starting to change. People are thinking about the long term. They're thinking about college tuition, about 529, about what they're getting for their money, and I think you're seeing a little bit of a shift in consumers this year.

BERMAN: I think when you meet someone and start dating, you need to start planning for college for the kids that you may have 30 years down the line.

ROMANS: So, on the first date, you're like, how much --

BERMAN: Exactly, yes. Let's open up a 529.

ROMANS: How romantic.

BERMAN: Yes, I know. EARLY START continues right now.