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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Hope for a Ukraine Peace Deal; Obama Asks Congress to Authorize 3-Year ISIS War; CBS' Bob Simon Dies in Car Crash

Aired February 12, 2015 - 04:00   ET

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

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning: Hope for a deal. European leaders meeting overnight to try to secure peace in Ukraine. They may be closed to an agreement. The details, ahead.

Also, President Obama asking Congress to authorize the use of force against ISIS. His request launching a heated debate with Republicans and Democrats.

And breaking overnight, a giant in the news industry, a true legend. Bob Simon has died. He has been a journalist for 50 years. He died tragically in a car accident Wednesday night. We will take a look back at his extraordinary career.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Poppy Harlow, joining you live from New York. John Berman and Christine Romans have the morning off.

It is Thursday, February 12th. Four a.m. here in the East.

And we begin with breaking news in the crisis in Eastern Ukraine. Russian media reports the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine are set to sign a peace agreement. But that is a according to Russian media. What we are hearing from the Ukrainian president is it is not a done deal yet. Reportedly, Ukraine has some issues with this. All of this after a marathon of talks aimed at brokering a cease-fire in the bloody battle between the Ukrainian forces and the pro-Russian rebels in the East.

CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is in Minsk with the details.

Good morning, Nic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, this has been a marathon session of negotiations. After 14 hours, Russian news agencies reporting that they were close to a deal, 80 percent done, they said, that there will be a document ready to sign.

But that then fell apart. What we saw after that, the French, the Germans and Ukrainians then going into another meeting, continuing to debate the issues. There was hope of a cease-fire by Saturday, a cease-fire that was pulled back of heavy weapons. A new demilitarized zone between the separatists and the Ukrainian government established.

But what we have heard and what is being reported since is that President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine has said that there is not enough on the table for him to sign, and we are also hearing that some of the separatists from southeast of Ukraine have also said that there isn't enough on the table for them to sign up to yet.

So, this at the moment, it appears that a deal still cannot be reached. The French, the Germans and the Ukrainian governments have not been heard from officially commenting on the talks yet. President Putin's spokesman has said this is the longest negotiating session that he's ever been involved in. But it does seem that an agreement cannot be achieved here in Minsk. And, of course, the agreement last September fell apart on details, that there was a ceasefire. But they could not agree to continue to hold off from fighting on the ground.

So, at the moment, it appears a cease-fire cannot be achieved and the agreement has not yet been reached in Minsk -- Poppy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: So, Russia sending positive signs and Ukraine saying not so fast, no deal yet on Ukraine. We'll bring you the latest when we have it.

Also this, breaking overnight, the International Monetary Fund announcing a bailout for Ukraine's war-ravaged economy. The IMF just announcing it is pledging $17.5 billion in aid to try to help stabilize that country's economy. IMF director Christine Lagarde calls this an ambitious commitment and not without risk.

Also, President Obama adding the weight of Congress on the war on ISIS. The president making a formal request yesterday for lawmakers to authorize the use of force against ISIS terrorists. This draft resolution rules out a long-term commitment of ground forces. Also, it imposes a three-year limit on the president's authority to combat ISIS.

More now from senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, President Obama insisted this new authorization for the war on ISIS will not plunge hundreds of thousands of troops back into combat. The president points out his authorization is aimed at more limited operations, such as rescue attempts and missions. He did note of the three-year time limit that's built-in to the authorization that would require Congress to revisit this issue again under the next president.

And here's what the president had to say about that.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The resolution we submitted today does not call for the deployment of U.S. ground combat forces to Iraq or Syria. It is not the authorization of another ground war like Afghanistan or Iraq. The 2,600 American troops in Iraq today largely serve on bases. And, yes, they face the risk that come with service in any dangerous environment, but they do not have a combat mission.

ACOSTA: President Obama is finding out why there is not a war authorization vote in Congress for 13 months. He's already taking hit from all sides. Republicans who say he doesn't have a plan. Democrats who say the president's proposal is too vague.

I pressed White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on the measure's fuzzy language and he said that was by design, to give the president the flexibility he needs, Congress may want better answers than that -- Poppy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: It's going to be a big debate on the Hill. Jim Acosta, thank you for that. Appreciate it.

President Obama's war resolution notes that the four Americans killed in ISIS captivity, he goes through and he names them. The most recent, of course, is aide worker Kayla Mueller. This morning, there are new details about what she may have endured about her time as a hostage and possibly paired with a male ISIS fighter. We're also learning about the family's efforts to free her.

Our Pamela Brown has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Poppy.

We have been speaking with the family spokesperson and learned about the great lengths the Mueller family went to get their daughter back. In fact, at point, they reached out to the White House last summer when ISIS issued a deadline to execute Kayla, and asked if the government would be willing to trade Dr. Siddiqui, known as Lady al Qaeda, in exchange for Mueller.

We know ISIS had reportedly made calls for Siddiqui's release, publicly made those calls. The family apparently saw that in the media, and, of course, wanted to explore every option to get Kayla moment.

The spokesperson also says contrary to many media reports, the family never turned down a military rescue mission because it was too risky. Instead, the family had reached out to the White House and asked for notification if there would be another rescue attempt after the failed attempt last July of Kayla and other American hostages.

We have been speaking to intelligence sources, too, and we have learned through this that the 26-year-old apparently at some point was given to a male ISIS fighter possibly as a bride after she was kidnapped in Syria in 2013. Now, this was intelligence coming out of Syria, but we should say this has been challenging to know the full picture. It's challenging because there isn't a lot of intelligence coming out of Syria. But officials I have been speaking with say that they were exploring

this possibility and also the fact that Kayla Mueller may have converted to Islam during her time in captivity. That is, of course, something we had seen in the past by hostages in the Middle East. At this point, it still remains a mystery of how and when Kayla Mueller passed away -- Poppy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Pamela Brown, thank you very much for that.

Also breaking news this morning: the shocking death of a long-time CBS News correspondent Bob Simon. He was killed in a car accident in New York City last night. Scott Pelley, his colleague, paid tribute to his "60 Minutes" reporting in a network special.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT PELLEY, ANCHOR, CBS EVENING NEWS: The veteran correspondent has been with "60 Minutes" since 1996 and he is renowned for his international coverage. Vietnam is where he began covering warfare and he gave his first hand reporting from every major battlefield around the world since.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Bob Simon had been with CBS News since 1967. His remarkable body of work earned him more than two dozen Emmy Awards, four Peabodys and the highest owner from the Overseas Press Club. Bob Simon was 73 years old.

Our Anderson Cooper had a chance to work with Simon on "60 Minutes". He spoke about the legendary reporter last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: When Bob Simon presented a story on "60 Minutes", you knew it was going to be something special. No matter what it was, he had this curiosity and this willingness to go anywhere. And for somebody who'd been in the business that long and seen as many things as he had seen, to still have that curiosity and that desire to tell other people stories, it's an incredible thing. And it's just so stunning to me that he's gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: This is a journalist who was imprisoned in Iraq for 40 days and returned later to finish reporting on his time there. We're going to talk more about it in the next hour with our senior media correspondent Brian Stelter. A remarkable loss for everyone.

NBC removing Brian Williams name from "NBC Nightly News" last night. Fill-in anchor Lester Holt addressed the controversy in the first broadcast since Williams' suspension.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: It is an enormously difficult story to report. Brian is a member of our family, but so are you, our viewers. We will work every night to be worthy of your trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: The network and its lawyers are pouring through Williams' past reports to look for anymore misstatements or errors in fact.

Next up for the Keystone pipeline bill, President Obama's desk in a veto showdown. The bill authorizing construction of a very controversial oil pipeline cleared its final congressional hurdle. It passed the House Wednesday with a 270-152 vote. The president has vowed to veto this measure. And right now, it appears the Republican leaders do not have enough to override a veto.

All right. Let's get the latest on your money. CNN Money correspondent Cristina Alesci joins me now.

So good to have you here.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.

HARLOW: How are things looking?

ALESCI: Well, the markets right now are in very much a wait-and-see mode. U.S. stock futures are barely moving so far this morning. The market has been held hostage by a high stake negotiations over Greece's bailout.

Yesterday, E.U. finance chief made very little progress on a Greek debt deal. We are still watching with that situation pans out today.

Plus, earnings from big players like Dr. Pepper, Snapple and Kellogg. And yesterday, Tesla reported a surprising $178 million loss in the fourth quarter. That has Tesla shares moving lower, down about 4 percent before the bell. The company saying it faced delivery problems, thanks to winter storms and other shipping issues.

And Tesla is not selling well in China. But it's not all bad news. Demand for the Model X SUV is strong, with 20,000 reservations already. That's double the number of orders for the Model S, the only Tesla on the market right now. Very interesting to see shares react this way.

Clearly, investors and analysts still have questions about Tesla. You know, we alluded to those problems in China. There is a perception in China that you can't charge the cars at home. So, Elon Musk says he's going to start installing chargers in residence's houses to overcome that.

HARLOW: They sold like 120 in China, right?

ALESCI: Exactly, yes.

HARLOW: But I know that they do believe that they can break through in China, that it's going to take time. And, look, Elon Musk has said, right, like a year or so ago that the stock was a bit overblown. So --

ALESCI: Yes, he said I could manage it (ph).

But, you know, he is saying China won't impact our target for 55,000 vehicles this year, which is an aggressive target. So, he has a lot of confidence. He always has a lot of confidence, right? We have never seen him not have confidence, although he does manage Wall Street to your point.

HARLOW: But it's fascinating to watch, because this is a company that continues to break barriers.

ALESCI: Absolutely.

HARLOW: So, we'll be watching.

Cristina, thank you. I appreciate it.

All right. Did you buy a lottery ticket, by the way?

ALESCI: I did not. I should have. I was telling everybody to forego a latte. Buy a lottery ticket. Why not? And I didn't get my own advice.

HARLOW: Neither of us bought a lottery ticket. But we're the big losers, because lottery officials say three Powerball players beat incredible odds with tickets matching all six numbers in the $564 million drawing. The tickets were sold in North Carolina and Texas and Puerto Rico.

These winning Powerball numbers, in case, maybe you're one of the winners: 25, 11, 54, 13, 39 and Powerball 19.

No word yet on who the lucky winners are. Maybe next time.

All right. Three Muslim students gunned down in North Carolina. A tragic story and a big question: did the victims' faith play a role in their murders? Their father speaks out to CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Welcome back to EARLY START.

Was it a hate crime? The FBI joining the investigation of the fatal shooting of three North Carolina students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Thousands attended a vigil Wednesday night for the three students. And police say an ongoing dispute with a neighbor, alleged gunman, over parking may have led to the shooting.

The father and two victims telling CNN he is convinced the motive was hate.

Here is Jason Carroll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, the Chapel Hill Police Department says that they will exhaust every lead in this case. The preliminary investigation has led them to believe that Craig Hicks, 46 years old, who lived right here in this apartment complex had an ongoing dispute with the three people who he eventually shot and killed. Those three victims, Deah Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad, and her sister, Razan, all shot Tuesday night, police say murdered by Hicks, shot execution-style in the head, once again over an ongoing dispute, police say possibly over a parking space.

But many people here in this community, Poppy, do not believe, including the victim's father what says this was a hate crime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My daughter, yes, sir. Honest to God, told us on more than two occasions that this man came knocking on their door and fighting about everything, with a gun on his belt more than twice. She told us, daddy, I think he hates us for who we are and how we look.

CARROLL: Hicks' wife is cooperating with police. She says that she does not believe this was a crime motivated by hate. She says that this was not motivated by religion or faith. Again, she is cooperating with police. Hicks turned himself late Tuesday night. He is now facing three counts of first-degree murder -- Poppy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Oh, an absolute tragedy. Jason Carroll, thanks for the update. We appreciate it.

Also this -- tens of thousands of people in Yemen demonstrating once again against the takeover by a Shiite militia militant group. Hundreds gathered in the capital, targeting Houthi fighters who took over key government facilities, and also put the nation's president under house arrest. This move comes just as the U.S. and Britain and France shutdown their embassies in Sana'a, the capital there, over security fears.

And the third time was the charm for SpaceX. The company's unmanned Falcon 9 rocket finally blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on the third attempt in four days. The rocket carrying a research weather satellite on a million mile journey deep into space. It is designed to serve as an early warning system for potentially dangerous solar storms. And what they are testing out there is if it can actually land on water and then be reusable again.

Also, a potential bombshell in the "American Sniper" murder trial. Could text messages between the two victims, former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and his friend, help the defense?

We'll look at the first day of the trial, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well, tearful testimony from the widow of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle as the so-called "American Sniper" murder trial gets under way in Texas. Taya Kyle recounting a last conversation she had with her husband on the phone before he was gunned by Eddie Ray Routh. The former marine is accused of killing Kyle and his friend Chad Littleton. Routh has been charged with post-traumatic stress syndrome and the defense claims he is legally insane.

More now from our Martin Savidge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, there is one point that the defense and the prosecution actually agree on, and it's this, that Eddie Routh actually did kill Chris Kyle and his best friend Chad Littlefield. Where they differ is why.

The prosecution maintains it was straight up murder. And that they say they will prove by showing how the murders were carried. Both men had been shot multiple times using two different weapons. And also, they say that Routh carefully reloaded and fled, stealing Kyle's pickup truck with the intention of going to Oklahoma when he was apprehended.

The defense says he did kill both men, but the reasoning was because he suffers from a psychosis, a psychosis he has a result of his military service overseas. And that psychosis is so severe, he doesn't know what was right and wrong, at least at that particular time, and that, in fact, he killed the two men because he feared that those men were actually going to kill him.

And there was the bombshell from the defense. Chris Kyle's word, a text on the deadly day, when he is driving with his best friend and Routh in the backseat, Kyle texts his best friend next to him and says, "This guy is straight up nuts", referring to Routh. And that would seem to be a very strong statement in support of the defense's claim that Routh was insane -- Poppy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Martin Savidge, thank you for that. The trial is obviously continuing today.

Also, a major new concern about measles in the state of California. Health officials say tens of thousands of San Francisco BART commuters may have been exposed. They say an infected resident in the Bay Area rode the train to and from work for three days last week and, as you know, measles is highly contagious. This person was also reported at a San Francisco restaurant and bar. There have been 110 confirmed cases of measles in the state of California thus far.

Also, fallout from the Boston snow emergency. The head of the city's mass transit is stepping down. Beverly Scott has been under fire for the decision to shutdown the entire rail system this week for 36 hours as crews try to clear snow and ice from the tracks. Meantime, the city's winter misery took a lighthearted turn when the yacht towed by a truck got stuck in a massive snow bank. That is a big dig out there. It blocked downtown traffic for a while, as you can imagine, before it was freed.

Also our top story, is there hope for a ceasefire in Ukraine? European leaders meeting overnight to try to find a way to end the deadly violence, but not everyone is seeing eye to eye.

More on that after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)