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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

New Airstrikes Target ISIS in Libya; Train Derailment in West Virginia; Dangerous Winter Storm; "American Sniper" Murder Trial

Aired February 17, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Egypt stepping up the campaign on ISIS in the wake of the brutal video showing the murders of Egyptian Christians as the American people show they want a stronger response from U.S. officials in the fight against ISIS.

Up to 1,000 people evacuated after a train carrying crude oil derails in West Virginia. Smoke and flames fill the sky and fears of tainted drinking water. We have the very latest.

A burst of winter piling on the misery this morning. Roads expected to be covered in ice making for another dangerous commute and the storm already shutting down the nation's capital. Is there a warm up in sight?

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. John Berman has the morning off. It is 30 minutes past the hour this Tuesday morning.

Up first, Egypt stepping up involvement in the fight against ISIS. Egyptian war planes launching a second wave of airstrikes against ISIS targets in Libya. Those attacks coming after the militants kidnapped and beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians there. Egypt's president has vowed revenge against ISIS terrorist. So, could this be the start of the extended military campaign?

Let's get more this morning from CNN's Ian Lee in Cairo.

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IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, Egypt appears to be gearing up for a prolong war. Yesterday, Egyptian F-16s bombed ISIS weapons depots and training facilities in the Libyan coastal city of Derna. Egypt's foreign minister is at the U.N. Security Council. What Egypt wants is the international coalition targeting ISIS in Iraq and Syria to add Libya to their list as well.

Meanwhile, in Derna, the Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella group of Islamist groups issued a statement. They accuse Egypt of targeting and killing civilians, an accusation we can't verify, vowing their response for the bombings will be harsh, painful and at the right place and time.

The Egyptian army has mobilized its soldiers to assist the police in securing vital facilities. All of this began over the brutal beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya by ISIS. Hundreds of Egyptian workers are still believed to be in that country. Cairo is urging everyone to leave. They believe Libya is no longer safe for any Egyptian -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Ian Lee for us in Cairo this morning.

As the White House convenes three-day summit on countering violent extremism, the latest CNN ORC poll suggests President Obama is losing support when it comes to ISIS. Fifty-seven percent of Americans disapprove how the president is handling the threat posed by ISIS. Just 40 percent approve. This is significant decline from five months ago when the disapproval number was 49 percent. At the same time, nearly 8 in 10 Americans want Congress to give the president authority to use military force. The 78 percent approval is down slightly from 82 percent in December.

In Houston, Texas, a man confessed to setting a fire that destroyed a building in an Islamic center last week. It took two dozen firefighters to extinguish the blaze. Police say 55-year-old Darrell Ferguson is charged with first degree felony arson. Authorities say Ferguson lives near the mosque. Apparently told them why he set the fire, but they aren't saying publicly.

We are learning more this morning about the suspected gunman in two deadly attacks in Copenhagen this past weekend. Officials say he pledged his allegiance to ISIS in a Facebook posting just before the shootings. It comes as thousands of people attended a vigil for the two victims Monday night, where the Danish prime minister called for national unity.

CNN's Nic Robertson live for us in Copenhagen this morning.

What's the latest, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we are getting details from the police. Two men charged, one 19 and one 22. Accomplices to murder and attempted murder.

Why? Because by prior agreement, according to the prosecutors, they had said that they would help the gunman hide, they also hid his weapons. We also learned not only now that he pledged allegiance to ISIS al Baghdadi, in the hours before going on the gun attack, we learned from the Danish ambassador to the United States, he was radicalized in jail.

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PETER TAKSEE-JENSEN, DANISH AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: He was just released a couple weeks before the attacks this weekend from prison. And it seems that he might have been radicalized while in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTSON: What happened was as a gang member, we learned that from the police as well, as a gang member, he attacked a man on a subway train, an unprovoked violence, stopping attack. And he was put in jail and heard he was released two weeks before he came out and perpetrated the gun attacks, Christine.

ROMANS: And, Nic, what can you tell us about both, I guess, the gang activity, Muslim gang activity, and also this worry of so many young Danish-born men going and trying to go to the battlefields in Iraq and Syria. How big of a concern is that for Danish authorities?

ROBERTSON: It's a major concern. Official estimates put the number at about 110 young men from Denmark to join ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Unofficially, the number could be as high as 200. Many of those come back. Danish authorities have a de-radicalization program. But it is essentially based on trust.

So, there's a concern may very well be misplaced with some people. And the concern as well that there is a pathway that's well-documented and record here. A young man in gangs, violent gangs who've been in turf war battles here for a number of years. They have access to weapons, they have learned the brutality of killing, dehumanizing their enemies.

And some of them gravitate out of those gangs. This is believed to happen with El-Hussein, gravitated out of the gang and towards radical Islam. And that happened, some of it appears, in jail -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Nic Robertson for us in Copenhagen this morning, thank you for that, Nic.

Breaking overnight, firefighters still battling an enormous fire after a CSX train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in Fayette County -- look at that, filling the sky with smoke and fire.

A second explosion, the biggest one yet, shook the area at midnight. The governor of West Virginia declaring a state of emergency. One home was incinerated, one person was injured. Nearly, 30 of the 100 cars came off the tracks in this incident. Two nearby towns have been evacuated. Officials now concerned about oil from that train that has spilled into a local river which is the source of drinking water for people in two West Virginia counties. Not yet known what caused that derailment.

Also breaking overnight: a federal judge putting a temporary hold on President Obama's executive action on immigration. It's in response to a request by a coalition of 26 states planning a lawsuit aimed at putting a permanent stop to it. The president's action could protect as many as 5 million people who are in the United States illegally from being deported.

After two days, it appears the Ukraine cease-fire is hanging on by a thread despite the truce which took effect on Sunday. Clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels are threatening to undo the deal that was negotiated in Minsk last week. A deal negotiated by the leaders of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia. Three of those leaders spoke earlier this morning.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in eastern Ukraine with the details.

It sounds as though all parties want this thing to hold, but there have been so many reports of violations on the ground, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a huge disparity between the diplomacy that happens in foreign capitals and what is happening here. Debaltseve, that is the town which both sides want to railway, there are hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian troops trapped inside and they're circled by the separatists that is clear. It's obvious to us trying to go that road yesterday. The Ukrainians have minimal control after one point and it appears to be a series of mines and ambushes, shrapnel in the road, blocking it.

That's key because OSCE monitors who are monitoring this whose access to everywhere is part of the cease-fire deal can't go down to assess even what's happening in there to see who is shelling who. That's one vital issue here, potentially derailing the cease-fire. We ourselves yesterday could hear pretty intense shelling going on around Debaltseve. No sign that stopped today either, or the monitors can get near that town, then there's diplomacy.

Well, this morning's statement from the Russian, French and German and Ukrainian presidents that they thought the monitors should be able to do their job. Well, they agreed that in Minsk, the fact they have to reiterate that now shows how far they are slipping. Having weapons were supposedly being withdrawn from the frontlines already by now, as part of the Minsk agreement. We saw ourselves yesterday how they actually were going in the wrong direction.

We saw Ukraine artillery heading towards the front. That is one potential huge mess. The separatists showing no signs of pulling weapons back either. We are entering a dangerous phase, because this is the second time around they tried to cease-fire. It looks frankly like at some point, someone will have to declare it failed. Then quite what follows next?

Well that is a real concern. There's a lot of heavy weapons and a lot of civilians caught in the middle. Diplomacy, thus far, hasn't properly stopped the gunfire.

Back to you.

ROMANS: All right. Nick Paton Walsh this in Ukraine -- thanks for that, Nick.

Thirty-nine minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money this morning.

Stock futures -- well, they are pointing to loses. Worries about Greece are back and that's sending European stock markets lower.

Here in the U.S., winter weather is costing taxpayers billions. But it's not as bad as last year. A new estimate by Planalytics puts the cost of this year's storms at $1 billion to $2 billion. Compare to last year, all of the storms cost $15 billion. Those storms hit more Northeast cities and much of the Midwest. The government even blamed the weather for partial drop in GDP and economic growth in the first quarter of last year. Big companies blamed it to be poor sales in corporate earnings report.

Boston is getting the worst the storms, concentrated really in New England. The mayor of Boston, by the way, says the city has already spent $36 million on snow removal. That's twice its annual budgets for cleanup and a couple months more to go in winter.

Those cities about to feel more winter pain, folks. Millions getting slammed again by ice and snow. Details on your morning commute, next.

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ROMANS: Much of the country is in the grip of this wicked weather. South expected to bear the brunt of the latest storm. Up to 10 inches of snow expected in some areas there.

Check out this video. Snowy, icy road conditions in Hampton, Virginia. leading to an accident, an SUV skidding across the main road and ending up in front of a local news crew which caught the whole thing on tape. It certainly could have been a whole lot worse.

The nation's capital bracing for a major storm. A long holiday weekend for federal workers will be even longer. Federal offices are closed today in D.C.

Amtrak's Northeast corridor will operate on a modified schedule today. And more than 1,000 flights are already canceled, folks.

Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for an early look at the forecast.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIS: Hi, Christine, good morning to you.

Yes, let's show you what is happening nationally with the high temperatures today -- 63 degrees around Jacksonville. That's as good as it will get in the next couple days. But look to the north: 17 in Chicago, 12 in Minneapolis. That is going to be balmy compared to the next couple of days. New York City at 27 and 23 out of Boston.

But multiple plunges of arctic air really set up over the next couple days through Friday afternoon. Pretty expansive area of cold air in place of the fact. Wind chill advisories for the northern tier of the country.

There's the thing right there in the town of Minot. They say, why not in Minot? Thirty-five degrees below zero. That is the wind-chill the next couple of days. It is going to get colder this morning. It feels like 3 in the Chicago, 15 is the actual temperature. It feels like 7 below around the portions of Sioux Falls.

But look at the high temperatures in Chicago. It will be close to 40 degrees this time of year normally, 3 -- about 37 degrees below average for this time of year. Pretty impressive set up over the next couple of days -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that, Pedram.

It looks Boston is spared the worst of this storm, but still the bone- chilling cold and, oh, yes, seven feet of snow that has to be put somewhere.

CNN's Will Ripley is there for us.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, what you're seeing right now is a Herculean effort by the city of Boston to get the streets of this city clear as people prepared to go back to work later this morning.

I want to show you where we are. This is one of the largest snow farms in Boston. This was an empty lot. But, as you see now, it has become a literal mountain of snow. A mountain that is so high, it dwarfs construction equipment that you see there, scooping the snow up, and bringing it down to this machine here, a snow melting machine, that we are told has the ability to melt 150 tons, that's 300,000 pounds of snow per hour.

They dump the snow into this and then the water comes out right there and they dump that water into the sewers. Even though this is a tremendous operation with a lot of capacity, it is still not nearly enough to keep up with all of the snow that has inundated Boston. Public transportation is still crippled this morning.

It will only be operated on partial routes today. And, in fact, the transportation director is saying it could be 30 days of operations like this clearing all the snow before they are back to normal capacity. That is if another blizzard doesn't hit this city.

But it really is remarkable to see the effort underway here at the snow farm. The largest, but several other snow farms throughout the city as Boston tries to dig out of an unprecedented three-week run of very heavy snow, including that blizzard that we were covering over the weekend -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Thanks, Will. The mayor of Boston saying they spent $36 million on snow removal, twice their budget.

Forty-eight minutes past the hour.

Powerful moments in the so-called "American Sniper" murder trial. The jury hearing from the accused killer in his own words about why he pulled the trigger. How will it affect his case?

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ROMANS: Testimony resuming this morning at the trial of Eddie Ray Routh, the accused killer of "American Sniper" Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield.

In court Monday, the jurors heard a videotaped confession by the marine. Routh confessed to the killing but has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is following this trial for us in Texas.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, the star witness on the fourth day of testimony in the "American Sniper" trial was Eddie Ray Routh himself. But he didn't appear in person to speak before the jury. He appeared in the form of a two-year-old videotaped confession that was recorded just hours after Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield were killed in February 2013. He was interviewed by a Texas Ranger detective in the town of Lancaster after he led police on a high-speed chase and taken into custody.

And this is significant because it is really the first time the jury has been able to see and hear Eddie Ray Routh in the moments, at least as close as possible and to be able to see his demeanor and state of mind in the hours after Chad Littlefield and Chris Kyle were murdered. And then on the tape, you know, often times, he comes off rambling and speaking incoherently about his soul, and this sort of thing. So, really a lot of issues that point to someone that was disturbed.

In fact, the detective described him as someone who wasn't normal. But repeatedly, he's asked over and over on this confession tape, if he knew what he did was wrong. And after initially saying he could not tell if he had done right or wrong, he later answered those questions from detective, saying that he knew that what he did was wrong and if he was given the chance to speak to the victims' families, he would apologize and say he was sorry -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Ed Lavandera following the troubling trial for us this morning in Texas.

The man suspected of gunning down three Muslim students in North Carolina has been indicted on three counts of first-degree murder. Chapel Hill police say they haven't uncovered evidence Craig Hicks acted out of religious or ethic hatred. But the FBI is still investigating. They say an ongoing dispute over parking may have setoff the fatal shootings.

The voice behind a classic teen angst anthem has died.

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ROMANS: Singer/songwriter Lesley Gore was just 16 when she topped the pop charts back in 1963 with "It's My Party." Gore's party of 33 years says she died of lung cancer at a New York hospital Monday. She was just 68.

New details about the billion dollar cyber heist. How those hackers were able to break into the banks' systems and steal hundreds of millions of dollars. We're going to get an early start on your money, next.

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ROMANS: Let's get an early start on your money.

Stock futures are down. Investors are turning focus to Greece where debt talks collapsed Monday. That country could be forced out of the eurozone if it doesn't reach agreement with creditors. European markets are lower as well on that news. The U.S. stock market closed yesterday for Presidents Day. But the Dow and S&P, they come in to today's sessions today at the highest levels of the year.

New details this morning in that billion dollar cyber heist. Security firm Kaspersky Labs tells CNN Money most of the banks targeted were in Russia. But hackers also stole from financial institutions, in the U.S., Germany, China and Ukraine. Thieves took customer e-mail data from several Russian banks. Kaspersky says the hackers learned about banks' fraud measures from internal e-mails. They then limited thefts at any single bank to $10 million to avoid triggering a full blown security analysis.

Gas prices bottomed out for now. The national average for a gallon of regular is up 7 cents in the last week. That's according to AAA. And almost 20 cents over the past month. The drivers are still saving hundreds of dollars compared to last year when prices were well-above 3 bucks a gallon.

Gas Buddy says the trend is here to stay. The jump is due to higher crude oil and seasonal maintenance at refineries.

All right. EARLY START continues right now.

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